Back to canon (or at least mostly canon) DMC materials, I've been wanting to highlight this Trish (and Sparda) characterization from Deadly Fortune for a hot minute now
In the first Deadly Fortune novel, Dante is told to meet up with Trish in Fortuna castle to exchange information. He isn't told exactly where to meet her, so he's just wandering around for a bit before he stumbles into the library. Trish shows up, and Dante makes this observation:
I thought it was neat that they gave Trish that little bit of characterization! It's not really shown off much in the series because you're usually fighting things, not hanging around doing research, but I like that she's kinda bookish. This is also sort of nodded to in the original 2007 anime as well, as Trish is the one who heads off to the library to look for info in an episode
However, IMO it's really elevated by this little tidbit from the second Deadly Fortune novel. This is a Trish PoV chapter, from around the end when they're back in the city proper. Transcribing because the formatting of the translation I read makes it a bit unwieldy for screenshots:
Dante shrugged and looked at Yamato. He was probably wondering why Sparda hadn't destroyed the gate in the first place - if he could seal it, he had more than enough strength to crush it, too. But Trish understood - Sparda was a demon. The underworld was his birthplace, unlike Dante who'd been born in the human world - even if he swore himself the protector of humanity and eventually got accustomed to life among humans, he might never truly have stopped missing his home. She, like Sparda, was also a pure demon who'd been born and raised in the underworld, which was why she understood - she felt the same way. She dedicated a large chunk of her free time to learning about devil arms and demonology partly because of that reason... which she would never tell Dante about. He was born in the human world, he wouldn't understand.
She's homesick! And she thought Sparda might have been too 😭
And one other thing,Trish is the one who thinks ahead. If you've ever been wondering why Lady just shows up at the end of DMC4, it's because Trish called her! They both evacuate the population of Fortuna:
Trish thought of the letter she'd sent a month before - if Lady had received it, then she must already have been on her way. There might have been too many demons to deal with even for her, but with a bit of help she could take it no problem - though in her letter she'd only asked Lady to come pick them up, so to add fighting on top of it... "Ah, she's going to be pissed." It wasn't really a problem for Trish - she'd never been in the business for the money, she'd always been doing it because she despised demons who hurt innocents, like Dante did. "Hope she manages to get here safely." Trish said to herself with a playful smile.
I really enjoy Trish and Lady's dynamic in this novel too, scant as it is. I wish they got to be on screen together more in the games, because the way they interact in the novels and the 2007 anime is fantastic. Hella chemistry
Anyway, again I'll link to the site where I got the translations in the comments
