🫐SquishyCat330🫐

he felt like he wanted to rip something to pieces and see its blood all over. brake its bones and hear the wail of its pain and the satisfying Snap of its bones  he didn’t know what happened to himself all he thought was that he was turning in to a monster. A Demon. he’d dig his glowing blue claws in to his forearm and tare at it taking flesh out and making devits and trenches in his soft skin staining it red, blood smearing all over the place. He’d do this all for it to heal within minutes. At lest it helped, he would think afterwards.  but then be confused as to Why it had healed so quickly, it wasn’t natural. 

he could ignore some of these feelings just fine but one he couldn’t was the need for food. The need to maul and maim. he knew it wasn’t a hunger that could be cured by eating, it didn’t feel right, nothing felt right anymore. it never went away when he had a full meal, if anything it was made worse. once he got so desperate he’d had enough of feeling empty and like he needed food. he’d tried to get rid of the feeling, he ate and ate until he made himself throw up. He knew it wouldn’t work and he felt so guilty for eating so much only for it to go to waste, and kyrie, she put so much love in to it to. he’d cried that night alone in the bathroom,  not knowing what was wrong with him. guilty and ashamed for his actions. He’d feel worse and worse as the days went on, and when he stood near someone on the rare occasion he had guard duty he could smell their blood pumping through their vines, and the temptation, he had for it. He realized what the hunger was he craved blood. like a Demon. Something in him told him that if he just dug his sharp canines in to their neck and ripped their flesh open he could suck all the blood out of them and his problem would be fixed. He could imagine it running down his chin as he swallowed as much as he could, warm red liquid gushing out of them, Staining their white clothes red.

It felt like an instinct, but it was such a disgusting thing, it was inhumane. What was wrong with him! He wasn’t a demon! So why did he think like one! why was he so sick! And Why was the thought so tempting! his breathing became uneven and he left his post ignoring the other man’s complaints. he needed to get away, away from People before he did something stupid. He didn’t care what punishment he’d get later for his actions, it was a problem for later.

He ran off to some roof where no one could see him, Heck no one else could even get up there it was only thanks to his freakishly high jumps he could, yet another thing wrong with him. He thought. At lest he couldn’t smell anyone wall up there. Nero sat there for hours trying his hardest not to think Thought eventually he had to get down, he dreaded the thought but he didn’t want to worry Kyrie. She didn’t deserve it.

When he arrived home there she was sitting on the couch as she read a book. Usually seeing her put him at ease, but today? Today he wanted to run, he could smell her blood just like before-

‘Nero! Your home, I was starting to get worried someone said you’d abandoned your post- are you ok?- Is your arm hurting again?’ she was talking to him but he couldn’t register a thing she said. her words sounded like they were far away bouncing off his skull. all he was focused on was her sent, and the urge he had to rip in to her soft skin, draw her blood.  drink until there was nothing left. he wanted to hurt her. The only person who cared for him. . . 

He snapped out of his trance when she reached out to touch his arm, he immediately flinched fighting back what felt like a growl. if he touched her he didn’t know what would happen. He didn’t want to hurt her. He had to get away again she drew her hand back her lips tilted in to a frown, eyebrows knit together in worry, her eyes were filled with concern for Him. he couldn’t take it, the feeling of his body gnawing at him and the sent of blood so close.

he made an excuse about being tired and needing some space after the day he had before he went to his room. Nero immediately opened his window and crawled out of it, feeling like the rebellious teen everyone called him out for being. He fell from the second story window with ease and ran off to the forest that Surrounded Fortuna.

As soon as he entered the forest he heard a deep rumbling grow, followed by more, they were surrounding him. he didn’t want to deal with this right now but something else in him wanted it, he smirked, Maybe it’s just what he needed to blow off some steam. To bash some Demons heads in. Using Blue Rose He took care of them one after the other, filling each of their heads with led. once he was out of bullets he discarded his gun back into his holster, instead of reaching for Red Queen he broke his right arm free of its sling. Digging his claws in to its flesh and right through its chest, blood so dark it was nearly black spewed all over. He tore his demonic arm out of the last demon, smiling as he heard it let out one last cry. He looked down at his hand it was coated in blood, the wrappings he had to hide its appearance falling off and stained in a deep red, it was hard to tell where the scales of his arm began and the wrappings ended. He watched as the inky liquid traveled down his forearm, dripping on to the ground. He bit his lip as the feeling of hunger increased. it was becoming overwhelming.

he couldn’t take it any more he needed blood, he licked it off the back of his hand he was hesitant but desperate at the same time. he needed it. But what was on his hand wasn’t enough it was already drying turning cool and sticky. His gaze traveled to the demons in front of him, he Knew he shouldn’t, it would just make him sick but he couldn’t control it he needed blood, he needed it so bad he kneeled down and tarted sucking the blood out of the demon. He hated how it’s leathery skin felt against his mouth but the blood tasted to good for him to stop.

Eventually it was harder to get blood out of the body, he’d drank it all. He realized that the hunger he’d been feeling for so long was gone. he was relieved for just a fraction of a second, that was before he looked down, he looked at himself and the demon in front of him. It was disgusting, its body lied cold and lifeless, he’d sucked nearly all the blood out of it, he was covered in it’s blood, he could feel it dripping down his face, his shirt clinging to his body with the mix of it and sweat soaked in to the fabric. he consumed demon blood. And It made him feel Good! a new feeling developed like a pit opening up in his stomach. The thought of his actions and how he felt was so revolting he threw up. all the blood he just drank washing over his front like a water fall, it didn’t stop until there was nothing left to come up. He was left dry heaving in to the red stained grass, using his demon hand to brace himself .  he dragged his body over to a tree slumping against its trunk. he felt empty, a feeling of despair blooming in him what had he done? And Why did he feel so Good after doing it!? What was wrong with him!? Why was he like this!? Why wasn’t he ever Normal! His thoughts raced as his breathing became shallow. he wanted Kyrie, he wanted to feel her comforting touch, the warmth of her body against his but if he had that he’d just hurt her wouldn’t he? like the Demon he was. he cried until there was nothing left in him. if he believed in god he would’ve prayed with some miracle this was all just a dream and he was fine, and in bed at home, safe where Kyrie and Credo were, but he knew when his head lulled to the side looking around with half lidded eyes it was abundantly clear there wasn’t any miracles in this world because here he was in a forest surrounded by corpses and Covered in blood and vomit. He was so exhausted he fell in to a fitful sleep.

*when he woke he was still in the forest it was still dark but the sun was slowly starting to rise. The feeling of hunger was finally gone, he still wasn’t able to reveal in the relief he felt from the absence of it though  with the memories rushing back. He couldn’t face her. Kyrie. . . He drank a demons blood like he was a man who’s been starved for days. he was a monster. a Demon. . . He didn’t deserve her. She was so kind and sweet, always so gentle with him she was the only person who cared about him, the only one who made him feel loved. and now he was Coverd in dry blood. Wishing for her. And Wishing he wasn’t such an awful human being, heck he didn’t even know what he was anymore.

so Dante. he didn’t embrace his demon side until later on when he was 18 at the end of the Dmc Novel which is mostly cannon.

I point this out because at the end this was when he stopped going by Tony Redgrave and fully embraced his demonic side And his past. he no longer had his façade. He was officially Dante Sparda. he’s starting to accept that part of himself. (And actually acknowledging it) So 10 years after the incident at their family home. Dante although strong hadn’t truly embraced his demonic heritage, he had yet to unlock his devil trigger for reasons and only did when fighting Vergil and getting stabbed in the third game (. . . Man just likes to be stabbed eh?) he was a relatively young half demon, and although he was ‘more human’ he still had his demonic nature in his senses and ability to pick up on things and other such stuff like his strength and speed. Heightened sense of smell. Ect. he hadn’t really been killing demons until that year when he was 18. most of his life for those 10 years were ‘fine’ in the sense of he was ‘safe’ from the demons, they didn’t go after him like they did Vergil. (Everything above here was unnecessary wasn’t it?)

Blood consumption: Now- in Devil may cry Demons consume Human blood for different reasons mainly to gain and amplify their power. Which I assume why hybrids like the twins are so strong, they have human blood, it’s constantly amplifying their demonic powers because it’s Their Blood, they don’t need to consume or outsource it. This much is obvious. (I guess. Don’t quote me on accuracy)

however~ this is where Demonic instincts come in to play. demons are power hungry creatures out for any drop of human blood they can get, they hunt, maul and maim, their Demons, what else can I say? It’s their nature to attack and be brutal killing machines. It’s their power, human blood is important to them. It’s instinctive to hunt it out. (And probably to hunt Each Other as well)

So what does this mean for Dante? And where do Tomato’s come in? once again Tomato’s have association with Blood. Vampires will drink tomato juice in media if they want to avoid Blood for whatever reason. it’s also Good For your blood, it helps in reducing blood pressure and such (I’m not well educated on tomato’s and medical here don't quote me)

so tomato juice is associated with Blood. A few users on here like @sapphiresword mentioned it may be a blood substitute! And Thats why Dante drinks it. I originally didn’t think this idea worked and it made no sense to me. (still doesn’t really) however with some thought maybe it Could make sense?

see if demons instinctively seek out human blood, whats to say Dante doesn’t have that instinct to some extent as well? He’s still part demon. Maybe he does crave human blood sometimes. I think Dante kinda suppressed his demonic stuff with his past, but Maybe at some point Dante had this overwhelming Demonic Hunger he couldn’t deal with, maybe it was building up over time. He would Know what this feeling was and why and how to fix it but he’s not gonna act on these instincts. He’s not gonna harm someone who doesn’t deserve it. (Maybe he can take some blood for a mob boss or somethin) Maybe he tried to ignore it and ate pizza one night to randomly find out that ‘oh? . . .this helps’

why does it help Tho? I have one idea Lycopene. Maybe it has to do with the fact Tomato juice is good for your blood and it ‘amplifies’ whats there. actually that is a good reason for it to work so well. Tomato’s have an antioxidant called lycopene. (don’t quote me Im not a medical professional nor do I know science. This is all from a handful of searches)

lycopene is good for your blood it helps Circulation. lycopene relaxes blood vessels and improves circulation. Lycopene can prevent blood platelets from clumping together. This anticlotting effect, combined with decreased blood vessel inflammation. As a potent antioxidant, it neutralizes free radicals that cause oxidative stress on endothelial cells (the cells lining your blood vessels), which lowers overall vascular inflammation. this basically increases blood flow and health, so maybe it tricks the demon brain in to Thinking theres more human blood then there is And it works as a type of supplement. There isn’t actually more blood it just thinks there is because it’s flowing better and maybe haveing healthier blood also helps. (Maybe you need less blood if it’s healthy)

it fuels the desire for human blood since they don’t actually Need it (can you tell I’ve thought way to much on this?)

Aaaand now he just eats a lot of pizza because one it tastes good two it’s cheap and three it dampens his urges for human blood. And this new pizza addiction developed in to him drinking Tomato juice because it works even better, and is more direct, in curing this hunger. so if he’s ever in a drought with less demons popping up he opens a nice cold bottle of Tomato juice. basically Tomato juice works as a supplement, it tricks his brain in to thinking it’s blood somehow, and although I don’t think it would take that feeling away entirely, it’d still help but it wouldn’t go away. still lurking in the back of his being. however it’s far more bearable now. and when Demons start showing up he has less reason to drink tomato juice. Pizza being enough for in between missions —

demons don’t need food and neither do the twins: Could add a bit more and end it here buuuut~

I shall explain more with Vergil~ Unlike Dante vergil didn’t have the luxury of not being hunted by demons. after the incident he spent the next 10 years on his own. he went from place to place and he probably wasn’t able to stay in one spot for that long with Demons out on the hunt for him And vergil being on the run constantly he probably had a hard time getting enough food, and with having to kill so many demons I think he would absorb the Demon blood and his body would adjust to that instead, because he’s part Demon- And I believe this would develop rather quickly

What are Red orbs, Crystalized demon blood, what do those do? Buy you upgrades and increases your Powers, health and strength.

so logically due to not having enough food and fighting so much Vergils demon side developed so he no longer Needed human food and his body just absorbed the Blood of demons. Similar to how demons consume the blood of humans.

And thats enough he doesn’t feel that type of hunger and his itch for human blood is nonexistent because the demon blood keeps him satiated for long periods of time. heck he may have never know that that feeling even existed its been so long (. . . Vergil hasn’t eaten food in years nor has he needed to)

this may make it hard for if Vergil were to eat human food again. . . Interesting

also I do think Dante would develop less of a need for Human blood for all his demon Hunting it would just take longer to effect him then Vergil since he has access to food and such and doesn’t Need the Blood, unlike Vergil did, he needed the demon blood to survive.

as a bonus: Nero

how does this affect him? Does it effect him? yes I fully believe it would. However it’d be a bit different. similar but different from Dante Nero wouldn’t really feel this Demonic Hunger at all, not until he got his Devil Bringer very soon after that he’d start to feel the un-satiable hunger that no amount of food would help, along with all of the other feelings his arm would bring of course. I think after he gets his Devil bringer it’d come at him full force. Like he feels like he’s been starved and has never eaten because technically that is kinda how it’s been. His Demon side is new and it’s hungry for power and blood. It’s young and it’s been starved (as it’s layed mostly dormant this entire time.) So basically this guy is suffering~

he unlike Dante has no idea about whats happening and only has his new demonic instincts to go off of, which would be telling him to rip the guy who’s unfortunately standing beside him open, but he of course wouldn’t do this. He wouldn’t even entertain the thought.

So he’d starve despite the fact he has at least one meal every night. And on a good day two with a snack or something, (I don’t know how. how often do most people eat anyway?) Basically he's well fed. He has no reason to feel this way. And he could feel it wasn’t a normal type of hunger too. something felt Different about it. It was gnawing him away from the inside. he knew it wasn’t a hunger that could be cured by eating, once he got so desperate he’d tried, eating until he made himself throw up. it wasn’t until one day when he stood beside someone on the rare chance he had guard duty would he realized just what his body was yelling at him for. Human blood.

He didn’t do anything he wouldn’t, not until he smelt Kyrie’s blood, Then he freaked out completely, He did NOT want to hurt her. and He ended up running off to the forest and fighting some demons unfortunate enough to come across him. the sent of their blood was so enticing he drank from the hole he'd punctured in its chest with his Devil arm. he would later throw up from how disgusted he was with his own actions.

But The feeling of hunger was gone now and it didn’t really come back It was there but know where near what is was like before, he’d just do his job and kill a few demons and he’d be fine. he chooses to forget and ignore the night he drank the blood straight from a demon

maybe he learnt later why this was due to demon logic and Dante would casually just inform him that tomato juice helped, like it was nothing. I apologize Nero. You didn’t need to suffer but we all know you would so. . . Sorry kid.

I hope I conveyed what I wanted to~ And Maybe I explained all of this correctly and got my point across. . . Apologies if i repeated myself too much, and sounded like I didn’t understand anything. I was just going off of what I Do know so if I missed something or got something wrong I apologize. I thought this was a really neat concept, and indulged in writing about it. This actually spawned an almost 2’000 word one-shot about poor Nero’s suffering. It touches upon what was said here. . . Kinda gross. but neat nonetheless.