And let's not forget how people tend to conveniently leave out the fact that while Marinette's jealousy prompted her to spy on Adrien and Lila in the library, what really kickstarted the actual plot (Lila stealing the Grimoire, buying the necklace, claiming to be Volpina and insulting Ladybug to the point of the superheroine tearing her a new one causing her akumatisation...) was actually Lila's own jealousy over Ladybug.

For all the episode's flaws, it did a good job establishing the kind of character Lila was going to be right off the bat: an attention seeking liar and an abhorrent admirer for Adrien who isn't above disregarding his boundaries or invading his personal space.

Having said that, at that point she had been shown to be far from an ideal person, but not irredeemably evil like her later self. And though she did use implicitly dishonest methods to get closer to Adrien—such as dragging him off to a more private place so it can just be the two of them or trying to evoke a commonality collection by pretending to be interested in superheroes—, most of her actions up until that point were fairly harmless.

In regards to Adrien. She had already harmed her classmates and Ladybug's credibility by lying through her teeth just to be popular.

Up until that point, while definitely not honest, Lila's tactics to get closer to Adrien were relatively realistic. After all, we have all seen the "lying about shared interests" trope at least once in our life, and we might have even employed it ourselves at some point.

It wasn't until the topic of Ladybug was brought up that things took a turn for the worse.

At first, upon seeing Adrien's book Lila just seemed to be faking interest, just like she looked genuinely surprised to see Ladybug pictured there. But the moment Adrien expressed awestruck admiration for the heroine, that's when Lila's entire façade changes. Literally. She goes from looking surprised to sporting a nasty scowl to acting all sugary-sweet right after as she fishes for more information on Adrien's crush to use to her advantage.

And because she can't stand to be shown up by anyone, even if they're not even in the room, she went and started downplaying Ladybug's accomplishments even back then. Claiming that a girl doesn't need to a costume to be amazing, only to prove she's a hypocrite by setting out to become amazing by claiming she isn't just actually good friends with the costumed girl but, would you look at that, she's a costumed girl herself!

That's why Lila stole Adrien's book. That's why she bought the necklace and came up with the whole Volpina thing. And that's why she kept on insulting Ladybug in order to make herself look better (other than to distract Adrien long enough so he wouldn't notice his missing book, that is). Because the moment Adrien expressed romantic interest in Ladybug, Lila became seethingly jealous and desperate to get him to stop paying attention to the superheroine and to focus on her.

Marinette's jealousy actually played a very small role in the episode overall, it was just meant to get her in the right place at the right time so Tikki would see the Grimoire and urge her to follow them to the park in order to retrieve it. From then on, Marinette's actions were a direct result of Lila crossing way too many lines at once. Absolutely everything else that happened can be linked back to Lila growing jealous of Ladybug and trying to have Adrien all for herself.

Everything that happened was Lila's own fault.

My Fav Lila Takedown Fics

I promised a commenter that I'd put this together so here you go! Note that, while I've read a lot of fanfic, I have certainly not read every fic in the fandom, so a fic not being on this list means nothing definitive. These are just my favs of the ones I've read. The fics I go reread when Lila's writing gets under my skin.

best (fake) smile by Reiaji

An Adrien-centric two-part series that's tons of fun!

The Investigation by 11JJ11

An Alya-centric takedown that lets Alya and Lila be smart, which is lovely.

Perspectives by MaurLin

A shifting perspective fic where Lila tells a very canon-like lie, resulting in actual, logical consiquences

Revenge by peterparkerpanic

A Nino-centric takedown because Nino deserves some love, too.

The Many Failures of Lila's Writing

There are three main issues with Lila Rossi (or whatever her name is): she was introduced too early, she doesn't fill a unique role in the story, and her lies are too over the top for her to feel like a good villain. Let's go through that list in order because the issues build to create the show's most annoying character even though her setup could have lead to a legitimately great character who we would have all loved to hate.

Issue 1: Lila Shows Up Three Seasons Too Early

Lila is introduced in the final episode of season one and then essentially disappears from the show for a full season. The only time we see her in season two is her brief appearance in season two's finale where she takes on the role of Volpina again in order to help Gabriel fake Ladybug's death. That's also the episode where we learn that Lila has been "in Achu" for some unknown amount of time.

[image: a list of Lila's season two appearances (source)]

Season three sees Lila show up with reasonable regularity (8 episodes, none of which are two-parters) and we get a real conflict with her, truly establishing her as a villain who lies like crazy and who wants to destroy Marinette.

Then season four comes and Lila is once again forgotten about. She shows up more than she did in season two, but only as a background character and most episodes don't see her at all. She doesn't have a single line until the final three episodes of the season and her role in these episodes is exceedingly minor. She does a few petty things to remind you that she's awful, but she's not the focus of the plot. She's just there to remind you that she exists and to establish her and Chloe as coconspirators of some sort.

[image: a list of Lila's season four appearances (source)]

Then season five comes and Lila is back to being an active antagonist. She shows up in almost every episode and we even get her very lackluster defeat.

This is some of the worst pacing that I have ever seen. It's honestly impressively bad. I hope the issue speaks for itself, but in case it doesn't, you don't chop a story up like this without a good reason and, frankly, their isn't one. Lila's introduction, villain setup, and defeat should have all take place over the course of a season or two, forming a mini arc.

Just in case you don't know what that is, most stories have a main conflict that drives the whole narrative (ex: getting the butterfly miraculous back) but within that story you have lots of mini stories. Things that get resolved so that it feels like things are moving forward and so that the audience stays engaged. If you don't get any satisfying resolutions until five seasons in (or more), then the audience will start to get annoyed or just stop watching. It's also a good way to keep expectations from getting built up too high. If every season or every other season has a satisfying conclusion to some big conflict, then you don't leave everything riding on the big finale.

By chopping Lila's story up, you made the audience spend four seasons dreaming of her defeat. Expectations were sky high. She's more hated than Gabe! If she's been introduced mid season 4 and had the exact same story arc, then her lackluster take down would be a mild disappointment and not a major issue for most of the fandom.

Issue 2: Lila and Chloe Should Never have Coexisted

When it comes to story telling, characters fill roles. Ladybug is the lead. Alya is the plucky best friend. Gabriel is the big bad. Etc. Etc.

Generally speaking, you only want one character in a given role. Having two or more characters in the same role leads to character bloat where characters are fighting for screen time because they don't have a clear place in the story. This is especially true for key antagonistic roles. It's a lot easier to balance two best friends than it is to balance two big bads.

Enter Chloe and Lila.

I've mentioned before that I thought that Chloe was going to be redeemed. The reason I thought this was not because of anything to do with Chloe. It was because the show introduced Lila and, narratively speaking, Lila and Chloe are the same character. They're both petty school bullies whose main job is to cause trouble for Marinette while she's at school and to give setups for akumas.

However, in terms of perceived threat, Lila is the bigger badder Chloe. No one but Sabrina likes Chloe. Everyone but Marinette likes Lila. Chloe doesn't make plans. Lila lives to manipulate and plot. If you're going to get ride of Chloe, Lila is who you'd replace her with. That's just how this works.

One of the most well known examples of this type of setup is Zuko and Azula from Avatar the Last Airbender. Zuko is the main antagonist of season one, but season two sees him step out of that role as he starts his journey of self-discovery and redemption. And who is introduced at the end of seasons one? Azula, Zuko's evil, more powerful sister. In season two, Azula fills Zuko's former role, but also makes things feel more serious because she's a bigger badder Zuko.

This brings us back to a big part of issue one. Namely, Lila's ongoing disappearing act. She only does that because of Chloe.

Chloe is a much easier villain to write. She doesn't have to hide anything. She is openly petty and evil. So if you're going to pick a character for a petty conflict, you're going to pick Chloe. The only time Lila gets pulled in is when the drama revolves around lies because Chloe is actually a strikingly honest character. She rarely lied prior to her "friendship" with Lila because, for the most part, Chloe doesn't care if everyone hates her. She only cares about the opinions of a chosen few. (Or, at least, she acts like she does.)

For Lila to work, Chloe needed to be redeemed or written off the show. The best proof of this is seasons five, where Chloe straight up becomes Lila's minion because the writers had to force that relationship if they wanted to have both characters involved in the plot. It's also why season four saw Chloe suddenly obsessed with Marinette when, prior to that, Chloe bullied everyone. The only way to team Chloe and Lila up was to give them a common goal and that didn't exist in the first three seasons.

So, building off of point one, Lila should have been introduced much later and she should have stepped into Chloe's shoes after Chloe either switched roles or completely left the show.

Issue 3: The Lies

I think that we can all agree that Lila is a terrible liar. Even a toddler could see through the BS that spews from her mouth. There are multiple satisfying Lila takedown fics that don't involve clever plots to beat her. They involve Alya or someone else doing a google search because - even with the declining quality of that tool - that's still all that it would take to prove what Lila is.

This is a really bad way to write a character who is supposed to be a master manipulator. Especially when she's going to be the next big bad. They desperately needed to tone her down.

For example, DON'T have her claim to be Ladybug's best friend. Have her claim that Ladybug saved her. That would still go up on the Ladyblog and, more importantly, it would be a lot harder to disprove. I doubt that Ladybug remembers everyone she saves so no one would fault Alya for just taking that at face-value, but Marinette could still instantly peg Lila as a liar.

Tinnitus from saving Jagged Stone's cat? How about tinnitus from being too close to the speakers at Jagged Stone's latest concert? The concert where Lila even got to meet him because she had back stage passes. Once again, hard to disprove. Jagged meets a lot of fans. I doubt he'd be able to tell you that she was lying.

And definitely don't have her openly state that she's a liar. The fact that she did that and was STILL able to manipulate the adult characters is abysmal writing. Especially because it comes right before Lila disappears for a season, giving the impression that her confession essentially defeated her, only for the show to go PSYCH! No one cares about her confession, it meant nothing for the Lila conflict.

I've had someone tell me that they think that Lila's lies were suppose to be a joke and, to be fair, that's plausible. The show relies on a lot of ridiculous humor. If Lila had shown up later, then this might have worked. But because Lila has been around for so long, we've all had time to think about her lies and build up the expectation of how they'd be handled.

I don't just mean Lila being exposed. I mean the fallout of all of her "fans" having to deal with the truth of who Lila really is, an issue that I won't go into here because this is already super long and I think that the issue of how her lies effect characters like Nino and Alya is pretty well understood.

There's also the Chloe thing. Chloe is very over the top, so replacing her with a character who is over the top in a different, more terrifying way would have made some sense. But Chloe's still here and she's more ridiculous than ever, so Lila matching that ridiculous just makes them an annoying duo that we all have to suffer through. Their team up was one of the most forced elements of seasons five. I just do not buy that Chloe would ever subject herself to being someone's minion. When it comes to that team up, the hand of the author is glaring.

Conclusion/Final Thoughts

Manipulative characters are fun. They make for fantastic villains and Lila could have been one of these fantastic villain, especially if Gabriel was played as more sympathetic. If there were lines that Gabriel wouldn't cross, then Lila getting the butterfly would be terrifying. As-is, I don't see how she's any worse than the dude who created Chat Blanc. Plus I'm not even sure why she needs the butterfly. She could already get anything she wanted with minimal effort because her lying powers are so OP. Like, why should I care about that twist? What has changed with the passing of the butterfly? The stakes have not been raised. If anything, they've been lowered.

Lila is just your generic evil villain who is evil for evil's sake. The heroes already hate her. Finding out that she's the big bad is not emotionally devastating. If anything, Marinette should be thrilled that she finally has an excuse to punch Lila.

It's possible that the writers will give Lila an interesting back story, but because she's been around for five seasons, I don't have any faith that they will. I mean, what was the point of introducing her all the way back in season one if you weren't going to use that to set her up in a satisfying way? I've seen people say to just wait and see and wait for what? They couldn't manage to pull off Gabriel's defeat or Chloe's defeat/redemption or Lila's first takedown in a way that was narratively satisfying. Why should I give them a chance to disappoint me with Lila's next take down? Three strikes and you're out!

@tallwriter as requested, there are my thoughts on Lila. As with every character in this show, I think she deserved better. She could have been great. She's one of the worst examples of squandered potential because everything about her was done wrong.

Liar Revealed

So Marinette and Sabrina worked together to lure Lila into a false sense of security that eventually led up to her spilling everything in front of an audience she was unaware of. Now everyone knows she’s been lying about everything, she’s a horrible person, and she and Chloé are about to be expelled for good… After 7 years, the fandom finally got what it wanted.

…then why do I feel like I’ve actually wasted those 7 years of my life? 

Buckle up, ‘cause this is going to be a long ride.

You summed up perfectly why this long-awaited revelation of Lila’s true nature in front of her classmates and teachers tasted terribly bitter and disappointing.

Because in the end, if Sabrina hadn’t finally decided to grow a conscience, Lila and Chloe’s plan would have perfectly worked. Marinette’s so-called friends would have entirely believed that she was guilty, that she really tried to sabotage their future out of jealousy and resentmen.

And on top of being unfairly expelled and having such a serious transgression, of which she was never guilty of, permanently imprinted on her school record could have ruined Marinette’s future, Marinette would have also lost all her friends. Even her parents would have believed in those lies, and their relationship with their daughter would have seriously deteriorated.

And Adrien, too used to being silenced by authority figures, and knowing that his worlds would be disreguarded by his so-called friends, he would have remained helpless and silent in the face of his girlfriend’s horrible distress.

The only reason why Marinette escaped such misfortune and slander, she owes it not to the friends and allies she trusts to the point of entrusting them with miraculous, but to one of her former tormentors.

If Marinette’s classmates had been just that, classmates, acquaintances with whom Marinette wasn’t particularly close to, their behavior and reactions would have made sense. Yet they’re supposed to be her friends, people Marinette feels that she can rely on behind her mask, that she can allow to be temporary heroes, yet none of them seem able to return the support and trust she has always given them.

And worst of all, neither of them apologized to Mainette, Kagami at least had not only acknowledged his mistakes in believing Lila’s lies so easilly, but deeply regretted her misjudgment and asked for forgiveness to those she harmed under Lila’s influence.

I just … really can’t understand why the writers are making Marinette’s supposed friends in such a way, that’s not how friends behave, and it pains me that the writers might think that’s how friendship works.

How can i appreciate the temporary heroes which are so often promoted, while knowing that they make very poor friends for the main character ? I know they are guenuilly good people, better that what most classmates in real life are, but their lack of faith in Marinette is hurting the heroin, and I don’t think this is right to show that it’s okay to remain friend with people whose can mistrust you so easilly in favor of somoene who always hurt you.

It’s so unfair, because Marinette shouldn’t have had to rely on the help of a former bully to thwart Lila’s plans. Even if it was good for Sabrina’s redemption, the way they turned things out in this episode demonstrated that ialso shows that Apart from Socqueline, Luka, Zoé, Adrien and even Kagami, Marinette’s friendships are very fragile, and it seems like she can’t even count on the one she considers her best friend.

And yet … There may be another potential explanation about why the ml writters are portrayng things this way :

The ml authors must integrate so many plot points in such a short time that sometimes they simplify many progressions by giving the characters attitudes and decision-making that are very questionable and that sometimes seem out of character. It’s a form of scripwritting ease, and it can indeed sometimes mess up the writting.

Thus I have this theory that the ml writers put Marinette in a situation where her own friends can hurt her and deeply disappoint her (even though she doesn’t seem to realize it yet) to set the stage for her future akumatization in either season 6 or season 7.

We already had Adrien/Chat Noir akumatized twice, and they never risked akumatizing Marinette before because it could have meant Gabriel’s victory served on a silver platter. But I beleive season 6 and 7 will change a lot of statut quo from before, that this time akumatizing Marinette will be possible, especially know that it was established that Marinette has allies to whom she can entrust the ladybug’s miraculous, allies who know her secret identity.

But if they want to go toward the akumanette road for the future seasons, especially with Lila being the future butterfly miraculous, they’ll probably want to really push Marinette to her limits, more than they’ve ever done before, and put her in a situation where she really feels like she’s all alone. And what better way for that than to have Marinette own family and friends hurting her in a way that she finally doubts their love for her ? Hurting her in a way that for the first time, Marinette finally feels anger and betrayal at them for turning against her so easilly, as if her own love and friendship never meant anything to them ? Especially now that we know Lila can still manipulate people under another fake identity, and has proven that she could also fool Marintte’s own mother.

This is the only explanation that makes sense to me, because if the ml writters are able to show serious subjects on screen like school bullying or parental abuse, and in such a representative way of reality, why would they have a such a discouraging view of friendship ?

But this is only speculation on my part, every fictitious work has their flaws, and maybe some of mirculous writting of it’s side and secondary characters is just one of those.

To be perfectly honest, as with not telling Adrien the truth about his father, I consider that leaving such important matters untouched until they become the perfect source for drama is extremely cheap and a disservice to the fans.

Marinette has been through the wringer since Chameleon. As a matter of fact, any episode showcasing her bitter enmity with Lila had the perfect set-up for her akumatisation. And let's not forget, it's been seven years and we've already had two What If? episodes where Adrien got akumatised and the stakes where higher than ever but no episode with the same premise but Marinette as the akumatised victim.

Why can't an Akumanette episode be like that? An actual reversion of the status quo, even if it'll be undone in the end? Because, so far, Chat Blanc and Ephemeral only served as further evidence on why someone like Gabriel simply doesn't deserve his son or to win.

But going back to Lila being exposed...

It's just so frustrating because the fandom's been waiting years for this and the writers chose the easy way out! Not to mention Lila's position as the next big bad basically makes her untouchable, hence why despite being exposed and expelled, she not only doesn't face any real consequences but was actually once again rewarded by her actions! Because now she can easily work from the shadows with no one to bother her.

What's even worse is the writers' obsession with making Lila appear as an evil mastermind who couldn't be taken down unless she messed up herself, when that is just not the case.

If we ignore for a moment Lila's supposed cunning goes completely against the Show, Don't Tell rule (as the writers are continuously claiming she's just that good when her actions suggest the opposite), there's also the fact that the writers had actually introduced all the right factors to properly expose her already. But instead of actually using them, they underutilised them as one-time things/solutions:

1. Lila's lies and actions are contradictory:

For instance, there's her clear mistake when saying she had tinnitus in her right ear when at the beginning of the day she claimed it was in her left ear back in Chameleon. I will admit I don't know how seating arrangements work in that case, but I think if that were the case then she shouldn't have taken Nino's place, but Adrien's so her good ear could actually hear the lesson.

Even before that is Volpina. There she claimed to be Ladybug's best friend, yet she constantly switched from "admiring" her to looking down on her to make herself look better. In fact, this ambivalent attitude towards Ladybug has been present ever since, as Lila is so smug and her hatred for Ladybug runs so deep, she can't help but let her true feelings shine through in the form of condescension.

And there's of course Oni-Chan, where she swore up and down she didn't have a crush on Adrien, but immediately sent everyone a picture of her kissing him on the cheek.

But of course, because no one is ever allowed to notice anything amiss with Lila, these details are completely ignored.

2. Lila doesn't think things through:

For most of the show, she's so focused on instant gratification she doesn't think about the long-term consequences of her actions.

Even though her crush on Adrien all but vanished in season 5, Lila is incapable of thinking before she acts, which negatively affects Adrien's opinion of her. At least, she never thinks about the consequences of her actions. Namely, since her first instinct is to always lie, she always fails to realise how her actions will impact on the relationship she wants with Adrien. And so, while she gleefully hurt and manipulated the people close to him, she only kept alienating the one boy she wanted all to herself.

This flaw should have been exploited to expose her, but no. Let's go with the most cliché trope ever.

3. Her lying disease:

Come on, people! Even if it was another lie, she admitted to it herself! In literally any other show that would have played some part in her loss of credibility! Why is it only a one-time solution in Miraculous?

Seriously, all it should have taken was for Bustier to gently decline her proposal to become class president because, while "she can't control it", her condition makes her inherently untrustworthy.

The only explanation I can give to this is that it might be ableist, but other than that...

4. In season 5, Lila gravitates toward the very same people she's hurt before

How is it possible that the very same people she's hurt before (Kagami and Chloé) are also the ones she specifically targets to become their "friend" and not face consequences?

Seriously, as much as I love Kagami for at least calling her out on her toxic behaviour, she should have cut all ties with her there. Because aside from being an insult to Kagami's character, after Protection it serves no purpose but to inform Lila of the Diamonds Dance and have Kagami call her a worthless rock to her face.

5. Alya knows Marinette is Ladybug:

The big one, isn't it? I'm not going to dwell much on this because I already talked about it in length during the original post, but yeah.

The fact that they refuse to have Alya learn the truth about Lila until she revealed the truth herself only serves to highlight how the writers are underutilising Alya's role as Marinette's secret keeper by reducing her, once again, to "talking sense" to Marinette when it comes to her love life.

Way to fail the Bechdel test, Miraculous...

Liar Revealed

So Marinette and Sabrina worked together to lure Lila into a false sense of security that eventually led up to her spilling everything in front of an audience she was unaware of. Now everyone knows she’s been lying about everything, she’s a horrible person, and she and Chloé are about to be expelled for good… After 7 years, the fandom finally got what it wanted.

…then why do I feel like I’ve actually wasted those 7 years of my life? 

Buckle up, ‘cause this is going to be a long ride.

How did we go from "Maybe Lila starts lying and wanting attention because her mom didn't give it to her cause she's busy at her job" to "Lila if it's even her real name has always lied her entire life and her lies are so strong that she manages to study in different schools,making her classmates and the people around her even more dumb,goes by different identities,somehow manipulates multiple families into adopting her....."

Forgive me for shamelessly self-promoting, but would be interested in an analysis discussing this topic specifically?

Why Scarlet Lady Is Better Than Canon: Lila Rossi

I had mentioned before at length regarding my distaste, dislike, and dissatisfaction with the character of Lila Rossi in Miraculous Ladybug canon. A character so horrible, so poorly written, and so two dimensional that I did not think it was possible to make any iteration of her I wouldn’t dislike.

And yet it seems @zoe-oneesama has come through for me yet again in Scarlet Lady by taking what was quite possibly one of my biggest issues and most despised characters within canon and with only a few changes, turning her into something enjoyable. Dare I even say…likable.

@aurorarose2112

THIS^^^^ SO MUCH THIS^^^^

Everything you said is absolutely spot-on, but I'm obsessed with number 6 because I've been saying one of my main problems with Lila is that there is nothing cathartic about her for ages!!!

The only time she faced any real consequences for her actions was back in Volpina, and even that didn't mean much because only two people know she lied while everyone else remains none-the-wiser.

And all that I could forgive and understand is for the sake of drama, if it weren't because the writers don't do anything to make it any less frustrating.

None of Lila's plans have actually backfired in ways that could be considered truly karmic since Volpina. Instead of facing the consequences for her actions, the narrative is constantly rewarding her for said actions!

She insults and lies about Ladybug to Adrien while trying to make herself look good?

Because Ladybug burst her bubble Adrien actually takes her side over her partner's.

She lies through her teeth about being in Achu and willingly helps Hawk Moth because she's still bitter over Ladybug calling her out?

Despite the many mentions of Volpina being active and people knowing she is Lila (I don't remember how they know, but I'm pretty sure they do) none of the characters involved save for Marinette and Adrien realise she was lying.

She fakes injuries to manipulate people into giving her what she wants and threatens Marinette while ONCE AGAIN choosing to work with Hawk Moth because she's that petty?

The seat arrangement goes back to the way it was without any real shift in the Adrienette dynamic while Marinette is told by everyone to just let her be.

She manipulates her way into the Agreste household and deliberately hurts Kagami?

She convinces Kagami to go after Ladybug instead of her, Gabriel starts considering as an ally, and just when Adrien finally puts his foot down, Gabriel calls her and basically employs her—allowing her to be close to Adrien in the process.

She frames Marinette for different crimes and gets her expelled?

Not only does her lie of being a consummate liar, even if it's due to a disease, holds no relevance over the plot, but she becomes Gabriel's "muse" and gets to be even closer to Adrien.

Maybe it's just me, but seeing how the characters I'm supposed to care about don't stand a chance against a poorly written villain and, moreover, said villain always gets away scot-free, well, let's just say I find it anything but enjoyable.

lila saying ‘a girl doesn’t need a costume to be amazing’ & ‘it’s not worth fighting over a boy’ is so frustrating bc she’s correct and these are lessons adrien and marinette absolutely need to learn but like. girl just turns around and gets akumatised into a superhero to impress adrien & declares war on marinette saying ‘adrien will soon be mine’