Does anyone know where the inspiration for Soraka originated?

Namine Noir·11/17/2014, 4:05:35 PM·9 votes·4,043 views

I have been wondering this for awhile now. She reminds me of my favorite book character/series by Anne McCaffrey called Acorna the Unicorn Girl.

I emailed Player Support about it, but they were unable to help since Player Support doesn't deal with the creation of Champions, but they suggested I ask here in the boards, so that's exactly what I'm doing. :D

This is my first time posting in the boards and I am a little confused about where this should be posted, so if it's in the wrong place, please let me know and tell me what board it goes in. Thank you. :)

34 Comments

ModCaptainMårvelous11/17/2014, 5:20:24 PM3 votes

Short answer: Not one singular place Long Answer: Soraka embodies a lot of archetypes and references. The easiest and most obvious example is Soraka's tie to the Draenei in WoW, the blue-skinned, horned people from Draenor who are deeply spiritual and in touch with holy power.

She also has a link to the classic healer type of character that always puts the party before herself, as well as her skills embodying the "Celestial Powerhouse" type of character that relies on otherworldly types of magic and power.

Basically you could find ties to Soraka in almost anything, although you'd be hard pressed to find a singular representation of "This is where the idea of Soraka came from"

Rokon11/17/2014, 6:27:42 PM1 votes

I loved these books as a kid! Good idea on where Raka originated from, fellow unicorn-lover! :D I could definitely see this as a basis on her origination. She probably had points taken from many places but I'd bet this was an idea that got thrown around in her development.

Oleandervine11/17/2014, 6:56:07 PM1 votes

I think her heaviest influences come from the Night Elves and the Dryads from Warcraft 3. League began as DoTA, using the units from the game as the models for the champions, but deserted it when they had disagreements with Blizzard. Thus League was born. You can see heavy influences from the Night Elves in her and her kit (Starcall is so closely related to Starfall from WoW it's ridiculous, especially pre-2014 rework), and the Dryad units, sort of woodland centaurs, heavily influence her personality and lore in that they are typically peaceful grove keepers but will move to violence to protect their homelands and the inhabitants thereof.

Reconsul11/17/2014, 9:00:14 PM1 votes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soroka_Medical_Center

KwangoTango11/17/2014, 9:44:10 PM1 votes

[deleted]

Ad Astra per Asp11/18/2014, 1:32:08 AM1 votes

Jax is the name of the Weapons Master in the Shannara series by Terry Brooks. At least in the first few books. So this wouldn't surprise me. I'll check out the book I love fantasy.

Another reason you are probably on to something is there was this forum that Trynadmere used to run (head of Riot). At some point he shut down the site and kept all it's content for himself. The most cherished thing on that board was the character creation board which had thousands of ideas that people put up from all over. The site was a dota gaming forum. A lot of the unrefined champion concept ideas come from that forum which he closed down. Alot of people think this was a dastardly seflish deed that he used others ideas to propel himself into a successful company. Others defend him saying that if you put up a champion concept for the world to see you give up all ownership. I'll let you decide. But basically, you might never meet the person who came up with Soraka's orginal concept, but there's a good chance they as a DoTA fan were also a fantasy fan because DoTA is fantasy after all, and pulled from this book since there's so many likenesses just like with Jax.

Watch911/18/2014, 2:44:43 AM1 votes

I believe this post belongs in Story and Art, as it relates to her lore.

I got no idea where the banana god came from tho.

Auryiel11/18/2014, 5:00:09 AM1 votes

Ok seriously. Acorna? Could they have chosen a cheesier name?

UGH

Drunk Rummate11/18/2014, 4:07:13 PM1 votes

the thing about creating characters and lore, etc. is that by now pretty much every idea has been thought of by some person in the past.

so it's not surprising that there's such a distinct reference here. as stated already it's pretty clear that ideas for soraka may have come from other places as well. in the end, she was most likely an accumulation of those ideas and references that we have in pop culture in addition to whatever creative twists the author himself saw necessary to add to her identity.

it's like a vampire. how many vampires have been made, and yet every vampire is slightly different. such is the beauty of fiction.

Namine Noir11/19/2014, 10:05:50 AM1 votes

I think it was, though the ending felt really rushed, and was a bit disappointing. But overall, a good series imo. And I would be a madam. XD

eztarg3t11/17/2014, 4:41:09 PM1 votes

I'd also like to know this.

What's the story behind Acorna?

Namine Noir11/20/2014, 6:08:20 PM1 votes

But that'd be mean. And it's kind of my fault it got damaged. XD