Devil May Cry 4

Plot

The game opens with Nero hurrying towards the Opera House where the Order of the Sword is conducting a ceremony, with his right arm in a sling. Meanwhile Kyrie, Nero’s romantic interest, is beginning to open the ceremony with a song and is disappointed not to find Nero in the audience. She begins her song nonetheless as Nero encounters several Scarecrow demons on his way to the Opera House. He dispatches them and arrives at the Opera House just in time to hear the end of Kyrie’s song. Following this, Kyrie joins Nero in the audience where she finds that Nero has left a present for her, a golden necklace. The High Priest of the Order of the Sword, Sanctus, beckons the Order members to join him in prayer; Nero is visibly bored by this and is about to leave despite Kyrie’s protests, when his right arm begins to glow ominously. At this moment, Dante bursts through the ceiling and assassinates Sanctus.

Nero, under the impression that Kyrie is in danger, attacks Dante to initiate a fight. As Dante gains the upper hand, Nero's right arm, the Devil Bringer, awakens and uses its power to seemingly kill Dante by impaling him with his own sword upon the statue of Sparda. Dante responds by saying that Nero is "getting better", and then pushes himself off the statue. As Dante removes the sword from his chest, Nero asks, "You're not human, are you?" Dante replies that "We're the same, you and I ... and them," pointing to one of the dead knights. Nero looks and it is revealed that the knight was possessed with a demonic appearance. Nero looks up to see that Dante is already resting on the hole in the ceiling from which he came. Dante states that he suspects Nero "carries something different from the others", and then swoops out of view just as the knight reinforcements arrive.

Nero is charged with capturing Dante and bringing him back to the Order to answer for his crimes by Credo, the leader of the Order's knights and Kyrie’s brother. Upon leaving the Opera House, however, a demonic horde begins to lay waste to the city. Nero and Kyrie are separated as Nero begins to slay the demons. Whilst journeying to Fortuna Castle he meets Gloria, a new member to the Order. Nero fights his way into the depths of Fortuna Castle. On the way, it is revealed that Sanctus has been infused with the soul of a demon to be revived. Agnus, the stuttering scientist and mastermind of the Order's demonic power manipulation, is also introduced.

Nero finally reaches Agnus's facility where he is ambushed by several white knights and is injured. Vergil's broken katana, Yamato, responds to Nero and mends itself before flying into his hand. Nero fends off Agnus' attacks with the aid of a spectral blue demon hovering behind him; after the battle, Nero collapses in exhaustion. Agnus flees back to Sanctus and informs him of Nero’s new-found power. Credo vows to take care of Nero while Gloria takes over Nero’s pursuit of Dante.

Nero is confronted by Credo, who has also been infused with demonic power, giving him the characteristics of an Angel. He is defeated by Nero, however, Kyrie arrives in time to witness Nero with his demonic arm standing over her defeated brother. Agnus uses the confusion and distraction on Nero’s part to kidnap Kyrie and flee. Credo postpones his feud with Nero until he can investigate the situation. Nero once more meets Dante, but his quest to capture him is long since forgotten; he wishes to simply pass Dante. However, Dante wants Yamato, the sword used by his twin-brother Vergil, returned to him. A fight ensues where Dante is victorious; however, he decides to let Nero keep Yamato after the latter has “cooled down”. Gloria appears before Dante as Nero leaves; however, it is revealed that Gloria is in fact Trish, Dante’s partner in his demon hunting business “Devil May Cry”.

Nero reaches Sanctus and the “Savior”, an enormous demon which the Order intends to bring to life using Nero and Yamato’s power. Using Kyrie as a human shield, Sanctus is successful in detaining Nero. Sanctus reveals that the Savior requires the essence of Sparda to reach full power; he originally intended Dante to be used as the core, but accepts Nero as a suitable substitute, claiming that Nero is also a descendant of Sparda. Credo attempts to rescue the two, but is mortally wounded by Sanctus. Dante arrives and tells Nero to give him his sword back. Nero tells Dante to "come and get it". Nero is then absorbed into the Savior. Agnus uses Yamato to open the true Hellgate, releasing a multitude of demons onto the city. Sanctus arrives with the Savior and begins to exterminate the demons. Dante, upon hearing Credo’s dying request to rescue Kyrie and Nero, fights his way back towards the city. On his way, he destroys the three smaller Hellgates used to release the demons.

Dante arrives back at the Opera House and kills Agnus. He then retrieves Yamato and uses it to destroy the true Hellgate before confronting Sanctus and the Savior. After discovering that the Savior is invincible from the outside, Dante drives Yamato into the chest of the Savior, where it is retrieved by Nero. Nero defeats Sanctus inside the Savior and rescues Kyrie. Nero eventually uses his Devil Bringer to destroy the Savior and Sanctus. After entrusting Nero with Yamato, Dante departs. Nero and Kyrie's reunion is interrupted by another demon attack. In the secret ending, at the Devil May Cry shop, Trish and Lady bicker over the small reward Lady had offered, with Lady accusing Trish for having disguised herself as Gloria and delivering Sparda's sword to the Order. After Trish forcibly drags him into their argument, Dante ends it by saying that it's "better than nothing." What's interesting is that the magazine Dante is shown reading is entitled "Two Handguns" and that two pages are entitled "Devil May Cry 4" and "Ebony and Ivory". Afterwards, Lady sets out to leave, but then the phone rings, with a customer having another job for Dante to do, and the trio moves out to help.

Special Edition: Vergil's Campaign Mode

(Note that Vergil's Missions in this Campaign are not part of the canon, and only the cutscenes represented in the Special Edition are considered.)

Few decades before the events of Devil May Cry 4, Vergil went to Fortuna to investigate the contruction of a religion known as "The Order of the Sword", until a group of Scarecrows suddenly appears and attacks Vergil. Which Vergil swiftly defends himself and attacks back in the process. Afterwards, he continues to investigate around Fortuna in order to find the answers he wanted to know about it until one unknown lady from the order or a local townspeople in Fortuna catches her eye.

After the investigation and getting the answers he'd wanted, Vergil left Fortuna, and later he described The Order are not "Misguided" and vows that one day they will know the "...true power of Sparda," as he continues to walk away with a silhouette similar to Nero's Devil Trigger behind him.

Special Edition: Lady & Trish's Campaign Mode

(Note that Lady & Trish's Missions in this Campaign are not part of the canon, and only the cutscenes represented in the Special Edition are considered)

Moments before Dante went to Fortuna, Lady explains about the rumors of the religion called "The Order of the Sword". And as Dante and Lady had a conversation regarding it, Trish leaves unattended with the Sword of Sparda in her hands, and left a writing "See you there" on the wall in red lipstick. Lady later follows, with telling Dante to not to be late. As Lady then leaves, she joins Trish in killing the Scarecrows scattered around the residential area. After the battle, Trish goes ahead and Lady follows as Dante watches from the shop. 

After the events of Mission 20, Lady, Trish, and Dante watch as Nero and Kyrie share their moment together. Trish and Lady are amazed and Dante walks out, laughing. Afterwards, Dante asks Lady if they were expecting to get paid for their job, which Lady replies that he'll get it once they come back. Dante sighs in relief as the trio left the scene. Dante then watches Nero one last time before he leaves, and that he'll look after the boy.