This constant gloryfication of everything Ionia is getting redundant.

Curious Melody·1/21/2019, 5:17:51 PM·11 votes·4,391 views

I've been noticing this trend for a long time now, but the recent awaken cinematic made me realise just how obvious this is getting. Ionians literally can't do anything bad, they're always underdogs, the good guys, the defenders who only want to protect their country, the peaceful treehuggers who want to be one with nature. They're brave ninjas who protect the balance of the world, stedfast protectors of the land, calm masters of martial arts and magic, kind animal people and zed.

Meanwhile, what do other countries have? Sociopaths, civil wars, discriminations.

Even Ionian champions are all special, as far as human champions go. Martial arts prodigies, ancient sages. Shen is literal doctor strange but with a sword. Irelia single handedly cut through entire Noxian army right to it's center to cut off Swain's arm while she was still a teen.

Ionians can't do no wrong.

They're Mary Sues of Runeterra.

Look how badly oppresed and sad they are because noxus attacked them. Feel bad for them. Pat their badly written heads. That's what Rioters want becuase they also are biased. Ionia is the most popular "place" of all "places" in game's world. We wouldn't want majority of players to feel like they're playing the bad guys, right?

Lore-team is capable of so much more. But they can't because Ionian champions and stories make money.

This entire thing is sad, and almost never talked about. Meanwhile, I believe we should be shoving posts like this down Riot's throat. Only then they will stop their silly ways.

I've been Melody and this has been my whenever-ly shitpost about League's lore. Tune in next time for yet another wall of text about how Riot failed with Du Couteaus lore.

29 Comments

4 Step Cadence1/21/2019, 5:26:27 PM16 votes

"Ionians literally can't do anything bad."

Hello, my name is Khada Jhin. I carve people's faces off and wear them as masks. I've systematically murdered entire families. I traumatized Zed, Shen, and Kusho beyond repair. In the cinematic, I murdered an entire squad of elite soldiers before setting Camille up in the perfect trap so that I can kill her, too. And I'm not even doing it for my country. I'm doing it for myself. For the Art.

Pale Mask1/21/2019, 5:44:06 PM10 votes

What do you mean? Ionians just happen to be in tune with magic, nature, lgbtq+ friendly, culturally diverse, innocent peasants fighting against the oppression of the white man Europe Noxus, living in the "First Lands", and Asian in a game owned by a Chinese company and popular in Asia.

They're quite morally gray. I mean, just look at Jhin and Syndra. They're evil. Definitely not mentally disturbed individuals born into a primitive environment with little to no development in the field of psychiatry.

Hey, did you know Demacia hates magic? Click here to see what this expert has to say on the matter.

Phieldworker1/21/2019, 6:34:01 PM5 votes

Ummm are you forgetting Syndra who basically wants to crush all Ionians. Or the fact that the brotherhood of Navori want Irelia dead? Or the fact that Karma and Irelia are basically at odds because of their actions in the war? Or a lot of people don’t like Shen because they feel he sits idlely by while strife and war happens. Kayn is carrying around a darkin. Varus is mixed with compassionate lovers and a psycho murderer.

Any way, Ionia is full of flaws and it doesn’t have a single “this is the head and governing rule” they just have tribes all doing their own thing but pulling for power. It’s foolish to say Ionia is perfect.

NotaRobot10061/21/2019, 5:34:55 PM5 votes

Oh and the Spirit of the Land is a total jerk, too. Poor Syndra.

Camille Ferrøs1/21/2019, 6:47:30 PM4 votes

I really don't know how you see them as Mary Sues but okay.

NotaRobot10061/21/2019, 5:34:14 PM4 votes

Much of what you say is true, but the cinematic did at least throw in one thing against Ionia: Its champions, when faced with named enemies, are total chumps. It took 4 of them to take on Sion (Yasuo was there too, but he mostly dealt with the npcs).

Frontline Fury1/21/2019, 5:55:44 PM3 votes

This could all be solved by portraying the other sides of Ionia briefly mentioned in every story - the rivaling clans, the civil wars and the corruption.

But no, Asia must be portrayed superior. We can’t risk alienating our primary source of money, especially from lc$ fan #1 South Korea.

Otivnaig1/21/2019, 9:19:32 PM2 votes

I just see sion having a pentakill, having shitted on the entire enemy team.

SEKAI1/23/2019, 1:02:36 PM2 votes

What do you mean, everything any remotely good comes with a bad catch that's far bigger than the good part these days as per Riot's submission to """morally grey""".

Ionia is of no difference, the only thing good about it is that the land looks pretty, and everything is literally complete dumpster fire because of Riot's logic in writing. Ionia is constantly portrayed as a shallow beauty, akin to an apple that looks nice on the outside but is rotten to the core beyond its thin skin. Similarly, that's the how the writing goes with any region on Runeterra that has a positive imagery, Demacia for instance, also suffer greatly from this "writing".

After all, this is """morally grey""" we're talking about here. The most low-effort attempt at adding nuance, which meant that they just wrote "good is actually bad; bad is actually good" and pretend it actually means any depth.

If you want the actual Runeterra region where it is showered in constant glorification, you should really look at places such as Noxus. It is the nation that's almost the manifestation of invasion and pillage of others filled with stories of nasty violence, shady schemes, and exploitation of the defence-less. But ofc, in the languages of """morally grey""" they are actually pretty fine gents and all of their very blatant pitfall are constantly excused and whitewashed by Riot's writers at every turn.

Ionia isn't the one receiving constantly glorification, in fact all they've gotten in the past many years is beatdown after beatdown. The one that's Riot's baby is in fact, places like Noxus.

IlyaK19865/25/2019, 3:04:45 AM1 votes

Um...what?

Baddies:

Jhin: pure psycho freed by extremists. Syndra: murdered her caretaker because he tried to teach her patience. Varus: is a darkin. Kain: carries around a Darkin. Zed: bosses around said guy carrying around a Darkin. Also murdered his former friend's dad.

Brotherhood of Navori: not sure how much more someone can say "evil" than "trying to kill a mentally scarred 24 year old that spent her formative years trying to save your ungrateful asses after her family was brutally murdered".

So...yeah, not all yuumis and rainbows.

rollz31/21/2019, 6:18:20 PM1 votes

PREACH IT BROTHER!

King Lego1/21/2019, 7:51:35 PM1 votes

Oh they just seems "good" but that's only on the outside. But as you get to know them they are the vessel of demons.

I'll let you figure out what it means. [slayer-jinx-wink]

tamaya1/23/2019, 12:39:42 PM1 votes

If anything, it is PILTOVER?