Disclaimer: DMC and its characters aren't mine. This version of Alastor's personality is mine, as well as the majority of the ideas listed below.
Mip the Demon Fox: I thought about novelizing the whole game, but its harder than you may think. I'll just keep creating chapters until the finale with Mundus.
Tiger5913: Trish has appeared, but I'm not sure for how long. She wasn't just sitting on her hands the entire game I think, so I had her spy on Dante for kicks.
A/N: (Updated) This chapter fleshes out some of the hierarchy, social structure, and job classes in the Underworld as I envision it. Everything is based on DMC 1's enemy list, not 2.
Things in the Dark
Devils: All are humanoid, or have human-like traits. Mundus, Sparda, Nero Angelo, Trish - are examples of the more powerful incarnations of devil kind. Death Scissor, Plasma, Death Scythe, and Fetish - are next in line. Lastly: Sin Scythe, Sin Scissor, Bloody Mari, the common Marionette, and the Sargasso - have the lowest power level of devils. Rank is determined by an individual's intelligence, physical prowess, and arcane abilities (like Trish's electrical powers). All devils are naturally cunning.
Devils are born leaders, and generally more diplomatic than demons. They are the most likely candidates to mingle in the human world (like Sparda). They tend to gain rank and power through elaborate machinations - the shadier, the better - rather than by brute force, though that option is open to them. Devils are the cruelest tormentors of the mind (Mundus using the image of Dante's mother and brother against him). Only a devil may become a knight, that being the highest station attainable, short of Emperor.
Demons: All are bestial, or have a corrupt form. Griffon, Phantom - are examples of the more powerful incarnations of demon kind. Frosts, Kyklops, Blades, and Shadows - are next in line. Lastly: the Nobody, and the Beelzebub.
Demons are generally out to prey on others weaker than themselves in the most direct way possible. They favor a pack mentality. When aroused for battle, they are often too lost in their own animalistic tendencies to speak (like the first ingame appearance of the Blades).
Demons are born for violence, and they thrive during wartime. They respond well to those stronger than themselves, but they aren't devoid of freewill - they will resist suicidal orders. They favor brute force over intrigue - though it's still an option - and enjoy dealing physical pain over psychological torture. Like devils, they are naturally cunning. When there is a demon of exceptional smarts, it is usually a force onto itself (Griffon, Phantom). Demons can become Generals of their Emperor's army - a job where one must throw one's weight around. The position of General is a demon's highest station attainable.
Emperor: It is a well deserved status to any spawn that can obtain it, but it is another matter entirely to hold it. For a would-be Emperor to gain the throne, it is by far more advantageous to be in the current ruler's family, than to be outside the royal line. All Emperors must be wary of their blood relations. Ironically, their presence is necessary to pass on the throne, for an intelligent ruler would rather be usurped by a deserving kin-member than another spawn of low rank. Since the beginning of the Devil Kingdom, the Emperor has trained fighters of vast skill to protect him: the devil knights. The Emperors of old were spoiled by the knights' exceptional prowess, and quickly grew covetous of their numbers (no knights exist outside of the Emperor's court anymore). And so it is because of this ageless prejudice that keeps demons from knighthood.
Every Emperor has swollen ambitions of totally dominating their slice of the Underworld. Unfortunately, some petty faction or noble House is always making war on his neighbor, usually stirring up a civil war that lasts centuries. The Emperor is then forced to quell the fighting, and effort that constantly curbs his rule-all plans. One might think the role of Emperor not worth the inherent risk and aggravation, but it is only through dictatorship that any spawn can potentially achieve their one, collective desire: to savage the land of humans for evil's sake, and use the slaughter they create to spit in the eye of Heaven's creator for ever banishing them.
It wasn't until the prince of the most recent ruler decided on a different tactic. Without the cooperation of most, if not all of the Devil Kingdom, the what was the point of dreaming of sweet Armaggedon? By snatching the throne, and promoting his desire to conquer the human world, he would unite the Underworld under his standard and lay waste to the mortal realm. To be an Emperor, meant Mundus could do this…
Knights: A status only reachable by devils. They are their royalty's eyes and ears. There are his advocates and harbingers. He is the judge, they are his sentence. A knight is either at his Emperor's side, or overseeing the multitudes of the Kingdom and enforcing a semblance of law. To become a knight is to throw away you're the identity given to you by your House, and abandon your last name. That devil would then gain a new identity and a new life: To safeguard, and obey unquestioningly the decrees of their Emperor.
Knights are exceptional diplomats, sometimes used to "sway" unruly spawn into following the proper banner. Rigorously versed in arts varying from combat to politics to sorcery, they are also the fiercest loyal circle that has the honor of receiving orders from the Emperor on a regular basis. Knights are on par, or better, than Generals in all ways. There are eighteen knights divided into three castes of six: Pale Knights - are enforcers, jailers, negotiators, and inquisitors. Harbinger Knights - are tasked with torturing malcontents, direct the punishment of the damned, serve as assassins for the Emperor, and are the "holy men" that impose daily satanic worship at the Church of Vice. Dark Knights - are the Emperor's advisors, spies, infiltrators, saboteurs, and primary bodyguards.
General: A status only reachable by demons. They are the head of their royalty's army. A General bears the responsibility of training and disciplining any single battalion under their command, a force usually numbering anywhere between a few hundred, to a several thousand. Generals have to be the biggest, strongest, most menacing, most cunning, and most brutal of their kind just to survive the horde numbers of their own command, let along manage them.
There are four divisions of General, each division composed of ten Generals (except for Prime General, which have seven) and they are all called the Castes of End. War General (or Prime Gen.), Death General (or Second Gen.), Plague General (Third Gen.), and Ravage General (Fourth Gen.).
Mundus: Longstanding Emperor since the complete destruction of the previous ruler, his knights, Generals, and every spawn loyal to the royal line some odd centuries ago. Only in hushed tones is the grim truth ever spoken: Mundus the Usurper, Mundus the Slayer of Kin. A rarity after the ages spent in Hell, the fallen angels of Heaven have changed much, but not completely in the Slayer's heritage. His physical size grew proportionate with his arcane might, for instance. Retaining a comely appearance, the ugly hole in the Emperor's chest - where a loving heart is forever denied - is proof of his false benevolence, as well as a damning mark passed down to him by his angelic ancestors. Such a curse will be passed down to any of his offspring. With no heart, on the cold light of his soul shines within. Mundus strives to unite the Devil Kingdom into one cohesive force, a fighting force more powerful than all the warring civilian armies combined. He strives to claim the world of humans.
Sparda: Dark Knight and War General. He was the first and only one of his kind to gain the highest position of both stations. He excelled in enforcing the ancient traditions - as was the duty of all knights - was creative in difficult matters of diplomacy, and was chiefly responsible for maintaining his Emperor's fearsome reputation for more than a millennia. He was a self-taught master of his own unique sword-fighting style, he attained unchallenged respect from much of the denizens of the Devil Kingdom, and performed unfailingly every command ever given to him by his Emperor.
Believing his place was on the battlefield, the Dark Knight made a bid for the highest power of the martial services: War General. Intrigued, the Emperor had Sparda undergo a series of trials to prove the knight's sincerity. One such trial had Sparda fight every hellspawn who disagreed with his bold career move in the arena of combat. It was a no holds barred fight, and a last spawn standing match. (Guess who won?) Sparda became a legend without really trying.
From this point in history, to the Legendary Dark Knight's retreat to the surface world, is known as the Age Unrelenting.