Nathaniel Kurtzberg

Nathaniel Kurtzberg, also called Nathan or Nath, is a student in Miss Bustier's class at Collège Françoise Dupont.

Personality

Nathaniel is imaginative and artistic. An introverted soul, he is quiet and shy in class, and seems to be quite easily lost in his fantasies, such as when he is daydreaming about his crush, Marinette. In his drawings, he creates "Super Nathan", a courageous superhero version of himself, as a way to imagine himself as being more brash and outgoing. Nathaniel can be rather observant about details around him, including goo left by Horrificator in the episode of the same name and the details of Chloé's bracelet in "Rogercop". Afraid of being judged, he prefers to be secretive about his art, and if he is accused of something, he becomes nervous, and, if the accusations are true, deeply embarrassed. He is easily terrified in some scary or stressful situations, as in "Horrificator", but in other situations, he is willing to stand up for himself, such as when others accuse him of stealing Chloé's bracelet.

In "Reverser", Nathaniel has a bit of a habit of jumping to conclusions when he assumed the book Marinette gave him came from Ladybug, when it actually came from Marc, without giving him the chance to explain. Similar to Cat Noir, he is sensitive of his feelings towards the heroine.

Trivia

• Nathaniel's name is an homage to Nathanaël Bronn, the chief art director of the show.
• A Miraculous promotional French document from TF1PRO released on September 23, 2015 spelled his name as Nathanaël, but Thomas Astruc later confirmed the correct spelling of his name to be Nathaniel when he released multiple characters' full names on July 18, 2016.[9][6]
• His last name Kurtzberg is a reference to the famous American comic book artist Jack Kirby, who was born as Jacob Kurtzberg.
• Nathaniel is Jewish, as supported by Thomas Astruc, as Jack Kirby was also Jewish.
• In the French dub of the show, the Evillustrator's name is Le Dessinateur, meaning "the illustrator," "the cartoonist," or "the designer."
• The Evillustrator tries to avoid following Hawk Moth's orders to get the Miraculouses. As punishment, Hawk Moth briefly controls his body and almost prevents him from preparing for his date with Marinette.
• This is one of two times Hawk Moth has used this ability, the other time being in "Pixelator".
• Nathaniel seems to be ambidextrous to some extent:
  • When he wakes up at the beginning of "The Evillustrator", he is holding a pencil with his right hand and can be using his right hand in the background of many episodes and other media artworks.
    • He is left-handed when he's the Evillustrator, as his drawing pad is on his right arm and he draws with his left hand.
    • In "Robostus", Nathaniel is notably shown drawing a sketch of Markov with his left hand.
    • In "Reverser", Nathaniel can be seen drawing with his left hand while talking with Alix.
• Nathaniel is bisexual, along with Marc Anciel.^[11][12]
  • His shirt symbol is based on the French rock band Magma. Both Thomas Astruc and Nathanaël Bronn are fans of the band.^[13]
• Nathaniel sits behind Ivan in class to draw without being noticed.^[14]
  • He and Ivan are the only students in the class to not share their desks with another student.
    • As of "Chameleon," this is no longer true as Lila Rossi sits beside Nathaniel.
• Nathaniel becomes the Evillustrator a second time when the Puppeteer transforms him using a doll in the episode "The Puppeteer".
• Nathaniel's drawing of Ladybug is actually an edited version of the issue #10 cover of The Mini Menace Ladybug, a series of fake comic covers drawn by Thomas Astruc.
• Since Nathaniel is Jewish and he is about 13-15 years old, he must have already done his Bar Mitzvah.
• In "Reverser", Nathaniel is a part of the school's Art Club along with Juleka, Rose, Alix and Marinette.
• Evillustrator appears another time in "Gamer 2.0" for Gamer's powers.
• A statue of Evillustrator appears in the Musée Grévin in "The Puppeteer 2".

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