The Owl House’s treatment of Belos as a villain is everything I’ve ever wanted Miraculous Ladybug’s treatment of Gabriel to be.
The two villains are very similar, which makes the difference between how their narratives treat them all the more obvious.
More below the cut:
They both have a child in their care whom they are extremely controlling of and abusive toward: Hunter and Adrien, respectively.
If that wasn’t enough, Hunter has been confirmed to be a grimwalker created by Belos in the image of his late-brother, while Adrien has been heavily implied to be a sentimonster created by one or both of his parents.
Both Belos and Gabriel want to tear down the current world they live in and reshape it to their liking. Belos seemingly wants to destroy all witches/magic, and Gabriel wants to quite literally end his reality and create a new one.
Both of these villains have moments where they are humanized, such as Hunter and Belos’s conversation in the beginning of “Eclipse Lake” or Gabriel and Adrien watching Emilie’s film together at the end of “Gorizilla.”
…but how are they portrayed when they’re alone?
When Belos is alone in “Hollow Mind,” he is not made out to be sympathetic whatsoever. He shows no remorse for Hunter or his predecessors, and the narrative makes it clear that whatever affection he shows Hunter, it’s all just for show, a means to an end.
And then there’s Gabriel. Who’s given dramatic monologues accompanied with sad music where he laments his wife, Emilie. And a very odd subplot involving his relationship with his secretary/sidekick, Nathalie (who is canonically in love with him). And an (albeit inconsistent) desire to protect Adrien.
The Owl House’s narrative clearly does not want us to feel sad for Belos. Belos is not humanized to make us feel bad: he’s humanized to help us understand how other characters might be manipulated by him. He is evil through and through.
But Miraculous Ladybug’s narrative does want us to feel bad for Gabriel. Poor Gabriel, who lost his wife and will do whatever it takes to get her back—including destroying Paris. Poor Gabriel, who loves his son so much that he’ll akumatize and traumatize him to achieve his goals🙄
I trust The Owl House to give Belos the ending he deserves.
I do not, however, trust Miraculous Ladybug to do the same for Gabriel.
I’m all for humanizing villains. But when this is used to justify their actions—the way Gabriel’s more humane side is used to justify his—I draw the line.
I like both of these shows. But The Owl House makes it abundantly clear that you don’t need to genuinely humanize your villains whatsoever to make them compelling and display why other characters might humanize them. Thank you.
