Urizen

	Guess that kiss is gonna have to wait.
	This article contains spoilers, as such, it is recommended to read it with caution, or not at all.

"Weak mortal. Demon power does not course through your veins. Yet you try... how dare you strike ME!? You will regret... being born useless and human! I will show you... your worst nightmares! I will give you... despair and death!"

―Urizen rises from his throne after one strike from Nero

Urizen
Name data
Katakana	ユリゼン
Rōmaji	Yurizen
Personal data
Status	Alive (as Vergil)

Urizen is a demon introduced in Devil May Cry 5 as the central antagonist. "Urizen" is in fact the demonic half of Vergil's soul made flesh; the embodiment of his lust for power.

Appearance

Urizen is a tall colossal humanoid demon with four eyes, large sharp teeth and claws. His most prominent features are the thick root-like layers of flesh that form spikes on his body like a royal cape and around his head like a crown. He also has several blue glowing orbs on his body.

After devouring the demonic fruit of the Qliphoth, the veins that cover his body shed away and reveal his true form: a large blue demonic humanoid with various eyes placed over his body, with three larger eyes on his shoulders and torso. In addition, his face remains largely human but with sharpened teeth.

Story

Urizen is in fact the demonic half of Vergil that was born after he used the Yamato to split his human and demon halves and absorbed the Devil Bringer. Equipped with all of Vergil's knowledge of demonic power leveling and with none of his human morality to hold him back. Urizen went dormant for a time but emerged days later in Red Grave City where he planted the seed of the demon tree Qliphoth intending to have it drain the blood of humanity to spawn a fruit of concentrated power and evolve to the level of a demon god.

Urizen's other half, the human V, acted to stop him, mugging several people to get the funds he needed to hire Dante, Trish and Lady to go after Urizen while later going to get Nero to help as well. Urizen easily defeats the team of demon hunters hitting Dante so hard that he shatters Rebellion and knocking Dante out of his makeshift palace while forcing the reinforcements in the form of V and Nero to retreat.

Deciding to have the two serve him, Urizen transforms Lady and Trish into demon form to serve him, Artemis and Cavaliere Angelo. Over a month after his initial clash with Dante Urizen is again confronted by Nero, this time Dante is the one who interrupts their spat in his new Sin Devil Trigger form and his new weapon the Devil Sword Dante. Now vastly more powerful Dante holds his own against the demon King and forces him to retreat.

During their third Encounter Dante successfully defeats Urizen who had feasted upon the long desired fruit of Qliphoth. As he lay dying V climbed on top of him and stabbed his cane into his chest facilitating the return of Vergil.

Personality

As the demonic half of Vergil, Urizen represents the darkest aspects of his personality, chiefly his unending thirst for more power. Completely devoid of humanity, Urizen is utterly heartless and cruel, showing no mercy to his foes, be they demon, human or even a member of his original selves' family. He didn't hesitate to unleash the Qlipoth tree upon the human world, slaughtering thousands. Like most demons, Urizen looks down upon the powerless and weak, namely mortal humans. 

Unlike most demons, who constantly taunt and rant against their enemies, Urizen is largely stoic and silent, appearing disinterested in those who challenge him. However, Urizen is also prideful as after Nero managed to actually strike and wound him during their second encounter, Urizen looked surprised and enraged, forcing him to rise from his throne and fully battle with Nero, nearly killing him. He was also insulted in how Dante returned to battle him again, interfering with his battle with Nero, and appearing in his true Sin Devil Trigger form.

Dante seems to understand that Urizen merely represents not only his brother's thirst for power but also his desire to never be weak and cast it away like he originally believed his mother had done to him. Strangely, Urizen denies any knowledge of this and instead believes that the only way to grow more powerful was to lose something. In Urizen's case, Vergil's humanity. Thus, he fails to understand on how Dante can be so powerful since he has never "lost" anything.

Powers and Abilities

Urizen (Vergil) is easily the most powerful demon seen in the series thus far, with his power increased to a different level than even Mundus, the Prince of Darkness himself and former Emperor of Hell, and therefore also the equally powerful Demon God Argosax, who had subdued every demon in the Underworld with his power. In Nico's notes, she states that after consuming the fruit from the Qliphoth, Urizen had the power to shake the foundations of the world, and going so far as to say that one would need the power of a god to defeat him in that state.

His power is boosted so great that not only was he able to effortlessly defeat Nero twice, first ripping off Devil Bringer and then leaving him incapable of fighting back in their recent fight, and even the infamous Dante, his own brother, aided by Trish and Lady proved to be no match for Urizen when the latter wasn't even moving from his seat. He easily overpowered Dante in Devil Trigger state and shattered Rebellion with a single punch.

However, even Urizen's abilities has its limits, as after an ardous struggle, Nero managed to break through his shield and actually wound the Demon King. In addition, Dante was able to battle Urizen to a stand-still after recovering from their last battle and appearing in his true Sin Devil Trigger form. Later on, when Urizen had devoured the fruit from the Qliphoth, he attained power beyond reckoning, but even then he was still defeated by Dante who had unlocked his true hidden power.

Quotes

"It is YOU who does not understand. It has begun. The Qliphoth is revealed in its entirety. The inconvenience... matters not."

―Urizen makes his leave after Dante defeats him

Etymology

The name Urizen comes from the English poet William Blake's mythology. Urizen is a god-like being and the embodiment of conventional reason and law.

See also

• V
• Vergil