Marinette is the titular main character of the show. Her father is fully French and her mother is fully Chinese. Mixed main characters are not common in mainstream media, especially for children. As kids' media tends to focus on simpler concepts, most shows do not venture into the territory of mixed race characters and the implications that this cultural mixing can have on a person. Marinette's Chinese side is also a significant part of her character and the show itself, as it is fully worked into the plot and lore of the story. Asian main characters are something of a rarity in mainstream western media, as most believe that non-minority characters are more "relatable" and "agreeable" to audiences. Marinette's existence challenges this cultural norm.

Wang Cheng is Marinette's uncle and a famous Chinese chef who lives in Shanghai. He appears in several episodes in the series and helps Marinette discover Chinese culture. In Miraculous World: Shanghai, Marinette visits his home and learns about the Chinese side of her family. She learns that her mother anglicized her name when she moved to France; this simple characterization touches on the social pressures that Asian people feel to assimilate and reject their culture. However, in the show, Chinese culture is celebrated and integrated naturally into Marinette and her family's lives. Furthermore, Wang Cheng's apartment, as well as the whole of Shanghai are also explored, giving the audience a visual representation of both traditional and modern China. Presenting China in this modern light shatters the usual "ancient" feel that most western media tends to entirely focus on in reference to the country and effectively humanizes a land and a people that feel so far removed to any children that are not directly related to the culture.

The Miraculous are the magic system of this world. The Miraculous are wearable objects that are imbued with the power of foundational ideas/concepts (creation, destruction, etc.) and have the ability to grant their wearers specific powers. Many of the Miraculous have heavy ties to the Chinese Zodiac and also have heavy cultural ties to China in the show's lore. For example, twelve of the Miraculous are based off of the animals of the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig. These twelve Miraculous correspond directly to the twelve animals that make up the Chinese Zodiac. Additionally, the Miraculous are also contained in a Chinese Miracle Box, a jewelry box very explicitly decorated in ancient Chinese fashion. Furthermore, the idea of balance and responsibility is very important to the core functioning of the Miraculous, which parallel the Confucian concepts of Yin-Yang and personal and communal responsibility. As this magic system is a core part of the series, almost every episode includes some allusion to Chinese culture, if not outright expanding on the lore of the Miraculous.

Master Fu is a Chinese healer and the Guardian of the Miraculous. He helps Marinette discover Chinese heritage through his use of Chinese medicine to heal her Miraculous. He is her most direct connection to her culture and to the Miraculous. His history as a Miraculous Guardian is also inspired by Chinese culture as his backstory is reminiscent of ancient martial art training methods, such as rigorous mental and physical training in isolation. Moreover, the illustrations in the spellbook and Master Fu's lore are animated in a different art style reminiscent of Chinese calligraphic figure painting. In contrast to Wang Cheng and modern day China, Master Fu serves as a vessel for the show to explore ancient China while not severing the character and the plot from the main, present-day storyline.