I heard when you bring it up to them they go "This is a depiction of a popular mythology in Asia. Just because we use another depiction of that mythology doesn't mean we're copying anyone."
Truth is this. The nine-tailed fox legend existed long before democracy was even a thing. Now the legend DOES go; these foxes originate from Chinese mythology. They are mischievous. They are cunning. They play tricks and usually disguises themselves as an attractive woman. The nature of WHY they played tricks and deceived people was never understood but "assumed" (assuming if you believed they were real) that they did so to steal your soul.
Here's some clarification on the myths themselves.
The fox spirit is an especially prolific shapeshifter, known variously as the húli jīng (fox spirit) in China, the kitsune (fox) in Japan, and the kumiho (nine-tailed fox) in Korea. Although the specifics of the tales vary, these fox spirits can usually shapeshift, often taking the form of beautiful young women who attempt to seduce men, whether for mere mischief or to consume their bodies or spirits.
Here's another description of the fox myth. This is the one I learned as kumiho as I am Korean.
"When a fox is fifty years old, it can transform itself into a woman; when a hundred years old, it becomes a beautiful female, or a spirit medium, or an adult male who has sexual intercourse with women. Such beings are able to know things at more than a thousand miles' distance; they can poison men by sorcery, or possess and bewilder them, so that they lose their memory and knowledge; and when a fox is thousand years old, it ascends to heaven and becomes a celestial fox.
So the story goes; yes it appears as an attractive female... but no one mentioned it would have whiskers, tails, and looked like Ahri. League of Legends derives A LOT from Asian mythology. Wukong is a product of being inspired by the original Sun Wukong story. Now in original Dragon Ball, I heard the original name for Goku was supposed to be Son Wukong. I think they thought that was too obvious and like Mr. Satan, Briefs, and other play on words they have GOKU was derived from the wUKOnG. Both mythologies existed long before most of the countries we live in was even founded. Wukong's myth is way more popular. You still see martial arts movies based off of Wukong.
I believe Ahri is a Korean version of the myth depicted and given essence by Riot. Chinese names usually aren't two syllables like that. Korean names are; and if included your family name ALWAYS 3 syllables. However, Korea was founded as a separate state from mainland China at the time therefore it IS China, just a different country (like Pakistan is to India).
I think the reason why this was born was because for sexy women in the past, they were consistently compared to foxes and not just in Asian culture. The reason being is a beautiful woman who is surrounded by attention and people doing her bidding creates a fox-like woman who is cunning, clever and never wastes words. All words spoken were considered a form of manipulation. Some behaviorism in foxes you COULD compare to average woman at the time.
TL;DR - Ahri is Riot's though was derived from the nine tailed fox spirit myth. That pic is clearly Ahri. You can use the nine tailed fox depiction ANY WAY YOU WANT, like Naruto did it their own way. Pokemon even has it. But they copied that shit.
