"Dark Cupid, I am Hawk Moth. I can give you the power to shoot your arrows, pierce love and impale friendships. But there is something you must do for me in return."
—Hawk Moth
After being rejected by Chloé on Valentine's Day, Kim becomes the villain Dark Cupid and makes it his mission to make everyone as miserable as he is.
Tropes:
- Aborted Declaration of Love: Cat Noir ends up telling Ladybug that he loathes her, thanks to Dark Cupid's arrow.
- Big Damn Kiss: Ladybug and Cat Noir finally share the moment.
- Bottomless Magazines: Dark Cupid flies all around Paris shooting people, but never runs out of arrows.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Everyone who gets hit by Dark Cupid's arrows is driven to destroy what they love, but it's especially pronounced with Cat Noir.
- Chekhov's Classroom: The episode opens with Marinette's class talking about uses of True Love's Kiss in fairy tales.
- Chekhov's Gag: Marinette briefly has a problem removing some candy apples that Alya sticks to her. Her Lucky Charm weaponizes this to keep Dark Cupid busy until she can cure Cat Noir.
- Comically Missing the Point:
- Marinette finds Adrien's poem about Ladybug, but Tikki assumes the physical similarities refer to her while the bits about disguises are symbolism.
- In a corollary to the above, Marinette says "pinch me" in response to her misconception about the love letter. Tikki obliges.
- Continuity Nod: Two of the girls Chloé shows off her signed poster of Adrien to are Aurore Beauréal and Mireille Caquet.
- Cultural Translation: In the American dub, Kim's references to soccer are changed to baseball ones.
- Dramatic Irony: At the beginning of the episode, Marinette finds Adrien's poem about Ladybug and assumes it's about her. Similarly, at the end of the episode, Adrien assumes that Marinette's (unsigned) card is from Ladybug. They're both right, in a manner of speaking.
- Fallen Cupid: Dark Cupid was deliberately designed to evoke Cupid, but instead of spreading love, he is out to systematically destroy it.
- Forceful Kiss: Ladybug forces a kiss on Cat Noir, which neither of them enjoy. The idea was to jolt him back to sanity, since he was trying to kill her.
- Hate Plague: Dark Cupid's arrows turn their victims' feelings of love, both platonic and romantic, into hate.
- Kick the Dog: Chloé turns down Kim in the cruelest way possible, leading him to become evilized. On a less serious note, she shows off her signed poster to Adrien's fangirls and even tells Sabrina to bring it closer to the one that "isn't crying hard enough."
- Laser-Guided Karma: Chloé tricks Adrien into signing a poster of himself, on which Chloé has written a note that proclaims her as his one true love. After rejecting Kim, he becomes akumatized and uses his arrow on Sabrina, who in turn ruins the poster. Ladybug's World-Healing Wave doesn't fix the damage, either. While under the effect of Kim's arrow, Sabrina also humiliates Chloé the same way she humiliated Kim.
- Love Letter Lunacy: Marinette fails to sign her valentine. (She also forgets to address it or give it postage, but it somehow gets through).
- Not Worth Killing: When Chloé breaks into an It's All About Me tirade when finally cornered by Dark Cupid, he refuses to shoot her since there's no room for love in her heart anyway. He does shoot Sabrina, though, who gets revenge on his behalf.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: Tikki is correct in assuming that Adrien's poem is about Marinette, but only indirectly because he wrote it for Ladybug. Later, when Adrien reads her reply, which she forgot to sign, he assumes it's from Ladybug because a ladybug lands on the letter while he's wondering who wrote it.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: Marinette writes a confession to Adrien...but forgets to sign the note!
- Stock Footage: Ladybug running across rooftops and then stopping to look at the sky is reused in Mr. Pigeon and The Puppeteer.
- Taking the Bullet: Cat Noir takes an arrow that would have hit Ladybug.
- The Tragic Rose: All of Dark Cupid's Hate Plague inducing arrows are shaped like black roses.
- True Love's Kiss: Ladybug breaks the spell on Cat Noir by kissing him, reasoning that it works in fairy tales. If only they knew...
- Unnecessarily Cruel Rejection: Chloe's needlessly dickish rejection is why Kim got akumatized.
- Valentine's Day Episode: Complete with theme-fitting villain!
- What Does He See in Her?: Marinette and Alya's reaction to finding out that Kim chose Chloé of all people as his valentine.
- Witch with a Capital "B": Alya exclaims "what a witch!" when she sees the humiliating photo of Kim that Chloé sent everyone.
