The Karma of Lies sets up many narrative Foils among its characters:
Marinette vs. Lila:
- Marinette is a sincerely Nice Girl who goes well out of her way to help her friends, supporting them in various ways as their "everyday Ladybug". Lila, meanwhile, is a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing whose extravagant promises are Too Good to Be True; while Marinette strives to be good to her word, Lila offers nothing but lip service.
- Marinette cares about others to her own deteriment, with her classmates taking her generosity completely for granted. While she gets exploited by her Fair-Weather Friends, Lila turns that against them, taking advantage of their attempts to take advantage of her.
- Lila also actively sabotages their prospects through her self-serving schemes. In several instances, this involves Stealing the Credit for their hard work, taking things they created and selling them to others to pass off as theirs.
- Lila is an extremely savvy judge of character, which she uses to manipulate others by pinpointing their Fatal Flaws. Marinette, on the other hand, starts out unable or unwilling to see the toxic aspects of her nominal "friends", but eventually comes to realize that she deserves better after finding True Companions in Luka and Kagami.
- Both girls effectively earn their 'happy endings' through hard work and determination, though Marinette's goals natually benefit others as well, while Lila is purely self-focused. Marinette hits a Karmic Jackpot, while Lila is a Karma Houdini due to Adrien protecting her long enough for her to extract herself safely from Paris. Though it's suggested that Lila's luck won't last if she continues pressing it.
Marinette vs. Adrien:
- Marinette cares deeply about others, worrying about how much Lila's deception is hurting her classmates. By contrast, Adrien cares more about "keeping up appearances", and the concept of "having friends" without having to actually do anything to maintain or strengthen those relationships. He lacks empathy for how they're being tricked; as long as Lila's actions aren't affecting him, then "she's not hurting anyone" that he cares about.
- Both are hampered by their false friendships in different ways. Marinette's "friends" take her kindness completely for granted, while Adrien's Skewed Priorities result in him being snared in a social trap of his own devising when he can't leave a party he chose to throw despite knowing Ladybug would be calling on him shortly.
- Marinette ultimately stops caring about her Fair-Weather Friends after realizing just how poorly they treated her, finding others who serve as her True Companions. Despite his "Nice Guy" veneer, Adrien never truly cared about his classmates from the start, and loses them after they discover his Betrayal by Inaction.
- As Ladybug, Marinette confides to Luka that she's come to see being a superheroine as an outlet to escape the stresses she's been facing in her civilian life. This directly parallels how Adrien has always treated Chat Noir as a way to escape being Gabriel's 'model son'. However, she still takes her responsibilities very seriously, while Adrien treats fighting akuma as one big game, joking around and flirting.
- Adrien sees Ladybug's Miraculous Cure as a magical Reset Button that ensures nothing they do has any long-term consequences, letting him goof off freely. Marinette sees it as a heavy burden to bear, as evidenced when she has to make a call that could result in civilian casualties. Despite knowing that they'll be brought Back from the Dead if she wins and uses the Cure, she's still haunted by having to make those kinds of choices in the first place. Adrien, meanwhile, was perfectly happy to let all of Paris drown while he threw a hissy fit over being Locked Out of the Loop, and tries to argue that Hawkmoth shouldn't be charged with anything because the deaths and chaos he caused were wiped away by the Cure.
- Adrien insists that "good people" Turn the Other Cheek and forgive others for their misdeeds, pressuring Marinette to ignore what Lila has been doing. However, once Adrien himself is wronged, he swiftly becomes obsessed with getting "justice" by any means necessary, and with making Lila suffer for her crimes against him. Marinette, by contrast, rejects the notion that people are entitled to forgiveness, but is willing to work with those who actually show remorse and put real effort into correcting their mistakes/changing their ways.
- Adrien also believes that he can speak for those who have been hurt and forgive villains in their place, while Ladybug makes clear that even if she wanted to, she can't forgive Hawkmoth on behalf of Paris. Putting it another way, Adrien attempts to override others and force his views upon them, while Marinette wants them to make their own decisions.
- Despite Marinette being their "Everyday Ladybug" who went out of her way to help them however she could, the whole class effectively abandoned her in favor of Lila's promises of powerful connections. Adrien, on the other hand, stood by and let them get scammed, yet his classmates stick by his side even as his fortunes sour, even when this causes them to suffer by association.
- Adrien is an Entitled Bastard who makes unreasonable demands, expecting his every whim to be catered to and the world to fall into line with his vision. Marinette starts out being exploited by her 'friends', then learns how to develop healthy, reasonable expectations of others, cutting off those who expect everything from her while offering nothing in return.
Adrien vs. Lila:
- Both hurt others through their actions/inaction and are extremely apathetic about the impact this has upon others, only caring about what benefits them most. But while Lila is fully aware of the immorality of her actions and takes pride in it, Adrien is Obliviously Evil, sincerely believing that he's a truly good person and always has the moral high ground.
- Their respective worldviews are heavily influenced by media. Adrien is a fan of series with Black-and-White Morality where the 'good guys' always win and are always right, while Lila loves dramas like Breaking Bad and Spy Game, along with Going Postal (while Dramatically Missing the Point because Evil Is Cool in her eyes). Adrien correspondingly sees himself as a 'good guy', while Lila is happily a Villain Protagonist.
- Where Adrien is Wrong Genre Savvy and expects things to largely work themselves out to his advantage, Lila is more dangerously Genre Savvy, drawing inspiration from her favorite series and incorporating them into her own schemes. Adrien is hands-off while she's hands-on.
- Lila is significantly more attuned to others than Adrien, keeping her finger on the pulse of the class and paying attention to their hopes, wishes and desires. Adrien only cares about his friends in a loose, casual sense of 'these are my friends', enjoying their company without any true investment in them. He won't go out of his way to help or protect any of them, while Lila acts as though she's more than happy to support them, but is actually undermining them the whole time.
- Lila actively destroys their dreams to further her own ambitions, not caring what condition she leaves them in or what kind of fallout they're stuck dealing with. Adrien stands by and lets it happen, failing to notice the danger even when it's explicitly pointed out to him by Marinette or Plagg.
- Once their Karma Houdini Warranties are threatened, Lila immediately recognizes the danger and starts working on an exit strategy, having already prepared some contingencies to work with and Xanatos Speed Chessing her way through the rest. Adrien, by contrast, keeps blindly insisting that he hasn't done anything wrong and that everything will keep working out the way he wants with minimal effort on his part, dismissing Plagg's attempts to warn him about the coming karmic backlash.
- Lila knows when to give up on lost causes and cut her losses, enabling her to walk away largely unscathed by virtue of getting out while the getting's good. Adrien refuses to recognize when something he wants is beyond his capabilities to obtain, continuing to pursue his goals while making matters much worse for himself.
- Adrien believes Lila is a Small Name, Big Ego who vastly overestimates what she's capable of achieving. In reality, that description applies more to Adrien himself; he believes that the world is naturally inclined to go his way and others just have to fall in line with whatever he wants. Lila deliberately encourages Adrien to view her this way, since his underestimating her makes it easier to spin her webs unnoticed.
- After Lila's departure, Adrien effectively steps into the shoes of being the Toxic Friend Influence on the rest of the class. Both paint inaccurate pictures of Marinette, with Lila falsely representing her as a bully while Adrien champions the notion that she will easily forgive everyone for how they hurt her. But while Lila was clever and subtle, Adrien lacks her forethought and self-awareness, and all of his plans are as poorly laid out as he thought Lila's were.
- Lila had a rude awakening to the realities of the world at a young age due to her loving mother's morality causing her to suffer career trouble; Adrien was extremely sheltered by his very wealthy and successful but utterly immoral father. One saw harsh realistic consequences from a young age and learned to adapt (albeit unethically), the other grew up believing they were invulnerable from serious consequences if they took the path of least resistance (also unethically).
Adrien vs. Luka:
- Adrien pays lip service to 'supporting' Marinette, but refuses to actually help her in any meaningful way, offering hollow platitudes and claiming that she's strong enough to handle whatever's thrown her way. Luka, by contrast, offers actual support, acknowledging that Marinette/Ladybug is only human and shouldn't be expected to power through things alone.
- Adrien treats the Miraculous Cure as a magical Reset Button that wipes the slate clean, ensuring that nothing Hawkmoth and the akuma/sentimonsters do has any long-term effects. Luka fully recognizes the lingering scars that Lucky Charm doesn't erase, and is horrified when he puts two and two together and realizes why Chat Noir is so dismissive about the human costs of their work.
- As Chat Noir, Adrien blithely throws himself into harms' way and commits several Senseless Sacrifices, banking on the idea that Ladybug will save the day by herself and bring him back with her Miraculous Cure. Viperion/Luka isn't afraid to risk himself to help or protect Ladybug, but he's much more strategic about it, taking calculated risks and keeping his own safety a priority rather than throwing his life away.
- Adrien only loves the concept of Ladybug as his ideal partner, seeing her as somebody he's entitled to, expecting her to comply with his wishes/demands simply because he's the one making them and ignoring every protest. Luka cares about Marinette as a person, and builds his relationship with her over time, proving himself as a partner time and again.
- Adrien repeatedly flirts with Marinette despite her asking him to stop, and insists they have to be together Because Destiny Says So. Luka never pressures Marinette into having a relationship. He also at one point says that they aren't dating, despite their clear mutual attraction. Marinette hears this, and even reflects on the differences between the two.
Chloé vs. Adrien/their classmates:
- Adrien and his classmates are Secretly Selfish, taking for granted the notion that they'll get everything they want. Chloé is openly entitled, used to having things go her way... but when Ladybug makes clear that she will not get to benefit from helping her again, ultimately concedes that she needs to do what's best for everyone, even knowing that she won't be recognized for it. This contrasts sharply with Adrien and the others failing to recognize how their selfishness has ruined their own prospects.
- Both Chloé and Adrien were shielded from any serious consequences for their actions for years. Getting called out by Ladybug serves as a wake-up call for Chloé, who becomes The Atoner and works to become a better person. Adrien, meanwhile, takes the exact opposite tactic; faced with actual consequences for his actions, he doubles down on the very same behavior that got him into trouble in the first place, digging himself ever deeper while insisting that it's the rest of the world that's wrong.
- Chloé also realizes that she screwed up and starts taking tentative steps to atone before learning that Marinette is Ladybug, a revelation that makes Adrien and the rest try to flock back to her side and expect to be Easily Forgiven for their treatment of her. Marinette states outright that the only reason she's willing to tentatively give Chloé a chance is because she isn't acting entitled to her forgiveness.
- Chloé doesn't parade her efforts to atone in front of Marinette, even going behind her back to volunteer at the bakery without her knowledge. Alya and the rest of the class, meanwhile, try to tug on her heartstrings with tales of how horribly they're faring thanks to Lila, making no effort to address their actual issues.
Juleka vs. Adrien/their classmates:
- Juleka has a Jerkass Realization over how she followed the crowd out of fear of being ostracized herself. Adrien claimed to have been worried about his own reputation taking a hit if he tried exposing Lila, but when he's finally motivated to speak out against her, he fully expects to be believed simply because he's the one saying it. He also remains completely unrepentant, continuing to insist that he didn't do anything wrong.
- While Adrien, Alya and the rest of the class try to harass and bully Marinette into forgiving them, Juleka decides that it's better to give her space and leave her be. When asked what she'd tell Marinette if given the chance, she states that she'd apologize for her behavior and reassure her that she'd stay out of her hair. Meanwhile, Alya schemes to bombard the Dupain-Chengs with their sob stories in hopes of guilting them into accepting them back.
Amelie vs. Gabriel:
- Gabriel and Amelie both act very controlling towards Adrien; his father micromanaged his schedule and made him work as a model from a young age, while his aunt places him under virtual house arrest and threatens to ship him off to Military School if he steps out of line. But while Gabriel extravagantly provided all the material luxuries Adrien could ever want, Amelie forces him to live a more middle-class lifestyle, which from Adrien's perspective might as well be outright poverty.
- Both Adrien's father and aunt are more concerned about how he could affect their respective reputations than they are with raising him. Gabriel exploited his good looks by making him model and treating him as the 'face' of his company, but was distant and neglectful otherwise, not making any effort to get to know his child any better... or ensure Adrien would learn the skills necessary to manage the company he was supposed to inherit. Amelie, meanwhile, doesn't want to be tarnished by association with Hawkmoth's son; she'll provide for him until he's legally an adult, but otherwise wants as little to do with him as possible.
- Adrien is much more willing to talk back against his aunt, telling her point-blank that she's not his parent and he doesn't have to listen to her. Unfortunately, since she doesn't see him as a potential asset like Gabriel did, she makes clear that he's just shooting himself in the foot by lashing out at her.
