Nino Lahiffe is a student in Miss Bustier's class at Collège Françoise Dupont and Adrien's best friend. He is also a DJ and the head of the school radio.
In "The Bubbler", when Nino becomes frustrated with adults after failing to convince Gabriel Agreste to allow Adrien to have a birthday party, Hawk Moth akumatizes him into The Bubbler, a bubble-wielding supervillain.
In "Anansi", after Alya Césaire and Cat Noir are captured by the titular villain, Nino receives the Turtle Miraculous from Ladybug. When the Miraculous is inhabited by Wayzz, Nino becomes Carapace, a turtle-themed superhero who helps Ladybug and Cat Noir "during particularly difficult missions" in the second season and beyond.
In "Mayura", during the fight with Scarlet Moth, due to grief caused by watching Rena Rouge falling victim to an akuma, Carapace is then Akumatized into Shell Shock, a turtle-themed supervillain.
In "Oblivio", due to his and Alya's embarrassment at being caught playing the Super Penguino video game together, they are Akumatized together into Oblivio, a memory-erasing supervillain.
In "Rocketear", after coming to believe that Alya and Cat Noir are secretly a couple behind his back and thinking that Alya is cheating on him, Nino is akumatized into Rocketear, a supervillain with the power to cry exploding tears. And from this episode, Nino reveals to Adrien that he is Carapace, and later, he also receives a Magical Charm from Ladybug that prevents him from being akumatized again.
After the events of "Strikeback", Nino will temporarily be unable to become Carapace after Hawk Moth manages to steal the Turtle Miraculous along with all the others contained in the Chinese Miracle Box from Ladybug's yo-yo.
Appearance[]
Physical appearance[]
Nino is a tall slender teenager, with short dark brown hair, dark skin, and moderate orange eyes.
Civilian attire[]
He wears a plain red cap, uses black-rimmed glasses, and often has a pair of dark gray, blue, and orange headphones hung around his neck. He typically wears a vivid azure t-shirt with an eye design on the front (a design involving a black pupil, white sclera, a dark gray upper eyelid with lashes, and a light blue lower lid). Around his jeans is a brown belt, and while most of it is hidden by his shirt, one tip sticks out a little bit below the hem. Additionally, he wears lime green, pink, red, blue, and yellow wristbands around his right wrist, moderate azure jeans, and red and white high collar shoes with a white knight design on the tongues.
As Carapace[]
Carapace has a deep green jumpsuit with a hood over his head, the suit itself made with tiny hexagonal patterns resembling those on the Turtle Miraculous. The hoodie has a silver semicircle on the front, curved red-eye designs on the sides with black and golden details, and two small light green ovals below the bottom of the hood's opening. Over his eyes, Carapace wears black goggles with yellow-green lenses, and underneath the suit, he has a black collar. On his suit, he has six hexagon-shaped light green circles on his chest, and he has dark gray hexagon-shaped protective pads on his shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees. The Turtle Miraculous bracelet is on his right wrist. Also, Carapace wears deep green boots with an indent between his big toe and other toes, dark gray outsoles, and two indents on two sides of each boot. On his back, he carries a shield that is dark green on one side and light green on the other.
As Shell Shock[]
Shell Shock has the same appearance as his superhero counterpart except for being red all over, and the lenses of his goggles and shield are all red, owing to him having been taken over by a Scarlet Akuma. His appearance resulting from a normal Akuma is unknown.
As The Bubbler[]
The Bubbler has light brilliant arctic blue skin, dark amaranth eyes, and black circles around his eyes, along with a black spot above his left eye and a black spot below his right eye. He wears a luminous vivid red, arctic blue, and yellow elbow-length sleeved tunic with many parts of the suit being rounded like attached bubbles. Around his head, he has a red hood-like thing that features a red antenna on top with a red sphere. Also, he wears black boots, black elbow-length gloves with brilliant amaranth knuckles, and black pants. On his chest, he has an eye-like black and white circle with two dark gray tubes attached. The tubes connect to Bubbler's red, yellow, and blue bubble container, where he puts his bubble wand when he isn't using it. The bubble wand has a blue handle and a yellow head with a long, oval hole.
As Oblivio[]
Oblivio is a purple silhouette that has a laser cannon in its left hand and wears a gray glove in its right hand.
As Rocketear[]
As Rocketear, Nino's entire skin tone becomes a light cornflower blue tint. His head (which may also be a helmet) is shaped like a teardrop, with a pale, light grayish azure front and black back, with the black part curling over his cheek onto the front of his face. On the pale, light grayish cerulean part of his helmet is a teardrop. Over his eyes, replacing his glasses, are blue visors, and his eyes are brilliant cerulean. He seems to be wearing what looks like a light cerulean supervillain jumpsuit with pale, light grayish cerulean gloves. On his shoulders, waist/thighs, and elbows are black teardrops with a light blue outline. There is a black square on each of his gloves. He also has pale, light grayish cerulean boots with black teardrops on them. He has another teardrop insignia on his chest.
- For more of Nino's outfits and designs, see Nino Lahiffe/Designs.
Personality[]
Nino is fun-loving, enthusiastic, friendly, and compassionate. He enjoys being a DJ at parties and hanging out with friends. He is described as "a caring friend with a strong sense of right and wrong." Noticing when someone, like Adrien, is upset, he does what he can to comfort them or cheer them up. If he has a vision for something, he stays dedicated to it, sometimes rather stubbornly. But if things don't go in the fashion he wants them to, it exasperates and upsets him. He is more than willing to argue his point, though he is able to change his opinions on situations or particular people. Nino becomes frustrated if he sees something that he considers unfair, like when Adrien's father won't allow Adrien to have a birthday party. However, he doesn't hold grudges for long, and whether by choice or not, he will help others when they ask for it.
However, he tends to act nervous in certain situations, as seen in "Animan" when he tried to ask Marinette on a date and when he stuttered at the sight of being posted on Alya's Ladyblog. He also has some knowledge of how things work in certain situations like in "Horrificator" or "Anansi".
Like Alya, he can be caught up in the moment or excitement of things. However, unlike Alya, he can calm himself down enough to realize reality as he doesn't hesitate on returning the Turtle Miraculous.
When it comes to those he cares about he is brave and loyal, refusing to leave them behind, as seen in "Simon Says", where he didn't want to leave without Adrien, and in "Anansi", when he was even willing to fight against the titular villain to save Alya or staying with her when she's infected in "Zombizou". He is also protective of his brother Chris, running all over the city to find him in "Christmaster". He can become doubtful of his abilities at times but takes advice from others very well.
Also, he seems to be very attached to his signature red cap, as seen in "Chameleon", when it is taken from him by the titular villain and Alya is later seen reassuring him that he looks fine without it.
Nino can be very insecure sometimes, especially when it comes to his relationship with Alya, as seen in "Rocketear". After noticing Alya being evasive and keeping secrets, not to mention her apparent attention towards Cat Noir, combined with a scene from a movie where Rena Rouge declares to Cat Noir, Nino comes to suspect there might be something between them and follows Alya to confirm his suspicions. That insecurity of his causes him to misunderstand the situation and believe they are together.
As Carapace, most of Nino's personality remains the same, like his willingness to help others and bravery, although he forgets to speak in a formal manner, calling Ladybug "dude" or "dudette" instead of Ladybug. According to one of Alya's Instagram photos, he is also a bit camera shy.
As Bubbler, he becomes less caring and more aggressive, being much wilder and louder than normal. Although one of his intentions is to let Adrien have the birthday party that he never gets, he also despises adults and uses his powers to get rid of them. His hatred can extend to his peers if they defy his orders. As Bubbler, if anyone doesn't listen to him, they get trapped in a bubble. His rage proves to even be an issue for Hawk Moth when he traps Ladybug and Cat Noir and sends them into the sky instead of taking their Miraculouses.
As Shell Shock, his personality as Carapace seems to inverse, making him cruel and aggressive.
As Oblivio, he and Alya become incredibly arrogant and conceited in their own abilities, erasing people's memories on a whim and taunting Ladybug and Cat Noir constantly after doing the same thing to them. However, they are easily frustrated as well, growing angrier and angrier while trying and failing to track down Ladybug and Cat Noir after they detransform.
As Rocketear, he is vengeful towards Cat Noir for what he believes is Alya cheating on him with Cat Noir. He also cares about others who cares about him such as Adrien and Alya aren't consider his enemies, He tries to destroy Cat Noir mainly, rather than get the Miraculouses or destroy Ladybug. However, when Ladybug stops him from causing any more harm to Cat Noir, he then aims to destroy her as well until he sees the video he recorded being projected with the audio being added by Rena Furtive without him knowing. This causes him to give up his vengeance and reject Shadow Moth’s akumatization.
Abilities[]
As a civilian[]
Nino is a skilled DJ, competing with his abilities and making it to the second round of The Challenge. With his cellphone, he likes to record videos, and, in "Horrificator", he films a movie with it. He is also knowledgeable in film tropes and film crew, noting how cell phones don't usually work in horror movies in "Horrificator" and mentioning Hollywood director Steven Basielberg in "Volpina".
In "Anansi", Nino is shown to have decent fighting abilities.
As Carapace[]
Carapace has much more enhanced skills, such as speed, agility, and strength, and he is almost invulnerable to physical damage. However, he doesn't seem to be able to reach great heights like other Miraculouses allow (such as Ladybug with her yo-yo, or Rena Rouge with her superior agility), having to rely on his allies for being transported long distances. He possesses a shield as a weapon that can easily be thrown and used to fight and is strong enough to endure hits from powerful villains like Anansi.
His special power, Shell-ter, is executed through his shield, and allows him to create a giant green shell-like spherical barrier/force field to protect himself and his allies, and is also able to damage particular surfaces (such as Anansi's webs). Despite the usefulness of this power, it must be used wisely, as Carapace can only use it once before reverting to his civilian form five minutes after using it.
As Shell Shock[]
Shell Shock still has enhanced skills and wields the same weapon as Carapace, however, any further abilities as Shell Shock are currently unknown.
As the Bubbler[]
With his bubble wand weapon, Bubbler can create giant impenetrable bubbles with various powers and colors.
- Purple bubbles can be used to chase and capture people, turning green. Additionally, Bubbler can use them to project his face and give a message, and he can stand on them to levitate.
- Red bubbles are his offensive attack: he can throw them at his enemies, causing a fiery explosion on impact. Additionally, The Bubbler can turn existing red bubbles into swarming green ones that attach to people and morph into a giant green bubble. This is used to catch both Ladybug and Cat Noir in one go.
He is unable to levitate in mid-air without standing on a bubble, but he can jump very high and can fly from one place to another leaving a trail of purple bubbles.
His bubbles can't be penetrated by limbs or by Ladybug's yo-yo. However, the shields Ladybug and Cat Noir create by rotating their weapons do offer some protection. Additionally, the bubbles can be blown away by air currents and can be burst by Cataclysm and the Miraculous Ladybug.
As Oblivio[]
Oblivio has super strength and wields a laser cannon that can fire a blast of purple energy that causes whoever it hits to lose their memories. Oblivio is invulnerable to physical attacks, which phase right through.
As Rocketear[]
Rocketear is able to create tears from his visors and shoot them at his opponent. Once the the person aimed for is touched by the tears, they will immediately be pushed to a far-off distance. However, if his tears touch an object, they will cause a massive explosion around its area. He is also able to charge a short beam of energy, which has the same affect as his tears.
