Duo (program)

Duo (デューオ) is a mysterious being from outer space in the MegaMan Battle Network series of video games and the MegaMan NT Warrior (Rockman EXE) anime. His design is based on Duo of the original Mega Man series.

Game History
Duo was introduced in MegaMan Battle Network 4, at the very end of the game as the final boss. Duo is the operation system for an asteroid-based rocket poised to destroy Earth. The villainous Dr. Regal attempts to control Duo, and the program itself acts as judge of the human race, deeming it evil and unworthy of survival. For this reason, Duo intends to destroy the planet, effectively eradicating the species so that there is not a single trace of evil energy left.

When MegaMan.EXE entered the control system of the asteroid, Duo sensed the Dark Soul inside MegaMan and confronted him as a large head. Duo explained to MegaMan that he exists to destroy all evil beings and explained that while humans were intelligent, they were evil and must be eradicated. Duo even stated that MegaMan was evil before he forced MegaMan DS out of MegaMan's body and had the two face off. Despite MegaMan's victory, Duo explained that MegaMan only managed to suppress his darkness, rather than destroy it, and therefore meant that he is not strong enough to destroy evil. MegaMan refuted saying that everyone has darkness inside them, but they would try to fight it to make sure that it never takes over.

Restating his purpose for creation was to destroy all evil, Duo takes on his battle form, summoning his body, arms, and helmet before he faced off against MegaMan. Despite the odds, MegaMan emerged victorious, destroying Duo's battle form. Duo was shocked that his battle mode was defeated, but claimed that it was too late to change the asteroid's course and won't be long before it entered Earth's atmosphere. Seeing that MegaMan was still determined to go on, Duo granted passage to MegaMan to control system.

However, as Duo surmized, MegaMan was too weak to change the asteroid's course and continued to countdown till they reached Earth's atmosphere and said that MegaMan should just give up. However, much to his surprise, the asteroid's systems could feel much vibrations coming from the Earth's atmosphere. He turned the vibration sensors on and then could hear everyone in the planet shouting out MegaMan's name. Duo did not think that it mattered much before he saw MegaMan suddenly display a great increase in strength, moving the system a bit. Using all their energy, Lan and MegaMan performed a Full Synchro and finally altered the asteroid's course, thus avoiding Earth's destruction from a collision with the asteroid, before the two passed out.

Duo was impressed by their showing of unity and the power that came from it, before stating that he would one day return, whether it would be decades or even centuries from now. He then gave his farewells to MegaMan and sent him back to Lan.

Although his story essentially ends at the game's conclusion, he makes anonymous appearances in subsequent games, aiding Lan's quest against evil by providing a powerful chip that takes after one of his signature attacks.

Anime History
In the anime, Duo is a godlike entity, created by an alien race (simply called the Creators by Duo), that seeked to cleanse the world of all evil. The extraterrestrials that oversaw his genesis intended for Duo to expand their already vast computer network beyond the boundaries of their home planet, and he was therefore installed into a shuttle that was launched into space, eventually becoming a comet once it reached the outer limits of the atmosphere. Duo, however, defected from his original objective, as he felt that space did not require the network's useless influence, thus it was destined to be destroyed. From his comet, Duo laid waste to the planet, but not before some of its inhabitants escaped on a floating city, eventually landing on Earth during the age of the dinosaurs. Researching methods of halting "The Cybernetic God", the survivors came across a process similar to Cross Fusion, but were unsuccessful in completing a viable hybrid being, and only their city remained intact by the time it is discovered in Stream, shielded by technology akin to the "Dimensional Areas".

Duo's comet makes several trips to Earth, passing by fifteen years before Stream, examining the wreckage of the plane in which both Dr. Regal and Ms. Yuri (Ozono Yuriko) as children were traveling on. He turns the two into probes to monitor human life, then leaves them in the ocean to be found and raised by Dr.Wily. When Regal initiates a Dimensional Area that envelops the globe at the end of Axess, Duo is alerted to the chaos and sets off to perform "Earth Erasure". Giant viruses materialize in the real world and cause havoc. However, coming across Lan Hikari (Hikari Netto) and Chaud Blaze (Ijūin Enzan), he becomes intrigued by Cross Fusion and decides to spare the world so that it may prove to him that it merits survival. He reverts the damage caused by his advent, then marks thirteen individuals with the Crests of Duo, those chosen specifically for such a purpose.

Forms
Duo, compared to and like most final bosses in the BN series from BN4 onwards, has a total of four different forms. However, each form must be fought on different save files, depending on the difficulty selected, and the final version, like with most of the Omega versions, must be unlocked by unlocking all of the 7 special icons on the start menu.

Also, unlike most final bosses and like most of the Navi bosses in Battle Network 4, Duo has a different coloration for his final form. He is also found and fought in the same place where the final story scenario takes place as always for all versions.
 * Duo (2000HP) AKA Duo Version 1 is the default version of the final boss of both versions of BN4, and only on Normal Mode. This version of Duo causes his ring riff to shift up to 5 times during his Stream Laser attack, and is fought in the Control Area in the Meteor Comp 5. The player first must fight a sub boss in the form of Dark MegaMan.EXE, then proceed on to the final battle with Duo himself. During this time with the cutscenes and battles upon entering the Meteor Comp 5, it's not possible to save. Duo here is colored with a shade of white, blue green and red, and stays colored like so for his two next subsequent forms.
 * Duo α (Alpha; 2500HP) AKA Duo Version 2 is the same as the initial version, only he is fought on Hard Mode. The location to battle him is the same, and like with V1 can be fought repeatedly (until Duo Ω is unlocked). There are not much changes to this version other his attacks doing roughly 50-100 more damage than his default version, and his Stream Laser ring shifts positions up to 6 times instead.
 * Duo β (Beta; 3000HP) AKA Duo Version 3 is instead fought on Super Hard Mode. His Stream Laser ring has a total 7 position shifts, and his damage on his attacks is boosted by another 50-100. This version can be fought repeatedly until Duo Ω is unlocked.
 * Duo Ω (Omega; 3500HP) AKA Duo SP is the final form of Duo, this time with a gold, gray, orange and magenta coloration and his moves are boosted by 100-150 damage from his original default version. Once this version is available, it will replace the original version no matter the difficulty, as it is fought in the place of the all other versions upon obtaining the 7 special icons while being able to fight it repeatedly.

Powers and Abilities
Duo possesses a variety of extremely potent abilities, many of them manifesting themselves in the form of space-age weaponry. Duo's only weak spot is at his chest cavity when it glows red. As he floats in space with no panels, ground-based attacks can't harm him.

Duo's cannon is meant to be his weakpoint, and despite his panel area's comp, it's possible to Area Grab his visible side of the field.

In the anime, Duo is far more powerful than any other character in the series; his powers are almost godlike. He possesses the ability to separate Navis and operators from Cross Fusion with a mere thought, allowing them to take on physical bodies while in his comet. He can block attacks by barely moving an inch and defeating various adversaries at once with just one attack. Another ability he has in the anime is to edit DNA, leaving the subject with supernatural powers like extremely high intelligence (like Dr. Regal) or the ability to survive and heal faster from heavily damaging physical experiences (like Ms. Yuri). The most godlike ability he has is the power to fix any damage he performs on a planet like it never happened. This is shown in the anime as he repaired the damage that the giant viruses he sent caused. At the very end on the Stream series, he destroyed the planet Earth completely along with every non-Crest of Duo holders in it. Then, he undid everything after Barrel and Colonel sacrificed themselves to Duo.


 * Duo Knuckles: Duo's fists are capable of crushing those that oppose him, and may detach through rocket propulsion to strike his enemies. These attacks are performed from those fists:
 * Meteor Knuckle: Panels flash, and Duo rains his fists down on MegaMan's field, cracking random panels.
 * Justice One/Judgment Fist: Duo smashes a 2x2 fist on MegaMan's field, which cracks the panels in that formation.
 * Big Hook: Blows two lightning-fast hooks two columns behind and in front, not cracking panels, but destroy objects and heavily damage enemies.
 * Duo Cannon: Duo uses the epicenter hole to release a variety of following projectile attacks: (This cannon is meant to be his weakpoint in BN4)
 * Stream Laser: Fires a straight red laser shot on the center row which can fan out via a central ring riff coating the laser at certain points along the spectrum. Pierces Invis if it connects. Each version of Duo adds one extra time the ring riff appears, and it moves along a certain pattern. Duo's first version has the ring move up to 5 times, while up to the final form causes the ring to shift 8 times total.
 * Poltergeists: Shoots rockets and mines from its chest, occasionally both at once. The rockets home in on MegaMan's row, and the mines travel in a 2x2 wave pattern. The rockets can be shot down, but depending on the version of BN4 and the version of Duo being fought, it's possible to do so with ease, or lack the firepower to do so via the different types of system mechanics available.
 * Anger Impact: Duo releases a wave of energy in an echo effect that resembles his face, cracking MegaMan's two front columns. It's used if Duo is low on HP. This attack was the only one used by Duo in the anime, and it was powerful enough to easily defeat all of the Cross Fusion team.
 * Crest of Duo: A crest given by Duo to humans in Rockman EXE Stream. People with this crest are able to use Cross Fusion. It first appeared in Episode 2.

Trivia

 * Duo's personality is very different from his classic counterpart, who also wanted to eradicate evil energy, but was notably less extreme in this venture.
 * It is interesting to note that at the end of Mega Man Battle Network 4, Duo says that he will return 'decades, perhaps centuries later', which has led to speculation that Duo may appear in the Mega Man Star Force series. When Star Force 3 was announced, many fans believed Duo to be Meteor G. This was not the case.
 * The insignia on Duo's arms is similar to that of Mega Man Star Force's icon.
 * Duo's facial design bears a slight resemblance to High Max.
 * Duo bears a striking resemblance to the Marvel Comics villain, Galactus.