By the end, it gets inverted: Dante dedicates himself to humanity's protection while Vergil dwells on his defeat and loses sight of his goal.
Vergil doesn't disagree when Dante asserts this, and Dante is the one doing all the heavy lifting.
He shields Kat from assault rifle fire with his own body when Vergil sabotages the hostage trade, and in the end, he says that he'll defend humanity's freedom from anyone trying to take it.
At the end of the game, Dante and Vergil fight each other to the near-death over whether they'll rule humanity as Vergil wants or step aside and allow them to be free as Dante hoped.
Their designs and fighting style clearly accentuate this contrast between then until Vergil reveals he wants to rule humanity and fights Dante.
The Hollow Dante he finds even taunts Vergil over being weaker and not as handsome as him, which he takes very seriously.