A painting that depicts Cain killing his brother Abel which is considered by many to be the beginning of the Cycle of Fratricide.
| “ | There's a curse. But it is no normal curse you might be familiar with. A curse that involves a brother killing his own brother. Out of envy, anger, or hatred. Or all three in-between. It's called the Cycle of Fratricide, and it is a cycle that stretches all the way back to Cain and Abel...perhaps even earlier than that. But know this Dante, there is no escaping from this cycle, for you and your brother are deeply enveloped into it. And sooner or later...one of you will die not by the hands of your enemy...but by the hands of your own kin. | „ |
| ~ Michael to Dante |
The Cycle of Fratricide is a vicious, repeating pattern of events that ultimately lead to a brother killing their own sibling and so on and so forth. It can also be called the Brother-Killing-Brother-Cycle, the Cycle of Envy or simply The Cycle.
Description[]
The events which begin the Cycle are mostly due to the fact that one brother becomes envious of their own siblings' talents and abilities, and this envious trait slowly begins to twist into hatred and paranoia; the hatred stemming from the fact that the stronger sibling has more favor with one's parent or a community and the paranoia that the stronger sibling will eventually be rid of the weaker one to remove a weak link in the chain.
History[]
Origins[]
While the origins of the Cycle vary, it is genuinely believed that the Cycle began to fully run its course with Cain and Abel themselves. However, it is revealed that it actually stretches all the way back before the universe and all that there is came to be, which was with God and Azathoth.
Despite being polar opposites, both God and Azathoth have been regarded as "brothers" in some sense and even at times twins. Given that the Cycle involves a brother killing a brother out of hatred and envy, it is presumed that Azathoth attempted to do so towards God due to the fact that God would be more focused on making creation rather than to spend an eternity of silence and peace and as a result would constantly destroy anything that God attempted to make.
War in Heaven[]
The Cycle took its course again with Lucifer and Michael, and while this was mostly due to the fact that Lucifer was envious towards the humans being favored by his father over him, it was implied numerous times that Michael himself was envious of Lucifer being the favored son of God. Those feelings fully emerged during the War in Heaven with Michael's final battle against Lucifer, and as a result of Lucifer's actions towards Heaven and their family, Michael's envy gave way to hatred and later paranoia.
Cain and Abel[]
Much later on, when Cain and Abel were born, that is when the Cycle truly began to curse the many generations of families that held a brother who is envious of another brother and resulted in the former killing the latter out of spite. The murder of Abel at the hands of Cain is also implied to be part of the Cycle's curse.
Set against Osiris[]
At some point, possibly during the Golden Age, the god Osiris was the ruler of the early Egyptian state and important teacher to early humanity, which caused him to be revered by the world, which angered Set, who had become god of deserts and storms. His resentment grew more bitter after his wife Nephthys, attracted by Osiris' beauty, disguised herself as Isis and seduced the great king, becoming pregnant with the god Anubis. Set decided to remove his brother and had a magnificent casket created, the most beautiful chest ever made, tailored to Osiris' exact measurements.
He threw a grand party, to which Osiris was invited, and after the banquet told the guests he had a special surprise. He revealed the chest and said that whoever could fit most perfectly inside could take it home. One by one the guests climbed into the casket but could not fit until Osiris' turn came. He lay down in the casket and found, of course, that it fit him perfectly. Set then slammed the lid on and threw the casket into the Nile River. Set took the throne, and the harmonious balance which had been maintained by Osiris and Isis was lost. Set was a chaotic and unpredictable monarch who brought storms and drought and the people turned on each other in their efforts to survive.
Eventually his reign would be ended by Horus, the son of Isis and Osiris, who defeated his evil uncle, reclaimed the throne and brought order back to Egypt. It's unknown how this part of Cycle is connected to the others and when exactly it happened.
Sparda's Rebellion[]
Thousands of years later, the Cycle again was beginning to run its course, but this time not with humanity, but rather in Hell. This was prominent with the dispute between the Legendary Dark Knight, Sparda and the former King of Hell, Mundus. While they are not considered biological brothers, they are in fact, blood brothers, as before Mundus usurped the former Demon King, the two made a blood pact together that sealed their ties as brothers.
However, while Sparda saw the growing tyranny of Mundus, the latter was beginning to grow paranoid of Sparda's enormous grow in power and felt as though that the Dark Knight would grow strong enough to usurp his throne. As a result, this led to a battle between the Prince of Darkness and the Legendary Dark Knight which has became a well-known and famous tale that has been passed down through the ages.
Cycle's End with the Sons of Sparda[]
Finally, the Cycle presumably came to an end with none other than Dante and Vergil, Sparda's own twin sons. It is no secret that both Dante and Vergil would constantly battle each other to the death out spite and envy with one another for their own personal reasons. However, the Cycle ended with them after their victory against Lucifer and Satan, when Vergil declared himself to be humanity's source of hatred and reasons for them to unite against a common foe as he believes that the humans will only work together if they are all threatened and would then attempt to destroy each other once the threat has been vanquished.
Dante believes otherwise, and to challenge his ideology once again, the two brothers confront each other for their one last and true final battle which took place at the very top of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil that Lucifer sprung in order to regain his full angelic power. The two brothers fought with every single ounce of their power and soul which ravaged the entire landscape they were on, and not just the Tree. Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity, Vergil and Dante made amends when Vergil saw the error of his ways from Dante's words which put an end to the Cycle of Fratricide. That is until the final war between Chaos and God commences.