Cat Noir quits the team after Ladybug neglects him one too many times, forcing her to find a replacement for him. Plagg soon hatches a plan to get Adrien back in the game in the form of Cat Walker.
Tropes:
- Aesop Amnesia: Ladybug can't see that the real problem between her and Cat Noir is her miscommunication with him and her tendency to assume that she is right about what is best for others. Although putting off difficult or awkward conversations, and trying to avoid people so as not to hurt them, has gotten her into trouble in the past.
- An Aesop:
- To Adrien: Just because someone doesn't need you every time, it doesn't mean they don't need you at all. You should be humbler and recognize you could be necessary in other ways. Cat Walker reaches that conclusion when the new dynamics with Ladybug doesn't work out as expected.
- To Marinette: Someone who attends to all your needs and wishes isn't necessarily the perfect partner. Cat Walker can be all Ladybug dreamed of, but not who she needed.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: The main villain of the story, Kuro Neko, is a giant sentimonster version of a Maneki Neko.
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Even with their holders' current predicament, Plagg and Tikki notice that is still true for Marinette and Adrien.
- Bad Liar: When Plagg asks for Tikki's help to convince Marinette, the kwami of creation tells him she can't lie to her holder. Plagg ropes her into his ruse anyway and the most Tikki can do to help is give a lame smile and not talk.
- Be Careful What You Wish For:
- When she allows Plagg to searches for another Miraculous holder, Marinette demands some conditions, specially that he isn't in love with her. The Irony is that Ladybug swoons hard for Cat Walker, who acts like Cat Noir's polar opposite. To supply even more irony, Cat Walker is simply Cat Noir, who's still in love with Ladybug...and he can't even notice she's all over him during the battle.
- To a lesser extent, Cat Noir. His stint as Cat Walker reveals that he always had the ability to be more beneficial in battle, but he always takes the role of second fiddle, letting Ladybug do all the leading and planning because he loved watching her take charge and make decisions... until she started taking charge and making plans without him.
- Be Yourself: Deconstructed. After they deal with Kuro Neko, Adrien asks Plagg if he could ever become Cat Noir again after all the training for Cat Walker, if Cat Noir is really his true side. Plagg answers that Adrien isn't just a fun loving superhero or just the perfect son and model, but both are his true sides.
- Brilliant, but Lazy:
- Under his Cat Walker persona, Adrien acts much more effective than he ever was as Cat Noir, which means he was always able to strategize and rationalize the situations in the field.
- Plagg in spades. He pulls an elaborate plan to have Adrien go back to the game, but as a new hero named Cat Walker.
- Call-Back:
- Cat Walker takes point for most of the fight with Kuro Neko, and proves he can strategize as well as Ladybug. The same thing happened in "Psycomedian", where Ladybug was turned into The Load (both figuratively and literally) by the villain's Hate Plague.
- After their initial meeting, Ladybug starts to act flustered and messy around Cat Walker, totally in awe by his perfection. This leads to the same problem that happened with Aspik in "Desperada".
- In the final scene, Ladybug and Cat Noir meet each other in the same place they met before in "Hack-san", but with switched positions.
- Catch-22 Dilemma: Her dual role as Guardian and Ladybug puts Marinette in a bind. She thinks she has to pick a new Cat Noir, but it's unsafe for Ladybug to know who he is. She agonizes over this dilemma, getting dark circles under her eyes and disheveled hair, until Plagg and Tikki convince her to let Plagg choose someone who was supposedly preferred by Master Fu.
- Control Freak: Ladybug's tendency to try to control every aspect of a situation when she's stressed comes full force here, as she's constantly impatient and dismissive toward Cat Noir due to The Chains of Commanding being the Guardian of the Miraculous, yet she also won't let him share the burden and help her distribute or collect other Miraculouses.
- Costume-Test Montage: Plagg and Adrien spend an afternoon coming up with ways of changing the Cat Noir persona into a new one for him, eventually settling on the regal, poised and green-haired Cat Walker.
- A Day in the Limelight: For Adrien and Plagg. The episode itself emphasizes their friendship and especially how important Adrien is to Plagg.
- Despair Event Horizon: Following weeks of Ladybug sidelining him in favor of all the other heroes, Adrien was teetering over it even before the episode started, and crossed it completely when Ladybug yells at him, calling him a nuisance. He gives up his Miraculous, telling Plagg that he can't go on like this. He throws away all the memorabilia from his time as Cat Noir, including Plagg's cheese, and spends the next day moping in his room without the energy to do anything.
- Despite the Plan: Plagg's plan to get Adrien back in the field as a different cat-themed hero backfires when Ladybug is too enamored by Cat Walker to effectively battle Kuro Neko. However, this leads Ladybug to the realization that Cat Noir is irreplaceable, resulting in Adrien going back to his original persona.Adrien: Your great plan didn't really work out, Plagg.
Plagg: Are you kidding? It worked better than if it had actually worked! - Distracted by the Sexy: PG version — Ladybug continually gets distracted from the fight with Kuro Neko partially because she finds herself attracted to Cat Walker. Her Lucky Charm vision even blinks rapidly on him as she's trying to figure out how to use her Lucky Charm.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?:
- When Ladybug tells Plagg she thought Cat Noir would be happy that she's been calling other superheroes more and him less because she thought he'd have a break, Plagg tells her that she knows Cat Noir is in love with her, so her running with other superheroes breaks his heart. It sounds like Plagg is accusing her of "cheating on him" by going out with other superheroes.
- When Ladybug starts to roll up grass clippings in her cloth, it looks like she is rolling a giant joint of "grass".
- The Dog Bites Back: Involuntarily. After being kept in the dark of Ladybug's many secrets for so much time, Adrien manages to trick her for once, all thanks to Plagg's plan. Marinette is Locked Out of the Loop for a change, but Tikki was aware of their plan and actually "helped" Plagg convince the guardian.
- Dramatically Missing the Point: Marinette instructs Plagg to select a holder that isn't in love with her, assuming that the pain of his unrequited love is the reason Cat quit. In fact, the catalyst was her apparently no longer wanting or needing him as a partner, which is itself the last in a long line of stressors to their platonic relationship that Marinette has been largely unaware of.
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: Adrien/Cat Noir understandably doesn’t take Ladybug’s TV speech about him being “just a partner like everyone else” and her lashing out at him so well. As her partner since the very begining, that upsets him so much that he renounces Plagg for real.
- Everyone Has Standards: Cat Walker momentarily stops Kuro Neko by having it eating grass to spit a furball. Ladybug understands that isn't Cat Noir after all, since that's too much nonsense, even for him. Cat Walker is visibly disgusted by her remark.
- Exact Words: Plagg solves Ladybug's dilemma about needing to recruit a wielder for the Cat miraculous while keeping his identity secret from herself by saying that he'll give it to a candidate Master Fu approved. The candidate Master Fu approved was Adrien, aka Cat Noir.
- Tikki does not want to lie to Marinette to facilitate Plagg's plan to secretly return the Cat miraculous to Adrien...so Plagg assures her that she'll only have to smile and nod, which she manages to do at Plagg's behest to keep Marinette assuaged about Plagg's suggestion.
- Exhausted Eye Bags: Marinette is visibly tired as she apparently spent the night trying to compose a plan for giving the Cat Miraculous to the next owner without learning their identity.
- Failed a Spot Check: Ladybug doesn't realize that Cat Walker refers to her as the Guardian, a detail kept secret from Parisians and other holders; except for Alya and Cat Noir. Given Plagg is supposed to be with him full-time, she may have written it off as Plagg telling him.
- Plagg spent considerable time in Marinette's room and was unaware of Trixx's absence.
- Funny Background Event: Ladybug and Cat Walker have a moment (Held Gaze, a Crush Blush on Ladybug's part, romantic BGM, the works)... while in the background, Kuro Neko is shown knocking the Roue de Paris off its axis and rolling it around.
- Gratuitous Japanese: The eponymous villain's name translates to 'Black Cat' in Japanese and is a twofer considering that another Black Cat is introduced this episode.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: The stress of being Ladybug and the Guardian has finally gotten to her to the point that she has a very short fuse when dealing with Cat Noir.
- Handicapped Badass: Despite her continuing weakness, Nathalie returns to her activities at the mansion using some sort of exoskeleton.
- Has a Type: All the boys Marinette was smitten with have some points in common - they are kind, loving boys, dependable and "perfect". Cat Walker (aka Adrien aka Cat Noir) fills the bill so much that she can't even work well in the mission.
- Hidden Depths: As lazy as he can be, Plagg is a surprisingly proficient artist, while illustrating their plan to Adrien, then helping to create Cat Walker's design.
- Hypercompetent Sidekick: Cat Walker proves to be this to Ladybug, partially because she is distracted by him and his personality, and partially because she originally thinks Kuro Neko is an akumatized Cat Noir, something that Shadow Moth finds very interesting to hear... He comes up with the distractions, correctly deduces that Kuro Neko is a Sentimonster (negating the usefulness of his Cataclysm) and comes up with solutions for the cloth parachute Lucky Charm Ladybug makes.
- I Did What I Had to Do: Ladybug truly believes that part of her duty as Guardian is to select superheroes who're "right for the job" even if it's not always Cat Noir, and can't understand why Cat Noir can't see that.
- Innocently Insensitive: Ladybug says on live TV that Cat Noir is just her partner... without even acknowledging the fact that her words might frustrate him when he sees the interview.
- Irony:
- Cat Noir being in love with Ladybug made him a shameless flirt, but didn't interfere with his competence as a superhero. By contrast, Ladybug developing a crush on her superhero partner causes her to be so Distracted by the Sexy that she can barely function as a superhero.
- Adrien is having problems with a person who's too busy with other tasks and jobs to pay attention to his worries. This person, however, isn't Gabriel, but Ladybug.
- It's All My Fault: Ladybug breaks down over failing to notice that Cat Noir, the one person who's been with her through thick and thin, was distraught and needed her help. This makes Cat Walker realize that he inadvertently added to her burdens:Ladybug: I didn't see [Cat Noir] was hurt and I couldn't stop him from leaving either. I must be the worst Guardian ever!
Cat Walker: There's nothing wrong with you. Maybe the boy who was Cat Noir was more sensitive than it seemed. But his feelings for you shouldn't force you to pay more attention to him than to others. - Jerkass Ball: While Cat Noir could have picked a better time to propose his help, Ladybug snapping at him just for offering his assistance was a bit too much, even due The Chains of Commanding, though she's pretty remorseful upon finding out what it led Cat Noir to do.
- Laser-Guided Karma: After neglecting and sidelining Cat Noir all season, and the start of the episode, Ladybug loses him as a partner when he quits being the Cat Miraculous holder.
- Legacy Character: Since Adrien has given up being Cat Noir, a new holder of the Cat Miraculous is brought in. It turns out that the new Cat holder is in fact Cat Noir under a new identity — Cat Walker.
- My God, What Have I Done?:
- Ladybug has this moment after her spat with Cat Noir. Upon reaching King Monkey, who is about to transform back, she realizes just what Cat Noir said to her in anger just moments prior. By the time she turns around and gets back to the roof, only the Cat Miraculous remains.
- Briefly occurs at the start of the battle with Kuro Neko, after she spots a bell on the monster she erroneously concludes that Cat Noir's civilian identity must have been corrupted, setting off her Cat Blanc PTSD.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: When Plagg chews out Ladybug, he mentions how Cat Noir is in love with her, furthering her guilt. This is what compels her to choose a new Cat Noir, since she is convinced that his feelings for her are hurting him. The look on Plagg's face when she comes to this conclusion says he probably shouldn't have thrown Cat Noir's feelings in her face, especially after it's been thrown in her face in nearly every episode.
- Nothing Personal: Ladybug is completely floored when Plagg reveals that Cat Noir is feeling neglected and phased out by her calling on other superheroes, as she never meant to exclude him. She even explains to Plagg that she thought Cat Noir would be happy to have a break. Unknown to her, the audience knows that being Cat Noir generally is Adrien having a break.
- Not Quite the Right Thing:
- Cat Noir stepping up and offering to take over some of Ladybug's Guardian responsibilities, like collecting other temp heroes' Miraculous after missions, so she doesn't have to do it all alone? Good. Offering to do so right after she used her Lucky Charm, and thus she's too stressed and distracted about getting this particular errand done before her five minute limit runs out? Not so great.
- Likewise, Ladybug calling other superheroes more and Cat Noir less when he doesn't voluntarily show up or is unavailable is revealed to be her way of trying to give Cat Noir a break from having to balance his superhero/civilian life schedule, but since she isn't aware that he has a miserable home life and the only times he's happy is when he's being a superhero (not just being with her), it just hurts his feelings.
- Now, Let Me Carry You: Adrien as Cat Walker eventually acknowledges that him giving up the Cat Ring only added to the enormous amount of pressure Ladybug is under, and offers to help her carry that burden:Cat Walker: You take care of everybody equally, Ladybug; now I want to take care of you.
- Oh, Crap!: Ladybug has this reaction when her brain finally registers the fact that Cat Noir was giving up his Miraculous.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
- Adrien is so dejected by Ladybug ignoring him in favor of everyone else that he can't even muster the will to transform and help out with the villains, noting that they don't even need his help. Plagg — the lazy kwami who's always going on about ditching work in favor of snacking — has to coax him into transforming.
- Plagg prioritizes getting Adrien back on his feet and willing to accept the mantle of Cat Noir once again over preserving his precious cheese. Notably, he doesn't eat at all until the situation is resolved.
- Out of Focus: Gabriel has only two brief scenes, one in his civilian identity and one as Shadow Moth.
- Poor Communication Kills: Ladybug not confiding in Cat Noir about her Guardian duties or even her thought process regarding them leads him to conclude that talking to her about his grievances would be pointless, resulting in Adrien's rash decision and Marinette's incomprehension of the situation.
- Pun: Ladybug attempts a cat pun ("Purr-fectly delighted!") when she first meets Cat Walker. Cat Walker, portraying No Sense of Humor, doesn't laugh. He calls it a "nicely done play-on-words" and says he will laugh next time if she wants. This is worse than a Lame Pun Reaction to her.
- Parental Neglect: When Nathalie informs Gabriel that Adrien is so depressed that he doesn't even want to go to school, Gabriel merely asks when is the next photo shoot. When Nathalie replies that it's in three days, Gabriel brushes it off as a funk that Adrien will get over by then. In other words, Gabriel doesn't care a whit that his son is so depressed that he's uncharacteristically uninterested in going to school to see his friends, just as long as his depression doesn't cut into his "perfect" modeling career.
- Psychological Projection: Downplayed, but Ladybug is completely floored when Plagg reveals that Cat Noir Rage Quit because he felt she was neglecting him, and explains that she thought relying on other superheroes more was giving him a break. Since we know that Marinette has been drowning under the pressures of being Ladybug and the Guardian, and laments several times over the season that she can't quit or take a break since those roles are essential, it's likely she assumed she was doing him a favor by giving him the break she wishes she could have.
- Rage Breaking Point:
- Adrien is okay with Ladybug recruiting new heroes, particularly when he cannot leave to help due to his father. He is okay with not being called on all the time because of the extra help. But when Ladybug insinuates on live TV that he, her oldest ally, is just another partner like the other holders, and then snaps at him when he asks to help retrieve the Miraculous for her after a mission, he reaches his limit. It's not enough that he breaks down, but is just completely done with it all.
- Plagg reaches one with Ladybug too. Following Adrien renouncing the miraculous, Plagg stands up for his holder after all he has gone through.
- Rule of Three: The Imagine Spot of Shadow Moth getting both heroes' Miraculouses and laughing like a maniac appears three times during Marinette and Plagg's conversation about choosing a new Cat Miraculous holder.
- Sad Clown: Cat Noir watches somberly as Ladybug, Ryuko, King Monkey, Polymouse, and Purple Tigress do the traditional post-victory fist bump, but puts on a cheery smile when Ryuko calls out to him, and tries to act like his usual goofy self.
- Sanity Slippage: Trying to find a new holder for the Cat Miraculous is not very good for Marinette's mental health. After a while she is looking noticeably disheveled and tired and her plans make even less sense than usual.
- Second Super-Identity: After Plagg brings the Cat Miraculous back to Adrien under the guise of getting a "new" Cat Noir, the two work together to create a new super persona to "replace" Cat Noir — the serious and professional Cat Walker.
- Single-Target Sexuality: Marinette reaffirms involuntary how Adrien-sexual she is (so much that she is even insensitive to his disguised self usually). She have no idea who Cat Walker is, and yet she is instaneously smitten with him, saying he's perfect or blushing often in his presence. Justified as he is Adrien acting like his civilian self -the one Marinette likes.
- Skewed Priorities: Subverted. Plagg is aghast when he sees that Adrien has thrown his cheese in the trash, but quickly remarks that he can chew Adrien out for it after everything is back to normal and Adrien is Cat Noir again.
- Stealth Pun:
- Adrien's "serious" superhero persona is called "Cat Walker" — as in "catwalk". Kinda fitting for a someone whose side-job involves modeling, no?
- Cat Walker's suit has a lot of gold details, even though gold isn't a color associated with the Cat Miraculous. Furthermore, his serious personality is modeled after Adrien's reserved demeanor that makes him "perfect" in everyone's eyes. In other words, Adrien created Cat Walker's superhero costume by focusing on his "golden boy" image.
- Undying Loyalty: Plagg towards Adrien: he stands up for his holder after being renounced, and sneaks back to him after being allowed to go off on his own to find a new holder.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Plagg chews Ladybug out for her mistreatment of Cat Noir, being understandably furious for neglecting and otherwise ignoring her "partner", and not being a proper teammate to him.
- Zany Scheme: Plagg helps Adrien to make a new super identity called Cat Walker, so Ladybug won't suspect she's dealing with Cat Noir, but under other name and behavior. Plagg's real plan was actually give Ladybug the perfect partner just to make her notice how important Cat Noir really is, so Cat Walker served to that purpose. It is worthy of Marinette's most contrived plans.
