A Taric Essay :33
Hey dudes! Just a head's up, this is a rough draft. I wrote this for fun, but I was hoping to post it somewhere to get my point across, so plz share ur thoughts, and for edits! Though no flame plz, let's respect everyone's opinions, because this is my argumentative essay. :b Enjoy![garen-swing] P.S. I had pics in my original essay, so I suggest u use ur imagination! :D
Why Taric; The Shield of Valoran, gets an A+ in Character Design
Hello Everyone, and welcome to my first entry on my views and thoughts on the different aspects of League of Legends! To start off, I would like to disclose my influence for writing this, which is T B Skyen, who I really related with, for he sees pretty much with me eye to eye on many stances, and how his words have a sense of poetic justice in his work. He is a great youtuber, and deserves respect.
Now, back to the subject at hand, my first point I would like to make about League of Legends is Character Design. Character design is so important in a game which heavily relies on the representation and significance of the characters, or in this case, “Champions.” A big factor for many League players,(Such as myself,) is the design, development, and the impact champions make in League of Legends. As a player who’ve been playing 4 years to the point of making this video, I am proud to say that every champion, has impacted me(More or less) in a way where I thoroughly enjoy the game, and can call it one of my favorites. With there being over 100 champions, you can expect an array of themes, archetypes, and tropes presented in a way that can be translated into a battleground setting. One thing I love about League is how, unlike Overwatch, League of Legends doesn’t have one core theme. When I first started playing, I expected a sort of Medieval setting, where the main sort of champion would be a knight in shining armor. Though once I started playing, I realized it’s a variety of different themes and environments in one game. Well, In this essay, I’m here to talk about Taric, the Shield of Valoran.
When you look at a Character, a single picture has to be able to portray and demonstrate so much of a character. As the company Riot kept perfecting the game over the years, the time and effort it took to make a champion increased. We went from champions like Nunu and Volibear, champions with little to no substance behind them besides the obvious tropes they fall under, and champions like Taric and Yorick, probably two of the best designed champions in the game. From a gameplay standpoint, Taric is a very underrated support. His skill set, to me at least has a lot of potential to carry a game early game if you know the basics of supporting, with his kit having a very entertaining, satisfying kit, that actually thoroughly executes the point of his role, which is “supporting.” As time passes on, we as an artistic community have developed a goal of changing the table, and breaking out of the classic tropes of character design, with examples of breaking out of the box such as, Thresh, a scary demon taking up the role of being a support. Though when you try to completely ditch and abandon a previous idea that has been conceptualized and used frequently, for a modern and fresh take on an idea, you lose the chance of making that idea into your own creation. In this case, there has been an increasing load of more aggressive, and belligerent supports being released by Riot, with champions like Tahm Kench, Thresh, and even in some cases, Rakan! Not saying this is terrible, but there needs to be a balance in the system. Taric, by nature, is a kind-hearted, altruistic man, who is willing to give his cape to a rude and pessimistic man he has never met before.
One way to identify character traits is by looking at how the character interacts with people in his environment. In the comic based on Taric, there is very little dialogue. Taric is portrayed as a soft spoken, fallen soldier looking for penance for his defection from Demacia, who stumbles upon a grumpy man who’s most likely to die from the cold. Instead of hitting the man who insulted him for insulting his nation, he gives him his cape. When a game or story tries to portray a sort of realism in the establishment of its characters, they always try to make characters as complex and morally grey as possible. We can see this in champions like Jayce, who’s celebrated as a hero in Piltover, but has an inner sense of arrogance and selfishness. Though while characters such as these helps make the game lore more 3-Dimensional and more interesting to read overall, we need characters who are on the very ends on the moral spectrum, because just like in real life, there are people that are actually very selfless and loyal. Sadly, we don’t see it much, but some adults really do contain altruistic behaviors. That’s why a lot of people strongly relate and like Taric, because he is a character you would love as a friend in real life. That is relatability, a character is relatable if they can be put in a real-life setting and have a at least suitable reaction. Taric is a champion, he’s a hero, he’s someone everyone needs in their lives, but he is also a flawed character, and he KNOWS it. It’s the fact he knows it that makes him a relatable and lovable character. He knows he’s against the idea of war, and he looks forward to nature and love over battle (Not saying that's a flaw, that's a really great thing actually). A great strength and character trait is when someone realizes their flaws and/or differences, without choosing to ignore them, or deny them. A poorly written character that is meant to be super nice will either be written to be 100% incapable to do wrong, not realize they have flaws, and treat everyone with the same love. A good character is allowed to have flaws, it’s what they do with them that makes them a morally good or bad character.
Personally, Taric prior to his rework, was a mess. He’s theme and mannerisms were inconsistent, his voice lines were vague and perplexing, and completely devoid of any true lore or interesting backstory. His gameplay was also very weak, especially after being outclassed by more developed supports later in the game. Ask yourself, what is the core theme of pre-rework Taric? What can you say to summarize the whole aesthetic of this mess of a champion? Also, a big problem for Taric, is that, at least in the rework, Taric is a being close to the beauty of nature. He has little armor, exposing his body, especially his chest, from environments of the frozen tundra’s, to treacherous mountains, and gentle forests. Why would a gentle character need so much bulky armor? How does that convey the mindset, and mannerisms of a character? In league, they’re 3 types of champions; Theme based champions who are based on a specific theme either started from scratch or from a pre-existing idea, i.e. Wukong, and Gnar; Lore based champions, champions who are designed to fit in the context of the League of Legends lore, i.e. Jarvan VI, and Kai’Sa; and Demographic based champions, where champions are more or less based on a certain group of expressions and intentions, and are then added additional factors that correlate with the champion. Champions like these are recognized to develop a certain demographic who takes a liking to that champion, like champions like Jayce, or Draven. Taric is on the demographic side, on he doesn’t have a new or unique theme, since Skarner is literally made of Crystal-like minerals. So he’s a mix of Demographic or Lore based champ design, with his connection to Garen and to mount Targon. Old Taric had little to no substance besides him liking gems, while new Taric has a refreshing look on life, which drives him to do the things he does.
To sum up my point, Taric is indeed a character of superior design and development. He is definitely in the top tier of major champion reworks, and should definitely get the appreciation he deserves. A lot of champions are sadly of lower quality, but maybe Riot will push the boundaries and be creative in their choices, like they did with the Shield of Valoran.
