Lila Rossi

"Forget it, Ladybug. You were right. We'll never be friends."

- Lila revealing that she still hates Ladybug. "There's nothing you can do about it, anyway; people can't resist when they hear what they want to hear. If you don't want to be my friend, fine. But soon you won't have any friends left at all, and trust me, I'll make sure you never get close to Adrien in class or anywhere! You seem a little less dumb than the others, so I'll give you one last chance: you're either with me, or against me! You don't have to answer right away. I'll give you till the end of class today."

- Lila threatening Marinette. "I see you've made your decision, Marinette. From now on, you and I are at war. You will lose your friends and wind up all alone, and Adrien will soon be mine."

- Lila Rossi

Lila Rossi, also known as Volpina and later Chameleon in her akumatized forms, is a major antagonist in the 2015 French superhero cartoon series Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir. She is a student at Collège Françoise Dupont and the archenemy of Ladybug/Marinette-Dupain Cheng, who is bent on getting revenge on her for ruining her chances with Adrien Agreste, thus allowing her to be akumatized by Hawk Moth on several different occasions.

She is voiced by Clara Soares in the original French dubbed version, and by Lisa Kay Jennings in the English dubbed version.

Appearance
Lila is Italian. She has olive green eyes and long chestnut brown hair with bangs. Her hair is loosely tied at the tips with orange bands where she has two shorter strands of hair. She has red-orange wristbands on her right arm. She wears a red-orange jacket over a dark gray romper that has tiny white spots. Additionally, she wears light gray tights and brown high heel boots.

As Volpina, she wears an orange mask with black edges, and her hair bands are black. On top of her head, two fake orange ears with white and black insides are attached. The top of her hair is black and then ombrés down to light brown with the tips of her hair being white. She also has orange lipstick. The necklace with a fox tail hanging off of it is worn around her neck. Her outfit is orange with a white section going down the front. Wrapped around her waist is an orange sash that looks like a fox tail. The edges of her collar and the tops of her upper arms have black lines, and her forearms and lower legs are solid black, with the soles of her feet being white with an orange fox footprinted on each.

As Chameleon, she retains her normal form. However, with her shape-shifting abilities, she can change it.

Season 1
In "Volpina", while heading to class, Marinette begins to hear numerous stories about a girl named Lila, who is said to know Prince Ali, even having ridden in his private jet, have a song written about her by Jagged Stone, and know all the famous Hollywood directors. Confused, Marinette asks Alya about Lila, who explains she is a new student from Italy, pointing to her upstairs with Adrien (whom she is very clearly infatuated with), before playing a Ladyblog interview in which Lila claims she is close friends with Ladybug. Seeing Lila with Adrien, Marinette begins to panic about how he might fall in love with her and follows them both into the library. In the library, Lila prepares to study with Adrien and notices the Miraculous Spellbook which he had taken from his father. Seeing the past heroes documented within it, she claims to love superheroes, only to become quickly annoyed upon noticing Adrien's crush on Ladybug. Again claiming to be friends with Ladybug, she suggests that they meet at the park after school where she can tell Adrien more about their friendship.

As Adrien hastily attempts to leave for his fencing class, Lila startles him, making him spill his books from his bag. Whilst confirming their meeting at the park, she slips the Spellbook away from him. After Adrien leaves, she flips the book open to a page about a Fox Miraculous holder, and, declaring it "interesting", leaves. Later, Lila goes to a jewelry shop, where she buys a necklace that resembles the Fox Miraculous, all while being watched by Marinette and Tikki, the latter wanting to find out if the book is the same one Master Fu lost. While comparing her necklace to the one in the book, Lila spots Adrien and panics, immediately hiding the book by tossing it in a garbage can. As Marinette and Tikki recover the book, Lila lies to Adrien by claiming that she is the descendant of the vixen superheroin Volpina, who is far more powerful and celebrated than Ladybug. Enraged, Marinette transforms into Ladybug and calls Lila out for her lies, making her run off, crying. Saddened that her chances with Adrien have been ruined, Lila declares her hatred of Ladybug to a poster featuring her and begins crying again.

Sensing Lila's sadness, Hawk Moth sends an Akuma after her, which possesses her necklace. Hawk Moth offers to grant Lila the power to bring her lies to life, also instructing her to pretend to be a real superhero so that she can gain Ladybug and Cat Noir's trust in order to betray them and steal their Miraculous. Lila eagerly accepts the offer and transforms into Volpina, using her powers to make the Ladybug poster of one of her carrying Adrien away, before leaving. Later, she uses her powers again to create an illusion of a giant meteor, which, using another illusion of herself, she stops and throws away with ease, though the meteor illusion falls apart upon hitting a pigeon. Volpina declares herself as the only superhero Paris needs while Ladybug and Cat Noir discuss her arrival, only for her to suddenly come to them asking for help. The three run to another rooftop to see Hawk Moth standing out in the open, Volpina claiming that they need to pool their talents in order to take him down. Ladybug becomes skeptical about the meteor and Hawk Moth both appearing in one day and questions Volpina about her Miraculous and abilities, which is cut short when Hawk Moth makes his escape.

The three chase him to the Hôtel de Ville and Volpina orders Ladybug to go right and Cat Noir to go left while she takes Hawk Moth from behind, only for Ladybug to rebut her orders with her own, which doesn't bother Volpina. Volpina then flies behind a chimney, where she is destroyed by the real Volpina, who comments that Ladybug and Cat Noir are falling into her trap. Ladybug soon loses Hawk Moth and is cornered by an assembly of fake weapons conjured by Volpina, who reveals her true intentions and, indirectly, her identity. Volpina proclaims that everyone now thinks she is a superhero and everyone will think Ladybug is the liar, before being instructed by Hawk Moth to get Ladybug's Miraculous. Volpina threatens Ladybug and seemingly destroys a building in order to force her to give up her Miraculous, only for a pigeon to destroy the illusion and make Ladybug realize what her powers are. Ladybug destroys the weapon illusions and the fake Volpina and calls Cat Noir to tell him the truth, theorizing that Volpina could be headed to Adrien's house.

At his house, Cat Noir detransforms back into Adrien, planning to talk Volpina down. Immediately afterwards, Volpina, again just an illusion, quickly arrives and proclaims how she is a "real" superhero to him. Ladybug then bursts in and confronts Volpina, who claims that she is jealous of her and Adrien's relationship, the latter gently dismissing her claims before running off to transform. While Ladybug and Cat Noir are distracted by several illusions of herself, another illusion of Volpina kidnaps "Adrien" and takes him to the Eiffel Tower, threatening to throw him off if the heroes don't give up their Miraculouses. While Ladybug prepares to give up, Cat Noir isn't fooled and destroys the illusion, and he and Ladybug chase the real Volpina up to the top of the tower. Volpina creates an illusion army of herself, however, using her Lucky Charm, Ladybug summons an ice cream bar, which gives out a powerful light in order to blind and gives away the real Volpina. Cat Noir then traps Volpina using his Cataclysm, allowing Ladybug to destroy her necklace and de-akumatize her. Ladybug apologizes for her overreaction previously, hoping to settle Lila's anger, although she refuses to forgive her, claiming they'll never be friends before storming off. From his lair, Hawk Moth, sensing that Lila is still angry, ominously says that Ladybug hasn't seen the last of Volpina.

Season 2
In "The Collector", Marinette mentions Lila while telling Master Fu where she found the Miraculous Spellbook.

In "Sapotis", Alya, after using the Fox Miraculous to transform into Rena Rouge, remarks how she looks "like Lila when she was akumatized".

In "Catalyst", after Gabriel Agreste remarks that he won't forgive himself if his latest plan fails, Nathalie Sancoeur tells him that it is flawless, as Lila has spent months growing her hatred of Ladybug and it will be peaked now that everyone is celebrating her on Heroes' Day. At the same time, Lila, live streaming to her classmates from the Kingdom of Achu, tells Miss Bustier's class about how Prince Ali had invited her family to stay in his palace. Marinette quickly tries to debunk her claims by pointing out that Prince Ali is in the U.S., but Lila rebuffs this by reminding her she never said Prince Ali was with them. Lila then tells the class that, for her Heroes' Day assignment, she is going to get Prince Ali's approval for a project to reduce pollution in several different countries, claiming even superheroes like Ladybug can't solve every problem.

Upon ending the stream, Lila, who was really just in her room the whole time, is met by her mother, who is wondering who she was talking to on the phone. Lila lies and says it was her boyfriend Adrien, and further claims that the school is still closed because of the constant akuma attacks. Her mother is subsequently called by Mr. Damocles, although Lila convinces her not to answer him as he's probably been akumatized as well. They are both then interrupted by the Heroes' Day parade, which irritates Lila. Following her mother's leave, Lila is seen bitterly scrolling through news feed of people showing their appreciation for Ladybug, when, as part of Gabriel's plan, she comes across an interview featuring him. Gabriel claims that to show his appreciation towards Ladybug for saving him, his son, and Paris on numerous occasions, he is financing a movie about her, while also dismissing fake heroes like Volpina.

Seeing this, Lila is driven over the edge and proclaims her hatred of Ladybug. Sensing her anger, Gabriel transforms into Hawk Moth and sends an akuma after her, which attaches to her bracelet. Greeting Hawk Moth, she is offered the power of illusion again and the opportunity to get back at Ladybug, which she readily accepts, turning back into Volpina. Over the parade, Volpina casts an illusion of an evil, akumatized Ladybug dueling with Cat Noir, culminating in Ladybug destroying the latter with his own Cataclysm, imbuing all of Paris with fear and sadness. Pleased, Hawk Moth contacts Volpina and tells her that she played her part perfectly and will see him again soon, Volpina claiming that she can't wait. Hawk Moth then revokes Lila's Akuma, and she, smiling, watches as it is de-akumatized and her illusion fades away. Later, after Hawk Moth re-akumatizes most of his past victim's thanks to Catalyst's empowerment, Lila is presumably transformed again off-screen.

In "Mayura", as the final step of Hawk Moth's grand plan, Volpina is summoned to the Eiffel Tower and creates an illusion of him to hold Ladybug and Cat Noir's attention while they are shot by Dark Cupid's arrows and imbued with hatred in order to make them vulnerable to akumatization by the real Hawk Moth. However, the plan fails when Ladybug spots Hawk Moth due to the reflective cover of the Miraculous Box she received from her Lucky Charm, resulting in Hawk Moth's cane being destroyed by Cat Noir, de-akumatizing everyone at once. When this happens, Lila is shown being shocked at the sight of her purified Akuma flying away. She is last seen bitterly looking down on the picnic Marinette had thrown for her class before closing the shutters on her window.

Season 3
In "Chameleon", after finding that the class seating has been rearranged, leaving an open spot beside Adrien, Marinette believes that Alya had set things up so that she could sit with Adrien, only to quickly find out that she is really sitting in the back, since Adrien's new seating partner has a hearing problem and has to sit in the front. Lila subsequently arrives and sits down beside Adrien, and Marinette skeptically asks about her hearing problem. Lila claims that she has suffered from tinnitus ever since she burst her eardrum while saving Jagged Stone's kitten, and then becomes excited with the idea of having Adrien help her catch up on all the school she missed while travelling the world with her parents. Marinette complains about having to sit alone at the back of the class, and Adrien offers to switch spots with Marinette, which both she and Lila firmly oppose. Lila pretends to mope about how her return has caused problems for everyone and how she should have stayed on the other side of the world, gaining everyone's sympathy and forcing Marinette to sit in the back.

Outraged by Lila's lies, Marinette becomes vulnerable to akumatization, only to back down before she can be akumatized, though Hawk Moth remains confident that her emotions will get the better of her again. During lunch, Lila has her classmates hand her food, telling them that she can't do it herself due to a sprained wrist. Marinette angrily informs Alya and Nino that Lila is manipulating everyone and explains to them why she believes she's a liar (summarizing her appearance in "Volpina"), although, without clear proof, they both refuse to believe her. To prove her point, Marinette hurls a napkin at Lila, and she catches it with her "injured" wrist, proving she was lying about it. However, Lila quickly covers herself by pretending to be hurt and claiming that she was trying to save Max since she saw a man get his eye gouged out with a napkin while in India and didn't want the latter to be hurt in the same way. As Marinette's classmates turn on her, Lila tries to sway their anger by claiming Marinette was really just trying to hand her a napkin, causing the latter to angrily storm off.

In the bathroom, Lila confronts Marinette on why she doesn't like her, insisting that they should be friends and that she could even help her with Adrien, but Marinette rebuffs her by stating they will only be friends when she stops lying to everyone. Lila quickly remarks that she only tells people "what they want to hear", which Marinette calls out as plainly lying. Lila, unconcerned, smugly remarks that there's nothing Marinette can do about what she's said anyway and threatens to make her lose all her friends and destroy her chances with Adrien if she decides to work against her, leaving her to decide whose side she's on by the end of the day. After Lila leaves, Marinette enters a state of distress, concerned about the former ruining her entire life, making her once again vulnerable to akumatization. In the hall, Lila meets up with Adrien, asking him when he is going to help her catch up on her studies and if he could also help her learn piano as well, claiming that her uncle was a great pianist who was unable to teach her due to arthritis. Adrien agrees to take up Lila's proposal yet kindly asks her not to lie to him as she did before, even offering to help her out if she has a problem.

Upset by Adrien still thinking she's a liar because of Ladybug, Lila storms off, believing that he's trying to act like Ladybug as well by lecturing her. At the same time, Marinette, with help from Tikki, drives off the Akuma by losing her negative emotions, confusing Hawk Moth, who quickly decides to grab onto another source of negative emotions instead. Immediately afterwards, Lila, still furious with superheroes, spots the Akuma and, wanting to have powers again, grabs it and plants it in her earring. Lila then greets Hawk Moth and asks to have supervillain powers so that she can destroy Ladybug, and he agrees, transforming her into Chameleon. Lila, as Chameleon, heads off to Adrien after this, feigning remorse for her actions while stating that she wants to make peace with him. She then kisses him, both stealing his appearance and putting him to sleep, sarcastically remarking that she lied about her claims. After stuffing the real Adrien in a locker, Chameleon heads up to Nino, insults him, and steals his cap before hopping away to the Eiffel Tower, with Ladybug following her.

Chameleon quickly starts causing chaos in order to slow Ladybug down before hopping up to the Eiffel Tower, remarking how the former always shows up at the first sign of trouble. Chameleon then falls off the tower so that Ladybug will save her, and she tries to kiss her in return. However, Ladybug refuses this, knowing that she isn't the real Adrien and the two fight. Ladybug holds Chameleon down and tears Nino's cap, believing it to be her akumatized object, only for nothing to come out and the former to get away. Ladybug chases after her, and she takes the form of a boy names Quentin in order to sneak up and kiss her, only for Cat Noir to show up and take the kiss instead. Now transformed into Cat Noir, Chameleon attempts to steal the real Cat Noir's ring but is stopped by Ladybug. Chameleon summons Cat Noir's Cataclysm and engages Ladybug, who runs away, encouraging the former to follow her. Hawk Moth commands Chameleon to take Cat Noir's Miraculous, but she denies him, wanting to take Ladybug's first, immediately chasing after Ladybug in response. Chameleon confronts Ladybug on the Eiffel Tower, where she summons her Lucky Charm and receives a t-shirt, with the former arrogantly certain that she can't do anything to stop her with it.

Chameleon engages Ladybug again and tries to kiss her and put her to sleep, only for Ladybug to make her use her Cataclysm on the tower, bringing them both to a cafe stand on the lower level. There, Ladybug tricks Chameleon into kissing an oyster, transforming her into one as well. As Cat Noir wakes up and returns to her side, Ladybug has the woman at the stand open Chameleon's mouth using a prying tool and the t-shirt, destroying her akumatized object (now a pearl) and deakumatizing her in the process. Seeing that Lila was Chameleon the whole time, Ladybug remarks that she can't lie about being saved by her now and successfully calls a truce between them. Ladybug subsequently advises Lila not to lie in order to get people to like her, as they will like her for being herself, and she agrees. However, after Ladybug and Cat Noir leave, Lila stares off hatefully, revealing she was just pretending to change. Hawk Moth, knowing her skill at lying and that she's still holding onto her grudge, says that Lila's hatred for Ladybug will end up serving his goals one way or another.

Back at school, Lila continues to lie about her relationship with Ladybug, and Marinette prepares to call her out, only for Adrien to talk her down, claiming that humiliating Lila will only make things worse and that it doesn't matter so long as they both know the truth. When class resumes, Adrien, admiring her choice of the high route, decides to sit at the back with Marinette — to Lila's confusion — resulting in Marinette missing Miss Bustier's attendance call three times. Thinking Marinette actually does have hearing problems now, Miss Bustier decides to place her at the front of the class with Lila. In order to avoid sitting with Marinette, Lila tells Miss Bustier that her tinnitus has gone away thanks to Ladybug and that she can now sit at the back of the class with Adrien. Ironically, this ends up setting off a domino effect, resulting in everyone switching back to their original seats, leaving Lila alone at the back of the class. After school, Lila confronts Marinette, declaring that they are both at war. She promises to make her wind up all alone and steal Adrien from her, however, Marinette calmly blows her off. Shocked at Marinette's response to her threat, Lila walks away in a huff.

Personality
"I thought Chloé was evil, but Lila really takes the whole cake! She's like a supervillain who doesn't even need a costume!"

- Marinette describing Lila.

Lila is highly deceptive and crafty, being able to manipulate people exceedingly with her lies, Tikki even remarking she's never seen someone as skilled at lying as her. She is overly fond of attention and has no qualms with how she may acquire it, leading to her making up various false tales about herself towards her peers in order to garner as much attention as possible. She seems to view no harm in these actions and possesses no remorse for them, yet can be incredibly distraught if they are exposed. Furthermore, she also seems to envy the attention others receive, quickly becoming jealous upon realizing Adrien has a crush on Ladybug and going out of her way to make him feel the same about her. She also does not forgive people whom she thinks to have wronged her easily, as shown in her refusing Ladybug's apology for her harshly exposing her lies.

Her hatred of Ladybug in general, appears to be rather petty and undying, with her being enraged at the attention she receives and willing to grab up any opportunity to get back at her for supposedly ruining her chances with Adrien. Thus, as Volpina, she takes great joy in beating and tormenting Ladybug, gleeful in nearly succeeding at taking her Miraculous twice by exploiting her emotions. Through her usage of her powers, she can be incredibly precarious in her attempts to overcome Ladybug and Cat Noir, almost never confronting them directly and using her illusions to fool and trick them into being where she needs them to be, although her arrogance in doing so seems to match her cunning. As shown in "Catalyst", she seems to take pleasure in ruining Ladybug's reputation using her illusions even after being de-akumatized, showing absolutely no remorse, making her the first of Hawk Moth's victims to genuinely enjoy her actions while akumatized. Overall, Lila is vindictive, spiteful and seemingly detached from telling any sort of truth, making her one of Ladybug and Cat Noir's more clever enemies.

As a civilian
Lila is very skilled at lying and manipulating people.

As Volpina
She has a replica of the flute staff as her weapon. With her flute, Volpina can play a tune with an idea in mind to create a glowing orange ball of energy. She can throw the ball anywhere with her flute, and it will create whatever incredibly lifelike illusion that she wants. This can be as simple as creating multiple illusory copies of herself or grander by forming a large comet or a collapsing building. She also appears to be able to imitate specific people with her illusions, as she creates a duplicate of Adrien that is convincing enough to trick Ladybug. However, the illusions are intangible, and when touched will disappear in an orange cloud. Her flute is also long enough to wield as a staff.

As Chameleon
She can transform into another person after kissing them, causing her victim to fall unconscious for as long as she retains their form. While transformed, she, on top of already possessing enhanced physical abilities, also gains her victims' powers, being able to use Cat Noir's Cataclysm and staff as he can. Her akumatized object also seems to change depending on what form she has, given that it changes from her earring in her initial form to a pearl by the time she transformed into an oyster.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng/Ladybug
In "Catalyst (Heroes' Day - Part 1)", when the two are seen interacting, Lila seems to treat Marinette with the same faux friendliness she shows to the rest of her peers, even when she tries to call out her lies. This continues in "Chameleon", where she tries to cover for her when it appears that she is in the wrong, and further tries to befriend her, even offering to help her out with Adrien (although this is likely done merely to get Marinette on her side like the rest of her class). However, upon realizing that Marinette knows about her various lies, Lila very quickly turns into a bully, very plainly threatening to destroy her reputation if she refuses to convert to her side.

With Ladybug, Lila possesses a much more passionate hatred, having despised her since the events of "Volpina". While it is not explicitly stated, she appears to envy Ladybug due to the praise and attention she receives, as well as the fact that Adrien has a crush on her. As such, she is totally bent on defeating and humiliating her, taking sadistic joy in attempting to do so whenever she is akumatized, and even subtly dismisses her even while not so, remarking how she is "useless" when it comes to solving problems like pollution when talking to her class. Despite Ladybug's clear desire to make up for her harsh treatment, Lila has no interest in forgiving her at all, first refusing to be her friend in "Volpina" and later pretending to do so in "Chameleon", while really still wanting to defeat her.

Adrien Agreste/Cat Noir
Lila is highly infatuated with Adrien and frequently goes out of her way to impress him, though it appears as if her love for him is more lusting in nature that legitimate like Marinette's. She is thus disapproving of him being interested in other girls, like Marinette/Ladybug, trying her hardest to sway him out of their line of view. While Volpina, her obsession with making Adrien fall in love with her seems to grow even further, as she very quickly tries to push herself onto him by showing off her new abilities and even refers to their brief meeting as a "date". In spite of her attraction to him, in "Chameleon", she despises the fact that he recognizes her lies and attempts to lecture her on why she shouldn't make things up, even trying to get back at him for doing so by stealing his identity and trying to ruin his friendship with Nino.

With Cat Noir, she seems to view him as an enemy, yet obviously not in the same vein as Ladybug. This is shown especially in "Chameleon", where, even when she has him at her mercy, she still chooses to go after and defeat Ladybug instead.

Hawk Moth
While not knowing him personally, Lila, in some capacity, seems to like Hawk Moth, as he can provide her with the power she desires to destroy Ladybug. In "Catalyst (Heroes' Day - Part 1)", she greets Hawk Moth when he prepares to akumatize her again, and later expresses anticipation for being re-akumatized as part of his plan. In "Chameleon", she not only deliberately gets herself akumatized but also asks Hawk Moth directly for powers again, which he happily provides. Hawk Moth even notes at the end of the episode that Lila's talents and undying hatred of Ladybug will serve him well in the end.

Trivia

 * Lila's name means "beauty", and her surname Rossi means "red" in Italian.
 * According to Thomas Astruc, he intentionally made Lila "unlovable".
 * Volpina is likely inspired by the fox spirit of East Asian lore, which uses illusions to fool people and occasionally takes the form of an attractive young woman.
 * The way Volpina uses her flute as a weapon is reminiscent of how Melodie, a deleted character, appeared to have done the same.
 * Lila is the only known person, besides Gabriel Agreste/Hawk Moth and Nathalie Sancoeur/Mayura, to hate Ladybug even when not akumatized.
 * As of "Catalyst", Lila is the only past akumatized victim to have been re-akumatized into her previous identity with a different akuma. The akuma is also the only one to have ever been revoked and de-akumatized by Hawk Moth himself.
 * As such, Lila has also been akumatized the most out of any of Hawk Moth's victims, having become Volpina three separate times and Chameleon once.
 * Strangely, unlike the other villains re-akumatized by Scarlet Hawk Moth in "Mayura", Volpina did not receive a red redesign.
 * Lila is the second person to rival Marinette for Adrien's affections, behind Chloé Bourgeois.
 * Also, it is interesting to note that while Chloé becomes progressively more heroic over the course of the series, especially during "Queen's Battle" trilogy, Lila, on the other hand, becomes much more antagonistic.
 * Volpina, along with Copycat, Antibug and Queen Wasp, is one of the few akumatized villains who is based on a pre-existing Miraculous holder.
 * As such, her powers and appearance are very similar to Rena Rouge, as they can both create illusions and have similar fox-themed costumes. However, unlike Volpina, who can create multiple illusions without losing power, Rena Rouge can only make one illusion per transformation.