The title, literally "The Marionettes", is taken from the marionettes that are made with the main characters as models. These are used later by one of Adriana's old friends, a kindergarten teacher, to tell fairy tales to the children she teaches. It's also a metaphor, referring to the way people are obsessed with money and power which pull on them like puppet strings. In the early '60s, a relatively rich Greek man named Constantino Mykonos and his 17-year-old daughter Artemisa arrive in Chile. They come to the Godán household ruled by Elías, Constantino's cousin and childhood friend. Artemisa is immediately bullied by his cousin, the spoiled Adriana Godán and her school friends. Adriana is jealous of Artemisa's beauty and charisma, and is also obsessed that no woman should surpass her, since her father looked down on her for being female. Adriana's best friend Loreto is also jealous of Artemisa since her boyfriend, the aspiring writer Néstor is starting to harbor some degree of romantic interest in her. Artemisa likes Néstor, but also has her eyes set on Hugo, the handsome and hard-working son of the Godan's housekeeper. After Adriana stages an incredibly cruel prank that includes photos of a naked Artemisa taken without her knowledge, and Constantino dies in an accident, Artemisa can't resist any more. Despite the pleas and support of her best friend Margarita and her husband the photographer Klaus Müller, Artemisa flees to Quito, Ecuador. Twenty years later, she returns as a cold and gorgeous socialite and businesswoman, determined to face her past. She doesn't know that Adriana, unable to let go of her own jealousy, is already planning to steal Artemisa's hard-won fortune and either send her to a North American jail on false charges or to lock her up in a mental institution.
Final episode
The final episode of Los Títeres shows how Adriana, after all her evil plans crumble, goes completely insane and suffers a regression to her childhood as a little girl who only wished for her father's unconditional love, which was denied her because she was not a boy. At one point, Adriana jumps into a pool and starts playing with a bunch of plastic dolls, while her old and paralyzed father cries; this is the origin of the Chilean slang phrase "peinar la muñeca", which refers to the loss of reason. Adriana Godán is still one of the most popular villains in Chilean telenovelas, as well as one of actress Gloria Münchmayer's most popular roles ever.
