GabeNath

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Pairing
Pairing: Gabriel Agreste/Nathalie Sancoeur
Alternative name(s): GabeNath, HawkNath, HawkYura, GabeYura, villain square
Gender category: m/f
Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug
Canonical?: It's complicated
Prevalence: common
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GabeNath is a het pairing in the Miraculous Ladybug fandom. The ship derives its name from the first names of Gabriel Agreste and Nathalie Sancoeur.

GabeNath is currently the #8 ranked pairing for Miraculous Ladybug on Archive of our Own.

Canon

Nathalie has worked as Gabriel's executive assistant for at least several years. They are shown to have a close relationship with one another. Nathalie is Gabriel's most trusted confidant, and the only one to know his identity as Hawkmoth. Since the end of Season 2, she has wielded the Peacock Miraculous to help him succeed in his goal at great cost to her own health.

Gabriel is married to Emilie Agreste, who is currently in a "deep sleep", caused by her use of the broken Miraculous. Reviving Emilie would cost someone else's life.

Fanon Debate Over Canon

Spoiler Warning: This article or section contains spoilers about Seasons 2 and 3. If this bothers you, proceed with caution.


There is some debate over whether Gabriel and Nathalie are canonically in love with each other, or if Nathalie's love for Gabriel is unrequited.

Nathalie's feelings

It was long suspected by fans that Nathalie might have feelings for her boss. Suspicions rose dramatically with the first episode of Season 2, The Collector,[1] as it was revealed that Nathalie was fully aware of Gabriel's identity as the supervillain Hawkmoth. These suspicions were only magnified by the episode Queen Wasp,[2] where Nathalie showed a rare display of hurt when Gabriel went back on his promise to give up being Hawkmoth.

Nathalie's love for Gabriel was all but confirmed by the end of the season, as she willingly used the broken Peacock Miraculous in the Season 2 finale to save him from capture,[3] despite the fact that it would make her ill and presumably cause the same coma-like state that Emilie Agreste fell victim to before the series began.

In the Season 3 episode Stormy Weather,[4] Nathalie's love for Gabriel is finally verbalized. Any possible remaining doubts are quelled by the episode Ladybug,[5] in which Duusu comments that Nathalie's actions are "so romantic," and Nathalie doesn't refute the suggested motivation for her sacrifice.

Gabriel's feelings

Gabriel's canonical feelings for Nathalie are a greater spot of contention and controversy within the fandom. Some fans feel that he is falling in love with her in return, some think his affection is strictly platonic, and there are even fans with the cynical view that he doesn't care for her at all, only viewing her as a tool to reach his goal. Most fans, however, fall into the first two categories.

Gabriel accepts a very intimate hug from Nathalie in the episode Queen Wasp.

Gabriel is not as open of a character as Nathalie and his feelings are harder to discern, but there are a few key moments that fans have latched onto as proof of his growing love for her. Some fans raised their eyebrows at the episode Queen Wasp,[2] in which Gabriel accepted a very intimate embrace from Nathalie with no hesitation or even surprise, implying that it was not the first time that they were physically affectionate with each other.

The first major piece of evidence is tied to the Season 2 finale, Mayura. Although Gabriel knows that having another supervillain on his side will provide him with a great advantage, this episode reveals that he has been unwilling to put Nathalie at risk in this way, even though he states that he would "do anything to get Emilie back." Even though he is moments away from capture, he reacts with horror instead of relief when Mayura makes herself known to him and offers him the chance to escape.[3]

After the events of the Season 2 finale, Gabriel begrudgingly allows Nathalie to reprise her role as Mayura, which quickly makes her ill. His concern for her seems to grow, while the certainty of his task wavers. At the end of the Season 2 finale, Gabriel carries Nathalie to a chair, and after a tender moment, places his hand gently over hers. This casual yet intimate kind of contact can be spotted all throughout the third season of the show. In the episodes Feast and Reflekdoll, Gabriel questions whether Nathalie should continue to use the Miraculous, and he tends to her, comforts her, and even holds her as she suffers the effects of the broken magic.

The episode Félix [6] received polarized reactions from the fans. In this episode, Adrien mistakenly assumes on the anniversary of Emilie's disappearance that Gabriel is asking permission to move on from Emilie and date Nathalie. Although Adrien is supportive, Gabriel snaps and him and storms away, denying any kind of relationship.

There are two schools of thought on this episode. Some fans prefer to take the interaction at face value and to believe that Gabriel was being fully upfront and honest with Adrien about his feelings. They believe that this interaction is proof that Gabriel does not and will never hold feelings for Nathalie.

Other fans, however, believe that the only reason that Gabriel acts so defensively is because Adrien's accusation has hit a spot of truth. If Gabriel truly had no feelings for Nathalie, he would not react so strongly to the proposition, denying it with detached incredulity. Instead, he has a passionate, reactive response. He fixates on the idea of replacing Emilie, avoiding the subject of his feelings for Nathalie, which has made some fans suspect that he is falling in love but not ready to admit it, especially on such an emotional day. Since Adrien is a major protagonist of the show, it has also been pointed out from a structural standpoint that his support of the relationship suggests endgame.

This all comes to a head in the episode Ladybug,[5] where if anything, Gabriel is even more attentive to Nathalie, despite his recent denial of his feelings for her. Near the beginning of the episode, while akumatized as Catalyst, Nathalie begins to cough. After the very first cough, Hawkmoth demands to know what is wrong, and as soon as he sees her struggling, he drops his transformation and rushes to catch her, abandoning the elaborate plan that they have been building for weeks, possibly months.

After her collapse, Gabriel reminds her that the Miraculous's wounds are becoming her own wounds. Nathalie protests and tells him that she is willing to pay that price, but Gabriel won't have it. He forbids her from using it again, saying, "Not at that cost. Never at that cost again." The implication is clear to many fans of the relationship: Losing Nathalie to the broken Miraculous would be a cost just as unbearable as losing Emilie, his wife.

Later in the episode, after Nathalie has stolen the Miraculous back from Gabriel and transformed into Mayura, Gabriel makes a rare public appearance as Hawkmoth to save her in a dire moment of need. In this scene, the villains are strongly paralleled to LadyNoir/the love square (the main ship of the show) in a romantic context. Mayura is taken hostage by Ladybug in the same moment that Chat Noir is taken hostage by Hawkmoth. In this scene, Ladybug and Hawkmoth as well as Chat Noir and Mayura even share the same line structure, with very little variation between them.

Ladybug: Release him!

Hawkmoth: Release her!

Mayura: Don't mind me!

Chat Noir: Don't listen to him!

Ladybug and Hawkmoth both throw their hostages off the Arc de Triomphe. They run at each other, leaving a second of doubt, but both peel off at the last minute to rescue their partners (and implied love interests).

In the Season 3 finale, Miracle Queen,[7] Gabriel becomes even more physically affectionate. As Hawkmoth, he allows Mayura to cup his face and even leans into the touch. Later on, when Nathalie is at her weakest point, he returns the gesture, cradling her cheek in his hand.

Fandom

Villain Love Square

Like Adrien/Marinette, Gabriel Agreste/Hawkmoth and Nathalie Sancoeur/Mayura also have a love triangle/square incorporating their respective civilian and Miraculous sides. These relationships are known as the villain love square, named after "love square," the term for heroes' relationship(s).

  • Gabriel/Nathalie aka GabeNath: The pair that interacts the most in canon is the most popular in the square.
  • Hawkmoth/Nathalie aka HawkNath: This side doubles as the ship between Nathalie and a Hawkmoth who is not Gabriel. 'Gabriel Agreste Is Not Hawk Moth' fics are rarer now that Hawkmoth's true identity has been confirmed in 'The Collector', and HawkNath is now almost entirely dedicated to the relationship between Nathalie and Gabriel-as-Hawkmoth. Before Nathalie's knowledge of Hawkmoth's true identity was confirmed at the end of season 2, the dynamic of HawkNath was significantly different from that of GabeNath, since Nathalie was unaware that the supervillain terrorizing Paris was actually her boss. The fanfiction 'A Wolf by the Ear', linked below, is an example of a HawkNath fanfiction in which Nathalie doesn't know.
  • Hawkmoth/Mayura aka HawkYura: When the two are depicted together as their transformed selves in canon, they--especially Nathalie—are noticeably more affectionate, and fans capitalize on their lowered emotional barriers. The fanfiction 'One Last Time', linked below, features HawkYura. 'MayuMoth' is another less common term for this pair.
  • Gabriel/Mayura aka GabeYura: Fan content of this side is scarce, as they are not depicted together in the first three seasons.

Common Tropes

  • Redemption: Gabriel and Nathalie are redeemed, sometimes even becoming a hero themselves.
  • Good Parent Gabriel Agreste: The subversion of the Gabriel Agreste's A+ Parenting trope. Gabriel is outwardly supportive and loving to Adrien.
  • Gabriel Agreste is not Hawkmoth: A trope that was especially popular in early days of the fandom, before Hawkmoth's identity was known to be Gabriel. There are still works, however, which explore this trope in an AU setting.
    • Gabriel Agreste is Hawkmoth: A subversion of the above. By default, most current works fall under this trope.
  • Kwami Swap: A common trope for all Miraculous holders. The most popular kwami swaps for this pairing involve Gabriel and Nathalie swapping miraculous with each other, but other variations exist as well.
  • Sexually Explicit Fanworks: As one of the few adult pairings in the show, GabeNath smut is common.
  • Polyamory: A common solution in the fandom to allow Gabriel to be with Nathalie while still resurrecting Emilie, via the Sangrestes ship.
  • Sickfic: With Nathalie's illness getting worse through Season 3, fanworks featuring her as sick or injured from the Miraculous became common, allowing Gabriel to show more care for her.
  • Pregnancy: For unknown reasons unrelated to canon, there are a high number of Nathalie-centric fanworks that have her become pregnant, mostly with Gabriel's child.
  • Nathalie Doesn't Know: AU fanworks in which Nathalie is unaware of Gabriel's identity. This is particularly popular for the HawkNath side of the villain square.
  • Unrequited Love: Fics where the GabeNath relationship is one-sided, mostly with Nathalie holding unrequited feelings for Gabriel.
    • Requited Unrequited Love: Gabriel does return Nathalie's affections, but neither are aware.
  • Fuck Emilie Juice: A trope in which Emilie Agreste is an evil or otherwise unpleasant person, possibly with nefarious motives for using the Peacock Miraculous.
  • Chat Blanc fic: Fics that use the general concept of the episode Chat Blanc or its universe. Chat Blanc fics can range from AUs loosely based on the episode to fics that are entirely canon-compliant.

Fandom Events

Shipping Communities

Example Fanworks

Fanfiction

Fanart

Gallery

Meta

References

  1. ^ The Collector
  2. ^ a b Queen Wasp
  3. ^ a b Heroes' Day Part 2: Mayura
  4. ^ Stormy Weather 2
  5. ^ a b Ladybug (episode)
  6. ^ Felix (episode)
  7. ^ Miracle Queen
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