Arius

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Arius
Devil May Cry 2
Species:	Human > Demon
Role:	Antagonist

"Oohh... No...! My dream... my life...! I was going to be the king of this world!" ― Arius, Devil May Cry 2

Arius is a wealthy businessman who serves as the primary antagonist of Devil May Cry 2. Although he is the president of an international public corporation named Uroboros, he uses demonic power and wishes to raise the demon Argosax the Chaos from the demon realm and use its power to become "an all-powerful immortal"^[1]. For this goal, he comes to Dumary Island in search for the legendary Arcana, artifacts which would allow him to unseal the power of Argosax.

Contents 1 History 2 Personality and powers 3 Background 4 References

[edit] History

Dante first hears of Arius when comes to Dumary Island by the request of Lucia, a devil hunter with demonic powers. Matier, her mother, tells Dante that Arius turned their home to demonic paradise in search for Arcana, and asks Dante to deal with the sorcerer and his master for them.

Later Arius is seen by Lucia, and then by Dante, in his helicopter, flying over them. Lucia is first to reach the helicopter's final destination, and faces Arius. He sees her, and comments that "the defect is back". Lucia, confused, asks Arius what that means, who than reveals that she is not one of Vie De Marli, but rather an Arius's creation like the Secretaries, but, unfortunately, was defected and therefore had to be disposed of. Matier merely found her before that tragic moment and raised her as a soldier. Lucia, struck by this claim, says that he is lying and she doesn't believe him, and throws one of her knives at him. He reflects it back with his magical field, and cuts Lucia's left sleeve, revealing a mark on her shoulder. He tells her that it is the proof that she is a mannequin and that is her real name, Chi (X). He then demands for the Arcanas to be returned, so he can become the immortal and achieve absolute wisdom. Lucia silently, but fiercely refuses and unsheathes her daggers. Arius responds that the "world is already warped", and everything that belongs to the devils will eventually revert to its original form - including Lucia. In the end, he teleports her to other place, filled with demons.

Dante comes shortly after, but Arius didn't feel like confront the devil hunter this time, and summons Furiataurus to fight him, and flies away on his helicopter.

Much later, when Lucia founds all the remaining Arcanas, he hands them over to Dante and asks him to deliver them to Matier while she was taking care of some other unfinished business. She didn't said that to Dante, but she was headed off to the Uroboros corporation building. She disguises herself as a Secretary, however, that doesn't deceive Arius, and he asks her if she came back to join him. She tells no and a fight takes place. Yet, Lucia was unsuccessful in killing Arius, and he captures her.

Later Dante comes with rescue mission. He hands over all Arcanas and attacks the sorcerer, but fails to kill him too, because Arius used his hostage to pull Dante off the building. Dante, with Lucia in his hands, transforms into a demon and they fly to the safety.

They managed to get to the building again, through the demon world, but were too late. The sun has completely eclipsed and ritual started without them. However, it went all wrong, all because replaces the Medaglia with his own, not magical in any way coin. The battle between Dante and Arius ensues, and the first was victorious. The evil man cries in despair, because his dream, his life, all lost miserably. Dante shots him point-blank.

Despite the ritual being incomplete, the portal to the Demon World opens, and Dante goes away to fight Argosax alone. However, Lucia wasn't idle either: Arius reemerges again, in a twisted demon form. She fights him again, and was about to finish him off then he transforms into other form, even more hideous and warped than before. However, she puts this abomination to rest in the end.

[edit] Personality and powers

Arius's most distinctive trait is his obsession with power. He is already a powerful sorcerer and a president of international enterprise, and his ultimate goal is nothing less than to become a god. He thinks that "the world is already warped" and everything that belongs to the devils will eventually revert to its original form. Most likely, he meant the Human world along with the other demons' "possessions".

Arius speaks in a somewhat refined manner, referring to Lucia as "defect". His voice and behavior throughout the game are in calm and "not-so-obsessed" manner, but when eventually his desire for power drives him mad, it changes to a demonic and control-paranoid one.

Arius is a powerful sorcerer, and has access to a variety of powerful magic spells which allow him to fight against capable demon hunters such as Dante and Lucia. These include creating magic shields, teleportation and a number of offensive spells. He is also capable of creating and summoning specific demons, such as Msira, Goat Clan demons, and Secretaries^[2]. He sometimes also uses his revolver to fight his enemies. After completely losing his humanity and becoming a demon he becomes stronger, but clumsier, and thus is easily defeated by Lucia.

It is not clear whatever Arius undergone some kind of ritual to possess demon powers; it might be that he is a completely human being^[3], but this or otherwise is not directly stated.

[edit] Background

Arius was a third-century Christian priest who was deemed a heretic due to his assertion that Christ the Son was not eternal, and had not existed before he was begotten.

The Magician is the first trump or Major Arcana card in most traditional Tarot decks. On it is depicted youthful figure in the robe of a magician, his left hand pointing to the earth and his right is raised to the sky, holding the Wand. The other symbols of the Tarot suits also appear on the picture - Sword, Cup and Coin lay on a table before the Magician. About his waist is a serpent-cincture or girdle, the Ouroboros.

The interpretation of this card in relation to DMC universe is very complex. Iconographic gesture of the Magician symbolizes divine immanence, the ability of the magician to bridge the gap between heaven and earth. As such, Arius's role was reversed: he wanted to open the gate between the Human world and the Demon world in order to "achieve absolute wisdom and transcend all". The Arcana, while having its own and very significant role in the DMC continuum, also symbolize the four classical elements - fire, earth, air and water. If we assume that Magician's right hand is also pointing to the fifth element, aether, we will see complete set of classical elements of medieval alchemy. Finally, the Ouroboros is an ancient symbol depicting a dragon or serpent devouring its own tail, which generally symbolizes circularity or infinity, and is frequently used in alchemy.

As a whole, the Magician card signifies determination, initiative, manipulation and personal power - the qualities by which Arius is characterized by.

[edit] References