Why I don’t think Gabriel Agreste is Hawkmoth/Papillion
There are many arguments on this subject, including comparisons with Gabriel and Papillion’s physical appearances, but I wanted to point out something that really makes me doubt that Adrien’s dad is the one who Ladybug and Chat Noir are constantly fighting.
First of all, I want to state my theory. My theory is that Papillion is either a family member, perhaps a brother or cousin of Gabriel’s, or an old rival of Gabriel’s who wanted to marry catmom. When catmom disappeared, this rival of Gabriel’s took it as an opportunity to use a miraculous to find her, and maybe even wanted to show catmom that he was the better man for her because he went to extraordinary lengths to find her.
Also, take a look at the picture above. Do you really think that Thomas and the writers of Miraculous would just give it to us that easily? Come on. There’s got to be some element of surprise, I really don’t think they’d give away the big secret with a simple picture of Adrien’s mom. Besides that, here is the first reason why I don’t think Gabriel is Papillion: I think he is/was the holder of the peacock miraculous. How in the world could catmom just disappear, perhaps been abducted, with a miraculous in her possesion? Can you imagine someone trying to kidnap Marinette or Adrien? Their kwamis probably would have sensed the threat, just like they can tell when someone is about to come in a room. And no good mother (we’ve all seen how Adrien looked at her picture, she was a good mother) would willingly leave her family behind without a trace. No kwami protected catmom from disappearing=she never had miraculous. I know this is an unpopular theory, but it is the only theory that makes sense to me. But enough backstory, lets point out the obvious differences between Gabriel and Hawkmoth.
Papillion, even though he’s evil, is talkative and expressive. Even though he’s talking to himself, he’s constantly smiling, making puns, and willingly expresses his reactions to failure. Gabriel almost never shows very much emotion. When he does, it is usually a negative emotion, and is very controlled, except that one time when he was talking to Ladybug about how perfect his son is (that scene melted my heart). Does Gabriel act like a jerk because he is a jerk? No. My theory is that he keeps in all of his emotions to avoid getting akumatized. Gabriel knows that if Papillion got a hold of him, he could find the peacock miraculous and get a lead on where catmom is. I think that is also the reason that he shelters Adrien so much. Not because he’s uptight and unreasonable, but because he’s terrified that Papillion will use his son to get to Gabriel.
You’ve had enough emotions for today. Gabriel is desperately trying to prevent his son from getting akumatized. He doesn’t want Adrien to go to public school, make real friends, be exposed to the world, because that would also be exposing him to things that could stir his emotions enough for an akuma to come. Gabriel only let Adrien go to school when he saw how much being sheltered was killing him, and Gabriel did it as a last resort, knowing his son could get akumatized if being locked up made him so sad and angry.
I mean come on. Look at this. Gabriel loves his son. He’s kept himself closed away from Adrien to protect the both of them. However, when someone Papillion possessed, someone who was after Gabriel, who was in their house, came near his son, it was probably Gabriel’s undoing. He couldn’t help but show emotion. And then there’s the matter of the ring:
Excuse the quality of the image, but he knows. He knows. This is not the face of an evil Papillion plotting to get a ring, but the face of a father who is terrified for his son. Can you imagine what he was thinking in that moment? How horribly ironic, that the one person he loves and is trying to protect most is the one who is risking his life every day to battle Gabriel’s sworn enemy. Gabriel allowed himself to internally freak out for a moment, before he pulled back and simply said, “I never noticed you wore a ring before.” Maybe Gabriel is plotting to get the ring, but for entirely different reasons. And even if Gabriel was Papillion, he would stop sending out akumas the second he found out that Adrien was Chat Noir. He is not evil, he loves his son, and is having a terrible time trying to find a safe way to do the right thing.
Also, one last thing: I love the idea of there coming a day that Ladybug and Chat Noir have lost a difficult battle, have lost all hope, and are cornered by Papillion himself, when BAM: Peacock Gabriel flies in and saves the day. No one touches his son.
