Akuma

"Fly away, my evil/little akuma, and evilize him/her."

- Hawk Moth

An akuma is a black lepidopteran creature responsible for transforming people into supervillains. An army of akumas is created and led by Hawk Moth while Ladybug and Cat Noir are tasked with capturing and purifying them.

Appearance
Before it is turned into an akuma by Hawk Moth, the butterfly is pure white and bluish. However, once it becomes an akuma, it turns black with translucent purple highlights.

In "Catalyst (Heroes' Day - Part 1)", when infused with extra power by Scarlet Moth they're crimson with bright red edges and white markings.

Creation and abilities
Hawk Moth creates an akuma by charging a butterfly with his dark energy. The purpose of an akuma is to possess an important object of a person, forming a telepathic connection between the person and Hawk Moth. Once the deal is made, the akuma in the object releases a black and purple substance that transforms the person into a supervillain. They also can squeeze through impossibly small spaces, even being able to move through the seal of a window pane. If an akuma is removed from one's object but goes uncaptured and unpurified, it will duplicate itself exponentially before returning to Hawk Moth and entering his cane. The copies of the akuma will subsequently fly around and indiscriminately seek out other humans. Any humans that make contact with the akuma clones will turn into exact physical copies of the original host's villain form and be petrified in this state. Should the akuma's former host manage to regain the negative emotions that transformed them to begin with, the original akuma will leave the cane and return to corrupt them once again, and the aforementioned duplicates will awaken and be under their full control, becoming a massive clone army.

When multiple akumas are in existence, they can form a giant swarm shaped like Hawk Moth's head, which he can speak through.

In "Catalyst (Heroes' Day - Part 1)", when they're infused with extra power they can transform any one that still has negative emotion will be akumatized into a scarlet version of the previous akumatized villains.

Fate
The akuma leaves the object it inhabits after it is destroyed. From there, Ladybug can catch it with her yo-yo in order to "de-evilize" it by removing the dark energy from it. Afterward, once the akuma reverts back to being a normal butterfly, she releases it, and the butterfly is free, possibly returning to the countryside rather than to Hawk Moth's lair.

Victims either has little or no memory of the event, or are able to aware that they are being akumatized. However, volunteers like Lila Rossi are exceptions in this case.

In "Catalyst (Heroes' Day - Part 1)", it shows that Hawk Moth can revert the akuma into a normal butterfly when he remove someone's powers without Ladybug destroying an object or purifying the akuma. As a result, the affected has not shown signs of confusion or fatigue.

If the akuma is released without being purified, it will multiply and infect other people. But when it is defeated and purified, its duplicates will vanish, regressing the original victim and the other people affected back to normal.

Trivia

 * In Japanese, "akuma" (悪魔) means "demon" or "devil".
 * Akumas are not evil by nature. The black color just means they're charged with power.
 * The word "evilize" was created by Thomas Astruc.
 * In most Asian lore, butterflies symbolize change, however, they are a sign of bad luck when in large numbers.
 * In some animistic beliefs, the sight of butterflies or moths approaching or entering one's house means that an unexpected guest or intruder will arrive in the near future.
 * Akumas are similar to kwamis, both being able to inhabit an object and transform a person into a super-being.
 * Whilst under Hawk Moth's power, they are similar in appearance and function to the Jigokuchō from Bleach.
 * An akuma will not corrupt someone if they recover from their negative emotions. Examples include:
 * In "Stoneheart (Origins - Part 2)", as Marinette manages to cheer Ivan up before Hawk Moth akumatizes him again.
 * In "Despair Bear", when Hawk Moth tries to akumatize the guests at Chloé's party before she remedies her behavior.
 * In "Gigantitan", when Hawk Moth tries to akumatize Adrien's bodyguard. He calms down upon seeing Adrien, which causes his negative emotions to disappear.
 * In "Zombizou", where the akuma was meant for Marinette. Her negative emotions fade away after Caline Bustier tells her she's not being punished.
 * On occasions, an akuma will be attracted to the person whose negative emotions resonate the strongest.
 * Seen in "Gigantitan", when August got akumatized instead of Adrien's bodyguard.
 * Also in "Zombizou", where the akuma was intended for Marinette but was drawn to Miss Bustier due to her fear being more intense than Marinette's rage.
 * Mayura is the first episode in which a regular (black and purple) akuma does not make an appearance.

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