The Miraculouses are magical jewels.[1] Worn as jewelry, they have the ability to transform their wearers, with the help of the Kwamis, into animal-themed, super-powered beings.
In the English dub, the term Miraculous is used as both the singular and plural form, in contrast with Astruc's preference for adding -es for more than one[2], though there were occasions when characters used Miraculouses with the added -es to refer to more than one Miraculous.
As explained by Master Wang Fu, Wayzz, and Tikki in the comic story "The Trash Krakken Part 1", kwamis have existed since the beginning of the universe. Being abstract creatures, each kwami is formed whenever a new idea, concept, or emotion comes into existence in the universe, such as creation, love, beauty, and mathematics. However, tangible creatures, like humans, could not see or sense kwamis; so the kwamis could only roam the universe without communicating with them.
The mage creating the Ladybug Miraculous and the yo-yo.
Thousands of years ago, a mage successfully helped the kwamis to interact with humans by creating magic jewels, which were called Miraculouses. When the kwamis inhabited them, the Miraculouses bestowed amazing power on their wearers. There are two Miraculouses that are more powerful than the rest: the Ladybug Miraculous, having the power of creation from the first kwami in existence, Tikki; and the Cat Miraculous, having the power of destruction from Plagg. In "Ladybug & Cat Noir (Origins - Part 1)", Nooroo states that legend says when the Ladybug Miraculous and Cat Miraculous are worn together, their user will gain absolute power. At some point in time, all of the knowledge about the Miraculouses and their powers was written down in code in a book, with very few knowing how to decipher the code. Miracle Boxes were also created at an unknown time to store the inactive Miraculouses.
To protect and distribute Miraculouses, the Order of the Guardians was formed and existed for many years. Throughout its existence, guardians trained younger generations to keep a watchful eye over the Miraculouses and the spellbook, which were placed in the Guardians' temple.
The Order fell more than 170 years ago because of a mistake made by Fu, a young apprentice guardian at the time. After using the Peacock Miraculous in an attempt to create a small Sentimonster to go to the kitchen to get him some food, he accidentally manifested a ravenous Sentimonster that devoured the monks and most of the Miraculouses. Fu was able to escape, taking the Miraculous spellbook with him, along with the last remaining Miracle Box.
After the temple was destroyed, Fu ends up losing both Butterfly and Peacock Miraculouses, along with the spellbook while trying to escape from the Sentimonster. After narrowly escaping, Fu took the box with the remaining 17 Miraculouses with him.
According to Nooroo, the Miraculouses, meant for good purposes, have been used by heroes throughout history. However, in the wrong hands, Miraculouses can be used to cause terrible disaster.
In "Feast", after the titular villain was defeated by Ladybug and Cat Noir, the former's Miraculous Ladybug is able to bring back the guardians temple, along with all the monks and the Miraculous that were eaten.
System
Wang Fu, the Great Guardian, taking the Cat Miraculous to the location of his chosen owner for it, Adrien.
Usually, a Miraculous is assigned to an appropriate user with good intentions by a guardian, a human tasked with watching over the Miraculouses and keeping them in a safe place when not being used.
While there is a chance of giving a Miraculous to an unworthy candidate, the system prevents many unfit people from getting Miraculouses easily. The guardian takes back and stores the Miraculous when it is discarded or returned to him. Unfortunately, there have been cases where Miraculouses are lost, even potentially forever, and the guardian is unable to retrieve them, such as when the Butterfly Miraculous was presumed to be lost forever by Wang.
Miraculouses can be kept by their chosen users for many years as long as they are being used and the holder is capable.[3]
Marinette about to sneak the Ladybug Miraculous into Alya's bag.
There are some ways to acquire a Miraculous outside of being chosen by the Great Guardian. People can find Miraculouses if they have been lost and are unable to be stored properly. For example, Gabriel Agreste found the Butterfly Miraculous, making it easy for him to utilize it for evil instead of good without Wang Fu's interference or knowledge of his secret identity. Or in "The Queens' Battle", when Chloé found the Bee Miraculous after Ladybug lost it. However, there are those who found a Miraculous and by their own free will, would use it by trying to be a hero without being chosen by a guardian.
Previous Miraculous holders can also give their Miraculous to someone else if they don't know a guardian or the guardian can't intervene first. After believing she shouldn't be the Ladybug Miraculous holder in "Stoneheart", Marinette sneaks the Ladybug Miraculous into Alya's bag in hopes that Alya will find it and take over as Ladybug, although Marinette later decides to continue as Ladybug and retrieves it before this can happen. If a current or previous holder can't continue their job by other means like old age or injury they can give their jewel to someone else like how Nino wields the Turtle Miraculous in Master Fu's place due to his bad back.
Reflekta attempting to take Ladybug's earrings for Hawk Moth.
Another option for getting a Miraculous is stealing a Miraculous and/or removing it from its user. There are different kinds of motivations for taking another user's Miraculous. One motivation is Hawk Moth's intention to get the Ladybug Miraculous and Cat Miraculous to access their absolute power when combined. On the opposite side, if a Miraculous is being used by a villainous person, it is the Great Guardian's task to find out who the Miraculous holder is and take the Miraculous away from them. If needed, the Great Guardian will get help from other Miraculous holders or choose new Miraculous holders in order to stop the villain, as when Marinette and Adrien receive Miraculouses from Wang Fu to defeat Hawk Moth. Along with being vulnerable to being stolen if they aren't being worn, Miraculouses can be forced off the user by someone else when they are being worn, whether or not they are transformed. Despite being possible, it's less common to be able to steal the Miraculous when the holder is not transformed unless the taker knows what the Miraculous looks like when in its camouflage form.
When in need of assistance, and with the express permission of the Great Guardian, a current Miraculous owner can temporarily give a Miraculous to someone else as long as the temporary owner returns it when the mission is over. This is seen multiple times when Marinette required either extra numbers or the specific powers of a certain Miraculous to defeat a villain.
Master Wang Fu closing the chest, with the inactive Bee Miraculous and Fox Miraculous inside.
Not all Miraculouses in other people's possession are worn and wielded by them. Master Wang Fu keeps unused Miraculouses in the Miracle Box in order to keep them protected and have them available for future chosen users in required situations. In "Mayura", in a secret safe, Gabriel Agreste stores the Peacock Miraculous, since it is mysteriously damaged and can cause illness to its holder. At the same time, Miraculous holders who wear Miraculouses may never or rarely transform with them. Because of his age, Wang Fu struggles when he attempts to transform in "Ladybug & Cat Noir", hurting his back in the process. Nonetheless, Wang keeps and wears the Turtle Miraculous, often discussing matters with Wayzz and benefiting from Wayzz's assistance.
Abilities
Cat Noir utilizing the Cat Miraculous' superpower, Cataclysm, on an elevator.
A Miraculous, when worn and inhabited by a Kwami, transforms the wearer into a costumed guise based on its animal theme and the design they wanted deep down. The Miraculous (or their owner's costume) is capable of compensating for certain impairments such as poor eyesight, as with Carapace's goggles replacing Nino's glasses, or possibly curing such impairments entirely while transformed, as is the case with Alya's lack of glasses as Rena Rouge.
An active Miraculous grants the wearer enhanced physical abilities, like strength and agility. The Miraculous will also provide an omni-purpose tool which functions as a weapon, a communication device, and sometime, a mode of transportation, among a number of other functions. Possibly the greatest benefit of the Miraculouses is that each one grants a unique superpower that corresponds to the abstract concept that the respective Kwami embodies.[4]
Some Miraculous appear to grant the user greater physical skills than others; the Fox Miraculous provides its wearer greater agility than the Ladybug or Cat Miraculous. Some of the Miraculouses' powers follow their theme, like the Ladybug Miraculous, with the power of creation, having the superpower Lucky Charm. The kinds of powers a Miraculous has aren't limited to the theme, though.[5] Some of them also give the owners the abilities of the animals they are basedon, like how Cat Noir has enhanced hearing and night vision.
The transformation lasts until the superpower is used, leaving the wearer about five minutes until they detransform back to normal. Before the wearer can transform again, the kwami needs to recharge by eating food. According to Hawk Moth in "Mayura", a more experienced Miraculous user can remain transformed, even after using their superpower.
It is explained in "Timetagger" that adulthood bestows unlimited use of one's powers, as seen with Bunnyx.
When their Miraculous is not in use, a Kwami can roam freely outside of the Miraculous. As revealed in "Ladybug and Cat Noir", when the current owner disposes of their Miraculous, the associated Kwami disappears and goes back into the dormant Miraculous. When the Miraculous gets put on again, whether by the same user or a new one, the Kwami comes out of the Miraculous. If the Miraculous comes off by accident though, like when Adrien's ring falls off in "Lady Wifi", the Kwami is not pulled back into the Miraculous due to the owner not actually renouncing the Miraculous. The Kwami will only disappear if the owner wants to get rid of the Miraculous.
A person can wear more than one Miraculous and use them both at the same time.[6] When activating more then one Miraculous at the same time, their suit takes on a hybrid form combining aspects of the suits of each individual Miraculous, allowing the user to call upon both Miraculouses' powers and weapons. In "Kwamibuster", it's revealed that, when a person utilizes more than one Miraculous, they can call upon the power of both. This also results in a suit that combines the themes of both of the animals that the Miraculouses display. To invoke this, the owner must say the names of the Kwamis whose Miraculouses they wish to fuse and say "Unify", while intertwining their hands. To unfuse, the owner must say the name of the Kwamis they want to release and say "Divide".
It's also known that the use of too many Miraculouses may have very severe consequences to both the body and mind of the owner. It's currently unknown if it's possible to fuse more than two Miraculouses at a time.
To deactivate a Miraculous, the person must dispose of their Miraculous intentionally, either "renouncing" the Miraculous' kwami or expressing the desire to no longer use it.[7] Once done, the kwami returns into the Miraculous, only awakened again when someone opens the Miraculous from a small box from a guardian, or when they put on the Miraculous.
The Miraculous jewels can also work if they're damaged, like the Peacock Miraculous, as seen in "Mayura". However, using a damaged Miraculous can cause serious damage to the user such as fatigue and lingering health issues, as well as hinder their powers. However, if the user just transforms with a damaged jewel and yet remains inactive like how Bunnyx was in a stone slumber they won't be affected. Beyond this, the full effects of using a damaged Miraculous are unknown. However, it's revealed that an owner can overcome these effects, as seen during "Miraculer", if only temporarily. In "Timetagger", one of the effects could be not being able to detransform, resulting in the owner being stuck in their superhero form until the jewel is fixed. According to Gabriel in "Ladybug", if an owner overuses a damaged Miraculous the wounds on the jewel becomes the holder's wounds.
Modes
The Miraculous vary in types of jewelry, ranging from earrings to necklaces or rings to hair combs. However, all Miraculouses have two distinct modes: charged and camouflaged. In its charged mode, the Miraculous is inhabited by its kwami, meaning that either the miraculous isn't being hold by anyone or that its holder is transformed. The Miraculous takes on a more colorful, exotic design in this mode that resembles better the animal that it represents. In its camouflaged mode, the kwami is outside the Miraculous, meaning that its possessed by a holder who is not transformed. This is meant to make the Miraculous more difficult to spot on a holder in civilian attire as the Miraculous is disguised.
The variation between charged and camouflaged mode varies between Miraculous. The Ladybug Miraculous appear as simple black earrings in its camouflaged mode but red with black spots in its charged mode and the Cat Miraculous is a plain silver ring in its camouflaged mode but black with a green cat paw design in its charged mode. In contrast, the only difference between the Fox Miraculous in its charged and camouflaged mode is that it acquires golden lines that divide the necklace in five sections whose color degrades until they've reached white.
In "Reflekdoll", it's revealed that the camouflaged mode of different Miraculouses differs between holders, as the Cat Miraculous held by Marinette turned rose gold, and the Ladybug Miraculous held by Adrien turned silver.[8] On an interesting note, when a holder doesn't fully renounce their jewel, the kwami stays free from the Miraculous and the jewel stays in its camouflaged mode. Upon being in contact with its respective kwami, the Miraculous will change to its charged mode.
Earrings that turn the wearer, with help from the Fish Kwami, into a fish-themed hero.
Trivia
In the French dub the transformation phrase for each Miraculous is saying the respective kwami's name followed by "transforme moi", which means "transform me". In every other dub, each Miraculous has its own unique phrase.
The Ladybug Miraculous and Cat Miraculous are set opposite each other in a yin-yang (tajitu) section in the Miraculous box. The Cat Miraculous is placed in yang, and the Ladybug Miraculous is placed in yin. The other Miraculouses are arranged around them in a similar fashion to the five elements in Wu Xing (albeit which one corresponds to each is not clear).
More than one Miraculous can be the same type of jewelry, such as the Butterfly Miraculous and Peacock Miraculous both being brooches, along with the Fox and Mouse Miraculouses both being necklaces, the Rooster and Cat Miraculouses both being rings, and the Turtle, Snake, and Tiger Miraculouses all being bracelets.
Some Miraculouses can have the same type of powers but with minor differences such as the Rabbit and Snake Miraculouses allowing the users to travel through time.
But the Snake Miraculous only allows the user to travel back to the time they've marked on the jewel while the Rabbit Miraculous allows the user to travel both forwards and backwards in time.
As well as the Butterfly Miraculous' Akumatization and the Peacock Miraculous' Amokization; however, akumas can't affect broken objects but amoks can.
So far, the Butterfly Miraculous and the Peacock Miraculous are the only two Miraculous being used for evil purposes; however, it's unknown if any of the other Miraculouses were used for evil in the past.
And yet, in "Ladybug & Cat Noir" Master Wang Fu mentioned he made the wrong choice once before. In "Feast", it is revealed he was referring to himself, and that choice led to end of the Order of the Guardians.
According to "Timetagger", it turns out the Butterfly Miraculous will be used for evil again, but it won't be Gabriel Agreste who has the jewel, instead a successor will take his place.
At the beginning of the series, there were only seven Miraculouses revealed, the ones stored on the top level of the Miracle Box; but Thomas Astruc explained that it's a bit more complicated than that, with more information being discovered about them throughout the first three seasons of the series.[9]
Thomas noted in the interview that the crew wants to expand on all of the Miraculouses in the box.[10]
The beginning of "Ladybug & Cat Noir" shows three Miraculous holders, Cernunnos, Herakles, and Tomoe Gozen, whose Miraculouses are unknown.
As revealed by Jeremy Zag, the Miracle Box has more than one level containing Miraculouses, meaning that there were other Miraculouses that had yet to be seen.[11] This was confirmed on the official Miraculous Ladybug Tumblr blog, which stated that there are "many more" Miraculouses than the ones that were known about initially.[12]
Which are revealed in "Sapotis", unveiling 12 other Miraculouses.
In the animatic of the theme song, the chest box has many Miraculouses that are not used in the final version, including what appear to be Miraculouses of a Eagle, Bear, Lion, Chicken, and Bull, respectively.
Using the same setup in the animatic for "Ladybug & Cat Noir", the Miracle box has most of the same Miraculouses, but the Butterfly Miraculous is replaced with Fish Miraculous earrings.[13]
According to what Wang Fu says in "Princess Fragrance", the Miraculouses might be connected to ancient China.
The Miraculouses on the lower levels of the box all correspond with the Chinese zodiac. The Snake Miraculous was ultimately included with these.
Most of the previous Miraculous wielders seen in the spellbook all come from Ancient China making them the first wielders.
The official Miraculous Ladybug Tumblr blog noted that the TV series, comic books, and web series would show the history of the Miraculouses.[14]
Miraculouses can be negatively impacted if the kwami enters it with another object, lessening the wearer's power, which Plagg explains to Adrien in "Rogercop" when he gets Chloé's bracelet stuck on his head.
As revealed by Sébastien Thibaudeau in a press release video, Marinette would "find herself giving Miraculouses".[15]
Also, at some point, a female character would give back a Miraculous to Ladybug. The character and the Miraculous initially being unknown.[15]
It was later revealed in "Sapotis" that the character Ladybug gave a Miraculous to and was later returned to her was Alya, who received the Fox Miraculous. Alya does so again in "Syren", and Chloé was given and returned the Bee Miraculous in "Malediktator".
In "Frightningale", Plagg mentions that Cat Noir's costume is what Adrien really wants deep down.
This would mean that the appearance that the Miraculous holders assume when they activate their transformations reflects their tastes and desires.
Despite the Miraculouses being made thousands of years ago, they've managed to retain their normal appearances, suggesting it was done by divine means, meaning that time couldn't ravage them.
It's not uncommon for forgeries or copies of the jewels to made to throw off thieves or those who wanted to use the jewels selfishly.
In "Mayura", it's revealed that a Miraculous can be damaged like the Peacock Miraculous, although it's unknown how it happened in that case.
However it is possible that it, like the Rabbit Miraculous, was damaged by a previous user of the Cat Miraculous with a Cataclysm long ago, is negatively impacted when Duusu entered her Miraculous with something else or it could been damaged by others means like improper care.
It could also be possible that the jewels can be damaged after or if the holders transform with a sick or injured kwami and it's unknown what else will happen if that occurs.
Miraculouses are what turn kwamis from abstract and non-corporeal form to corporeal form. If a Miraculous were destroyed, like in "Queen Wasp", its kwami would not be; but they would no longer be detectable.[16]
Through the centuries the Miraculouses have been called many names like how the Cat Miraculous is the Ring of the Black Cat or the Ladybug Miraculous being called the Ladybug Earrings.
Seven of the nineteen known Miraculouses have been used throughout the first and second seasons: three in the first season, and four in the second.
As of the third season, all the Miraculouses from the Miracle Box were used:
Through out the season, the Dragon, Snake, Horse, and Monkey Miraculouses were temporarily given to four new users.
During "Kwamibuster" Marinette wears all the Miraculouses currently kept in the Miracle Box, but only utilized the powers of the Mouse Miraculous, and used Unification with the Fox, Ladybug, and Cat Miraculouses to create Multifox, Multibug, and Multicat respectively.
In "Miracle Queen" all of the Miraculouses were used in some way:
The Ladybug, Cat, Dragon, Snake, Moth, Peacock, Bee, Turtle, Fox, Horse, and Monkey were fully used (transformation and superpower).
The rest, Rabbit, Mouse, Ox, Tiger, Goat, Rooster, Dog, and Pig were only worn by Chloé.
In "Ladybug", Gabriel Agreste reveals that if a wielder uses a damaged Miraculous too much, the wounds on the Miraculous become the owner's, and eventually causes them to fall into an endless sleep. This is exactly what happened with Emilie Agreste.
The Miraculous transformation phrases are related to the animal associated with the Miraculous ("Spots on!" in reference to a ladybug's spots), the Miraculous itself ("Clockwise!" in reference to the Rabbit Miraculous being a pocket watch) and the superpowers associated with the Miraculous ("Bring the storm!" in reference to the Dragon Miraculous' storm/weather-related powers).
In "Timetagger", a Miraculous can hold the transformation of their wearers if the damage is minimal.
In "Feast", it's confirmed that there are other Miraculous besides the ones inside Master Fu's Miracle Box. It's revealed that they were eaten by a sentimonster created by Master Fu with the Peacock Miraculous. After the sentimonster was defeated and Ladybug used her Miraculous Ladybug, all the eaten Miraculous restored.
During "Kwamibuster", Marinette simultaneously wielded as many as 16 Miraculouses. A feat that Master Fu noted had never been achieved in all of history.
A Miraculous does not need to be worn as intended to be used, as seen when Multimouse wore the Cat Miraculous around her waist instead of on her finger.
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