Boards›Story, Art, & Sound

Kai'sa's neckline

FrogPharaoh ·4/6/2018, 5:28:10 AM·6 votes·2,910 views

I had just stumbled upon the latest 'Ask Riot' session in which the neckline of Kai'sa is a topic of discussion. I'll summarize the important bits of that section right below:

Question: You said you’d no longer add unnecessarily hyper-sexualized champions, only if it made sense for the character like Ahri or Evelynn. What happened to this thinking when they designed to Kai’Sa and her unnecessarily deep neckline?

Riot's response: _We’ll admit that Kai’Sa’s neckline didn’t land well with players and that it made her look unnecessarily sexualized. We could’ve done better, and in the future, we will be even more conscious of these decisions. _

Here's a link to the full thing: https://nexus.leagueoflegends.com/en-us/2018/04/ask-riot-kaisas-v-neck-suit/

Now after reading this, I've got to say, what total absurdity this is. Kai'sa is hyper-sexualized? Am I living in some kind of wacky joker world? Maybe I've been teleported to Saudi Arabia or something? I just can't seem to see the issue here! All that is revealed is Kai'sa's collarbone and a small bit of cleavage. Quite frankly, I find her skin tight suit to be much more risqué than her neckline is. Moreover, the V shape is great visual flair and adds a lot edge to her design. To the Rioters reading this: Please don't listen to these clowns about "hyper-sexualization".There is absolutely no issue here whatsoever and I'm so tired of everyone being offended over literally nothing.

I'm sure I'm not alone so I've added a poll at the bottom. Thoughts?

35 Comments

TranscendVirtual4/6/2018, 6:47:15 AM8 votes

That's the fucking problem, it's straight disgusting to me that so many people think this is just solely an SJW rant thing and even more so that people are so willing to defend this piece of shit writing just because they think it's based solely on some skin showing, that only they are bitching about this, There is an actual problem with Kai'sa that isn't solely her sexual aspect, it's the fact that it's random as fuck and she's generic for it.

You people don't understand that it isn't a v neck issue, it's a lore and personality contradiction. The personality and lore doesn't match with her appearance and ruins the Void, how are we supposed to believe the void is even remotely a threat when a 14 year old can come out of it 10 years later looking like a fucking super model with no scars when her hood coming off exposes her fucking heart. She literally would be in danger any time she took off her hood to eat anything, especially since other people like malzahar got fucked just by even looking into the void and yet this girl basicly living in it is unscathed She looks like a normal fucking girl, she literally could of came from anywhere. She doesn't look like someone who was trapped in the void for most of her life when others have just been scarred or driven insane just for looking in it. It doesn't make any fucking sense that she's a flawless not even a single scratch beauty model with this background. With Evelynn, it makes sense, she's a succubus, hence being naked. With this not only is her tits out but her theme is literally survival and she's got a deep enough V neck when she takes off her hood that her heart is exposed. She also has no scars or scratches anywhere. Nothing about her depicts the hardships she supposedly faced. Not even any of her dialogue.

It's more than just a V-neck issue, I for one love evelynn, and ahri. So it isn't a sexuality depiction issue, it's the issue that Kai'sa a super model who's described of going through horrible things, and being scarred and shit, then she has a Helmet that when taken off comes all the way down to her heart basicly (The breast is about where the heart is) This makes even less sense from the void symbiotic perspective, since if the creature exposes her heart then it could lose it's host, her whole thematic is being a survivor and survival but simply removing her hood completely reveals one of her biggest human vital points and much more. It's so much more than a sexual depiction issue, it's that she's way too pretty for how she talks or is described in lore especially when other characters have been scarred by the void just for looking in it, and you have her who was living basicly in it. Don't get me wrong. As a adc main, i love her game play, but i would of preferred much of that concept art they released instead. She also has the same auto animations as Project vayne, and her movements don't give off predator/ killing vibes, she looks like she's posing for a photo shoot. It's just disappointing all round considering what they COULD of done, and now she's taking a theme that no other future champion can take. Wasted potential, and what i don't get is, theres literally no way you can go from such a bad ass concept with literally no transition, the way they came with this (From the insight page) bad ass concept to what we got, it was almost like they said "This concept doesn't have enough tits to show she's female" Lets scrap the whole thing and make this shit. I get they wanted to replace the bad ass gun she had in the concept, they should of kept the armor though... it looked way more void

Rebonack4/6/2018, 5:59:54 AM8 votes

I would peg her as 'unnecessarily sexualized' rather than 'hyper-sexulaized'. Eve is hyper-sexualized, and rightly so. Kai'Sai's neckline is pretty silly, and that's totally disregarding the fact that boob-plate is an active hindrance to protection.

MF is my Waifu4/6/2018, 7:02:01 AM4 votes

No, she's not. We live in a time where everyone is offended by everything and if they're not, they're looking for a reason to be.

I'm here to play the game. Don't care about the story, lore, reasoning, whatever. Whatever reason you want to use to say this was bad design.

Let me play hot chicks and kill stuff. Thanks.

redniwediS4/6/2018, 5:33:41 AM4 votes

Just for her model I can see arguments going either way on this one. It is a stupidly low neckline, but it's not like everything about her design is focusing your eye to her chest.

As for her voice lines, animations, lore, and all that stuff, everything checks out in my book, so I say no.

I agree that Riot could have done it better, but at the end of the day it's not that bad, so I wouldn't use any term beyond regular sexualized.

OurLestrade4/6/2018, 9:00:17 AM3 votes

The only issue I have with her design is how generic it is, not being sexual.

Battalion4/6/2018, 6:01:49 AM3 votes

Evelynn

No. I would say she's rather modest.

Quepha4/6/2018, 4:13:59 PM3 votes

Kai'sa isn't hypersexualized but she is oversexualized. Kai'sa was made to look like a typical comic book supermodel with skin-tight clothing that shows off all her curves with no real corruption present from the Void. This is not appropriate for a Void-related champion because nothing about it sells the concept of cosmic horror, it just comes off as a hot space chick.

Probs feeding4/6/2018, 4:02:31 PM2 votes

The Kai'Sa main is here, you all can calm down. Here is my opinion.

Yes, they could have chose a different angle, but it's fine they didn't. Yes, they didn't have to define your neck shape and body shape so hard, but it's fine they didn't.

Do you want to know why? Because, if you have an issue with it, you can simply not play her. That's the glory of this game, isn't it? You get to CHOOSE your champion. Glares at Howling Abyss

As for the skin tight suit, someone already said it, but it's literally a living creature adapting to her body shape. Do you want the living creature to be baggy, or reduce her breast size?

Anyway, gl hf. She's not sexualized unless you make her it yourself.

Màv4/6/2018, 11:45:16 PM2 votes

The parasite is just form fitting her body, it's goal is survival and it attached itself to a slim human (It doesn't care about it's host sex) who's mobility is key to her survival. It isn't going to make itself unnecessary bulky which would only hinder her mobility, even the parasite has a basic sense of survival and how to adapt for it's host. Am pretty sure if you were to feel her body it would feel like a carapace (Since, am assuming is acting as armor) and wouldn't even be remotely as smooth as her body looks in her splash.

Melancholy Exile4/6/2018, 8:51:42 PM2 votes

Personally I wish Riot hadn't used specifically that question precisely because it allows the focus to be thrown onto "hyper-sexualization" rather than the question of whether the design choice itself is appropriate or unnecessarily sexualised.

No, Kai'sa absolutely is not hyper-sexualised, but that doesn't mean that she is neither unnecessarily sexualised or that her concept and the goal of making her recognisably human at a glance couldn't have been achieved in a better way than giving her a low-cut v-neck despite it being totally incongruous with her character, backstory and themes.

Raoul4/6/2018, 10:07:33 PM1 votes

Seriously, you people are already so used to have all female characters sexualised, you dont even notice it any more when it happens.

Its not only her Neckline. Its the way the cammera always gets a perfect shot of her ass or clevage ingame. Its the way she pushes out her boobs and ass during nearly every animation. Its the way her autoattacking animations look like shes doing a playboy shooting. Its the fact that she is supposed to be a badas hunter who went through hell and still looks like a barbie doll!

NemeBro4/6/2018, 6:34:49 AM1 votes

I don't give a shit about her design being sexualized, I care about it being boring. And it is.