Hawk Moth/Synopsis

The story of the power-seeking supervillain Hawk Moth from Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir.

Season 1
In "Ladybug and Cat Noir (Origins - Part 1)", Gabriel listens as his newly acquired Kwami, Nooroo, explains the story of the Miraculouses and how they have granted people superpowers and created superheroes for centuries, stating that the Cat and Ladybug Miraculouses are the most powerful of all and whoever wields both will have absolute power. Gabriel (whose appearance is hidden by the shadows) states that he wants that power and, against Nooroo's wishes, decides to use the Moth Miraculous' power of granting superpowers to people to create supervillains in order to lure out the users of the Ladybug and Cat Miraculouses. Gabriel then forces Nooroo into the Moth Miraculous, transforming him, and takes up the identity of Hawk Moth. Master Fu's Kwami, Wayzz, senses Nooroo's negative energy and tells Master Fu about it. Being too old to stop Hawk Moth himself, Fu decides to choose new people to wield the Ladybug and Cat Miraculous and stop Hawk Moth, eventually settling on Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Adrien Agreste.

Meanwhile, Hawk Moth finds the perfect subject to test his new powers on; Ivan Bruel, a student who gets angry after being mocked by Lê Chiến Kim over not having the courage to tell Mylène Haprèle about how he feels about her. Hawk Moth then sends an Akuma to attach itself to the note Kim gave Ivan, and offers to give him the power to take revenge on the ones who hurt him, which he eagerly accepts, turning himself into the first Akumatized villain; Stoneheart. After Ivan is defeated and returned to normal by the newly created Ladybug and Cat Noir, Hawk Moth is last seen laughing evilly, as they didn't capture his Akuma, causing it to multiply and create multiple dormant Stonehearts throughout Paris that would eventually come to life when Ivan became reakumatized.

In "Stoneheart (Origins - Part 2)", Hawk Moth attempts to Akumatize Ivan again after he is bullied by Chloé Bourgeois (ironically, about his previous Akumatization), however, he fails when Marinette comforts him and inspires him to write a song to tell Mylène about how he feels. After his attempt at this fails, Hawk Moth succeeds in giving Ivan his powers back, and, with the army of Stonehearts at his command, Hawk Moth tells Stoneheart to take revenge and to get the Miraculouses of Ladybug and Cat Noir. Later, Hawk Moth pulls Stoneheart's Akuma out of his body, rendering him comatose, and uses it to create a giant hologram of himself over the city, revealing himself as the mastermind behind Stoneheart's rampage. Hawk Moth then orders Ladybug and Cat Noir to surrender their Miraculouses to him, stating that they have done enough to damage Paris. However, Ladybug tells him not to confuse who the villain is in their situation and uses her powers to purify the Akumas composing the hologram. Enraged at Ladybug, Hawk Moth tells Stoneheart (who is unaware of what Hawk Moth had done to him) to destroy Ladybug and Cat Noir. After Stoneheart is defeated, Hawk Moth swears vengeance on the two superheroes and vows to steal their Miraculouses one day in order to complete his secret goal.

In "The Bubbler", upon learning that Gabriel won't allow Adrien to have a birthday party, Nino decides to try and convince him otherwise. At the Agreste mansion, Nathalie is contacted by Gabriel, who asks why she hasn't gotten Adrien a gift from him. Briefly panicking, Nathalie looks to the unsigned gift Marinette had dropped off previously, and decides to give Adrien it in Gabriel's name. Nino arrives at the Agreste mansion, and attempts to professionally ask Gabriel to allow his son to have a birthday party. However, he denies Nino, and declares him as a bad influence for Adrien, banning him from coming to his house again, much to his and Adrien's displeasure. Soon this, along with seeing a father preventing his son from having fun at the park, makes Nino bitter with all adults, and Gabriel, as Hawk Moth, decides to take advantage of this and sends an akuma after him. The akuma enters Nino's bubble wand, and Hawk Moth offers to give him the power to get revenge on adults, in exchange for Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculouses. Nino takes up the offer and becomes the Bubbler; a villain who can create powerful bubbles, who traps all the adults in Paris (excluding Hawk Moth) in bubbles, and floats them away into space.

Ladybug and Cat Noir fight with Bubbler, resulting in them being trapped inside a bubble. In a fit of anger, Bubbler kicks the two heroes up into the air, sending them to space, infuriating Hawk Moth, as he didn't take their Miraculouses. Soon, Ladybug and Cat Noir manage to free themselves and defeat Bubbler, and Hawk Moth vows to capture and crush Ladybug. Later on, Adrien walks to school wearing the scarf Marinette had made, believing his father had done so instead. Marinette ultimately decides that it is better that Adrien is happy with his father than with her, allowing Gabriel to take credit for her gift.

In "Simon Says", Hawk Moth appears and declares that the idea of The Challenge is interesting, as the TV show has the potential to create negative emotions. Soon enough, Gabriel is called up as the opponent of hypnotist Simon Grimault, who is challenged with hypnotizing him. Gabriel, however, refuses to participate, resulting in Simon being disqualified. Simon walks out distressed and upset, and Hawk Moth sends an akuma after him. Hawk Moth offers Simon the chance to become a powerful hypnotist, resulting in him becoming Simon Says; a villain who can control people with his cards. After taking over the TVi studio, Simon Says declares that he is going to go after Gabriel Agreste, something Hawk Moth finds risky, but gets an idea from. Later, Ladybug arrives at the Agreste mansion with Nino and Adrien, to warn Gabriel about Simon Says. However, Gabriel refuses to listen, and sends Adrien and Nino to Adrien's room. He then apologizes to Ladybug for Adrien's behavior, stating that he's just like his mother; "way too overly dramatic".

Soon afterwards, Gabriel catches Ladybug admiring a portrait of Adrien, and says that his son is perfect. He then shows a strange interest in Ladybug's earrings, and reaches to get a closer look at them, although Cat Noir calls Ladybug before he can. Cat Noir arrives as Simon Says' minions attack the mansion, and tells Gabriel to activate the mansion's defense systems. After doing so, Gabriel asks how Cat Noir even knew his house had a defense system, and he lies, stating that a house like his is bound to have one. As Simon Says' minions break through the mansion's defenses, Cat Noir tells Gabriel to hide in his atrium where its safe, but he boldly refuses, stating that no one gives him orders. Angrily, Cat Noir yells to Gabriel that he is in danger like everyone else and to just do what he tells him, leaving Gabriel in shock. Gabriel then remarks to Cat Noir that he reminds him of someone, before looking to his wife's portrait after he leaves. As Simon Says gleefully overlooks the mansion's defenses being overtaken, Hawk Moth reenters the scene and tells his minion that going after Gabriel is not a good idea, and that he shouldn't forget their deal.

After this, several of Simon Says' minions break into the mansion and capture Gabriel. Simon Says then has Gabriel brought back to the TVI studio, and hypnotizes him into thinking he's a butterfly. Ladybug and Cat Noir enter the room to confront Simon Says, who hypnotizes Gabriel again, this time into thinking he's an airplane, and sends him to jump off the studio roof. However, Ladybug and Cat Noir manage to defeat Simon Says, and undo the effects of his actions, right before Gabriel jumps off the roof. Ladybug and Cat Noir then head up to the roof to check on Gabriel, who shakes hands with Cat Noir and takes note of his ring. Cat Noir and Ladybug then leave, leaving the suspicious Gabriel behind. After getting home, Gabriel enters his son's room and hugs him as he is looking at photos of his mother. Gabriel takes note of Adrien's ring and asks about it, and Adrien ignores the question, retorting if its the only thing he's never noticed about him. Gabriel then turns and leaves, saying he's glad everything worked out for the best.

Season 2
In "The Collector", after learning that whoever previously owned the Miraculous Spellbook also likely owns the Moth and Peacock Miraculouses as well from Master Fu, to her immense disappointment, Marinette begins to speculate that Adrien might be Hawk Moth. At the same time, Gabriel and Nathalie confront Adrien on stealing the Miraculous Spellbook in "Volpina". Adrien tries to explain that he stole the book so he could learn more about his father, however, after revealing that he lost the book, Gabriel angrily states that the book was his source of inspiration. To punish Adrien for his actions, Gabriel tells him that he won't be returning to school and will be homeschooled by Nathalie again from now on. Meanwhile, Marinette begins to suspect Gabriel as Hawk Moth upon realizing that Adrien had taken the book from him.

A short while later, Gabriel seemingly throws a tantrum and destroys the art in his atrium. Hawk Moth senses Gabriel Agreste's frustration because of this and sends out an akuma, which he tells to stay close. Hawk Moth then detransforms, revealing that he is actually Gabriel Agreste. Nooroo questions why his master would do so, and Gabriel explains that he has to become someone else in order to lead Ladybug and Cat Noir away from discovering his identity, temporarily renouncing the Moth Miraculous as well. Gabriel then grabs his sketchbook and allows the akuma to enter it, transforming himself into The Collector; a villain who can trap anyone or anything inside his sketchbook.

Collector subsequently goes on a rampage across Paris, trapping dozens of people and historical monuments as sketches inside his book. Later, when Ladybug and Cat Noir go to the Agreste Mansion to confront Gabriel on being Hawk Moth (Cat Noir also realizing that Hawk Moth's signature butterfly logo is also the logo of his father's company), Collector encounters them and engages them in combat. During the fight, as Gabriel intended, Ladybug and Cat Noir abandon the idea that Gabriel is actually Hawk Moth, due to him being akumatized. Ladybug and Cat Noir soon defeat Collector by filling all the pages in his book with projectiles and de-akumatize him. Gabriel feigns amnesia and thanks Ladybug and Cat Noir for their help, but as soon as they leave, he smiles maliciously to himself and says that they will be seeing him very soon.

Later on, Marinette successfully returns the Miraculous Spellbook to Gabriel in order to get him to unground Adrien, which he does. When asked by Marinette, Gabriel states that he found the book while overseas with his wife, and tells Adrien soon afterwards that the book was the last thing his mother gave to him before she disappeared, which is why he was so protective of it. Afterwards, Gabriel looks over a technological copy of the book with Nathalie. Nathalie questions why Gabriel needed to get the book back if he already had a copy, and he states that he did so to protect his secret. Then, using secret buttons on the picture of his wife, Gabriel re-enters his lair and transforms back into Hawk Moth. Hawk Moth soliloquies about how he prevented Ladybug and Cat Noir from discovering his identity, remarking that nothing will stop him from getting their Miraculouses now.

In "Robustus", Hawk Moth senses the sadness and disappointment of Max Kanté's robot Markov, noting that his emotions aren't as artificial as they seemed, and sends an akuma after it. Once the akuma attaches itself to Markov's circuitry, Hawk Moth, referring to the robot as Robustus, offers to grant him the power to bring technology to life in exchange for Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculouses. To his surprise and annoyance, Markov curiously badgers Hawk Moth with questions regarding what Miraculouses are, what they can do, and why Hawk Moth wants them, driving him to reveal the ultimate power one can receive by combining the two objects, until Markov finally accepts the deal and becomes Robustus.

Later, once Robustus has Ladybug and Cat Noir trapped and prepares to take their Miraculouses, he states that he shall use them to grant his wish to become a human like Max. Hawk Moth reminds Robustus that the Miraculouses are his to use and threatens to remove his powers; however, Robustus betrays Hawk Moth and uses his technological manipulation to turn his lair's defense systems against him. As his defense system begins to attack him, Hawk Moth, revealing his cane as truly being a swordstick, pulls out a blade and fights off the defense system. Once Robustus is defeated and Paris' technology goes back to normal, Hawk Moth, completely exhausted from fighting off his defense system, notes that he made a mistake in akumatizing Markov, yet will not make any more.

At Master Fu's massage shop, upon being asked why Hawk Moth wants the Ladybug and Cat Miraculous, Fu informs Marinette that a person can obtain ultimate power, or simply put, can make wishes by wearing the two Miraculouses together and using a special spell from the Spellbook. Marinette, thrilled with the idea, suggests wishing to stop wars, end poverty, and defeat Hawk Moth, although Fu explains that the universe must keep its balance and that every wish could have consequences, suggesting that if Robustus wished to be human, someone would therefore lose their humanity in return. Now knowing the full scale of losing her Miraculous, Marinette vows to not let anyone take it, especially not Hawk Moth.

In "Gigantitan", after Marinette's plan to attract Adrien unintentionally frustrates his bodyguard, Hawk Moth senses his employee's distress and sends an akuma after him. The akuma attempts to latch on to Adrien's bodyguard, however, he calms down upon seeing Adrien, making the akuma fly right past him. Seeking out the nearest source of negative emotions, the akuma latches on to the bracelet of an infant boy named August, who was throwing a tantrum over lollipops. Hawk Moth is utterly baffled by this turn of events, yet goes along with them regardless, deeming August's emotions pure enough to work. Hawk Moth enters a confused conversation with the young child, who has a hard time understanding his requests and instead desires to go after the lollipops he had been denied rather than the Miraculouses, but ends up accepting his deal regardless, transforming into the titanic villain Gigantitan.

Once Ladybug and Cat Noir initiate their plan to stop Gigantitan by luring him under the Eiffel Tower, Hawk Moth lashes out at his minion for playing with cars instead of attacking Ladybug and Cat Noir. Despite his raging, Gigantitan completely ignores Hawk Moth and merely continues playing, leaving Hawk Moth enraged. Eventually, Ladybug ends up destroying August's bracelet, releasing the akuma, and Hawk Moth vows to one day create a villain big enough to flatten her and Cat Noir.

In "The Dark Owl", Hawk Moth senses the sadness and disappointment of Mr. Damocles, who had been humiliated by the media for attempting to become a superhero called "The Owl", and sends an akuma after him. The akuma enters Damocles' computer and Hawk Moth offers him the chance to become a real superhero in exchange for Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculouses, which he accepts, transforming into Dark Owl.

After luring Ladybug and Cat Noir in by threatening to drop a bus full of zoo animals onto a helpless kitten (the whole setup ultimately revealed as a holographic simulation), Dark Owl succeeds in trapping Ladybug and Cat Noir inside a shipping container which slowly begins filling with melted whipped cream. Dark Owl threatens to drown the two unless they give up their Miraculouses, and, having no other way out, the two heroes detransform and seemingly give up. Dark Owl, upon receiving the Miraculouses, puts them in a drone directed to Hawk Moth's lair and spares Ladybug and Cat Noir, declaring himself as the new superhero of Paris.

As the drone enters his lair, Hawk Moth takes out the Miraculouses and ecstatically prepares to gain ultimate power, only to realize that the Miraculouses are fakes (which Marinette had created earlier in an attempt to make Damocles feel like a real hero) and screams out in rage. Hawk Moth contacts Dark Owl and tells him of the ruse as Ladybug and Cat Noir free themselves. Hawk Moth then gives Dark Owl another chance to get the Miraculouses, although he is ultimately defeated. Following this, Hawk Moth remarks that each new villain he creates gets closer to stealing the Miraculouses, and one day he will succeeded.

In "Sapotis", Hawk Moth senses the sadness of Ella and Etta Césaire after Alya angrily punishes them for causing mischief and refusing to go to bed, stating that children should be able to do what they want and sending an akuma after the two. The akuma enters Ella and Etta's hat as they are fighting over it, and Hawk Moth promises the twins that he will allow them to do what they want. Ella and Etta bombard Hawk Moth with childish desires, and, after calming them down, Hawk Moth states that they won't receive punishment for their actions so long as they retrieve Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculouses. The two comply and transform into Sapotis; two creatures that can duplicate indefinitely by eating.

Ladybug and Cat Noir are gradually overwhelmed by the Sapotis clones, and with her Lucky Charm, Ladybug gets the idea to seek Master Fu for help, who allows her to take a Miraculous and temporarily grant it to someone she trusts. Ladybug picks the Fox Miraculous and grants it to Alya, who takes up the identity of Rena Rouge and soon helps her defeat a group of Sapotis clones who are attacking Cat Noir. Hawk Moth is shocked by the appearance of a new superhero, realizing that he was right about there being other Miraculouses in Paris, and sends the entire Sapotis army after Ladybug, Cat Noir and Rena Rouge. Soon enough, Ladybug and Cat Noir, with help from Rena Rouge’s illusion powers, fool the Sapotises into heading towards a fake amusement park, while Hawk Moth futilely attempts to convince them they're being tricked. Once the real Sapotis' helmets are destroyed and Ella and Etta have been deakumatized, Hawk Moth is not entirely dissatisfied with his loss, thanking Ladybug for showing him that there are other Miraculouses in Paris, and likely a Guardian as well.

In "Gorizilla", Adrien approaches Gabriel as he is working and asks for a moment of his time, to which Gabriel complies, stating that he'll have Nathalie tell him when he's available. Dismayed, Adrien states that it will probably be too late by then, and, after noticing his son fidgeting with his ring, Gabriel sends him off, reminding him to practice his piano. Gabriel then brings up a Ladyblog video of Cat Noir, pausing when his ring is close to the screen, and a picture of Adrien, zooming in on his ring, and reels in shock upon realizing how similar the two are, and comes to the conclusion that Adrien might be Cat Noir. Gabriel then storms into Adrien's room, only to find that his son is gone, having left a recording of the piano playing and the window open. After raging at Nathalie and Adrien's bodyguard for letting him sneak out under their watch, Gabriel orders them to find his son. Later on, Gabriel is accidentally called by Wayhem using Adrien's bodyguard's phone, and orders him to return the phone before he has him arrested.

Following this, Gabriel enters his lair, and Nooroo asks if he really believes if his son could be Cat Noir. Gabriel replies that he isn't sure, but there is one way the both of them can find out, and then transforms into Hawk Moth. Hawk Moth calls Adrien's bodyguard on his phone and insults him for being unable to find Adrien as he is being badgered by Roger Raincomprix, making him vulnerable to akumatization. Hawk Moth subsequently akumatizes the bodyguard into Gorizilla; a giant ape-like villain with a superhuman sense of smell. At the same time, Marinette and Adrien are at the movie theater, watching Solitude: a film starring Adrien's mother Emilie, which Adrien wanted to go see but was convinced his father wouldn’t let him. However, Gorizilla appears and captures Adrien, and Hawk Moth tells his minion to keep holding on to him until Ladybug and Cat Noir arrive. When only Ladybug arrives, Hawk Moth's suspicions are furthered, and he orders Gorizilla to take Ladybug's Miraculous.

Ladybug manages to free Adrien from Gorizilla's grasp and tells Adrien to jump quickly, but she is caught before she can save him from falling. Hawk Moth begs his son to transform and save himself if he really is Cat Noir, but is ultimately forced to have Gorizilla let Ladybug go to prevent Adrien from hitting the ground. Afterwards, Hawk Moth orders Gorizilla to get both of them back, and later sees Cat Noir defending "Adrien" (really Wayhem wearing a helmet to conceal his identity) from his minion. Dropping all suspicions he had of Adrien being Cat Noir, Hawk Moth commands Gorizilla to take Cat Noir’s Miraculous, only for him to be defeated instead. Hawk Moth swears to one day uncover his enemies' secret identities so he can make them suffer eternally. Later, Gabriel meets with Adrien and asks him to sit down, and begins playing Solitude for the both of them to watch. He tells his son that he only needed to ask, and that he mustn't keep secrets from him, so that he doesn't start imagining things about him. As they are watching the film, a secret repository is seen underneath the Agreste Mansion.

In "Captain Hardrock", Gabriel and Nathalie watch Adrien playing piano. Adrien ends up faltering during his song and Gabriel tells him to stop, wondering if he has been keeping up with his lessons. Adrien says that he might improve if allowed to play with other people, but Gabriel insists that Agrestes are "soloists" and forces him to stay and play for him again later. Adrien is distressed by this, reminding his father he promised to let him play at the music festival with his friends, though Gabriel disregards his claim, citing that his friends likely corroded his skill anyway.

After Roger Raincomprix gives Mrs. Couffaine many tickets, Hawk Moth sends an akuma after her, turning her into Captain Hardrock. Hawk Moth vows for victory when Ladybug and Cat Noir defeat Captain Hardrock. Later, Adrien is about to play, but requests to play it as a duet with Gabriel. Gabriel reluctantly agrees. After they're done, Adrien smiles at him. Gabriel tells him he can go to his friends' concert. Adrien thanks his father and hugs him.

In "Zombizou", Hawk Moth senses Marinette's feeling of anger and injustice after she believes Miss Bustier is going to punish her for Chloé's actions, and sends an akuma after her. However, when Miss Bustier explains that Marinette isn't being punished and that Chloé just needs a good example in order to become a better person, Marinette's negative emotions weaken and drive the akuma away, although Hawk Moth orders it to get closer. Once she is done explaining why it is important for people like Marinette to help others, Miss Bustier spots the akuma and tries to shoo it away, not realizing that her fear of harm to her students now opens her up to akumatization, a fact which delights Hawk Moth. The akuma possesses Miss Bustier's lipstick, and she attempts to fight off Hawk Moth's influence. Despite her efforts, Hawk Moth takes control of Miss Bustier by convincing her that he wants to help spread love in the world, and transforms her into Zombizou; a villain who can spread an infectious mind control by blowing kisses.

Zombizou soon transforms almost everyone in the school into mindless zombies who begin to rampage and infect the rest of Paris. Hawk Moth later resurfaces while she is following Ladybug, Cat Noir and the remaining students to the Eiffel Tower, reminding her not to forget their agreement. When Ladybug and Chloé are cornered at the top of the tower, Hawk Moth ecstatically remarks that "victory has never been so close", but Ladybug ultimately manages to defeat Zombizou and return everything to normal. Upon his defeat, Hawk Moth states that, if what Zombizou had said about love conquering all is correct, then there is no doubt that his most cherished wish will come true.

In "Syren", after Ondine is unknowingly rejected by Lê Chiến Kim, Hawk Moth senses her sadness and sends an akuma after her. The akuma possesses her bracelet, and Hawk Moth offers Ondine the power to turn Paris into an underwater kingdom for her and Kim, provided she takes Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculouses. Ondine agrees and turns into the villain Syren, who quickly floods Paris and captures Kim for herself. Ladybug tries to rescue Kim from Syren, and Hawk Moth remarks that every new environment brings a new set of rules, and Ladybug therefore won't be able to beat Syren, since she can't breath underwater. He then asks Syren if she is going to let Ladybug separate her and Kim, resulting in Syren blasting Ladybug away.

In order to combat Syren, Ladybug goes to Master Fu and helps him unlock underwater abilities, which he provides to Ladybug and later Cat Noir. The two heroes confront Syren, and Hawk Moth confirms his suspicions of the Miraculouses having hidden powers, subsequently ordering Syren to take the Miraculouses before Ladybug and Cat Noir take Kim from her, although she is defeated. Later that day, Gabriel is confused to see Master Fu, under the name Mr. Cheng, who claims to be a substitute for Adrien's Chinese tutor. In his lair, Gabriel furiously demands that Nooroo tell him how to unlock new powers, and Nooroo claims that kwamis don't know the recipes. Knowing the recipes must be in the Miraculous spellbook, he asks if Nooroo can read it, although he insists only Guardians can. Gabriel decides that he must find the Guardian to unlock new powers.

In "Frightningale", Gabriel forces his son to play Cat Noir in Clara Nightingale’s new music video, believing that it will help promote his stores in Korea and China and because Clara has been a supporter of his brand for a long time. When Adrien leaves the mask that comes with the Cat Noir costume behind, Gabriel, who is watching over everything through a tablet, asks where the mask is, to which Adrien replies that he couldn’t find it. Later on, Chloé auditions for the role of Ladybug and nails it, and Clara asks him what he thinks. Although he believes that Marinette would’ve been better (as she was offered the part earlier but rejected it), he decides that they have no choice but to use Chloé for the video. However, Chloé soon loses the part when Marinette changes her mind and she has her father cancel Clara’s music video, causing the musician to burst into tears. Gabriel goes into his lair, transforms into Hawk Moth, and akumatizes Clara into Frightningale, a villain who can turn people into metallic statues if they don’t sing, dance, or rhyme. Hawk Moth tells Frightningale to strike Ladybug and Cat Noir as it’ll be easier to get their Miraculouses that way, and although she does, she is eventually defeated.

In "Reverser", Hawk Moth senses a broken friendship between Marc and Nathaniel, and sends an akuma after Marc. The akuma enters a page torn from his book, akumatizing him into Reverser, a villain with the power to reverse certain qualities in people. Hawk Moth then sends him after Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculouses. During a ensuing fight with Ladybug, Reverser manages to hit her with his superpowers, making her madly clumsy in the process. Upon seeing this, Hawk Moth praises Reverser and orders him to use Ladybug's newly clumsyness to his advantage to get her Miraculous. Before Reverser can do so, Cat Noir arrives, only to be hit by Reverser's superpowers as well, making him afraid of everything around him in the process. The two heroes ends up failing into the river, so Hawk Moth orders Reverser to find them. But no longer seeing the heroes as threats however, Reverser decides to first go to look for Marinette and Nathaniel for revenge, which Hawk Moth reluctantly allows. However, Reverser is ultimately defeated and Hawk Moth swears that someday he will finally win and when he does, the order of things will reverse.

In "Anansi", Hawk Moth akumatizes Nora Césaire when she becomes frustrated that Alya doesn't take the possible dangers around her seriously. Hawk Moth offers to help Nora show Alya and her friends how dangerous the world really is in exchange for Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculouses and she accepts, transforming into Anansi; a spider-themed villain. Anansi soon succeeds in trapping Alya and Cat Noir in her sticky spiderweb and upon this, Hawk Moth orders her to grab Cat Noir's Miraculous. Anansi then becomes frustrated as she can't find Cat Noir's "earrings" until an annoyed Hawk Moth tells her that earrings are Ladybug's Miraculous while Cat Noir's Miraculous is a ring.

As she is trying to get a hold of Cat Noir's ring, Anansi is challenged by Nino, using Cat Noir's staff, to a fight, which she accepts, although Hawk Moth has his patience tested once more at seeing his minion waste her time toying with him. Anansi, following a brief fight, tosses Nino away and goes back to trying to steal the ring, only for Cat Noir to call upon his Cataclysm. Hawk Moth warns Anansi not to touch the ring while it is charged with destructive energy and advises her to wait until Cat Noir has transformed back to make her move, much to her frustration.

However, her period of resting is interrupted when Ladybug returns with Nino, the latter using the Turtle Miraculous to become the hero Carapace. The two confront her, with Ladybug challenging her to a fight and promising to give up her Miraculous if she loses. Hawk Moth orders Anansi not to listen as Ladybug is planting a trap for her, but she rebuffs him, believing that Ladybug doesn't stand a chance against her. Anansi and Ladybug fight, and Ladybug using her agility and taunting to trick Anansi into destroying the archway holding her web while Carapace protects everyone with his Shellter power, leading to her being defeated. In response to this, Hawk Moth comments that, while Ladybug may be gaining herself new allies, she may one day find herself outnumbered.

In "Sandboy", Gabriel is seen working in his atrium. After being wished a good night by Nathalie, Nooroo attempts to sneak away from him; however, he is unable to do so and is reminded by Gabriel that he cannot be more than a few feet away from him nor speak to anyone else. Nooroo reminds his master that it's his birthday, but Gabriel doesn't care and declares that, since he can't follow them, he's going to have to make the rules even simpler, removing his mouth so that he can't communicate at all. Immediately afterwards, he places Nooroo's mouth back, telling him it was a joke and that he's not that cruel. The Moth Miraculous then begins to glow, alerting Gabriel that someone in Paris has prominent negative emotions.

After transforming into Hawk Moth, he sends an akuma out after a boy who is suffering intense fear from a nightmare, transforming him into Sandboy; a villain who can bring people's nightmares to life. Sandboy wreaks havoc across Paris, but neither Marinette or Adrien are able to transform due to Plagg, Tikki, and the other kwamis trying to communicate with Nooroo from within the Miracle Box. During the chaos, a confused Hawk Moth takes note of the heroes' absence and wonders what is going on, only to be alerted to the kwamis' attempt to contact Nooroo. Realizing what they are trying to do, Hawk Moth proclaims that he is going to find them and make them all his slaves, just like Nooroo. He uses their attempt to communicate to try and track them down, overpowering their attempt to communicate, however, the kwamis shut off communication before that happens.

Now knowing that the kwamis are located somewhere near the right bank of the Seine, Hawk Moth redirects Sandboy and tells him to find and capture them. As Plagg is racing back towards Adrien, Sandboy spots him and Hawk Moth, recognizing him as Cat Noir's kwami, orders his minion to either capture or follow him to his owner, though Plagg ultimately evades Sandboy. Hawk Moth, knowing that Ladybug and Cat Noir will arrive soon, tells Sandboy to capture their Miraculouses. Ultimately, Ladybug and Cat Noir succeed in defeating Sandboy, causing Hawk Moth to shout out in frustration. Later, in his lair, Gabriel tells Nooroo that he hopes he liked his friends' birthday gift, as he now knows that the kwamis are both close and numerous. He then proclaims that, if he finds them, he'll steal all of their Miraculouses and thus have unlimited powers at his disposal, stating he'll even fight a whole army of superheroes to do it if he has to and that Ladybug and Cat Noir won't ever be able to stop him again.

In "Style Queen", Gabriel holds his yearly fashion show, which draws his long term business partner and Chloé Bourgeois's mother, Audrey, back into Paris. On the news, Nadia Chamack asks the question if Audrey's presence will draw Gabriel, who never appears in public, out of hiding, and he, watching the news, turns off his TV. Not long afterwards, Nathalie informs Audrey that her seat has been reserved in the second row instead of the front row, enraging her and prompting her to attempt to call Gabriel about her seating. However, Gabriel ignores her, and turns to his wife Emile, who is seen as being comatose being kept inside a coffin within the repository underneath the Agreste mansion. He apologizes to her for taking so long, but is now assured that he will be able to take Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculouses, stating that Audrey has more spite in her than anyone he's ever akumatized before and that she will be his masterpiece.

Gabriel soon transforms into Hawk Moth and sends an akuma after Audrey, which latches onto the rose on top of her hat. He offers to help her get revenge on those who disrespected her, and transforms her into Style Queen; a villain who can turn people into gold statues. Style Queen then attacks the fashion show, looking to get back at Gabriel Agreste, although, finding that he is not there, she decides to attack Adrien instead, turning him into a statue. Hawk Moth is shocked at this happening, yet reluctantly gets over it, believing there was no other choice, and tells Style Queen to get Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculous as soon as possible. Ladybug and Style Queen battle soon afterwards, with Ladybug unable to harm Style Queen as her body is made of glitter, though, before the former can be turned into a gold statue, Chloé distracts her mother by offering to show her where Gabriel lives.

Style Queen whisks the both of them to the Agreste mansion and fails to find Gabriel, with Hawk Moth claiming that he is hidden somewhere protected by Ladybug, and that he will show if Ladybug and Cat Noir cannot save his son. As a result, Style Queen takes both Chloé and Adrien to the Eiffel Tower, where she imprisons Adrien inside a force-field, threatening to slowly dissolve him unless Ladybug and Cat Noir arrive to stop her, also hiding the rose containing her akuma within the force-field as well. Ladybug arrives, only to escape upon realizing that she needs help to defeat Style Queen, which doesn't concern Hawk Moth, as he needs Cat Noir to be with her anyway. Ladybug later returns to Eiffel Tower with the Bee Miraculous, and Hawk Moth is confused to see her without Cat Noir, though tells Style Queen to take her Miraculous anyways. Ladybug manages to beat Style Queen with the help of Plagg, however, looses the Bee Miraculous in the process. In his lair, Hawk Moth says that Style Queen was his greatest masterpiece and asks how she could've failed, and, by extension, how he could've failed as well. Disheartened, he asks himself what he is to do now.

In "Queen Wasp", Gabriel is seen in his repository again, regretfully telling his wife that, although he does not want to break the promise he made to her, he cannot keep hurting their son and, with Style Queen's defeat, feels like he has done everything he possibly could've, now believing that he won't be able to acquire Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculouses. Saddened, he renounces Nooroo and sulks inside his atelier, where he is comforted by Nathalie. Following this, Gabriel makes a surprise appearance during his fashion show, and hugs his son on the runway. After the show, Gabriel greets Audrey and apologizes for what happened earlier, claiming he fired the one responsible to the seating mix-up, and only the front row is suitable for her. When Audrey brings up the hat Marinette created, Gabriel tells her that she had won a fashion contest with it, and Audrey offers to take Marinette back to New York with her to design for her. Finally pushed over the edge by her mother valuing Marinette over her, Chloé reveals that she had found the Bee Miraculous Ladybug lost and transforms into Queen Bee before everyone—much to Gabriel's astonishment—deciding to become Paris' new superhero in order to finally impress her mother. Gabriel then decides he and Adrien should head home, and, on the way there, Adrien says that he hopes Chloé won't do anything foolish. Coldly, Gabriel replies that he's sure Ladybug and Cat Noir will deal with her. Once home, Gabriel enters his lair and revokes his renouncement, telling Nooroo he has a unique opportunity to akumatize a Miraculous user, and transforms.

Sure enough, Chloé becomes upset when she is berated by Ladybug, Cat Noir and her mother after creating and failing to stop an out of control subway train, and Hawk Moth sends an akuma to infect her Miraculous. He offers to make her Ladybug and Cat Noir's most powerful enemy, telling her that she will beat them, as she is truly exceptional, transforming her into Queen Wasp; a villain controlling an army of paralytic wasps. When Ladybug and Cat Noir confront her, Hawk Moth compliments his minion, claiming she truly is exceptional. Then, while she is bragging about herself, he reappears and says, to claim total victory, she must steal Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculouses. However, Queen Wasp is ultimately defeated, and Ladybug and Cat Noir take back the Bee Miraculous while encouraging Chloé to be better. Gabriel returns to his repository, where he tells his wife that Ladybug and Cat Noir have made a mistake today and that there will be others, and soon they will be together again. He returns to his atelier, where Nathalie questions him on his promise of giving up his Hawk Moth identity. Gabriel tells her that he can't give up, as he misses his wife too much.

In "Catalyst", Adrien sees his father looking at a statue of his mother before he leaves for school. Afterwards, Nathalie approaches him, who says that he won't forgive himself if his current plan fails. Nathalie assures him that his plan is perfect, as his current target, Lila Rossi, has been growing her hatred of Ladybug for months and will be angrier than ever to see her everywhere on Heroes' Day. Gabriel asks Nathalie if she really wants to go along with his plan, and she assures him that she'll always be there for him. Later, the two are seen in Gabriel's lair, with him remarking that everything is going according to plan. As predicted, Lila becomes angrier and angrier at all the praise Ladybug is receiving all over Paris, culminating in her seeing a news report featuring Gabriel, who announces that, out of gratitude for Ladybug saving both him and his son on numerous occasions, he has financed a movie about her. He once more praises Ladybug and dismisses fake heroes such as Volpina, driving Lila over the edge.

Gabriel subsequently transforms and sends an akuma after Lila, and offers to give her the power to make her dreams reality, transforming her back into Volpina. Using her illusion powers, Volpina makes everyone think Cat Noir is fighting an akumatized Ladybug atop of the parade balloons, which culminates in Ladybug destroying the former with his own Cataclysm and then stealing his Miraculous. Hawk Moth senses that this action has imbued fear and sadness into all of Paris, and tells Volpina that she has played her role perfectly and that they'll see each other again soon. Following this, he removes Lila's akuma and creates another one, and asks Nathalie if she's ready. Nathalie replies that she is and Hawk Moth allows the akuma to possess her clipboard, akumatizing her into Catalyst; a villain capable of multiplying his own power. Immediately afterwards, Catalyst empowers and transforms him into Scarlet Hawk Moth, giving him the ability to create as many akumas as he wants. Hawk Moth thus creates an army of akumas and sends them out to akumatize everyone who was affected by "Ladybug's" actions.

The akumas begin rampaging across Paris, retransforming almost all of Hawk Moth's previous victims into red versions of themselves. When Gorizilla resurfaces and captures Adrien, Hawk Moth tells him not to let him go, as his son's safety is his main priority, and then orders all of his minions to come to him. At the same time, he tells Vanisher to track Ladybug, as she'll no doubt need to summon more heroes to help her and thus will lead them to the Guardian of the Miraculouses. However, Hawk Moth later loses contact with Vanisher on account of her being de-akumatized by Ladybug. Even so, he figures that Ladybug won't be able to discover the rest of his plan. Ladybug and Cat Noir summon Rena Rouge, Carapace and Queen Bee to help them, and they all gather together at the same time all the villains have assembled at the Eiffel Tower. Hawk Moth descends onto the tower, appearing in public for the first time, and Catalyst wishes him luck. Prime Queen sends a drone up to Hawk Moth, who broadcasts to all of Paris that, with all the villains he now controls, it is certain he will get Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculouses. Seeing this, all of the heroes prepare to fight Hawk Moth and his army.

In "Mayura", Prime Queen continues her broadcasting of Hawk Moth and his army, who are all chanting his name. Catalyst tells him that it is time to move forwards, and Hawk Moth, knowing Ladybug and Cat Noir are no doubt nearby, offers them one last chance to surrender their Miraculouses to him if they want to save Paris. However, upon making themselves known, Ladybug, Cat Noir and their allies firmly refuse and prepare to fight. Deciding to satisfy their desire to fight him, Hawk Moth gets Guitar Villain and Frightningale to play appropriate music and sics his army on the heroes, who begin to strategically fight and de-akumatize them. Despite this, Hawk Moth tells Catalyst that everything is going according to plan, and she remarks that its joyous to let the heroes think victory is achievable when it is impossible. Hawk Moth subsequently orders Dark Cupid to imbue Butler Jean, André and Audrey Bourgeois with hatred. He then infects them all with akumas and, after offering to give them the power to punish Chloé for her disobedience, transforms them into Despair Bear, Malediktator and Style Queen respectively.

After dealing with the wave of villains Hawk Moth had sent to defeat them, Ladybug uses her Lucky Charm and summons a tennis racket, beginning to formulate a plan on how to defeat all the villains. However, Hawk Moth destroys her plan before it is formed by having Dark Cupid yet again use his powers on everyone who had been de-akumatized in order to re-akumatizing them. He then unleashes another massive swarm of akumas over the heroes as they are dealing with his minions, which begin to target Rena Rouge after she is struck by one of Dark Cupid's arrows. Queen Bee attempts to defend Rena and Carapace from the other villains while they are fighting each other, claiming she will never be done in by her emotions, only for Hawk Moth to remark she should "never say never" and send in Style Queen and Malediktator to distract her, allowing Rena to overpower Carapace and be akumatized into Rena Rage. Seeing this, Carapace becomes distressed and gets akumatized into Caraworse, and Queen Bee being akumatized back into Queen Wasp due to Despair Bear and Dark Cupid not long afterwards. Hawk Moth quickly becomes totally assured of his victory, though, before they can be defeated, Ladybug and Cat Noir escape into the sewers via the latter's Cataclysm.

Still confident, Hawk Moth orders Animan to track the heroes down using his sense of smell. At the same time, Ladybug and Cat Noir theorize on how Hawk Moth has increased his powers, and after defeating Syren and Animan using their underwater powers, decide to destroy his cane as it appears to be the source of his power. While they're still underwater, Hawk Moth has Frozer try to freeze Paris and the Seine in order to trap the heroes, but this fails, angering him. On Hawk Moth's broadcast, Ladybug declares its time to show Paris the real Ladybug is back before unleashing the purified akumas, restoring hope to the city, and Hawk Moth angrily tells Prime Queen to shut her cameras off. As the villains rampage throughout the city trying to get Ladybug and Cat Noir, the citizens of Paris, lead by Nora Césaire, stand up and help fight against them. Not unnerved by the citizen's involvement, Hawk Moth sends Horrificator, Stoneheart, Gigantitan and Gorizilla out into the city to get Ladybug and Cat Noir, though they too are intercepted. While this happens, Hawk Moth makes contact with Catalyst, remarking on how the heroes are proving more resilient than predicted, and decides to move on to the next phase of his plan.

After defeating Gamer and Glaciator, Ladybug and Cat Noir arrive on the Eiffel Tower and confront Hawk Moth, Cat Noir summoning his Cataclysm and Ladybug summoning a Miraculous box using her Lucky Charm. Hawk Moth asks the heroes if they're sure they aren't making a mistake, as his wish could be extremely beneficial to the world, though Ladybug tells him of the consequences of every wish, asking what he wants to wish for in the first place, with him saying that they should hand over their Miraculouses if they want to find out. As this happens, it is revealed that "Hawk Moth" is really just an illusion created by Volpina to distract the heroes while Dark Cupid shoots them with his arrows and Hawk Moth akumatizes them. Holding out the box, Ladybug tells the fake Hawk Moth to do what's right and hand over his Miraculous, though she spots the real Hawk Moth sneaking up on them thanks to the box's reflective cover, allowing her and Cat Noir to avoid the akumas and easily beat Dark Cupid. Enraged, Hawk Moth begins to fight the two heroes, Ladybug managing to steal his cane, allowing Cat Noir to destroy it, thus removing his new powers and de-akumatizing all his victims at once at once.

With his grand plan foiled and now with nothing left to lose, Hawk Moth decides to take the opportunity to grab Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculouses himself, defeating them both with ease. He taunts them both for their inexperience and inability to hold onto their superhero forms, but, before he can get their Miraculouses, he is stopped by Carapace as he and the other heroes arrive. Ladybug then nets the tower in her yo-yo string and Queen Bee prepares to use her Venom power to incapacitate Hawk Moth, prepared to defeat him once and for all. However, before he can be defeated, Nathalie, having used the Peacock Miraculous in Gabriel's safe to become the supervillain Mayura, sends a feather out to the Eiffel Tower, which infects Hawk Moth's cane.

Hawk Moth is horrified upon realizing what Nathalie has done and unwillingly accepts her help, allowing her to create a giant moth creature out of his despair which blows the heroes and the yo-yo string away before being destroyed. Hawk Moth uses the opportunity to escape as Ladybug and Cat Noir quickly realize that he has an ally in the holder of the Peacock Miraculous and decide to use the remnants of his cane to track him, though find themselves unable to when the injured and exhausted Hawk Moth detransforms. Back in his mansion, Gabriel confronts the sickened Nathalie and reminds her she is never to use the Peacock Miraculous, as it is broken and far too dangerous, yet she assures him that she had to save him and wants to help him no matter the cost. Not pleased yet still grateful, Gabriel thanks Nathalie and comforts her.