On Dehumanization and the Darkin
When the Darkin took power post Azir’s “death,” they very quickly started treating unascended humans like cattle at best. The lore makes it very clear that they ruthlessly dehumanized their subjects. So when the Aspects finally decided to step in after a few centuries, they did the same to five Darkin, but went a bit further.
The Darkin treated people like objects and so became objects themselves.
That makes for good storytelling on account of being an utterly horrifying version of disproportionate but poetic vengeance. It makes sense for people in-universe to treat the Darkin as dangerous objects that possess people, as opposed to dangerous people who have been sealed in objects.
The problem occurs when the lore does the same thing.
On one hand, there’s Aatrox. His VO emphasizes his monstrosity, whereas his color story emphasizes his humanity. We’re left with the impression of someone who’s dangerous, violent, and desperate. Not exactly a great person, but a person nonetheless.
And then there’s Rhaast. His VO emphasizes his monstrosity, and…that’s about it. He cameos in Kayn’s color story where he disintegrates some people before latching on to Kayn as a host. Even there, he has almost no personality beyond “kill-crazy.” We know nothing about the time before he was sealed beyond “wanted to kill Xuyaan.” We know nothing about what he wants beyond "kill things." We know nothing about what he feels beyond "enjoys killing things."
He doesn’t get a bio or color story as a playable character would. His personality, origin, and everything else take second fiddle to Kayn. Unlike Aatrox, Rhaast doesn’t count as a person.
I argue that he should.
