I should have been the one to fill your dark soul with liiiiiiiiiiight!
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" She may have looked like Methuselah’s grandmother, but she could juice up a squirt gun until it could take out an elephant." — Devil May Cry novel
Nell Goldstein is a character from the Devil May Cry novel by Shin-Ya Goikeda, known for her skill in creating custom weapons. She is the proprietor of the gunsmith shop ".45 Caliber Works".
History
The .45 Caliber Artist
Nell Goldstein is the proprietor of the gunsmith shop ".45 Caliber Works," and is known to those in the know as the ".45 Caliber Artist" for her expert crafting of custom firearms, although in her old age she has taken to simply upgrading firearms others have made. A close friend of Tony Redgrave (Dante under a pseudonym), they have a rather disrespectful dynamic towards one another, even though they actually get along. Tony usually strolls into Goldstein's shop with a handful of firearms that he appropriates from his adversaries during jobs, selling them for some extra cash or trying to get them repaired for his own use. Despite Nell's constant nagging that Tony is far too hard on any pistol he uses by "trying to match the lightning output of a machine gun", she is always willing to spruce up any weapon he brings her. In truth, even though Nell treats Tony like a punk, she is always happy to help him out because he reminds her of someone close to her. Tony usually makes fun of Nell's lack of spelling expertise, as the sign in her shop reads ".45 Caliber Warks."
A Legacy
Sometime during the events of the story, Nell begins crafting her final masterpiece using the spare parts from several of the busted pistols Tony brings her. Her last masterpiece is none other than Ebony & Ivory, Dante's custom pistols. Nell had crafted the pistols with rapid fire in mind, and had left them disassembled for Tony to put together, making the weapons truly his, though she branded them with her old logo on the slides of each pistol: "For Tony Redgrave By .45 Art Warks". At one point she had a granddaughter, Nico[2].
Trivia
Death of Nell
Due to the release of Devil May Cry 3, the canonical nature of the Devil May Cry novel is in question, as some information given in the story differs with the game. However, it is possible that the origin's of Dante's trademark pistols could still remain intact as per the novel, since no other explanation for the weapons' origin has ever been given. This would mean Dante had to have met Nell at a much younger age than portrayed in the novel.
Although many entries in the series state that Dante created Ebony and Ivory himself, the novel worked around those statements with Goldstein making him assemble the weapons himself. Otherwise, information only states that they are custom made.
The use of the ".45 Art Warks" is possibly a play off of an actual, unintentional typo created from a Japanese developer writing something in English. Rather than correct the mistake in future titles, Capcom may have decided to build off of it. However, since the original Devil May Cry creator Hideki Kamiya worked closely with Shin-Ya Goikeda in writing the plot of the novel, it is equally possible that the typo was indeed intentional during the first game's production.
As per the novel, it would seem that Luce & Ombra, the dual pistols of the legendary Sparda, were also created by Goldstein, as they bear the same dedication engraving on their slides. Although, this is never stated in the novel and it's more likely these two guns are merely in the game just for the sake of it, with no bearing in the plot whatsoever.
