The sacrificial lamb is an idea in literature used to represent an innocent character being doomed from the start. In Miraculous Ladybug, Marinette, at only 14, obtained the ladybug miraculous in order to save Parisians from Hawkmoth’s reign. She was given such a huge task at such a young age. Defeat Hawkmoth or allow the world to go to ruins.

Marinette became the guardian when Master Fu, who didn’t give much information regarding Miraculous in the first place, had to step down. This places an even larger burden on her. Managing schoolwork, friendships and family, and being a superhero places immense pressure on her. Marinette becomes overwhelmed with the responsibility of protecting the Miraculous and the city. She often fears failure in both her job as the guardian and the safety of Paris. Being the guardian meant she couldn’t express her worries to anyone — until she told Alya the truth, that is. This isolated her, even with Cat Noir, which meant she had to keep secrets.

In the season five finale, Hawkmoth — Gabriel Agreste — gets his wish and the entire world is reborn. Marinette, out of all her friends, is the only person to know what truly happened. Even more secrets. She promises Gabriel she would keep the truth from Adrien Agreste, however that puts more pressure on her. She keeps the idea that “the truth Adrien needs to know” is the same truth she told the public — that Gabriel Agreste, Hawkmoth, sacrificed himself in order to defeat Hawkmoth while she knows that’s not true — he didn’t help defeat anyone. He fulfilled his selfish desires to see Emilie instead of coming up with a new plan when Marinette offered. He forced more onto her, and she decided too late not to follow a dead man’s requests. By this point, she had to keep the lie going.

She was bound to lose herself with all the pressure put onto her. Lambs are associated with life and naivety. Marinette sacrificed her youth for the common good.