did so. He finished writing the game's events, which took a year. Morihashi had difficulties with the characterization of Nero, the new protagonist. Dante returned as a supporting character. Itsuno was responsible for most of Kyrie's elements. She was envisioned as an "ordinary, cute heroine" who had a big impact on Nero despite not being a fighter. Her role was to motivate Nero and the player as the story progresses. The writings of late manga artist Ramo Nakajima in the series Amagasaki City inspired Morihashi to write Nero's story; "I love you, so I protect the city you love." Love is the focus of the Devil May Cry series; Devil May Cry 4 focuses on Nero's love for Kyrie. While Devil May Cry 4 is a simple story similar to Hollywood movies involving a damsel in distress, the staff were satisfied with it because it also carried Morihashi's ideas well. The Capcom staff created Nero as a new protagonist who would develop across the Devil May Cry series because Dante had become stronger with each game. Nero was created as a weaker character who develops new powers as the story progresses until he reaches Dante's level. This was done mostly through his "Devil Bringer" ability, which makes him stand out. Another reason for Nero's introduction was to attract new gamers to the franchise. Before commencing the designs for the characters in Devil May Cry 4, character designer Tatsuya Yoshikawa consulted with several members of the staff who had worked on the series before to become familiar with previous elements. The characters were designed to emphasize their moves, which made the staff controlling their motions vital to the design. Some of the antagonist's demonic forms in Devil May Cry 4 resemble angels. These characters were designed to be attractive to the game's audience while providing a contrast when compared to other demons in the game. Yoshikawa noted that several of the boss characters presented some difficulty when creating them. He said that Nero's design was one of the biggest challenges he had experienced in his career, because the character had to be accepted by the public and fit in the series' universe. Yoshikawa liked the interactions between Nero and Dante because of the balance the two playable characters make. Yoshikawa also created another devil transformation, the Devil Trigger, for Nero. Unlike Dante's transformation that makes him look like a devil, Nero's