Gang of Secrets gave us a lot of gifts, a lot of things to be happy about, to talk about. Between the emotional breakdown Marinette was going through, one of the biggest status quo changes in the show’s history, and the potential for Ladynoir conflict down the line, there’s a lot to discuss.
But I want to focus on one of the smaller parts of the episode: Trixx.
He’s a pretty small part of the episode, all things considered. But what little screentime he has is put to good use fleshing him out, giving him an interesting personality and qualities that make him stand out from his fellow kwamis, ones that build on what we’ve seen from him previously.
We first got a good look at Trixx’s personality back in Sapotis, when Ladybug chose her first temporary superhero partner: Alya, AKA Rena Rouge. She’d promised to return the necklace afterwards, but was reluctant to do so, having enjoyed being a superhero so much and wanting to help Ladybug and Chat Noir consistently. She pleaded with Ladybug about keeping the necklace long enough that Ladybug was forced to take cover in order to stop from outing her identity
Trixx: You’re absolutely right, Alya. I’m sure the three of you would make quite the team! You have all the makings of a true superhero.
Trixx: You’re strong, brave,
Trixx: but most of all, you’re trustworthy.
Trixx is pushing Alya to make the right decision here, not through scolding her, but by subtly reminding her that she’s not living up to the ideals of a hero right now, even while he’s complimenting her. That in order to truly be the hero she wants to be, she needs to keep her promise.
This scene, as short as it was, gave Trixx one of the most standout personalities and qualities among the kwamis. He’s subtle and manipulative, understanding people well enough to have an idea what to say or do to get the outcome he wants.
That manipulation isn’t always a bad thing: here, it stopped Alya from making a grave mistake.
Trixx is the kwami of illusion, something that he exemplifies in not only his power, but his name and his personality as well. He knows what to do to push people to think what he wants them to think, to do what he wants them to do.
Which goes back to Gang of Secrets.
Marinette’s breaking down after pretending to be fine earlier. Trixx, having a decent understanding of humans and what might be able to help, urges her to reach out to her friends, to find strength in her support network.
That particular avenue cut off for now, Trixx changes his approach.
If she can’t get support from her friends - and it’s true that they can’t understand all the details of why she’s hurting - she can at least get Tikki’s support, the support of the kwami who’s been with her longest and most often.
But Marinette refuses that as well.
Luckily, Trixx has an ace up his sleeve.
This is where Trixx shines. What he’s saying here isn’t untrue - Tikki could probably use that break - but concern for Tikki isn’t the main reason he’s saying this. He just understands Marinette well enough to know that this is something he can push on to make her do a 180 on the whole “staying transformed all the time” thing.
Trixx is good at using truths to get people to do what he wants.
In Sapotis, he emphasized how trustworthiness helps make for a good hero - this is true.
Here with Marinette, he emphasized that Tikki might be tired or want to eat instead of being part of the transformation for longer - this is also true and fair.
But in both cases he used the truth deceptively, with surgical precision, wrapping up his actual motives in true statements that made it appear like his priorities, his reasons for saying them, for pushing them, were different than they actually were.
There’s a second scene in this episode with Trixx, which continues the trend of saying what he needs to say, presenting things the way he needs to present them in order to get things done, wrapping them in truth, but using that to obfuscate some key details.
When Marinette’s cornered by Lady Wifi, Trixx creates an illusions, against his fellow kwamis’ concerns.
With how dire the situation is, even knowing the risks, Trixx uses his power without a Holder to temper it, creating an illusion of Marinette and leading Lady Wifi and the rest of the akumas away.
Ladybug’s happy things worked out, but concerned.
What Trixx says here is true, but obscures the size of the problem.
Barkk and Wayzz, having know Trixx for a very long time, know the true scope of the issue and are indignant at Trixx for playing it down.
It’s true that the damage was illusory. But a dancing Eiffel Tower is hard to ignore.
Trixx wanted to reassure Ladybug that him using his power was fine, stop her from worrying too much (and also not get lectured). To that end, he told Ladybug the truth about what his raw power does, but doesn’t go into detail.
He plays it down, but truthfully understands how extreme it can be, and concerning - that’s evident after she leaves and only his fellow kwamis, who’re well-acquainted with his powers, are around. Him telling her the damage would be illusory and acting casual about it wasn’t because he genuinely believed that using his power without a wielder was harmless, like he seemed to imply - here he acknowledges that it’s something that’ll need to be fixed.
But it allowed him to achieve his goal of assuaging Ladybug’s worries at the time.
Overall Trixx is one of my favorite kwamis right now. What little screen time he has is put to good use, and his cleverness and understanding of human psychology make him stand out from the others, and make him a very useful character overall.
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