[Character Analysis] Ezreal and Indiana Jones

So, this is a bit of a long and wordy post, but since the subject of visual reworks is being thrown around so frequently, I felt I should weigh in on a character I really like: Ezreal. While I would never suggest a direct translation, or reflection, but I've always thought that Ezreal is League's equivalent of Indiana Jones. Just replace gruff Harrison Ford with an anime-inspired pretty boy. I'm not saying that Ezreal needs to have a scene where he runs from a giant boulder, but many of the themes from the Indiana films *could *be utilized as both an homage to the character's very obvious inspiration ("You belong in a museum!") and to give the otherwise not very fleshed out character some much needed meat on his bones.

While some might say that character doesn’t matter in League of Legends, I’d argue that it does. Braum’s whole identity, what makes him an awesome character to play, is based off of his kind and always helpful personality; his character. The mechanics and character intermingle here, creating a fully fleshed out person that makes the experience that much more engaging and satisfying. At any rate, I think it’s something worth thinking about.

###Where do Indiana and Ezreal overlap? They're both treasure hunters, explorers, and archeologists, but more-so they're both good guys. Neither are influenced by greed or personal gain, but rather an altruistic pursuit of knowledge, and primarily a desire to help those in need. Both are adamant about the preservation and study of ancient history and culture. Indy strongly believes that ancient history belongs to everyone, which is why the primary antagonists in the films are those that want to use the artifacts for ill-gotten gains or for a purely capitalistic endeavor; the exact opposite of Indy's motivations. Ezreal protests against the Noxians, hates them, because he views their goals as selfish and inwardly focused. Whereas Ezreal seeks to benefit all of Valoran, Noxians seeks only to benefit themselves.

###"He doesn't always win" Despite being the main character, however, Indiana Jones does not always win. In fact, he most often loses. Every movie involves him becoming embroiled with a conflict that is largely over his head, and it's only through strength, wit, and determination that he manages to pull through. In every film the "legendary artifact" that a normal treasure hunter goes after never ends up in a museum: the ark is locked away forever, the jewels are returned to the village, the grail falls down the pit, and the crystal skull flies off with all the gold. Regardless, each film has a happy ending because Indy survived and managed to come out of the whole thing emotionally satisfied. He saves the day. Ezreal is in a similar spot as the quintessential good guy that’s a bit to obsessed with the many ancient cultures of Valoran. This is the direction I think Ezreal needs to go in with the stories he will become a part of. ###"Bookworm and Adventurer" Indiana values higher learning as a major asset to a person. In fact, Indy preaches that both "Seventy percent of all archaeology is done in the library" and "If you want to be a good archaeologist, you gotta get out of the library." These statements imply that Indy acknowledges the fieldwork he does in the films to be important, nay, *crucial *to archeology, but also they are an equal part to an academic pursuit of knowledge. Indy is both book worm and an adventurer. This duality is what helps make him an interesting character. Ezreal distinctly lacks this, seeing bookwork as something that is lesser than himself, “There's little time to study musty tomes when you're busy crawling around where the musty tomes originally came from.” Ezreal is arrogant in this aspect, seeing more to gain out of finding lost artifacts than studying them; Ezreal is only one side of the coin. However, this characterization is then flipped during Aatrox’s reveal, where Ezreal is shown poring over various artifacts related to the champion. Whenever Ezreal is updated, there needs to be a decision on what Ezreal is going to be: either the bookworm, the adventurer, or both at once. ###"He's relatable" But, I think the biggest difference here, and what is really going to make Ezreal a GREAT CHARACTER, as opposed to a pale reflection of Indiana Jones, is the ability to relate to him. Indiana comes off as the quintessential badass; a perfect specimen of rugged manliness and Doc Savage quality adventurism. But, he’s more than that. As discussed Indiana has a bit of a duel personality; the bookworm and the adventurer. Harrison Ford described him as both a romantic and a cynic. Indiana Jones is complex in his desires and motivations; he seeks both quiet study and adventure. Indy isn’t flawless, either; he makes mistakes, he gets hurt, he doesn’t always win. When asked about the character’s emotional range, Steven Spielburg said, “Indiana Jones was never a machine. I think one of the things we brought to the genre…was the willingness to allow our leading man to get hurt and to express his pain and to get his mad out and to take pratfalls and sometimes be the butt of his own jokes. I mean, Indiana Jones is not a perfect hero, and his imperfections, I think, make the audience feel that, with a little more exercise and a little more courage, they could be just like him. So he’s not the Terminator. He’s not so far away from the people who go to see the movies that he’s inaccessible to their own dreams and aspirations.”

Indiana Jones is not a superhero. He’s just a capable person trying to do a job, but a regular person nonetheless. He uses only the tools at his disposal, the same that anyone else could have. This is the primary difference between the two characters, as they stand right now. Unlike Indiana Jones, Ezreal is the owner of a powerful magical artifact which give him access to something that is the equivalent of superpowers. Ezreal may be human, but these powers place him in a pantheon above normal people; people such as the players. So, how do you make an Übermensch relatable? I’ll argue for two ways of doing this. ###Humanizing the Explorer Like I’ve stated, Indiana Jones is not a flawless character. He’s brash, a womanizer, and stubborn. These aspects of his personality, however, ground him in humanity and make him more relatable to the audience. Ezreal himself doesn’t seem to have any flaws, other than arrogance. However we’ve never seen this arrogance negatively affect Ezreal. Much in the same way that Indy’s stubbornness gets him into trouble, we’ve never seen Ezreal take a fall and make a buffoon of himself. Ezreal needs to have real flaws to make him human, and we have to see the effects of those flaws or they might as well not exist at all. This sense already exists with Ezreal’s Arcane Shift, which can cause our over eager Marksman to overextend into situations that he can no longer get out from, having burned his escape. If you’ve played Ezreal there’s that chance of using your E to hop over a wall, the other side having been shrouded by the Fog of War, and suddenly be in a crowd of enemies. It’s the quintessential example of an explorer digging too deep, which is an established literary trope. This situation should be reflected in Ezreal’s character, because it emphasizes gameplay elements: if you screw up due to arrogance you’re gonna get your butt handed to you.

Another way is to separate Ezreal from his powers entirely. First off, remove Ezreal’s “latent magical ability”. This is the power that attunes his magical gauntlet (the thing that gives him all those powers) to him and his will. Ezreal doesn’t need to be a “chosen one” type or have a high midi-chlorian count. Instead, put all the power in the glove itself, and give Ezreal not the power to command it but to ask for its power. This is more in line with a character like the latest Blue Beetle whose powers come from an alien artifact attached to his body. The artifact does his bidding, but has a mind of its own and can (and has) act independently of Blue Beetle, even going so far as to take control of his body. This concept actually already exists in League: Pulsefire Ezreal’s A.I., PEARL. While non-canonical, as a player I deeply enjoyed the interactions between Ezreal and PEARL and can see this being a way to give Ezreal, as a character, something to bounce off of. Much like Quinn and Valor’s jokes with each other, these sparse interactions give us an impression of the character we don’t normally see. It also humanizes Ezreal by stripping away some of his innate power and putting him in more of a position like Indiana Jones, just a capable guy who’s found some good tools.

While Ezreal is not in the worst shape story-wise, and certainly won’t be looked at Riot any time soon, I think these are important thoughts to keep in mind when discussing character direction. League of Legends is almost entirely character driven, in terms of story, and therefore how the characters work is of vital importance to the story’s health.

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