Miraculous Ladybug
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Major Characters
- Both Marinette/Ladybug and Adrien/Cat Noir, whose status as this seems to be tied to their relationship with each other. In general, fans are split between the ones who love one and not the other, fans who love them both equally, and fans who decry them both as terrible characters, and there's a range of other opinions covered in-between.
- Marinette's fans see her as a quirky and fun protagonist, a long-suffering woobie who deserves everything good in the world (to the point of bashing anyone who causes her suffering), and generally just a likeable character. On the other side of the coin, her detractors see her as a flat Mary Sue-type character who's perfectly willing to bully her friends over the smallest things, a hypocrite in regards to her role as a hero (insisting that she and Cat Noir can't know each other's identities while she's allowed to know the temp heroes' identities, for example), and a deranged stalker whose attempts at wooing Adrien are more disturbing than funny.
- Adrien's fans see him as the show's biggest woobie for being abused by his dad and having his crush turn him down repeatedly, as well as an endearingly dorky character whose interactions with others easily demonstrate that he's a nice guy. On the other hand, his detractors see him as a spineless Extreme Doormat in the face of obvious bullies, an Entitled Bastard who's unable to take no for an answer while pursuing his crush, and accuse him of being subjected to perceived Character Shilling by the writers, to the point that they refuse to see or admit he can do anything wrong.
- There's also a third camp in regards to both characters — the fans who, while liking the duo's personalities and interactions with each other, feel that the show's writing has done both of them a major disservice, not letting them actually grow as people or even have consistent characterization (leading to the broken base over them in the first place).
- Alya Césaire is either loved as a funny, loyal best friend to Marinette and a dedicated journalist or hated for being a shameless gossip who would ditch Marinette for Lila at the drop of a hat. Her getting the Fox Miraculous and becoming Rena Rouge didn't help; she's either seen as perfect for the role or bashed for not being Nathaniel, Lila, or someone else.
- Season 4 introduced another point of contention: her becoming Marinette's Secret-Keeper and confidant. Supporters love it for being the biggest breach in the status quo thus far, allowing Alya to become more prominent after she fell by the wayside post-season 2, and for rerailing her characterization as a good friend after the controversial Lila episodes; detractors argue that Adrien/Cat Noir should have had the honor since he's been a hero longer (and it would finally bring an end to the ever-divisive love square) and that the Lila episodes demonstrated exactly why Alya shouldn't be trusted with Marinette's secrets. It doesn't help that this also plays into the controversy surrounding the fluctuating "if your identity is exposed you're off the team" rule, since Alya's identity was exposed to Hawk Moth yet she still gets the Fox Miraculous on a permanent basis.
- Her matchmaking is another point of contention, and heavily tied to the controversy surrounding the Love Square. Fans of both her and the Love Square naturally love it because she's helping their favorite pairing get closer, Love Square critics who like/are neutral on Alya hate it as another sign of what they see as the show focusing on the pairing at the expense of anything else and wish she could be more than just another mouthpiece for it, and fans who are critical of Alya regardless of their feelings on the Love Square hate it because they see it as Alya refusing to take anyone else's feelings (especially Marinette's) into account just so she can make her ship happen.
- Chloé Bourgeois is easily one of the most contentious characters on the show, especially after episodes like the Queen's Fight trilogy and the season 3 finale. Could she still be redeemed at some point in the future, with or without the aid of the Bee Miraculous? Does she not deserve to be redeemed at all any more, considering her constant Aesop Amnesia and eventually joining with Hawk Moth for extremely petty reasons? Is she Unintentionally Sympathetic or Unintentionally Unsympathetic? Does her having an absent and abusive mother excuse her actions or not? Is she actually friends with Sabrina, or does she just see her as a servant? No one fan can agree on the answer to any of these, and it doesn't help that the show itself seems to flip-flop on the issue.
- Her potential for redemption is especially contentious among fans. One camp argues that all the seeds for one were planted across the seasons (her Pet the Dog moments, her Freudian Excuse, Lila coming in as a potential replacement Alpha Bitch) and were highly annoyed when she joined with Hawk Moth, effectively undoing all her previous development and making sure Lila would go underutilized. Another camp argues that her repeated Aesop Amnesia and irresponsibility with her Miraculous proved that she couldn't be redeemed, and thus saw her alliance with Hawk Moth as a natural progression of this. A third camp didn't like her getting a Miraculous, but agree that her actions in the third season finale were an example of spectacularly poor writing and a waste of Character Development, and there's plenty of other opinions not covered here.
- There's also a debate over whether she's crossed the Moral Event Horizon (usually by willingly teaming up with Hawk Moth) or not on this wiki; expect entries on Chloé under the Moral Event Horizon section on the YMMV page to appear and disappear randomly thanks to editors not agreeing over whether or not she belongs on the list.
- Her characterization in season 4 and beyond (when the writers worsened her cruel nature and intentionally removed all of her more admirable traits) is also contentious. Her fans bemoan that she continues to be a wasted character and criticize the writers for being biased against her, while her detractors see this as a natural progression of her behavior after the season 3 finale and accuse the writers of making her a Karma Houdini, with little middle ground. It doesn't help that Zoé (who has her own entry on this page) was introduced around the same time. This also led to debates about whether or not her eventual fate (getting hit with a Karma Houdini Warranty and sent to live with her abusive mother, whose neglect was a major factor in Chloé becoming as bad as she did) qualified as Karmic Overkill or not.
- Her potential for redemption is especially contentious among fans. One camp argues that all the seeds for one were planted across the seasons (her Pet the Dog moments, her Freudian Excuse, Lila coming in as a potential replacement Alpha Bitch) and were highly annoyed when she joined with Hawk Moth, effectively undoing all her previous development and making sure Lila would go underutilized. Another camp argues that her repeated Aesop Amnesia and irresponsibility with her Miraculous proved that she couldn't be redeemed, and thus saw her alliance with Hawk Moth as a natural progression of this. A third camp didn't like her getting a Miraculous, but agree that her actions in the third season finale were an example of spectacularly poor writing and a waste of Character Development, and there's plenty of other opinions not covered here.
- Nino Lahiffe. Either you love him for being a breath of fresh air compared to the contentiousness of the other four protagonists and applaud his romance with Alya as one of the most drama-free relationships on the show, or you dislike him because he feels like a pointless Satellite Character to Adrien and Alya and accuse his and Alya's relationship of being yet another example of Pair the Spares/Token Minority Couple in media. His actions in season 4 and 5 haven't helped — fans have either loved that he's finally getting more prominence (largely thanks to him spearheading an anti-Hawk Moth group in the latter season) or hate how he Took a Level in Jerkass in the process.
- Some like Hawk Moth's design, his powers, his over-the-top personality and sympathetic motivations. Others think his habit of doing the same thing over and over — turn someone into a supervillain, let them cause havoc, have them do all of his dirty work and hope for the best — makes him boring, his Badass Decay in season 2 definitely not helping matters. The reveal that he's actually Gabriel Agreste only added another layer onto this — his fans see him as a dedicated father who, while strict, just wants to make his son happy in the long run, while his detractors see him as an irredeemable monster who'd probably crank up his abuse of Adrien if given the excuse.
Supporting Characters
- Master Fu. His fans love him for being the Big Good, his attempts to atone for his past mistakes, and for doing his best to aid the Miraculous team; others hate him for his perceived favoritism of Marinette over Adrien and for essentially causing the events of the series with his mistakes. His actions in the season 3 finale don't help matters; there's a schism between those who think he was justified in wiping his own memories and making Marinette the new Guardian so he could protect the Miracle Box, and those who think it was just a selfish decision that only served to heap extra stress onto Marinette's life.
- While individually Marinette and Adrien's classmates vary in popularity (with some of them even reaching Ensemble Dark Horse status), as a collective whole they became divisive with the fanbase after "Chameleon" aired (which painted all of them in a less than flattering light). While they still have their individual fanbases and there's plenty of fans who love all of them, there's just as many fans who hate all of them for their actions there and write fic after fic to punish them simply for siding with Lila, leading to numerous debates as to whether or not they actually deserve all the vitriol. Much like Alya, their shared Shipper on Deck status for Marinette/Adrien and Ladybug/Cat Noir is also contentious among fans, thanks to the divisiveness of the Love Square.
- Rose Lavillant. Her fans see her as The Cutie and a positive addition to the Heroes Team due to her humble nature, considering her relationship with Juleka one of the healthiest romances on the show. On the other hand, her haters see her as having no other traits other than just being sweet and nice, or hate her voice and criticize her attitude for making her look too immature around her teenage peers.
- Max Kanté is largely contentious thanks to his actions in "The Gamer"; fans either hate him for being Unintentionally Unsympathetic regarding his reaction to losing to Marinette (not helped by the fact he technically lost to both Marinette and Adrien but only blamed the former), or sympathize with him over the fact that he was temporarily booted out of a competition he'd trained long and hard for in favor of someone relatively new to the competitive scene. There's also the fact that despite being intelligent, he easily believes Lila's lies like the rest of his classmates.
- Lê Chiến Kim's Dumb Jock antics either make him one of the funniest characters on the show or one of the most annoying, depending on who you ask. His actions in "Derision" only served to make him more divisive, with his detractors calling for his head on a platter due to how his actions traumatized Marinette and how he initially didn't apologize, along with calling Chloé the prettiest girl in front of his own girlfriend and his fans jumping to his defense by pointing out that Chloé manipulated him into doing it and invoking Series Continuity Error on his actions (specifically how he had no negative reaction to the spiders despite "Darkblade" establishing he was afraid of spiders).
- Sabrina Raincomprix served as Chloé's Beta Bitch for most of the series, and just like her is a fairly divisive character in the fanbase. On the one hand, she has fans who see her as a woobie suffering under Chloé's thumb, who appreciate that she actually has standards compared to her "best friend", and who rejoiced when she finally broke away from her toxic influence near the end of season 5; on the other hand, she has detractors who see her as Unintentionally Unsympathetic and a willing accomplice to Chloé (and thus just as culpable in the bullying as her), and subsequently see her as a Karma Houdini who was never punished for all the bullying she participated in.
- Lila Rossi aka Cerise was this from the beginning, as she was subject to fanon months before she made her debut appearance and fans were naturally upset that none of their headcanons were close to the truth, and she's only gotten more controversial from there. As of "Chameleon", there's a split between those who like her and those who don't, all for different reasons:
- The fans that hate her tend to hate her for her treatment of Marinette and the fact that her appearances usually lead to everyone else holding the Idiot Ball (which has only led to the base around Adrien and Alya breaking further). Additionally, her detractors that are less emotionally invested in Marinette hate her for being a poor villain — whether it's because they find her less interesting than Chloé, they think her plans make no sense and rely too much on everyone holding the Idiot Ball, or because she’s never used unless the writers need some cheap conflict.
- There's also those who love Lila as a villain, finding her to be more interesting and cunning than Chloé and a far more personal enemy to Marinette, and consequently lament her lack of screen time, wishing that the writers could use her to her full potential (especially considering she was the first civilian to willingly join up with Hawk Moth). However, much like Chloé, she also has some fans that insist that she should be redeemed and apply Draco in Leather Pants treatment to her actions every chance they get; this tends to be the result of them not giving up their above-mentioned fanon characterization for her.
- The base around her only broke even further in season 5 thanks to two major factors: the reveal that she managed to establish several false identities by pretending to be the daughter of three different women, and her successfully manipulating Gabriel and taking his place as the Big Bad after his death. Fans either love it for providing the show with a more competent villain after multiple poor showings from Gabriel and can't wait to see where her plot goes, or they hate it because they feel that having a 14-year-old girl be such a skilled manipulator stretches the suspension of disbelief way too much (to say nothing about the debates regarding how said 14-year-old girl is portrayed as a more evil and irredeemable villain than a grown adult).
- Kagami Tsurugi has been getting divided reactions from the fanbase ever since she was revealed, and it only increased when she made her debut in the show. Fans either see her as a cruel, heartless bitch who's mean to Marinette and doesn't deserve Adrien, or as the best love interest for Adrien at this point because she's the only one willing to be relatively civil with her romantic rivals. Her appearances in season 3 only served to dump gasoline on the fire, between her getting the Dragon Miraculous and overall getting closer to Adrien (to the point that they all but hooked up in the finale).
- While he was an Ensemble Dark Horse when he first appeared, Luka Couffaine has become this. His fans love him for his laidback, kind nature, the sympathetic reasons for his getting akumatized, and status as an alternate love interest for Marinette; his detractors view him as little more than a Flat Character and Satellite Love Interest who only exists to overcomplicate the already-complicated Love Square. Similar to Kagami, his getting a Miraculous and all but hooking up with Marinette in the third season finale did little to help him.
- Zoé Lee became contentious pretty much the second she was leaked, and the base surrounding her only broke more after her debut in "Sole Crusher". Some fans feel she's a great addition to the show as a Good Counterpart to Chloé and a worthy successor to the Bee Miraculous; other fans see her as a shallow Replacement Scrappy for Chloé made solely as an excuse to not give the Alpha Bitch a redemption arc; and a third camp has taken the middle ground, liking Zoé as a character but hating that the writers are refusing to give her more characterization outside of being "the anti-Chloé", doing both characters a disservice.
- Another point of contention is the amount of screen time she's been getting in season 5. Her supporters enjoy that the plot is giving her more relevance beyond being Chloé's antithesis, while her detractors hate that said plot relevance is coming at the expense of screen time and relevance for characters who've been around longer than her (e.g. her temporarily wielding the Cat Miraculous in the "The Kwamis' Choice" two-parter; several fans argued that it should have gone to Nino instead, given that he's Adrien's best friend and that his girlfriend Alya was the temporary Ladybug wielder).
- Félix Fathom has quickly become one since his debut. Some fans love him for being a foil to Adrien, being a cunning and interesting villain in his own right (even being able to manipulate the show’s Big Bad), and the Agreste family-related lore he brings; others hate him for being a perceived villain Sue and yet another manipulative Hate Sink in a series that already has several of them. It doesn't help that a) much like Lila, he was subjected to fanon characterization long before his debut (since he was the show's original male lead) and many fans refuse to discard said characterization, and b) his presence eventually led to the reveal that the "senti-Adrien" fan theory — which is already controversial on its own — is canon.
- The base surrounding him only split further thanks to his character arc in season 5, where he hooked up with Kagami, had his Freudian Excuse revealed, and made an official Heel–Face Turn. Supporters loved it for how it tied into the overall Myth Arc, for making him more interesting and sympathetic compared to how he was originally presented, and for how cute they thought the romance was; detractors have argued that his turn to good feels insincere overall (especially considering how he was given this treatment while fellow teen villains Chloé and Lila were given no such narrative sympathy, which is a whole other can of worms) and consider his and Kagami's relationship a case of Strangled by the Red String.
Side Characters
- Miss Bustier. Some like how she has her curriculum centered around making sure the well-being of her students is properly looked after in a time where simply having a bad day can lead to massive devastation, as well as the fact that her akumatization came after she willingly defended Marinette from getting akumatized and was able to fight off its corrupting influence before becoming a surprisingly intimidating villain. Others think she is a Misplaced Kindergarten Teacher whose hands-off approach to bullies and manipulators like Chloé and Lila causes more problems than it solves, which, coupled with the fact that she seems to put responsibility on Marinette to be the good example rather than herself, has led to a lot of Accusation Fics directed at her.
- Ms. Mendeleiev, whose reception is largely tied to how one views Bustier. Those who like Bustier hate her for being an unlikeable Stern Teacher, while those who hate Bustier see her as the Only Sane Man in a school that caters to bullies.
- André Bourgeois is a rather polarizing character especially on season 4 and 5, some like that he is bonding with Zoé as a kind stepfather, others find it Unintentionally Unsympathetic as he is more than willing to abandon his own daughter Chloé for a complete stranger.
- While Aeon/Uncanny Valley and Jess/Sparrow/Eagle were largely positively received when they debuted in the Miraculous New York special, there is some debate as to whether or not they count as good representation or not. On the one hand, they're loved for being great heroes in their own right and relatable teenage characters; on the other, some argue that the potential unfortunate implications regarding their designsnote outweigh the positives.
- Jagged Stone became this once season 4 revealed that he was Luka and Juleka's biological father and Anarka's ex. His fans love him for his over-the-top personality, his Intergenerational Friendship with Marinette, and the fact that he's related to two other popular characters, while his detractors hate him for being a deadbeat dad towards his kids, seemingly favoring Luka over Juleka, and overall being Unintentionally Unsympathetic.
- Roger Raincomprix. While he still has fans largely thanks to his actions in "Rogercop" (with his akumatized form remaining one of the most sympathized-with and rooted-for akumas in the show's run), he also has detractors thanks to him being one of the most consistent examples of Adults Are Useless in the show's run, between his inability to handle (and sometimes being the cause of) akuma attacks and the implications in "Startrain" that he sees nothing wrong with his daughter's toxic friendship with Chloé. His extremely unreasonable actions towards Sabine in "Qilin" did not help.
- Socqueline Wang is a contentious character for similar reasons to the above-mentioned Zoé. Her fans love her for her genuinely kind personality and how she acted like a Cool Big Sis to Marinette and defended her from Chloé, while her detractors dislike how she came out of nowhere five seasons in and how she seemingly has little personality outside of "being nice to Marinette".
