Sparda

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Sparda
Name data
Titles	The Legendary Dark Knight The Dark Knight
Katakana	スパーダ
Rōmaji	Supāda
Personal data
Species	Demon
Status	Deceased
Relations	Vergil (Son) Dante (Son) Nero (Grandson)
Significant other(s)	Eva (Wife; Deceased)
Professional data
Affiliation	Fortuna Protectors
Former affiliation	Devil Kingdom Mundus Baul (Apprentice) Modeus (Apprentice)
Occupation	Swordsman
Former occupation	Knight of the Devil Kingdom Feudal Lord of Fortuna
Real world data
Appearances	Devil May Cry Devil May Cry 2 (Mentioned) Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening (Mentioned) Devil May Cry: The Animated Series Devil May Cry 4 (Mentioned) Devil May Cry 5 (Mentioned) Devil May Cry 5 – Visions of V – (Mentioned)

Sparda was a mighty demon swordsman who is known as the Template:Translation. Two thousand years prior to modern times, he "woke up to justice" and defeated Mundus and his legions alone. When sealing the netherworld, sensing his power had grown too strong, he intentionally sealed himself and his own demonic power in as well.

Sparda would continue to influence the human world with his presence, such as when he reigned as Feudal Lord of Fortuna and, before his disappearance, married Eva, who gave birth to his twin sons, Dante and Vergil.

Appearance

“

Your father was a handsome devil.

”

—Nevan to Dante, Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening

In his human form, Sparda was a tall, handsome man with blue eyes, a youthful face, and slicked-back white hair. He is shown to have worn a purple Victorian outfit with a white cravat, a large red jewel around his neck, and a monocle over his left eye. While riding into battle on horseback, he would wear armor reminiscent of his demon form.

In his true form, Sparda was a slightly-larger-than-human-sized, vaguely insectoid demon with clawed hands, a scaly hide, a pair of downward-facing ram horns, chiropteran wings with beetle-like wings underneath, hooves for feet, and reptilian spines protruding from his back. Parts of his body appeared to be made of greyscales with accents of red and purple. He also had gold veins on his hands and arms, chest, shoulders and back, a red diamond eye shaped gem in the center of his forehead, and skull-shaped gold knees and elbow guards with small horns.

His most notable feature in his natural form was his slit-like eyes, which glowed red and did not have pupils. He is often shown wreathed in fire, although it is uncertain if he was simply impervious to it or if he summoned it.

In the ruins of his home a family portrait is shown of Sparda with his wife and twin sons, showing him with much longer hair in his human form during the time Dante and Vergil were children.

Personality

Although not much is known about him on a personal level, it is said that his personality combined both Dante's rebellious nature and Vergil's levelheadedness. Legends speak fondly of his courage, righteousness and his thankless missions to protect the human world at the expense of being labeled as a traitor by all of his kind. Sparda's wife, Eva, always described him as being a noble fighter with courage and a righteous heart.

Sparda understood honor and possessed great wisdom. Sparda had two apprentices, Baul and Modeus, though he only entrusted his true strength and power to the kind-hearted Modeus as opposed to his colder brother Baul. Not long before his rebellion, he swore an oath with his students to live true to their aspirations.

Matier told Dante how his father was better at dealing with ladies, as well as better at making excuses. Devil May Cry 5: Before the Nightmare

As Dante continued on to confront the demonic half of his brother, Urizen, Dante thought about the purposes of the swords Rebellion and Yamato and on the power of revenge, remarking that his father was rather grim. Devil May Cry 5

Gameplay

Dante takes on Sparda's demon form in his climactic battle with Mundus on Mallet Island in two phases of his boss battle: the first a rail-shooter segment, and the second an on-foot battle in a lava pit. During the first stage, Dante is always Sparda in demon form, while in the latter he changes into the form of his father when attacking in Devil Trigger mode.

In Devil May Cry and Devil May Cry 3, a "Legendary Dark Knight" costume is unlocked by clearing Hard mode. Dante begins with it unlocked in Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition. In Devil May Cry, this seems to actually be Sparda himself, as Dante's Ebony & Ivory are replaced with Sparda's Luce & Ombra.

The sword Yamato is added to his arsenal, but players can still use Alastor. Yamato is basically a clone of Alastor, but when Sparda Devil Triggers, Yamato turns into the sword Sparda. The costume's DT always uses Sparda's devil form, no matter the equipped Devil Arm, though his abilities still depend on that Devil Arm. He also casts the shadow of his demon form while not in DT mode.

Biography

Early History

“

Two millenniums ago, there was a war. Between the human world and the other... the Underworld. But somebody from the Underworld woke up to justice, and stood up against this legion, alone. His name was Sparda. Later, he quietly reigned the human world, and continued to preserve harmony, until his death. He became a legend, The Legendary Dark Knight, Sparda.

”

—Narrator, Devil May Cry

Prior to his rebellion, Sparda was the most powerful demon swordsman and the right-hand man for Dark Emperor Mundus. During this time, he was the mentor of the twin brothers Baul and Modeus, and he entrusted his teachings to Modeus. At some point, he saw the tyranny and injustice of the Dark Emperor and rebelled, fighting to save humanity. Before his rebellion, he made a pact with his students to live true to their aspirations and to carry them out.

He alone defeated the hellish host, before moving on to the Emperor of Darkness himself. Sparda defeated Mundus, sealing him into a marble vault, and what was left of Mundus's armies retreated back into the demon world. In order to close the gateway, Sparda used his own blood, along with the blood of a human priestess, in conjunction with his sword and a mystical amulet. He poured his demonic energy into his beloved sword to close the door between realms, the Temen-ni-gru, though this also robbed him of the lion's share of his abilities. As an added measure, he also imprisoned within the tower its gatekeepers - Cerberus, Agni & Rudra, Nevan, Beowulf and Leviathan - and took the names of the Seven Sins in order to imprison them and set them as seals keeping the Temen-ni-gru underground.

Fortuna and the Protectors of Vie de Marli

Later, he sealed another path to hell in Fortuna using the Yamato. Sparda's activities over the next two thousand years are shrouded in legend, though it is understood that for a time after defeating Mundus, he benevolently ruled over the humans before eventually vanishing. The demon Berial implies that he encountered Sparda when he came to the human world two millenniums prior.

At some point, Sparda once fought alongside the Protectors and Matier, later crossing into the demon world and returned. During the time in Hell, Sparda fought against both Argosax and Bolverk.

Later Life and Death

Sparda later appeared in the twentieth century where he met and fell in love with a woman named Eva, who bore him twin sons; Vergil and Dante. He would later disappear and eventually died at some point under unrevealed circumstances.

Powers and Abilities

The exact extent of Sparda's powers remains unknown; but it is shown that his powers surpassed even the god-like Prince of Darkness himself, evidenced when Sparda single-handedly defeated Mundus and his demonic armies. Thousands of years later, when a decent portion of his power had already been sealed away by himself, he with the help of the Vie de Marli, defeated the Demon God Argosax the Chaos, who had managed to subdue every demon in the Underworld and was equal in power to Mundus. His powers are often held in high regard by human and demon alike, even those who view him unfavorably. His tremendous prowess is due to the fact that he embraced humanity. Due to his power, many seek to utilize his weapons such as the Force Edge to gain power equivalent to his own. The immensity of his power is evident through his bloodline, his very blood bestowing his descendants with great physical prowess and magical abilities. Each of Sparda's legendary accomplishments in life were eventually surpassed by his youngest son Dante, who demolished the Temen-ni-gru, resealed Mundus, killed Argosax, and destroyed the true Hell Gate of Fortuna.

He was also implied to be a master swordsman, as he trained Baul and Modeus into powerful swordsmen and Modeus stated that Sparda was "the best swordsman in the Demon World", although Dante went so far as to mock his father's sword work when he faced Baul. He was also very adept in sealing, having sealed away extremely powerful demons such as the likes of Mundus & Argosax and even himself. Among his skills includes crafting and creating various magical items such as the Perfect Amulets, Rebellion, Yamato, and his own trademark sword.

Weapons

Sparda is known to have used both Yamato and Sparda. The former he used as a key to lock the Demon World away from the Human World, and he sealed the power of the latter with the Perfect Amulet, turning it into the Force Edge. Also, in Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening, it is stated that Rebellion is a memento from Sparda to Dante, its true significance was unknown for a long time until the events of Devil May Cry 5 where Dante discovered its power to unify man and demon, in opposition to the Yamato, which had the power to sever. He also used the Luce & Ombra, his own hand made pistols.

Appearances in Other Media

Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds

Sparda as a downloadable outfit for Dante in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3.

Sparda is available as a downloadable costume for Dante, and his own Devil Form replaces Dante's while in Devil Trigger. He also makes a second appearance in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 as the Devil Trigger form for Vergil's downloadable outfit, instead of Nelo Angelo as seen in the Special Edition of Devil May Cry 3.

Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale

Sparda appears as an unlockable icon in Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale. To unlock players must reach Rank 14 with Dante. Upon reaching rank 22 players are also granted a Sparda themed wallpaper.

TEPPEN

Sparda does not have a card of his own, instead he appears in the background of one of Kyrie's cards (No. COR 080), as the giant statue seen in the opening of Devil May Cry 4.

Trivia

• Sparda, when pronounced in Template:Translation, sounds like "Spada" which means sword in Italian.
• In Devil May Cry 5, one of the many advertisements scattered through the game is about "Sparda Express". There is also a "SPARDATOOLS" brand within the game.