The Chronological Timeline Of Every Devil May Cry Game

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home March 26, 2025 10 Views 11 Min Read
The Chronological Timeline Of Every Devil May Cry Game



Summary

  • DmC: Devil May Cry is a spinoff in an alternative timeline, not part of the main series.
  • Devil May Cry 3 sets up the entire series and is a prequel to the first game.
  • Devil May Cry 4 introduced a new protagonist named Nero and takes place after DMC 2.

Devil May Cry is a series of action-adventure games developed and published by Capcom. The series stars Dante, who runs the titular demon-hunting business. Created by Hideki Kamiya, the first game actually began development as the fourth entry in the Resident Evil series before eventually being spun off.

Box art for Devil May Cry 3, Resident Evil 5, and Street Fighter 2.

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The rest is history, as the franchise has grown to include six entries of its own, as well as numerous novels, comic books, and two animated series. But as far as the games themselves are concerned, each one can be placed in an overall chronology that charts Dante’s adventures. What follows is the current timeline for the entire Devil May Cry series.

Updated on March 26, 2025, by Dominic Allen: Devil May Cry remains the biggest action game series out there that isn’t a shooter. With iconic characters and fantastic combat, these games are great, but their chronological order can get confusing. With the Netflix show coming soon, many more people will want to jump into the games, and it’s important to note which titles come first, as playing in chronological order is the best way to experience the series.

6

DmC: Devil May Cry

The Infamous DMC Reboot

Developed by Ninja Theory, DmC is a reboot of the entire Devil May Cry series that launched on the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC in 2013. It’s closer to a reimagining of the first game than a full-on remake, and as such, is considered a departure from prior games.

Among the changes introduced by the game was a redesign to the character of Dante, the series protagonist, which didn’t go over particularly well with fans. The settings also sported more of a contemporary look, unlike the gothic architecture that defined the older games. In terms of its place in the overall chronology of the series, the game’s events take place in an alternative timeline, and because of this, it isn’t considered a part of the mainline series.

5

Devil May Cry 3: Dante’s Awakening

The Perfect Place To Start

Devil May Cry 3: Dante’s Awakening launched on the PS2 in 2005, with ports for other systems to follow. It serves as a prequel to the first game in the series, with its events being set a decade before. More importantly, we see just how much of a cocky jerk young Dante is, and we’ll never forget that scene where he surfs on a rocket screaming ‘wahoo!’.

The story finds a younger Dante going toe to toe with his twin brother, Vergil after the latter hatches a plan to link together the human and demonic worlds. To stop him, you must fight your way up a massive tower filled with various demons and otherworldly challenges. You must play DMC3 first, as it sets up the entire series and makes the events of DMC1 hit so much harder.

4

Devil May Cry

The First Game In The Series, But Not The One You Should Play First

The first game in the Devil May Cry series launched on the PS2 in 2001. It introduced us to the demon hunter Dante and his signature dual handguns, as well as his quest to defeat Mundus, the demon lord responsible for killing both his mother and brother, Vergil.

Split Image of Chivalry 2, Darksiders 3, and Devil May Cry 5

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After proving himself worthy by successfully quelling the attacks of a strange woman named Trish, she takes him to an island where Mundus has amassed his forces in preparation for his conquest of the human world. The game was noted for its unique blend of hack-and-slash gameplay and kinetic gunplay, its challenging difficulty, and its atmospheric visuals, which, at the time, were considered some of the very best seen on the PlayStation 2.

3

Devil May Cry 2

The Retcon Switch Up

Devil May Cry was followed by a sequel in 2003. Simply titled Devil May Cry 2, Dante once again graced our consoles with some more smokin’ sick style, in a relatively moody entry. In most Capcom games, the final big bad boss is either an army general or a suited businessman, in DMC 2 the latter is the case.

Arius is trying to raise the demon Argosax in a bid to attain unlimited power. To stop him, Dante teams up with a woman named Lucia, and her mother, Matier, who had once fought alongside Dante’s father, Sparda. Devil May Cry 2 was supposed to be the oldest version of Dante in the timeline, but DMC 5 retconned this and made it so Devil May Cry 4 takes place after DMC 2, effectively ruining the cliffhanger ending of this game.

2

Devil May Cry 4

A New Hero Emerges

Devil May Cry 4 launched on the PS3, Xbox 360, and PC in 2008. The game introduced a new protagonist in the form of another demon hunter named Nero. The wise-cracking cocky Nero quickly won hearts, not least of all thanks to his ridiculously skinny jeans and overall angsty aesthetic.

Its story finds Nero charged with stopping Dante after the latter assassinates the leader of the Order of the Sword, a religious sect of knights to which the former belongs. The events in the game were originally thought to take place before Devil May Cry 2, but this is no longer the case which means Dante survived his trip to Hell after DMC2.

1

Devil May Cry 5

The End To The Sparda Saga

Launched in 2019 for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC, Devil May Cry 5 is the sixth overall game in the Devil May Cry series. Set five years after the events of Devil May Cry 4, you switch between three main characters as they go up against the demon king, Urizen. More importantly, more silly antics and ridiculously fun weapons are found in spades.

These characters include both Nero and Dante, as well as a brand-new character named V, whose playstyle involves remotely controlling three demons to fight for him. In terms of raw fidelity, DMC 5 is a triumph for the series, looking beautiful in Capcom’s RE Engine. A Special Edition was released for both the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, which, as you can imagine, finally added Vergil as a playable character, along with a few extra cutscenes.

Dante with his Rebellion sword in frame from Devil May Cry 4.

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