Devil May Cry is an action-adventure game series created by Hideki Kamiya. After the first game, Hideaki Itsuno directed every subsequent game until Devil May Cry 5. The series introduced a new type of game called "character action," where players use stylish combat moves to earn rankings from D to SSS. Capcom develops and publishes the games. The story follows Dante, a demon hunter who fights to stop demons from invading Earth. Players fight enemies by creating long attack sequences, avoiding damage, and using creative moves in real time. These actions, along with time spent and items used, determine the player's final score.

The series is inspired by the Italian poet Dante's work, The Divine Comedy. Hideki Kamiya created Devil May Cry after trying to make a Resident Evil game that did not work. The first game was originally planned as Resident Evil 4. Kamiya wanted to make a game with more action, even though Capcom thought the series did not need it. Later games were directed by Hideaki Itsuno and written by Bingo Morihashi.

In 2010, Capcom announced a new game called DmC: Devil May Cry, developed by Ninja Theory and supervised by Capcom. A remastered version of the first three PlayStation 2 games was released in 2012 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Updated versions were also released for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One in 2018. These remastered games were later released as standalone titles for Nintendo Switch between 2019 and 2020, with Devil May Cry 3 adding new features for the platform. The most recent game, Devil May Cry 5, was released on March 8, 2019.

The series has sold 38 million copies worldwide and earned Capcom's Platinum Title award. Its popularity has led to comic books, novels, two animated series (a canonical anime and a Netflix series), guides, collectibles, action figures, and crossovers with other franchises, including Marvel vs. Capcom and Punishing: Grey Raven.

Games

• Devil May Cry: Players take on the role of Dante, a skilled demon hunter. The game focuses on fast and exciting fighting; a high style ranking is earned by performing long attack and dodge sequences while avoiding harm. Though the game includes puzzle-solving and exploration from its earlier survival-horror roots, these elements are less emphasized in favor of action. Later versions required players to use varied attacks to keep their style rank. The Devil Trigger, a key ability in the series, allows the character to temporarily transform into a devil-like form with extra powers (based on their weapon), increasing speed and attack strength while slowly restoring health.

• Devil May Cry 2: Dante is the main character, but players can also control Lucia and Trish. New features include mid-air combination attacks and buttons for dodging and switching weapons. The weapon-change button lets players cycle through ranged weapons without opening the inventory screen. The game introduced "Bloody Palace," a popular mode.

• Devil May Cry: Deadshot: A shooter game released for Japanese mobile phones in 2003. It takes place in an old castle on a deserted island.

• Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening: Dante can use many weapons and fighting styles, letting players focus on preferred techniques or weapons. Each of the four styles earns experience points, unlocking new abilities without spending red orbs (the series' currency). A second weapon-change button was added, allowing players to switch between melee weapons. The game was later released as Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition, adding new skills for Dante and the ability to play as Vergil.

• Devil May Cry: Two mobile games for feature phones were released between 2007 and 2008. One has gameplay similar to Devil May Cry 3, using enemies and characters from that game. It is also called Devil May Cry: Dante X Vergil. The other is a 2D side-scrolling beat 'em up.

• Devil May Cry 4: This game introduces a new character, Nero, who can be played alongside Dante. Nero’s Devil Bringer arm lets players pull enemies toward themselves, perform specific attacks, or move through the environment. Nero also uses a sword that can be charged for extra damage. As Dante, players can switch weapons and styles during combat. The game was later released as Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition, allowing players to control Vergil, Lady, and Trish.

• Devil May Cry HD Collection: A collection of the first three games, released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2012. It was later made available on PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One in 2018.

• DmC: Devil May Cry: This reboot reimagines the series, setting Dante and his twin brother Vergil as Nephilim, beings with angel and demon heritage. Players can switch between Angel Mode and Demon Mode, using special weapons and movement abilities. Features include the Ophion whip and grappling hook for exploring hidden areas. The game takes place in Limbo, a parallel world filled with demons, and in urban settings inspired by modern Western cities. The story critiques themes like mass media and consumerism. The game is now considered an alternate version of the original series’ story.

• Devil May Cry 5: This game continues the story from Devil May Cry 4. It features Nero, Dante, and a new character named V. Nero’s Devil Bringer arm is replaced by swappable cybernetic arms called Devil Breakers, each with unique abilities. V controls three demons in battle due to his weak physical condition. The game was later released as Devil May Cry 5: Special Edition, allowing players to control Vergil.

• Devil May Cry: Peak of Combat: A mobile game based on Devil May Cry 3, developed by Yunchang Games. The game’s portrayal of Dante was criticized, and developers promised to improve it before its 2020 release.

Plot

The story begins two thousand years before the first game, when the demon Sparda, known as the Black Knight, defeats Mundus, the ruler of the Demon World. Sparda prevents Mundus from conquering the human world by sealing several Hellgates and Temen-Ni-Gru (the last gate) using a ritual that requires his blood and the help of a human priestess named Eva. Sparda meets Eva, and they have twin sons named Dante and Vergil.

The plot starts with Devil May Cry 3, which takes place a year after Dante and Vergil have a disagreement. A large tower appears near Dante's shop, and he sees it as a challenge from Vergil. In a battle at Temen-Ni-Gru, Vergil defeats Dante, takes his locket, and leaves with Arkham. Dante's hidden devil power awakens, and he continues to chase his brother. Vergil plans to use pendants from their mother to perform a ritual that creates a portal to the Demon World. Lady joins the battle, seeking revenge for her mother's death caused by Arkham. Arkham tricks Dante, Vergil, and Lady into completing the ritual, which would allow him to obtain Sparda's sword, the Force Edge. Dante and Vergil defeat Arkham, but they continue fighting each other. As the portal closes, Vergil enters the Demon World. He faces Mundus, his mother's killer, using the magical sword Yamato, which once belonged to Sparda. When Lady returns, she reflects on the relationship between devils and humans, creating the phrase "devil may cry." Dante uses this phrase as the name for his shop.

In Devil May Cry, Dante meets Trish, who tells him that Mundus plans to return and that only a descendant of Sparda can stop him. Dante travels to Mallet Island, where Mundus is expected to return, and faces demons, including Nelo Angelo, Mundus' general. He discovers that Trish is working for Mundus but saves her because she resembles his mother. Trish helps Dante defeat Mundus by returning him to the Demon World. Dante and Trish escape as the island collapses and work together at the Devil Never Cry shop.

In the Devil May Cry: The Animated Series anime, Trish is a demon hunter. Dante is the bodyguard of Patty, a young heiress who becomes interested in him. Patty's mother is descended from a sorcerer who sealed the power of Abigail, an ancient devil. Patty is targeted by Sid, a demon seeking Abigail's power. Lady and Trish fight demons summoned by Sid, and Dante kills Sid.

In Devil May Cry 2, Dante is invited by Lucia to meet her mother, Matier. He learns that Arius is collecting magical items called Arcana to summon the demon lord Argosax. Dante decides to help after flipping a coin. Lucia confronts Arius, who reveals he created her. Lucia gives Dante the last Arcana before fighting Arius alone. Dante meets Matier, who asks him to use the Arcana to save Lucia. Lucia is captured by Arius, but Dante trades the Arcana for her and attacks Arius. A portal to the Demon World opens, and Dante chooses to enter it. After Dante leaves, Arius returns to the human world, and Lucia defeats him.

In Devil May Cry 4, Dante and Trish uncover a secret plan by the Order of the Sword, led by Sanctus, who wants to conquer the world using demonic power. Dante appears to kill Sanctus but faces Nero, a young knight who has inherited Sparda's demonic powers. Nero tries to capture Dante and learns about the Order's secrets. Nero and his girlfriend, Kyrie, are captured to help the Order. Dante helps free Nero, who later defeats Sanctus and rescues Kyrie. Dante and Nero part ways as friends, with Dante giving Nero the sword Yamato.

In Devil May Cry 5, set years after Devil May Cry 4, Nero runs a mobile version of Dante's Devil May Cry business. He befriends Nico, a weapon maker descended from the craftsman who made Dante's Ebony and Ivory guns. Nero's Devil Bringer arm is stolen, and he uses a prosthetic called the Devil Breaker, made by Nico, to leave with Dante and the demon hunter V to face their strongest enemy yet.

The series' timeline was changed with the release of Devil May Cry 5, placing Devil May Cry 4 after Devil May Cry 2. DmC: Devil May Cry, created by Ninja Theory, is not part of the main timeline and takes place in a different universe. It features a version of Dante that looks different from the main series and includes modern themes about media and culture.

Development

After the release of Resident Evil 2 in 1998, early work on a PlayStation 2 version of the Resident Evil series began with Team Little Devil, led by Hideki Kamiya. During this time, the team traveled to Spain to study castles for inspiration in designing the game’s environments. However, the game’s prototype was very different from previous Resident Evil games and the survival horror genre. Kamiya changed the story and its main idea, drawing from the work of Italian poet Dante Alighieri, known for The Divine Comedy, which influenced the creation of Devil May Cry.

Another Capcom game, Strider, was an important influence on the Devil May Cry series, especially in the way it included a "boss rush" feature, where players face multiple bosses in a row.

Although the first Devil May Cry game was successful, its sequel was not developed by Kamiya or Team Little Devil. An unnamed director was assigned to the project, but Capcom was not satisfied with their work. Hideaki Itsuno was brought in to lead the project with only 4 to 5 months left in development. Despite the short time, Itsuno is the only person credited as director in the final version of the game. According to producer Tsuyoshi Tanaka, the goal was to make Devil May Cry 2 larger than the first game, with environments about nine times bigger.

After Devil May Cry 2 received mixed reviews, Capcom decided to make the next game more like the critically successful original. Changes were made to elements such as environment size and the battle system. In the first game, Vergil was killed early and controlled by a demon named Mundus. However, Bingo Morihashi wanted to create a story where Vergil was alive. Kamiya allowed Morihashi to rewrite Vergil’s backstory, making him a living teenager. This led to Devil May Cry 3 being designed as a prequel, set several years before the events of the first game.

Development of Devil May Cry 4 began soon after the success of Devil May Cry 3. The team had 80 members. A new main character was discussed, but producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi insisted that Dante must be in the game. Kobayashi wanted Dante to appear much stronger than the new character, Nero, to show the difference between an experienced hero and a new one. Writer Morihashi worked with film director Yuji Shimomura, who had contributed to earlier games. Morihashi left Capcom briefly but returned at Itsuno’s request. It took him a year to complete the game’s story, as he struggled to develop Nero’s character. Dante returned as a supporting character.

Although Devil May Cry 4 was a success, the team considered restarting the series because other games had higher sales. They chose Ninja Theory, a studio known for Heavenly Sword, to work on a new project. However, in 2013, Itsuno expressed interest in making a fifth game. Initially, Itsuno thought the series might end if Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition did not sell well, but he later said the series’ future was not tied to that game’s sales. He also said Capcom was happy with the sales of DmC: Devil May Cry, a reboot of the series. In January 2016, Itsuno announced he had started a new project. In March 2016, actors Reuben Langdon and Johnny Yong Bosch, who voiced Dante and Nero in Devil May Cry 4, posted photos of themselves in motion-capture gear, leading to rumors of a new game. Capcom Vancouver stated they were not working on a new Devil May Cry game at their studio. On May 17, 2018, the domain name "DevilMayCry5.com" was registered under Capcom’s domain.

Devil May Cry 5, featuring the return of Dante and Nero, was announced at E3 2018 for release in 2019. Many team members had worked on Resident Evil 7 and were familiar with the game engine. Itsuno was inspired by Monster Hunter: World to create a game that would appeal to both new and experienced players. Some team members had worked on DmC: Devil May Cry, but the Osaka team preferred to continue the main series. The team listened to fan feedback to improve the new game, including an "auto" mode to help with combat. Itsuno was inspired by a movie where three robots merged into a giant robot to defeat an enemy and wanted to include similar dramatic moments in the game. He aimed to create a style similar to Hollywood films like Marvel’s Avengers. In November 2017, Kamiya expressed interest in remaking the first Devil May Cry game and creating a crossover with Dante and Bayonetta.

Other media

The Devil May Cry series has several print adaptations. Two light novels, written by Shinya Goikeda and illustrated by Shirow Miwa, were published in Japan in 2002. These books were translated and published in the United States in 2006. The first novel, Devil May Cry Volume 1, was released in Japan at the same time as the first game and tells a story about Dante before the events of the game. The second novel, Devil May Cry Volume 2, was published in Japan when the second game was released and takes place after the first game. Tokyopop published the books in the United States in June and November 2006, respectively.

Bingo Morihashi wrote a novel titled Devil May Cry 4: Deadly Fortune, which was published in Japan in 2009. This two-volume novel includes scenes not included in the original game due to time limits. A prequel novel by Morihashi, Before the Nightmare, was published on March 1, 2019. This story happens before Devil May Cry 5 and sets up the beginning of the game.

Three issues of a comic adaptation of the first game were published by Dreamwave Productions in Canada in 2004. However, the series was not completed because the company went bankrupt the next year. In 2008, WildStorm (a division of DC Comics) and Capcom announced plans to work together on a new Devil May Cry comic series. Details about the series were to be shared later, but no new information has been released since.

Two volumes of a planned three-part Devil May Cry 3 manga series have been published in Japan and the United States. The manga is set one year before the events of the game and describes how the characters arrive at the start of the game.

On March 7, 2019, Capcom announced a tie-in manga titled Devil May Cry 5: Visions of V, which would be serialized on the Japanese website Line Manga. The manga, illustrated by Tomio Ogata, was only available in Japan and updated every other Sunday starting April 27.

An anime series titled Devil May Cry: The Animated Series premiered on Japan’s Wowow TV network on June 12, 2007. The 12-episode series was produced by Madhouse and directed by Shin Itagaki. Bingo Morihashi, who wrote the third and fourth games, was one of the writers for the anime.

In November 2018, Adi Shankar announced he had acquired the rights to produce a Devil May Cry animated series for Netflix. Shankar, who also worked on an animated series for Konami’s Castlevania franchise, described both projects as part of a shared "Bootleg Multiverse."

In November 2021, Shankar revealed the first season of the Netflix series would have eight episodes. He also plans for a multi-season story, similar to Castlevania, and said fan-favorite characters would appear in the series. Netflix announced the series would premiere in April 2025. The show premiered on April 3, 2025, and a second season was announced shortly after.

On February 28, 2011, Screen Gems (known for making Resident Evil into films) purchased the rights to create a movie based on the Devil May Cry series. Kyle Ward was hired to write the screenplay for a film based on DmC: Devil May Cry, which would tell Dante’s origin story. No updates about the project have been shared.

In August 2015, Capcom produced a staged performance called Sengoku Basara vs. Devil May Cry, which combined elements of the Devil May Cry and Sengoku Basara series. In the play, Dante, Lady, Trish, and Vergil travel to Japan’s Warring States period while chasing a devil. They meet characters from the Sengoku Basara series, including Date Masamune and Sanada Yukimura. The play was performed 18 times at the AiiA 2.5 Theater in Tokyo. Masanari Ujigawa wrote and directed the play, with contributions from Hideaki Itsuno and Izaki Matsuno for the scenery. Kazushi Miyakoda and Tetsuya Yamaura were the producers, supervised by Hiroyuki Kobayashi and Makoto Yamamoto.

A musical titled Devil May Cry: The Live Hacker ran for 13 performances in March 2019 at Zepp DiverCity in Tokyo. Jun Yoriko wrote and directed the musical and its video. A DVD of the performance was released in late August 2019.

The Devil May Cry series has released seven separate soundtracks. Initially, Capcom was hesitant to release official soundtracks due to concerns about sales. To test the market, Capcom asked for pre-release sales to gauge interest.

In other games

Devil May Cry characters appear in the PlayStation versions of the Viewtiful Joe games, another Capcom series created by Hideki Kamiya. Dante is a character you can control in the PlayStation 2 version of the first Viewtiful Joe game. The PSP version of Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble includes Dante and costumes inspired by Vergil, Trish, Sparda, Marionette, and Plasma.

In a partnership between Capcom and Atlus, Megami Tensei character designer Kazuma Kaneko created Dante and Vergil's demonic forms in Devil May Cry 3. In return, Atlus added Dante as a character in a special version of Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne (called Maniax in Japan). The English version of Nocturne was based on this special edition.

Dante and Trish are characters you can control in Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds. Vergil, Dante, and Trish are also playable in the game's Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 update. Dante and Vergil keep their special demon forms designed by Kazuma Kaneko because these forms are based on the third Devil May Cry game. Dante is also a playable character in Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite.

The DmC: Devil May Cry version of Dante is a playable character in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. He is also a playable character in Project X Zone for the Nintendo 3DS, where he teams up with Darkstalkers' Demitri Maximoff. Lady is a separate character in the game. Dante returns in the sequel, Project X Zone 2, with Vergil. Vergil's future self, Nelo Angelo, is a rival character in the game.

On June 28, 2021, it was announced that a Mii costume based on Dante would appear in the crossover fighting game Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The costume is part of the Mii Sword fighter character's outfit, inspired by Dante's design from the original Devil May Cry game. The costume was released the next day along with the game's new DLC fighter, Kazuya Mishima from the Tekken series.

Reception

As of December 31, 2025, the Devil May Cry series has sold 38 million copies worldwide. Each game in the series is a Capcom Platinum Title, meaning each has sold more than 1 million copies. As of December 31, 2024, Devil May Cry 5 is the best-selling game in the series, with approximately 10 million copies sold worldwide through the combined sales of the Standard and Special Edition.

The series has generally received positive reviews. In 2010, IGN ranked Devil May Cry number 42 and Devil May Cry 3 number 18 on its "Top 100 PlayStation 2 Games" list. The gameplay has been praised for being creative and unique. Devil May Cry is credited with starting a subgenre of "extreme combat" action games, which focus on powerful heroes fighting large groups of enemies with stylized action. It has been described as the first game to successfully capture the fast and fluid action style of classic 2D games. The series is often used as a standard for comparing other 3D hack and slash action games, such as God of War, Chaos Legion, and Blood Will Tell. Devil May Cry 5 features three main characters with different abilities, increasing the variety of moves available. According to Hiroyuki Kobayashi, the team's work on Devil May Cry 4 influenced Capcom's Dragon's Dogma.

Reactions to the series' story have been mixed, even though Dante's popularity has grown. The series' popularity led to a line of Devil May Cry action figures produced by Toycom, and Kaiyodo created action figures of Dante from Devil May Cry 2 and Devil May Cry 3.

A reviewer from gamecritics.com noted that the story was too short and the characters were not well developed. Dante's confident personality was less present in Devil May Cry 2.

Devil May Cry 3 and its story relationships among the characters were considered better than the original version by Kamiya. Dante's relationship with Nero in the following game was praised, with critics saying neither character overshadowed the other. Devil May Cry 5's portrayal of its characters and their connections was well received.

Although most critics praised the game, DmC: Devil May Cry was controversial among many long-time fans. This was due to the significant change in Dante's appearance, the shift from the series' traditional gothic style to a modern urban setting, and the overall quality of the story's writing.