Discussion Characters / TheKarmaOfLies

Hello, I've been debating with myself over whether the trope Manipulative Bastard fits in Adrien's folder. Here's what I put in for a second and then removed due to being unsure:

• Manipulative Bastard: Shows himself willing to be this when the chips are down, though he isn't very good at it.
  • He intends to use his influence as Chat Noir to encourage Paris to give Hawkmoth a light sentence, hopefully portraying himself as a heroic figure of mercy and forgiveness, without ever having to disclose the bias that Hawkmoth is his father and Paris letting Hawkmoth off easy would be personally beneficial to him.
  • Despite repeatedly insisting that Lila didn't do much damage up until the point she stole his 50 mil and effectively helping her get away with her crimes because that served him best at the time, Adrien's fully willing to use the class' anger at The Reveal that she was a Con Artist and their pity towards his own loss to garner support against Lila in the hopes of convincing someone with influence to help him in particular. He becomes a leader-figure in the class' planning sessions despite conveniently leaving out that he knew Lila was a Con Artist and didn't consider anything she stole from them to be worth defending, fully willing to use their feelings for his own benefit, even if he's proven he thinks the reason for their anger "isn't a big deal" or worth acting on otherwise. The class directly calls him out for this when they find out, stating that if Lila had never stolen from him in particular, he wouldn't have cared to attend their meeting or would be trying to protect her even now.

It is true that Adrien did all of this and intended to use others' in this manner without disclosing the truth of the situation for his benefit, but Adrien is so seemingly oblivious and and lacking self-awareness of the morality of his own actions that I'm unsure if this characterization fits a trope as malicious as Manipulative Bastard, even though he does openly discuss his plans to use others to get what he wants in the story.

Thoughts?

I've also been having trouble with this one, because I don't know if it applies enough to Adrien. I feel there is some resonance here with his character arc but don't know if there's too much overlap with Fallen Hero to be applicable and whether he counts enough as a villainous figure.

• Protagonist Journey to Villain: Played straight from the public's perspective, downplayed and justified for his actual character.
  • On the outside, Chat Noir goes from the more fun-loving, easy-going, self-sacrificing of the main hero duo to someone the public see as completely uncaring towards their suffering and eventually a likely accomplice to Hawkmoth.
  • On a personal level, Adrien started as a gentle, generous, and fun-loving but self-centered person who preaches forgiveness and is willing to put his life on the line to save the day but prefers maintaining the Status Quo to the social risks associated with confronting underlying issues, especially since Marinette seems able to bare the brunt of maintaining it. He was never the most moral person, but he wasn't irredeemable. His irreversible slip starts in his refusal to admit he was wrong on how to handle Lila despite how much pain that has obviously caused. His constantly prioritizing his own feelings over others slowly causes the people whose company and aid he desires to reject him, and in his pride, he doubles down on his initial offending position. By the end of the story his worst traits are laid bare and his positive ones are rare to be seen; he's openly saying the people who've troubled him deserve to suffer and willing to attack Ladybug, someone to whom he's pledged Undying Loyalty, because she deems him too self-interested to be trusted with superpowers. Justified as Adrien isn't as good a person as he thinks he is—it just takes very specific, personally upsetting circumstances for his charming façade to crack.