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| “ | Welcome to my humble abode. I'm the Duke, the "Ruler of Shadows". The "Main Vein". The "Big Boy". The "Top Puppy". | „ |
| ~ The Duke introducing himself. |
| “ | See, I'm a man of rules. It's rules that keep everyone alive in the Wall. But when someone breaks said rules, you need a punishment! | „ |
| ~ The Duke to Tim. |
The Duke is a major antagonist of the Hulu animated comedy series Solar Opposites, serving as the main villain of the first season's "The Wall" serial arc. He is the self-proclaimed ruler of "The Wall", a colony of humans shrunk, kidnapped, and collected as trophies by Yumyulack, one of the show's main characters. As ruler of the colony, he subjects the denizens to totalitarian rule, controlling all aspects of life under the Wall. He's especially spiteful of those living in the "low wall", where the most impoverished and less fortunate humans live and forces them into enslavement. Compared to other villains of comedy shows, the Duke shares no humorous personality traits or qualities and thus is one of the darkest villains to ever appear on a comedy show.
He is voiced by Alfred Molina, who also played Doctor Octopus in Spider-Man 2, Satipo in Raiders of the Lost Ark, Reverend Leland Drury in White Fang 2: Myth of the White Wolf, Johann Tetzel in Luther, Bishop Manuel Aringarosa in The Da Vinci Code, Ke-Pa in Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness, Mr. Freeze in Harley Quinn, Maxim Horvath in The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Lasombra in Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie and Professor Jeffries in Chill Out, Scooby-Doo!.
Biography
Sometime before the series' events, the man who would become the Duke was just an ordinary denizen who was one of many humans shrunk and kidnapped by the alien Yumyulack, being kept in a terrarium dubbed "The Wall" as a trophy. At some point, the man decided to seize power over the colony and run it like a tyrant, building a cult of loyal followers to cater to his will. Dubbing himself "The Duke", the man uses his power to mistreat those in the lower wall, which is more impoverished and dirty than the upper levels. Despising the lower wall with a passion, the Duke hoards food and medicine intended for these lower walls to keep for himself, while also forcing them into slavery and horrific working conditions. At the same time, the Duke successfully builds a charismatic public image that causes him to be viewed by a good portion of the populace as a savior, using this image to hold an iron grip on all aspects of life in the Wall.
At first, the Duke is shown to be a courteous and understanding leader in spite of his tyrannical nature. When residents Tim, Cherie, and Pedro attempt to barter the Duke for insulin, which is needed by Pedro's diabetic father Enrique, Duke seemingly accepts the trade. However, his friendly facade is quickly dropped when he realizes that Pedro was involved in a riot that damaged two to three floors of the Wall. After initially assuring Pedro that his father will get his insulin, he quickly directs his guard to behead Pedro with a floss pick, to the horror of both Tim and Cherie. After being thrown out of the Duke's quarters, both Tim and Cherie decide to set up a movement to remove Duke as leader, dubbing themselves "The Rebellion".
After the trio fight through some of the Duke's forces, Enrique betrays Tim and Cherie and the two are captured by the Duke after the latter manipulated Enrique into blaming them both for Pedro's death and lured them both into his trap. Desiring to punish them both for breaking his rules, the Duke kicks Cherie down the "Boo-Who Hole", a seemingly bottomless pit, and forces a heartbroken Tim to watch. The Duke then orders Tim to be imprisoned and tortured for information regarding the Rebellion.
At his cell, Tim is encouraged by a cell-mate, named Jean-Pierre, to write letters to send all over the Wall outlining the Duke's heinous actions and call for a change in leadership. Both men are soon rescued by surviving rebels led by Cherie, who had managed to escape the Boo-Who Hole. Spreading the message of revolution all over the Wall, Tim and Cherie manage to recruit dozens of denizens to their cause, with Tim taking charge of the new movement.
While the Duke speaks at an assembly, a group of rebels led by Tim and Jean-Pierre infiltrates the congregation, intending to launch their assault there. However, the Duke's sheriff discovers Tim and, after failing to attack him, kills Jean-Pierre with a pushpin. A fierce battle then ensues between the Rebellion and the Duke's forces. Seeking to quickly crush the Rebellion once and for all, the Duke unleashes a flood that engulfs much of the Wall's lower levels, condemning countless people to drown to their deaths. Despite this, the Rebellion successfully infiltrate the top levels, killing most of the Duke's enforcers and the Sheriff. Rather than deal with Tim, the Duke takes the coward's way out and escapes the Wall entirely through a hole, much to Tim's chagrin. The Duke's fate afterwards is unknown.
Personality
The Duke differs from other villains in adult comedy shows in that he is devoid of any redeeming or humorous qualities whatsoever, viewing anyone below his class as inferior. This was exemplified shortly after Pedro's death when the Duke remarked that Pedro's corpse made the room "smell like low wall." The Duke is cold, ruthless, egotistical, and incapable of feeling love or empathy towards others and only gets worse as the series progresses.
Whenever the Duke is insulted or attacked by the Rebellion, he often responds by collectively punishing the entire lower wall through additional labor, as he did when rebels vandalized his office with penis drawings. He shows no sense of humor because he sees it as disrespecting his rules. In his mindset, anyone who breaks his rules should be severely punished. He's even willing to inflict psychological harm to his enemies without killing them, as he did to Tim when kicked Cherie down the Boo-Who Hole. The Duke is also capable of manipulating allies of the Rebellion into turning on them, as he was able to do with Enrique when he held Tim and Cherie responsible for Pedro's murder despite the Duke ordering it.
While depraved to the core, the Duke also lacks courage and is not shown to be much of an effective fighter. He prefers to leave some of his most heinous acts, like murder, up to his enforcers since he didn't have the willpower to do the crimes himself. Because of his cowardice, he also likes to wiggle himself out of any potential fight he might have, as he did with Tim when the Rebellion leader barged into the Duke's quarters intending to finish him off only to leave the Wall entirely via a hole in the ground.
Overall, the Duke is a genuinely horrifying, repulsive villain who darkens the otherwise comedic mood of the series whenever he appears.
 Villains
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Solar Opposites The Wall | ||