A duplicate record or Guest of record is created when the information submitted in the event registration form doesn't match their constituent record. I can't change the Guest record because that participant (who is a constituent) is already on the list. I have to delete one record and update the guest record so it is associated with the actual constituent. I've used other event registration software where you can select two participant records and "merge" them. Similar to duplicate management, but specific to events.
This should be able to be done whether or not the person is a guest or a host or just a single registration.