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@Rito: A Serious Question About Lore: Am I Reading this Wrong, or is Yasuo SUPPOSED to be an Idiot?

AkaiNeko4·5/20/2016, 6:22:55 AM·3 votes·1,259 views

This is something that's bothered me for quite a while now.

So Yasuo's basic story, as I read it, is as follows:

  • The young Yasuo is a student at an Ionian sword....school? Dojo? Temple?
  • He's a prodigy, specifically compared to sword masters of old, due to his mastery of wind/sword techniques
  • He also has a big ego
  • His brother helps him shrink that ego
  • So when Noxus invades he's assigned to guard an Ionian elder
  • But that ego isn't gone, so when a nearby battle starts, he runs off to help, rather than protecting his charge
  • When he gets back the Elder is dead
  • In disgrace he turns himself in for severe dereliction of duty
  • But he finds that he's accused not only of abandoning his post, but of actually murdering the elder himself

Up through this point I'm totally on board. Classic, Greek tragedy-style fatal flaw (pride), and I'm a sucker for stories where people find themselves trapped between different demands of honor. But the next part....

So for the record, in broad strokes, I think that's all well and good. Pride before a fall, disgraced warrior seeking to right past wrongs while knowing that there may never be any real redemption for him, classic stuff. Very nice. The issue, of course, is that he responded to murder charges (that he was actually innocent of) by murdering his way out of prison and murdering his way around the country trying to prove himself innocent of murder. It seems a little self-defeating, is what I'm saying. Like, it feels like a genuine resolution to the matter could be him leaving a note to his pursuers to go find Riven (because she's probably the assassin), so they find her, like, having tea with Karma and Irelia on her whole quest for redemption and understanding thing, and they're like "Didja do it" and she's like "yeah, sorry, war and shit" and they're like "'s cool, se la guerre" and she's like "sweet" and they're like "say, wanna help us track down this crazy murderer named Yasuo?"

What really drives it home for me is that, apparently, it took him several years of roaming about, supposedly investigating this case the whole time, and actually KILLING HIS BROTHER to figure out WHY he'd been accused of murder in the first place: Apparently, the elder was killed with a wind technique, masters of which are very rare (and probably include Riven). Those were, like, his brother's dying words. To me, all of this comes together to suggest one of two things: Either Yasuo is intended to be a fool of truly magnificent proportions, or something went wrong somewhere in this process.

So....I guess, what gives, Rito? Can I get some thoughts on this?

15 Comments

Ruin Lance5/20/2016, 10:06:28 AM3 votes

actually he isn't trying to prove his innocence. he's trying to avenge the elder and redeem himself by bringing justice to the killer of the elder. so yes, you are reading it wrong

Dankstin5/20/2016, 6:33:58 AM3 votes

Yasuo is a dummy. Which is why only dummies play him. He's completely dummyproof.

Automatis5/20/2016, 6:27:07 AM2 votes

tl;dr yasuo is a dummy

nothing new

OurLestrade5/20/2016, 10:29:35 AM2 votes

Characters need to be dumb and unaware of tropes for stories to work sadly :P

GreenLore5/20/2016, 10:03:02 AM2 votes

The thing is: Yasuo is a sword master trained to kill his opponents and he isn't interested in getting himself killed for something that he hasn't done.

If he would go easy on his opponents he would risk getting killed,because trying to defeat someone without killing them,with a sword,is pretty hard and downright suicide depending on how strong your opponent is.

And honestly I doubt that Yasuo plans to return back to his old life at all,he probably knows that he killed too many of his own people for that. But he still wants to find the true killer and bring them to justice.

Sahn Uzal5/20/2016, 7:51:55 AM2 votes

My theorie here is that the people he murdered to prove his innocence are not worth nearly as much as the elder.

Imagine if you lived in ancient egypt to give you an example. I murder the Pharaoh, and I'm an absolute monster, and die a horrible death. I kill a bunch of citizens and soldiers, I'll propably get executed, but I'm just an un-cool dude in people's memory. (other than the families of those I killed)

Icestar11865/22/2016, 6:51:27 PM1 votes

People aren't always rational, and Ionian culture has a weird sense of honor. Additionally, he escaped before the whole wind technique thing was brought up - he never made it to his trial. Only Yone ever actually mentioned it, and only when specifically asked why he would suspect his own brother - and that was after the fight, because Yone had no intention of talking first. From Yasuo's perspective, the whole thing is self-defense. If he doesn't kill the people sent to kill him, they'll do what they were sent to do and kill him.