Stories Told Through Music in Gaming

Many media pieces include music within their stories that grants insight into how a certain character, or group of characters, is feeling. One of the most underrated forms of this is presented in video games. While more often than not, their soundtracks will simply be instrumental, and while those too can portray specific emotions, especially within the context of certain scenes, there are a popular few among the “hack-n-slash” genre that includes songs with lyrics and is quite notable for it, one of the most iconic franchises being the “Devil May Cry” series. There are many tracks from the array of games I could talk about, but the one with the heaviest references to the character’s lore would have to be Vergil’s theme “Bury the Light” from the fifth installment of the series. Vergil, is the opposite of his boisterous twin brother, Dante, we often are blind to his feelings and true motivations as we see him through Dante’s eyes as an unreasonable foe.

The first verse of the song reiterates Vergil’s introduction into the fifth game, the line, “falling weak on my knees, summon the strength of mayhem,” is exactly what happens when you first see him appear in a weakened state, he willingly separates the demonic side from his humane side to completely rid himself from what he deems stands in his way of power. There are references to his past before in-game appearances such as “Inherit the nightmare, surrounded by fate, can’t run away.” This line refers to the fact that due to his father being a demon hated and feared by the underworld it paints a target on his back. 

In the second verse, “We fight through fire and ice forever, two souls once lost and now they remember,” is a nod to him and his brother being polar opposites in personality, like fire and ice, and also the rivalry they’ve had ever since they were kids that died out when they separated only to be ignited years later upon reunion. 

The line in chorus 2,  “obsession’s pulling me, fading, I’ve come to take what’s mine,” shows how Vergil believes the right way is to follow in his father’s footsteps and become powerful enough to surpass him, as he believes his mother, and in turn, humanity has failed him and is meaningless to him. He’s willing to die for his cause. In this line, during the bridge, “the Puppetmaster congregates all the masses, pulling strings, twisting minds as blades hit,” is a possible reference to when Vergil was under the control of Mundus, a demon king out for him and his family. While under his influence in the first game he was a secondary antagonist going by “Nelo Angelo” hunting down Dante alongside other lesser demons under Mundus. 

And finally, in the last and third chorus, “Bury the light deep within, cast aside there’s no coming home,” it talks about Vergil’s past, when he was young Mundus’ pawns attacked him and his family when he was separated from his mother and brother, changing the trajectory of his life forever. Vergil came to the false conclusion that his mother decided to abandon him, feeling ostracized he never came home. He thinks of his human side, the “light” side as weak, no matter how much he wants to fall back into the way his life was before, he simply can’t. 

Bury the Light is a beautiful song with its instrumental and vocals, it’s a perfect example of a song that not only hypes you up while battling but also is perfectly tailored to the character you’re using with references to their story masterfully sewn in.