I’ve been taking some notes for a fic I probably won’t write, and I figured the notes would probably be useful to someone other than me. Roughly speaking, the powers of people who are akumatised/evilized fall into ten different categories: flying, being sneaky, being strong, techno powers, controlling their environment, neutralising people, projectile weapons, building armies, interfacing with miraculous holders, or “other” for everyone left over. People can have powers that fall into multiple categories at once, or fall into a category only partway.
For an explanation of the categories and some examples, see below. Villain names are written in both English and French. Minor spoilers (such as villain names and powers) for season 3 part 1 (both English and French).
EDIT: Added a category! (projectile weapons)
Flying: this one is pretty self explanatory. Some people who are akumatised gain the power to fly, usually on a vehicle of some kind (example: Reverser/Inverso), and sometimes through just straight-up levitation (Stormy Weather/Climatika, The Puppetteer/Marionnettiste). Other examples include Dark Cupid/Dislocœur, who had wings, or Animan, who could shapeshift.
Being sneaky: people who fall into this category get a power that allows them to hide from or manipulate people such that they can sneak around virtually undetected if they want to. The most obvious example is Vanisher/L’Invisible, who turns invisible, but I also include Silencer/Silence, Chameleon/Caméleon, and Troublemaker/L’Insaissisable in this category.
Being strong: this group of people becomes physically large and intimidating when akumatised. Glaciator, Stoneheart/Cœur de Pierre, Gorizilla, Gigantitan, and Bakerix/Boulangerix fall into this category.
Techno powers: akumatised people with techno powers gain the ability to manipulate technology to achieve their ends. Examples: Lady Wifi, Prime Queen/Audimatrix, and Robostus.
Controlling their environment: villains with this power transform their environment into a lair or area that suits them better than anyone else, the way Syren flooded Paris with water, Horrificator took over the entire school with slime, Anansi covered the Arc de Triomphe with webs, or Frozer/Le Patineur covered Paris in ice.
Neutralising people: villains can get rid of enemies in multiple ways, including brainwashing them, vanishing or capturing them, or transforming them into statues or monsters. The list of villains with this power is huge. Examples include Princess Fragrance and Kung Food (brainwashing); the Collector/le Collectionneur, Party Crasher, and Pixelator/Numéric (capturing); and Frightningale/Rossignoble (transforming people into pink statues). Sometimes, villains also have the power to brainwash AND transform people, like Befana, who turned people into angels and made them do her bidding (as well as also turned people to coal statues - Befana was really powerful!) and Pharaoh/Pharaon, who turned people into zombies and then made them do his bidding.
Projectile weapons: This is the other most numerous category, going hand-in-hand with neutralising people. Plenty of villains gain the ability to shoot things: Glaciator, Malediktator/Maledikteur, Oblivio, and Dark Cupid/Dislocœur (a rare example of a bow and arrow rather than a gun-type weapon) for example. Projectiles are used to neutralise people 99% of the time, but there are a few exceptions: for instance, Dark Owl/Hibou Noir’s boomerangs don’t have any special powers to brainwash or transform anyone. Additionally, not all villains who neutralise their enemies require projectile weapons. Frightningale/Rossignoble turned people into statues using a whip, while Despair Bear/Doudou Vilain simply touched the person he wanted to control.
Building armies: this is sometimes but not always a subset of neutralising people. Pharaoh/Pharaon and Befana, both mentioned above, made armies (although Befana’s had a lot fewer people in it). What this means is they got an entire group of people to do their bidding at once, rather than just one person at a time. Despair Bear/Doudou Vilain would be an example of a villain who can neutralise people through brainwashing but can’t build an army, because he can only control one person at a time. Christmaster is an example of a villain who can build an army without brainwashing anyone, because his army is made of toys that were brought to life. And finally, the Sapotis made an army containing nothing but themselves, while Mr. Pigeon has an army made of pigeons.
Interfacing with Miraculous holders: these villains are ones whose powers have something to do with miraculouses. For instance, Copycat/Imposteur’s powers are a perfect copy of those of Chat Noir, meaning he can use Cataclysm(e). Or, Volpina pretended to be the fox miraculous holder and gained the fox miraculous’s powers, but without imitating the outfit or name of the real fox miraculous holder. Then there are villains like Catalyst(e), who can affect and work in tandem with the butterfly miraculous holder, or Miraculer, who can steal the powers of miraculous holders.
Other: there are very few villains who don’t fall into any of the categories above. You could probably make an argument that the akumatised people in this category do belong in one of the above categories, but personally I would argue that they fall on the cusp of other categories without actually entering them. For example, Reflekta does transform people, but she doesn’t technically neutralise them since they still have their free will and ability to use their bodies however they want, even if they have difficulty running in high heels. She can turn many people into copies of herself, but she doesn’t really create an army because they don’t actually do her bidding. You could argue that her ability actually falls into the category of “stealth” since if she made a lot of copies of herself, she could easily hide among them. But that would be ironic since the goal she hopes to accomplish by turning people into herself is to make herself more seen and known!
Another example would be people who gain improved fighting abilities without becoming physically larger and entering the “strong” category, such as Riposte. The Mime and Evillustrator/Dessinateur gain the ability to control their environments, but they don’t actually transform them. Those are the only akumatised villains so far that I believe fail to fall into any of the other eight categories.
Other notes: At max, villains fall into no more than three categories at once. Sometimes you can make an argument that they semi-fall into one. Does Guitar Villain actually fall into the “strong” category? No, Jagged Stone’s physical body doesn’t get bigger when he transforms - but Fang turns into a dragon, so Fang falls into the “strong” category. Therefore, I personally prefer to put Guitar Villain half into that category, and half out. And of course, he also belongs in the “flying” category too, which is why he isn’t completely uncategorised.
Hope this categorisation system is helpful to some people. It would be easy to build your own akumatised OC based on these categories. However you use them, have fun!
