Ladybug

**Marinette Dupain-Cheng** is human female from Universe AC-8, aspiring fashion designer, and a student at Collège Françoise Dupont. She serves as a deuteragonist for *Marvel's Avengers: Odyssey*, and as one of the main protagonists in *Book I: Assemble*. At the age of 13, Marinette was gifted the Ladybug Miraculous by Wang Fu, the Guardian of the Miraculous, allowing her to become the superheroine **Ladybug**.

## Biographical Information

### Alias

* Ladybug
* M'Lady
* The Girl in Red
* Mari
* Mademoiselle
* Girl

## General Information

### Relatives

* Sabine Chen (mother)
* Tom Dupain (father)
* Gina Dupain (paternal grandmother)
* Rolland Dupain (paternal grandfather)
* Mei Cheng (maternal grandmother)
* Yan Cheng (maternal grandfather)

### Affilations

* Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie
* Collège Françoise Dupont (student)
* French Miraculous Team (leader)
* Adrien Agreste/Chat Noir (partner)
* Avengers

### Occupation

* Student at Collège Françoise Dupont
* Superhero
* Leader of French Miraculous Team
* Guardian of the Miraculous (proclaimed)
* Member of the Avengers

## Other Information

### AU Status

Active

As Ladybug, she teamed up with Chat Noir, another hero who, unknown to her, was actually Adrien Agreste, a fellow student at Collège Françoise Dupont and her secret crush; neither one of them knowing each others identity. As Ladybug and Chat Noir, the two found themselves defending their home city of Paris from the villainous Hawk Moth, who was hellbent on acquiring their Miraculous charms as his own by akumatizing innocent Parisians into supervillians. During this time, they formed a team of Miraculous-using heroes to help defend Paris consisting of her best friend Alya Césaire/Rena Rouge, Nino Lahiffe/Carapace, Chloé Bourgeois/Queen Bee, Luka Couffaine/Viperion, and Kagami Tsurugi/Ryuko, all of whom only participated in difficult missions before returning their Miraculous charms to Ladybug so she could return them to Fu.

As her time as a superhero progressed, Marinette became increasingly torn between her civilian and superhero lives. She ended up revealing her identity to Césaire, who promised to kept it a secret. Her duties also effected her love life, leading to her have a brief relationship with Couffaine, seeing him as an easier option than pursuing Adrien, before they broke up mutually later on and resumed their friendship. Marinette also had to deal with her partnership with Chat Noir, as the latter became increasing interested with her new found duties. She also had to deal with a possible future involving Chat Blanc, an akumatized Chat Noir, which frightened her.

In late 2018, after experiencing a horrific dream involving the Jedi Knight Ezra Bridger, Marinette was drawn into conflict with the Avengers after she was targeted by Hydra and Abeloth, who wanted her Miraculous. Following her dream, Fu proclaimed that she was to become the next Guardian.

## History

### Early Life

Marinette Dupain-Cheng was born in mid to late 2004 to baker Tom Dupain and Cheng Xia Bing, or by her Western name Sabine Cheng. Her father was the owner a popular bakery in Paris, while her mother co-owned while also working as a teacher in Chinese painting. Marinette's family was of Italian and French ancestry on Tom's side, and Chinese on Sabine's. Despite this, Marinette rarely ever kept in touch with her ancestral roots on both sides, particularly on her mother's. Nonetheless, Marinette lived a normal and loving childhood.

#### Fashion and Baking

When she was 6 years-old, Marinette dreamed of tailoring a hat for the Eiffel Tower to protect it from snow, which led to her wanting to become a fashion designer. She also dreamed of becoming the "Knitting Fairy". She learned how to sew and use a sewing machine, making sweater her father of his birthday. Her love of fashion led to her idolizing the famed fashion designer Gabriel Agreste and fashion critic Audrey Bourgeois. Under her parent's tutelage, Marinette learned how to bake pastries for the bakery, working with them as a side job.

#### School Life

Marinette attended an unknown elementary school before moving to Collège Françoise Dupont in 2015. In which she shared classes with Chloé Bourgeois, the daughter Audrey Bourgeois and the mayor of Paris, all the time, and who frequently bullied her. At Françoise Dupont, Marinette developed a reputation for being clumsy, running late to class, and often being a magnet for disaster, leading to her becoming of a something of a social outcast. Nonetheless, she was friendly to others, becoming friends with Alya Césaire and Nino Lahiffe, the latter being her BFF.

Sometime in 2017, Marinette developed a crush on fellow classmate Lê Chiến Kim Ature. However her attempt to admit her feelings was sabotaged by Chloé, who manipulated Kim. Upset at how she was tricked by both Chloé and Kim, Marinette swore she would never love another boy until she knew everything about him.

### Becoming Ladybug

In 2018, on the first day of her last year at Collège Françoise Dupont, Marinette helped an elderly man from being hit by a oncoming car. Afterwards the man thanked her, claiming that she had a pure heart. But Marinette brushed it off, stating that she was more clumsy. Once at school, Marinette was disappointed to see that Chloé Bourgeois was in her class yet again. But she did recognize Alya Cèsaire and Nino Lahiffe. Marinette overheard that they would have a new student join this year, but he never showed up.

Later that day after school, she discovered a small box in her purse. Once opening it, a small red creature manifested in front of her. Startled at first, Marinette tried to call for help, but the creature assured her that she was not a threat. Introducing herself as Tikki, the creature revealed that she was chosen to wield the Miraculous of the Ladybug in order to protect Paris. Reluctantly agreeing, Marinette donned the earrings and her clothing transformed into a red suit with black polka-dots and a mask. Learning of an akumatized villain had arrived in Paris, Marinette abruptly left her home to find it.

#### Meeting Chat Noir

Marinette initially struggled using her magic yo-yo, her weapon, at first, resulting in her crashing into a figure in a black catsuit. Once recovering, she apologized, to which the boy accepted, revealing that he was her partner, using the alias Chat Noir. When asked what her name was, she struggled to come up with a name before they noticed Stoneheart nearby.

## Personality

### As Marinette

Marinette is a sweet, outgoing, young, and joyful girl who loves fashion, her friends, family, and her crush, Adrien Agreste, who describes her as honest, kind, fair, and the type not to cheat. She is very helpful towards other and has a pure heart, caring deeply for other people, usually putting their feelings and interests even before her own, in some cases at a personal cost. Her kindness and compassion for others earned her the nickname the "Everyday Ladybug" by her friends.

Despite her outgoing and sympathetic personality, Marinette struggles with self-confidence and self-esteem, with Alya Césaire stating that she can be a bit of a drama queen at times. In urgent situations, Marinette becomes very nervous, clumsy, and a bit awkward. Marinette can act impulsively and irrationally at times, often coming up with ludicrous and grandiose plans for wining Adrien's heart, or overthinking small situations. Moreso when she expresses jealousy whenever other girls such as Chloé Bourgeois or even Lila Rossi flirt with Adrien, even abusing her powers as Ladybug to keep them away or forgetting to detransform in the first place. However Marinette has learned from most of her mistakes, taking advice from her friends and family, and thus being more open-minded. According to her family, she takes after her father, having her great uncle's creative side and her grandfather's fear of change.

Marinette possesses an unhealthy obsession with for Adrien Agreste, a male model who is in her class. This has lead to her being unable hold full conversations with him, often stuttering over her words and making herself look awkward. Her obsession has lead to her not only creating future birthday presents, but also fantasizing of future life with Agreste, including as states "a big house, three kids, and hamster". While one would consider such actions as stalking, Marinette has justified her actions due to her troubled past with a previous crush, Lê Chiến Kim Ature, that ended poorly due to the actions of Chloé Bourgeois. With Marinette declaring that she won't love another boy until she knew *everything* about him. This has lead to Marinette memorizing Adrien's entire schedule from beginning to end, knowing where he would be any day of the week, his favorite foods, hobbies, and daily activities. Regardless of this, Marinette still managed to form a friendship with Adrien, which they both cherish greatly.

### As Ladybug

As Ladybug, Marinette retains many of her alter ego's characteristics, but she is much stronger. Her confidence and bravery come out more prominently. According to Chat Noir, she can be stubborn at times, especially when she isn't easily convinced. While almost all of Ladybug's plans are effective, they tend to be complex and rather bizarre. She is more cautious and careful than Chat Noir, sometimes needing to restrain or stop him from doing hasty acts on several occasions. Only on rare occasions, she can act hasty, especially if she is in a rush to do something or multiple things at once. She believes that a great superhero always listens to their head, meaning that she isn't easily fooled or swayed by deceptions and lies.

Ladybug strives to rescue everyone, including those akumatized by Hawk Moth. She usually tries to persuade the supervillains to calm down and stop their rampage when she can. She is aware that there is a line between justice and revenge believing that honesty and justice don't mean anything if you're pressured into doing it. She acknowledges that good things come by doing good actions and that not all problems can be solved by wishing them away like Hawk Moth hopes, especially at the expense of hurting the innocent. She also values the lives of others more than material possessions. Similar to her partner, through her lifestyle, she isn't tempted by power because Marinette understands that her life can be great without it.

Marinette takes her image, Miraculous powers, and those of others very seriously as Ladybug. Such as when fighting against Hawk Moth's villains, compared to Chat Noir's laid-back and goofy personality, and more so at Chloé for using her powers to create a fake accident, that could have led to a serious one. According to Alya Césaire and Adrien (the latter unaware of her alter ego), Marinette is funnier than her superhero alter ego. But she is also sensitive about her image, such when those like Lila Rossi attempt to make her look bad in the public eye, or some claim that she and Chat Noir are a couple. Although she can get exasperated with Chat Noir if he jokes too much, she handles it calmly at times and enjoys teasing him or others. Similar to Chat Noir, she is clever with her words and occasionally enjoys making puns. According to Alya, as her alter ego personality-wise, she takes after her mother and her grandmother Gina's adventurous spirit.

Despite this, as Marinette progressed as Ladybug, she began to grow tired and stressed of juggling a double life and having to lie to her friends and family. This led to her revealing her identity to Alya Césaire, her best friend. Marinette also confided in Luka Couffaine her insecurities (without revealing her identity), which led to them briefly dating, but broke it off and resumed a normal friendship later on.

Her growing responsibilities also not only made her doubt her crush on Adrien, but also her relationship with Chat Noir. She justifies this due to her witnessing a possible future where, due to using her powers to leave Adrien a present for his Fifth Name Day, Chat Noir learned of her secret identity, and they started a relationship. However Hawk Moth learned of this, and akumatized Chat into Chat Blanc, which resulted Paris being destroyed and the deaths of its citizens, including herself and Hawk Moth. Her increased duties and meetings with Wang Fu have also led to her keeping Chat in the dark, such only her knowing the identities of their teammates, with the except of Couffaine, as Chat was present (as Adrien) when Ladybug gifted him his Miraculous, and with Chloé and Kagami Tsurugi.