Now that the Official Devil May Cry 4 website is out, there has been some controversy over the identity of Nero. If he looks like Dante, and the only other being who looks like him being Vergil, why can it not be him?! If that even makes sense, the following is my lame argument over why I do not think Nero is Vergil. It is lame because I didn't proof read it and I basically wrote what was on my mind....

  ± Let's start out with the basics
The official Devil May Cry 4 states the following in the introduction flash.

From that day forth...my arm changed..
and a voice echoed...
Power...
Give me more power!
"My" would be in reference to Nero. As for the arm changing, take in consideration Arkham. He let in Jester, a demon, into his body so he could have power. The question now should be why would Jester want to 'merge' himself with Arkham? To put it in the most simplest way, they probably both wanted the power of Sparda. However, as individuals they couldn't do it on their own. That idea supports the "two parts of a whole" theme which runs throughout the series. For instance, the amulet is often refered to as halves, and the scene where Vergil and Dante fought together to defeat Arkham's glob form.

So, what does this all have to do with Nero? Taking into account the following quote "and a voice echoed...Power...Give me more power!" it hints of something relating to "body posession". Something, which I seem to think is similar to the Arkham and Jester situation. Apparently Nero is part of a group who wants to ressurect Sparda, and Sparda being the "oh so powerful demon who closed the doors to the demon world", what demon would not want that power?

If that is the case, why did the demon grant Nero the glowy arm power? If Nero is in Fortuna, the name of the city which Devil May Cry 4 takes place, and his motive is to ressurect the power of Sparda, that must be the place to do it. Taking into account that Dante, a demon hunter and a son of Sparda, is there, wouldn't it be a very bad idea to go running around as a demon? Not that being human has any upsides to it since Dante apparently slaughtered Nero's group. It is the idea of joining up as a team, if not temporarily, to reach the one goal. Again, it's the "two parts of a whole" theme.

  ± The name "Nero"
Nero and Nelo Angelo. Similar name, isn't it? Capcom did the transliteration error of NeLo Angelo instead of NeRo Angelo. The technical details are explained in the name section of this site. It is an error which carried through from the first Devil May Cry game to Devil May Cry 3: SE. It would be very nice for them to correct it. However, it's been around for such a long time.

I have no strong arguement against this. However, there is a possibility that "Nero" is using the name in reference to Nelo Angelo. Not because he is Vergil, but to pay homage to one who had opened the gates to the demon world.

  ± That guy in those preliminary DMC4 scans...
This was featured in the appearance page.

The following was what I had wrote in the section: "I've seen people making icons of this guy assuming that it is Vergil. I find it quite sad because this is not Vergil. Can't be Vergil. Look at his hair. Why would Vergil ever want his hair like Dante's? In the magazine scans themselves, they label this guy as 新キャラ男の性. That means "new male character". You may also notice a figure that resembles Nelo Angelo in the background of some pictures.".

Like I said before, these are from preliminary Devil May Cry 4 scans. Changes occur as the game is in production. The following is a recently released Nero illustration. There's no solid justification that they are both the same person. However, they do part their hair the same direction?! Dante does it in the middle and Nero does it on the right side. Does that count?!

  ± The thing I had underlined but didn't explain
This is my final reasoning for Nero not being Vergil. I had underlined the following earlier "You may also notice a figure that resembles Nelo Angelo in the background of some pictures.".

There is a production diary on the Official Devil May Cry 4 website which can be found here. The following is an image from their first entry. I have gratefully circled and highlighted what is important.

1. A guitar! Incase work gets boring.
2. Red circle on the right!: That image is the image on the left. It's the image of the Japanese cover of DMC3: SE. The DMC3 one is probably there in reference for Dante's facial expressions since there are multiple pages of paper in relation to that under it. The other images are costume designs, similar to those found in Note of Naught (images of Dante's designs).
3. RED CIRCLE ON THE LEFT!: Now, that's the golden ticket. Now, for a closeup of it and a few certain highlights.

Okay it's one of the prelimilary illustrations released quite a while ago, but the production team still considers this image! It's on the wall! Now, ignore the mandatory moustache on the 'new character', and look at that thing I circled in red towards the left of the image? Its eyes glow! It has a cape, and it looks quite muscular! Nelo Angelo's armor makes him look muscular! Is THAT Nelo Angelo? It very well could be, under that figure would most likely be Mundus's face. If it isn't, who could it be?

  ± Also.....
Vergil idolizes his father and appears to be "Anti-Dante". So, why would he ever consider not slicking back his hair every ten seconds? In addition, Vergil does not use guns as he doesn't view them as weapons of a true warrior. Even under the influence of Mundus, he does not use guns. As for Red Queen looking similar to Nelo Angelo's sword. Remember that Vergil's color is blue. "Red Queen", the name of Nero's sword, defies all "color-logic" that is Vergil. Blah, blah, blah, ad nauseam.

  ± In Conclusion...
These are my reasonings why Nero isn't Nelo Angelo/Vergil. You don't have to agree with me. I really don't care if you do or not. Just keep in mind that we are all entitled to our opinions. Please do feel free to share your ideas with me by contacting me via email or something.

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