The Devil Sword Sparda and its unawakened form, Force Edge,[2] is the beloved demon-forged sword[3] wielded by the Dark Knight Sparda himself,[4] and magically imbued with his power.[5] Throughout the series, the sword is recognized as a source of god-like power, and in both Devil May Cry 3 and Devil May Cry 4, it was the main objective of the villains. It is Dante's default weapon in Devil May Cry, and Trish's in Devil May Cry 2 and 4 Special Edition. In addition, Vergil is able to summon spectral versions of the Force Edge as his Summoned Swords.
Appearance[]
Devil Sword Sparda has two forms: Force Edge and Sparda.
Force Edge, the unawakened form, is an ornate but fairly unremarkable sword. The guard takes a "W" shape, vaguely resembling Sparda's horns. It has a spiral handle that leads to four skulls on the pommel with a spike at the top.
In its awakened state, Sparda keeps the grip and crossguard, but the spike on the skulls is split in half, with the frontward, more elaborate half forming a small blade that curves around the bottom of Sparda's blade (in Devil May Cry, the front half is a simple hook). Force Edge's blade is replaced with a spine-like structure attached to two curved blades via an organic looking substance. Together the blades form one long blade when in sword mode. The top portion has a large glowing red gem-like object in the center. The other side has two significantly smaller gems, glowing orange and pink. Sparda's blades can reorient themselves to give Sparda various shapes to suit its needs. Dante and Trish shift the halves to create a scythe for Round Trip and point both blades forward as a spear for Stinger.
In Devil May Cry 5, Sparda has gone through major design changes, but still kept some of its old appearance, including a thick organic hide, the curved blade and the color scheme of its guard. However, the sword now has an organic-looking spinal column instead of the one that appeared mechanical, with some bony covers below its guard. Its larger red jewel has moved to the side and a green one is now below it, and the grip is darker than before.
Story[]
The demon sword Sparda was originally wielded by the Dark Knight Sparda himself, but when he separated the Underworld from the human realm and put a seal on it to prevent it from consuming the Human World, he also sealed his demonic power inside his beloved sword in order to ensure the strength of the seal.[6]
Many centuries later, however, Arkham conspired to obtain the sword, and through it, Sparda's power, which he would use to rule the world. He manages to manipulate Dante, Vergil, and Lady into allowing him to obtain the Perfect Amulet and opening the gate to the Demon World for him, thus allowing him to travel to the Demon World, acquire the sword and awaken its power, weakening the seal cast by Sparda on the Demon World and threatening to allow it to merge with the Human World.[7][8] After drawing the sword, he takes the form of Sparda, but because it does not resonate with him like it later did with Dante and Sanctus, and his inhumanity, he was unable to control its immense power and mutates into a hideous, blob-like form,[9] which is slain by Dante and Vergil. As Arkham's demonic form dissolves, the Force Edge and Perfect Amulet fall further into the Demon World, and both Dante and Vergil dive after them. They fight over the weapon, and though Vergil is defeated, he retains his half of the amulet. Dante then returns to the Human World with the Force Edge. Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening
Dante takes up the Force Edge as his own sword, and takes it with him to the castle on Mallet Island in Rebellion's stead. Throughout his mission there, he periodically encounters the dark knight Nelo Angelo, who is mysteriously shaken when he notices Dante's part of the amulet. After Nelo Angelo is finally defeated and revealed as Vergil, Dante obtains the other half of the amulet and Sparda is reawakened. It later allows him to take his father's form in the final battle with Mundus. Afterward, he plants the sword as a memorial to the seemingly dead Trish, but when Trish is later revealed to be alive and carrying the sword, he allows her to keep it. Devil May Cry
When not in use, Trish leaves the Sparda hanging on the wall of Devil May Cry. After Lady explains the problems she is having with the Order of the Sword to Dante and Trish, Trish takes the sword and leaves without asking Dante's permission. Disguised as Gloria, she gives Sparda to Sanctus in order to win his trust and infiltrate the Order, since they need the sword in order to empower their greatest tool, The Savior. Sanctus later resonates with the weapon and uses it against Nero, though his inhumanity does not allow him to fully control it. After Nero defeats Sanctus and rescues Kyrie from being used as the core of The Savior, he gives Sparda back to its rightful owner, Dante. Devil May Cry 4
During Urizen's attack on the human world Dante, Trish, Lady, and Nero are all defeated by the Demon King's overwhelming power. Rebellion is destroyed in the conflict, and Dante is nearly smothered by roots of the Qliphoth, Trish throws the Sparda back to Dante, allowing him to regain his Devil Trigger and escape the roots, but he is still defeated by Urizen, with both Dante and the Sparda thrown from the interior of the Qliphoth and into the graveyard of the besieged Red Grave City. The Sparda was impaled along a wall near a large root of the Qliphoth, with the sword drawing the attention of several Nobodies to itself to protect the comatose Dante nearby.
A month later, the devil hunter V sought out the Sparda, believing Dante to be dead, and desired to give the blade to Nero in hopes their combined strength would be enough to defeat Urizen. When V found the sword and slew the group of Nobodies 'worshiping' the Sparda, he briefly takes the sword up, but the blade is too much for him to wield on his own. When V and his Familiars discover Dante's unconscious body nearby, V moves to impale Dante with his father's sword, correctly guessing Dante would awaken once he sensed his killing intent.
Taking up the Sparda after catching up to the events of the last month, Dante once again wielded the blade as his main weapon while he trekked through the ruined city to get back to the Qliphoth and confront Urizen again. Upon returning to his childhood home, Dante ponders the nature of the Rebellion and why his father gave it to him. He wordlessly comes to the conclusion that if Vergil could use the Yamato to separate his human and demon selves into two beings, then the Rebellion's purpose must be to unite the two sides. With this revelation Dante plunges the broken remains of Rebellion into his chest, triggering a fusion of it and Sparda as they're assimilated into his body, transforming into his Sin Devil Trigger form. Upon facing Urizen, he calls a new demonic sword, Devil Sword Dante, into being. Devil May Cry 5
Gameplay[]
In Devil May Cry, Force Edge is Dante's starting sword and is the weakest weapon in the game. It also has the most limited moveset, which consists of basic combos and attacks available at the start of the game and lacks a Devil Trigger due to its dormant nature. No attacks purchased for Alastor transfer to Force Edge.
As Sparda, the sword has the longest reach of all of Dante’s melee weapons and is the strongest of the swords: it deals about the same base damage as Alastor does when Devil Triggered. It gains the ability to change forms by shifting its parts into different positions, changing into either a spear for stabbing attacks or scythe for Round Trip. Combo 2 is finished with a Stinger-like thrust instead of a slash. Sparda’s moveset is adapted from Alastor’s non-DT combo list, with the exception of Air Hike. Round Trip and Stinger will only be available for Sparda if they have been purchased for Alastor.
Devil Trigger is only available during the Mundus boss fight. During phase one, Dante is permanently in an Air Raid-like flight mode, firing energy balls and with the ability to perform a Vortex-like spin which serves as a combined dodge (since it has i-frames) and melee attack. Dante’s strongest technique during phase one is to unleash a dragon formed from demonic energy, which is done by pressing the button for Devil Trigger. The Devil Trigger gauge is used to measure how strong the attack will be. It will bypass Mundus’ protective barrier even if it is still present, and stop whatever attack he may be performing. Dante is immune to any attacks launched at him for the duration of the attack animation.
During the second phase, Sparda is the only Devil Arm that can be equipped. It now has a Devil Trigger mode that functions like those of the other Devil Arms in the game, but has unique effects when activated. While on the ground Dante's gunshots are replaced with a standing animation of him hurling demonic energy bolts from his hands (in the air he will instead fire his equipped gun with a DT charge shot boost), while all of Sparda’s swing animations gain an enormous trail of demonic energy which makes the sword's hitbox about three times longer. In addition, a move similar to Ifrit's Meteor 2 can be performed by holding the shoot button while DT is active. In this phase of the boss battle Sparda also gives Dante access to Air Hike, and it is the only time Charged Shots can be performed while Sparda is equipped, having a fire effect.
In Devil May Cry 2, Force Edge replaces Rebellion as a standard sword for Dante's Devil May Cry costume, however, being just a cosmetic re-skin it will operate in the same manner. Trish uses Sparda as her melee weapon and functions the same as it did in Devil May Cry, though she doesn't have its Devil Trigger, instead using her own. During Round Trip, Sparda will move to whatever enemy is being targeted after Trish throws it. She can also plant Sparda in the ground to switch to a moveset based on Ifrit while being able to call it back at will.
In Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition, Force Edge is a reskin of Rebellion in Dante's Devil May Cry and "Legendary Dark Knight" costumes. Vergil uses Force Edge in conjunction with Yamato. While using Force Edge, Vergil possesses a similar attack style to Dante's, albeit with a smaller moveset. He does, however, have access to Round Trip.
In Devil May Cry 4, Sanctus Diabolica uses Sparda in a crude manner. He will occasionally swipe the sword once or twice after his energy shield is taken down. He will also use the sword as a physical shield, which can be Bustered to break this guard. When low on health, Sanctus will use a Stinger-like sword thrust that can be countered with a well-timed Buster.
In Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition, Vergil utilizes Force Edge much as he did in his Devil May Cry 3 incarnation, but he has more attacks, like Million Stab, Drive and Overdrive, as well as different ground combos. His Drive is a mid-range attack that requires no charge time and will double swipe on execution. Overdrive can be charged and coats Force Edge in energy before launching a slow-moving but powerful wave of energy. His Million Stab is accessible via Combo A or Stinger. Stinger itself has a shorter range than Dante’s, but it can also be used in midair and overall has more power. Round Trip can be used on the ground and midair, but is used as a mid-range attack, and will only travel a set distance away from Vergil with no tracking. This requires better positioning to be used effectively. Despite its travel distance, it creates a vacuum-like vortex that pulls nearby enemies in. Having a higher level on the Concentration Gauge gives Force Edge multi-hit properties and expands the area of effect of Round Trip. Combo A is much like Dante’s Rebellion Combo B. Combo B is an extended combo, similar to a Crazy Combo, in which Vergil chases down the targeted enemy, swinging both Force Edge and Yamato. It can be steered while not locked on and will not negatively affect the Concentration Gauge until the final strike.
Trish uses Sparda as its own melee weapon and in conjunction with Bare Knuckle, her hand to hand techniques. It has combos and attacks similar to Force Edge and Rebellion with a few differences. Sparda Combo A, High Time, and Aerial Rave are all the same as Dante’s Rebellion. The second strike of Combo B hits enemies all around Trish and is followed up by a two Drive like swings, however, they don’t have any long-distance properties. The final strike is a stab, which can be followed up by transforming Sparda into its spear form for a secondary stab. Bare Knuckle Combo A ends with up to three Drive strikes. It can be charged into Maximum Overdrive and strike up to eleven times before the end. Sparda is used to finish off Bare Knuckle Combo B with a flurry of strikes similar to Dance Macabre. The final strike is a golf club-like swing on the enemy but has a long startup and recovery animation so it should not be used when too many enemies are nearby. Sparda’s greatest asset is Round Trip. It has the longest range and longest active time of any iteration seen in the series so far. Unlike previous entries, it is activated by a Lock-On++Sparda prompt, allowing for the fastest execution of the technique followed by a quick startup. It has a wide range and is capable of constantly stunning most enemies caught in its area of effect. While they are stunned Trish can attack the enemy at that same time with an alternate Bare Knuckle moveset. Upon its return, depending on what part of the combo Trish is in, it will reset and begin her default Bare Knuckle combo. It has a gauge to mark how long it will be before the sword makes its way back to Trish, but can be recalled manually by pressing the Sparda attack button. V Divider can be used to pull in enemies and can be executed mid-air, and during the short time that Sparda is away, Trish has access to her alternate Bare Knuckle moveset.
In Devil May Cry 5, Dante switches from using Rebellion to Sparda after the former is destroyed during his first mission, but only has access to it for two missions before it is replaced by Devil Sword Dante. It is identical to Rebellion in moveset. Post-game, the player can elect to swap Devil Sword Dante for either Sparda or Rebellion in the store's equip menu: once chosen, the selected sword cannot be swapped out for one of the others in-mission. On completing Son of Sparda difficulty, Dante will unlock a skill called "Irregular Full Custom" which allows him to equip all three swords at once.
Like Rebellion, Sparda has a smaller moveset than Devil Sword Dante, lacking its special "Swords Formation" moves and ability to use Drive or Overdrive. However, it does deal higher damage or have longer reach on certain moves that uses the weapon's transformed states (whereas Rebellion and Devil Sword Dante both share the same damage and hitbox for the same attacks). Dante can still access the Sin Devil Trigger while using Sparda after completing the game.
Movesets[]
Action | Command | Description |
---|---|---|
Force Edge Combo I | A quick 3-hit combo. | |
Force Edge Combo II | Four-part combo which knocks back nearby foes before slashing down on those directly in front of you. | |
Force Edge Combo III |
(continue to press the button to prolong the attack) |
Quickly stab the enemy with blinding speed creating enough momentum to blast them backward. |
Helm Breaker |
(mid-air) |
Slash down on enemies below. |
High Time |
(hold to jump) |
Swing the sword in an upward rising motion, bashing up enemies into the air. |
Action | Command | Description |
---|---|---|
Sparda Combo I | ,, | A quick 3-hit combo. |
Sparda Combo II | ,,-,, | Four-part combo which knocks back nearby foes before slashing down on those directly in front of you. Once the Sparda is awakened, the combo finishes with a forward thrust. |
Sparda Combo III | ,,—, (rapid) | Quickly stab the enemy with blinding speed creating enough momentum to blast them backward. |
High Time | ++ | Swing the sword in an upward rising motion, bashing up enemies into the air. Continue holding to jump, and again to slash down. |
Round Trip | (hold and release) | Throw the sword like a boomerang. |
Thrust Kick | , , (Round Trip) | Tri-level attack that ends by kicking the enemy into the air. |
Stinger | ++ | With lightning speed, plunge the sword into enemies. Level 2 plunges the sword from an even further distance. |
Flight | Automatic (Mundus Phase 1) | Become airborne and be capable of performing aerial attacks. |
Vortex | while flying | Damage enemies with an intense spinning body attack. |
Tracer[note 1] | / while flying | Fire light energy balls. |
Fireball[note 2] | / (in DT, ground) | Shoot fireballs from the fists. Holding the button will additionally charge the attack like Meteor level 2 if it was acquired for Ifrit. |
Fire Dragon[note 3][note 4] | while flying | Emit a giant dragon. This attack consumes all of your DT Gauge and its power varies depending on how much the gauge was filled when summoned. |
Action | Command | Description |
---|---|---|
Combo start 1 | ,… | Basic combo start - a diagonal slash. |
Combo start 2 | Direction+,… | Alternative combo start - a horizontal slash. |
Combo A | ,,, | 4-hit combo ending with a diagonal spinning slash. |
Combo B | , Direction+, | 3-hit combo ending with a sweeping slash. |
Combo C | ,, Direction+,,, | 6-hit combo - series of horizontal slashes ending with sweeping kneeling slash. |
Combo D | ,,, Direction+, | 5-hit combo ending with a jumping downward slash followed by an upward slash, sending enemies flying. |
DT Combo B | (in DT) , Direction+, |
3-hit combo ending with a stab followed by a vertical spinning slash. |
DT Combo C | (in DT) , , Direction+ (continue to press the button to prolong the attack) |
Multi-stab combo. Quickly drains DT gauge, but deals incredible damage. |
DT Combo D | (in DT) ,,, Direction+, |
5-hit combo ending with a downward stab followed by a thrust kick. |
Stinger | ++ | Powerful thrust unleashed after stepping forward. Unlike in other games does not have the dash effect, making it much shorter ranged. |
High Time | ++ (hold to launch) |
A powerful attack that launches an enemy skyward. |
Helm Breaker | (mid-air) (during Air Raid) + Direction+ |
Overhead slash down on top of an enemy below. (In DT) Plunge the sword down in an enemy below. |
Aerial Combo | +,, (mid-air) | Mid-air kicks followed by a Helm Breaker. |
Round Trip | (during Air Raid) , |
Throws the sword like a boomerang, damaging nearby enemies at the same altitude. |
Smash | + (while landing) | Elbow strike knocking enemies over. |
Grave Digger | (in DT) + (while landing) |
Low spinning sweep knocking enemies over. |
Action | Command | Description |
---|---|---|
Sparda Combo A | ,, | A quick 3-hit combo. (not available in DT) |
Sparda Combo B | ,,-,, (in DT) ,,, |
5-hit combo ending with a heavy downward slash. |
Sparda Combo C | ,,-,,-, (in DT) ,,,-, |
5-hit combo ending with a thrust. |
Sashimi | ,,—, (in DT) ,,-, (continue to press the button to prolong the attack) |
Two slashes, followed by series of stabs ending with a thrust. |
Helm Breaker | (mid-air) |
A powerful overhead swing which returns the player character to the ground. |
High Time | ++ (hold to launch) |
Slash an enemy up into the air. |
Stinger | ++ | With lightning speed, plunge the sword into enemies. |
Round Trip | (hold and release) to call the sword back |
Throw the sword at enemies. During that, switch to bare hands combat. |
Plant Sparda in the ground | + (hold and release) to call the sword back (press again to hasten) |
Plant the sword in the ground and switch to bare hands combat. |
Round Trip (Air) | (Air Raid or DT underwater) | Throw your sword like a boomerang while in the air. |
Underwater Combo | , (Underwater non-DT) | Slash at the opponent underwater. |
Appearances in Other Media[]
Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3[]
The awakened Sparda is used by Trish and the dormant form is used at the same time by Vergil and by Dante in his alternate costume.
Sengoku Basara[]
Sanada Yukimura's sixth weapon is two Sparda swords. Along with the Sparda, Yukimura is equipped with the Ifrit as arm guards.
Devil May Cry novel[]
The Force Edge is Tony Redgrave's primary weapon.
MONSTER HUNTER: WORLD[]
The Force Edge can be crafted by the player by using 2 red orbs (and other materials) that can be obtained during one of the events named "Code Red". In the game the weapon bears the name "Dante's Devil Sword" and it can transform during the fight into Alastor, Ifrit as well as Nightmare-β & Nightmare-γ.
TEPPEN[]
The Force Edge and Sparda are featured in three cards in the game, one card has Arkham holding the Force Edge, being somewhat of a recreation of a cutscene in Devil May Cry 3, while the other card shows the Devil May Cry 4 iteration of Dante holding the Sparda as he's fighting Mundus and the last shows Dante within the Devil May Cry shop with the Sparda hanging on the wall.
Trivia[]
- In the English manual of the original Devil May Cry, it is stated by Enzo Ferino that Dante calls Force Edge "Woozy." This is, however, a mistranslation of the original Japanese text, which states that Dante used it to take on a dozen men with Uzis.
- The red gem on the awakened Sparda bears strong resemblance to Perfect Amulet's gem.
- If the Sparda Devil Trigger in the first game is obtained via GameShark or a similar device, the damage output will make short work of every boss and enemy in the game except Mundus.
- The awakened Sparda bears some resemblance to the demonic sword Soul Edge from Namco's Soul series.
- In the epilogue scene of Devil May Cry Trish is shown witih Sparda on her back as she walks out of "Devil Never Cry," while Dante has Force Edge on his, something that should not be possible. In the animations that play behind the credits afterwards, Dante has switched to Alastor. This only happens if one of the Dante costumes (normal or Super) is used - in the Legendary Dark Knight costume, Sparda wields Yamato.
- In first trailers, Force Edge has a more curved guard.
- In Modeus' flashback on the "The Last Promise", Sparda wields a sword that is similar in appearance to the trailer version.
- In Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition, the move Drive for this sword is more unique because it has two colors. As Force Edge (Vergil's weapon), the Drive shockwave appears as a black aura that spikes outwards in all directions, similar to a heatwave. However, for Sparda's Drive (Trish's weapon), the aura is a deep red color that was darker than the Rebellion shockwave.
- The same PS2 model was used from Devil May Cry to Devil May Cry 4. The weapon model was re-made for Devil May Cry 5.[12]
Notes and references[]
- Notes
- References
- ↑ Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition, Combat Adjudicator — Force Edge: "I am the combat adjudicator. Only a demon-forged blade can move me."
- ↑ Devil May Cry, Devil Arms — Force Edge: "A memento of Dante's father, Sparda."
- ↑ Devil May Cry 2, Weapon File — Sparda: "The Dark Knight's beloved sword."
- ↑ Devil May Cry, Devil Arms — Sparda: "It's the true form of the Force Edge, the sword wielded by the Legendary Dark Knight, Sparda."
- ↑ Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition, Devil Arms File — Force Edge: "A sword magically imbued with Sparda's power. A powerful sword with great hidden potential."
- ↑ Devil May Cry 5: History of DMC
- ↑ History of DMC: “Arkham, a man bent on obtaining demonic power, knew that unlocking Sparda’s power would weaken the seal on the underworld.”
- ↑ Devil May Cry 3 manga - Vergil "With my hands, I shall open the link to the Demon World. This world shall be consumed by the demonic realm."
- ↑ Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening, Vergil: "You should come to realize you cannot control the power of Sparda."
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Devil May Cry Kaitai Shinsho p. 49
- ↑ Hideki Kamiya on Twitter
- ↑ New York Comic-Con - Devil May Cry 5 panel
Devil May Cry | |
---|---|
Characters | Dante - Eva - Mundus - Sparda - Trish |
Bosses | Griffon - Nelo Angelo (Greatsword, Summoned Swords) - Nightmare - Phantom |
Lesser Demons | Beelzebub - Blade - Fetish - Frost - Kyklops - Marionette - Nobody - Plasma - Sargasso - Shadow - Sin Scissors & Scythe |
Devil Arms | Alastor - Force Edge & Sparda - Ifrit - Yamato |
Guns | Ebony & Ivory - Grenadegun - Luce & Ombra - Needlegun - Nightmare-β - Shotgun |
Techniques | Charged Shot - Devil Trigger - Jump Cancel - Slash Cancelling |
Items | Bangle of Time - Key Items - Perfect Amulet |
Objects | Karnival - Red Orb Cache (Locations) - Red Orb Crystals |
Locations | Dante's Office - Mallet Island (Broken Bridge) - Mirror World - Underworld |
Music | Dante's Selection - Seeds of Love |
Concepts | Devil Hunter - Jackpot |
Miscellaneous | Clear Bonus Art - HD Awards - Transcript - Walkthrough |
Related Media | 3142 Graphic Arts - Comic - Memorial Album "Precious Tears" - Sound DVD Book - The Sacred Heart - Trial Edition |
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