This foreword is primarily for first-time readers who want a better understanding of what exactly Devil May Cry: Renegades is and how it relates to the canon. For those who want to get right to the story and figure things out for themselves, feel free to skip this and go straight to the first act. Please note, however, that this is technically Episode 5 of my series; I'm posting this first rather than Episode 1 because it contains actual canon characters, thus satisfying 's requirements, and I'll go back and start uploading the other four if people like this one enough.
DMC: Renegades was primarily inspired by the Devil May Cry anime series, which demonstrated that there was an entire world of activity outside of the games, but also the Star Wars Expanded Universe, which works to explain and elaborate on things shown in the films. Renegades and all related works are meant to fulfill the same role; taking things that are mentioned in the Devil May Cry games and giving them reasonable explanations, as well as providing some compelling adventure stories. For example, the first game features lizardmen enemies known as Blades, yet the fourth game brings them back under a different name, Assaults. Why would that be? Well, my explanation is that, as both games mention the lizardmen were bred to serve the Demon Emperor and they wear armor into battle, these creatures are the soldiers in an army that serves under the Emperor; Blade refers to the division they were created for, while Assault is the name of the actual creature. Other topics I'll attempt to tackle include the actual circumstances surrounding the Demon World's war with the humans and Sparda's rebellion, how Demon World society functions (for example, how the more numerous Lesser Demons relate to the larger/more powerful/less numerous "Greater" Demons that are the bosses of the series) and exactly how Demonic powers behave.
Our eyes into the Devil May Cry world take the role of a pair of Greater Demons by the name of Fenrir and Hantu. Devil May Cry 3 as well as the anime reinforced the idea that not all Demons are evil, murderous bastards; that some are more neutrally-aligned or even have a positive opinion of humans. Fenrir and Hantu are two such neutrally-minded individuals; originally officers serving under the Devil Knight Sparda, they took part in the war with the humans and began having second thoughts midway through. Spared by Sparda during his rebellion, the two took the initiative and went into self-imposed exile in the Human World. Now, 2000 years later, they make a living as mercenaries, willing to fight either man or Demon so long as the money's good. They maintain a few connections with their former home, which exists as a source of work and resources for the pair, but mostly try to stay under the radar; after all, the ruling body of the Demon World has a tendency to execute deserters with extreme prejudice.
Renegades follows the same sort of episodic format that an ongoing television series would; it has a few overarching plotlines, but most episodes are self-contained stories that have a definite end and beginning. As a result, while the primary plot of the episode is resolved, it has a semi-cliffhanger ending that leads into the sixth episode. If you guys like this one, maybe you'll get to see the continuation? ;)
Wow, you had the patience to sit through all that? Far be it from me to keep you from the story any longer; feel free to move on to the first act.