Duolingo's make-believe mascot, Duo the Owl, duped his death

Show Caption

Nearly two weeks after Duolingo announced the death of their beloved mascot, Duo the Owl, fans around the world learned they had been duped all along.

In an Instagram video released on Monday, the language learning app quickly recapped the owl’s death before the bright green bird is seen bursting from flames with a comic book-style text bubble that reads, “I’m back.”

“Faking my death was the test,” Duo wrote in the caption, “and you all passed.”

The quick-paced video shows the completion of several in-app challenges, implying that users’ increased activity on the app may have brought the beloved mascot back to life.

In fact, the stunt was part of a global campaign in which the app pawned different countries against one another to see which could earn the most XP (experience points) to save Duo. As of Monday, the top three performing countries were the United States, Germany and Brazil, according to the Bring Back Duolingo website.

“Our favorite green owl has returned − though how he came back varies across different markets,” a Duolingo spokesperson told Paste BN. “As always, we love leaning into creative storytelling that keeps our learners engaged, and this campaign was a fun way to do just that. We’re not done telling this story just yet − more details on what really happened to Duo will be revealed soon.”

How is the internet reacting?

Many of the top comments on the TikTok video were left by brands, weighing in on the news.

“What was it all for tho?” mobile game Subway Surfers commented on the video. “This Monday got so much better,” replied Microsoft Surface.

“So are my missed lessons forgiven or nah”? Tide Rescue said, followed by, “It’s magic fr (for real). Corpo (corporation) brand magic,” commented cereal brand Magic Spoon.

Who created the comeback video?

Video editor Mikey, known online as Kiuzr, began working with Duolingo to create social media videos in December. Mikey’s first project was the brand’s annual Duolingo Year in Review. This video is visually similar to the recent one announcing Duo’s “resurrection,” featuring fast-paced edits. Mikey, who is based in the Philippines, wished to be referred to only by first name for privacy reasons.

Duolingo became aware of Mikey’s work after Mikey posted a “silly, bored edit” they did that featured Duo the Owl last year.

“I then went to bed as soon as I posted it, not expecting anything crazy in return. I then woke up to Duolingo following me and telling me to check (my) DM (direct message) and there I was, offered ... multiple editing projects with them,” Mikey said. Today, Mikey is a contract video editor with the brand.

Who is Duo the Owl?

Duo Keyshauna Renee Lingo, more commonly known as Duo the Owl, was born in 1000 BC, according to an X post made by Duolingo. The silly, animated green owl is known for quite aggressively reminding users to complete their daily lessons.

While Duolingo jokes its mascot was born in 1000 BC, Duo actually debuted in 2011, the year the app launched, according to Apple Developer. But Duo looked different then. The original Duolingo logo featured a 2-D owl whose eyes and mouth spelled out “DUO.” A year later, the first 3-D version of Duo was released with a realistic owl body and two wide eyes that seemingly stared right into a user’s soul.

In 2014, Duolingo decided to “gamify” its mascot, making him cuter and more animated, according to Apple Developer. By 2018, the Duo the Owl users know and love (or fear) was released.

In recent years, Duo grew increasingly popular as he parodied pop culture references, appeared in outrageous memes and even partnered with Netflix to promote “Squid Game.”

Greta Cross is a national trending reporter at Paste BN. Follow her on X and Instagram @gretalcross. Story idea? Email her at gcross@usatoday.com.