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I think people are forgetting something about the Darkin...

d00mface·2/11/2019, 7:44:05 AM·12 votes·6,302 views

And its that they were human once and as such their personalities are not immutable. They are not demons like Evelynn or Tahm that seem to have purely negative functions set in stone that they pursue endlessly. I've seen the argument that "no darkin would ever be repentant" for why x weapon or person couldn't be a darkin, but I think this is a little presumptuous. Just because Aatrox, Rhaast, and Varus are not repentant doesn't mean a darkin couldn't be. Being stuck in nothingness for as long as a darkin has you're bound to do some self reflection. Who is to say we couldn't get a repentant darkin? Or one sympathetic to their host?

WAAARGHbobo has said at least a couple times now that redemption for Aatrox is possible and true redemption doesn't come without some real self reflection and desire to change. Varus' negative emotions at times overwhelm his human hosts; who is to say that their positive emotions could not positively effect him in return eventually? And Rhaast and Kayn already bicker like an old married couple, who is to say that they could not warm up to each other some day? These are just some examples of what I mean, the darkin are people - people who have twisted their bodies, done some horrible HORRIBLE things, and been in magical solitary confinement/sensory deprivation for god knows how long - but people nonetheless. Their personalities are not set in stone, anything could happen. I don't foresee redemption as their endgames (except maaaaaybe Aatrox because Odin mentions that so much) but y'know, it's not as impossible as people seem to think.

Personally I'd like to see a darkin champ who IS repentant or a darkin champ who IS sympathetic to their host. I think that would be an interesting change of pace.

TL;DR The darkin have the capacity for any kind of personality since they were once human. Personality should not be a factor in debunking who is or isn't a darkin.

15 Comments

AbiwonKenabi2/11/2019, 3:30:12 PM5 votes

Kayn and Rhaast's bickering is my favorite part of the character. I think they become significantly less interesting in-game after you transform into only one of them. The two are pretty similar in their ideals and sociopathy as well.

I know skins are non-canon, but there's this line Odyssey Kayn has after he's transformed where he's like "Did you see that Rhaast!? ....Rhaast?" He's just a poor lonely boi D:

Definitely look forward to more lore interactions between these two. I think its worth saying that a sympathetic host does not mean they would lose their weird dark side; I thought a better direction for Varus would have been a Darkin that sympathizes with one man's desire for revenge for his family, seeing that he also desires revenge and they work together towards that common goal. Riot can still do that with a different character if they want.

BoringLittleF2/11/2019, 8:03:50 AM2 votes

Varus' negative emotions at times overwhelm his human hosts; who is to say that their positive emotions could not positively effect him in return eventually?

Varus has a thousand-year-old grudge on the world on his shoulder and is scarred by a war. It's not likely he would be affected by the banter of the boys who didn't see half of the things he saw.

And Rhaast and Kayn already bicker like an old married couple, who is to say that they could not warm up to each other some day?

Rhaast is quite a sociopath. He is charismatic, yet he revels in killing things and making them suffer. Out of them two, Kayn is the one who is more likely to feel some semblance of regret or emotion about betraying/being betrayed.

Out of them all, Aatrox is really the most viable option.

The thing about Aatrox is that we don't know whether he was a good or bad person before he was imprisoned. All Darkin took part in the bloodshed it seems, yet I can imagine that when everything goes to hell and you see your brethern going at each other's throats, the only thing left for you to do is to defend yourself and everything dear to you which will leave your hands bloody as well.

To me, Aatrox never sounds like he enjoys what he is doing, unlike Rhaast. He talks about doing horrible things, but he is very bitter about it, not gleeful. Also given his words "They call me villain...let me earn their contempt", he is very torn about it. As if he wants to become so despicable that nobody in his right mind will decide to keep his sword form and do their best to destroy him.

That makes me think that if there was a way to free Darkin from their captivity for good and let them take shape, Aatrox would...not become more mellow, but will take a break from his world-ender thing to consider his options.

SUCC Ghast2/11/2019, 2:19:52 PM2 votes

Couldn't every item in the game have a Darkin attached to it. I mean theoretically, Panth could get new lore that his shield is actually a host, and thats how he's so blah blah blah. It's crazy to think about, but imagine the skin he'd get.

Oleandervine2/11/2019, 4:31:54 PM2 votes

I would have preferred the Darkin to be inhuman, very intelligent, unknown alien beings from another dimension like they were prior to the Darkin lore rewrite with Aatrox, but that's me. I think that added a lot more to them as a "species," since being alien could explain why they didn't think like humans and also why they had different physical and magical properties than the beings of Runeterra. It also gave them a better sense of strained comradery between them, since they're the last 5 beings of a world that's been cut off from where they're trapped, and I feel like it bound them together way more so than being evil ascended did. After all, being evil ascended means they're more superpowered humans in the world (as if we don't already have enough), and it also gives them less ties to each other and more ties to their home, their seats of power when they were flourishing, and more ties to wanting Runterra to survive under their rule instead of being destroyed. But Riot chose to go with the evil ascended route, since that's the route they could loop in on itself with every other self-looping lore in the universe.

Jaspers2/11/2019, 10:52:36 AM1 votes

A repentant Darkin would not even take over a host, mutilate them and kill them in response. They would remain in their weapon as punishment.