The Duolingo Owl Is Dead, and Half the Gaming World Wants to Be Responsible

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The big language-learning app has announced the death of its mascot, triggering a wave of memes.

It’s a gray day in the world of language learning. The reason for this is one of the biggest apps that not only helps you get fit in Spanish and Korean, but also in fantasy languages like Klingon or High Valyrian.

Duolingo announced the death of its iconic mascot – Duo the Owl – in a media-friendly way. But the exact details are still a secret. In any case, a number of gaming and entertainment accounts on social media have their own ideas about the circumstances of the death.

Meme wave in Assassin’s Creed, Monster Hunter and Co.

On Twitter/X, the Duolingo account shared the sad news:

It is with a heavy heart that we have to inform you that Duo, formerly known as the Duolingo Owl, is dead.

The authorities are currently investigating the cause of death, and we are fully cooperating. Honestly, he probably died while waiting for you to do your lesson, but what do we know.

We realize he had many enemies, but we kindly ask you not to share why you hate him in the comments. If you do want to share, please also provide your credit card number so we can automatically sign you up for Duolingo Max in his memory.

We thank you for respecting Dua Lipa’s privacy at this time.

Of course, there is a sophisticated marketing plan behind this to promote Duolingo’s subscription service. And at least in terms of attention, it has been a complete success. The humorous statement promptly triggered a meme wave that official gaming and entertainment accounts also jumped on. The Assassin’s Creed account posted the assassin Ezio kneeling at the dead body of the owl:

In The Sims 4, Duo is honored at an altar:

Palworld treats the little green owl similarly as it treats its own creatures:

In World of Warcraft, the duo finds itself with the spirit healer and waits to resurrect:

In the Dead by Daylight universe, Duo has been kidnapped by the Entitus and now has to escape from the killers:

Netflix is also getting in on the action. In its own Squid Game, the owl had to prove itself in children’s games and failed, like many other candidates:

This type of advertising is not new for Duolingo. For example, there is a reference in the statement to an earlier campaign in which Duo expressed its love for the British singer Dua Lipa. On April 1 last year, the app jokingly announced a musical called Duolingo on Ice! in which several languages were to be combined.

Duolingo knows how to stay relevant. It remains to be seen how the death of Duo will be resolved in the end and whether the owl is really history. What do you think of all this? Have you found any more memes? Feel free to write it in the comments!