Character Profile: Duo Maxwell

On the outside, Duo Maxwell seems laid back, casual, talkative, a bit boisterous, and almost easygoing with quite the sense of humor. He was born on Colony L2. He is American, but his earliest memories were of him being an orphan, living on the streets. A boy called Solo took him into his group of homeless orphans. Solo, however, died.

Duo was sent to the Maxwell Orphanage when he was about seven years old, where he picked up the surname Maxwell from the preist there, Fath Maxwell. Sister Helen, a nun there, taught him how to braid his hair. Sister Helen also gave him the silver Cross he is always seen wearing.

A terrorist group took over the orphanage, holding them hostage, demanding a mobile suit. Duo agreed to steal one for them if they would leave everyone in the orphanage be. He stole the mobile suit, but by the time he got back the orphanage was on fire. He found Sister Helens dying, which is when she gave him his cross. He became and called himself Shinigami ("god of death") because everyone he ever loved and grew close to died.

When the game face goes on, Duo is all business. Piloting his best friend, the Gundam Deathscythe, he cuts wide swaths through his enemies. He detests OZ and Romefeller and would love to see them go down in flames.

Not that he was like this at first. He had originally wanted to sabotage Operation: Meteor and destroy the Deathscythe... but Doctor G, the creator of Deathscythe, made a nice counterproposal: rather than destroy it, steal it, become the God of Death, and inflict revenge on OZ on his terms. (Duo originally snuck onto the sweeper ship, where Dr. G was finishing Deathsythe and starting to look for a pilot. Duo was trained as that pilot.)

Duo's life as the "God of Death" takes a sudden turn, though, when he runs into Hilde Schbeiker. Hilde had already joined OZ, but Duo convinced her to go her own way, and the two became good friends and partners in the secret campaign to overthrow Romefeller. Duo now finds himself with another reason to fight...and as he would eventually admit to himself, a personal reason to find an end to all the carnage.

The Deathscythe Gundam (classified by the Earth Sphere military as Gundam-02) is as imposing and lethal as its name entails. Equipped with Hyper Jammers that block radar traces, it can maneuver almost at will, and this lean, mean machine can cut and run faster than most enemies can realize what's happening. Its main weapon, obviously, is its massive beam scythe. Its buster shield is also capable of attacking by launching itself at enemies or by utilizing pincers or a central beam blade. The original Deathscythe is disabled by OZ mobile dolls and eventually destroyed...but the Gundam creators soon provide Duo with its successor: the Deathscythe Hell, which sports a double-bladed beam scythe as well as the multipurpose Active Cloak. Closed, it acts as extra armor and can deflect beam attacks or conceal it in darkness (rendering it practically invisible when in space). Opened, it makes the Gundam look like a devil fresh out of Hell (which suits Duo just fine).

After the war, Hildi and Duo bought a scrapyard together on L2.