Nero Is Dead Weight

This article may contain spoilers for Devil May Cry 5.

About

Nero is Dead Weight is a derogatory insult for Nero, a protagonist from the 2019 video game, Devil May Cry 5. The meme refers to a series of jokes in which Nero is seen as weak and an obstacle compared to the main protagonist of the Devil May Cry series, Dante.

Origin

In the prologue of Devil May Cry 5 (shown below), the protagonists Dante, Nero, and V are fighting a losing battle against the main antagonist, Urizen. Knowing that all is lost, Dante tells the others to leave while he holds off Urizen. Nero, insisting that he can still fight, is called "dead weight" by Dante and told to leave thus angering him.

Spread

Jokes about Nero being dead weight began following leaks of the prologue in summer of 2018. On September 1st, 2018, users on ResetEra^[1] began discussing the line. Jokes appeared on /r/DevilMayCry on December 10th, 2018^[2] (shown below, left) and February 25th, 2019^[3] (shown below, right).

Following the release of the game on March 8th, 2019, the insult became much more popular on /r/DevilMayCry. Examples include a Breaking News Parody posted by Redditor HappyNeia^[4] (shown below, left) that gained over 280 points (shown below, left) and a post by PraiseTheSANS^[5] gained over 360 points (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

Unavailable

External References