Their mission is to keep Hawk Moth – who wants to steal their Miraculouses – from wreaking havoc on the town by creating increasingly dangerous supervillains – all while living their high school lives and keeping their identities secret.

At school, Marinette has a crush on Adrien but cannot tell him, so she acts awkwardly whenever he’s around. As a superhero, Cat Noir loves Ladybug, but his ego annoys her: Marinette prefers Adrien anyway!
Throughout the school year and their adventures, Ladybug discovers many nice qualities in Cat Noir while Marinette grows ever closer to Adrien, making huge efforts to overcome her shyness.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng a.k.a. Ladybug is an aspiring fashion designer at Collège Françoise-Dupont. Marinette is sweet, joyful, and a bit awkward, but respected by her peers. She has a big crush on Adrien, whom she can barely speak to out of nervousness and embarrassment; her best friend Alya is often seen trying to help Marinette declare her love to him, although it ends in disaster. She can transform into the superheroine “Ladybug” with the help of her Kwami, Tikki, to defend Paris with her crime-fighting partner Cat Noir. Her special superpower, Lucky Charm, creates an object and allows her to identify other key objects that she can use with the created object to defeat the villains. Among the superheroes that use Miraculous, she is responsible for capturing and purifying the akuma butterflies. As Ladybug, she brushes off Cat Noir’s advances, unaware that Cat Noir’s alter-ego is the source of her own affections. Astruc describes Ladybug as a positive character who brings happiness, like a candy, and like Amélie Poulain crossed with Spider-Man.

Adrien Agreste a.k.a. Cat Noir is Marinette’s classmate and a popular fashion model for his father’s clothing company. He transforms into the superhero “Cat Noir” with the help of his Kwami, Plagg, to assist Ladybug in saving Paris.
Adrien is kind and well-liked, and hangs out often with his best friend Nino. Though his family is wealthy, he laments his poor relationship with his stern father, Gabriel; his mother, meanwhile, has disappeared. He is in love with Ladybug, despite not knowing her true identity, and tries to impress her, although he makes bad jokes and cat-themed puns as Cat Noir, which frequently annoy her. His special ability, Cataclysm, allows him to destroy an object that he touches with a swipe of his paw.

Hawk Moth is a mysterious villain who has the power to create new super-villains with his akuma, which are butterflies that he corrupts with his dark power. He preys on people who are at a point of weakness and appeals to their negative emotions, such as fear, sadness, anger or jealousy. In exchange for granting them powers to exact revenge on those who have wronged them, he asks his villains to steal Ladybug and Cat Noir’s Miraculouses for him, so that he may use both to gain immense power. He possesses the Moth Miraculous. Long believed to be lost, its original purpose is to create superheroes, but because Hawk Moth has it, he is able to use the power of both Miraculous and its Kwami for his plans.