Diversity in League

The Vile Vandal·Jan 28, 2019·6 votes·7,328 views

League of Legends is a game with an AMAZING amount of Diversity. The inspirations for the characters are well thought out to whatever culture they were inspired from. We get to see a lot of cool warriors, mages and so on based on cultures like Chinese, Korean, Japanese, African-American, American, Egyptian and European. However, that is pretty much where it ends, and it feels like it is often overdone, I can't even count how many Ionian champions we have already, we get it, Asian culture is awesome. What we don't really see at all are champions based on Mesoamerica for starters, and I am sure League of Legends has a HUGE fan base that is from the US that is Hispanic and a pretty decent fan base in Southern Americas. It feels like those cultures get no love at all, besides maybe a few skins based of Mexican Luchador. Skins is all they pretty much get.
I hope in the future that Riot might consider Mesoamerica based heroes, I can already imagine a cool champion with some cool Aztec armor or even some cool Mesoamericas weapons or magic. Heck, maybe even some gods based on Aztec, Mayan gods. Anything would be awesome. I know Riot can do some amazing work, and doing so, would make the cast of League of Legends feel more unique!

29 Comments

AbiwonKenabiJan 28, 20194 votes

The World breaker skin line draws from some mesoamerican aesthetics. That said, I would love to see a mesoamerican inspired Champion as well (I'd put them in the Kumungu jungle maybe). It's a very underused concept in fantasy in general.

The Vile VandalJan 31, 20191 votes

That's pretty awesome! I need to check those out and their references!

The Vile VandalJan 31, 20192 votes

That's pretty awesome! I need to check those out and their references! Just checked them out! They're pretty awesome! Would love to see a Mesoamerican champion soon and them being Vastaya would totally be perfect. Would love Aztec warrior that's an Eagle Warrior or Jaguar warrior![slayer-jinx-catface]

RyzeTheSmurfMageJan 28, 20194 votes

Kumungu jungles could be that?

The Vile VandalJan 31, 20191 votes

That would be an awesome chance for riot to do! I could imagine them being Eagles, Jaguars like how the Aztec's warriors wore

Rathar DashingJan 28, 20191 votes

Isn't Neeko Brazilian?

Lv60 Retri PalaJan 28, 20194 votes

[{quoted}](name=Rathar Dashing,realm=NA,application-id=6kFXY1kR,discussion-id=Ah8UNqM5,comment-id=0000,timestamp=2019-01-28T12:10:19.916+0000)

Isn't Neeko Brazilian?

She's Vastayan

4 Step CadenceJan 28, 20194 votes

Her voice actress is Brazilian, so by extension, technically so is she.

Vastaya are normally grouped together by what region they're from. For example, Shimon, Lhotlan, and whatever Ahri is are Ionian Vastaya. The Kiilash are Shuriman. Ect. They are all different.

We don't know where Neeko is from, since her home was destroyed, though we can make the assumption it was somewhere tropical, like Brazil.

SEKAIJan 28, 20192 votes

[{quoted}](name=4 Step Cadence,realm=NA,application-id=6kFXY1kR,discussion-id=Ah8UNqM5,comment-id=000000000000,timestamp=2019-01-28T12:21:19.713+0000)

Her voice actress is Brazilian, so by extension, technically so is she.

Vastaya are normally grouped together by what region they're from. For example, Shimon, Lhotlan, and whatever Ahri is are Ionian Vastaya. The Kiilash are Shuriman. Ect. They are all different.

We don't know where Neeko is from, since her home was destroyed, though we can make the assumption it was somewhere tropical, like Brazil.

That's a terrible argument.

Yasuo and Yi's voice actors are both white, does that mean Yasuo and Yi somehow aren't Asian champions?

If a champion is related to any irl culture and demographic, it wouldn't be because of the voice actor but because of their thematic design.

In no space and time where the voice actor defines the ethnicity or cultural background of the character they voice; you have it completely backwards. Maybe the makers intentionally pick someone of related background to voice, but this is purely a creative choice; anyone can voice anyone, and using the voice actor as a reference to deduce and claim the character they voice is of a certain background is only TANGENTIAL at best and completely false logic at its core.

Rathar DashingJan 28, 20193 votes

Yasuo and Yi aren't Asian, they're Ionian.

The Vile VandalJan 31, 20191 votes

Ionian's are heavily inspired by Asian Culture. So they are Asian. Just like how Lucian is Demacian, but it's very obvious he is inspired by African-American. Same with Ekko

Rathar DashingJan 31, 20191 votes

...Just like how Neeko is inspired by Brazilian culture. Hence my first comment.

KestrelGirlJan 28, 20191 votes

[{quoted}](name=Rathar Dashing,realm=NA,application-id=6kFXY1kR,discussion-id=Ah8UNqM5,comment-id=0000,timestamp=2019-01-28T12:10:19.916+0000)

Isn't Neeko Brazilian?

To your credit, her voice actress did lend her some Brazilian flavor. Aside from the accent, cheese bread - Neeko's favorite food - is a staple in Brazil.

The Vile VandalJan 31, 20191 votes

Yeah, that's pretty cool! She is most likely Brazilian influenced then since they made little hints that are very common in Brazil! So happy for my Brazilian players!

Lv60 Retri PalaJan 28, 20191 votes

[{quoted}](name=The Vile Vandal,realm=NA,application-id=6kFXY1kR,discussion-id=Ah8UNqM5,comment-id=,timestamp=2019-01-28T11:56:09.816+0000)

Heck, maybe even some gods based on Aztec, Mayan gods.

Quite unsure how to turn this into a league champion tbh. XD https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/39/Quetzalcoatl.svg/800px-Quetzalcoatl.svg.png

JaspersJan 28, 20191 votes

Marvel's Quetzalcoatl http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/quetza.htm

Marvel's Toltec https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Toltec_(Earth-616)

They just have to humanise them or take their myths and put that look/design/powerset into them.

The Vile VandalJan 31, 20191 votes

Yeah, Humanize or make them a Vastaya. It would be awesome to see Quetzalcoatl a cool animal inspired the character.

tamayaJan 28, 20191 votes

Will make they female in my country. 　(She is Quetzalcoatl.) https://appmedia.jp/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/c037f71453d4d0a08079fe3d61b95ce7.jpeg

Lady SylumJan 28, 20191 votes

Honestly Indigenous characters from any continent ( that is not a stereotype) is sorely lacking in any media. I do like what they did with Nunu tho.

tamayaJan 28, 20191 votes

I am interested in Eastern European culture and I think that it would be nice to have a character with a motif of Baltic myth. It is too local?

GehcoJan 28, 20191 votes

{quoted}

I am interested in Eastern European culture and I think that it would be nice to have a character with a motif of Baltic myth. It is too local?

Quinn is what culture in your opinion?

tamayaJan 30, 20191 votes

I am sorry, I do not know much about the Baltic myths yet. Have you hit on that relationship between Quinn and Baltic myth. Please tell me. I can't wait to hear that!

tamayaJan 30, 20191 votes

Oh, by the way, Although it is not limited to the Baltic myth, twins often appear in the myths of Europe. They usually have a name that means 'horse'. It is not a horse, but a champion with a "bird" related name is in the league. And he may be Quinn's brother :)

GehcoFeb 12, 20191 votes

{quoted}

I am sorry, I do not know much about the Baltic myths yet. Have you hit on that relationship between Quinn and Baltic myth. Please tell me. I can't wait to hear that!

what is baltic

tamayaFeb 12, 20191 votes

what is quinn

AbiwonKenabiJan 31, 20191 votes

I mean, since League is a world wide game, practically any myth or cultural aesthetic is local to somebody playing the game. Mesoamerica is local to those playing on LA servers. So I would say no.

tamayaFeb 11, 20191 votes

However, rather than making niche characters, it is more profitable for companies to make characters that many people prefer. And I will not deny that policy.

ZyraniumJan 30, 20191 votes

Would be great to have Kumungu as a faction, and make some characters from there shine like Zyra & Nidalee , what we got was good, but really underwhelming.

If their lore gets expanded, I want them to reflect a culture, Zyra could be the ultimate villain of Kumungu or somewhat a version of mother Nature that protects the ecosystem and decimate the intruders, and for Nidalee she would probably have some ties with other Vastayan tribes and I'd love to see what kind of stories and people live there, because for me Kumungu screams Meso-American.

Tesla EffectJan 31, 20191 votes

Current Map of Runeterra is only 1/6 of the whole planet. Its safe to say there are other continents with their own cultures and races that wont be the same as the ones we currently know.