Sheet:Marinette Dupain-Cheng
Marinette's Sheet
Background
Born to Sabine Cheng, a Chinese-born Baker, and Tom Dupain, a French-Italian Patissiere, Marinette has grown up in a close knit, fairly well-off family in Paris. The successful Boulangerie Patissierie provided a gentle backdrop to her childhood, with no shortage of delicious baked goods to enjoy. Despite being hard working people, her parents always made time for her and did their best to raise her well, and encourage her creativity. Her father loved to bake with her, and allow her to help him test new recipes. As good as something ever is, there's always a way to make it even better. Her mother let her daughter draw and imagine as she liked, looking through magazines with her and sharing her love of fashion and beautifully made clothing.
Even from a young age, Marinette had some minor focus issues, and could sometimes be so fixated on an interest that other things would go unnoticed. Her attention could switch rapidly and her enthusiasm made her distractable. Animated but clumsy, she would often trip, knock things over or bump into people. It isn't unusual to find bruises on her, and unfortunately, she often broke things or had similar accidents. Even from an early age, this made other children a little hesitant to get close to her. She became known to be clumsy and a little awkward, which led to some issues at school. She endured frequent bullying and dismissal, particularly from classmate Chloe Bourgeois. Though Marinette did her best to stand her ground and take things in stride, she was very sensitive to it, and this made her more anxious and unsure of herself over time.
Despite her troubles, Marinette did develop a tendency to look out for others, and her social caution would provide the foundation for her analytical and strategic approach to things. Detail oriented and quick witted, these traits would allow her to save the life of an elderly man when she was older, pulling him from the path of a speeding car. This man was Master Fu, the Guardian of the Miraculous, and her actions that day would earn her his keen interest. She would go on to meet the girl who would become her closest friend, Alya Cesaire, though also discovered that her old bully Chloe would be attending her new school, College Francois Dupont, as well.
Unbeknownst to her at the time, Master Fu had already arranged for her and the Kwami, Tikki, to meet. A mysterious box was left waiting for her when she got home, with a pair of earrings inside that looked like ladybugs. This, of course, was the Miraculous that would change the course of her life from there on out. Despite some reservations, Marinette accepted her new role as Ladybug and has worked alongside Tikki ever since. In time, she would also come to work with other Miraculous users, including forming a tight bond and partnership with Chat Noir. This would follow them even to Japan, where a mysterious scholarship program would accept both of them into Radiant Heart Academy, in Tokyo. With the promise of a prestigious arts program, the support of her parents, and reassured by Chat Noir's relocating to Tokyo as well, Marinette ultimately made the decision to accept the move.
Since discovering that Radiant Heart was actually, first and foremost, a specialised school dedicated to supporting young people like her-- Mahou --and learning that the Miraculous are not the only miracles of magic, Marinette's life has gotten both simpler and more complicated. She has discovered Chat Noir's true identity, and shared hers with him. She's found solidarity with many other people her age, and been exposed to a wide variety of new troubles and possibilities. Though she's made many more friends and allies, Obsidian has also brought about many new enemies. Hawk Moth, too, seems to have followed them, intent on taking both Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculous for himself. After a run of near misses and building pressures, and with Hawk Moth targeting them so pointedly, Marinette made the difficult decision to return to Paris and put some distance between Tikki and Pragg. In the meantime, she and Adrien Agreste would continue to fight, train, and become stronger.
Just shy of beginning her senior year, Adrien discovers that his mother-- whom he thought deceased-- is actually alive, and that his father Gabriel Agreste also has ties to Obsidian. Contacting Marinette to let her know of these new revelations, and despite the risks of their Miraculous being easier to target in proximity, Marinette has decided to return to Radiant Heart in order to support her long time friend and partner. Having grown some in the time since she was last in Tokyo, Marinette boarded a plane, hopeful that together Ladybug and Chat Noir could overcome these latest problems.
Personality
Marinette feels things very deeply. That can go both ways-- she can feel great enthusiasm, joy, and affection, just as much as she can struggle with rejection, fixation, and self doubt. She's got a very strong sense of fairness and finds it difficult to be dishonest, which makes certain aspects of her double life-- particularly the secret keeping-- very hard. That said, she goes out of her way to avoid having to lie to anyone.
Marinette is generous, both with her time and her resources, when she can be. When it comes to the Miraculous, sometimes sharing can be the difference between disaster or not. She is also highly motivated, though this can sometimes lead to fixations and muddled priorities. She can be a little tunnel visioned. However, when it comes to doing anything, she feels very passionately about getting it right. Her attention to detail and her high standards, as well as her love of art, has allowed her several noteworthy creative accomplishments. She's designed and created commissioned works, such as hats and album covers, and also restyled her Ladybug suit. Having her art on the cover of her favourite artist Jagged Stone's new music is something that she is exceptionally proud of.
Though in her day to day life she can be more light hearted and even a little bit silly and awkward, she takes being the Ladybug very seriously. Her passions and her past give her just the right mixture of observational skill, out-of-the-box thinking and problem-solving necessary to use her Lucky Charm to its fullest effect.
Despite trying to become more disciplined and treating the mantle of Ladybug with the weight it deserves, Marinette is still young and prone to misjudgements, mistakes, and less than perfect behaviour. She's incredibly clumsy, distractible, and can be caught up in pettiness towards those she particularly dislikes. She can also struggle with jealousy, and hypervigilance. In times of emotional conflict, she may hide things from her friends, or make things worse by trying to contain a situation alone. Because of her bullying in the past, she can sometimes get overly protective of or even slightly possessive over her friends and those close to her.
Marinette relies upon Tikki as a guide for how to be the best Ladybug she can be, although sometimes, Tikki can be overconfident about Marinette's abilities. This is an ongoing struggle as Marinette gets older and feels the need to act more confidently-- the line between self assurance and ego is very short. However, her drive to be better is her saving grace, and has allowed her to resist being Akumatised before.
Focus
See: Miraculous User. Marinette's transformation stems from the Ladybug Miraculous, which is fuelled by the Creation magic of the Kwami, Tikki.
Style
Miraculous Users manifest masked outfits that reflect the appearance of their associated Kwami and their Miraculous. Marinette's Ladybug Henshin is a skin-tight, fullbody jumpsuit featuring spots, with red and black sections. It is accompanied by a mask and red ribbon in her hair.
Powers
As Ladybug, Marinette exhibits enhanced speed, agility, strength, and reflexes, allowing her to react to light-based attacks, leap great distances, and perform complex acrobatics. She is very resistant to physical damage and can climb vertical surfaces without her yoyo, mimicking a real ladybug. She is a skilled hand-to-hand combatant, fencer, and dancer, with reflexes on par with Adrien Agreste despite limited formal training.
Her signature ability is utilising the power of creation through her Lucky Charm, which summons a random object to help her defeat villains. This is often a complex, and sometimes absurd, but effective means of finding solutions. The Miraculous responds to her intuition and willpower, not just her desires, making it a reflection of her cleverness and adaptability. This power must be vocally called and drains a lot of her energy, limiting her transformation time after use.
Marinette's main weapon is her Yoyo, which is incredibly versatile. It can be used as a grappling hook, a shield (spun rapidly to form a pink energy shield, capable of stopping speeding vehicles), a projectile for ranged attacks, or a restraint tool. The sting is unbreakable and its length is unlimited, though affected by her willpower. The string can be used to cut through thick metal or concrete, and Marinette has even used it to create a makeshift safety net in the past. It opens like a compact to capture and purify Akuma (corrupted objects or animals, or the butterflies themselves), and can hold many objects (even large ones) in a qunatic, secure personal storage. When she transforms, anything on her person (such as in a bag) generally enters this storage, though will also return to her person upon de-henshin. It also has a screen and functions similarly to a smartphone or communicator, with tracking, internet, video call, camera and maps. Can be combined with an earpiece.
As a compliment to her Lucky Charm power, Marinette also has a powerful Restoration ability. To use this, she releases a swarm of magical ladybugs into the air, often after defeating an opponent and dispelling her Lucky charm object. This swarm restores all damage caused by battle or recent strife, including physical destruction or injury, corrupted objects, and emotional or psychological distress. It can cleanse an Akuma of any evil influences and return them back to normal. This makes her power essential not just for combat, but for healing and renewal. Note: This is not specifically a healing ability, rather it restores something recently altered by dark energy related violence or magical effect to its most recent previous state of balance. It does not extend to other kinds of natural event, such as accidents, injuries, illness or natural disaster, that were not created or caused by dark energy users/Akuma.
Marinette also has an Aqua Power-up, which allows her to transform into Aquabug, granting her enhanced swimming capabilities and the ability to breathe and speak underwater. This form is activated using a special potion created by Master Fu. In this state, her suit gains a silvery scale pattern, fins on her feet, and her hair lengthens with a pink hue at the tips. She can also use her yoyo as a breathing apparatus, especially for others who cannot breathe underwater.
