As a Role Swap AU, Big Fat Break's Dad Villain AU offers plenty of narrative Foils.
Tom Dupain-Cheng/Viceroy vs. Gabriel Agreste/Hawkmoth/Shadow Moth/Monarch
A Running Theme throughout the AU is how flipping Tom and Gabriel's positions underscores just how selfish, self-absorbed and short-sighted the latter is.- First and foremost: Tom is a doting father who cares deeply for his daughter, whereas Gabriel sees his own son as nothing more than a possession — in his eyes, Adrien isn't even a person, as evidenced by how he was excluded from his specification that no person other than himself would recall the original timeline.
- This applies to their respective relationships with their wives as well. For all that Gabriel uses Emelie to excuse his villainy, her well-being is far from his biggest concern. She's just another extension of his will, an Unwitting Pawn.
- Both are driven by a desire for vengeance: Tom wishes to track down the one responsible for Sabine's untimely demise and make them pay, while Gabriel devoted his Wish to screwing over Ladybug and her loved ones just because he could, even though he knew she posed no further threat to him.
- Gabriel has clearly suffered from Motive Decay; even if one allows the possibility that he truly did care for Emelie as much as he claims, her safety and well-being no longer matter quite so much to him as the prospect of continuing to punish the former Ladybug for having previously opposed him.
- Tom, by contrast, is not solely out for revenge. Marinette is his main motivation in a way that Emelie very much is not for Gabriel. He wants to protect and provide for her, to see her happy again, without being overbearing or treating her as his possession. This difference between them is only further emphasized by how Gabriel aimed to hurt her in particular from sheer spite, to the point that he willingly endangers Emelie.
- Gabriel saw Nooroo as nothing more than his helpless victim, something to freely abuse and take his frustrations out upon while exploiting the power the kwami was forced to grant him. While Tom also uses the Butterfly Brooch to become a supervillain, he treats Nooroo with significantly more respect and compassion, introducing him to Marinette and working with him rather than simply using him.
- Due to this, Nooroo has much more complicated feelings about Tom than he does Gabriel. He also shares Tom's goals of protecting Marinette and bringing Gabriel to justice, and refers to him as "Mister Tom" rather than "Master".
- Being wealthy meant Gabriel had plenty of private funding to fuel his reign of terror. But while Tom has far less resources, he proves to be much more resourceful in how he uses the Butterfly Brooch, along with exercising more discretion, caution and pragmatism. Rather than brazenly assaulting Paris, Tom minimizes the impact of his search for answers.
- Tom hides in plain sight by spreading his butterflies throughout the city so that the glowing creatures have become an Unusually Uninteresting Sight, making it harder for anyone to notice just how many are gathered around the bakery. He also doesn't make a habit of akumatizing others, reserving that for more of an emergency measure. Gabriel preferred big, showy assaults, dramatically announcing his existence shortly after his first attack.
- Hawkmoth targeted and exploited anyone who was having a Moment of Weakness, tapping into and amplifying their negative emotions under the guise of "helping" them lash out and get revenge. Viceroy prefers truly empowering those he transforms into akuma, responding to their desire to help and protect others.
- While he still tempts others to join him, Viceroy generally doesn't recruit others as akuma; instead, he adds them to his vast Blackmailing network. Temptation is still involved, but rather than promising the prospect of physically taking out their rage on those who have wronged them, he offers the opportunity to psychologically torment their targets with the threat of exposure.
- This also means that he is continuously working with others, recruiting them long-term, while Gabriel employed a strategy of exploiting others' anger and frustrations (often stoking those flames himself), seeing them all as Unwitting Pawns who could be easily discarded as he saw fit.
- Gabriel used Nathalie's unrequited feelings for both Emelie and himself, as well as her affection for Adrien, to manipulate her into sacrificing her health as Mayura. Tom is similarly aware of Nathalie developing a crush on him, but has respectfully made clear that he's still mourning Sabine and has no interest in another relationship. Though this doesn't stop them from platonically play-flirting in front of the Agrestes in order to turn the tables on the pair and give them A Taste of Their Own Medicine.
- In the original timeline, Nathalie knew her boss was Hawkmoth; this actually factored into her falling for him, as she was enamoured with his apparent devotion to Emelie. Here, she isn't aware that Tom is Viceroy, only that he's one of her allies.
Marinette Dupain-Cheng vs. Adrien Agreste
- Like their respective parents, Marinette and Adrien have effectively swapped their respective roles in the narrative: Marinette is now the one dealing with the recent loss of her mother while blissfully unaware of her father's secret activities, while Adrien is searching for this reality's counterpart to Hawkmoth.
- Adrien retained his memories of the original timeline, while Marinette did not. This means that Adrien must also grapple with the painful realization that his father was always his Archnemesis Dad and is singularly responsible for creating this new reality with his selfish Wish.
- While Marinette loves both of her parents, Adrien's regard for his own has naturally suffered due to both standing on Broken Pedestals.
- Similarly, while both Tom and Sabine sincerely love and care for their daughter, Gabriel and Emelie only "love" the concept of having a "perfect son" who's completely under their control. Neither of the Agrestes give a shit about Adrien as a person, only as a prop.
- Adrien was very much a people pleaser in the original reality, with shades of Extreme Doormat and a bad tendency to try placating everyone, including bullies. Marinette, by contrast, has dealt with the trauma of losing her mother in part by growing a spine and standing up more to those who would push her around, like Chloé and Rolland.
Gabriel Agreste vs. Emelie Agreste
- Emelie is blissfully unaware of the negative impact her actions have upon others. Especially when it comes to her blithe usage of the Peacock Pin; she doesn't realize that there are consequences for activating the broken Miraculous simply because she's never seen them firsthand. Gabriel, meanwhile, is fully aware of the cost — in fact, that cruelty is the entire point, in his eyes.
- When she does finally learn about the backlash, it doesn't stop her from continuing to abuse the Peacock, as she cares more about her personal desires than the safety and well-being of others. Just like her husband...
- Emelie also doesn't see anything wrong with abusing Miraculous magic, showing that she is just as entitled as her husband, just in a more Obliviously Evil fashion.
- Emelie treats their son with Condescending Compassion. While more likely to acknowledge that Adrien has thoughts and feelings of his own than Gabriel, that doesn't mean she values them any more than her husband does, beyond how they serve as evidence of his dependence upon her for emotional support.
- This underscores how Emelie is just as abusive as Gabriel in her own fashion. Both exploit Adrien's reliance upon them in order to get what they want out of him; rather than recognizing their responsibilities as parents, they twist that connection around to their own self-absorbed ends.
- Emelie knows that Nathalie has a crush on her, something she uses to string her along so she can use her for self-validation. Gabriel, meanwhile, recalls how devoted Nathalie was in the original timeline, to the point she was willing to sacrifice her health as Mayura in order to help him achieve his goals. Both feel entitled to her while refusing to treat her and her feelings seriously, and get extremely jealous when it looks like she might be moving on.
- Both Emelie and Gabriel emotionally manipulate others for their own personal gain and enjoyment. Emelie simply does so without the aid of the Butterfly Brooch, enabling her to continue doing so after Nooroo escapes the Agreste Manor, whereas her husband was largely dependent upon the Miraculous' magical powers in order to identify and exploit others having moments of weakness.
- That said, Emelie also abuses the Peacock Pin's power just as brazenly as her husband did the Butterfly Brooch. Both take the notion of having their respective Miraculous and all its abilities at their command completely for granted, being equally Entitled Bastards. Neither cares about the fallout of their actions so long as they don't have to suffer any consequences for them.
- Emelie also shares her husband's casual disregard for the kwamis as sentient beings, sparing no thought as to why Nooroo might have left the Manor in the first place.
Adrien Agreste vs. Emelie Agreste
- Emelie's treatment of the Peacock Pin parallels Adrien's original attitude towards the Black Cat Ring. Both focus upon the convenience of their respective Miraculouses and how they benefit them first and foremost, with little thought to how their usage of them impacts others. In particular, Adrien saw the Black Cat as a way of escaping the expectations placed upon him by others, without considering that superpowers came with their own responsibilities, relying upon Ladybug and her World-Healing Wave to ensure that everything was magically rendered okay. Similarly, Emelie dismisses the notion that using the broken Miraculous could result in anything bad happening to her, sparing no thought to how others might be affected by her actions (though at least in her case Gabriel is deliberately keeping her Locked Out of the Loop).
- Much of Adrien's more questionable behavior in the original timeline is reflected in his mother:
- Emelie feels entitled to the love and devotion of others, such as Adrien and Nathalie, much like how Adrien felt entitled to Ladybug's love just because they were both chosen to be superheroes at the same time and he wanted her. How Ladybug felt was largely irrelevant, her protests and resistance going largely ignored save for whenever he got upset at her not behaving the way he wanted... much like how Emelie takes Adrien and Nathalie completely for granted and gets upset upon realizing Nathalie might not be fawning after her anymore.
- Emelie deliberately fashioned herself into a Living Emotional Crutch for Adrien, encouraging his dependence upon her for support and validation even while smothering his desire for independence with Condescending Compassion. Adrien, in turn, wanted Ladybug to depend on him and him alone for support, repeatedly getting upset over her having others to turn to in the form of Master Fu and the other Miraculous Heroes.
- Emelie insists that her relationship with Adrien is special, and that he'd have to have "lots of friends" to even begin compensating for her absence in his life. Adrien similarly insisted that his relationship with Ladybug was special and distinct, growing incredibly jealous upon learning she'd chosen somebody else as her confidant.
- Even after learning about her husband's villainous past and how her usage of the Peacock Pin has been harming others, Emelie unhesitatingly transforms into Mayura and attempts to defend him from Viceroy's wrath. Adrien, by contrast, is completely floored to realize his father was Hawkmoth all along, and it dramatically shifts his opinion of him.
