Nathaniel Kurtzberg

Nathaniel

> You? You're Marinette! You're beautiful and sweet and... you're perfect and I could never hurt you!
>
> Nathaniel

**Nathaniel Kurtzberg**, is a character in *Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir*. He also is called **Nathan** or **Nath.** He is a student in Miss Bustier's class at Collège Françoise Dupont. In "The Evillustrator", when Chloé mocks his art and his crush on Marinette, he is infected with an Akuma by Hawk Moth and becomes the **Evillustrator**, an artistic supervillain whose drawings become real.

## Appearance

### Physical appearance

Nathaniel is fairly short half German-Dutch and half Thai with brilliant opal eyes and face length messy brilliant vermilion hair. He has long bangs that are brushed to the left side of his face.

### Civilian attire

He wears a red t-shirt with a black magma team logo design on the front. Over his shirt, he wears a dark azureish gray dress jacket with a folded collar, folded sleeves, and side pockets. He wears purple jeans that are rolled up at the bottom seeing at light mulberry bottom, and his shoes are gray with white lace and a white section where his toes would be.

## Personality

### As Nathaniel

Nathaniel is imaginative and artistic. An introverted soul, he is quiet and shy in class, and seems to be quite easily lost in his fantasies, such as when he is daydreaming about his crush, Marinette. In his drawings, he creates "Super Nathan", a courageous superhero version of himself, as a way to imagine himself as being more brash and outgoing. Nathaniel can be rather observant about details around him. Afraid of being judged, he prefers to be secretive about his art, and if he is accused of something, he becomes nervous, and, if the accusations are true, deeply embarrassed. He is easily terrified in some scary or stressful situations, as in "Horrificator", but in other situations, he is willing to stand up for himself, such as when others accuse him of stealing Chloé's bracelet.

In "Reverser", Nathaniel has a bit of a habit of jumping to conclusions when he assumed the book Marinette gave him came from Ladybug, when it actually came from Marc, without giving him the chance to explain. Similar to Cat Noir, he is sensitive of his feelings towards the heroine.

## Abilities

### As a civilian

Nathaniel is an artist, skilled in drawing pictures with pencil, pen, and marker, and creating digital arts on his tablet. He is good at drawing still life, such as Chloé's bracelet, and drawing comics with human figures and costume designs. In "Zombizou", Nathaniel is also shown to be talented in painting, as he made one for Caline Bustier for her birthday.

In his titular episode, Nathaniel as Evillustrator is shown "drawing" musical notes to create a melody, suggesting he has some musical knowledge or talent as well.

## Relationships

### Marinette Dupain-Cheng/Ladybug

Nathaniel had a secret crush on Marinette, drawing comics in his sketchbook of him saving her from villains. When he becomes the Evillustrator, he has the confidence to act on his feelings, asking Marinette if she would go out on a date with him for his birthday. When Marinette betrays him by leading Cat Noir to him, it hurts him deeply, and he angrily announces she is just like Chloé. It is not explicitly stated, but rather implied by the crossed-out image of his comic featuring Marinette, that by the end of the episode, Nathaniel no longer has romantic feelings for her. Outside of "The Evillustrator", Nathaniel treats Marinette politely and respectfully, such as asking her about her campaign in "Darkblade". However, he does not appreciate it when she points him out as a suspect for stealing Chloé's bracelet without stronger evidence in "Rogercop". In "Befana", Nathaniel works with his friends to protect Marinette from Befana.

In "Reverser", Nathaniel becomes upset with Marinette when he mistakenly thought she was using Marc to tease him but after everything was cleared up he still continues his friendship with her and dedicates his first comic to her.

Nathaniel is relieved to know that Ladybug is around to save the day. After his time as the Evillustrator, in his sketchbook, he has drawn a comic book cover that features Ladybug with hearts drawn in red at the bottom of the page, possibly implying he now has romantic feelings for her. This is confirmed in "Reverser", when it is commented by Chloé that Ladybug is all he draws and when he assumed that the "Diary of Ladybug" was written by the actual Ladybug.

### Chloé Bourgeois

Like most people, Nathaniel dislikes Chloé for being a self-absorbed, mean-spirited person. He is horrified when she grabs his sketchbook from the floor, and, seeing his drawing of himself and Marinette, reveals his crush on her to the entire class. He also doesn't like how Chloé bothers Marinette; so as Evillustrator, he draws a giant hairdryer to blow her away. At first promising Marinette that he wouldn't attack Chloé again, he changes his mind after Marinette breaks his heart, and goes to destroy Chloé after all.

### Alix Kubdel

Alix appears to be close friends with Nathaniel. He approaches her for comfort and advice in "Reverser".

### Marc Anciel

While initially angry, believing Marc tricked him, after a misunderstanding was cleared, they began a project together using Marc's stories and Nathaniel's art skills to create a comic book, forming a friendship at the same time. They continue working together on comic books as seen in "Frozer", "Mayura", and "Gamer 2.0".

In "Frozer", as Adrien is looking at each of the school's couples, Nathaniel and Marc are seen sitting on the staircase together looking at a book. In "Mayura", Nathaniel places his hands on Marc's shoulders as they all cheer for Marinette which shows that their bond has deepened and that there is a high level of trust between the two.