Chloe Bourgeois’s Hero Complex Why Chloe is one of the most interesting, and frustrating, characters on the show - SPOILER ALERT

I see a lot of people are extremely frustrated with Chloe’s apparent lack of character development in season three (episode seventeen no less).

Chloe Bourgeois is not a nice person. She is spoiled, entitled, and arrogant. This is a problem within the fandom because she is one of Miraculous’s main heroes. Her picture is advertised everywhere, and the message of that is somewhat muddled. Why is Chloe’s behavior seemingly being “rewarded” You’d think she would have a little bit of an attitude adjustment by now.

This post is going to explain why Chloe Bourgeois is the way she is, and why she still has a miraculous.

Chloe’s entire character is focused on the idea that she emulates the people she respects and craves to be respected as well.

In the episode “Despair Bear” it is revealed that Chloe’s mother travels often and that she rarely hangs around her Mother. “Style Queen” demonstrates how Chloe copies her Mother’s behavior in an effort to be like her.

We can deduce from this that Chloe grew up idolizing her Mother and her Mother’s popularity. Audrey Bourgeois is a terrible person in which a young, impressionable, Chloe grew up believing that it was Audrey’s personality that gained her fame and respect rather than her talent.

By the time Chloe realized that being mean was not the correct way to make friends, she had already made so many enemies that she gave up on the idea of being nice. As long as she was the mayor’s daughter (or the daughter of Audrey Bourgeois), people were forced to respect her even if she was mean to them.

As long as people feared her or respected her parents, she would get respect herself.

This is also insinuated when Adrien states that Chloe needs to be nicer, and she seems genuinely taken off guard by this. Why should she be nice if everyone has already given up on her, and she already has what she wants? Respect.

When Adrien challenged that ideal by threatening to stop being her friend, she was forced to entertain being nice again. Why? Because Adrien’s friendship was the one excuse she had as to why she did not need to be a good person. If Adrien Agreste, a supermodel, a childhood friend, the son of a famous actress and a famous fashion designer, someone as elite as her, potentially the only person who accepted her actions, saw fault in her personality, then there must be something wrong.

However, Adrien holding Chloe accountable fell flat for a few reasons.

1. Adrien only briefly held Chloe accountable

2. Chloe did not want to change for herself

3. Chloe does not idolize Adrien. She does not strive to be like him. She simply adores his companionship.

Number three is the biggest reason why her development was so short-lived; Chloe only truly idolizes two people in the entire show: her mother and Ladybug.

This is why Chloe seems to reset to her default bitch setting so often.

Ladybug and Audrey Bourgeois are nearly polar opposites in personality. The one commonality that they have, is that they are both extremely talented/hardworking. And Chloe is attempting to emulate both of them at the same time.

Hero Complex:

“The hero syndrome is a phenomenon affecting people who seek heroism or recognition, usually by creating a desperate situation which they can resolve“.



This describes the “Queen Wasp” episode entirely. Chloe took the two people that she respects most, and attempted to mush them together even though they do not mesh well (being a superhero and being superficial). Not only could she earn the respect of her mother, but she also wanted to earn the respect of Ladybug because those two people are her role models.

This explains why Chloe was so adamant to succeed as Queen Bee even if she had to fake it.

So why does she get to “keep” her miraculous?

Because being Queen Bee forces Chloe to care about the well-being of others.

Because being Queen Bee forces Chloe to work hard for something.

Because being around Ladybug forces Chloe to emulate Ladybug’s behavior.

Episodes such as “Frightingale”, “Frozer”, and “Malediktor” all show that Chloe is willing to work to be the best now - which is progress. In season one, Chloe stole Marinette’s hat idea instead of believing in her own talents, but now that she has her own purpose, she is willing to work for it.

However, now that her Mother is always around, Chloe is also maintaining her bad attitude and unempathetic demeanor because she is emulating her mother as well.

The cycle is frustrating.

Here is the theory:

Chloe does not like Marinette at all. If she finds out that the person she has been idolizing and emulating is actually her worst enemy she might become a villain. Everyone should note that Chloe has seen Marinette with Tikki in “Puppeteer”.

On the other hand, Chloe may also be positively influenced by this because the only person to believe in her abilities as Queen Bee, is the person she hates the most.

Next topics of discussion:

Marinette Dupain-Cheng’s Guilt Complex

Marinette’s Dupain-Cheng’s Major Character Flaw

Adrien Agreste’s Major Character Flaw