In
Defense of Duo’s Masks
Duo is a BOY. He is not a sex slave. He is not a whore or a pimp or even very loose. Though it was stated by the creators that he has had some "ABC" experience, it was never stated how much. "ABC" refers to anything from a simple kiss to sex, so nothing can be assumed.
Duo is not on a permanent sugar high. He does not “bounce.” He does not shake his booty when he
walks. I have not seen evidence of
this. He does not glomp. He does not crossdress during the
series. Duo cannot get pregnant.
He is biologically male, as stated in his statistics, and therefore is
incapable of carrying a child much less giving birth. GET OVER IT.
Despite the hundreds of Duo shrines and Duo this and Duo that, Duo Maxwell is still probably the most under appreciated of the Gundam Pilots. The boy has issues. He will need therapy, more than Heero or Trowa or even Lady Une. This is because Duo is sporting probably the most effective personality mask of any anime character I’ve ever seen; he even fools his greatest fans.
What you’re about to read is based on actual psychological evaluation. I did not make these things up—they are real things that happen to real people, and are backed by very specific events from the show and OVA. Hopefully you’ll be able to appreciate Duo even more because of it.
From the beginning, what do we know about Duo?
We only know a little bit more
about Duo than we know about Heero.
There is no information on his parents (though he is referred to as an
American, he has always lived on the colonies). He grew up as an orphan in the
streets. He gained his name from
the leader of his childhood gang, Solo, who died of illness. After that Duo remained with the other
children of the gang, until being adopted by the Maxwell Church (he was about
seven at the time). He was only
there for a year, and then the church was destroyed and all the people killed by
the Federation. At that point there
is a huge jump—at age fourteen he stows away on Prof. G’s ship, and is involved
from then on in Operation Meteor.
Duo is typically cheerful, often advocating teamwork and optimism. However, he is not so blinded by this that he doesn’t see or understand what’s going on around him—he is very aware of the reality of his surroundings. He refers to himself and his Gundam as “the God of Death.” Other than Wufei, he is the only one that refers to his Gundam by a different name. He is fighting for the sake of peace, to build a better world, but specifically for the colonies.
For those of you that watch the dub, just remember that whenever he says “The Great Destroyer” he really means, “Shinigami,” the God of Death. Just so that there’s no confusion.
What does psychology have to say about Duo Maxwell?
Duo went through a series of
very serious events at a very young age.
He has never had something that the other pilots take for granted:
stability. Heero and Trowa may have
had very different childhoods than the rest of us, but at least they were doing
the same things—they lived following a stable set of rules. Quatre and Wufei more or less grew up in
normal, somewhat routine environments: Quatre as the son of a wealthy family,
Wufei as a member of a large clan, mostly studying. Their beliefs weren’t challenged until
they were older. Duo, however, has
always lived in uncertainty. He has
dealt with loss and adaptation ever since he was very young, preventing him from
maturing normally.
For this I refer to Erik Erikson, psychologist, and his stages of childhood social development.
(Educational Psychology, Developing Learners, Third Edition, Jeanne Ellis Ormrod, Merrill Publishing, Columbu Ohio, 2000, page 85)
Trust vs Mistrust (infancy)
Infants learn early on in life to trust—to learn to depend on someone for their basic survival in terms of food and attention. Because nothing of Duo’s life is known before the age of five or six, it is unknown what kind of treatment he received from his parents/caretakers. Obviously he must have had someone, or else he probably wouldn’t be alive. He also does seem to trust people very easily so we have to assume that, as a very young infant, he was cared for.
Autonomy vs Shame and Doubt (toddler years)
This is the stage at which children learn to do things for themselves: walking, feeding, dressing, washing, etc. Duo is obviously very autonomous, as he has a lot of confidence in his abilities. Though he is still too young at this point to have survived completely on his own, it is possible that other orphans were taking care of him at this point. The lacking of a parent figure probably forced him to do things for himself, which leads to Duo’s independent, but still trusting, nature.
Initiative vs Guilt (preschool years)
At this stage children develop a better idea of the different activities they’d like to pursue. They learn to plan and begin their own activities with guidance from adults. However, at this point, Duo was out with the other orphans. Other than learning to “play house” and build with blocks etc, Duo was learning from the other children how to survive. This probably turned all his effort and initiative toward means for living—stealing for food, mistrusting adults for fear of being caught, looking out for his peers and those younger than himself. Whatever personal wishes he had were repressed, as they had no place in such an environment.
Industry vs Inferiority (elementary school
years)
From the ages of 7 to 11 are when children start to learn industry: “I do this and I’ll get praised for it.” This stage is very important, because if the child does not get any positive praise, they will develop inferiority as to their abilities. This, obviously, is not Duo’s problem: at this point he’s still in the gang, still receiving praise for activities such as getting food and taking care of younger kids. In situations such as this where children are forced to depend on each other, there is a definite sense of camaraderie; everyone must work together for survival.
During this developmental stage is when Duo enters the Maxwell Church—suddenly he has adults taking absolute care of him. At this point Duo is not used to having everything provided for him. He has grown up believing that everyone takes care of everyone else, but now the church is doing all of the work, and he has lost most of his usefulness in the group. This may have caused a slight inferiority complex in him, which is why he reacts so violently to the other children of the church teasing him (someone told him he smelled funny, so he punched them). However, he comes to accept the church as being part of the group: he’s still among people, and more than ever is being praised for helping others.
However, this is also when the Maxwell Church was destroyed, and Duo lost everything. Not only did he lose the adults that took care of him, but the children of his group as well. Isolation is something that Duo cannot handle—he has always been part of a web of people, taking care of him and allowing him to do the same. Everything he learned in the church has also turned against him: God was not there to save the people. The only thing Duo had left to believe in was Death, and whatever intentions Death had in keeping him alive.
Identity vs Role Confusion (adolescence)
By now it’s been proven that Duo has not had a normal development, and therefore is going to have significant difficulty in dealing with the following stages. Duo is now in adolescence, the time in which identity is developed and solidified. Most children at this point experience some role confusion as they try out different things to discover what they want to do with their life. Duo is attempting to do the same. However, Duo is also under the influence of several different issues.
He wants to part of a group, because that’s all he’s ever known. This leads Duo to have a very open nature—he wants to be with other people, to take care of them and to be taken care of. With Heero, Quatre, and Hilde it’s the same thing—looking for the connection he’s lost. Everything Duo has learned has been that only as a group can you survive, and so he immediately tries to create another “gang” to be a part of. At the same time, however, he is afraid to connect too deeply to anyone, as he has always lost those close to him. Therefore, on some level, Duo is making surface relationships—he can’t let anyone too close to his heart, or he is certain to lose them. I know it sounds like I just contradicted myself, but really I’m not. Just stay with me a bit longer and it’ll make more sense.
He wants to believe in God. One of Duo’s most interesting
personality quirks is that he wears the priest collar and dresses in black, and
is often pictured with a cross (or even a Bible). Though this at first glance appears to
be a profession of faith, Duo has already stated that he does not believe in
God: “I don’t believe in God, because I’ve never seen a miracle, but I believe
in Death because I’ve seen lots of dead people,” (paraphrased from the Episode
Zero comic). Duo’s greatest irony
is when he is pictured with the cross, holding a scythe—both a giver and taker
of life. Though Duo has lost his
faith, he still wants to believe; as someone that’s always been looked after in
some form, he wants to think that God is looking out for him. At the same time, however, he knows that
he has rebelled from God by becoming a god of death.
In short, Duo wants to believe in God, even though within his heart he doesn’t. He tries to prove to himself that he still has faith by wearing the outfit and preaching the love of life and charity, but inwardly he is a hypocrite.
So what masks does Duo wear?
If you haven’t been proved so far that
Duo is hiding a lot from the people closest to him, this next section
should. Duo has been effectively
fooling his friends, enemies, and audience ever since the show’s debut. Someone with a past as complicated and
delicate as Duo’s definitely has issues—things about himself that are repressed
or ignored, or simply even hiding beneath his surface.
I’m sure by now everyone knows Duo’s famous self-introduction: “I run and I hide, but I never lie.” He isn’t afraid to state it outright—in fact, he often does. He thinks of himself in this way. However, the statement in itself is a paradox, and not something he should be proud of. “I run” implies cowardice (the Japanese word he uses is “nigeru,” which also means “to escape”). “I hide” is a form of deception, which could be considered lying. Though Duo has never run from battle and never consciously lies to anyone, he is nonetheless hiding his true nature.
Duo Runs From Death
Duo is afraid of death. He has grown up around it all his life:
as an orphan, there were bound to be those that didn’t survive. Everyone around him was killed at the
Maxwell Church—an incident that was fundamentally his fault. He cannot handle being on his own for
very long, and seeks out company even knowing what the results could be. If you don’t believe me, watch Duo when
faced with death. When he finally
makes it into space in ep (??) and is captured by OZ, watch his face. He is not the same joking Duo we see in
the rest of the series: he is afraid.
Even when he hits the self-destruct button, his eyes are wide, and
afterwards he is still in a somewhat confused, distant state. “Guess I’ve got bad luck…or maybe good
luck,” he says, and passes out.
Usually it takes a hit to the stomach to knock out our Duo. Duo is capable of taking quite a beating
in his Gundam, and the fight that got him captured was not long at all: he
passed out not from physical abuse, but from emotional stress.
Another very memorable scene is
when Heero comes to kill Duo. It’s
a very difficult scene to describe if you haven’t watched it closely enough, but
there are enough clues to say that Duo is nearly terrified. He closes his eyes, he speaks softly, he
smiles weakly—Duo has always hid behind a smile. The most effective mask is always that
of perfect ease. However, when the
camera comes to him again he is turned away, eyes shut tightly, and
grimacing. He’s waiting for the
bullet that will kill him—he’s not welcoming it.
Duo is also terrified of losing another group. Heero’s “self-destruct” leaves him, “emotionally drained,” in his own words. In that case, however, he still has Quatre, and so is able to continue. But losing Quatre on the way to space was a heavy blow to him, as he proves in his unwillingness to leave. Much later Hilde’s life is put in jeopardy, and he nearly panics into not reacting at all. Quatre had to tell him to go after her before he was able to do so himself.
This fear of death is what pushes Duo to take the form of the God of Death. Only by becoming “death” does he have a chance of escaping it, and saving his friends from it as well. It is a position of power that he didn’t have as a child; now he is deciding who lives and who dies.
In effect, his Gundam is his
symbol for survival, ironically enough.
He and Deathscythe share a bond; the Gundam has replaced Duo’s group, as
someone that will care for him while accepting care, and cannot leave or desert
him. This is why Duo suffers so
heavily when Deathscythe is destroyed.
The one thing in his life he thought could not be killed is, and right
before his eyes.
Duo Hides From His Friends
With all these things going on in Duo’s mind, it might seem amazing that he is able to function, let alone show everyone a smiling face. The truth is, Duo hides best in the open. He’s amazingly good at it, too. By putting forth a good face, Duo keeps anyone from digging too deep into his mind, and at the same time keeping them away from his heart. He doesn’t want people to think him weak—as a child, weakness could easily get you killed. It’s easier to be called a fool than a coward. More than that, as long as he appears artificial, he won’t have to connect too deeply to anyone. Connection equals security, but it also risks death. Even if Duo doesn’t think this way on a conscious level, people who lose loved ones often come to believe that they were meant to be alone. This is especially hard for Duo, as his entire childhood was based around group structure.
Duo also tries to cheer up
those around him. This is not only
to keep them from taking him too seriously, but to keep them from taking life
too seriously. Though obviously he
buckles down when a battle is around and knows when to face the facts, the rest
of the time he enjoys his role as the team pep-talker. However, his intentions are not entirely
selfless—as long as everyone else stays light, so can he. If he wasn’t able to get everyone’s
spirits up once and a while, he would be forced to conform. Being serious runs the risk of him
falling deeper into his own problems.
As long as things go well, he doesn’t have to brood too much, and no one
will put pressure on him to examine his life.
Duo Lies To Himself
Duo thinks he’s got it pretty much together. He doesn’t seem to think about his past too much, as there was no indication of it at all in the show or in Endless Waltz. He sees himself as someone fighting for a righteous cause, helping others, justifying the lives he takes in that he’s punishing “wicked” men.
However, part way through the show Duo becomes disillusioned. Just after receiving Deathscythe Hell he continues to fight, with Hilde’s help, but slowly he loses faith in what he’s fighting for. Most of this can be attributed to the fact that he hasn’t been around the other Gundam pilots for a long time: he’s lost his group, and has a single person to trust. More than that, the situation around him keeps changing. With all the shifting alliances it’s hard to tell who the real enemy is—the old Federation, the Treize faction, OZ, etc. Eventually even the colonies get it in their head that they want to fight, but he refuses to help them, instead choosing to go ahead alone. After finding Trowa in the circus, and realizing what the war has done to him, he starts to doubt himself. He even confesses his anxieties to Quatre (ep.??). Trowa is part of his new group, and the knowledge that they’ve lost a member unnerves him. Only when it’s shown that everyone is getting back together again is Duo able to pull himself out of it, and announce the return of the God of Death.
However, a lot of his insecurity is also the realization of his deeds catching up to him. All along Duo has fought for the colonies, to prevent anyone from having the same life that he did. However, the only road to peace is through murder. Within Duo there is a deep conflict: he wants to protect people, to lift them up as he was once able to do as a child; but instead he can do nothing but kill soldiers, creating more orphans. He tries to prevent destruction by causing it. In effect, for the sake of peace Duo becomes what he hates and fears the most. Through rationalization and logic he is able to escape feeling guilt at this hypocrisy, but eventually that is going to catch up to him. He’s going to have to realize that he’s destroyed as many lives as he’s saved, and that will be a heavy burden to bear.
Just because he's optimistic doesn't mean he's mental
Very true. I don't mean to imply that everyone
who's outwardly positive is hiding something from their friends. But then, not everyone is responsible
for mass destruction, either.
Acting openly and frankly are common defense mechanisms, and characters
that hide dark pasts with a cheerful exterior are very common in anime (think
Kenshin, Vash, and Chichiri).
Considering what Duo's been through in the past and what he puts himself
through during the show, it's hard to believe that he wouldn’t have a few
instabilities.
Interpretation of
Duo’s Image Songs
Wild Wing
“I don't need any
memories,
I want only one
second that is in front of me.”
Afraid of his past, but unable to
look forward to the future. Lives
only in the here and now.
“So to the pain
that burns my heart,
I'll
smile"
Hiding past and pain under a mask
of jokes and smiles.
“People fly far
up in the sky, Into their dreams , Higher and higher, Beyond
eternity.”
This line sounds remarkably like
he’s talking about Heaven. Again,
representing Duo’s wish for peace and faith.
“While gazing at
the disappearing tomorrow
Hold passion for
tomorrow tight and take off.”
While letting his past disappear,
he's taking his emotions now and taking off toward tomorrow, into the
future.
“I want to keep
myself just like A sharp knife.”
This analogy is especially
interesting, because Duo shows everyone such an open front. To say that he is a sharp knife implies
that no one can get close to him.
Kitto Ok! (surely ok)
In this song, it seems that Duo is
speaking to himself.
"Forget about yesterday when all
you could do
Was hug your knees and sigh
Believe in yourself"
Duo doesn’t know anything about
the pasts of the others. Either
he's talking to everyone in general, or this is him. And saying "believe in yourself" to
himself would imply that at one point, he didn't.
“There's only one
rule, cowards are no good.”
Reinforces my earlier ideas that
he’s trying to present a strong mask.
“You're always
full of dreams.
Don't worry about
anything.
It doesn't matter if they don't come
true.”
Duo’s not thinking about a
peaceful end, only how to get through to that point.
In this Duo repeats over and over
“it’ll be okay” and “don’t worry about anything.” Again, proving that he’s trying to
convince himself that he’s okay, he doesn’t need to think about the past. He doesn't even need to think about the
future--because that's when everything catches up.
It’s So All
Right
This song is very different than
his other songs—he almost contradicts his other songs by sounding so outwardly
positive. He even mentions that
miracles can happen, even though internally he doesn’t believe in miracles and
God. This song represents the mask
he wears.
Good Luck and Good
Bye
“We who
just bumped shoulders and shall never meet again.”
Most
translations I've seen only mention, "…bumped shoulders and brushed past." But he definitely says "will never meet
again" (nido to aenai). This idea
would be somewhat unusual for Duo if he was, in truth, as optimistic and
eternally happy as everyone seems to think.
“He's biting his
lip
But not hard enough to
hurt,
Staring off into the
distance
And won't show his
heart.”
In Japanese language a lot of subjects
are left ambiguous, and therefore must be decided from context. Though vague pronouns are used in this
song, it’s somewhat unclear as to whether he’s talking about someone else or
merely himself, as in his other songs:
“He’s biting his lip…
(suppressing his complaints at the life he’s chosen),
…but not hard enough to
hurt… (not enough that he really knows he is),
…staring off into the
distance… (looking ahead to the future)
…and won’t show his
heart (hiding, as always).”
In Conclusion
Duo hides behind a mask of cheerful humor. He doesn’t want to face his past or his present mistakes, only fighting for a lofty concept of peace. More than Heero, at the end of the war Duo is going to have problems. Not only has his group split up, but also now he has the time to face all the damage he did as the God of Death. Choosing which people die also means taking responsibility for those deaths. When Duo realizes all that I’ve said (he is his own worst enemy, he’s killed so many people when all he wanted to do was save them, etc.) he’s going to have to face up, accept, and move on. If he can’t, he may slip into depression. I’m not trying to imply that Duo is going to kill himself, but it seems more likely that he would be unable to live with his guilt sooner than any of the other pilots, simply because he loves people and life so much.
For the sake of this ending on a positive note, if Duo can find a way to push through this inevitable section of his life, he’ll be all the stronger because of it.
