@Blimble said:
@MurderBunny said:
@StarvingGamer said:
@SagaciousJones: Yep. Foreshadowing. It's a pretty classic setup.
And you're right, Dante did seem happy about it later. Important word here is "seem". The speech he gives about wanting to free mankind from Mundus is filled with the same sincerity he exhibits in his more heartfelt conversations with Vergil and Kat. Of course that isn't the mission. So he puts on his cocky facade one more time and boasts about killing Mundus's child. Because that's the whole reason he's there, to make Mundus angry.
And the quip about being a sociopath was just my glib response to his harping on the fact that we "are exciting about a game where you get to murder a pregnant woman." He seems to be trying to discredit our praise by suggesting that we enjoy killing pregnant women. That whole evil-demon-pregnant-with-a-baby-that-tried-to-murder-you thing aside, the first half of the scene is shot in a way that paints Lilith as a sympathetic character. She looks small, weak, and is clearly frightened. It boggles my mind that he could miss something so readily apparent. It would be like watching Passion of the Christ then walking out believing the rest of the audience was rooting for the Romans.
Yes as long as Mundus is angry it makes it all better. HAHA we killed your love and your child when they where at there weakest and most vulnerable. The issue is more the way it is handled. If they had killed of Lilith and the baby in a fight scene where you where defending your self it would not have this disgusting felling. In the moment it happens it is when they are both at there weakest and the most helpless. They have no power to fight this and cold blooded murder that is then used as a joke.
Saying that he puts on a brave faced is ruined as soon as that joke comes out because it throws any remorse and any doubts about the his actions out. It is nothing else then an effort to scream WE ARE SO FUCKING EDGY!!! It is disgusting.
I think the best way it could have been handled if Dante had apologised. It would show he had grown as a person through the course of the game and he was truly a good person under all his anger. Then you could either have Mundus reject this out of anger or have them see eye to eye for a moment but know they must now fight. It would also set up the Virgil fight better as when they meet again they could be angry at each other straight away, Something better could probably be done for that bit though.
If he had apologized, it wouldn't have helped with distracting Mundus, it would've hurt it. Dante was doing an act, making him distracted enough that Vergil could close the gate and save the city. Dante made his reaction to the event clear as soon as Vergil shot her. He didn't like it at all, but:
A) He was new to this world, and trusted Vergil's judgment. Which made it more of a betrayal in the end.
B) If he apologized to Mundus, he also would've seemed weak. Not something you want to do when you're facing the most powerful demon in known existence. He had to put on a strong face. It's not that it makes what happened better, it's doing a crappy thing out of necessity.
C) Just because the game doesn't totally spell out Dante's feelings on the matter doesn't mean they don't exist. DmC's bigger on subtlety than the old games were.
D) Also, as a side note, the baby isn't exactly innocent. It's just as evil as the other demons, as evidenced by it trying to murder Dante. While Vergil shouldn't have done it, I don't think it's fair to paint it as some cute little thing that's going to hug everyone.
E) The scene is meant to illustrate the difference between the brothers, with foreshadowing and all that jazz. While Vergil feels he will do anything for the "greater good", Dante tells Lilith that he will spare her if she cooperates. He is also gentle with her at the trade. He in no way pulls the trigger, and has no way of stopping Vergil as he doesn't even see him take the shot. You're basically saying it's awful that the bad guy did a bad thing.
F) It's not a joke as in, "Oh, hey, we created this real funny line about baby murder". That's in no way how it's presented within context of the game. It clearly shows that he's only using it as an antagonizing force, and as shown in the rest of the game, Dante antagonizes by using his sarcastic humor. Just as he does in the rest of the series. The music, and acting from both characters in the scene is very intense, and isn't light hearted in any way. It's not taking the act as a joke, it's supposed to be a dark moment.
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