Lila Rossi

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

- Lila revealing that she still hates Ladybug.

Lila Rossi, also known as Volpina in her akumatized form, is a recurring antagonist in the French-superhero cartoon series Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir. She is a student at Collège Françoise Dupont who is bent on getting revenge on Ladybug 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 dub, and by Lisa Kay Jennings in the English dub.

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 rode 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, taking note of the Miraculous Spellbook which he had taken from his father, and seeing the past heroes documented within it, she claims to love superheroes. However, she quickly becomes annoyed upon noticing Adrien's crush on Ladybug, and, again claiming to be friends with Ladybug, suggests that they meet at the park after school where she can tell him 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, and whilst confirming their meeting at the park, she slips the Spellbook away from him. She then 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 panics upon seeing Adrien, and hides 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 out Lila 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 Miraculouses, which she early accepts, transforming her into Volpina. Using her powers, Volpina makes the Ladybug poster of one of her carrying Adrien away, before leaving. Later, she uses her powers again to create 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 sudden arrival, only for her to suddenly come to them asking for help. The three of them run to another rooftop, where Hawk Moth is 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 intentions and, indirectly, her identity. Volpina proclaims that everyone thinks she is a superhero and that now 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 fake weapons and Volpina, and calls Cat Noir to tell him the truth about Volpina, theorizing that she could be headed to Adrien's house.

At his house, Cat Noir detransforms back into Adrien to talk Volpina down, who, again just an illusion, quickly arrives and proclaims how she is a "real" superhero to him. Ladybug bursts in and confronts Volpina, who claims that Ladybug is jealous of her and Adrien's relationship, the latter gently dismisses her claims before running off to transform. While various illusions of herself keep Ladybug and Cat Noir busy, the real 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 using her powers, however, using her Lucky Charm, Ladybug summons a ice cream bar, which gives out a powerful light which blinds 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, although Lila refuses to forgive her, claiming they'll never be friends. From his lair, Hawk Moth, sensing that Lila's still angry, ominously says that Ladybug hasn't seen the last of Volpina.

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

In "Sapotis", Alya, after using the Fox Miraculous to transform into Rena Rouge, mentions 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 from the Kowa Kingdom, tells Miss Bustier's class about how Prince Ali had invited her family to stay in his palace. Marinette 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 project, 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.

After 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 it 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 she played her part greatly 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 victims after being empowered by Catalyst, 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 Scarlet Hawk Moth to hold Ladybug and Cat Noir's attention while they are imbued with hatred by Dark Cupid and akumatized by the real Hawk Moth. However, the plan fails when Ladybug ends up spotting Hawk Moth due to the reflective cover of the Miraculous Box she summoned, 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 to her window.

Trivia

 * Lila's name means "beauty", and her surname Rossi means "red" in Italian.
 * According to Thomas Astruc, he intentionally made Lila to be "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.
 * Strangely, unlike the other villains re-akumatized by Scarlet Hawk Moth in "Mayura", Volpina did not receive a red redesign.