So this episode was an attempt to go a little bit deeper than just looking at Nero's aesthetic and design, I hope you enjoyed my further analysis into why I enjoyed the changes made to the character so much! A massive thank you to my friends from Bastion, who provided their amazing track 'Drift' which closed this video and perfectly suited the DMC vibe imo. Check them out on Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/bastionmusic

DMC 5 Nero is already so iconic its crazy

Local Gen Z slaps his uncle and DDT's his deadbeat father

7:03 - "And then he revved his sword" I tell you, I've seen plenty of self-proclaimed "huge DMC fans" who thought this was Dante even _after_ he spoke or revved his Red Queen.

It kinda feels like Nero is the new Sparda. At least in concept. He fights for humanity, his love for his family trumps pretty much everything and is what drives him forward. When Dante and Vergil's rivalry became a liability, he was the one to put them in their place and make them work together. Not to mention, his love for his family and comrades is what allowed Nero to unlock his true devil powers without the need for a Devil Arm. It was just him. Nero's Devil form is also more angelic in appearance, what with the softer forward curling horns, long flowing hair, slim build and Devil Bringer arms that resemble feathery wings. My point is, this gives Nero the air of a savior who "woke up to justice" with others' best interest in mind and who cares for his loved ones, rather than a brash and cocky anti-hero who mostly fools around just cuz he can. Even Dante acknowledges Nero's fortitude in many facets and wants Nero to be better than him, and he knows the human world is in good hands. I'm honestly really excited to see what Nero will be up to next.

Now this This pulls my Devil Trigger

The shorter hair also helps distinguish him from Dante and Vergil at a glance, something I really appreciate.I think Nero's general character was also really helped by having Nico to bounce off of in 5, basically being pushed into playing the straight man to her weirdness, while still being a bit of a goof himself, but not as much as Dante. Nero is more of a homegrown hero despite his lineage, more emotional, but it's that part that decides to stop Dante and Vergil, the family he Just found out he had, from killing each other. This kid who's been an outsider all his life finds out the one thing he's always wanted, a family, actually exists in their own scattered way, and by fuck he's gonna keep it together somehow, screw Dante's offhanded way of looking after him at a distance. I really love Nero and the direction they took with him in 5Lovely video ^^

I liked this design of Nero bc it felt like HIS. Not a rip off directly from Dante.

DMC5's Nero is a lot more punk rock and I always thought that was a good style for Nero. Him breaking away from a dante/vergil lookalike helped his design a ton as well. Before I got into the DMC series I literally could not tell between Dante and Nero with my uninformed mind and through what small glances I had of the games. Red Queen is also one of the coolest weapons in all of video games, so that always gave him big points. Nero kicks ass, if there's ever another entry in the series I can't wait to see how he develops in gameplay and style.

A note to the editor (myself): Hideki Kamiya didn't design Nero, he was created by Bingo Morihashi and designed by Tatsuya Yoshikawa! An annoying error as I got my names muddled. Apologies, I hope it doesn't hurt your enjoyment of the video!

Not ashamed to admit I've always loved Nero WAY more than Dante and Vergil. I know a lot of people hate the whole angsty teen thing he had going but I personally loved it. Same reason I love Raiden instead of Snake. There's something about a weaker and younger character going from being overshadowed by the older ones to rising to the top throughout the series.

One thing about Nero's attitude is that in 4 I felt he was showing off to look cool to any potential bystander or something, he wanted to feel cool so he showed off that way. In 5 it seems like he just wants to entertain himself when he shows off, he still does it but it seems more like he just wants to have fun with things and not look cool, which in turn makes him cooler. Like I don't think 4 Nero would do the dance he does in 5 nor the camera taunt, those are pretty damn goofy and not really stylish but he has enough fun with it that it makes it pretty damn cool.

He adopted the Chad persona compared to its dmc4 version

I didn't mind Nero as a character in DMC4, actually. I liked him quite a lot, actually. I saw Dante as more of an intruder in that game... like, he felt very off to me from the beginning. He's super quiet and unresponsive at first, but then starts clowning around even more than he did in DMC3 later on. 😆 I actually didn't like how he stole Nero's spotlight in that game because Nero turned out to be too weak. When it was time to play Dante, I was pretty much just like "where's Nero? I want him back. I don't like this intruder!" LOL. Even though I did play DMC 1 to 3 beforehand, I preferred Nero overall in the fourth game. Dante is way better in 5, though. In my opinion.

In spite of his flaws, I'm glad they introduced Nero. DMC5 did him justice and sticking with Dante as the main character would have been a mistake. In 4 and 5 Dante never once struggled except against Vergil and that made total sense by that point. He'd completed his arc, he'd gotten so many fucking powerups and from the beginning he was incredibly strong

The devil may in fact cry

nero in dmc4 feels like a mini dante. sure he wears blue but it almost doesnt stand out, as if his red shirt is his main color, nero in dmc5 feels like a mix of dante and vergil but with his own thing in it too

Remember. Only reason nero is fighting in DMC5 is because dante called him dead weight 😂

I known we can't have this game without Nero losing his arm, but I really wish we got to see more of the devil bringer in the new graphics. A lot would change if Nero kept it, but I really wish he didn't lose it right way

Nero in DMC 5 became my favorite character , his style of game play and his development as a character just awesome

I think the "scene kid" Nero looks a lot cooler and fits my aesthetic tastes a lot more (god knows how I have a fetish for unnecessary belts, zippers and holsters) but the "chad jock" Nero has a more simple, distinct and unique look.

The only aspect I'd say DMC5's design is inferior in would be the use of colour. Nero's DMC4 design was a masterclass in the use of colour contrast Nero's blue trousers and coat were offset really nicely by his red hoodie, Order symbol on his coat, and the red on the inside of his rolled-up sleeves. This is also exemplified through other things like his blue devil Bringer offset by its red outer shell, the orange and red fire effects on his red queen contrasted by the ethereal blue effects of his DT ETC. Even his weapons reference this (Blue Rose and Red Queen) and even have red and blue highlights on each respectively. This was done to convey that Nero combines Vergil's no-nonsense attitude with Dante's Passionate personality (as well as just to make his design more dynamic.) and it succeeds on all counts. DMC5's design is lacking this a fair bit in comparison. It's still there, but the red on his shirt his much less saturated, the red on his rolled-up sleeves and the red arm symbol is gone completely, and it's toned down a little on his effects too (the muzzle flash on Blue Rose is no longer blue for example). His default Devil Breaker is also blue, to match the rest of the outfit rather than contrast it like the Devil Bringer did in DMC4. Don't get me wrong, I still love DMC5's design and even prefer it overall, but the less masterful use of colour was a shame to see. Hopefully, it doesn't toned-down more in DMC6.

I'm satisfied with DMC5 on so many levels. They did Nero justice, they gave him a more self-reflective character arc and, actually, they gave a character arc to all 3 main protagonists. Not entirely sure on Virgil's conclusion, but he at least shouldn't be trying to harness OP demonic powers anymore. I think Nero can take the lead without Dante now, living his own story, facing his own set of super villains that don't even need to be tied to Sparda.

I'm supprised you didn't mention that his new character design also brings him closer to the design of his father.

Now this is how you pass the torch from one main character to another. After playing both DMC 4 and 5 I feel Nero has earned his place as the focus of the series. Not many series can get it right but DMC 5 does it beautifully I love playing at Nero and its a joy to experience his growth throughout 4 and 5. Thanks for the video I love watching stuff like this!!

I just wish he still had long hair, that was the only thing I preferred about DMC4 Nero over DMC5 Nero. And maybe a DMC4 skin for DMC5 would be fun

Me and my SO just finished playing DMC5 which was our first Devil May Cry. Glad I get to watch this vid in a timely manner! The context you provide is super insightful. I love how the direction for the characters story telling directly reflects his visual evolution (and for the better!). I loved the comparisons you used in this video to other stories as well! Really fleshed things out and added fun context. As always, a great video Mark.

DMC 5 Nero is already so iconic in dmc 4 he looks like a anime emo boy but now he looks like a real sparda boy and our boi dante looks so hot ass fuck.

On Nero's first design, I guess I wasn't that interested in him. But I did give him a chance, but that was it. The second one, I really like it, and yeah! I totally agree with you about Nero's second design being very loosely based on the reboot design which is pretty neat, and thanks to that, we get to have a Nero we appreciated more compared to when we first got introduced to him.

Dante - Cowboy Vergil - Samurai Nero - Knight

I liked the DMC 5 design much more. He seems more relaxed and comfortable in his own skin. The design in 4 was too much like Dante to enjoy

I love the direction they took with dmc5, even if I miss the castlevania anime-esque feel of the old games over the realistic modern look in 5, but nero definitely had a better story/overall design in 5 over 4.

I kinda liked DMC4 Nero. Had a cool gun and sword and a wicked arm - still kinda miss the way it looked, actually. But I'm glad they brought back his Devil Bringer powers - and now he has TWO. 😂 Would like to see how this - having four arms, or five, if you count the Devil Breaker - changes the way he fights in the future. I'd like to see Nero get some Devil Arms that aren't devils' arms. 😂 His Red Queen and Blue Rose are really good, solid, strong weapons, but I wouldn't mind seeing him using something else. Maybe some kinda of demonic fist weapon like what Dante has gotten in every instalment (except DMC2, but we don't talk about that LOL). Also, while it isn't really his thing, it might be cool if he also developed different "Styles" like Dante did in DMC3 and onwards. Like, maybe he has a Breaker-oriented Style, a Buster-oriented Style and/or maybe a Swordmaster-like Style. I'm curious to see how his powers evolve from here on out as someone with the potential to surpass Dante and Vergil. His lasr Devil Trigger form - that Susano'o-looking demon behind him like a Stand - was pretty cool in my opinion. I liked that a lot. His new Devil Trigger is epic too... but I wonder what would happen if he got his hands on something else like Yamato or Devil Sword Dante.

Nero had long hair in dmc4 but he had cut his hair in dmc5 in asian countries especially Japan cutting hair means starting a new life which we saw in nero he had stopped being a knight and is a mechanic

Brother Nero! I knew you'd come...

I’m no devil but this video made me cry. This video was like watching an instructive video for space travel made by a flat earther. Some points were correct, but the rest were comparable to fucking a dead body at the funeral-it was just wrong and a horror to watch.

This really pulled my V Trigger. I thought Cody and Nero looked similar as well! Loved the analysis.

Idk but I think it would be cool too if by Dmc6, they give Nero purple or any color between blue & red. Just sort of like a balance between his Vergil and Dante traits. Maybe leaning more towards red if Nero's more on Dante's side, or violet to indigo if Vergil's

Good video bro!

I’ve had this game on my list for a while now . Just keep forgetting to get it . Great video as always

Got yoself a like + new subscriber, the Nero vs Cody comparison was on point.

If it wasn’t for DMC5, Nero would not be my favorite character. I still like him in DMC4 but god he is soooo good in DMC5. Cutting Nero’s hair was one of the best decisions they could have made for him. It works so well.

When DMC4 first came out I thought that both Nero's design and character was mediocre. A weak attempt at appealing to teens, and seeing how I was 19 at the time and about to "grow up", I found his additude to be a bit annoying and reminding me of parts of myself I wanted to distance myself from. And seeing how Dante was more over-the-top than ever, he was easily my preferd option when playing the game. Then the reboot came, and I saw what could happen when someone tried to do a Nero, but failed. Donte has way more in common with Nero than Dante, with the punk additude, disrespect for authority, edgyness and angst, except with none of the charm of either. I think the reboot is a fun game to play, but I can't stand Donte as a character, even of his design is ok when viewed as its own thing. Then DMC5 came and made Nero go from ok, to awesome. He's still a punk, but he feels more mature, his angst is toned down, but still feels earned, and his design takes the best parts from his DMC4 look and Donte and makes them work. I love Dante's look in DMC5, but I think Nero has the best design PC-design in the game (Nico and Lady have the best designs overall IMO). Great video man! Keep up the good work!

DMC 5 Nero's design is almost taken exactly from the Dante from Devil May Cry DMC the one between 4 and 5. And I can't lie, that DMC was personal favorite, the gameplay was so sick, and Vergil was fun af too.

Neros play style in DMC5 brings me so much hope for the future of Nero and the series. I was always worried when Dante and his style system would eventually fade from the games in the future. With more fine tuning and being able to cycle through arms without breaking them I can't wait what the developers bring next title

I wouldn't have ever caught that connection to wrestling.

The beauty of Nero is that after shedding a tear for Vergil, he also wanted to redeem himself when it came to Vergil so after a while he was tutoring Nero through tough love as he wasnt used to getting close to others and he was family. He fought his brother, his father fought demons that were considered family. He wanted to break the cycle. Nero wanted to break it as well and did it in his own way. Now that Nero came into his own, Dante entrusted things to him. Dante was lazy and unmotivated but when it came to family, nothing ever lit a fire under him like that.

To be fair, Kyrie is basically Kingdom Hearts Kairi. Red hair, kidnapped love interest, as bland as cardboard. Theyre more or less the same functioning character.

I like your analysis.

Love this video dude! You should get more views than you're getting

Yo, just discovered your videos, LOVING them so far. Gotta say, though, and while I understand you have way more experience than me in video essays and far more of a following, I think that your audio mix is a bit off? The music overpowers you sometimes, and takes center stage. I actually went to mute DMC5 so I could focus on the video without the music drowning it out, thinking I had it running in the background, then realized it was your video.

Nero's jacket has always been navy blue not black.

The Devil Breakers definitely add a bit of uniqueness to Nero's character and I love it

Man you made Nero’s rev’ing in the trailer way more important now. Awesome

This is a fun analysis, thanks for putting it together! I would like to also point out that the devil breaker further serves to separate Dante's sensibilities from Nero's. For the most part, Dante uses devil arms (think old-school, great unknown power, etc) and his guns are not really that insane, like they could exist in real life. Well, okay, except Double Kalina Ann (but you could even say that that's purely because of Nico). But anyway, from the start, everything Nero has is super unique and "futuristic". The revving sword, his gun is double barreled, and now he's got a ROBOT ARM. Nero is like the new-school tech-enabled Devil Hunter. Even when getting his hands on a devil arm like Artemis, which was part of the demon body Lady was fused with, rather than Nico reconstructing it into the same laser gun from DMC3, she makes him two new Devil Breakers.

Originally I was really EHHHH about his look in DMC5 but in time it grew on me. I liked the way he looked in 4 and I was still cringing from DmC Donte

You deserve much, much more attention!

As a huge DMC fan I own em all. Nero is great in 5 and gotta say looks like Cody Rhodes quite a bit. Maybe if a DMC movie comes out get Cody Rhodes to play Nero

I love old nero look more

One thing that always struck me about dmc5 neros devil trigger was the spectral wing arms he gets. They remind me very heavily of Gore magalas wings in Monster Hunter. The whole claws clutching the shoulders so the wings can act as a cloak/cape is uncannily similar on both characters. It's curious, when both games are capcom IP's.

I really like the alternative outfit with the scarf, also very 2000s

I didn’t hate Nero’s design in DMC4. I remember loving what he brought to the table gameplay-wise back in 2009. His devil bringer was (and is) dope af. That said, his design in DMC 5 is top notch and a serious improvement over his previous game. I agree with you in that DMC 5 succeeds in making him more than just “mini Dante”

You should do which snake has the best character design from metal gear solid (solid snake, old snake, big boss/naked snake, solidus, liquid, venom snake)

Hey, I know am kinda late to the party but may ask: 3:24 Where did you got that Nero's desing was made by Hideki Kamiya? Kamiya didn't touch a single DMC after the very first one and by 2008 he was at Platinum. And besides, the game credits Tatsuya Yoshikawa as "Character Designer". So, where did you got that info? The closest thing I found was an article that points out the similarities between Nero and the protagonist of Scalebound as a ackwoledgement of Itsuno's work by Kamiya.

Everything about nero fits like a glove for me, i really can't wait for him to grow even more if theres ever a dmc6

Hill Im ready die on: Nero is designed to look like the design work that Capcom did for Dmc Dante. Not the original work that Ninja Theory did but the way that the character looks in the final game. Even his personality is a lot closer to Dmc Dante than any other character in The Devil May Cry series.

My favorite thing about Nero is that when you're in DT and you buster the enemies down they bounce up allowing you to to continue your combo after the buster.

I never noticed this before, but he was one of the first people ever rocking true wireless headphones.

I like the new designs of Nero and Dante. Still stylish, but they look like something real people would wear. Not too "guess who's the main character at this anime" type lol

On dmc4 and dmc5 when the demons have angelic have angelic glowing wings ow wing or the entire body and neck and legs and arms like Nero’s devil trigger in dmc5 does it mean they used to be angels

3:25 I'm sorry, but did you say Nero's original design was by Kamiya? I'm going to have to ask for evidence on that one. DMC4 was well into the Itsuno years.

I definitely don't hate 5 Nero's design. in fact, its grown om me, but his design in 4 will always be my favorite. as someone who loves drawing, I enjoyed sketching all the details in his clothes; it was a lot of fun for me. I do like the shift in style hes got going on, but the coat feels too short. the same can be said for 4 Dante, idk how he went from looking like a cowboy to homeless guy who found one of his old coats.

I quite enjoyed Nero in DMC4, both im terms of design and also a bit of his attitude. Didn't like his constant yelling for Kyrie, but that aside, he was a pretty solid character. He was a bit of an outsider for sure, but he already was in the place that he grew up. He didn't belong, didn't like what happened, so he rebelled against it. It made sense if you look at it in a bit of a larger scheme. At least it does in my opinion. I was also a huge fan of the arm. The Devil Bringer is definitely a favorite that I missed in DMC5. Sure the Devil Breakers where nice, I'll admit to that. But at the same time I did hope that he'd have that arm back somewhere in the game. I would've liked to have seen more of it other than about 30 seconds of screentime. It looked very different, gray instead of blue. And the red tint seemed to be gone as well. And I'm still wondering why they made that part so different. I do love his overall design in DMC5. More mature yet still looking like his roots in DMC4.

To add more to the Cody comparison, Nero also does wrestling moves lmao hahaha

about dante calling nero dead weight: he obviously doesn't actually think that, nor is he arrogant/delusional enough to think that he can for sure defeat urizen. the reason he said it was to get nero to retreat, he was simply trying to protect him

If I ever get a prosthetic arm I want it to look like Nero's Devil Breaker Overture

look, in my pov dmc 4 nero looks so freaking cool

Imo,I kinda preferred nero's prototype design in 4 I really liked him in 4.I love nero's new design tho RIP devil bringer.Nice vid.

You've GOT to change out that brushhead

Now you gotta do Vergil.

I'm glad you told us this so long after we found out for ourselves

Nah I saw devil may cry and then saw that ichigo face and was like “hell yeah nero!!!!” Fuck a award rev

I'm so grateful that this was my first time playing as Nero.❤️

After playing DMC4SE I just noticed that there’s a striking resemblance between Nero’s DT form and the STANDO he had in DMC4

I think this guy is so on the mark with the cody rhodes comparison As soon as you get the buster arm Nero starts busting out pro wrestling moves like hes about to throw Mankind off Hell in a Cell to plummet 16ft. through the announcer's table.

i think dmc4 nero looks cooler, but the dmc5 design fits him better and makes him stand out more

Do Vergil next!

It's also amazing how they made the infamous "Fuck you" line into something almost poignant with Nero. With Donte from the reboot, it was just that character coming off as an edgy little prick who lacks personality and charm. While with Nero, it's very fitting to his attitude at the moment as he battles against the father he never knew he had until now.

DMC4 was my introduction to the series as the first entry on Xbox, so I'm just glad to see that Nero has established himself within the fanbase after a decade of mixed reviews. He's a good boy under that gruff exterior.

The first video I ever watched from your content channel was the Cloud Design video, & that was a great well-made video. Then I saw the Dante Design video last month, & I loved it as well. Then last night, I watched the Nero Design video, & it was an amazing. I like DMC4 Nero but I understand why you mixed thoughts on him, & I can respect your opinions. But I 100% agree with you that DMC5 Nero has improved a lot, & is a better character in the game. I love DMC5 Nero in both design wise & character. I’ve watched those 3 videos, & I’ve decided to become a subscriber for this channel mainly because I enjoy content like this & I too love art. I look forward to more videos in the future. This is just a request I have, but if you ever have time, can you do a design evolution video on Leon S. Kennedy from Resident Evil? I’d love to see that happen. Thanks, & keep up the great work! 👍🏼

All chracters seems to have matured well. Maybe because Capcom have started using real models for their fictional characters. Great decision and would like to see other games to implement the same method. So glad we finally got DMC5. Still can't understand why Morrison got changed but it suits very well for the game. It should have been done way earlier.

What's the name of the OST playing around 7:50?

I want to ask: Which Devil Bringer design you prefer?

I LOVED that Nero's Devil Breakers were designed by Shoji Kawamori! The designer of the Macros-SDF-1 and Co-designer of Dangaioh!

I just miss the hair lol. That's literally my only gripe with his new look but I can understand why it's a necessary change.

I actually enjoyed DMC: Devil May Cry personally. Though tbf I was aware of the DMC series before but was never into it as I didn't own a system that could play it. DMC5 was the first DMC I actually sat down and played from being to end.

I have not noticed the Cody Rhodes similarity and now I cannot unsee it.

I lost you at the boxing part

Honestly I kinda wished they kept his hair from 4. I don't hate his hair in 5 but I do prefer the original look

Nero's Devil Bringer in DMC 4 was one of the best looking arms in fiction. I still wonder why the hell Capcom changed its design.