Hawk Moth
par Ormsby Hayes
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Hawk Moth (Ladybug & Cat Noir: The Movie)
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Full Name
Gabriel Agreste
Alias
Hawk Moth
The Butterfly
Le Papillon (French name)
Dad/Father (by Adrien)
Master (by Nooroo)
Hawk-who (by Ladybug)
Origin
Ladybug & Cat Noir: The Movie
Occupation
Fashion designer
Supervillain (formerly)
Inmate (currently)
Powers / Skills
High intelligence
Telepathy
Akumatization
Akuma empowerment
Telekinesis
Flight
Reality warping
Transmutation
Electrokinesis
Goals
Use the powers of the Ladybug and Cat Miraculous to bring back his wife.
Defeat Ladybug and Cat Noir (both abandoned).
Atone for his crimes by repairing the damage he did to Paris (ongoing).
Crimes
Attempted mass murder
Attempted populicide
Attempted flicide (unknowingly)
Theft
Child neglect
Assault
Public endangerment
Destruction of property
Terrorism
Mass brainwashing
Type of Villain
Tragic Supervillain
Less
NOTE: This article is for the film version of Hawk Moth. For his TV Series counterpart, see here.
Villain Overview
Gallery
If chaos is the way, I will burn the world and lose myself in the flames to do so! Let darkness rise!
Gabriel becoming Hawk Moth; his most famous quote.
Next time, there will be no mercy! You will fear me! I swear it!
Hawk Moth swearing revenge on Ladybug and Cat Noir.
Hawk Moth as he unleashes his final attack on Paris and his second most famous quote.
I hate you, Ladybug and Cat Noir.
Gabriel Agreste, better known by his supervillain alias Hawk Moth (Le Papillon, in the French version, which translates to "The Butterfly"), is the main antagonist of the 2023 musical romance film Ladybug & Cat Noir: The Movie, or (also called Ladybug & Cat Noir: Awakening, or Miraculous: Ladybug & Cat Noir: The Movie ), an adaptation of the series Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir.
Like his original counterpart, he is an acclaimed fashion designer left distraught after the tragic passing of his wife, Émilie Agreste.
Using the Butterfly Miraculous, he attempts to steal the Ladybug and Cat Miraculous so he can make a wish to revive his wife, carrying out this goal by turning ordinary citizens into supervillains. This leads to him being the former arch-enemy of both Ladybug and Cat Noir, who Gabriel was unaware of that the Cat Miraculous wielder is his own son, Adrien until the end of the film.
Like his original counterpart, he is voiced by Antoine Tomé in French and Keith Silverstein in the English dub. Tomé also voiced Mizo in Jak X, Gleeman Vox in Ratchet and Clank: Deadlocked, and Anathar in Wakfu. Silverstein also voiced Reaper in the Overwatch franchise, Captain Gantu in the Stitch! anime, Hammerhead in Marvel's Spider-Man, Dr. Wily in Mega Man 11, Hisoka Morow in Hunter X Hunter, Johan Liebert in Monster, Masayoshi Shido in Persona 5, HUNK in the Resident Evil series, Barry in Amphibia, Deep Sea King in One Punch Man, Chairman Rose in Pokémon: Twilight Wings, the Cat Mask Seller in A Whisker Away, Kurozumi Orochi in One Piece and Jetfire in Transformers: War For Cybertron trilogy.
Appearance
Gabriel is a tall and slim middle-aged man who dons a light grey collared shirt with red buttons, a multicolored tie, and a white overcoat. He also wears bright red pants and white cap toe shoes with neatly tied laces. His hair is a light grey, and his eyes are a light blue. He also wears glasses.
As Hawk Moth, he wears an extravagantly purple suit with a large V-shaped collar. His pants are an identical shade of purple, and he wears a grey cowl to obscure his face. The Butterfly Miraculous resides below his neck, being worn as a brooch. He is often seen wielding a dark purple cane.
Both of his designs are rather similar to his original counterpart, but they still have slight differences. His clothing is less bright than it was in the show, his glasses are grey instead of black, his ring is gold instead of silver, and the area of his suit where the Butterfly Miraculous lies is a lighter shade of purple than the rest of his suit. Due to the movie’s art style being more realistic, his head is less elliptical, and his hair has greater detail.
Personality
With or without the Butterfly Miraculous, Hawk Moth is a cold, broken man capable of great cruelty in times of desperation. He is wrathful, practically losing his mind over Ladybug and Cat Noir repeatedly thwarting his attempts at getting their Miraculous, and perfectly willing to put civilians in harm's way to achieve his goals. This eventually culminates in him akumatizing himself to defeat Ladybug and Cat Noir, putting the entire city of Paris at risk as a result.
Despite this, Gabriel is not without humanity. A key motivation for his turn to villainy is the unfortunate death of his beloved wife, Émilie, and his ultimate goal was to make a wish using the Ladybug and Cat Miraculous to resurrect her. While he is estranged and quite apathetic of his feelings, he genuinely loves his son, Adrien, being upset over his sorrow over the loss of his mother and feeling heartbroken when the latter tells him that he was a poor father for him. When he finds out that Cat Noir is his son, Gabriel is mortified, breaking down in tears over how his actions have endangered his son. This leads to him forgoing his days as Hawk Moth, turning himself in to repent for his crimes.
At the end of the day, Gabriel Agreste is a tragic man who let his grief fester to the point where it warped his morals entirely. Once he learned that love can overcome any tragedy, he was able to see the error of his ways, redeeming himself in the process.
Biography
Past
Before the movie, Gabriel and Émilie met as children and fell in love. They married and had a son named Adrien. They lived a happy life together until everything changed when Émilie died. Gabriel blamed himself for her death, believing that he should have the one to die instead of her, which left him too helpless to face Adrien's sadness.
After discovering the existence of the Miraculous, Gabriel visited a museum where the curator gave him a compass to the Butterfly Miraculous, admitting that he had never seen such a strange artifact before. Gabriel purchased the compass, which led him to an ancient underground temple. There, he found the Butterfly Miraculous and asked for the power to bring his wife back. Nooroo appeared and explained that he could not grant that wish, but that the Ladybug and Cat Noir Miraculouses could, and they could only be summoned in times of chaos. Gabriel then decided to use the Butterfly Miraculous in an attempt to bring Émilie back.
Becoming Hawk Moth
On the the day of Émilie's birthday, Gabriel first appears arriving to his company's building where Nathalie Sancoeur informs him that the teams are ready for him in the showroom. He is informed that the show was a success and Gabriel asks for the reviews before telling some designers to fix a few things on a dress.
He is then seen going through a room full of dresses while recalling a time where Émilie asked him for that dress. He claims to her that he will do everything to see her in that dress and remembers the time where he discovered the Butterfly Miraculous and sees a vision of Paris in chaos and destruction.
He later arrives home and Nathalie informs him of his world-fashion interview the next day. Nathalie then suggests having dinner with his son but he refuses and unknown to him, Adrien sadly overhears. In his office, Gabriel is still very saddened by Émilie's death. Deciding that he can no longer keep the dark secret, he puts the Butterfly Miraculous on and becomes Hawk Moth to get the wielders of the Ladybug and Cat Noir Miraculouses to show up.
Akumatizing Villains
Sensing Raymond's broken heart, he akumatizes him into the Gargoyle. However, Marinette Dupain-Cheng (as Ladybug) and Adrien (as Cat Noir) defeat Gargoyle and Gabriel is knocked out. After waking up, he sees the news of Ladybug and Cat Noir and he realizes that the plan to cause chaos has worked. Nooroo reminds him of what he warned him and begs him to stop or he will lose everything.
However, believing he has nothing left to lose, Hawk Moth refuses and akumatizes two criminals into the Magician and the Mime to rob a bank and attack the fair. Knowing the fair will not be safe, Hawk Moth calls his son to come home. However, after Ladybug and Cat Noir defeat the Magician and the Mime, Hawk Moth creates a giant hologram of himself and swears to the two heroes that there will be no mercy next time. Ladybug and Cat Noir become Paris' heroes and Hawk Moth continues to send akumatized villains after them, but the heroes defeat them every time, causing Gabriel's frustration to overcome his sanity.
Months later, after Ladybug rejects Cat Noir's feelings, he returns home. Gabriel asks where he has been since he did not come home the other night. Adrien angrily snaps at him for never being there for him since Émilie died and that he lost his father a long time ago. Hurt by this, Gabriel decides to acquire the Miraculouses himself.
Final Battle, Defeat, and Redemption
Becoming Hawk Moth again, he instead akumatizes himself into becoming more powerful and unleashes dark clouds to cause countless explosions and a swarm of akumas to destroy the city and attack people. Ladybug and Cat Noir arrive but the latter, still hurt by Ladybug's rejection, climbs up the Eiffel Tower to confront Hawk Moth alone. He tries to attack Hawk Moth with his Cataclysm, but Hawk Moth knocks him down, causing Cat Noir to accidentally destroy the Eiffel Tower with his power, which falls apart into the river. Ladybug saves Cat Noir from drowning and Hawk Moth confronts them while turning the river into lava. Ladybug attempts to attack Hawk Moth, but he easily defeats her and steals the Ladybug Miraculous from her in the process. Hawk Moth proceeds to try and steal Cat Noir's Miraculous, but the hero uses Cataclysm again and slashes Hawk Moth, scarring the villain's face. This causes Hawk Moth to get enraged and use his akumas to slit Cat Noir's costume and mask. He is about to destroy Cat Noir with a blast but Marinette takes the hit instead to save Cat Noir. Hawk Moth lifts Cat Noir up but the hero's slit mask causes him to realize that Cat Noir is his son, much to his shock and horror. He ceases the chaos and renounces the Butterfly Miraculous in the process, thus revealing himself much to Adrien and Marinette's shock.
Gabriel breaks down as he realizes the chaos he caused, and that he almost murdered his own son. Adrien sadly asks him why he committed all these crimes. Gabriel explains why he tried to bring Émilie back with the Miraculous but now realizes that he lost himself and that love is stronger than death. Adrien forgives his father and they both share a loving hug which also releases the Ladybug Miraculous back to Marinette, who uses her power to restore Paris back, leaving Gabriel to be arrested offscreen.
However, unknown to everyone, Nathalie opens a secret room in the Agreste mansion where it is revealed that Émilie's body is hidden, and she is revealed to be wearing the Peacock Miraculous.
Powers and Abilities
Superhuman Physical Abilities: Like all Miraculous holders, the Butterfly Miraculous grants Hawk Moth incredible physical abilities, including superhuman strength, speed, and near-invulnerability. Although he rarely ever fights directly, he is shown being fast and strong enough to overpower both Cat Noir in their first and last battle.
Miraculous tool: Like all other Miraculous holders, Hawk Moth wields a special tool, with his being a cane. The cane acts as Hawk Moth's primary weapon in battle.
Akumatization: Hawk Moth has the ability to turn anybody with potent negative emotions (human or otherwise) into a supervillain through the use of his Akumas, magical butterflies he creates. Once an Akuma has infected a person, he can transform them into an Akumatized villain to do his bidding. The powers distributed by his Akumas vary, but they often directly relate to the source of his victims' negative emotions. He can also choose the appearances of his Akumatized villains, including making them near indistinguishable from ordinary civilians. He can also create an army of Akumas.
Control Over Akumatized Villains: Hawk Moth can cause pain to anyone he Akumatizes to force them into obedience.
Telepathy: When the Akuma possesses the victim, they become telepathically connected to Hawk Moth, forming a moth-shaped emblem around the faces of himself and his minion, which is how he instructs them to help him complete his goal.
Negative Emotion Sensing: Hawk Moth can psychically scan Paris in search of people who are perfect for his Akumatization, and can detect specific emotions produced by his victims. Furthermore, even when his Miraculous is inactive, it can sense and alert him to powerful negative emotions across Paris.
Hologram Projection: Hawk Moth can pull the Akuma out of any villain he creates, putting them into a coma-like state, and multiply it to create a hologram of himself that he can use to communicate with a large group of people.
Akuma Empowerment: When he akumatized himself, Hawk Moth gave himself fully to the dark power of the Butterfly Miraculous, granting immense magical power.
Akuma Swarms: Hawk Moth unleashed a massive swarm of Akumas to attack and destroy Paris.
Materialize Wings: He can create a pair of wings out of Akumas for flight.
Control Dark Energy: As Hawk Moth, Gabriel was capable of mastering control over the dark energy.
Summoning Storms: Upon akumatizing himself, he conjured up an storm over Paris.
Telekinesis: He uses his brain to hypnotize anyone while they're in their akumatized state.
Matter Manipulation: He is enabled to manipulate all matter.
Quotes
Nathalie Sancoeur: In other news, the show was a success in every way.
Gabriel Agreste: I want copies of every review as soon as they come in.
Nathalie Sancoeur: Yes sir.
Gabriel Agreste: (sneers at a dress) Take three centimeters off the right. Lower the hem. And get rid of that sash.
Gabriel Agreste's first lines.
Émilie Agreste: My love, where is that dress you promised me?
Gabriel Agreste: Honey, I'll get to it. We have all the time in the world.
Émilie Agreste: And I don't mind waiting forever.
Gabriel Agreste's memory of Émilie asking him for a dress he promised her.
I would give every moment I have left for just a glimpse of you in that dress, Émilie.
Gabriel claims that he will do everything to see Émilie in that dress.
Gabriel Agreste: Anything else?
Nathalie Sancoeur: Your world-fashion interview, tomorrow, first thing.
Gabriel Agreste: Fine. Merci, Nathalie.
Nathalie Sancoeur: Dinner? With your son, sir.
Gabriel Agreste: No, I have work to do.
Nathalie Sancoeur: He needs his father.
Gabriel Agreste: And I'd appreciate it if you minded your own business.
Gabriel refusing to have dinner with his son.
I cannot keep this dark secret anymore.
Gabriel talking to a painting of Émilie.
Gabriel Agreste: Give me the ultimate power so I can bring my wife back!
Nooroo: Master, I cannot grant you this wish. Only the Ladybug and Cat Noir Miraculous possess this power.
Gabriel Agreste: How do I find them!?
Nooroo: They can only be summoned in times of chaos.
Gabriel meeting Nooroo who reveals that the Ladybug and Cat Noir Miraculouses can give him the ultimate power.
Akumatize his heart. Unleash its rage.
Hawk Moth akumatizing Raymond into Gargoyle.
Nooroo: I warned you, master. Stop now or there will be no turning back. You will lose everything.
Gabriel Agreste: I have nothing to lose.
Gabriel refuses to listen to Nooroo's warnings.
Adrien Agreste: Dad?
Hawk Moth: Adrien. Where are you?
Adrien Agreste: At the fair! You should come! We could hang out together!
Hawk Moth: I want you to come home right away. It's not safe for you there. I'll send a car to get you.
Hawk Moth calls his son to come home, knowing that the fair won't be safe.
Gabriel Agreste: Adrien. I've been waiting for you. Where have you been?
Adrien Agreste: Why do you care!?
Gabriel Agreste: You didn't come home last night.
Adrien Agreste: All of a sudden, you're worried about me!?
Gabriel Agreste: Of course, I worry. I'm your father.
Adrien Agreste: My father!? I lost my dad a long time ago! (leaves)
Gabriel Agreste: Adrien! Wait!
Gabriel being called out by Adrien for his neglectful behavior (and also due to his feelings being rejected by Ladybug).
Émilie, my love... If I cannot bring you back to us, then I should be the one to join you. (summons an akuma) You want a dark heart!? Is that what you crave!? Take mine!
Hawk Moth akumatizing himself to get the Miraculouses himself.
The kitten is in the lion's mouth.
Hawk Moth seeing Cat Noir coming to face him alone.
Now let's see if cats always land on their feet.
Hawk Moth taunting Cat Noir after he accidently uses Cataclysm on the Eiffel Tower.
Ladybug: Don't touch him! (attacks Hawk Moth) No!
Hawk Moth: (easily prevents Ladybug from attacking him) I can feel your bones shaking! You're just a scared little girl, aren't you?
Hawk Moth taunting Ladybug before defeating her and taking her Miraculous.
Hawk Moth realizing Cat Noir is his son after looking at the hero's slit mask before ceasing the chaos and renouncing the Butterfly Miraculous.
Adrien!?
Gabriel Agreste: Adrien!
Cat Noir: Dad, you? All of this because of you?
Gabriel Agreste: (breaking down) Look at you. What have I done? My little boy.
Cat Noir: But why?
Gabriel Agreste: I tried everything to bring her back, son. From the moment your mother and I met, we felt we had known each other forever. Two halves finally made one. We were each other's everything. And then the greatest gift was given to us. You came into the world. We were a family. It's all we needed. But fate... decided otherwise. I should've been the one to go. You needed your mother more than you needed me. After she was gone, I was... I was helpless. I couldn't face the sadness in your eyes Adrien. When I heard about the Miraculous... I would've done anything to bring your mother back! To bring her back to you. (breaks down further) I lost myself. I understand now. The only power stronger than death... is love. I failed you, my son. I don't know if you'll ever forgive me. (sobs)
Cat Noir: You have to let her go, Dad. (hugs his father who hugs back)
Gabriel explaining why he became evil to his son before being forgiven as well as redeeming himself.
Nathalie. You're the only one I trust to safeguard my secret. From now on... it will be just between us.
Gabriel entrusting Nathalie to safeguard the secret of hiding Émilie's body in a secret room in the Agreste mansion.
Differences
There are some notable differences between Gabriel's canon counterpart and his movie counterpart:
In his youth, he had long blonde hair unlike his counterpart who had brown hair in his youth.
He met Émilie when they were children unlike his counterpart, who met Émilie when they were young adults.
Gabriel discovered the Butterfly Miraculous in a chest in a cave underground unlike his counterpart, who along with Émilie and Nathalie found it alongside the Peacock Miraculous in the snow of the destroyed temple of the Guardians of the Miraculous.
While not a nice person and being emotionally neglectful, Gabriel is not emotionally abusive or controlling of Adrien like his original counterpart. Also, he gets called out by Adrien for his terrible behavior unlike his original counterpart.
Gabriel can transform and de-transform into Hawk Moth at will unlike his TV counterpart, who needed to say a special phrase to transform and turn back.
Unlike his counterpart, who's voice gets noticeably deeper whenever he transforms with a Miraculous, he sounds like his civilian voice and it does not change one bit.
Hawk Moth can create akumatized villains by sending an akuma into their bodies, amplifies their negative feelings until they turn into an akumatized villain unlike his counterpart, who could cre
