The effects of nitrogen on the deformation behavior of duplex stainless steel have been studied. The variation of strength was correlated with the characteristic microstructures pertaining to nitrogen. Analysis based on Hall-fetch relation confirmed that nitrogen enhances phase-boundary strengthening effect. The evolution of dislocation structure, slip traces and misorientation distribution during deformation were also characterized to elucidate the effect of nitrogen on inelastic deformation mechanism. It has been verified in this study that the higher nitrogen content provides a dual-phase microstructure with smaller strength difference between austenite and ferrite resulting into the earlier transfer of inelastic deformation from austenite to ferrite.