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My Very Unhinged Lila Theory Part 1/3
Lila isn’t a good liar. From the beginning she has told lies that a even a fifth grader would never take at face value. Let alone adults. Yet she has so many people who believe these lies to the point that she has multiple women convinced that they are all her mom. She is enrolled at multiple schools. She has a secret lair in the Paris catacombs. She has been caught in her lies multiple times even, yet it wasn’t until Confrontation that she was caught in any of these lies.
The easy thing to do is to say that this is just lazy writing or plot convenience or something, but I don’t like that answer. It’s boring and lazy and I like to have fun. That being said, I think to begin with the real question we should be asking is: why do people blindly believe Lila?
Knowing what we know about Lila as of season 5, I think that it is worthwhile to look back on her former appearances. Going through former episodes, I have come to the ultimate conclusion, I don’t think that Lila is just a good liar, even in universe. I believe she is using some sort of power or magic to make people believe anything she says.
To begin with, I would like to address the following. There are canonically other forms of magic and superpowers in the Miraculous universe. Obviously we have the Kwami, but on multiple occasions Plagg mentions other kinds of magic. In Origins Part 1, Adrien, after putting on his ring, says “No way! Like the Genie in the Lamp!” followed by Plagg saying “I met him once. So he grants wishes. Big deal. I’m way more personable!” There’s also mention of Dragons a few times in the series, as well as United HeroeZ showcases many different heroes and villains who have abilities of their own. There’s also The Legend of Ladydragon with the Renlings, who are similar to Kwami, but still are not Kwami.
Furthermore, Miraculous is a part of a shared universe. Any show that goes under the Zag Heroez brand is a part of the shared universe. This includes Zak Storm, Power Players, and Ghostforce. Obviously Ghostforce has its ghosts as its main supernatural element. Power Players has a life giving magic called minergy that brings inanimate objects like toys to life. Zak Storm has aliens, witches, ancient gods, Atlanteans, time travel shenanigans, magic wizard aliens, star people, magic guardians, and skeletons. And that’s just scratching the surface. (seriously please watch zak storm. It is so underrated and needs more eyes on it.) These are just the shows that have aired. There are more shows that have been stuck in production hell, like Fairyon, Pixiegirl, and others that all have other magical elements. Bottom line is that a character in Miraculous having powers that aren’t connected to Kwami’s is not unreasonable, and in fact would add a lot world building wise.
To begin with, I want to note some specific quotes from episodes involving Lila that I believe suggest her having some sort of abilities. I recommend that any readers should go rewatch the episodes themselves. In this post I’ll just be covering episodes in season’s 1 and 2. So lets begin!
Volpina
When Marinette first gets to school she hears everyone fawning over the new girl Lila. Here is her dialogue
[Shortly after watching Lila drag away a clearly uncomfortable Adrien.] [Marinette is panicking because she thinks Lila is going to seduce Adrien and then he'll never love her.]
Marinette: *gasp* "where are they going? Alya! We've gotta stop them."
Alya: "You need to chill out Marinette. My Ladyblog has the highest number of hits ever after that Lila interview!"
Marinette: "what's going on? I mean has this Lila girl hypnotized everyone or something?"
Tiki: "You wouldn't be a little jealous, Marinette?"
Marinette: "huh? Me? Jealous? No way!"
[Marinette proceeds to run after Adrien and Lila]
...
While Marinette is spying on Adrien and Lila, Adrien is looking at the book he stole from his dad. Lila comes over talking about doing history homework with Adrien.
Lila looks smitten with Adrien.
Her eyes look down and she notices the book Adrien has, then she immediately looks shocked.
Lila: "What's that?"
She pulls the book over to herself to look at it while Adrien starts to panic.
Adrien: "uh.. Nothing! Just stories about superheroes." (Smooth save bro)
Lila puts her hand on Adrien’s hand.
Lila: "I love super heroes!" (It feels like she's specifically trying to form a character that she thinks Adrien will like)
Lila turns the page and it shows Ladybug.
Lila: "Ladybug?" (She seems genuinely excited when she sees this.)
Adrien: "She's amazing!" (He's so smitten)
Lila suddenly has a jealous look. She puts the book down and moves herself and her chair over closer to Adrien.
Lila: "A girl doesn't need to wear a costume to be amazing, you know."
Adrien panicking autistically: "uhh, i don't know? I mean i-"
Lila: "so! You've got a little soft spot for the bug huh?"
Adrien: "me? Oh no. Not at all!"
Lila: "You know, I actually happen to be very close friends with ladybug."
Adrien: "Really?"
Lila: "We can chat about it if you want! Not here though. Why don't we meet at the park after school, and I'll tell you everything."
Adrien suddenly has to go to fencing practice, and he drops his bag. Meanwhile the book falls out, and Lila slips it away with her shoe. Before giving Adrien back his bag.
Why is she so obsessed with getting Adrien to like her?
Heroes Day Part One
Lila has apparently convinced her mom, the ambassador Ms. Rossi, that school has been closed down and isn't reopened due to akuma attacks, as well as apparently she has convinced her mom that ladybug is useless and unable to save anyone. Like... Doesn't her mom watch the news? Or go outside? She's an ambassador. There has to be more to this than just Lila being a good liar. Especially to her own "mother."
While in her room looking over the heroes day footage
Lila: "Liar! Traitor! Coward!"
Gabriel comes up on the screen to announce his contribution to the parade as well as to denounce Volpina.
Gabi: "in honor of the wonderful Ladybug who has saved my son Adrien and myself, and who relentlessly protects all of us every day. I have financed this tribute to Ladybug, because Ladybug is the only true hero unlike her mediocre imitations, such as Volpina."
As soon as Gabriel comes on screen Lila goes quiet and is suddenly very interested to know what gabe has to say. I just think this is interesting.
After hearing what Gabriel says about Volpina, Lila gasps and looks upset. She then proceeds to throw her laptop against the wall, then dramatically yell
Lila: "I HATE YOU LADYBUG!"
Next the scene cuts to Gabi doing his Hawkmoth thing. He sends an akuma out to Lila.
Lila is just sitting in her room looking very alone and upset.when she hears the akuma wings fluttering she looks up. Suddenly she looks frightened and jumps back a bit gasping before it goes into her bracelet.
Hawkmoth: "Volpina."
Lila: "Hawkmoth!" (She says this very happily)
Hawkmoth: "Your dreams were once a reality, until Ladybug turned them into a nightmare. Regain your power of illusion, and make this heroes day a nightmare for all Parisians!"
Lila: "With great pleasure Hawkmoth."
...
After Volpina does her whole thing and makes everyone in Paris worried,
Hawkmoth: "Dear Volpina, you've performed your role well for the time being. We will meet again very soon."
Volpina: "I'll be waiting, Hawkmoth."
After being detransformed, Lila looks up, and she has a very sinister smile.
About Volpina
Powers of Illusion. She uses her powers to make people believe what she wants them to believe, such as in her debut episode, where she uses these powers to convince Ladybug and Chat Noir and Adrien as well as all of Paris, that she is amazing and that she accomplishes great feats. As we know though, this is all an illusion. Much like her lies. She also uses these abilities to ruin the reputation of Ladybug in Hero’s day, as well as to attempt to trick Ladybug and Chat Noir. This mirrors her behavior in later episodes as well.
