Robot Master of the Week #37: Duo

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Duo (デューオ, Dyūo?) is a character from the original Mega Man series. He is an extraterrestrial robot with the mission to eliminate the Evil Energy. His left hand glows to absorb and destroy the Evil Energy. Duo himself has greater strength than average robots. He has the ability to turn himself into a comet form to crush his opponents; he can also fly while in this form, enabling him to traverse great distances in outer space. He attacks primarily by punching using his large left hand, though he is capable of using projectile weapons, the most powerful of which is a blast in the shape of his own hand. Duo can also dash to hurt his enemies with the spikes on his shoulder. Having been created for the purpose of destroying evil energy, he seems to have the unique ability to purge said energy from an infected victim's body, as demonstrated when saving Mega Man in Mega Man 8. In Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters, Duo has the ability to copy the Robot Master weapons like Mega Man, Proto Man, and Bass. This ability is guessed to have been given to him by Dr. Light. Duo chronologically first appeared in the beginning of Mega Man 8 fighting in space against a unknown evil robot with Evil Energy, and the two crashed on an island on Earth during the battle. Mega Man is sent by Dr. Light to investigate the island, where he finds, and takes the broken Duo to Dr. Light while Dr. Wily gets away with the Evil Energy. After Dr. Light starts to repair Duo, and after the defeat of the first four Robot Masters, Duo awakes and goes after the Evil Energy in Dr. Wily's hideout. There he finds, and fights against Mega Man thinking he was evil, before realizing he wasn't. He then joins forces with Mega Man, helping him against Dr. Wily, and later saving his life. In his ending of Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters, he leaves Earth holding a unknown energy (believed to be the Evil Energy remains from Mega Man 8), departing from Dr. Light and other playable character if the game was completed by two players.

Appearances
Mega Man 8
Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters
Mega Man: Battle & Chase
Mega Man & Bass (as a data CD)
Rockman Strategy
Rockman Gold Empire
Rockman Online

Theme

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Fun Facts
-Duo is called "Dio" in Rockman Strategy.
-Duo was originally intended to be a robot created by Dr. Cossack. Despite the later change of his character criteria, his design still holds certain elements of Russian origins.
-In the first cutscene of Mega Man 8, when Duo is fighting the robot Wily got the evil energy from, his design is quite different from what is seen elsewhere. Though barely visible, except when Mega Man found him, the silhouette reveals the upper torso was different. The book R20 Rockman & Rockman X Official Complete Works has artwork of Duo confirming his original form. It's possible that his body was damaged when he crashed and Dr. Light moved him to a different body.
-Much like Duo, the evil robot has a large hand; however, for the evil robot this is his right hand, while for Duo it is his left. This symbolizes that the two mirror each other, one being good and the other evil.