ESSAYING GOES HERE.
Totally random essaying on random issues about the character LIKE I DUNNO SHINIGAMI AND THE HAIR AND STUFF and it's all divided into little sub-section thingies because I don't have the attention span to do a big essay. H-huzzah.
Edit: Oh yeah there's some spoilers in here. |D
Solo
OKAY SO several typically reliable sources say that in Duo's Episode Zero (I think it's supposed to be some sort of novelized form) the kid was raised by another orphan named Solo who later dies of a plague. I've personally never seen the source material on this, so I can't be 100% sure of how accurate it is (honestly I'm inclined to believe it, if only because a kid so young he can't remember his own name is no where near capable of surviving the streets on his own and it neatly explains the name and some of the God of Death stuff I'm getting to later). So my plan here is basically to ignore that stuff. It's not really ever going to come up in camp, just because of the way Duo's character is, so I don't feel I have to address it.
On leading the pack~
My personal theory on part of why Duo handles death/loss/destruction well is partly because it's what he's used to. He's been raised around deplorable conditions (the colony he grew up on is shown to be pretty run-down), and seen a lot of people die, by his own admission. So it's just a normal fact of life for him -- and, on top of that, he's in charge of the orphans milling the streets. He's got to take care of them, look after them, and make damn sure they survive the day, and that means there's really no time to mope over his lot in life or sit down with a stolen radio and crank the volume on Linkin Park. It also makes him sort of... unmanageable, as a child. A leader is tough, looks out for himself and others, is just plain in charge and not used to taking orders. So when we come to the Maxwell Church stuff, it's no real surprise he's rejected by so many families and gives the adults such a hassle. He's also clearly a smart kid. Street smart, intellectual, you name it. He argues the existence of God with a priest, after all, and he's only... what? Nine or so?
Outlook/Attitude
I'm going to jump way ahead to AC 195 Duo, and address a bit about emo... or a sort of lack thereof. Don't get me wrong -- he's got his sad moments, but they are almost all entirely related to what's presently occurring; someone just died, the situation is grave, etc. When you think about it, this is sort of surprising given his history. In typical Gundam style, it's horrendously emo -- everyone he loves dies horribly and he thinks it's his fault, to sum it up. But rather than really have it affect him, his character is outgoing, friendly, charming, cheerful, and witty. So what exactly happened there?
It's because his character is very firmly, stubbornly "live in the moment and look ahead". In fact I think that's even the theme of most of his image songs. He doesn't dwell on the past at all, so how can he emo over it? I think you see a lot of the same thing occurring during the events in the series -- something bad happens, there's a small period of well shit guys that sucked and then he's moving right along again. I'd say it goes back to his childhood -- as I've already mentioned, if you're leading a pack of starving kids you don't really have time to sit and emo about the past -- but also because there's just not much to look back to. His childhood sucked. The future at least has something to offer, so focus on that instead.
A nod to the past
And on the heels of that, I'd like to mention that I'm well aware that he hasn't simply forgotten the past and put it behind him. It still plays a part in his character, sometimes minor, sometimes major. For example, I think his wit tends to have a bit of a dark streak -- for example, declaring his Doctor to be Pestilence ("If I'm death, you're pestilence!") in the context of him being Death. And there's the obvious ones, such as his clothes and the whole Shinigami thing. I'll save that for last. :|
Clothes/Hair
I like to interpret these things as very obvious mementos/nods to Father Maxwell and Sister Helen. The clothes are obvious: they're a priest's attire (and honestly, I'm surprised no one's ever commented on that in camp!) and Father Maxwell wanted Duo to grow up to become a priest. Duo probably knew this, because adults tend to be obvious about stuff like that. There's really no other reason for him to wear that style of clothing -- I doubt it's practical, as it stands out as a memorable, which isn't a great idea if you're supposed to be on a SEKRIT MISHUN and all, and he would have had to go out looking specifically for that style of clothing, as he's still wearing it years after the Maxwell Church stuff. And the hair... well, technically you could argue for or against, but I'm going to say that it's for Sister Helen.
While living on the streets, Duo is shown to have long hair already, and it's never really explained why. Later, living in the church, Sister Helen tries to cut it and he throws a fit, but gives no reason to leave it other than he just wants it long. I think this was no more than a childish fit -- he wanted it long because the Sister wanted to cut it, and that's it. He was pretty bratty, after all. But why not cut it when he got older, and matured a little more? Especially considering it's probably a huge pain to take care of that much hair, and, like the clothes, it marks him. It stands out. People would remember a kid with hair past his ass. So the best explanation, in my opinion, is that it's a 'memento' of Sister Helen.
As a side note: it's very popular in fandom to say he has a rosary, too, and while the imagery appeals, I've never seen him with one in canon so I assume he doesn't have one.
Shinigami
...ahaha well. I've heard of a couple of theories on this -- he actually believes he is somehow cursed/shinigami, it's an elaborate role play, it's an alter ego that comes close to being a second personality, etc.
I think it's a role play alter ego thing, meant to A) help deal with the deaths of people he cared for, and B) help distance him from the lives he's taking. I don't believe that it's unintentional because of lines like "For the colonies, I'd gladly become the God of Death again," which imply that he's fully aware that it's a role he's choosing to take on.
So, where's it come from? There's the obvious root in Episode Zero where he tells Father Maxwell that he doesn't believe in God because he's never seen proof of God, but he does believe in a God of Death because he's seen plenty of death. So the idea probably starts there. Which leads me to A, where I think it's partly a coping mechanism. If it was only supposed to be distancing him from battle, the persona wouldn't have shown up until he actually had to do battle, but he's already referring to himself as shinigami when he sneaks onto the Sweeper's ship, before the start of Operation Meteor.
How is it coping? It's heavily implied that Duo blames himself for what happened to the church, and feels guilty for having survived when everyone else died -- he asks Sister Helen if the church was attacked because he went to steal a suit. And, although I'm discounting the Solo stuff, I'd like to note that it supports the same thing: he survived while others died. In fact, it establishes a history of that. And his survival basically amounts to dumb luck. So, a way to explain away this dumb luck to say he's got a deal with the God of Death, or, to take it one step further, he is the God of Death. Voila, a sort of unhealthy coping mechanism for feeling guilty. I don't buy the angle that he believes everyone around him dies, because there's simply no evidence for it in canon -- he doesn't avoid people he likes to protect them, like Hilde.
Which takes us to B: distancing from murder. So he declares himself the God of Death and talks about dragging all those unfortunate OZ soldiers to Hell -- by putting on another persona (shinigami), he isn't killing anyone, shinigami is. It gives the emotional detachment you'd need to pull off merrily hacking through other living, breathing human beings without a second thought. But I think there's more to it than that. He grins, laughs, and makes wise cracks, so I think he actually on some level likes killing them (maybe revenge for the church? WHO KNOWS this is all speculation). Duo is essentially a 'good guy', and I don't think he'd be comfortable knowing that he gets a kick out of killing people (who would?), so again, shinigami serves as a way to neatly deal with that. Of course it's fun to explode enemy troops. He's the God of Death, bitches.
It also makes the transition between civilian and pilot easier.
OUT OF LEFT FIELD: intelligence
So his character is exaggerated, cheerful, sort of a joker. That doesn't mean that he's stupid, as is quite often assumed in fandom. I don't think any of the pilots are remotely stupid -- they all know how to pilot various kinds of machinery, can do repairs, are brilliant strategists, the works. Duo specializes in stealth ops and infiltration, and he does it well -- he breaks into an Alliance military hospital and breaks Heero's crazy ass out. He can obviously handle mechanics, since he completes Deathscythe Hell on his own. And to, you know, not die in battles, you can't exactly be a moron. The kid survives on the streets at a very young age, and the reason he ends up a Gundam pilot in the first place is because he beats a high-tech tight security system engineered by one of the doctors, and they're supposed to be geniuses. And he is a decent pilot. He beats the Vayeate and Mercurious (haha sp?) programmed with AIs based on Heero and Trowa's flight data. His normal everyday attitude is just light and sort of silly, which gets him underestimated a lot.
I didn't read this over so there are probably typos. And if anyone actually read all that KUDOS and feel free to disagree/discuss with me on any point.
Edit: Oh yeah there's some spoilers in here. |D
Solo
OKAY SO several typically reliable sources say that in Duo's Episode Zero (I think it's supposed to be some sort of novelized form) the kid was raised by another orphan named Solo who later dies of a plague. I've personally never seen the source material on this, so I can't be 100% sure of how accurate it is (honestly I'm inclined to believe it, if only because a kid so young he can't remember his own name is no where near capable of surviving the streets on his own and it neatly explains the name and some of the God of Death stuff I'm getting to later). So my plan here is basically to ignore that stuff. It's not really ever going to come up in camp, just because of the way Duo's character is, so I don't feel I have to address it.
On leading the pack~
My personal theory on part of why Duo handles death/loss/destruction well is partly because it's what he's used to. He's been raised around deplorable conditions (the colony he grew up on is shown to be pretty run-down), and seen a lot of people die, by his own admission. So it's just a normal fact of life for him -- and, on top of that, he's in charge of the orphans milling the streets. He's got to take care of them, look after them, and make damn sure they survive the day, and that means there's really no time to mope over his lot in life or sit down with a stolen radio and crank the volume on Linkin Park. It also makes him sort of... unmanageable, as a child. A leader is tough, looks out for himself and others, is just plain in charge and not used to taking orders. So when we come to the Maxwell Church stuff, it's no real surprise he's rejected by so many families and gives the adults such a hassle. He's also clearly a smart kid. Street smart, intellectual, you name it. He argues the existence of God with a priest, after all, and he's only... what? Nine or so?
Outlook/Attitude
I'm going to jump way ahead to AC 195 Duo, and address a bit about emo... or a sort of lack thereof. Don't get me wrong -- he's got his sad moments, but they are almost all entirely related to what's presently occurring; someone just died, the situation is grave, etc. When you think about it, this is sort of surprising given his history. In typical Gundam style, it's horrendously emo -- everyone he loves dies horribly and he thinks it's his fault, to sum it up. But rather than really have it affect him, his character is outgoing, friendly, charming, cheerful, and witty. So what exactly happened there?
It's because his character is very firmly, stubbornly "live in the moment and look ahead". In fact I think that's even the theme of most of his image songs. He doesn't dwell on the past at all, so how can he emo over it? I think you see a lot of the same thing occurring during the events in the series -- something bad happens, there's a small period of well shit guys that sucked and then he's moving right along again. I'd say it goes back to his childhood -- as I've already mentioned, if you're leading a pack of starving kids you don't really have time to sit and emo about the past -- but also because there's just not much to look back to. His childhood sucked. The future at least has something to offer, so focus on that instead.
A nod to the past
And on the heels of that, I'd like to mention that I'm well aware that he hasn't simply forgotten the past and put it behind him. It still plays a part in his character, sometimes minor, sometimes major. For example, I think his wit tends to have a bit of a dark streak -- for example, declaring his Doctor to be Pestilence ("If I'm death, you're pestilence!") in the context of him being Death. And there's the obvious ones, such as his clothes and the whole Shinigami thing. I'll save that for last. :|
Clothes/Hair
I like to interpret these things as very obvious mementos/nods to Father Maxwell and Sister Helen. The clothes are obvious: they're a priest's attire (and honestly, I'm surprised no one's ever commented on that in camp!) and Father Maxwell wanted Duo to grow up to become a priest. Duo probably knew this, because adults tend to be obvious about stuff like that. There's really no other reason for him to wear that style of clothing -- I doubt it's practical, as it stands out as a memorable, which isn't a great idea if you're supposed to be on a SEKRIT MISHUN and all, and he would have had to go out looking specifically for that style of clothing, as he's still wearing it years after the Maxwell Church stuff. And the hair... well, technically you could argue for or against, but I'm going to say that it's for Sister Helen.
While living on the streets, Duo is shown to have long hair already, and it's never really explained why. Later, living in the church, Sister Helen tries to cut it and he throws a fit, but gives no reason to leave it other than he just wants it long. I think this was no more than a childish fit -- he wanted it long because the Sister wanted to cut it, and that's it. He was pretty bratty, after all. But why not cut it when he got older, and matured a little more? Especially considering it's probably a huge pain to take care of that much hair, and, like the clothes, it marks him. It stands out. People would remember a kid with hair past his ass. So the best explanation, in my opinion, is that it's a 'memento' of Sister Helen.
As a side note: it's very popular in fandom to say he has a rosary, too, and while the imagery appeals, I've never seen him with one in canon so I assume he doesn't have one.
Shinigami
...ahaha well. I've heard of a couple of theories on this -- he actually believes he is somehow cursed/shinigami, it's an elaborate role play, it's an alter ego that comes close to being a second personality, etc.
I think it's a role play alter ego thing, meant to A) help deal with the deaths of people he cared for, and B) help distance him from the lives he's taking. I don't believe that it's unintentional because of lines like "For the colonies, I'd gladly become the God of Death again," which imply that he's fully aware that it's a role he's choosing to take on.
So, where's it come from? There's the obvious root in Episode Zero where he tells Father Maxwell that he doesn't believe in God because he's never seen proof of God, but he does believe in a God of Death because he's seen plenty of death. So the idea probably starts there. Which leads me to A, where I think it's partly a coping mechanism. If it was only supposed to be distancing him from battle, the persona wouldn't have shown up until he actually had to do battle, but he's already referring to himself as shinigami when he sneaks onto the Sweeper's ship, before the start of Operation Meteor.
How is it coping? It's heavily implied that Duo blames himself for what happened to the church, and feels guilty for having survived when everyone else died -- he asks Sister Helen if the church was attacked because he went to steal a suit. And, although I'm discounting the Solo stuff, I'd like to note that it supports the same thing: he survived while others died. In fact, it establishes a history of that. And his survival basically amounts to dumb luck. So, a way to explain away this dumb luck to say he's got a deal with the God of Death, or, to take it one step further, he is the God of Death. Voila, a sort of unhealthy coping mechanism for feeling guilty. I don't buy the angle that he believes everyone around him dies, because there's simply no evidence for it in canon -- he doesn't avoid people he likes to protect them, like Hilde.
Which takes us to B: distancing from murder. So he declares himself the God of Death and talks about dragging all those unfortunate OZ soldiers to Hell -- by putting on another persona (shinigami), he isn't killing anyone, shinigami is. It gives the emotional detachment you'd need to pull off merrily hacking through other living, breathing human beings without a second thought. But I think there's more to it than that. He grins, laughs, and makes wise cracks, so I think he actually on some level likes killing them (maybe revenge for the church? WHO KNOWS this is all speculation). Duo is essentially a 'good guy', and I don't think he'd be comfortable knowing that he gets a kick out of killing people (who would?), so again, shinigami serves as a way to neatly deal with that. Of course it's fun to explode enemy troops. He's the God of Death, bitches.
It also makes the transition between civilian and pilot easier.
OUT OF LEFT FIELD: intelligence
So his character is exaggerated, cheerful, sort of a joker. That doesn't mean that he's stupid, as is quite often assumed in fandom. I don't think any of the pilots are remotely stupid -- they all know how to pilot various kinds of machinery, can do repairs, are brilliant strategists, the works. Duo specializes in stealth ops and infiltration, and he does it well -- he breaks into an Alliance military hospital and breaks Heero's crazy ass out. He can obviously handle mechanics, since he completes Deathscythe Hell on his own. And to, you know, not die in battles, you can't exactly be a moron. The kid survives on the streets at a very young age, and the reason he ends up a Gundam pilot in the first place is because he beats a high-tech tight security system engineered by one of the doctors, and they're supposed to be geniuses. And he is a decent pilot. He beats the Vayeate and Mercurious (haha sp?) programmed with AIs based on Heero and Trowa's flight data. His normal everyday attitude is just light and sort of silly, which gets him underestimated a lot.
I didn't read this over so there are probably typos. And if anyone actually read all that KUDOS and feel free to disagree/discuss with me on any point.