Electrodeposition of manganese/polypyrrole (Mn/PPy) nanocomposites has been recently shown to be a technologically-relevant synthesis method for the fabrication of Oxygen Reduction Reaction (ORR) electrocatalysis. In this study we have grown such composites with a potentiostatic anodic/cathodic pulse-plating procedure and characterised them by a multi-technique approach, combining a suite of in situ and ex situ spectroscopic methods with electrochemical measurements.We have thus achieved a sound degree of molecular-level understanding of the hybrid coelectrodeposition process consisting in the electropolymerisation of polypyrrole with incorporation of Mn. By in situ Raman we followed the formation of MnO x and polymer by monitoring the buildup and development of the relevant vibrational bands. The compositional and chemical-state distribution of the as-deposited material has been investigated ex situ by soft X-ray fluorescence (XRF) mapping and micro-absorption spectroscopy (micro-XAS). XRF shows that the spatial distribution of Mn is consistent in a rather wide range of current densities (c.d.), while micro-XAS reveals a mixture of Mn valencies, with higher oxidation states prevailing at higher c.d.s. The pyrolysis of the electrodeposits, desirable for obtaining more durable and active catalysts, has been followed in situ by photoelectron microspectroscopy, allowing to assess the evolution of: (i) the electrodeposit morphology, resulting in a uniform distribution of nanoparticles; (ii) the chemical state of manganese, changing from a mixture of valences to a final state consisting of Mn(III) andMn(IV) oxides and (iii) the bonding nature of nitrogen, from initially N-pyrrolic to a combination of pyridinic and Mn-N/graphitic. 21 form. As far as the electrocatalytic performance is concerned, the onset and halfwave potentials for the pyrolysed material are shifted with respect to the values measured for the corresponding aselectrodeposited system, denoting considerably improved activity. In terms of the same electrocatalytic figures of merit, our electrocatalyst outperforms MnO x supported on a range of carbons, such as: C-powders, 127 vulcan, 31,128 and nanocarbon, 129 while mesoporous C-N supports 130 and appropriately nanostructured MnO 2 (nanospheres and nanowires, 131 microsphere/nanosheet core−corona hierarchical architectures, nanorods, and nanotubes 132 ) yield better ORR capabilities.