Fanfic / Tales of Karmic Lies Aftermath

Adrien Agreste turned a blind eye towards the pain Lila Rossi was causing, believing it wasn't that serious... and anyway, it wasn't like there was anything she could do to him. Not when he already knew her true nature. It wasn't worth protecting others, but he could ensure he never fell for her tricks... right?

But when karma came calling, he found himself facing not just his own karmic backlash, but the bulk of what she'd accrued as well. By the time the dust settled down, nothing was the same anymore, the old status quo thoroughly shattered.

So what happened next...? Well, here's some possibilities.

Tales of Karmic Lies Aftermath is a Recursive Fanfiction by cornholio4. It is inspired by The Karma of Lies, which was written by CartoonAddict564. As the title implies, Tales of Karmic Lies Aftermath serves as a Continuation Fic, exploring what happens after the events of the original story.

Referenced throughout the work is an in-universe film adaptation, Ladybug: Miraculous Journey. For simplicity's sake, its tropes are listed in a seperate folder.

Note: Due to its sequel status, this naturally contains Late-Arrival Spoilers for the original work.

See also What Goes Around Comes Around, another work by the same author that was similarly inspired by The Karma of Lies, but offers an alternative take on the whole scenario.

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This fanfic contains examples of:

Main Story

• Abusive Parents:
  • In his video call to his son, Gabriel Agreste still shows to be an emotionally abusive parent towards Adrien.
  • Dr. Heinrich Strucker, however, was a much worse emotionally and physically abusive parent to his daughter Henrietta.
  • Marinette fears that Caline Bustier will turn out to be one when she declares that she hopes her unborn child will take after her 'star student'. Given how she treated said star student, her fears are well-founded... and shared by Caline's ex-husband, who thankfully gets full custody.
• Ambiguous Situation: When Alya suggests to the other former temp heroes that they should steal Miraculouses from the people they know have them, how much of their horror stems from morally objecting to the idea versus fearing the potential consequences?
• Armor-Piercing Question:
  • When Gabriel repeatedly insults his intelligence, Adrien asks how, if he was such a sorry excuse for a hero, Hawk Moth was never able to defeat him. And for that matter, how was Hawk Moth so commonly outsmarted by another teenager?
  • Majestia asks Alya and Nino if they know what to call someone who lusts after power for selfish desires and entitled nature, the answer being a supervillain.
• Backfire on the Witness Stand: Discussed. Ms. Bustier calls on Marinette and the other active heroes who used to be her students in hopes that their testimony will shore up her case. They point out that if they do take the stand, they'll have to be honest — and that she won't like what they have to say about her.
• Bait-and-Switch: After it's established that Alya is planning to steal a Miraculous from the Coffaines' houseboat, Chapter 7 initially appears as though she's going through with it — but it's some other would-be thieves who discover what sort of security they're dealing with the hard way.
  • In the first part of the United Heroez visit arc, Ignoblia reached Earth, seeking to conquer it and the human race. She is said to be pretty much the most dangerous villain the heroes have faced since Hawk Moth. Her battle with her sister Majestia is said to have devastated both a planet and its moon. Even Chloé knows that it would've been a mistake to try and threaten her, even when she was at her worst. And as the United Heroez got ready to confront her, Majestia doesn't sugarcoat the fact that the upcoming battle could leave her dead. But she is very willing to go through with such a fate to make sure Ignoblia won't hurt anyone ever again. She pulled her daughter in for one last tearful hug before they departed for Paris. And when they arrived, they find that the Paris heroes have already utterly defeated Ignoblia, with the heroes going on about how they did it as the American heroes just took it all in.
• Beethoven Was an Alien Spy: Dan "DB" Cooper, the hijacker of Northwest Orient Flight 305, was apparently a time traveler from the future who had once stolen the Rabbit Miraculous.
• Believing Their Own Lies:
  • Alya remains convinced that her falling-out with Marinette is only temporary, and that it's just a matter of getting her 'bestie' to see that she shouldn't keep blaming her for what Lila and Adrien did.
  • Gabriel clings to the belief that if Emilie ever awakens from her coma, she'd completely understand his point of view, and he'd be able to convince her that their son was a lost cause and that they should leave Paris and start over elsewhere.
  • Ms. Bustier sincerely thinks she's the one responsible for Chloé's redemption, despite being one of her worst enablers.
• Berserk Button: Adrien has become one for Alya as Jessica and Aeon find out.
• Broken Pedestal: Averted when Marinette admits in an interview how she used to obsess over a certain (unnamed to the audience but clearly Adrien) crush. Public reaction is noted to be surprised, but largely supportive of her admitting her flaws and what she's working to improve.
• The Cavalry Arrives Late: By the time the United Heroez arrive to help deal with Majestia's evil sister Ignoblia, Ladybug and her teammates have already taken the villain down.
• Change the Uncomfortable Subject: Happens twice in rapid succession when Jessica and Aeon run into Alya and Nino. Alya gears up to vent about being 'temporarily' estranged from Marinette, and Jessica tries to deflect by asking about what happened to Adrien, only for Alya to snap at her to never mention him around her again. Aeon then distracts them by inviting them to come see the United Heroez with them.
• Character Witness: Marinette and several others get called in as these when Ms. Bustier's husband seeks to divorce her and secure custody of their unborn child.
• Control Freak: During their argument, Adrien calls out his father on this, pointing out that Gabriel was responsible for most of his education... and critical lack thereof in several areas. He never taught him anything about financial security, as Gabriel managed all his money for him and wouldn't let him access his own wages; as a result, Adrien wasn't aware of what sort of precautions he should take while accessing the one account he could reach.
• Crazy-Prepared: Downplayed; Marinette spends a lot of time planning out how to deal with various scenarios, such as anticipating the idea that somebody might try to rob known Miraculous users. Justified in the instance of Ignoblia's arrival, as she explains that Bunnyx mentioned her as one of the villains the future version of her defeated, so she anticipated having to face her someday.
• Crystal-Ball Scheduling: Adrien runs afoul of this while trying to distract himself from his plight while channel surfing.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Bravery and Foolish Stupidity are the Same Thing Right? features one when the Dark Owl challenges Ignoblia.
• Darker and Edgier: Attempted when ex-Principal Damocles tries to be a costumed superhero again, this time changing his look to reflect his Akuma self and adopting the Dark Owl name.
• Disappointed in You: Majestia's reaction to learning how Alya responded to her replacement as the Fox Hero actually pierces through Alya's stubborn attitude, to the point that she's implied to have had a Jerkass Realization thanks to their conversation.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Ignoblia is so insulted by the Dark Owl being the first 'hero' of Paris to challenge her that she declares that she will turn Paris into the next Atlantis — destroying the city so thoroughly that it will be completely lost to the ages.
• The Dog Bites Back: Lila’s new class learns about Dr. Heinrich Strucker, a Nazi scientist who conducted experiments on the people of a French village. Though his death during the liberation of Paris was ruled as a ‘wild animal attack’, most historians agree that it's more likely the villagers took their vengeance on him. The truth is that he met his end at the hands of his telepathic daughter Henrietta, whom he had physically and emotionally abused.
• Dramatically Missing the Point: When Marinette and her other former students-turned-superheroes make clear that they won't commit perjury on her behalf, Ms. Bustier's attempts to convince them only serve to prove how little she's learned and that she's blatantly ignoring what's right in front of her.
• The Dreaded: Ignoblia to the point that Chloé states that even at her worst she would have enough self-preservation not to try and threaten her.
• Entitled Bastard:
  • Alya naturally expected that she would get the first exclusive interview with Ladybug, and remains insistent that Kagami 'stole' her Miraculous when she became Kitsune. She also remains focused on the idea that she deserves to be a heroine, by any means necessary.
  • Ms. Bustier expects Marinette and the other students she asked to serve as her Character Witnesses to be more than happy to help, even though Marinette rejected her previous attempt to exploit her status as Ladybug.
• "Eureka!" Moment: A student's sarcastic suggestion that the 'failed temporary heroes' should have Max help them turn into real ones inspires Alya to start harassing him about just that.
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • Played With; Max, Nino, Alix and Kim are all horrified when Alya suggests that they should just steal Miraculouses from the people they know have them. However, it's somewhat ambiguous whether their horror is rooted in morally opposing that idea or more at the prospect of the massive consequences she'd face, with Max specifically declaring that he won't be made an accomplice to anything.
  • While Majestia and the other American superheroes are largely okay with their own secret identities being publicly known, they're concerned about the fact that Marinette and her friends were exposed while still teenagers, worried about the sort of harassment and toxic attention they might receive.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Lila wonders why the Hood family would 'waste' their fortune by spending it on others, scoffing at their philanthropy and how Hood Pharmaceuticals works to keep their life-saving procedures affordable.
• Foil:
  • Aeon openly admits the role she and Jessica played in pushing Marinette and Adrien together during their trip to New York. She acknowledges her mistakes freely and completely unprompted, knowing that she's likely to get into trouble, because she believes this to be the right thing to do. Naturally, this contrasts sharply with how Adrien, Alya, and most of Marinette's former classmates and friends handled their own mistakes, what with refusing to admit fault and acting entitled to her forgiveness.
  • Harry Hood to both Adrien and Lila. Much like Adrien before him, Harry is a Sheltered Aristocrat who transfers into a public school and quickly establishes that he doesn't like getting involved in conflict. He also has many of the same ties Lila claimed to have, including credibility-straining incidents such as risking his life to save the pets of a gala host. Unlike either of them, however, he is legitimately a good person, and nowhere near as naive or self-absorbed. He's also a Guile Hero who outplays and outwits Lila, setting her up for her karmic downfall while using methods similar to hers. Plus his dislike for conflict is due to the discomfort in having to read the minds of those involved in a conflict nearby.
  • Harry Hood’s father to Gabriel Agreste. Both wealthy, well connected and sheltered their sons. While Gabriel didn’t think twice about having Nathalie abuse the power of the Peacock Miraculous to discredit Union leaders to force them to settle on his terms, Harry Hood’s father is an Honest Corporate Executive who refused to abuse his mind reading powers for insider trading. Gabriel is also a Control Freak Abusive Parent while Harry’s sheltered upbringing was spent training his telepathic powers and preparing for the real world.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Considered by both Victory and Majestia as the United Heroez prepare to face Ignoblia.
• Honest Corporate Executive: Harry Hood’s father runs the family company Hood Pharmaceuticals, which has a long-standing tradition of philanthropy and working to keep life-saving medical procedures affordable to the public. On a more personal level, Harry's father could easily use his mind-reading powers to make a fortune via insider trading, but refuses to do so because it's unethical.
• Hoist by Her Own Petard: Lila brings her poetry book (which is filled with all her encoded passwords) to a charity fundraiser, she then makes a large donation in full view of Henry and her new classmates. The book winds up being ruined when it is dropped and kicked to the rain outside, much to her horror, as she was never able to fully memorize the coded passwords, cutting her off from being able to access those accounts anymore.
• I'm Standing Right Here: Played for Laughs; when Chloé comments that Ms. Bustier coddled her just like her father did, Andre coughs and awkwardly reminds his daughter that he's right there... though he isn't disputing anything she says.
• Internal Retcon: The official history around the Nazi war criminal Dr. Heinrich Strucker, as taught in school, is that his only family was his wife and that he officially died in an animal attack (though historians consider it more likely he met his end at the hand of the villagers he used as guinea pigs). In truth, he had a daughter, Henrietta, whom he experimented on, treating her nothing more as a lab rat. When the allies came to liberate France, a group of villagers took advantage of the chaos to raid Strucker's lab, only to discover Henrietta in a cage. They freed her and she used the telepathic powers her father's experiments gave her to kill him. She was then adopted and discarded her birth name in favor of the name her new family had given her: Robyn Hood. Under this name, she would later found Hood Pharmaceuticals and have a grandson named Harry Hood.
• Internal Reveal: Aeon apologizes for the role she and Jessica played in trying to push Marinette and Adrien together during their visit to New York.
• Irony: For all that Alya claimed to respect and admire Ladybug, her treatment of her told a different story. Similarly, her treatment of Marinette belied her claims of being 'besties'. Ultimately, it takes being called out by a hero she actually respects to make Alya recognize how much she screwed up.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Adrien's conversation with his father rapidly devolves into a series of Never My Fault pot shots; however, he does make some fairly decent points:
  • Gabriel repeatedly insults his son's intelligence, ignoring how he was responsible for his son's education - and critical lack thereof. Particularly when it came to money; he kept Adrien from accessing his own wages, and never taught him any kind of fiscal responsibility or protective measures. That gap contributed to his carelessness around Lila, along with his generally poor grasp of its value.
  • Adrien also points out that despite his supposed stupidity, Gabriel still lost to him and the other heroes on a regular basis.
• Karma Houdini Warranty: Karma Comes to Collect sees this officially expiring for Lila, thanks to a deadly combination of her own paranoia clouding her thoughts and her would-be victim Harry Hood possessing mind-reading abilities, leading her to be Out-Gambitted.
• Like Father, Like Son:
  • Alya sees Chloé's mother as being just as nasty as the Spoiled Brat was, wondering why Marinette is willing to associate with either of them.
  • Adrien remains stuck in his father's shadow, regarded as the Loser Son of Loser Dad and a likely accomplice to his terrorizing Paris. He also bitterly refuses to acknowledge the part he played in his own downfall, and spends his video chat with his father trading increasingly low blows, with both invoking Emilie's name against the other.
• The Maiden Name Debate: Ms. Bustier kept her maiden name after getting married and never informed her students because she didn't want to seem 'old' to them.
• Meaningful Rename: Henrietta Strucker became Robyn Hood following her adoption, to erase any connection she had with her hated father. This plays into the official histories stating that Heinrich Strucker died childless.
• Never My Fault:
  • Alya continues to blame Lila and Adrien for how she lost Marinette's favor, refusing to take any responsibility for her own actions.
  • Gabriel and Adrien each blame the other for their downfall, and spend their Talk Between Father & Son bitterly sniping back and forth at each other.
• Never Win the Lottery: Bunnyx laments to the similarly erased-from-time Timetagger that she never took the opportunity to give her past self lottery numbers.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Played With in Chapter 13: Ignoblia is so insulted by the Dark Owl being the first 'hero' to challenge her that she declares that she's going to level Paris in response to this insult. The reader already knows that Ladybug and her team will prevail, but it's clear that Damocles just made things even harder for them.
• Not Helping Your Case: Ms. Bustier's attempts to convince Marinette and several other former students of hers to serve as Character Witnesses fall into this, as she admits that her lawyer said that the other students wouldn’t be helpful with the case so they weren’t called and they realise that she is only asking the ones who are active superheroes because she doesn't want to be associated with Adrien or the others. She also mentions wanting her unborn child to take after Marinette, much to Marinette’s horror at the prospect of her raising her own child in the same way she treated her 'star student'.
• Not Me This Time: Chloé has this happen to her when she gets a legal notice dreading that it’s related to her past behaviour only for it to be her being called in to be a character witness for Ms Bustier in her yet to be born daughter’s custody hearing.
• Official Couple: Marinette and Luka as per the previous fic.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: During the United Heroez arc, Ladybug and her teammates take down Ignoblia before the titular heroes arrive.
• Oh, Crap!: Alya is horrified when Aeon reveals that she outed herself as Rena Rouge while claiming that Kagami stole her Miraculous during Nadja’s interview in a fit of pique.
• Paying It Forward: Why Harry Hood's family is generous with their wealth. Harry's grandmother, Robyn Hood, was in fact Henrietta, the daughter of Dr. Heinrich Strucker. The kindness she received from being rescued and Happily Adopted lead her to becoming the Honest Corporate Executive of Hood Pharmaceuticals, using Heinrich's research for good.
• Protagonist-Centered Morality: Alya, just like Adrien, firmly believes that she's 'a good person' despite all evidence to the contrary, and that if she can just become a superhero again, her life will be back on track. Doesn't matter what she does to get there — surely nobody will care if she steals a Miraculous so long as she promptly proves that she deserves it, right?
• Rage Breaking Point: Adrien shoves Gabriel past his when he points out that if Emilie ever wakes up from her coma, he'll be able to go and visit her, something Gabriel will be denied.
• Recursive Fanfiction: Following the events of The Karma of Lies.
• Reluctant Retiree: Damocles didn't really want to retire, but was pressured to quietly surrender his position as principal at the end of the school year. This helps fuel his desire to get back out there as the Dark Owl.
• Retcon: In The Karma of Lies, Marinette switched classes by filling out some forms and obtaining Ms. Mendeleiev's permission to join her class. Here, it's established that the transfer was more complicated than that, and Marinette's parents secured it by filing a formal complaint that explained in detail what Ms. Bustier and Marinette's former classmates were putting her through. This documentation became evidence against both Bustier and Damocles during the Board's investigation into the missing disability funds.
• Saying Too Much: While attempting to defend Alya and himself from Majestia's judgement, Nino reassures her that they did apologize to Marinette for abandoning her for Lila... while gushing about how amazing it was to learn she was Ladybug and how they'd expected to get exclusive interviews and other perks.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Ms. Bustier hopes that having Ladybug and the other members of Team Miraculous who used to be her students come in and testify at her divorce and custody hearing will ensure that the trial ends in her favor. As before, Marinette makes clear that she is not willing to pull any strings on her behalf, and is disgusted by her former teacher's efforts to exploit her standing.
• Self-Made Orphan: Henrietta killed her only living biological parent, Dr. Heinrich Strucker, as the result of the latter's cruel treatment of the former.
• Shipper on Deck:
  • Played With; Chloé fully expects Marinette and Luka to get married once they're a little older, and while she teases them for being Sickeningly Sweethearts, she also offers to spot Luka the cash for a nice ring if he needs it... while also questioning what he's spending his royalty money on if not something like that.
  • Alya notes that if she had learned Marinette and Adrien's Secret Identities sooner, she would have been thrilled at the chance to make two of her OTPs come true in one fell swoop (the fact that Ladybug wasn't fond of Chat Noir's constant harassment never mattered to her). She only stopped shipping it due to her anger with Adrien over his Betrayal by Inaction.
  • Aeon has a quiet Jerkass Realization over how she and Jessica helped Alya and Nino try to push Marinette and Adrien together despite knowing nothing about either of them, apologizing to Marinette for the part they played.
• Shout-Out:
  • A one-off gag references WandaVision by declaring that the future Hawk Moth was Agatha all along.
  • The Dark Owl Returns is in part a parody of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. Along with the similar title, Dark Owl ends up falling to the ground screaming after jumping off a building with lighting strike trying to make a pose in the air not unlike the famous panel in the comic. There is also a scene of Marinette trying to convince her ex-principal to stop based on a similar one in the comic with Clark Kent going to see Bruce Wayne.
  • In the same chapter, when ex-Principal Damocles demands to know why Ladybug and Vipercat can be superheroes while he can't, she gestures to his cobbled-together costume and states that they don't wear hockey pads.
  • The 'fight' that Mr Damocles as 'the Dark Owl' has against Ignoblia is based on the 'fight' between Hercule Satan and Cell in Dragon Ball Z.
  • Dr. Heinrich Strucker’s death at the hands of his daughter Henrietta is directly compared to Carrie.
• Show Within a Show: The Movie adaptation of Ladybug's adventures, Ladybug: Miraculous Journey, is a recurring topic, with a few scenes being depicted.
• Significant Name Overlap: Ms. Bustier reveals that she intends to name her unborn daughter after Marinette and hopes that she'll take after her. Marinette is horrified at the prospect of her subjecting her own child to the same treatment she got from her. A ten-year Time Skip has her meeting the girl in question, safely in her father's custody.
• Stealing the Credit: Ms. Bustier tries to take credit for Chloé's Character Development despite being one of her worst enablers.
• Stern Teacher: Principal Damocles and Miss Bustier's replacements actually enforce the rules, as do the other teachers at Francoise Dupont following the pair's departure (plus the staff at Alya and her group’s lycee). This means that Alya and her classmates for the rest of their time at the school were expected to behave appropriately, spend study hall actually studying, and other 'inconveniences' that she refuses to accept as fair.
• Stunned Silence: Majestia falls into this after the Mood Whiplash of Alya introducing herself as her 'biggest fan' and starting to brag about her own superhero pedigree, only for Aeon to reveal how she outed herself as Rena Rouge and felt entitled when she learned that she had been replaced during a live interview.
• Super Hero Origin: Alya plans to invoke this in order to 'reclaim her destiny' and become a superheroine again. However, Max points out the logistical problems with her various schemes.
• Superman Stays Out of Gotham: The United Heroez only come to Paris when one of their supervillains attacks, and are largely unaware of what unfolded with Ladybug and her team there over the last couple of years, leading to them expressing surprise at the altered roster and that they took down Ignoblia already. Downplayed in that they have heard about Hawk Moth's defeat and know that he was Gabriel Agreste, due to his arrest making international news.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: The author's note regarding a snippet in Chapter 19 where it's revealed that, when Marinette first watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail, she tried to turn off the subtitles at the beginning before learning they were "physically part of the movie".
  Author: The ending snippet and what was mentioned when Marinette first saw the movie. That is not based on anything. Certainly not based on when I first checked it out after taking home my then newly bought castle 40th Anniversary Castle Box Set with Rubber Animals, starting the movie and and wasting ten minutes pausing and rewinding while trying to turn off the subtitles before giving up and seeing that it’s actually part of the movie. No certainly, that never happened to the author...
• Take That!:
  • It's specifically mentioned that the video game company making the in-universe officially endorsed Licensed Game does not make use of Loot Boxes or other Pay To Win options.
  • While discussing the CGI models used to play the kwami in Ladybug: Miraculous Journey, Nooroo shudders as he mentions some 'alternate models' they were shown when someone was pushing to make them 'more realistic' with Plagg saying that if they actually used those designs, then the backlash would be so big they would have to delay the movie in order to fix them. invoked
  • During the United Heroez' visit, Chloé invites them to the upcoming premiere of Ladybug: Miraculous Journey, adding that she'd like to consult with them for potential sequels and crossovers, noting that they don't want anything to end up like Knightowl V Majestia: Dawn of the United.
• Tempting Fate:
  • Adrien attempts to psyche himself up by declaring that people will likely have forgotten about him by the time he turns eighteen, then tries distracting himself with some television, only to be faced with a series of ironically appropriate programming.
  • After being rescued by Ladybug and the other heroes, Nooroo thinks about how grateful he is that he'll never have to go near Gabriel's manor ever again. Not long afterwards, said manor is among the assets Audrey acquires when taking over his company, and she convinces Marinette's family to move in there.
  • While out on a date, both Luka and Marinette are confident that 'nothing can ruin this'. Naturally, they're interrupted by Marinette being served court orders to be a Character Witness in a custody hearing regarding the future of Ms. Bustier's unborn child.
• They Just Dont Get It: Much like Adrien in The Karma of Lies, Ms. Bustier is shown to have learned absolutely nothing from her experiences, completely failing to recognize the part she played in her own fall from grace.
• Time Skip:
  • Most of the chapters take place about two years after the events of The Karma of Lies.
  • Custody Fight includes a brief Flash Forward that jumps ahead ten years, with Marinette meeting her former teacher's daughter, showing that she's safely in her father's custody.
• Trash the Set: After they move into the former Agreste manor, Marinette gives Nooroo the chance to trash Gabriel's old office as a form of therapy.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Alya really wants to be a hero again, and to help her other friends who were 'robbed' of their rightful privilege achieve the same thing. Sadly, she's convinced that it won't matter how they achieve those goals — after all, they'll be heroes! That can only be good, right?!
• Where Does He Get All Those Wonderful Toys?: Discussed; Max explains to Alya and the other hopeful former temporary bearers that it would cost well over a million and a half Euros just to put together equipment for one superhero, and that would require them to get things right the first time. He also explains how much he scrimped and saved in order to build Markov, and that it took two months of trial and error before he achieved success.
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Referenced when Chloé notes how grateful she is that her years of bullying Marinette didn't turn her into a supervillain.

Ladybug: Miraculous Journey

An in-universe film based on Marinette's life as a hero.

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• Adaptation Name Change: Marinette's Expy is named Bridgette, Adrien's is called Felix, and Gabriel’s is called Antoine Papillon.
• Adaptational Backstory Change: While Adrien never noticed Marinette's crush on him, Felix is fully aware of it and finds her stalkerish tendencies irritating. This change is likely The Law of Conservation of Detail in action, tightening up Ladybug's character arc and making her obsessive behavior a more obvious and involved flaw in the plot-relevant conflicts.
• Adaptational Heroism: Downplayed; the Ladybug: Miraculous Journey movie depicts Chat Noir as someone who actually prioritizes fighting an Akuma... to a limited extent, and over things like saving civilians. Still, the Dramatic Irony remains potent.
• Adaptational Intelligence: The movie's version of Hawk Moth is a much savvier opponent, as evidenced by his willingness to play the long game. When he recruits Felix to his side, he encourages him to draw out their fights rather than openly betraying Ladybug, and to spy on his classmates for anything he can use to create Akumas.
• Adaptational Jerkass: In Ladybug: Miraculous Journey, the movie's version of Chat Noir blatantly dismisses an imperiled couple, leaving them to die in favor of focusing on an Akuma. He also treats being a superhero as a curse that he only endures so that he can keep chasing after Ladybug. Adrien also wouldn’t threaten the life of someone an Akuma was protecting. Becomes Adaptational Villainy as the movie’s ending has him joining Hawk Moth.
• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul:
  • While Adrien regarded Marinette as one of his 'friends from school' and had no idea she was crushing on him, Felix is both aware of Bridgette's crush and finds it — and her — dreadfully annoying.
  • In a change that Nooroo personally championed, his movie counterpart is secretly manipulating Hawk Moth to his own ends, as he believes Gabriel is such a Control Freak that he'd find the very notion that he wasn't in control insulting.
• Adaptational Villainy:
  • In the movie, Nooroo is set up as being secretly evil and The Man Behind the Man, manipulating his wielders' desire for power to have them target the Ladybug and Cat Miraculouses.
  • While Marinette honestly believes that Ms. Bustier genuinely meant well, her fictional counterpart is a corrupt Bitch in Sheep's Clothing. The teacher offers her bullied students false reassurances and encouragement while deliberately shielding said bullies from the consequences of their actions so as to appease their ringleader Emily’s wealthy parents.
  • While the real Chat Noir was selfish and oblivious to what his selfishness looked like on the outside, his film counterpart knowingly and willingly becomes Hawk Moth's accomplice in the end. Justified as the latter is what Paris believes about the former, so of course they'd portray him that way.
• Ascended Fangirl: Anouck Vee, the actress playing Ladybug in the movie, gushes upon meeting Marinette in person and calls it an honour to get to play her.
• Ascended Fridge Horror: In The Karma of Lies, Marinette chews Chat Noir out over his assumption that he doesn't have to take heroism seriously since her Miraculous Cure can fix everything — provided she wins the fight. The movie shows that the wider world is aware of the terrible implications of this, with the climax featuring the horrifying possibility of Ladybug getting targeted and killed as a civilian, with Chat Noir treating her life as disposable since Ladybug can bring her back after the fight.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: Felix giving the umbrella out of pity to Bridgette was how she had fallen for him.
• Believing Their Own Lies: Potentially, depending on how much Felix sincerely thinks that it's okay for him to let people die and be brought back by the Miraculous Cure. The fact that he's joyful about the prospect of 'temporarily' killing Bridgette himself complicates this further.
• Big Bad: Hawk Moth.
• Bittersweet Ending: The Akumas in the movie have been taken care of, Bridgette has her bullies exposed and is determined to continue both her civilian and superhero lives after abandoning her crush on Felix. However Chat Noir has joined up with Hawk Moth with an agreement to help him find potential Akuma victims in his class and to help draw out future fights so that Hawk Moth can study Ladybug to learn possible weaknesses.
• Broken Pedestal: Bridgette's crush on Felix falls apart when she sees his complete lack of concern over the ordeal she endured when her mother was Akumatized, including the fact that Chat Noir threatened to kill her.
• Bruce Wayne Held Hostage: Happens to Bridgette when her mother is Akumatized and Chat Noir is waiting for Ladybug to show up.
• …But He Sounds Handsome: It's revealed that the movie's Hawk Moth is Felix's father Antoine Papillon. During the ending of the movie, he describes Felix's father as being brilliant, but misunderstood.
• The Cameo: Marinette, Luka and the other Miraculous holders make cameo appearances in the movie.
• Catch a Falling Star: Ladybug saves a couple this way after Chat Noir ignores their plight.
• Character Exaggeration: Likely done partially to try to simplify character arcs for a film-length runtime and partially due to bias regarding its characters.
  • Played with for Marinette. She canonically displayed some pretty stalkerish behavior, but the film portrayal plays up Bridgette's (civilian Ladybug's) stalker tendencies to the point where it's the only character trait that defines her in Felix's (civilian Chat Noir's) eyes. Bridgette also has a dramatic moment of self-reflection during which she rips up Felix's photographs after he mocked her, rather than Marinette's gradual months-long realization that she'd put Adrien on a pedestal for qualities he didn't have.
  • Felix is much more openly uncaring towards Bridgette than Adrien ever was towards Marinette, with Felix's character flaws and unsuitability as a friend being played much more obviously. Adrien, his real-life inspiration, originally admired Marinette and was gentle, patient, and sweet-tempered, which hid the lack of moral integrity and Secretly Selfish disposition that would later cause them to conflict.
  • Chat Noir's discontent with Ladybug's insistence on professionalism and serious outlook on their responsibilities is exaggerated in the film to the point where he sees nothing wrong with using his powers to kill civilians himself without real cause because Miraculous Cure can bring them back, and is even eager to do so.
  • Similar to the difference between Adrien and Felix, in The Karma of Lies, the class's mistreatment of Marinette mostly comes in the form of exploitation, abandonment, and entirely self-serving interactions. While they do jump to the conclusion that Marinette is jealous of Lila, they generally don't say negative things about Marinette, nor do they actively do anything to hurt her—they're simply very toxic, behaving entitled to her labour and assistance and while being completely unsupportive and invalidating in return. In the film this is apparently simplified into them actively bullying her, and the class are put under investigation for their mistreatment.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: Played for Laughs in Cameo; when the grateful boyfriend in The Movie hugs Ladybug after she saves them, his girlfriend huffs and declares she won't lose her boyfriend to anyone, superhero or not.
• Death Is Cheap: Directly referenced by Chat Noir in Ladybug: Miraculous Journey, assuring an imperiled couple that if they fall to their deaths, Ladybug's Miraculous Cure will bring them back good as new.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Felix uses the bad luck created by his Cat Ring against Bridgette, since he dislikes her crushing so heavily on and chasing after him. He's also secretly thrilled at the thought of getting an excuse to kill her, however temporarily, when she's taken hostage by her Akumatized mother.
• The Dragon: Chat Noir becomes one to Hawk Moth in the ending.
• Dramatic Irony:
  • Ladybug: Miraculous Journey has its version of Chat Noir blatantly ignore the cries of imperiled civilians to focus on fighting Akuma. The first major blow to the real Chat Noir's public image was actually the exact opposite, with him admitting he put the wellbeing of one civilian over helping to defeat the Akumas attacking his teammates during the final battle. As myopic and callous as Miraculous Journey's Chat Noir is, the real deal's priorities were even more skewed towards enjoying himself above all else.
  • In the climax, Chat Noir loses Ladybug's respect with his callous actions towards Bridgette, and Bridgette's crush on Felix dissipates when she sees his uncaring reaction to her account of what happened. Felix is perfectly fine with losing the latter's regard, unaware that she and 'his lady' are one and the same.
  • Played for horror with the actual events of Bridgette's mother's Akumatization. Chat Noir almost succeeds in indulging in his desire to kill Bridgette, believing her death wouldn't matter anyway because Ladybug could bring her back. The audience, of course, is fully aware that Bridgette can't exactly bring herself Back from the Dead.
• Exact Eavesdropping: Bridgette's mother overhears her daughter's teacher reassuring Emily's parents that she'll ensure Emily's bullying is covered up so that she remains a Karma Houdini.
• Face–Heel Turn: Chat Noir in the ending.
• Foil: Felix to Adrien. In The Karma of Lies, Adrien considered Chat Noir a fun outlet and enjoyed the pre-Reveal status quo, which is the exact reason he fell into Accomplice by Inaction with the villains of the story. Here Felix considers being Chat Noir a curse and is resentful, cold, and bitter towards almost everyone in his civilian life, which results in him choosing to actively aid the film's villains by the end. Ironically, one is essentially an outsider's interpretation on the behavior of the other.
• Greater-Scope Villain: Nooroo is happily directing Hawk Moth to claim the Ladybug and Cat Miraculouses, planned to become the true main villain of the movie series.
• Ironic Echo: A physical version. Ladybug and Chat Noir have their signature fist-pounding move, which is later used by Chat Noir when he accepts Hawk Moth's deal, rejecting a handshake in favor of a fist bump.
• Jerkass Has a Point:
  • Harshly uncaring to their plight as he was, Chat Noir did have a point about how the two teenage civilians shouldn’t have been on the roof at night.
  • Felix may be a sociopathic Jerkass, but he still has some justification for disliking Bridgette, because stalking is a violation of his privacy and personal boundaries, however otherwise harmless Bridgette's variety of stalking may have been. It doesn't justify attempted murder, though.
• Karma Houdini: Besides his Akumas being defeated, Hawk Moth suffers little consequences and has actually gained a new ally in one of his rivals.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Happens to Bridgette's teacher: Bridgette's mother overhears her insisting that she'll ensure Bridgette's bullies are never exposed and laughing about Bridgette's misfortunes, spurring her mother's akumatization. Afterwards, she gets investigated by the school board and fired.
• Loving a Shadow: Bridgette believes Felix to be much nicer than he actually is, but eventually realizes she's fallen into this due to her crush.
• Mama Bear: Bridgette's mother gets Akumatized after learning about the extent of the bullying her daughter has been going through.
• Mean Character, Nice Actor: Felix’s actor Benjamin Papenbrook is a nice guy who goes to make sure his co-star and girlfriend Anouck is okay after filming the scene where Chat Noir threatens to Cataclysm Bridgette.
• Mythology Gag:
  • The actors playing Ladybug and Chat Noir in Ladybug: Miraculous Journey combine the names of their voice actors from the French and English versions of the series: Anouck Vee is named after Anouck Hautbois and Cristina Vee, while Benjamin Papenbrook is named after Benjamin Bollen and Bryce Papenbrook.
  • Ladybug and Chat Noir's civilian identities are Bridgette and Felix, referencing the names they had in the original concept for the series. Plus details of the concepts including Felix treating Chat Noir as a curse and his attitude towards Bridgette are included.
• Pragmatic Hero: Played With; Chat Noir considers himself as one, focusing on taking down the Akuma as quickly as possible while ignoring all distractions. Civilians count as distractions. He also justifies his intention to kill Bridgette this way, though Ladybug disagrees.
• Pun: For those familiar with the "real life" superheroes, The Stinger's dialogue is a wink to the camera regarding Lucas' future role as Viperion, whose signature power is Second Chance. It also narratively lampshades the situational pun of Lucas/Viperion being Bridgette's second chance at both a decent fighting partner and a decent romantic partner.
• Reality Subtext: Three In-universe examples occur, two of which are played straight:
  • Bridgette's crush on Felix is based off of Marinette's own crush. It's implied that the interview Marinette gives in Trying to Rob a Hero in which she admits to taking her crush too far was defending the movie's characterization of her counterpart.
  • Just like Marinette, Bridgette has to transfer to a different class due to mistreatment from her previous class.
  • Deliberately averted by the real Nooroo, who requests that the filmmakers make his film incarnation The Man Behind the Man so Nooroo can have the satisfaction of insulting Hawkmoth by having him portrayed as Nooroo's pawn.
• Resigned to the Call: Felix has absolutely no interest in being a superhero, seeing Ladybug as the only bright spot in the job.
• Shoot the Hostage: A key part of the movie's climax: Bridgette is taken hostage by her Akumatized mother. Chat Noir 'saves' her, only to then threaten to Cataclysm her unless the Akuma surrenders.
• The Stinger: Doubles as Sequel Hook. Bridgette's friends from her new class take her to an arcade where she meets Lucas, who Foreshadows his future roles as Bridgette's Second Love and the hero Viperion through a line referencing second chances. Meanwhile, Antoine Papillon gives the broken Peacock Miraculous to his personal lackey, knowing full well it could kill her.
• Tears of Fear: Shed by Bridgette when Chat Noir attempts to Cataclysm her.
• Tempting Fate: While enjoying a romantic view from the rooftop, A teenage girl remarks to her boyfriend that "Nothing can ruin this for me." Cue the inevitable Akuma attack.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Hawk Moth claims to be helping 'lost souls' right wrongs and gain righteous vengeance in turning them into Akumas, and if he got the power of the Ladybug and Cat Miraculouses, he could end premature deaths as well as bring such victims back to life... Including Felix's mother.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Ladybug is not happy with Chat Noir's 'pragmatism' leading him to ignore civilians that he could have rescued. The tipping point comes when he attempts to kill Bridgette, then brushes off her anger by saying she would have been brought back by the Miraculous Cure.

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