Miraculous Ladybug: Incompetent Adults (or everyone, really)
Marinette is under copious amounts of pressure. Honestly, I don’t know how she hasn’t cracked from the stress yet.
I mean, people keep on heaping responsibility onto her, and there doesn’t seem to be a competent character on the show except for her and occasionally Adrien.
So, I’ll be going through an alphabetized list of all the significant and problematic people I can remember. If I think of anyone else, I’ll add onto this list.
Master Fu: I cannot stand Master Fu one bit. He pawns off responsibility onto two teenagers and doesn’t even bother helping or stepping in. The only reason Marinette even knew he existed was because Tikki told her she had to find him once she discovered the book about the Miraculous. He does this weird thing where he says he has faith in her yet constantly doubts her ability. Like, he tells her she’s not good enough to wear more than one Miraculous at once, and do I even have to bring up any of Feast? I mean, I can barely get through that episode. It just made me further detest Fu, and I don’t even know where to begin. Also, let’s talk about how he just pawned Guardianship onto Marinette. Yes, he had to do something so they could win that battle, but they didn’t even discuss it?? I know it was a possibility that they talked about it off-screen, but judging by the fact that Marinette didn’t know anything about Guardianship that definitely wasn’t the case. I mean, what if she didn’t want to be the Guardian? What if she didn’t want to lose all her memories? Fu relies on Marinette for everything. He makes her do all the dirty work and is more of a hindrance than anything. Scratch that, he relies on Ladybug for everything. He doesn’t seem to care about Marinette as a person; just that she can save the world because he’s incapable of doing it himself.
Ms. Bustier: The salt fics aren’t too off about her, honestly. She seems like a decent teacher, but she doesn’t do anything about bullying. She constantly expects Marinette to be the bigger person, so victim-blaming and gaslighting don’t seem too extreme for her. I don’t have much to say except that she’s an enabler and should definitely be replaced or learn to do her job,
Parents: I don’t even know what to say about them. Yes, their personality traits are exaggerated because it’s a cartoon, but they’re just... weird. They simultaneously trust her but don’t. The way they either smother Marinette or just don’t interact with her at all seems vacillating. They trust her with responsibilities but also seem to want to control her life the way they want it. They do seem to care for her, but like I said before, they’re weird. In some episodes like Weredad and Troublemaker they’re overbearing and overprotective, but in Chat Blanc they’re completely fine with Gabriel threatening her. So, yikes.
Principal Damocles: Where do I even start? Honestly, how did this man become a principal? He’s easily swayed by money and influence, which is evident from the way he lets Chloe get away with everything. AHEM, Despair Bear? Every time Marinette is falsely accused her immediately believes whoever is accusing her without proof. It’s like she’s guilty until proven innocent! And the things she’s been accused for are totally out of character! She’s responsible and is the class president, yet he really believes she would cheat on a test, shove another girl down the stairs and steal her necklace?? Not to mention his personality and general incompetence bugs me. The fake superhero-ing was just not it.
Tikki: Yes, I know Tikki is not an adult. She’s the goddess of Creation, older than any living being. So why doesn’t her personality reflect that? I mean, for a creature that’s supposed to be all-knowing she doesn’t seem very wise. Tikki goes through character development and makes mistakes, but if she’s really been around for that long, why doesn’t she already know things? Not to mention her advice to Marinette is meh. I can’t recall the episode, but when Marinette seems to finally accept that she has to move on from Adrien, Tikki tells her to not give up. I was excited to see Marinette take down the picture of him and focus more on herself, but she decided not to because of Tikki. Her guidance also seems to be few and far between, though this may just be a fault of the creators.
Anyways, this is all I have for now. I may have been a little harsh with the characters, but honestly, I just needed to rant out my feelings and point out how there doesn’t seem to be a single competent being on the show other than Marinette (and Adrien).
I have a kinda-related post here, so click the link if you want to read more!
