- King Cerberus (Fire): Leave at once!
King Cerberus (Ice): Only kings of the Underworld may enter these gates.
King Cerberus (Lightning): You shall not pass!
— King Cerberus, Devil May Cry 5
King Cerberus is one of the bosses of Devil May Cry 5. He is the guardian of the innermost chamber of the Qliphoth, and Dante has to face him in Mission 16. After defeating him, Dante obtains the King Cerberus Devil Arm.
Description
King Cerberus appears as a giant, three-headed demonic hound. He is the most powerful of his kind, and is implied to be the progenitor of all other Cerberus demons. He guards the lowest chamber of the Qliphoth where the demon tree's fruit grows. While initially secured with chains, he shows how much more stronger he is than the Cerberus that once guarded the Temen-ni-gru by tearing completely free of them, engaging Dante without restraints.
Unlike the Cerberus Dante encountered in his youth, King Cerberus' heads do not change alignment to indicate specific magical attacks: rather, the three remain in place and each control an element. The head on King Cerberus' right controls lightning, the middle head has ice powers comparable to all three heads of the regular Cerberus, and the left head controls fire.
The three heads appear to have their own distinct personalities: the fire head is furiously angry, using physical attacks as often as fire powers, the ice head the most measured and intelligent, conjuring defensive ice walls and preferring ranged attacks, and the lightning head proud and boastful, and prefers to fight at medium range. All three heads believe their power is the strongest.
Story
Devil May Cry 5
Pursuing the Demon King into the depths of the Qliphoth ahead of Nero and V, Dante arrives inside King Cerberus' domain, finding him chained and guarding the final path to the Qliphoth's highest level. King Cerberus forbid Dante from going any further, stating only Kings of the Underworld were allowed below before declaring he would not pass. Seeing him reminded Dante of a similar demon, which insulted the demon, who revealed himself as the king of the Cerberus tribe of demons.
Raging that he would feast on Dante's flesh and gnaw on his bones, King Cerberus revealed his greater power by destroying the chains binding him in place to challenge the son of Sparda without restraint. King Cerberus displayed his status as the "strongest in the litter" in his battle with Dante, wielding not only the power of ice like his kin, but controlling fire and thunder as well. Despite King Cerberus' greater power, he was defeated and killed by Dante, who took his soul as a powerful new Devil Arm, which he promptly used to destroy the final barrier between him and Urizen.
File
- Nico Enemy Report - King Cerberus
- Everybody knows that when you see a big mutt with three heads, that there is a Cerberus. But Dante managed to run into the king of the whole bunch? That guy's movin' up in the world.
- Well, you gotta hand it to the king—wielding fire, lightning, and ice ain't no mean feat.
- But like all Cerberus, under all the king-this and your-majesty-that, he ain't nothing but a glorified guard dog.
- Wonder if Urizen was upset about what happened to his pup.
Strategy
Powers and Abilities
Much more powerful than the Cerberus Dante fought at the gates of the Temen-ni-gru, the King Cerberus wields three different elemental powers, fire, ice, and lightning, one different elemental power controlled by a single different head each.
The right head controls powerful thunder and lightning abilities, manifesting them as projectile orbs of concentrated electricity or using the melted ice water of its lair as a conductor for an all-encompassing blast of lightning. When in control, this head primarily relies on long-ranged tactics befitting its power, frequently moving and dodging its enemy while keeping its distance.
The center head controls ice much like its weaker kin did, able to flash-freeze the entirety of its domain and use similar attacks to the first Cerberus, such as a powerful freezing breath, knocking massive icicles from the ceiling to bombard its foe, or summon spikes of ice to impale its adversary. The middle head remains in one primary location when in control, preferring to follow its enemy with its heads before attacking.
The left head controls fire, and is the most aggressive of the three, coating its body in flames when in control and fighting their enemy head-on, using charging headbutts, full body slam, claw swipes and powerful bites. Like the ice head, it can also breath a stream of fire from its mouth to burn its adversary for foolishly getting too close.
Appearances in Other Media
Teppen
King Cerberus first appeared in Teppen with its "The Devils Awaken" expansion. He is featured in one unit card.
Background/Etymology
Trivia
- During his battle, King Cerberus will sometimes reference demons from previous games by name, such as Berial and Bael, all the while boasting of its superior elemental powers compared to them.
- Patrick Seitz, the voice actor of one of the heads of King Cerberus, also voiced Soldier in the game. In addition, he voiced the english version of the video "The Story of Devil May Cry" which was posted in the official Devil May Cry YouTube channel.[2]
- According to Devil May Cry 5 Official Art Works page 190, King Cerberus plays an important role in the Qliphoth tree, using it's three elemental powers to further the fruit's development, combining its high heat energy while rapidly cooling it several time, the King Cerberus using its power to promote fruit growth.[3]
See also
References
- ↑ @dan_southworth on Twitter
- ↑ The Story of Devil May Cry
- ↑ Devil May Cry 5 Official Art Works：ダンテの通過ずるエリアは、一直線にクリフォトの中心に繋がっていまず。その空間は、純粋な悪の実に送られる熱を持った高エネルギーが次第に冷えていく状况を描いていまず。バーヅルはケルベロス王の绝対零度を利用して、効率的にエネルギーを冷やし、実の成长を促しているのでず。ケルベロスを倒した後に飛ぴこむ血管の繋がった液体に包まれた球体。このミッツョソは遠景も含ゆ、母の胎内のイメーヅで制作されました。(木下)