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Main series universe information This article is about Kamiko from the TV series and any information in it exclusively follows the main series' continuity. For information from the Movie continuity, please visit this page. |
| This article is about the transformed butterflies used by Hawk Moth/Betterfly. You may be looking for the supervillains/superheroes or the superpower. |
| “ | Thank you for your help, little Kamiko. | ” |
A Kamiko, or Akuma (when used for evil), is a magical butterfly capable of giving the target superhuman abilities. The use of these butterflies, while usually used for good, can be used for evil, as demonstrated by Hawk Moth/Shadow Moth/Monarch, transforming people into supervillains. An army of akumas is created and led by Hawk Moth/Shadow Moth/Monarch, while Ladybug and Cat Noir are tasked with capturing and purifying them.[1]
In "Catalyst" and "Ladybug", Hawk Moth akumatizes Nathalie Sancoeur to Catalyst, a villain with the ability to boost superpowers. With Catalyst's boost, Hawk Moth is transformed into Scarlet Moth and gains the ability to release an unlimited number of akumas at once. However, he loses this ability when the Cane is broken although Nathalie stays akumatized.
In "Dearest Family", Shadow Moth figured out how to evolve his powers, allowing him to create a Megakuma, a stronger akuma that is capable of breaking through the barrier of the Magical Charms.
Appearance[]
Before it is charged with energy by the owner of the Butterfly Miraculous, the butterfly is pure white.
However, once the butterfly becomes an kamiko or akuma, it's black with translucent purple highlights.
A Megakuma looks the same as a regular kamiko or akuma but slightly bigger.
In "Catalyst", when infused with extra power by Scarlet Moth, the akumas are crimson with bright red edges and white markings.
Creation and abilities[]
A kamiko is a magical butterfly. Its goal is to possess an important object of a person who feels strong emotions, forming a telepathic connection between the person and the Butterfly holder (typically with an invisible beam shaped as the holder desires like a butterfly). They are supposed to be used for good purposes by transforming ordinary people into superheroes via positive emotions, but with Hawk Moth they are instead used to create villains by honing in on negative emotions.
Users of the Butterfly Miraculous don't have an endless supply of butterflies, 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, but it's unknown if the holder can magically create their own butterflies.
Kamikos/Akumas have their own telepathic link to the Butterfly Miraculous owner, but if the Kamiko/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. As seen in "Miraculous Paris", a Kamiko can be sent to a champion through a blast. As Betterfly was able to quickly launch a Kamiko to Cat Noir when he was in danger.
Once the deal is made, the person is enveloped in a magical dark-purple ether, stemming from the object containing the Kamiko/Akuma, that transforms the person into a superpowered champion. The stronger their emotions, the more powerful the resulting hero or villain will be.
A non-purified Akuma multiplying on top of the Eiffel Tower
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 makes 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. When 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, forming 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. It is unknown if Kamikos can do this as well.
However that's not always the case shown in "Miraculous Shanghai", when King Cash was deakumatized, the akuma didn't multiply but instead Hawk Moth sent it to a new champion, showing that he can choose to let it multiply or choose a new champion.
As seen in "Kwamibuster", "Hack-San" and "Representation" if an akuma or kamiko is contained somehow (such as in a bowl, a jar, or a bucket) it will be unable to multiply.
As of "Cat Blanc", it seems that the butterflies have a sense awareness when it was purified by Ladybug instead of flying straight away it landed in Cat Noir's hands, stayed for it a bit and with the world as it was the butterfly itself must have sensed it and Cat Noir were last of the Akumas/Kamikos and akumatized/kamikotized person.
Shadow Moth was able to boost his powers, allowing him to create a much more powerful akuma called Megakuma. This new akuma is able to break through the barrier of the Magical Charm and destroy it, causing the charm to disappear.
Megakumas can also give their victims a great amount of stamina to achieve their goals as Froggy was akumatized into Risk at sunset in the titular episode and was able to ride his bicycle around Paris for almost 24 hours without getting tired.
In "Determination", if a megakuma is inside an object made of multiple pieces it's essence can split apart among the pieces but it's also unknown what's going to happen when a Megakuma's essence is left behind.
In "Intuition", it is revealed that Akumas/Kamikos are able to fly through the vacuum of outer space.
Weaknesses[]
There are several ways to de-spell, reject or avoid the Kamiko/Akuma and Kamikotization:
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- As per all of the episodes of the main series, the Akumatized/Kamikotized object can be damaged, causing the Akuma/Kamiko to flee, and the target will return to normal.
- The Ladybug Miraculous can then be used to capture and purify the Akuma back into a butterfly while it attempts to flee. But it's unknown if the power can be used to heal Kamikos due to their benevolent nature.
- As shown in "Despair Bear", "Gigantitan", "Chameleon", "Furious Fu", "Startrain", "Ikari Gozen" and "Crocoduel", if the emotions of the intended target weaken before the Akuma/Kamiko reaches them, the Akuma/Kamiko will wait and/or be attracted to the person in the area whose emotions are the strongest.
- As shown in "Riposte" and "Gigantitan", an Akuma/Kamiko can be seen before reaching its target and possibly stopped and purified beforehand.
- As shown in "Zombizou", the Akuma/Kamiko can be intercepted by another person, who is then possibly akumatized/kamikotized instead.
- As shown in "Catalyst", "Heart Hunter", and "Miraculous New York", the Akuma/Kamiko can be called back by the holder of the Butterfly Miraculous.
- Also shown in "Catalyst", the Butterfly Miraculous owner is limited to releasing only one Akuma/Kamiko at a time. Hawk Moth circumvents this by creating an akumatized champion that gives him the power to release multiple akumas at once.
- As shown in "Chameleon", Akuma/Kamiko can be taken and used even without strong negative/positive emotions.
- As shown in "Startrain", the Akuma/Kamiko can stray too far from its owner and lose its telepathic contact with them, resulting in a rogue hero or villain if it possesses someone.
- However, Monarch was able to stay in contact with a Megakuma far from Earth in "Intuition". It is likely Megakumas can be connected with from great distances unlike standard Akumas.
- As shown in "Miraculer" and "Gabriel Agreste", the target can reject and expel the Akuma/Kamiko if they are strong-willed enough.
- As shown in "Miraculous Paris" and "Cat Blanc", an akuma/kamiko can be destroyed using Cataclysm before it can reach its target.
- As shown in "Gang of Secrets", "Rocketear", "Qilin" and "Penalteam", the target can reject and expel the akuma/kamiko if the emotions that caused their transformation to be lost or supplanted.
- In "Mr. Pigeon 72", Alya Césaire helps Marinette Dupain-Cheng learn the Ladybug Miraculous holder can create Magical Charms which repel akumas and protect those who wear it. Since kamikos have a benevolent nature, it's possible they are able to bypass the Magical Charm's protection and/or strengthen it.
- As shown in "Furious Fu", the Order of the Guardians' monks are taught a chant: whirlwind of wisdom" by saying "the virtuous wind resists the temptation" and repeating "My anger is mine, but I am not my anger" to repel akumas, if the Butterfly Miraculous is in the wrong hands.
- As seen in "Migration", the person can break free by breaking, damaging or destroying their object containing the Akuma/Kamiko before being fully akumatized/kamikotized.
- However, this will only happen if the victim is willing to reject it, otherwise the victim's akumatized/kamikotized object will be split in half, but the Akuma/Kamiko will still remain as seen in "Crocoduel".
- As seen in "Confrontation" if several people encourage someone who has a Magical Charm, the charm will conjure an energy shield capable of purifying megakumas. It's unknown if Kamikos are affected or not.
- As seen in "Kwamibuster", "Hack-San", and "Representation", an Akuma/Kamiko can easily be trapped or contained by using a container such as a bowl, bucket, and jar, which prevents them from escaping and multiplying.
- As seen in "Miraculous Paris", the user needs to recall the butterflies they create quickly because the user runs the risk of being tracked and found.
Failure[]
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Ladybug releasing a former Akuma that was reverted back into a butterfly.
The Butterfly Miraculous owner can revoke the Kamiko/Akuma, taking away their champion's powers and turning the Kamiko/Akuma back into a normal butterfly.
An akuma will leave the object it inhabits after the object is broken, damaged or destroyed. 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. Afterward, 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 set free from an 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.
However, it's unclear whether this process would still apply should a Kamiko be used with good intentions when it's charged.
Sightings[]
Episodes[]
Comics and books[]
Other[]
Trivia[]
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The butterfly's chibi design as seen in "The Chase".
- "Kamiko" might be shorten from "Kami no Ko" (神の子), which in Japanese means "Prodigy" or "child of god", while "akuma" (悪魔, hiragana あくま) 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.
- Kamikos 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".
- Ironically, they are still called that in their scarlet forms, too.
- "Sentibubbler", "Destruction", and "Emotion" are currently the only episodes in which an akuma does not appear in any form, while "Mayura" and "Re-creation" are the only episodes in which the default black-and-purple akuma does not make an appearance.
- When Cataclysm is used on a kamiko or akuma, it will be destroyed like everything else, as seen in "Miraculous Paris" and "Cat Blanc" respectively.
- As seen in "Simpleman", the user of the Butterfly Miraculous is not immune to the superpowers of their akumatized champions, except in cases like Darkblade's barrier from his titular episode.
- An akuma can be seen in the thumbnail of every season 4 trailer in the official YouTube channel.
Gallery
Click here to view the gallery.
References[]