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League Lore is questionable

PandaPo·10/23/2018, 5:12:56 PM·6 votes·1,793 views

First of all, can somebody explain to me what the Darkin are? I saw somewhere that they are ascended beings from Shurima. Then I saw that they are targonians and then I saw that they are aliens from another planet. Why did the humans try to kill them even though they were the ones who drove back the void during their darkest hours? Ungrateful bastards!

Second, I think League Lore is not refined. I don't like It sometimes. Vayne for example, has a very...... well, bad story. All because Evie murdered her parents, she decides to kill the only person in her life who closely resembles a parent solely because she can transform into a Wolf or something.

And last, I have a big question, none of the characters have a motive to be fighting in this war. I don't get it. Why would the Aspects be fighting here. Don't they have to fight the void or something. The Demacians, Noxians, and Ionians have no sort of motives to fight. I guess the only people with a motive to fight would have to be the Shadow Isles Champs. Data 2 has a very good Lore connecting the heroes intricately. Small Easter eggs are even sometimes dropped here and there in voice lines. And that's what's so good about Dota 2 Lore. What the stories couldn't each hero's interactions with each other tell us a whole lot more about each one. In Dota 2 there are no large scale factions other than the Radiant and the Dire. Everyone has their own unique stories, not just clumped together with someone else. I really don't get why League needed another champion who's all giggly and small like Zoe and Teemo. Pyke is straight up just bad story writing. He is a madman who kills people even though they have nothing to do with him solely because he died. Riot tried to make Zoe a sinister deity, one who looks harmless but is very dangerous. Well, I'm here to say that Dota 2's Puck has a more sinister aura. ONE OF HIS VOICE LINES SAY THAT HE ATE HIS SIBLINGS. I mean, Auishtha is creepy too. She keeps laughing and giggling but it is rumoured that she takes a bite out of her victims sometimes. I don't know about that though but just saying. I really think Riot needs to up their game because even Kai'sa's story sounds too pretentious, if that is the right word. League is an awesome game in terms of game play but I always want something more to be able to feel like a part of their universe, you know.

8 Comments

ModWulf Helhammer10/23/2018, 5:28:12 PM5 votes

So Darkin:

They are former Ascended of Shurima (who was given their power from the Targonian Aspects). After the fall of the empire (Xerath's sabotage on Azir's accession ritual), the remaining Ascended warriors started battling out amongst themselves. They used their knowledge of magic to further transform their bodies into a form that they wished. The humans living at that era began to call those warriors Darkin. Eventually, one of the Ascended decided that enough was enough, and conspired to be rid of the remaining Darkin/Ascended (he was tricked into also being included in that number though). The human, with the help of the former Aspect of Trickery (now currently Zoe) trapped the souls of the Darkin warriors in their weapons. Over the centuries past, nearly all of them have faded out of life or have been destroyed. Right now, there are only 3 (that we know of) that are active on Runeterra: Aatrox, Rhasst (who is the newest currently, hence he wasn't taken over his host), and Varus. For more info, you can check here: League Universe: Darkin

For your second question:

The game of "League of Legends" does not exist in the lore of the world. There is no connection between them. This was a change made back in 2015 I believe(?), as making every champion that Riot introduced have some reason to go join the Institute of War and fight in the League was making less and less sense, particularly when you want to make Cosmic Dragons that create stars or the literal embodiments of Death.

Oleandervine10/23/2018, 5:28:42 PM3 votes

The most current version of the Darkin are Shuriman Ascended (like Renekton and Nasus) who became corrupted after fighting the Void, and turned to dark magic to transform their bodies, and then began a world shattering war with each other after Azir died.

Their lore only a year ago was that of alien beings from another realm that were invading Runeterra. Personally, I liked this version better than the retcon, but I'm not the lore team. Plus, the lore team has a massive narrative boner for looping everything back in on Shurima, the Void, and Targon.

The lore in League is a mess, I will admit it. It gets messier almost every time they release new lore (such as Karma New lore 1.0 with Irelia, and then 2.0 with Akali, or the horrible new Lissandra lore with Nunu), but there is some attempt to create an interconnected world. The largest problem is that there is no consistency with the lore release, and there doesn't seem to be an overarching plan for what's going to happen. In the case of the Darkin last year versus this year, that was a blatant example of them retconning lore just because it didn't fit their whims at the time, and it leaves a very bitter taste for people like myself who invested in the lore they released last year. It almost makes it so that you don't really want to invest in the lore they release, because half of it could get retconned, and the other half will simply erase core values and aspects of characters you love.

Robertsmash10/23/2018, 5:48:58 PM3 votes

First of all, can somebody explain to me what the Darkin are? I saw somewhere that they are ascended beings from Shurima. Then I saw that they are targonians and then I saw that they are aliens from another planet. Why did the humans try to kill them even though they were the ones who drove back the void during their darkest hours?

The alien thing is retconned out, and to my knowledge they've never been Targonian. They're Shuriman Ascended who lost their purpose after the Fall of Shurima. They lost what united them and began a huge power struggle among themselves. They dabbled in forbidden magics to alter their forms and suffered great mental strain from a long war against the Void in which they were the front line. Their massive hosts and conflicts with each other led to an era of endless war that wreaked havoc on mortal populations. That is why humans tried to destroy them.

Second, I think League Lore is not refined. I don't like It sometimes. Vayne for example, has a very...... well, bad story. All because Evie murdered her parents, she decides to kill the only person in her life who closely resembles a parent solely because she can transform into a Wolf or something.

Vayne has a black-and-white view regarding the dark arts, which is what Frey used to transform. There's not a lot of complexity here, but there doesn't have to be. The event is a testament to Vayne's rigid view of her goals. Demacia in general isn't the greatest region for depth atm, though.

And last, I have a big question, none of the characters have a motive to be fighting in this war. I don't get it. Why would the Aspects be fighting here. Don't they have to fight the void or something. The Demacians, Noxians, and Ionians have no sort of motives to fight. I guess the only people with a motive to fight would have to be the Shadow Isles Champs.

What "war" are you referring to? I'm not sure if you're asking why they're fighting on Summoner's Rift specifically, but if you are, the conflicts/games we play on Summoner's Rift aren't canon. It's like Super Smash Bros. A bunch of characters who live in this universe do their own thing, and we take them on the Rift for purely gameplay purposes. Most champions have never met and might never meet. The Aspects, Demacians and Noxians do go around doing their own things and affecting the world in their own ways.

Pyke is straight up just bad story writing. He is a madman who kills people even though they have nothing to do with him solely because he died.

Well, he's written to be insane. He kills people because he believes that they're on his list of people who abandoned/betrayed him. Whatever force gives him life and power after he drowned is left in mystery, so the motives behind his actions are unknown atm. What is bad about the writing?

Riot tried to make Zoe a sinister deity, one who looks harmless but is very dangerous.

I disagree. I don't think Zoe's key characteristic is supposed to be "sinister." There's definitely some "unsettling" if you look underneath the surface, but I wouldn't say she's supposed to radiate a sinister aura.

I really think Riot needs to up their game because even Kai'sa's story sounds too pretentious, if that is the right word.

Maybe you could elaborate. I'm not a fan of the Void symbiote thing but pretentious isn't the word I'd use.

Camille Ferrøs10/23/2018, 6:18:12 PM1 votes

What do you mean by "this war" ¿