Boards›Story, Art, & Sound

Did Jinx "really" murder tons of people?

CupcakeTrap·10/17/2014, 5:26:12 PM·8 votes·12,109 views

http://img6.mmo.mmo4arab.com/lol/jinx_wanted/wanted1.jpg

So this came up while working on some Factions lore. For a long time, I'd assumed that Jinx was a zany, comical character: a troublemaker, basically. As I went to write that lore update, after Zaun recruited Jinx for their roster, I decided to do a bit more research, and also discussed her with some of the Factions lore staff. I was kind of surprised when they said, "uh, no, Cupcake, she's a murderer who's killed thousands of people. She blew up a huge piece of Piltover, and she didn't exactly warn people to evacuate beforehand. What do you think happened?"

I initially balked at the idea: it seemed way too dark for this "manic pixie explosion girl" archetype. The poster, at least, is strongly hinted to be a mockery posted up by Jinx herself. But in the end, I had to agree: taking her written lore at face value, she seems like she might be a mass murderer. It's an important question for Factions purposes: if Jinx is just a prankster and vandal, it's not hard to imagine Piltover being willing to hire her for its cause, e.g. giving her a pardon in exchange for help in a particularly serious League dispute. It'd be a stretch, but not impossible. In contrast, if she's a mass murderer, that option is pretty much off the table, and a lot of Champions and Summoners would react to her with open hatred rather than mere annoyance.

Now, granted, there's such a thing as narrative tone. It's a genre convention that, in some settings, you're not supposed to think too hard about certain elements of the story. I don't see Jinx as a good character through whom to explore the extraordinarily dark themes of mass murder and terrorism. I just couldn't bring myself to write lore about little children orphaned after Jinx's wacky rampage killed their families, for instance. It would feel weirdly discordant for "wind-up monkey shooty punk girl who talks to her guns".

But is it simpler than that? What exactly does her lore mean when it says, e.g.:

With an arsenal of deadly toys, she unleashes the brightest explosions and loudest blasts - all the better to shock and surprise the hapless authorities.

On the one hand: "deadly", "explosions", "blasts" … but also "brightest" and "loudest" rather than (e.g.) "most destructive", and "shock and surprise" as a phrase doesn't really imply death and mayhem.

This mysterious outlaw unleashed a series of warped and destructive capers that endangered the entire city, and left its people reeling from the worst crime spree in Piltover's history.

Again, really mixed signals here. "Endangered"? That's a weird term to use if they mean that she actually killed lots of people. On the other hand, this is called "the worst crime spree in Piltover's history". Someone setting off non-lethal guerilla art demonstration pieces doesn't seem like it would count, unless Piltover is really really safe.

Jinx's rampage escalated. CaitlynSquare.png Caitlyn - the sheriff of Piltover - responded by declaring a state of emergency and organizing a city-wide manhunt.

"Rampage". Maybe not in the Archer sense? "State of emergency"? "City-wide manhunt"?

Then there's what Vi says:

This scrawny pain in the neck shows up one day, firing heavy guns in the air. And laughing – always with the laugh. I can't stand her.

Gosh, this pain in the neck keeps murdering people! Again, it seems to imply ("firing heavy guns in the air") that she's just a troublemaker. But then, she's also got … heavy guns.

But Vi continues:

Panic among the people. Chaos in the streets. Mayhem everywhere you look.

Mayhem can be used figuratively, but in this sentence, it seems to be used rather literally: panic, chaos, mayhem sounds like people being dismembered.

Piltover is just a plaything to her. She's enjoying the time of her life, and she doesn't care who gets hurt.

Who gets … hurt? Hurt like "you ruined my cupcake bakery", or hurt like "I'm crippled for life"?

If I had to guess, I'd say that we're meant to handwave things a bit and assume that she hasn't actually killed anyone. But I'm really not sure; I ended up writing that lore update in a somewhat ambiguous way, though I leaned toward "yeah, she does shoot people". (I tried to strike a balance with, e.g., that bit where she turns to open fire on the Piltovian soldiers and calls them "minions" while wondering aloud how much gold they give.)

What do you think?

61 Comments

The5lacker10/17/2014, 5:29:53 PM17 votes

Are you telling me murderers can't be manic and goofy?

LordHippoman10/17/2014, 6:16:58 PM14 votes

I think Jinx is a lot like Mundo. Sure she's done horrible, awful things, but she doesn't really have the reputation for doing it a la Singed or Nocturne because she has a goofy personality. Mundo is a serial killer who kidnapped and murdered people's pets when he was starting out.

We remember him for sticking his tongue out and going where he pleases.

Riot doesn't really play the evil side up, but it's there. Also, yeah, she's a Batman villain type character.

Blaine Tog10/17/2014, 6:02:12 PM13 votes

There is a conflict between what makes the most sense and the tone of the lore.

It makes far, far more sense to assume that she's killed a bunch of people. Given the level of armament she displays, her violent, devil-may-care attitude, that poster, and the amount of destruction she's said to have caused, it seems difficult to imagine a scenario in which her actions didn't lead to a bunch of deaths.

On the other hand, you're absolutely on point with your read of her lore's tone. The words are carefully chosen to imply that she's focused on property destruction and hasn't (yet) escalated to killing people.

I think the conflict is indicative of a reluctance on Riot's part to fully embrace the probable evil in Jinx. They want her to be a fun and comedic character (essentially joyful, if a bit darkly humorous), and so they balked when it came time to take what they'd said about her to its logical conclusion. It makes it harder for players to enjoy the manic pixie dream girl quirk if they have it too close in mind that she's probably ended hundreds, maybe even thousands of lives and really, truly, desperately, no-joke needs to be stopped. It makes her rivalry with Vi less "Bugs Bunny vs Elmer Fudd" and more "Sam Vimes vs Carcer Dun," which is much more dramatic but way less light-hearted.

So rather than thread the needle and try to make a sociopathic murderer light-hearted, they crumpled a bit and hoped no one would notice.

Solideus10/17/2014, 5:52:47 PM13 votes

She's treated just like Batman villains from the animated series. It isn't always specified, but sometimes implied, what she has done. She's a force of nature; A manic, loony earthquake.

7ha7guy77710/17/2014, 7:40:41 PM9 votes

"Unflattering Impersonation of an Officer"... sounds like Officer Jinx might be a thing

Pobbes10/17/2014, 7:31:01 PM6 votes

I think Jinx has killed plenty of people. However, I think there is a distinction to be made in how I view her as opposed to how I feel you are thinking she is being portrayed. I do not think Jinx is a serial killer. She is not motivated to kill people and, to put it in legal terms, is not guilty of murder 1. When Jinx kills people i don't think it is planned or intended, she has another motivating goal and people sometimes die during her pusuit of these goals. This is typically called manslaughter. She is guilty of making decisions that endangered the live ans ultimately led to the death of others. She is not guilty of planning the death of and executing numerous individuals.

I could be wrong but Jinx always struck me as the collateral damage kind of killer. She doesn't particularly want to kill other people, but she isn't concerned enough about others that she would actively stop her fun to avoid hurting someone.

Caseo10/17/2014, 11:37:45 PM6 votes

I've actually done a lot of thought on this.

Supposedly, one of the inspirations for Jinx was the Joker (and Harley Quinn). I think this really neatly sums up just how Jinx should be interpreted: Like the Joker, Jinx is a vicious sociopath. She has killed plenty of people (Why else would she be so heavily armed?). Consider Vi's tone during the announcement - She wasn't dismissing Jinx as a frustrating nuisance, she was genuinely furious at how far over the line this "scrawny pain in the neck" had gone.

However, like the Joker, Jinx is very genre savvy and at the mercy of many whims. Jinx doesn't kill or destroy because she finds particular pleasure in suffering; rather, Jinx is enthralled by chaos. Like the Joker, she's an "agent of chaos", driven by a desire to have fun in her twisted way.

This creates a comfortable distance at first glance; Jinx isn't actively preying upon people, and isn't actually concerned with killing them (though she certainly doesn't care if they die as a result of her decisions). Since the core of Jinx's character is still about chaos and destruction (more suitable to a vandal than a serial killer), it's easier to paint a "fun" veneer over the whole thing that distracts from the darker aspects of her character.

Make no mistake, though; Jinx is a murderer. She is quirky and silly because she is insane. She is a sociopath, and she is dangerous.

But she is very amusing from behind a computer screen.

ModCaptainMårvelous10/17/2014, 11:08:17 PM4 votes

I love the shit out of Piltover...so lemme try to make this a little easier to understand:

1.) On the topic of Jinx killing people? Yeah, she totally did. In all likelihood this isn't "I'm shooting into giant crowds of Piltover citizens", this is "I'm destroying a building that people happen to be in". It's not that Jinx necessarily enjoys killing people, she just doesn't care. She likes the concept of anarchy and destruction over the murder of civilians. Although, there has to be something to be said about Jinx when it comes to deal with people who get in her way. In those situations she loves nothing more than to turn them into crimson paste on the street. She doesn't avoid it or seek it, it's just what happens when you get in her way.

2.) Vi being sort of detached from the death she caused? That's typical policeman/policewoman work. If you recall that one episode of Scrubs where Turk was mad at Dr. Cox for being detached from patients who die. In the Police's line of work, they likely see death and destruction all the time. Vi isn't just disregarding it, she's sort of numb to it. Yes, it's tragic, but if she teared up or got extremely furious at every person who died on her shift, she wouldn't function as a human being. Not to say Vi disregards all the tragedy, but she can't mourn or be upset until Jinx is behind bars.

3.) The easiest way to put it is that Jinx's lore is told from either her perspective or an outside talking about how Jinx views the world.

Overall it's an interesting dynamic that shows how a lot of people in the real world actually work: Vi, a cop, can't really rest or be overly saddened by the things that happened because she still has a job to do. Likewise, Jinx is a murderer but not because she wants to kill. Rather, she just wants to destroy and whoever gets in her path is just really unlucky.

2nd Fiddle10/17/2014, 6:00:17 PM4 votes

She smashed through wall after wall to chase down Jinx, who giggled as she lit up the evacuated treasury with fiery explosions.

This is the sentence that stood out to me. The implication is that Jinx is not the only one causing damage to Piltover here. This causes the overall message to shift.

If Vi is doing a significant amount of damage while attempting to catch Jinx, then she is willing to disregard the safety of others because she wants something. You may recognize this as Jinx's attitude toward her actions.

And now we see the reason Jinx is able to get Vi so angry:

Jinx "You're Just...Like...Me"

Balderdash100010/17/2014, 6:08:56 PM4 votes

She is treated like a Joker character though. She's the cause of mass murder and destruction everywhere, but in the end, she's just doing it for the lulz. There's no need to make her story sound darker because the thing that draws people to her story is the rampant rampage with no sense of accountability. When you're playing as Jinx the deaths don't really matter. It's about cutting lose and doing whatever you want.

GreenLore10/18/2014, 12:40:00 AM4 votes

Piltover had a massive problem with crimes before caitlyn cleaned up the place. Since Jinxs rampage is considered the WORST crime spree of piltover I'd say that it is safe to assume that she did kill a lot of people on her rampages.

In the jinx ama it was said that

If she were walking past a stranger in a dark alley, she wouldn’t automatically stab that person and take their money. But if she were walking past a stranger in a dark alley near a PILE OF FIREWORKS, she would totally blow up the fireworks and unintentionally light the stranger on fire because fireworks are freakin’ fun. That’s her attitude. She’s not a classical villain archetype, but more of a trickster archetype who loves chaos.

While she doesn't actively seem to hurt people it is not like she actually cares for them. Since she is destroying stuff in piltover with explosives I'd say it is pretty safe to assume that she killed several people in the process.

Dreamspitter10/18/2014, 2:13:53 AM4 votes

BIGGER QUESTION:

Is she really guilty of...............public indecency?

DaejinTye10/17/2014, 11:13:23 PM3 votes

Well, even in-game one of her recall lines are, "No one go screaming and dying without me." While sure, this can easily be for the fields of justice where there is no perma-death, but it still hints at her liking of killing.

Also, Karthus' lore was really REALLY dark on the matter too. There are quite a few champions who are just plain evil. Malicious even. (Veigar! Lmfao) Jinx being a serial killer or mass murderer wouldn't be out of the norm.

So, yeah, she's a murderer but who cares? You could easily lore her in a silly over-the-top troublemaker tone and it would fit anyway.

Ardent Spring10/18/2014, 4:52:17 PM3 votes

My guess if Piltover would try to 'ally' Jinx: In most scenarios not, as she is just too unpredictable. It has already assumed by most people here that she kills what is in between her and her fun. Having Jinx on your side when Piltover gets attacked by Noxus or Zaun would mostly likely end up in about equal casualities on both sides, as she'd just get carried away. However, in dire situations (as with the Void invasion in Shurima or the undead assault in the Faction stories) I think it is quite possible that they would try to ask her (not with "pardon in exchange for help in a particularly serious League dispute", but more like "Hey Jinx, wanna have some fun? How about mowing down a bunch Voidlings?"). In such a case they would tell their people to stay away from her, so nobody gets accidently in her rampage. Obviously it wouldn't be possible to have her for some kind of special ops mission, as in "lets invade the Pyramid to close the Void Portal", since she isn't the type to wait fot the exact moment. Also, in a situation like this I can't see her as kill for the sake of killing, but more like having an army walking towards her while she is all like: "Try to get me!". If she gets bored she goes home.

Finnical10/22/2014, 7:01:35 AM2 votes

So this came up while working on some Factions lore.

I love you for Factions.

I initially balked at the idea: it seemed way too dark for this "manic pixie explosion girl" archetype. The poster, at least, is strongly hinted to be a mockery posted up by Jinx herself.

Guaranteed. Actually a little dry for her. Might have been in one of her more lucid moments in-between attacks.

Now, granted, there's such a thing as narrative tone. It's a genre convention that, in some settings, you're not supposed to think too hard about certain elements of the story. I don't see Jinx as a good character through whom to explore the extraordinarily dark themes of mass murder and terrorism.

There is a George Carlin routine where he says something to the effect of "I love a good car crash! The more bodies the better! Make it grisly and horrible, I just eat that shit up!" And the audience laughs and laughs. Realistically that's a pretty grim statement, dark even for George. Grisly comedy is a long held tradition in literature. There's a reason the comedy and tragedy masks of theater are tied together. Comedy protects us from truly feeling the pain of sympathy.

I just couldn't bring myself to write lore about little children orphaned after Jinx's wacky rampage killed their families, for instance. It would feel weirdly discordant for "wind-up monkey shooty punk girl who talks to her guns".

Imagine a bully picking on a small child surrounded by his friends. His friends are laughing their asses off while he abuses this child. Sometimes comedy isn't funny. Sometimes it's downright mean. It's a fine line to tread. Frankly I don't envy you, it would be difficult to write.

I picture after such a rampage a child is lying in a pile of rubble, her parents are nearby covered in bullet-holes, burns, and blood. She desperately clings to a photo of her brother who is buried underneath the collapsed ceiling. Her face is lined with tear-streaks and filth, her hair is a mess, and you can see too much white in her eyes. Jinx happens back by, skipping, after eluding Vi yet again, you can hear Vi screaming with rage in the distance and loud smashing noises as she punches the ground in frustration. Jinx sees the child, the child looks up at her and her eyes widen further. She is too numb with pain to cry or scream. Jinx grabs her chin and looks concerned. She puts her fingers out in front of her like a picture frame in front of the child, and chews on her lip. She then leans down and braids the child's hair just like her own. She smiles and giggles quietly, and gives the child a 9-millimeter pistol with JINX written in shocking blue lettering on the side, then skips away.

Ironclad Dragon10/18/2014, 4:38:51 PM2 votes

As someone who delights in causing city-leveling mayhem, yes, I think she has killed people.

I Eat Thyroids10/17/2014, 10:02:17 PM2 votes

just sayin', what if jinx sees EVERYONE as wind-up monkeys. I mean, she's kinda just a little maybe completely insane, so it would make sense that sheis ok with being super violent because her insanity desensitizes her/makes everything into a game. puts a different spin on stuff then hahaha

daluvin10/17/2014, 10:47:42 PM2 votes

havnt 80% of league champs had their fair share of mass murder?

its not exactly somethin uncommon in this game. i mean really, the whole point of the game is to murder the other team over and over until you destroy their nexus and wipe them from existance.

Wordz8 for Jesus4/25/2018, 9:46:15 PM1 votes

https://universe.leagueoflegends.com/en_US/comic/jinx-ziggs/paint-the-town/10/

Based on this^ I think she might not have, since her crime spree on Piltover.

When I hear Swain's Quote: "Faces fading in the flames. It was all her fault." I think Jinx may blame herself for some deaths, and runs around like crazy, messed up in the head, trying to distract herself so she doesn't remember. I think this was before she came to Piltover or went loony.

Yes, I do think she puts people in the hospital for months, for various reasons.

I don't think she kills, mainly because she does have a Star Guardian skin, and I don't think a coldblooded killer would be selected.
For example Lulu frequently causes trouble with her games...

Quepha4/25/2018, 9:47:28 PM1 votes

It's simply not possible to knock down a building without collateral damage.

Darius Strada4/25/2018, 10:06:27 PM1 votes

Do I have to tell you the primary use for a gun? Hint: It's not to brush your teeth or comb your hair.