Vergil (Japanese: バージル, Hepburn: Bājiru) is a fictional character from the Devil May Cry series that was created and published by Capcom. He was introduced in the first Devil May Cry game as a boss called Nelo Angelo (ネロアンジェロ, Nero Anjero, which is Italian for "Black Angel"). Vergil is one of two hybrid sons of a demon knight called Sparda and as a result possesses supernatural powers. He has appeared in three video games as one of the main antagonists opposing his twin brother, Dante, and in a novel and a manga based on the series...Vergil was originally portrayed as Nelo Angelo—Dante's rival in terms of moves and appearance—in the 2001 game. Despite the character's apparent death as a child, Devil May Cry director Hideki Kamiya allowed Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening writer Bingo Morihashi to change this event from the story so Vergil could be featured as a young adult in the prequel game. Many of the series' characters were named after characters in Italian poet Dante Alighieri's poem Divine Comedy; Vergil was named after Virgil.

vergil is arguably the most iconic rival of all time, and for many, is the first character people think of when discussing video game rivalries. he's noteworthy for the surprising amount of depth afforded to his character, for his role as a foil to dante's personality, and for how his skillset mirrors dante's, which allows for extremely tense one-on-one skill checks. here is a list of games that have a similar vergil archetype, no matter how far-fetched the example might seem