The leader of the Saint Rose Crusaders, is never clearly identified within the series as being male or female but it is left to the readers to decide due to the ambiguous character designed used. Reviewers of the series found it both interesting and disturbing that Duke's clothing is similar in design to the white robes worn by members of the Ku Klux Klan (an American white supremacy group once led by a man named David Duke). Within "a la Mode", Duke is not shown to have any racial prejudices – Duke instead appears before four ostracized children endowed with special powers, shunned by their families and societies because they were different. Duke, drawn by their loneliness and internal cries for help, takes them in, assures them that they are important, and helps them find a purpose in life. The manga suggests that Duke came up with the plan of using the remaining Chimera Anima to take over the world.