Beowulf the Lightbeast is one of the gatekeepers of Temen-ni-gru, half-blinded and sealed away for 2000 years by Sparda. He is a boss encountered in Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening during Mission 11. In the Devil May Cry HD Collection, the player will achieve the award "Lights Out" for defeating Beowulf.

DescriptionEdit

When his four wings are hidden, Beowulf resembles some kind of manticore, with the features of a lion and the sharp, stinging tail of a scorpion. He also has the hind feet of a bird of prey. He mainly walks on all four limbs, but is also able stand and move about on two legs. Beowulf anxiously awaits his chance at revenge. He possesses overwhelming strength and a variety of light attacks.^[1]

StoryEdit

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 betrays Vergil and activates the Temen-ni-gru and Vergil falls into an abyss.

StrategyEdit

Main article: Mission 11.

The main strategy to defeating Beowulf is to jump and slash at his one good eye, causing him to cease attacking and flail about.

Other AppearancesEdit

A poster of a Beowulf "movie" (Beowulf the Lightbeast) can be seen in Dante's office in Devil May Cry 4.

BackgroundEdit

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, and that Beowulf had managed this feat barehanded.

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.

TriviaEdit

• Beowulf shares a theme song with Cerberus - Suffer. However, Beowulf's theme song is slightly remixed.

ReferencesEdit