Akuma

An akuma is a magic butterfly 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.^[1]

Appearance

Before it is turned into an akuma by the Butterfly Miraculous owner, the butterfly is pure white.

However, once the butterfly becomes an akuma, it turns black with translucent purple highlights.

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

Creation and abilities

Users of the Butterfly Miraculous don't have an endless supply of akumas, so when they start to run out, the users can grow their own over time. Hawk Moth creates an akuma by charging a butterfly with magical energy.

An akuma is to possess an important object of a person who feels strong (negative) emotions, forming a telepathic connection between the person and Hawk Moth.

Akumas have their own telepathic link to the Butterfly Miraculous owner, but if the akuma goes too far away, the link is disconnected. They can squeeze through impossibly small spaces, even being able to move through the seal of a windowpane.

Once the deal is made, the person is enveloped in a magical dark-purple ether, stemming from the object containing the akuma, that transforms the person into a superpowered champion.

If the emotions of the intended target weaken, an akuma will be attracted to the person in the area whose emotions are the strongest. If the person has a great level of willpower, or a sufficient reason not to accept the deal offered to them, then they can resist the offer of the Butterfly Miraculous owner, in which case the akuma will leave the object and seek out a new target.

If an akuma is removed from one's object but goes uncaptured and unpurified, it will multiply before returning to the Butterfly Miraculous owner and entering the Cane. The copies of the akuma will subsequently fly around and indiscriminately seek out other people. Any person that make contact with the akuma clones will turn into exact physical copies of the original host's superpowered form and be frozen like statues in this state. Should the akuma's former host manage to regain the intense emotions that transformed them to begin with, the original akuma will leave the Cane and return to transform them once again, and the aforementioned duplicates will awaken and be under the full control of the original, becoming a massive clone army.

When multiple akumas are in existence, they can be controlled by the Butterfly Miraculous owner, to the point of forming a giant swarm shaped like their head, which they can speak through.

The Butterfly Miraculous owner is limited to releasing only one akuma at a time. The sole exception to this rule is if the Butterfly Miraculous owner creates an akumatized champion with the power to enhance other people's powers.

Fate

The Butterfly Miraculous owner can revoke the akuma, taking away their champion's powers and turning the akuma back into a normal butterfly.

An akuma will leave the object it inhabits after the object is broken. From there, the owner of the Ladybug Miraculous can catch it with the Yo-yo in order to "de-evilize" it by removing the Butterfly Miraculous energy from it. Afterwards, once the akuma reverts back to being a normal butterfly, the Ladybug Miraculous owner releases it, and the butterfly is free, possibly returning to the countryside rather than to Hawk Moth's lair.^[2]

If an akuma is released from a broken object without being purified, it will multiply into countless akumas and possess any people they come across, turning them into physical duplicates of the akumatized champion. When the original is defeated and purified, its duplicates will vanish, returning the original champion and the other people affected back to normal.

Sightings

Episodes

Comics and books

Other

Trivia

• In Japanese, "akuma" (悪魔) means "demon" or "devil".
• 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 aren't evil by nature. The black color just means they're charged with power.^[3]
• The word "evilize" was created by Thomas Astruc. ^[4]
• In "Party Crasher", it is shown that Akumas are produced by butterfly farming from Hawk Moth’s repository.
  • As of this episode, an Akuma is yet to be seen in its larvae stage, and it is also unknown what they eat when in that stage. Since they grow into white butterflies, it could be possible that they start out as white caterpillars.
• Akumas are similar to Kwamis, both being able to inhabit an object and transform a person into a super-being.
• In the Korean dub, they're simply called "Black Butterflies".
• Whilst under Hawk Moth's power, they are similar in appearance and function to the Jigokuchō from Bleach.
• "Mayura" is the first episode in which a regular (black and purple) Akuma does not make an appearance.
• When Cataclysm is used on an Akuma, it will be destroyed like everything else, as seen in "Cat Blanc".
• Akumas could only be de-evilized by Ladybug's Yo-Yo, the Butterfly Miraculous Holder, or by simply destroying it with a Cataclysm.
• While being powerful because they could create superhumans and even create a superhuman who could give the holder more power to make more akumas, the Butterfly Miraculous offers no protection to its holder.

Gallery

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References