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A Critical Retrospective/Analysis of Felix Fathom Graham de Vanily

Felix is undeniably one of the more controversial characters in Miraculous some people are obsessed with him others can't stand him and others are unsure how they feel. I've always been a pretty staunch hater of Felix to be honest even after Representation. I'm a firm believer in the fact that experiencing trauma does not give you the excuse to traumatize others. However overtime my anger has cooled and I've tried to look at everything he's done with a cooler head. I'm still conflicted and I thought I'd try to go back over all his appearances with a fine toothed comb to try and understand his actions. In particular something I want to focus on is what Felix likely knows versus us as the audience know. It's a similar stance I'm trying to take with Marinette as she continues her arc through Season 6. So let's begin...

Pre-Felix (Episode)

It was revealed in Representation that it was after Colt's death prior to the series likely not long after Emilie dies that Felix first discovered his freedom and life were tied to Colt's ring. It was likely around this same time or perhaps even earlier that his mother or perhaps even his father in one of his rages explained the nature of his birth as a result of the magic of the Peacock Miraculous. Despite his intelligence there's no way he could be absolutely certain that Gabriel had the Peacock Miraculous. However, Mayura's various appearances during and after Heroes' Day alongside Hawk Moth reveal the exact person who has it, Felix now has his target. It was also during this time that Felix learned about the importance of the Graham de Vanily twin rings and his mother's anger towards Gabriel for keeping them even after Emilie died. Werepapas show just how important they are to the Graham de Vanily family with Emil being extremely insistent on recovering them, it was one of the first things he talks about frankly.

Felix (Episode)

Now we move onto his first appearance. He's shown to be cold and callous towards Adrien who's own behavior and Felix's own admissions in later episodes reveals that they were close once upon a time. I believe part of the reason for this coldness was his belief that Adrien's life was indeed perfect and that unlike with his own father Gabriel and Emilie fully loved and treasured Adrien and never abused the power of his amok to control him. He resented Adrien for the life he believes he had compared to his own. While we can't know the exact family dynamics prior to canon between the Agrestes I highly doubt it was as perfect as Felix likely believed. Felix at this point knew he had to get in touch with Hawk Moth in some way so he could barter for the Peacock Miraculous which he was ultimately after even though nearly everyone thought he was after the Twin Rings. The opportunity falls squarely in his lap when Adrien's friends send a message to comfort him on the anniversary of his mother's death. He sends back a nasty message and Alya, Juleka, and Rose are akumatized giving him a direct way of communicating to Hawk Moth. Interestingly enough this is the only instance I can recall of Hawk Moth speaking directly through his champion just as Mayura and Rena Rouge would later do with their Sentimonster and Mirage respectively. Felix is rescued by Ladybug after briefly tussling with the Punishers Trio. Correctly guessing he would never be able to make a trade with Hawk Moth without a bargaining chip he tries to get close to Ladybug and kiss her with what I imagine was an attempt to steal her earrings. Here's where we get to one of Felix's cardinal sins, he attempts to SA Ladybug there is absolutely no excuse for this behavior I don't care what anyone says. This is especially upsetting considering many people including myself believe Colt SAed Amelie. After Ladybug rightfully punches him Felix snags Lady Wifi's tablet to get Hawk Moth's attention during which he he agrees to help him if he helps him get a piece of jewelry. Later on after the akumas are defeated and they're saying goodbye Felix pulls off what I can only call a completely facetious performance apologizing to Adrien for his actions. I do not believe in the slightest that Felix feels bad about what happened except perhaps that it leaves him on shaky ground with the heroes and he didn't succeed. It's also at this moment that he snags the twin ring off Gabriel's finger with some sleight of hand something I will admit was pretty impressive.

Gabriel Agreste (Episode)

Now we get to Felix's second appearance, an episode that actually endeared him to many fans because of his intelligence and how he stood up to Gabriel. When we first see him Felix and Amelie are on their way to Gabriel's cult party one of the few references to something bigger going on behind the scenes beyond Gabriel's reign of terror which we would eventually discover is the Kingdom, the secret society Gabriel, Tomoe, and likely Audrey are all a part of. Felix is watching a video on the Ladyblog describing the Miraculous as a whole and more specifically the two that are in Hawk Moth, now Shadow Moth's possession. (Also side note but where exactly did Alya get this photo)

Anyway, now Felix knows exactly what he's looking for a Peacock shaped brooch, rather than a mysterious Peacock amulet. Now we get to Felix arriving to the Agreste manor where he notices Gabriel wearing two brooches under his scarf when Marinette manages to knock Gabriel's tablet out of his hands. This combined with the knowledge that Gabriel had the Peacock originally allows him to figure out that Gabriel is indeed Shadow Moth and Felix is closer than ever to his goal. Felix and Gabriel then have a brief conversation where he gives Gabriel a forgery of the twin ring he stole. Unfortunately for him Gabriel is not fooled likely because as the holder of the Peacock Miraculous he can sense the amok or rather the lack of one in the forgery. Senti-Gabriel then confronts Felix in Gabriel's study as he snoops for clues. It's during this moment that Senti-Gabriel reasserts how important the rings are to him and that he can "destroy his life" while miming snapping his fingers. Then of course Shadow Moth attempts to akumatize him but suspecting this has all been a trick makes a tear in Senti-Gabriel's pants. After Senti-Gabriel is akumatized and defeated Felix then sees Gabriel's pants are undamaged reaffirming that Gabriel is indeed Shadow Moth after all.

Risk

Now we move onto Risk an episode that really cemented my anger towards Felix for a long time. He first appears speaking with Adrien disparaging him for going along with everything his father says and in particular a line that truly grinds my gears is when he says "Freedom is something you make Adrien. For starters, you gotta stop doing everything your father tells you to." Felix didn't really create his own freedom he picked his amok from his father's corpse he was never able to defy his father but he criticizes Adrien for doing the very same thing. But unfortunately for my former mindset I'm trying to analyze everything that Felix does and more importantly what he actually knows. While I have no doubt he knows Adrien is indeed a Senti like him he has no real way of knowing that Adrien is actually being controlled by his father the same way Colt controlled him. He knows Gabriel has became a supervillain and is after Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculous but he doesn't yet know why Gabriel wants them or that he would control Adrien in such a way. Again while we don't know exactly what Gabriel was like we can deduce he wasn't nearly as controlling and cruel as he would eventually become. I doubt Felix had any meaningful interactions with Gabriel let alone ones that allow him to infer how he has become since Emilie's death. He knows Gabriel's theoretically willing to destroy him but he has no reason to believe he would feel the same way about Adrien. After he convinces Adrien to trade places with him he steals Nathalie's tablet and sneaks into Gabriel's atelier and then into the repository where he discovers Emilie's corpse where he is understandably horrified. After this he returns to the atelier where he comes face-to-face with Gabriel and Nathalie and while he initially tries to "rebel" in Adrien's place Nathalie tells him that they need to go. Now many people including myself thought this was because he saw that Nathalie had the other twin ring and didn't want to risk defying an amok order but honestly after everything I'm starting to think it was less to do with the ring and more to do with trying to maintain his cover and use it as an excuse to sneak away. I'm getting a little ahead of myself here but honestly I can't say for sure that Felix knew where Adrien's amok was. I know it sounds a little ridiculous but all things considered particularly his defensiveness of sentis as a whole I don't know if Felix would necessarily be willing to hand over Adrien's amok particularly to someone like Gabriel. However this theory is pretty shaky I'm more than willing to admit and it could go either way Felix easily could have decided to hand it over because he valued the Peacock above all else which is in fact is glaringly obvious considering he traded 15 other Miraculous for it.

Strikeback

Alright here we go the episode where my anger towards him cemented into white-hot rage. Felix starts off this episode in the train with the brooches Gabriel left behind during Gabriel Agreste. Using Nathalie's tablet he tries to transform only to realize that they're fake. The next time we see him is when Penny Bug (whose name really should have been Lady Pegabunny) comes to find him thinking he's Adrien and it's this point that Felix learns that Ladybug's yoyo is a direct pathway to all the Miraculous in her Miracle Box and he's given the Dog Miraculous which of course allows him to recall anything he's touched with his ball. This is the beginning of the end. The next big moment is when he sees the Strikeback sentimonsters and Ladybug tells everyone that they have to send them to place they can't hurt anyone ever again. Flairmidable touches Ladybug's yo-yo and hangs back as they send the Strikebacks to the sun. We see as he stays behind sorrow and regret on Felix's face now I could argue that the Strikebacks weren't made to be sentient beings and as confirmed by Thomas Astruc Sentis are only truly sapient and not monstrous if they're made to be Felix does not know this.

From his perspective an "innocent" being was brought in this world and was forced to wreak havoc. Ladybug had no choice her duty is to Paris and the Strikebacks are going to be threat as long as Shadow Moth has the amok. Ladybug has no idea who has the amok and Paris is in ruins she isn't left with much choice especially since Strikeback can't be immobilized with Venom or some similar option. Felix can't see things this way and while I doubt Ladybug somehow saving the Strikebacks would have changed his decision I do think it helped assuage any doubts he had. Now finally onto the worst part of this episode. Flairmidable shows up in Gabriel's atelier and offers Gabriel the chance to get his hands on all the other Miraculous in the Miracle Box and the twin ring back in exchange for the Peacock. Unfortunately again we don't know if Felix knew exactly why the ring held but regardless I do believe he would have traded it if it meant he could get his hands on the Peacock, the ends justify the means, for Felix. This was an insane decision but with the benefit of hindsight I can remotely understand why Felix would do this not only was his life in the balance but Gabriel would continue to abuse the powers of the Peacock creating and destroying sentis like him without a second thought. This does not in any way justify what he did especially considering the kwamis are in a nearly identical situation as sentis, their existence connected to an object that can be used to control them the only difference being that a kwami would continue to exist in incorporeal form unlike a senti who truly ceases to exist.

Multiplication to pre-Emotion

I'll just lump these together since he only appears for like a minute in Multiplication in which he meets Duusu for the first time. It's during this period that he decides to blackmail Ladybug and Chat Noir into giving him their Miraculous so he can make a wish to create a world free of oppression and control. I believe it's during this time that he discovered just what those two Miraculous were capable of and why Gabriel wanted them from talking with Duusu. I imagine he already had some variation of the Red Moon plan before but it was fully formed at this point.

Emotion

Alrighty onto Emotion another episode that irritated the bejeezus out of me including how good Argos looked. It was during this episode that Felix discovers that Kagami is a senti just like him and Adrien and becomes infatuated with her. He then enacts his plan of snapping away everyone in the world with the power granted by Red Moon. Another absolutely insane plan that could easily be seen as genocide. Of course thanks to Adrien and Kagami he comes to his senses and brings everyone back but he still did something truly atrocious. Afterwards he banishes Red Moon and breaks down because of it even though I will say again I doubt Red Moon was truly sapient in any way but Felix still feels a connection to them all.

Pretension

Onto another episode that does not make Felix great. On the pro side Felix tries to save Kagami from her mother and gives her her amok back so Kagami doesn't have to fear her mother controlling her. He also continues to show his morals as it relates to Sentis refusing to bring a being into this world only to control and exploit which is a pretty good stance to have when wielding the logistical headache that is the Peacock Miraculous. On the con side we find out that he's been stalking Kagami for who knows exactly how long and does kidnap her even if it was from an unpleasant situation.

Representation

Ah yes Representation or what I would like to call the culmination of every act of character assassination against Kagami in Season 5. It's bad enough that she gets convinced that Marinette is some sort of master manipulator and puppetmaster even though she knows that she's Ladybug after Perfection but she then decided to reveal her identity to the person who is responsible for Gabriel getting nearly all the Miraculous in the Miracle Box including Longg and the Dragon Miraculous, her kwami her friend is stuck with that monster because of him. And yes I did previously say that I understood why Felix did what he did but I will say again it does not in any way excuse it. Kagami and Felix then put on their play which I must say is really quite an unhinged way to tell Marinette everything but I digress. We then move onto to the rooftop scene with Duusu being absolutely adorable. Argos creates Once Upon a Time which he ultimately ends up banishing which goes against his former stance regarding sentis. Now of course I would argue that Once Upon a Time could and was most likely made with the intent to be disposable and lacking true sentience or sapience but I would and have said the same thing about Strikeback and Red Moon however Felix clearly didn't feel that way so what changed. It could easily be another instance of the ends justify the means just like when he made the trade with Gabriel but who can say. During the play we learn all about the history of the Graham de Vanilys and the Peacock Miraculous and this illustrates the abuse Felix and Amelie experienced at the hands of Colt and shows how it shaped Felix into the ruthless pragmatist we've mostly seen up until this point. Also something important I'd like to point out is that when Colt damaged Felix's amok and he collapsed in pain it was because he wanted Felix to feel pain. Riposte and Werepapas show us that damage to the amok's container doesn't automatically equate to pain on behalf of the Senti neither Kagami or Adrien showed any reaction, so Colt wanted to hurt him. We also as of this episode learn that Felix and Kagami are indeed a couple.

Re-Creation

Now onto Re-Creation an episode where he did appear but it's not what he did that I want to talk about but rather what he did not. We've learned a good bit about Felix by now some of the main things being that he cares about Sentis and Kagami in particular, he loves her. He also loves Adrien but he does a very poor job of showing that one. Now myself and others with these conclusions could have assumed he would have saved Kagami and Adrien from their literal cells or maybe even helped Ladybug in her battle against Monarch perhaps created a senti to aid her if there was ever a time to create one it was at this moment but no Felix does absolutely nothing to help any of them which leads me to an answer Thomas Astruc gave on Twitter.

Yes Ladybug is indeed more powerful I will not argue that for a second especially since we can gather Felix didn't unlock his adult powers until Revelator with the rest of the Miraculers however the excuse that he didn't want to use his power falls flat when he literally just did the episode before. This is the final battle against Monarch everything is on the line but that doesn't matter because it is "human business." Disregarding the fact that as stated before Adrien, Kagami, and Felix himself are just as human as anyone else it shows a truly staggering level of selfishness that goes beyond anything he's done before. At the end of the day I understand why Felix made the choice he did in Strikeback his and Adrien's lives were on the line as long as Gabriel or anyone else really had the Peacock Miraculous they were in mortal danger. But you have the Peacock now and the power lets you fight from a safe distance as you have no doubt seen the countless times Shadow Moth and Mayura abused it. But it doesn't concern him because the entire planet full of people aren't sentis like him and he doesn't even take the opportunity to free the Sentis he does actually care about. This honestly leads me to believe that if Kagami wasn't a senti like him he never would have fallen in love with her.

Yaksi Gozen

Alright his next appearance in the production order although who knows where it falls in the actual timeline. Kagami and Felix are reunited and another sidenote but I cannot fathom (pun intended) how Longg was okay with his holder dating the person who handed him over to Monarch or how Duusu was okay with everything for that matter. Felix and Kagami realize the safest place to put their amoks is inside Ladybug's yoyo (makes me thing that the other tools don't have any sort of pocket space or else they'd put them in their own weapons). Something that bugs me about this is that they don't think to include Adrien in this safety measure like Felix has already proven himself a more than capable thief and forger take Adrien's amok and replace them with a copy at the very least of you're not going to tell him the truth. This is the first real instance I'd day where Felix shows genuine remorse for his actions which I appreciate. But then later on the three of them have the gall to be angry with Adrien when he pulls off a magic trick with the rings when Adrien has absolutely no idea about anything that's going on but especially how important those rings are because no one has told him anything. I understand them being afraid and upset but anger that is not justified in the slightest.

Lady Chaos

Another instance where Felix doesn't appear for all that long but it's important nonetheless as it means Felix is living in Paris from now on. We get another instance of Felix saying how much he cares about Adrien and wants to be there for him when the truth does inevitably come to light but we've yet to see any genuine care displayed for Adrien. The closest we get is in Emotion when he hides Marinette away because he knows how much Adrien cares about her and brings him back to enjoy his "free world" together. It can be argued that him revealing the truth to Marinette in Representation was another instance and if you believe that I won't fight you but personally it felt purely motivated by his desire to be with Kagami rather than anything to do with Adrien.

Felix is an exceptionally complicated character and it's nearly impossible to pin down just what makes him tick. He's messy, he's selfish, he's manipulative, and I think above all he's ruled by his emotions above all else. Surprisingly good fit for the holder of the Peacock Miraculous of Emotion.

I enjoy morally grey characters, Nathalie is one of my favorite characters, despite the undeniable fact that Zoe went too far as Fury in Grendiaper I understand why she did it and I'm enjoying the potential for conflict and clash of ideals between Fury and Ladybug. But Felix is difficult, so very difficult. He has potential to be great and after everything I do understand him at least for the most part but there are just things that prevent me from saying with my full chest that I like his character.

There's a difference between liking a character because of how they're written and liking them as character in general. Overall, I'm ambivalent towards Felix there are plenty of things he does that make sense and there are others that truly enrage me. His attempted SA of Ladybug, his actual treatment of Adrien, and his effect on Kagami's character all make me upset. But his backstory, his relationship with his mom, and frankly his sheer determination all help me better understand and even like his character.

I truly believe that if Felix had faced some sort of lasting consequence or good god just apologized to Ladybug things could have been better.

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