If you designed Irelia today based only on her character/lore...

...and you hadn't seen anything from her current kit, how would you design her? Would she be a lich with telekinetic swords, or a spunky young Ionian general? Would she be the fighter that you can't hold down, or a warrior maiden who vampirizes her enemies?

How does True damage, tenacity, lifesteal and mobility mesh with her character identity? Does an auto-attack, "ball of stats" fighter really fulfill her identity? I'm curious what some of you may suggest. Now I'm no word smith like Malicious Metal, but his thread about Skarner got me thinking about how other champions really fit their identity, and Irelia of all of them seems like one of the biggest missed opportunities in the game.

In her lore (at least the part that is not related directly to the IoW) she is the daughter of one of the greatest bladesmen in Ionia. She and her brother were both involved in Ionia's military and thrived because of their background in blade based combat. Based on her judgement, her training extended beyond standard combat even before her later incident, and she developed what I can only describe as "spidey-senses" under the tutelage of her father.

• Ok, from the start, she is already a skillful martial artist with a specific capability for combat that exceeds normal human skill. This is something worth noting for how she should be designed.

It also becomes clear very quickly that her relationship with her father was based primarily on "tough love" and Master Lito appears to have had limited tolerance for failure. However, it is extremely interesting to learn through the rest of her judgement that she is not just a bladeswoman, but also a skilled hand to hand combatant, using several different kicks, spins, and other attack to practice with her father.

• Currently, almost none of her martial arts capability or skill is readable in her kit, outside the name of her W.

In her actual lore, she was left behind to defend the home front. When it came down to it, she was forced to lead the Ionians in a desperate final stand to defend the Placidium, stepping up as a leader when no others would. She is then nearly slain in battle, but through a twist of fate the Necromantic magic used to kill her combines with Soraka's celestial healing energy to create an unnatural bond between her and her blade, reviving her and making her unstoppable in combat while creating a bond between her soul and her blade.

• Irelia is actually a Lich. This revival ties her consciousness to her blades in a way that she can manipulate them independently from herself. In fact, at the start of her judgement, the blade appears to have a mind of its own. On top of the physical change and link to the blade, it drastically changes her persona. She transforms from a young woman and a student into an unstoppable, nearly emotionless killing machine that single handedly drove back an entire army because it threatened her homeland.

Almost none of this intense power or the independence of her blade is readable in her kit. If you took her current kit and gave it to almost any other fighter champion, it would function identically without needing any changes or feeling strange. Master Yi could utilize her kit and it would seem perfectly fitting with his identity, just change the names and make him throw the ult knives by hand and you're set. Her kit feels like her kit only because you have the visual context of a floating blade and her ult spawning floating daggers. That is the core issue Irelia has. Her gameplay is totally generic.

So with her lore in mind, how would you make her today?

EDIT: I'm thrilled that this thread took off like this, the ideas you are all bringing up are fantastic! Lets try to get some Reds in here, until then, keep up the great ideas everybody!