Devil Trigger

Devil Trigger (often abbreviated to D.T.) is a special power possessed by demons and demonic hybrids which allows them to release their full supernatural potential. While in Devil Trigger, the user will assume their true form. In this form, many of the character's physical and magical attributes are amplified, and the character may have access to upgrades or even additions to their normal abilities like flying or hovering. When playing on higher difficulties, enemies can enter a Devil Trigger-like state after a certain time limit (which is fixed for each enemy). This causes enemies to strengthen their attributes as well as making them attack more often and more powerful.

Features
While in Devil Trigger, the characters' various stats like speed and strength increase, and they constantly recuperate vitality. Characters also gain deeper and distorted voices. Additional effects are apparent, though these vary between games, and are usually determined by the equipped weapons or items of the character. For example, Dante will usually gain the ability to hover while in Devil Trigger, but this is only obtained by equipping the Alastor in Devil May Cry, the Aerial Heart in Devil May Cry 2, and Nevan in Devil May Cry 3.

Devil Trigger is confirmed to be available to Dante, Sparda, Lucia, Trish, Vergil and Nero. Several other characters, specifically Arkham, Credo, Agnus and Sanctus have abilities resembling Devil Trigger, though it is not known if it is actually the same term.

In Devil May Cry 3 and Devil May Cry 4, activating Devil Trigger generates "DT Explosion" which causes enemies to take damage and consequently interrupt what they were doing. In Devil May Cry 3, the explosion can be charged by holding down  until the chosen number of Devil Trigger runes glow, and then releasing the button. Interestingly in Devil May Cry 4, Dante's DT activation doesn't deliver any damage. Also, when activating Devil Trigger, the character is granted temporary invincibility.

In all but the second game, it is possible to unlock "Super" costumes for the playable characters, whose most prominent feature is their unlimited Devil Trigger. This allows the character to stay in Devil form indefinitely, taking advantage of the power, defense, and speed boosts, but negates the Devil Trigger's ability to regenerate (an exception being to Super Dante in the original game, Super Legendary Dark Knight and Super Corrupt Vergil, which still retains all devil trigger abilities without losing any runes.) In Devil May Cry 4 and 5, the Super costume also reduces the mission rating by a certain percentage when used. In Devil May Cry 5, Super characters gain a red glow in their eyes. Additionally, Super characters cannot be used in missions with online segments, greatly reducing their availability as only a small handful of missions are solo.

Devil Trigger Gauge
The Devil Trigger Gauge, often abbreviated as D.T. Gauge, shows how much demonic energy the character has with each character having unique gauge designs. It acts as a power bank, storing demonic energy to be released later. The Devil Trigger Gauge can be seen below the Vitality Gauge, and is represented as a line of runes. In all games the gauge appears as separate symbols, except for Devil May Cry 2 where it is represented as a bar. Most of the time, the player starts with only the necessary three runes to power their demonic form, though at least oneexception does exist. The player can extend the D.T Gauge by buying Purple Orbs, allowing them to maintain their form for a longer period of time.

The primary purpose of the DT Gauge is to activate, and sustain the Devil Trigger state. The amount of time the user can stay in Devil Trigger is determined by the length of the Devil Trigger Gauge. At least three runes must be filled in order to enter Devil Trigger. Once Devil Trigger is engaged, energy is drained from the gauge until the DT form is cancelled, either voluntarily or when the gauge runs out of energy.

The Devil Trigger Gauge is usually filled by attacking enemies, although it can also be filled by Taunting, raising the Stylish Rank, utilizing Devil Stars, or standing on special platforms appearing in select locations in Devil May Cry and Devil May Cry 2. It is also possible to increase the gauge by taking damage in most games, though this is much riskier.

Some techniques, weapons, items, and even enemies also deplete the gauge. The Bangle of Time and Quicksilver Styleslow down time so that enemies move slower, but constantly reduce the D.T. gauge while in effect. Also, the Doppelganger Style slowly drains the gauge while in use. Using advanced Summoned Swords techniques as Vergil will also deplete the gauge. Some combat techniques, such as Stinger and Kick 13 in Devil May Cry 4 use part of the DT gauge to become more powerful. The Nightmare-β consumes Devil Trigger when fired. Certain enemies, such as Nightmare and Nobodies, possess attacks that in addition to harming the player drains the Devil Trigger Gauge as well.

Items affecting Devil Trigger
The Haywire Neo-Generator from Devil May Cry 3 causes Dante to constantly lose his Vitality in exchange for an infinite Devil Trigger that cannot be turned off. The Untouchable from Devil May Cry causes the player to become invulnerable while putting him into DT state for a short period of time.

In Devil May Cry 5, the appearance of Devil Trigger is affected by the equipped costume. Characters using the EX costumes will appear with different color palettes than their standard DT form.