Miraculous is a French media franchise created by writer and director Thomas Astruc and owned by Miraculous Corp., a joint venture of Mediawan and ZAG Entertainment. The franchise follows two Parisian teenagers, Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Adrien Agreste, who use magical jewels (two earrings and a ring) known as Miraculous to transform into the superheroes Ladybug and Cat Noir. The powers of these jewels are granted by the Kwamis, ancient magical creatures that personify abstract concepts such as creation, luck, destruction, and curiosity. In addition to the two main heroes, other teenagers in the city also receive their own Miraculous to transform and help protect Paris, this group became known as "The Miraculers." Together, they defend the French capital against attacks by supervillains created from negative emotions, known as akumatized villains.
The franchise began with the main animated series Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir (2015–present), it consists web series, TV movies, animated films, video games, comic books, stage adaptations, manga editions and an extensive line of merchandising.
History Origins
The original concept for Ladybug emerged around 2005, conceived by French illustrator and screenwriter Thomas Astruc. The idea was born spontaneously, after meeting a co-worker wearing a ladybug-print t-shirt, he began sketching the character's design on a sticky note. Seeing the potential of his creation, Astruc developed new designs—including fictional comic book covers titled The Mini Menace Ladybug—and built an entire universe around the protagonist, inspired by superhero universes like Marvel's. The project gained momentum when he joined forces with Jeremy Zag, producer of ZAGTOON (now ZAG Entertainment), which allowed for further refinement of the concept.
Astruc drew inspiration from various sources, especially Japanese animation and comics, elements of superheroes similar to Spider-Man, and Franco-Belgian comics. The main character was created following the characteristics of the magical girl genre, like Sailor Moon, while the tone and romantic atmosphere of Paris were especially influenced by the character from the French film Amélie Poulain.
Cat Noir was designed as a symbolic counterpart to Ladybug, based on the Chinese philosophical concept of Yin and Yang. Since ladybugs are traditionally associated with good luck, Astruc created a black cat hero representing bad luck and destruction. His look was inspired by the DC Comics character Catwoman, with a black suit, agility, and the ability to act unnoticed. In terms of personality, he symbolizes freedom: in his ordinary life, Adrien is reserved and limited by his father's rules, while as a superhero he becomes playful, fearless, and expressive.
In the early versions of the project, the character was called Félix and had a colder, more distant temperament. During development, in partnership with Jeremy Zag, the concept was reformulated, Adrien Agreste was then created, and the name Félix was kept to create the character's cousin, Félix Fathom. This change made the relationship between the protagonists more empathetic and accessible to the audience. When Nathanaël Bronn presented the project to Jeremy Zag, he immediately fell in love with the idea: a superhero story set in Paris, combining action, adventure, and romance, with universal values capable of appealing to a global audience. To transform the vision into reality, Zag sought out Aton Soumache of Method Animation, and together they decided to develop the production in an international partnership. The goal was to create a European animation that combined the essence of Western comics, the characteristic French touch, and the dynamism of Japanese animation, as Zag explained: "American-style superheroes, with stories and powers in the Japanese format."
When the project began, there were very few superheroines as protagonists—a scenario that would change drastically just five years later. The producers took a risk: with the exception of the Japanese market, almost no one had ventured to create a heroine of this type as the main character. Experience showed that a female protagonist did not alienate the male audience, as long as there was comedy, adventure and action, in addition to memorable male characters like Cat Noir. The main challenge was to also win over the female audience: the team maintained elements that referred to the universe considered "feminine," but added attributes and powers previously reserved for heroes of the genre. The proposal was exactly that: a series made for girls, but that would also win over boys.
This initiative also arose from a change in the profile of female characters in entertainment, before, they were generally represented as fairies or princesses in search of their prince charming. Starting with productions like The Snow Queen, Rapunzel and The Hunger Games, characters with power, autonomy, and the capacity for action began to be shown, and Miraculous came to consolidate this new approach.
As the creator of the character and the mastermind behind the concept, Astruc also assumed the role of writer and director of the series. Initially, he explored various approaches, but many proved difficult to implement, especially due to the number of partners involved. To reconcile all these points, he worked closely with Sébastien Thibaudeau, the script director, who acted as a link between the parties. The pair defended the original essence of the story while making adjustments to meet the needs of the partners, without distorting the initial idea.
One of the biggest challenges during production was finding screenwriters who understood the language and structure of superhero stories. Astruc worked alongside Thibaudeau to guide the team, as many had a tendency to separate comedic moments from action scenes, instead of naturally weaving them into the narrative.
Visual style The team included Nathanaël Bronn, responsible for the graphic design of the series. Long known for his previous work with Astruc, he followed the project from its earliest stages. Upon seeing the initial sketches, he immediately recognized the character's potential and helped present them to Jeremy Zag, who showed great interest. Bronn assumed the role of art director and graphic designer, participating in the entire process: defining the visual style of the characters, the settings, the art direction, the color palette, and even the construction of the stories themselves. For him, drawing is, above all, a way of telling stories—and ZAGTOON allowed him to combine these two functions, something relatively rare in the market.
His mission was to create a visual universe that balanced Japanese animation and American comics, without neglecting the French identity. Unlike the standard of muscular and imposing heroes in American comic books, the characters were designed with slender, delicate, and graceful silhouettes, conveying elegance, lightness, and charm—characteristics that directly reference French culture. This approach aligned perfectly with the plot: Marinette dreams of becoming a fashion designer, and Adrien's father works in the fashion world.
The visual design also featured striking color choices: for Ladybug, despite the limited space due to her theme, the combination of red with black dots was maintained as a modern and iconic element. For Cat Noir, the aesthetic was inspired by 1930s design, conveying sophistication, even though he is a character who operates under a mask.
The Kwamis—the small magical creatures that grant powers to the heroes—were inspired by the mascots of 1970s magical girl series, with a touch of Japanese animation.
Overall, the work brings together references from various origins: Bronn's training was influenced by Disney films, Franco-Belgian comics and manga, and these elements merged into a unique and international style. Each tradition contributes in a distinct way: from manga, for example, the magical transformation of the characters was maintained, a feature that does not exist in Western comics.
For the setting, the aim was to unite the traditional image of Paris with the modernity of superheroes, mixing the aesthetics of American comics with the atmosphere of Amélie Poulain. The color palette prioritizes soft, pastel and very luminous tones. The city was represented in an elegant and refined way, simultaneously realistic and with a touch of fantasy, with recognizable landmarks—a technical challenge that required investment but became a trademark of the production.
The inspiration for the Ladybug character came from a combination of references: "Amélie Poulain", "Spider-Man" and "Sailor Moon". From an artistic standpoint, the work represents a balance between Franco-Belgian comics, American comics, and Japanese animation—three styles with very distinct languages, which the team managed to unite harmoniously. The goal was to create a production that reflected the romanticism and beauty of France, presenting attractive superheroines for a female audience, but without resorting to common stereotypes of female characters.
Production, premiere and global success In 2010, the project was officially presented at the MIPCOM event in Cannes, France. Production was initially led by the French studios Univergroup Pictures and Onyx Films, in partnership with Method Animation and ZAGTOON. At the time, Aton Soumache, from Onyx Films and Method Animation, stated that the objective was "to create a charismatic superheroine with an authentic European identity, set primarily in Paris." The initial proposal envisioned a stereoscopic 3D animated series, but during development, the team opted to adopt computer-generated animation (CGI) as the definitive format.
In the summer of 2012, ZAGTOON partnered with Toei Animation Co., Ltd., the Japanese animation studio owned by Toei Company, to co-produce the series—then still provisionally titled Miraculous, previously called Ladybug. The production had a budget of $11.2 million and was described as a comedy-action series set in Paris, following the adventures of a teenage vigilante with superpowers alongside a mysterious black cat. Its visual style, inspired by manga, featured vibrant colors and reminiscent of acclaimed Toei Animation productions like Dragon Ball Z, Digimon, One Piece, and Pretty Cure. The series also had the co-production of Method Animation, by Aton Soumache. At the time, the French channel TF1 had already secured the rights to broadcast the initial season, consisting of 26 half-hour episodes. Jeremy Zag summarized the project with the phrase: "Paris will finally have its superheroes."
Toei had already shown interest in the international market two years prior with the release of the film HeartCatch Pretty Cure!, set in the French capital, and officially joined the project as a co-producer. The studio developed a 2D anime-style test promotional video, known as the Ladybug PV, directed by Kohei Chikokai and with music composed, produced and performed by Noam Kaniel (Noam) who would later compose and produce music on the current series, and was working on Power Rangers Super Samurai at that time. It was initially sent privately on August 26, 2012, but was temporarily made public by mistake on September 5 and 6 of the same year, later being shared by fans. This version featured Félix as the male character—who was later redesigned, giving rise to Adrien Agreste, the user of the Black Cat Miraculous and Plagg as his holder, and his cousin Félix Fathom, the user of the Peacock Miraculous, with Duusu as his holder and was previously the holder of the Dog Miraculous with Barkk as his holder.