Miraculous Ladybug New York Special: Adrien's Abuse Narrative

Spoilers for the entirety of the New York special

I was honestly impressed with this special. Any adult who likes this show will know that the writing isn’t always suitable for an adult audience. And the show can get a bit dry at times. But this special just blew me away. While I will still say that Cat Blanc is by far my favourite episode, this is a fun second. While it is nowhere near as sad, the episode still carries weight and does a great job of further developing Adrien’s abuse narrative.

The Perfection of Adrien

Adrien’s abuse narrative may be one of the best aspects of this show. While he may certainly present himself as merely a perfect pretty boy with a flirtatious alter ego, his character is much more complex than simply being just that. Adrien’s “perfect” image is a result of an incredibly abusive father who actively isolates him from the rest of the world and is overly critical of even the smallest of mistakes.

Due to this, Adrien is rendered socially awkward to the point of stupidity. He is incapable of understanding even the most basic signals. On top of this social awkwardness, he is also an incredibly compassionate and kind person. He genuinely cares about people and is exceptionally loyal to those he cares about. This makes him an easy target for Gabriel’s manipulation.

The only reason he seems like a perfect pretty boy is because he has been isolated, manipulated and moulded into what Gabriel wanted him to be. Due to his isolation and Gabriel’s overly critical parenting style, he has incredibly low self-esteem and is liable to blame himself for whatever conflict may arise in his relationships (as in the case of Marinette avoiding him in ‘The Puppeteer 2’).

Due to this, his reactions to disappointing others is often overblown. Remember, Adrien did not grow up in a healthy home. He grew up in a home where even the smallest of mistakes (like not playing piano as well as he is expected) could have huge consequences (Gabriel isolating him from his friends even after giving him permission to go to an event). Because of this, he does not understand that in a healthy relationship, just because the other party is disappointed does not mean that the relationship is over.

Adrien’s decision to give up his miraculous after breaking Ladybug’s trust (and as a consequence half of Paris being destroyed and temporarily killing a US superhero) would still be understandable if he had not been a victim of abuse. However, due to his abusive home life, this mistake and Ladybug’s disappointment is enough to shatter the sense of worth he had carefully cultivated as Cat Noir.

Why Did Adrien Leave If He’s Perfect?

In previous episodes, it is shown that his father has put his own son in danger for the tiniest of mistakes. So while Ladybug had no intention of dropping him as her partner, he no longer saw himself as worthy. This led to him punishing himself and internalising his father’s criticisms of his mistakes.

This was not a manipulation or an act of over sensitivity. This was the action of an abused child not understanding how healthy relationships work. Yes, he made mistakes and angered Ladybug but the consequences of those mistakes did get fixed. But to him it made no difference because he had been taught by his abusive father that mistakes are not allowed.

And it’s clear that his actions were not a result of selfishness for as soon as he heard that Ladybug could not be a hero without him, he instantly went to help her. Those are not the actions of a selfish person, those are the actions of a traumatised child.

Why Is Cat Noir’s Personality So Different To Adrien’s

Adrien has never been allowed to be free as himself. But as Cat Noir, he is no longer a slave to his father’s isolation and manipulation. The mask allows him to be whatever he wants to be without restriction or judgement.

So many people have a problem with how flawed a character Cat Noir is and the sheer number of mistakes he makes as compared to when he is Adrien. I actually think it might be empowering for him to finally find a place where he can make mistakes. And he makes many of them but so does Marinette. It doesn’t make him useless or inferior to Marinette. It makes him human.

In his civilian life, even the tiniest of mistake is liable to be blown out of proportion. As Cat Noir, he can shed his perfect pretty boy persona and be playful and flirtatious. As Cat Noir, even if he makes mistakes, he is still allowed acceptance and respect. Sure Ladybug may tell him off temporarily but she still wants him and loves him as her partner. And for the most part, he understands that.

But in the New York special, when he isn’t there to protect Paris and furthermore when he gets distracted by Ladybug’s admission to not being able to trust him anymore, his identity as Adrien takes over. There is a good chance that at this point, Adrien got triggered and, as a result was reminded of when his father told him he couldn’t be trusted.

Gabriel Putting His Son’s Life In Danger

In the episode ‘The Collector’ (Season 2, episode 1). Out of curiosity and in an attempt to understand his absentee father, Adrien takes a book and unfortunately later loses it. As a consequence of this, his father asks him “How can I possibly trust you again?” Following this admission, Gabriel tells Adrien he’s home-schooled from now on, smashes his own office and then acumatises himself. Even though the book was returned by the end of the episode and Gabriel apologised to Adrien, this only led Adrien to believe that the whole incident was caused by him and not his father. It made it clear to him that even small mistakes could have massive consequences.

And so when Ladybug confesses to losing trust in him, he is reminded of how his father reacted when he said the same thing. He was reminded of how much damage was caused just from losing a book. And so a mistake that results in a temporary death and half of Paris being destroyed is no small matter.

His self-esteem is so shattered that it takes Ladybug confessing that she can’t be a hero without him for him to come back and resume his duties as Cat Noir. Because remember, while perfection is definitely part of his identity as Adrien, so is compassion. The only reason he even left in the first place was due to the mistaken belief that Ladybug was better off without him. But her admission that she cannot be a superhero without him was enough to kick him into action.

Adrien Learning That He Isn’t Replaceable

Adrien didn’t leave because he couldn’t handle the responsibility. He left out of a genuine fear of causing more harm than good. While he is nowhere near as powerful or as skilled as Ladybug, he is still an essential part of her team. While there may be new and different superheroes, they do not contribute to every fight. But Cat Noir. He is the one constant in Ladybug’s life as a superhero and he is essential.

It just took him a long time to realise that. And that’s okay. Trauma brain can be slow and we need to allow space for that. Adrien is still learning how to be an active member of society. His isolation has stopped him from developing at the same rate as his peers and so he’s still catching up.

That’s why he can be so flawed sometimes. That’s why it takes him so long to understand basic signals and social interaction despite being quite intelligent. He’s not stupid or slow, he’s just inexperienced. And I love him for it. It’s a very realistic depiction of what it’s like living through abuse and trauma.

Final Thoughts

The New York special does a great job of further exploring Adrien’s abuse narrative. The writing is so much better for this special than it is for general episodes. And therefore, it’s not fair to underestimate the complexity of Adrien’s character by simply labeling him as irrational and selfish. Adrien’s sense of the world is skewed by his abuser. It’s important to recognise that if viewers want their criticisms to be fair.

I really liked this special and I might do a second review seeing as I spent the majority of this one talking about Adrien. The second review will most likely be a lot more general. I have quite a few things to say about this special.