There is an Issue with one of Illaoi's lines.

brahua·Dec 1, 2015·2 votes·1,341 views

I know I'm likely to be seen as a killjoy and a PC poodle but I don't think Illaoi's line "how could I love only one man? They break too easily!" should remain in rotation. I love that Riot made her, she's a big strong woman, against the archetype of past female champions, and a very physical version of female empowerment, but the implications of the line aren't good. Based on her talking about breaking things (hearts, bones, spines), it sounds like she means she utterly breaks any man she's in love with, or (what I think is implied, given her lines' grounding in physicality) has sex with.

Imagine if she said "How could I love only one woman? They break too easily!" Would that fly? Or what if Braum said it, ending the line with a chuckle? I'm thinking many wouldn't be able to look past how violent that line is, even (or maybe especially) because it'd come from him, and would call it out for its wrongness. I think this is the simplest test for showing that her line is in ill taste.

I don't take issue with her nonspecific talk of breaking adversaries in League, but making a quip about breaking men with what I think is an amused tone, is too far. Make no mistake, violence is fine, it’s core to the game obviously, but she’s talking about the wrong kind of violence, the kind that people get up in arms about. There's plenty of dialogue for her to retain her character without the line.

I don't play that many champions so there could be other lines out there that I'm not aware of. I just wanted to post about this one.

I am aware that I could be misreading the line. But I don't think in this case I could also be accused of reading too much into it. I barely read into it the first time I heard it, but having considered it in the context of her other lines, I’m rather still convinced that the implications still stand. If there are alternate explanations for what it could mean, please share.

It'd make my day to have a Rioter respond to this, one way or the other.

TL;DR: Any champ who’d say "how could I love only one woman? They break too easily!" would be met with outrage, if it even got past the spitball writing phase. Since that line isn’t ok, the other line isn’t ok.

3 Comments

ShyvauniDec 1, 20154 votes

It would be bad on braum not cus of gender but simply because it is against his persona.

The line fits Illaoi and even if we as players dislike the notion, it still fits her persona and adds depth to her. (Hint: you do not have to like every champion and what theyvsay/believe/stand for anymore than we have to like Villains or Less than good guys in movies or comics.)

brahuaDec 1, 20151 votes

{quoted}

It would be bad on braum not cus of gender but simply because it is against his persona.

The line fits Illaoi and even if we as players dislike the notion, it still fits her persona and adds depth to her. (Hint: you do not have to like every champion and what theyvsay/believe/stand for anymore than we have to like Villains or Less than good guys in movies or comics.)

I appreciate the reply. And true enough, I was merely trying to highlight how the line could stand out, regardless of who'd say it.

I get that there are champs with disagreeable personality traits, and one doesn't need to work oneself up over them and their beliefs and attitudes, just like with real people. I can't disagree and it makes the game more diverse.

I am approaching this mainly from an equality standpoint. I can't imagine a champion Riot would make or rework to say the something demeaning about women's resilience, especially from a male champion.