Gabriel Agreste

Gabriel Agreste
Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir character
First appearance	Stormy Weather
Last appearance	Revelation
Created by	Thomas Astruc
Voiced by	Keith Silverstein (English) Antoine Tomè (French)
Abilities	• Akumatization • Enhanced dexterity, agility • Detect emotions (all as Hawk Moth/Monarch/Shadow Moth) • Amokization (as Shadow Moth)
In-universe information
Alias	Hawk Moth, Monarch, Shadow Moth
Species	• Human (as Gabriel) • Hawk moth-based supervillain ( as Hawk Moth) • Monarch butterfly-based supervillain (as Monarch)
Occupation	Fashion designer
Weapon	Purple cane (also used to hold butterflies)
Family	Emilie Agreste (wife) Adrien Agreste (son)
Home	Paris

Gabriel Agreste, (born as Gabi Grassette), also known by his villain form Hawk Moth (French: Le Papillon) or Monarch, is the main antagonist in the children's animated TV show Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir. Gabriel is depicted as a rarely seen, albeit famous fashion designer, and created and owns the eponymous fashion brand. He resides with his son in a large estate. His son, Adrien Agreste, who he has an unsociable relationship with, is one of the main heroes Cat Noir, but Gabriel is unaware of this.

Before the plot beginning of the series, Gabriel is motivated by the death of his wife, Emilie Agreste, in order to become Hawk Moth. He attempts to get the Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculous by using the Miraculous of the Butterfly. He has the power to "akumatize" - a term coined by the show - to make people evil and transform them into villains, and to those who have just experienced a hardship in their life. Hawk Moth intends to use the jewels in order to make a wish to revive Emilie, in spite of possible consequences.

In season 4, he merges the Butterfly and Peacock Miraculous (as used by his assistant, Nathalie Sancœur, and his wife) to become Shadow Moth, allowing him to use the ability of Amokization. After obtaining all the Miraculous except the Ladybug and Black Cat, Gabriel becomes Monarch.

Gabriel is voiced by Keith Silverstein. Gabriel appears in most Miraculous media, including the main series, the comic books, and the 2023 film, as well as advertising and merchandise.

Appearances

In “Origins: Part 1,” Nooroo, the kwami of transmission which allows Gabriel to transform into Hawk Moth, explains that when a person has both the ladybug earrings and the black cat ring, the wielder is granted a special ability to make a wish, although not without consequences. This is established as the main motive for Gabriel's villainy. Gabriel has been depicted in some episodes to mistreat Nooroo and considers himself master over the kwami.

As Hawk Moth, Gabriel has the ability to "akumatize" others into becoming a villain, based off their hardships.

Hawk Moth's identity is initially kept secret, until it is revealed in the first episode of season 2, The Collector (French: Le Collectionneur). There was significant fan speculation on forums and fansites linking Gabriel as Hawk Moth prior to the reveal. This reveal was praised by fans. In the same episode, Ladybug suspects Gabriel of being Hawk Moth. To dispel the rumour, Gabriel akumatizes himself.

There are several times in which Gabriel strongly suspects that Adrien is Cat Noir, such as seeing his ring, but he never does find it out. For instance, Gabriel was found to be suspicious in the episode Gorizilla when he was comparing Cat Noir's miraculous to Adrien's ring that he wears. He noticed similar patterns in the two pieces and formed a suspicion that his son could be leading a double life.

In Heroes Day, Gabriel akumatizes his assistant Nathalie Sancœur, who becomes Catalyst. The episode highlighted the relationship between the two characters.

In Miraculous World, Gabriel goes secretly to New York because he is particularly interested in the inaugural exhibition of a precious jewel, which is later revealed to be a new Miraculous.

Gabriel uses new Miraculous in season 5, such as the Bunny Miraculous.

Gabriel utilizes the Alliance Ring in Evolution to discover the identities of the new Ladybug and Cat Noir, although this later goes back to normal.

Gabriel is the main antagonist in the movie, as well.

Personality

Gabriel is very strict, aloof and emotionally abusive towards his son, Adrien. Gabriel has a lack of communication with him, for instance, not planning anything for his birthday. It is heavily implied that this is causing Adrien to have social issues. He leaves his assistants, Nathalie Sancœur, and the Gorilla, to do things with him. While it appears this is for business reasons, it is actually to become Monarch.

Gabriel is motivated to become a villain by the death of his wife, Emilie. Gabriel wants to use the wish that combining the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous gives in order to save her, and is willing to do anything to obtain that wish, regardless of the potential consequences that wish may face.

Gabriel is motivated by his family, but that also puts everything else he cares for at risk, as well as his relationship with his son.

Gabriel promotes Adrien's relationship with Chloè Bourgeois, evidenced by her attempts to use Gabriel to thwart Marinette.

Gabriel is manipulative and controlling of those who stand in his way, particularly as Monarch. Even when he is not Monarch, he has been known to have a bad temper (such as destroying things in his room). Gabriel has also been known to get angry at his son. For example, in Volpina, Gabriel is enraged at Adrien for taking a book about the Miraculous.

Gabriel has, however, shown occasional compassion to Adrien. For instance, he watched a movie, called Solitude, with Adrien that was personally important to them both.

Gabriel has used his connections in the fashion industry to akumatize others and attempt to gain for himself.

Impact

Significant amounts of fanfiction have been written about Gabriel. A popular theory amongst fans is that Gabriel made Adrien as a sentimonster. Gabriel has a prominent role in the movie as well, as the main supervillain. Discussion about the successor to Gabriel has also been theorized about.

Advertisements have been produced such as with Volkswagen.

Reception

Her Campus wrote positively of the character:

You end up rooting for him because, poor him, he has weaponized most of Paris (...) and is only getting marginally closer to his goal.

— Camila Aponte

Keith Silverstein, the voice actor for Gabriel, was praised for giving the character "sinister charisma" and making him "appropriately dastardly". The character was also praised for the tragic backstory, which was described as "sincere motivation", and regarded as adding multiple layers to an already multifaceted character.

The character was lauded by Psychology Today as a positive influence against the negative traits of narcissism.

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