Beowulf (Devil May Cry)

""It's the stench of betrayal. The odor of that accursed Sparda! I will annihilate every last blood relation of Sparda!""

- - Beowulf the Lightbeast

Beowulf, also called Beoulf the Lightbeast, is an ancient demon with a grudge against the legendary Dark Knight, Sparda. And he's one of the villians of Devil May Cry 3.

History
One of the gatekeepers of Temen-ni-gru, half-blinded and sealed away for 2000 years by Sparda, Beowulf is a winged beast who anxiously awaits his chance at revenge. He possesses overwhelming strength and a variety of light attacks.

When Dante enters the Torture Chamber, he senses that Dante has "Sparda's blood", and attacks. Dante defeats and blinds Beowulf, but when Beowulf tries to chase down Dante's scent he instead finds Vergil. Assuming him to still be Dante, he tries to "annihilate every last blood relation of Sparda". However, Vergil immediately kills Beowulf and the demon falls apart, realizing his mistake. Vergil then takes Beowulf's soul as a Devil Arm. Dante later obtains it after Arkham activates the Temen-ni-gru and Vergil falls into an abyss.

Beowulf
The Beowulf is a set of flash gauntlets and greaves Devil Arm appearing in Devil May Cry 3 which originates from Beowulf. It boosts the wielders attack and speed for close combat, and is able to use chargeable light-based attacks using its technique "blessed with the sacred light". It is wielded by both Vergil and Dante during the course of the game.

Vergil starts the game with this Devil Arm in his scenario of Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition.

Background
Beowulf is the Geatish hero of the Old English poem of the same name. This poem is famous for being the oldest known piece of English literature. It appears that Beowulf and Geryon had their names switched, as Devil May Cry 3 Beowulf more closely resembles the description of Geryon given in the Divine Comedy, while the legendary Beowulf would be more similar to the Devil May Cry 3 Geryon's rider. In the Divine Comedy, Geryon was a chthonic demon representing violence and fraud which had the body of a winged dragon, the arms of a lion, the tail of a scorpion, and the face of an honest man. Dante and Vergil force it to bear them further into Hell, and Vergil protects Dante by sitting between Dante and the beast's deadly tail. It is also possible that the Devil May Cry 3 Beowulf is based upon the literary Beowulf's main foe, Grendel. In particular, Grendel's right arm was ripped off by Beowulf to be used as a trophy, similar to how Beowulf's arms and legs make up its Devil Arm form.

The design for Devil May Cry 3 Beowulf could also be based on Pazuzu, a Sumerian wind demon with the body of a man, the head of a dog, the legs of an eagle, two pairs of wings, a scorpion's tail, and a serpentine penis.

Trivia

 * A poster of a Beowulf movie can be seen in Dante's office in Devil May Cry 4.
 * Beowulf is one of the few weapons which had more than one wielder. Others are Sparda (Force Edge), Yamato, Kalina Ann, Rebellion and Ebony.
 * Gilgamesh from Devil May Cry 4 and Ifrit from original Devil May Cry can be considered as analogs of Beowulf, as they have similar attributes and even share some moves.
 * Among the bosses in Devil May Cry 3, Beowulf is the only one who is killed in order to give up his soul as a devil arm.
 * Most of the Beowulf's moves are allusions to those found in Street Fighter and some of SNK's fighters.