Gameplay and Lore: What Makes a Legend a Legend?
For those worried about this wall of text, I would still encourage you to read it all. I'd like to think I did a good job. Otherwise, there's a TLDR at the end. Hey all, Obdurator here. Today I wanted to discuss something that I believe is key to gameplay and the League of Legends itself both inside and outside the Rift. That key? The link between LORE and GAMEPLAY. As everyone knows, each champion comes to the Rift with their own background, motives, and life story. These things affect who they are and who they hope to become, and thus affect their behavior and abilities on Summoner's Rift (and other maps too, I don't discriminate). However, I believe that this connection is not omnipresent in League. And because of this, I believe that some champions suffer in terms of gameplay because their abilities, appearance, or quotes don't mesh with the story they are meant to have. This creates not only characters with split personalities (in the Institute of War and outside), but also champions who may feel unoriginal in some--or all--aspects. And champions who don't feel completely unique are certainly not "legends".
I suppose an example is in order. Firstly however, I would like to say that the most recent champions (say, from Jinx onwards) haven't been suffering the aforementioned issue as much. I believe that a lot of the newer champions have been created with amazing and diverse personalities, and that their ingame personas reflect them well. Much of this discussion is instead targeted at the older champions of this game, especially ones who've undergone story changes with little or no changes to their ingame character. This, as I said before, has created a schism between the lore and the actual game of League of Legends. I fear that such a split may push new players away from lore and story related events, rather than bonding the two together. Not all champions are split like this, though. I also feel that some just have aspects on the Rift that don't conform to their appearance in the world of Runeterra.
**Example time! **I thought a good representation for this might be Aatrox 
, the Darkin Blade. First I'd like to go over him in general.
For those who don't know about Aatrox or want a refresher, here is a link to his page:
http://gameinfo.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/game-info/champions/aatrox/
Now, I won't be discussing all the theories behind him or the theories on the Darkin. I just want to talk about what we as the Summoners know about him from the lore page. Aatrox is an ancient warrior (perhaps even as ancient as war, as he says). He appears seemingly at random throughout history, seeming to join the side that is losing or has given up hope. His mere presence fills armies with bloodlust, and gives them tenfold their strength. Yet he's more than a simple inspiration, he fights alongside these warriors. His blade and body seem to be of one spirit: "He wields his massive blade with grace and poise, slicing through legions in a style that is hypnotic to behold. With each foe felled, Aatrox's seemingly living blade drinks in their blood, empowering him and fueling his brutal, elegant campaign of slaughter."
Before we move on, I'd like to highlight a few key points about this. Aatrox is a natural leader. His mere presence gives strength and unquenchable thirst for battle in all around him. But he is also a fighter. He wades neck deep into combat, but not like a juggernaut. Rather, his body and sword seem to be connected (the "living" blade). Witnessing him fight is "hypnotic"; most likely he moves with lightning speed and graceful movement. This would lead us to conclude that he truly fights elegantly.
WHERE ALL THIS BREAKS DOWN Now let's take a look through each of his abilities so that I can show you where I believe things are done right, and where things are done wrong.
P: Blood Well Aatrox stores up the health cost of his abilities in his well, increasing his attack speed and the amount of health he recovers if he enters stasis. If the blood well is active, dying will place Aatrox in an invulnerable state until he's recovered a portion of his health and revives. Personally, I believe that this is fine in terms of story connection. He's meant to be the incarnation of war, so it makes sense that the more blood given, the stronger he becomes. The only change I might foresee is a more interesting stasis animation, rather than simply taking a knee like he does now.
Q: Dark Flight Here's the ability I have a bone to pick with. In essence, Dark Flight allows Aatrox is rise in the air and smash down a short distance away, knocking up enemies caught in the center of his landing point. So what's wrong with this ability? Going back to the lore, Aatrox is meant to fight with grace and elegance, a "hypnotic" fighting stance. To me, there's nothing graceful, elegant, or hypnotic about Aatrox rising up and slamming into the ground as hard as he can. I understand that having the gap closer is good for his kit (and fitting lorewise), but I believe that a more subtle or poised form of attack would be better. Perhaps a lunge or a drilling move into the enemies?
W: Blood Thirst/Blood Price This ability, which allows Aatrox to siphon health or deal extra damage at the price of health, is perfect for him in my opinion. It gives us the image of him on the battlefield, his blade constantly shifting to steal the life of his enemies and turn it into a powerful attack. I believe that is fits well with the idea that his fighting style is smooth and bloody, a relentless force that draws on the lives of others to propel itself.
E: Blades of Torment Another ability I have a problem with. In fact, I even have a problem with the name. I understand that Riot was trying to reference the two lines that move forward into a point, slowing enemies, but Aatrox only has ONE blade. And I believe that the ability name should focus around that, not the particle eefect that comes from it. Aside from the etymology, the ability itself seems lazy to me. A slow that was added to his kit simply for the sake of having a slow in his kit. Once again, there's nothing smooth or graceful about this ability. Aatrox physically stops and "releases the power of his blade" (it actually says that in the description). He's an ancient warrior whose slain thousands directly and countless more indirectly, feeding of their blood and desire to fight, and all his blade can do is shoot out a tiny slow?! LAME! Besides the fact that his ultimate already showcases the true strength of his blade, this ability is very lackluster and uninspired. So why not change it up all together? This ability is meant to reveal the power within his blade, the thirst for blood it possesses. Going back to the lore again, we know that Aatrox is a general (metaphorically). He incites the rage of battle into others! And his blade is filled with this desire to fight; we can combine both traits into one ability. Aatrox pauses and releases the pent up energy of his blade, granting bloodlust to nearby allied champions, increasing their damage and possibly attack/movement speed. Perhaps he could use some of his health, or the buff could scale based on how much is in his blood well.
R: Massacre I might take some flak for this one (at least based on what I've heard from the community before) but I enjoy Aatrox's ultimate A LOT. And I mean A LOT. In one glorious moment, he reveals his true power, becoming the literal embodiment of combat and gaining immense strength. In fact, for me it is one of the rare (and I wish they weren't so rare) moments where lore, gameplay, and sheer awesomeness all converge at once and create a climatic moment. It's one of the few times I find myself shouting or laughing along with the champion, reveling in the mayhem I'm causing (such as with Karthus' Requiem). He shouts either "Behold!" or "Witness truth!", a strong insight into the character of Aatrox, who really believes that fighting answers everything.
Phew! That was one long winded post. So what does it all mean? Basically I believe that in order for a champion to be successful both inside and outside the Rift, they must maintain a congruous personality. In simpler terms, the champion I read about in the lore should be the champion I see and play as in the game. By keeping these two things consistent, Riot can create truly epic moments in games. They can create Legends.
TL;DR: Keeping champions the same in both game and in story creates more successful, diverse, and interesting characters. While the newer champions do a great job of this, I believe that many older champions are beginning to suffer schizophrenia. In fact, even champions that aren't that old (Aatrox) have certain elements ingame that don't match up with their storylines. By fixing these, or at least addressing them, we can come one step closer to truly becoming a "League of Legends."