I just want Marinette to love me.
"Are you tired of having your creative spirit crushed? Evillustrator, I'm your friend and patron of the arts. I'm here to offer you support. But I don't give this kind of power for free — I have a couple of items that need retrieving."
—Hawk Moth
Nathaniel, one of Marinette's classmates, is caught drawing in physics, gets his crush on Marinette revealed in front of class, mocked by Chloé, and sent to the principal's office, and all that on his birthday! Afterward, an evil Akuma possesses his pencil and turns him into Evillustrator. Meanwhile, Marinette tries to convince Sabrina to stand up to Chloé.
Tropes:
- Anti-Villain: Evillustrator only wants to go on a date with Marinette, and he uses no lethal force until she betrays him to Cat Noir.
- Believing Their Own Lies: Chloé seems to truly believe that everybody adores her.
- A Birthday, Not a Break: It's Nathaniel's birthday when he gets transformed by an Akuma.
- …But He Sounds Handsome: Ladybug sends a photo of Marinette as a reference to Cat Noir, saying "She's cute, isn't she?" The next day, Adrien asks Marinette what she thought of Cat Noir.
- Casanova Wannabe: Cat Noir expects Chloé and Marinette to swoon at his feet for being a dashing superhero, and they both only play along to get him to do what they want. (Chloé to get him to do her particle physics homework; Marinette to let him think she's not in on his and Ladybug's plan.)
- Continuity Nod: Nathaniel's daydream stars villains from previous episodes.
- Daydream Surprise: Part of the Fake-Out Opening. Nathaniel in his hero guise saves Marinette from Lady WiFi and Stormy Weather.
- Department of Redundancy Department: Stormy Weather freezes Marinette after she's already immobilized by Lady WiFi. Interestingly, the pause rune disappears after she's frozen, allowing "Super Nathan" to erase just the ice.
- Et Tu, Brute?: Evillustrator to Marinette when she steals his stylus and reveals that Cat Noir was watching their date.
- Fake-Out Opening: At first it seems that Stormy Weather and Lady WiFi have returned, found out Ladybug's true identity, and captured Marinette. Then "Super Nathan" appears and saves Marinette, revealing it to be a Daydream Surprise.
- The Farmer and the Viper: Downplayed as Sabrina isn't evil so much as an Extreme Doormat. Still, Marinette tries to help Sabrina stand up to Chloé, only for Sabrina to act super clingy and subservient toward her, then turn on her and go back to Chloé the second Marinette needs to postpone helping her with their project.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: Just as the teacher calls his name, "Super Nathan" turns straight to the camera with a baffled expression.
- Genki Girl: Sabrina is this when Chloé is not bossing her around.
- The Glomp:
- Marinette gives one to Alya after the latter says she'll put in good word about her to Adrien.
- Sabrina also does this when Marinette agrees to be friends with her.
- Head Desk: Marinette does this when she's paired with Chloé and Sabrina for a physics project.
- Harmless Freezing: Stormy Weather does this, directly freezing Marinette instesd of making an ice barrier like she did in her debut episode
- Her Code Name Was "Mary Sue": Nathaniel draws a comic that portrays him as a superhero that saves Marinette. Ironically, he becomes the Monster of the Week, with his supervillain appearance and powers being identical to his self-portrayal as a superhero.
- Hyper-Destructive Bouncing Ball: Ladybug's Lucky Charm creates a ball that destroys every light source in Chloé’s room when Ladybug throws it.
- Hypocrite: Chloé says You Monster! to Evillustrator after he erases her dresses and shoes, but he points out that she likes to tear others down.
- Hypocritical Humor: Cat Noir has a Lame Pun Reaction to Chloé's Hurricane of Puns involving cats.
- I Gave My Word: Evillustrator says this about his promise to not hurt Chloé, but when he learns that Marinette was working with Cat Noir to take him down, he considers it void and goes after her again.
- It's Personal: Evillustrator targets Chloé because of her Kick the Dog moment earlier and her cruelty to Marinette.
- Kick the Dog: Chloé mocks Nathaniel's drawings and his crush on Marinette, and later defaces one of his pages. She also says that Sabrina is nothing without her, since Chloé is her only friend.
- Kissed Keepsake: Adrien touches Marinette's shoulder, prompting her to say she'll never wash her coat again.
- Lame Pun Reaction: Ladybug is no mood to listen to Cat Noir's Pun today, and she lets out an especially pained groan at the one he makes the first time the Evillustrator escapes.
- Large Ham: Cat Noir acts like this in front of Marinette, who mocks him when he's not looking.
- Logical Weakness: Evillustrator can't draw in the dark.
- Loves My Alter Ego: Marinette tells Adrien that he is more awesome than Cat Noir.
- Mundane Made Awesome:
- Evillustrator draws tiny objects larger to make them dangerous.
- Ladybug defeats Evillustrator with a bouncy ball.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Marinette's plan to go on a date with Evillustrator so she could steal his stylus backfires when he gets it back and decides go after Chloé. Before then, his attacks were more mean than dangerous, to the point that Hawk Moth actually had to threaten him into honoring his side of the deal.
- No Sympathy: Ms. Mendeleiev, the physics professor, has none for Nathaniel when Chloé mocks him for his crush.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Both Sabrina and Evillustrator liken Marinette to Chloé, to her chagrin.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: In the climax, Evillustrator sends giant boxing gloves and saw blades against Ladybug, Cat Noir, and Chloé.
- Not What It Looks Like: Marinette says she can't meet up with Sabrina to do the physics project because she has an "important thing" to do (that is to stop the Monster of the Week), and Sabrina guesses she's like Chloé, who makes the same excuse.
- Pay Evil unto Evil: When Marinette asks the Evillustrator why he attacked Chloé in the school library, he responds that he did it because Chloé is cruel and selfish. Marinette admits that she can't argue with his point.
- Poke the Poodle: The Evillustrator stops Chloé from picking on Marinette by summoning a bunch of berets to fall on her, and then chasing her away with a giant blowdryer. He becomes more dangerous in the climax.
- Rescue Romance: The opening is Nathaniel imagining one between him and Marinette.
- Sarcasm-Blind: When Ladybug sarcastically agrees that Chloé is adorable, the latter gives a Squee and asks for a selfie.
- Save the Villain: Cat Noir and Ladybug reluctantly protect Chloé from Evillustrator.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here:
- Ladybug leaves Chloé in Cat Noir's protection after she sees the page of Nathaniel's drawing that Chloé has defaced, discovering the Evillustrator's identity and getting furious with the Alpha Bitch.
- Cat Noir later pulls this himself when Ladybug calls him to tell him he doesn't need to protect Chloé anymore.
- Selective Obliviousness: Chloé seems to think that everyone loves her, as she tells Cat Noir and Ladybug.
- Shown Their Work: The pages from Nathaniel's notebook show quick sketches and defined paneling, the way a traditional comic artist would lay out his work.
- Stalker with a Crush: Evillustrator enters Marinette's room without permission to ask her on a date.
- Stealth Hi/Bye: Adrien pulls this on Marinette by somehow appearing behind her locker door as she closes it. Note that her locker is right next to the wall.
- Status Quo Is God: Sabrina decides to finally stand up to Chloé, only to go back to her as soon as she thinks that Marinette stood her up.
- Strange Minds Think Alike: Sabrina and Evillustrator say that Marinette is like Chloé, which insults the latter.
- A Taste of Their Own Medicine: Invoked by the Evillustrator, who points out that Chloé likes to stomp all over people, before creating a giant shoe to stomp on her.
- Villain Has a Point: Evillustrator points out that Chloé is mean and egotistical when talking to Marinette.
- Villain Team-Up: During the Daydream Surprise, Nathaniel imagines this with Stormy Weather and Lady WiFi capturing Marinette.
- Woman Scorned: The gender inversion; Evillustrator becomes much more dangerous when he sees that Marinette only went on a date with him to help Cat Noir defeat him.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: Nathaniel, as the Evillustrator, thinks that he is the hero in the story, and that Chloé is the real villain.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Marinette tells Sabrina this when Chloé wants them to do all the work for the project.
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Evillustrator laughs when Lucky Charm summons a bouncy ball.
