Sparda
The Legendary Dark Knight Sparda (also called Sparda) is a fictional character from the Devil May Cry series of video games. He awoke to justice and defeated the archdevil Mundus two millennia ago while wielding the sword that bore his own name. The following text is a preamble taken from the first Devil May Cry game:
"Two millenniums [sic] ago, there was a war, between the human world, and the other: the Underworld. But somebody from the Underworld woke up to justice and stood up against this legion alone. His name was Sparda. Later, he quietly reigned the human world, and continued to preserve harmony until his death. He became a legend; The Legendary Dark Knight, Sparda."
Sparda is the father of Dante and Vergil. In the first Devil May Cry, there was a secret character players could access by beating the game on Hard mode who was called the Legendary Dark Knight. His primary weapon is Yamato (a katana-esque sword that Sparda once wielded). The same sword was wielded by Vergil in Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening. However, the Legendary Dark Knight also uses two handguns named Luce & Ombra.
The "Legendary Dark Knight" appears to be human, and having a Devil Trigger would imply that he is a human-devil hybrid. However, when one looks at his shadow, one can clearly see the silhouette of Sparda's demon form. Also, when he activates his Devil Trigger, the Legendary Dark Knight resembles Sparda's demon form. Whilst the Devil Trigger is activated, Yamato, when swung, becomes the Sparda Sword. Lastly, the Legendary Dark Knight's "Mission Clear" screen features a picture of Sparda in his demon form. Altogether, this evidence would indicate that the Legendary Dark Knight is Sparda in human form, especially since the actual title of "Legendary Dark Knight" is generally attributed to him. Sparda's true form was locked away when he sealed the gates of Hell so his powers were greatly reduced but he still had the same abilities of his sons, such as devil trigger and super human strength and speed.
Spardas Sword
The enchanted sword that Sparda used to defeat Mundus, and that Dante used to defeat Mundus a second time. It is the true form of the Force Edge, the claymore that was Dante's default sword in the first game (Devil May Cry). He obtained it by combining Force Edge with the Perfect Amulet, which was formed by combining his own piece of the amulet with the one dropped by Nelo Angelo, who in reality was Dante's brother Vergil, brainwashed and corrupted by Mundus. Sparda grants its wielder the powers of the Legendary Dark Knight himself.
In Devil May 3 (prequel to Devil May Cry 1) Arkham was able to use the perfect amulet to unlock the power inside the force edge. It was revealed in this game that after Sparda defeated the demons he chose to live life as a human and thus abandoned his demonic lineage by transferring his power inside this sword. After Arkham used the perfect amulet to power the force edge it did not revert to its true Sparda form because he lacked the blood of Sparda. Dante was able to unlock the Sparda sword in the first game using this method because he was Sparda's son.
Even after the force edge turned into the Sparda sword only someone from Sparda's lineage can wield its power, as Trish is only able to use it as a physical weapon, but not its power.
A theory among some fans is that after Dante unlocked the Sparda sword all of the power that his father left inside the sword was transferred to him. This would explain why in the second game he assumes his father's demonic form rather than that of the weapon whose Devil Trigger he activated, even when he doesn't have the sword with him. This would imply that while he can turn into the Sparda form without the sword, he doesn't yet have total control over it otherwise he would likely assume that form all the time due to the godlike power it wields.
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