Chazz Princeton is a Redeemed Chloé Bourgeois
OK, so here’s another interesting topic that I am pretty sure has been talked to death about, and that is Chloé and her redemption arc from Ladybug. Hang on, why is Chazz here? Well, there’s a simple reason for that, actually. Chazz Princeton, the Chazz and Thunder, himself, is exactly what I was hoping for with Chloé’s character. Or at the very least, someone in the similar style to that of Weiss Schnee, Pacifica Northwest, and Zuko. You know, most characters who were rich struggled with their own problems and still became better people because of it. However, Chazz is the perfect example of this trope and one of the best surprises of GX.
So, let me break it down properly. I want to go over their backstory, mannerisms, relationships, and outcomes with certain friends and family. Yes, I will make reference to the characters mentioned above, but it will be a majority of Chazz and Chloé comparisons.
Ok, so both actually do have a pretty similar backstory.
Chazz is the rich friend who is arrogant and thinks he is objectively better than everyone else in terms of academics and dueling. He is from a wealthy and pressuring family that is trying to rule the entire financial world. Make no mistake, Chazz is very smart and skillful in his talents.
The manga furthers by stating that he was the top student to enter the school and won many events. However, most believed his family paid the tuition to enter the school, which hurts him as he is actually quite talented and smart.
Chloé is also the very rich friend who does believe she is better than everyone and arrogant as well. She is from a wealthy family as well, with her mother being a designer and her father being the mayor of Paris, France. However, she doesn’t have any noticeable talents compared to Chazz.
Right off the bat, these two are very similar. Both grew up with a lot of wealth and power in their possession as well as having anything in their command. We’ve seen this as Chazz literally rebuilds the Slifer Red dorm while Chloé buys more clothes and accessories for herself.
Now, let’s take it a step back even more before they enrolled in their respective schools.
Chazz is clearly pressured by his family and society to the point where it was getting to be too much for him. He sealed his Light and Darkness Dragon away and only focused on beating others to prove that he was the best. This is very apparent with how his own older brothers treat him to the point where he had a breakdown in the bathroom. It is clear that his family has had a huge, negative influence on him.
Now, as for Chloé, we know that her family life is truly toxic and bad. In particular, her mother is truly an awful person (and this is not even going further than season 3 where we learn she is even more horrible). The details where Chloé has a flashback to her mother walking out on her, her father who focused on his work, the butler who did his best to look after her, had very few yet meaningful interactions with Adrian, and her relationship with Sabrina. The lack of her immediate family is what hurts her, even more so that her own mother doesn’t even remember her name and where Chloé even says “Why don’t you love me, Mom?”. That is entirely messed up.
It is very clear that both have similar backstories which would later influence their mannerisms.
Both do not hesitate to call their classmates names and mock others for not being on their level. For Chazz, he often says “Slifer Slacker” while Chloé just talks down to her classmates by saying a phrase “utterly ridiculous”.
This is taken even a step further where Chazz even puts himself on a pedestal by calling himself “The Chazz” and having his own dumb cheer. Chloé is no different when she became Queen Bee. She had her own channel, signal, and hyped herself up!
Chazz literally pays a construction company to fix the dorm, buys a helicopter to duel Adrian, and gets a submarine to travel to wherever the frick Russia is in that universe.
Chloé is no different with her clothes, her own helicopter, living in the hotel, and having the best food for herself as well as the butler present in her life.
Both do act like money isn’t an issue for them, because in truth, it isn’t. Chazz literally fixed the dorm, and Chloé can just buy whatever she wants.
It is important to note that these mannerisms do change for the better in some instances. Slowly and surely, but it is there is a noticeable change.
For Chazz, we see him care more about his friends and look after them. This is shown when Jaden falls apart after his duel with Aster, his bond with Atticus, joking with Syrus, and even becoming Alexis’s best friend. He yells at Jaden, understands Axel (at least in the manga), working for Aster as an intern, and standing up to his brother. Chazz developed so well into a caring friend (even if he denies it) who is smart and protective of those he cares about in his life.
As for Chloé, we definitely see this before the disaster that is season 3. Her relationship with Sabrina is one of the best examples as well as the teacher. You see Chloé truly treasure her friendship with Sabrina by giving her gifts and enjoying their time together. As for the teacher, that is probably the mother she never had when you think about it. You see her start to be kinder and more understanding, actually apologizing for her actions. Slowly and surely, we see this change in Chloé.
Of course, both even have their moments where they fall back. For Chazz, this is when his brothers supported him while Chloé was upset with her mother for choosing Marinette over her. That’s understandable. No one truly changes after their first point of redemption (case in point is Zuko and Pacifica). However, you see how they regret their actions and start to change. That is the important moment for these characters.
Yes, they learn to grow, but they still keep a part of themselves with it. Chazz still insults his friends while Chloé doesn’t stop making comments about her style. That’s fine because that’s who they are. However, they do change.
This trait that both share is very pivotal, especially in terms of romance and friendship. We will start with Chazz and the Chloé.
For one, his relationship with Alexis is probably one of my favorite ones. Sure, he does have feelings for her, but he does a good job of respecting her boundaries. He literally gives her his room the moment she moves into the red dorm. Not to mention, both are respectful to each other. There is no doubt that Chazz is aware of how smart and talented Alexis is, and she is aware that he is very smart and does everything he can to improve himself. They have a grate support and respect each other! It shows very well! Yes, he does have the occasional flirty nature, but when she’s mad, he does stop and focus on the task at hand most of the time. Chazz even takes this a step further and respects her boundaries whenever someone tries anything against her. Chazz never pursues Alexis anymore, and both even go their separate ways after they graduate from the school. Both probably kept in close contact with each other at the very least, but they are very close friends. I would argue that Chazz and Alexis are best friends. It is very clear that during the zombie apocalypse that Alexis really did miss Chazz. He is her best friend, that much is true.
Now, let’s talk about Chloé and her relationship to Adrien, because it is very similar to Chazz and Alexis. However, Chloé and Adrien are childhood friends which is the only difference between them. You cannot deny that Chloé is a good friend to Adrien (before season 3). In fact, this probably helped Adrian when he wanted to go to school. He at least knew someone there. Even when she was going to leave for New York, he was visibly sad and regretful. That’s very important as this shows Chloé has good qualities about herself, especially if she was friends with Adrien. While it is obvious that she does harbor romantic feelings for him, we always he viewed her as a close friend. This would’ve been a good moment of development for both to have a friendship similar to that of Chazz and Alexis. The closest we get is when they are in their hero forms and bantering together before fighting Hawk Moth. Tragic. This would’ve been such a good relationship as well. Shame we never got it.
(This is not meant to be discouraging shipping! This is general observations noted by the show! You can ship whatever you want!)
Besides the topic of their respective crushes, I want to talk about two other relationships, Chazz’s relationships with Atticus and Jaden and Chloé’s relationship with Ladybug and Marinette. There’s a reason for this as both relationships are very crucial to their developments.
Let’s talk about their mentor figures.
There is no mistake that Atticus isn’t Chazz’s mentor figure as well as probably the best older brother figure. I mean, just look at his older brothers, and you will understand, especially after how Chazz’s older brothers gave him a literal panic attack. Atticus was the model for him! Sure, Atticus is somewhat of a choice of a model considering the everything he has done, but he is arguably a good person. Yes, he made some choices which were completely insane and out of his control, but you cannot deny that Atticus isn’t a good person. Either way, this relationship is crucial as Chazz does learn how to be a nicer person who covers and protects his friends. This is definitely apparent as Chazz starts looking out for Jaden, Syrus, Alexis, and everyone else. There’s a reason he is the one left behind to look after the school during the alternate dimension arc, being one of the few characters to knock some sense into Jaden, and looks after Syrus and Alexis when Yusuke’s plan went over the rails. Chazz grows into a hero and protect those important to him. You see the Chazz become the best student and person he is.
Now, for Chloé, she definitely admired Ladybug! This gave me Flash Thompson and Spider Man vibes, anyone else? Anyway, this was not a bad thing either! Sure, Ladybug was annoyed with her, but you cannot deny that even she slowly saw that Chloé could change and become a better person. This also gives Chloé the chance to be a better person and that there is some good in her. You cannot deny that this was happening in the beginning of the show, but even then, you see that Chloé wants to change, give second chances, help those important to her, and be nice. Sure, she’ll never be fully nice, but she’ll be her own version of nice. That’s what I think they missed the mark on, but that will be in the outcomes portion of this. Through being a hero and working with Ladybug, we did see a change. She’s caring to her teacher, loves Sabrina, starts doing things for herself, and even treat her classmates better. Yes, she’s never going to be as nice as Marinette, but that’s fine! It is like how Chazz is never going to be as nice as Jaden, but he was kinder. That’s enough. We slowly saw Chloé reaching that point as well. It would’ve been nice to see her developed into that or at the very least, something close to it like a Pacifica like character.
Now, the other important person in Chazz’s life is Jaden. There’s no exception to this. Without Jaden, I think we can all agree that Chazz would’ve been insufferable. Yes, in both the manga and anime. Chazz was the rich kid bullying his classmates as well as secret caving in from the unrealistic expectations from his family. However, it is because of Jaden that he is able to change to be a person who only looks down on some people (his words, not mine). Jaden and Chazz love this stupid card game (I say this with affection, I promise), but Chazz slowly lost his joy for it and only saw it as something to have full control in. Chazz learns to have fun and enjoy the game as well as take a moment to relax and have fun when the situation calls for it. He learns to enjoy life and be a normal teenager.
As for Chloé’s relationship with Marinette, man this had potential. Yes, they were mean to each other, but you could tell that if someone wasn’t good in both their eyes, they would do something about it together. Not to mention, I would’ve loved an episode about their love for fashion along with their styles. I feel like that was another huge missed opportunity. Both clearly love it and want to explore it. Sure, Marinette is a designer, but Chloé was on her way to becoming a model! I really wished the two of them would’ve collab. Both could talk about why they have such a passion and interest. I also feel like what would’ve been a good dynamic is their respective relationships to Adrien. Both would’ve been the “protect Adrien” leaders for sure. They clearly love and support him, so I could see this being an actual thing. Either way, both would’ve learned so much from each other and their passions for fashion. This is not evening the potential storyline where Chloé finds out Marinette is her heroine idol. Wow, the wasted potential….
Now, in conclusion from this insane internet lady who has lost her mind over this show in the 21st century, Chazz is a redeemed Chloé. One thing I loved about GX is how much I wanted ML to be. Honestly, you can see it with the character interactions and story set ups. I know GX has its flaws (still peeved that Jaden dueled the most, but whatever), but it at least didn’t assassinate the character developments and even gave some arcs to others. I also like how this feels like a coming of age story which Chazz, along with many characters, show.
Chazz does change, but he’s still an a-hole. He’s their friend, but he still has his punchable moments. He calls himself “Thunder” and “the Chazz” with his own stupid cheer. He is rich, but he used it to rebuild a very disheveled and broken down dorm. Being rich didn’t defy him as he came to be one of the top students due to his hard work and studies. Lastly, his final arc is what caught my interest the most. Chazz’s internship is amazing. Not only do we see him be humbled as well as respectful to Aster, but we see him finally grow into the role of being a pro duelist. His final act is to protect his friends as well. This is not the same person who started out at the beginning of the show. He’s grown up. Sure, he still acts like a jerk, but he still loves and cares for his friends.
This is the kind of character I thought Chloé would become. Sure, she would never be as nice as Marinette, but she would be something else. Not everyone will have the same form of being nice, but Chloé could at least be the nice rich friend who has an attitude. I am thinking in a similar manner to Weiss in that sense. Weiss used her wealth, but she’s still got her attitude! Chloé could’ve been this!
Either way, that’s it, that’s the post. I don’t know what else you’re expecting, but I will say this. If you struggled with ML for a lot of reasons that I did, watch GX. It does a much better job of handling the characters as well as carrying on certain character developments. Anyway, TLDR, Chazz is a redeemed Chloé, so Chazz it Up!
