Runeterra and Mental Illness

Ahri Body Pillow·3/1/2019, 10:35:28 PM·8 votes·8,176 views

Before I start this post, I would like to say this is NOT a call for "mental illness representation" in League of Legends. I do not care if there are characters with them or without them. I just like to ask questions about the lore.

That being said, how prevalent is mental illness in Runeterra, do you think? Do battle hardened soldiers like Garen and Darius struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder due to the things they've seen on the battlefield? Maybe even Teemo? Is Jinx a sociopath? Does Orianna struggle to cope with losing her human form?

26 Comments

Camille Ferrøs3/1/2019, 11:06:06 PM5 votes

Jhin

KestrelGirl3/1/2019, 10:54:03 PM5 votes

Omega Squad Teemo is displayed as having signs of PTSD, if that helps. I would expect battle-hardened soldiers in canon Runeterra to be affected as well.

Jinx has Antisocial Personality Disorder. (Probably.)

I think Orianna could be fleshed out more - currently she just seems naive. A new VO would probably explore her transferred consciousness pretty well.

I'd expect to see a lower rate of mental illness than real life, thanks to the lack of modern societal pressures that are messing us up IRL, but it would still be present. However... it might not be acknowledged fully or treated properly. So not everyone might recognize that it's a thing.

DerMangoJoghurt3/1/2019, 11:03:10 PM4 votes

I'm surprised nobody mentioned Riven yet. Her mental state is "troubled", to say the least.

Darrosh Jewfist3/2/2019, 2:56:05 PM2 votes

Noxus at the very least doesn't care much for PTSD.

https://universe.leagueoflegends.com/en_US/story/art-is-life/

The cries of widowed spouses, grief-stricken mothers, or nightmare-wracked veterans were a nightly chorus to accompany the roars of drunken soldiers and the promises of street hawkers who plied their trade best in the darkness.

I took this line to mean PTSD is so common, it's just a part of Noxian life. I sincerely doubt there's much of a social support structure for these veterans or available mental healthcare options for them that they're just wandering the streets and stuff.

ModJikker3/1/2019, 11:51:07 PM2 votes

A lot of League's champions have troubled backgrounds and some definitely have a form of a mental illness. Mental illness as the definition I've known is anything that changes how a person would normally act in a situation either emotionally, socially, mentally -- basically it affects behavior and thinking.

Prime example, Jinx definitely has something either from past trauma or just being insane (I think the former is more hinted at). Jihn is a nutter that sees killing/death as art. Let's not even start to talk about Mundo and what is going on in his insane mind. And don't forget that all the Darkin act the way they do because of being driven insane/corrupted mentally by the Void. Renekton is another who is definitely not in his right mind. Draven's ego is most likely the result of some narcissistic or otherwise mentally ill state.

On the flip side, we do have champs that aren't necessarily crazy, but react negatively due to some past issues/events which result in mental troubles. Riven is a prime example with PTSD for sure. Amumu is pure sadness/depression. A lot of Yasuo's mentalities (and probably why he drinks) come from not only witnessing carnage but having to kill his brother -- stuff like that messes you up.

Depending on the definition of mental illness, there's a lot more out there than may seem at first. After all, champions are not ordinary people and often have had to experience some sort of event that could result in a mental illness. Given that it's something like 25% of the world's population have some form of a mental illness, my bet is Runeterra would be no different and neither is the champion pool. Riot just doesn't necessarily put it up in flashing lights that a champion suffers from a mental illness too often.

Jerry SeinfeId3/2/2019, 9:29:25 PM2 votes

Jinx most likely has some form of multiple personality disorder as she talks to her guns and all of them are supposed to have a personality. Fishbones being the "normal girl part" of jinx, pow pow is supposedly rather laidback like eeyore and idk for zap tbh. Most likely incurred by a trauma too.

Teemo is weird. Omega squad obviously suffers from PTSD. Regular teemo supposedly changes in personality extremely when on a mission compared to his happy self in general. Riven Kaisa probably apply too.

DrMundo .

Aatrox suicidal tendencies.

Amumu depression probably.

Yasuo delusional.

As for the regular people i'd assume it's not much worse than in real life comparable living situations. You can argue a shit ton of extra dangers are around, but these dangers not being around isn't a reality they know.$ Soldiers probably suffer from ptsd, i don't think garen or darius do though. They're probably where they are now because they have the mental fortitude (i don't mean this in a bad way, i just don't know how to word it) to keep going through it all.

6FlagsFunnelCake3/2/2019, 8:13:15 AM1 votes

On a more 'fantastical' note, the Darkin are literally the pure embodiment of PTSD.

d00mface3/2/2019, 8:16:17 AM1 votes

Aatrox Is suicidally depressed and I think it was said all the darkin have PTSD to varying degrees.

Csemete Csemege3/2/2019, 6:51:18 PM1 votes

Rolf Really? Nobody mentioned my boy Kled ?? He has a lot of mental issues (paranoia...) He is talking to a lizard, and have strange hallucinations (holy weasels...) Also he is aggressiv, really- really aggressiv, this is the only way he can express himself.

Psyrix3/3/2019, 2:37:24 PM1 votes

Kai’sa should’ve been an example on this list but she was left largely untouched despite growing up in a Void corrupted region that sent people insane just being there for a few hours. Lol, tho arguably her under developed personality/social interaction was a side-affect.

Syndra had something analogous to ADHD and was bullied quite a bit.

Neeko seemingly has one too (tho I wouldn’t call it an illness... just something that’s expected... it’s not really PTSD. she comes off as cheerful and optimistic, but if u listen to her voice lines I’d def say she’s avoiding and suppressing some horrors.

Jinx is antisocial... but might also have schizophrenia or something similar, unless her guns really actually are talking to her lol.

Jhin... I don’t really have to say much here

I believe there was something about Jayce and Ezreal having a slight ego ;) lmao, lowkey narcissistic personality disorder

Teemo does have one, something akin to bipolarity mixed with ptsd and DID, referencing both omega squad, as well as comments from tristana

Amumu crippling depression 😂

dalphy083/1/2019, 11:10:03 PM1 votes

Well the girl characters all have severe disorders due to the way they market their bodies, with the exception of a few.

Ebonmaw Dragon3/1/2019, 11:30:01 PM1 votes

"maybe even teemo?"

The lore of Teemo actually mentions that he goes insane when he is in solo missions.

NotaRobot10063/2/2019, 2:12:24 AM1 votes

I'd imagine the state of mental health care is a bit lacking as well, at least in some reasons.

If Zaun had something resembling competent psychologists then the guy out to delete emotions might have less of a following.

RyzeTheSmurfMage3/2/2019, 6:49:21 AM1 votes

Nasus had despression and PTSD for a long ass time

mrmeddyman3/2/2019, 8:05:04 AM1 votes

Jhin There already is representation for the mentally ill right here.

Otherwise it's probably typical medieval fare everywhere outside of Piltover. If someone has a mental health issue just brand them crazy and kick that shit aside