My guess at the new champion: A "spirit of the land", like an "Anivia of the south"

SaltyToplaneGoat··2 votes·825 views

Going by the color sheme it looks pretty Shuriman to me. At first I thought it would be something demacian, as the whole angel thing flies pretty well with them, but for that the light would be more pale and white.

Then I thought it might be the Kayle rework. And yes, even if we just got Galio this might be a thing, given how fast Riot can pump out stuff when the stars alling. Remember Gnar? In the patch right after him there was instantly Azir coming like "SHURIMA WAITS FOR NONE" and rushed into the PBE (full of bugs tho).

But then again the asymmetry in the teaser seems to be unfitting for Kayle, so instead it makes more sense to assume an entirely different character.

Let's see: sun symbolism, shurima color palette, bird, a certain duality given the asymmetry (desert areas are kinda two faced if you think about it. Burning hot at day, cold as the winter at night. An oasis overflowing with life, and the liveless ocean of sand) - all in all it might fit into the narrative of a "Shuriman Anivia).

Now the only question would be why she's humanoid... maybe because the impact of mankind in Shurima is bigger than in the Freljord? I mean, they already had an empire while up north they were some barbarians with ice powers - and the iceborn were not human anymore, that much can be said. Or maybe it has something to do with the sun, as there is just a lot more energy in this area of the world? I doubt that the technology of the Sun Disk would work up in the north for example.

But then again this golden orb DOES kinda look like a Kayle ult, so I am not 100% certain...

12 Comments

GreenLore3 votes

The only reason why I think that Shurima isn't that likely is that we already have a bird-person who talks a lot about the sun with Azir

And on top of that we also have a girl who is from shurima and has a bird theme going on as well with Taliyah

So in a way this would be Shurimas 3rd bird champion.

But then again,she could be an ascended. I mean the ascended are based on egyptian gods and the egyptian goddess Isis was often depicted as a woman with winged arms.

SaltyToplaneGoat4 votes

Well, it would make sense if "BIRD" is just a core part of the Shuriman theme. I mean, we got multiple "ice" champions from the Freljord and no one complains, no?

It would make sense for the bird to be an important symbol in shuriman culture. They literally worshipped the sun, so "beings close to the sun" = birds must be holy in some way, right? Also being able to fly is a special bonus in the desert: you could evade sandstorms, avoid getting lost, find the nearest oasis with water that you need to survive... for desert cultures it would only make sense to give birds a special part in their culture I think.

GreenLore1 votes

Yeah,but ice is an element and bird isn't(unless you count certain glitch pokemon)

I mean the reason why there are so many champs with ice powers is because the watchers were able to create powerful artifacts out of ice and infuse humans with ice powers.

But the bird thing in Shurima would just feel like a big coincidence.

Even worse is the fact that this would be the third bird-themed Shurima champ in a row,as Taliyah and Azir were the last ones.

SaltyToplaneGoat3 votes

Dunno, from a symbolic point of view there is no difference between "ice" and "bird". Both are concepts that serve as symbols in varying cultures. And just how for an Freljordian Ice-Magic seems to be "the normal thing", for the Shurimans a mythlogy around birds and bird-like beings might be "their normality".

You could bring another military champ from Noxus and no one would bother, because "military" is one of the most defining elements of the noxian theme. Same applies to ice-powers up in the north, or if there was a new Bilgewater champ that had something to do with sailing and pirarcy.

Obviously you need to make sure that the characters are different enough from each other thematically, but Azir being "bird" doesn't DEFINE him, and its not the case with Taliyah either. In this case it makes more sense to view the bird-part is a core element of shuriman aesthetics, which would totally fly from a lore point-of-view.

GreenLore1 votes

Yeah,but how would you think about it if the next 3 Noxian champions are all Lizardpeople,because all of a sudden "Lizard" is a common theme among Noxians?

Also there is a difference between a force of nature and a type of animal.Ice and coldness are everywhere on the planet and even the whole universe,and it always existed and will always exist. The same doesn't go for birds.

SaltyToplaneGoat1 votes

The thing is, if we had an "lizard island" of some sorts we wouldn't be shocked that most champions coming from there would be lizard people no?

But that has to be set up first obviously, preferably without the writers being like "look people this is our lizard island". However, you don't need to set noxus up like that anymore, we do know enough about them, at least compared to Shurima.

And it doesn't matter what things ARE. As we perciecve them they are all equal as "concepts our mind uses to understand the world". And a theme is nothing more than an accumulation of concepts with a certain sense of consistency.

Also the bird works good with Shurima, as I have mentioned above, so I have absolutely no problem with that. Also, there are many different types of birds, so even with a whole flock rushing in there should be still enough variation to prevent things from going stale.

GreenLore1 votes

But Shurima isn't "bird island".Only 2 of their champions have a bird theme and those are fairly new(and one of them is only associated with the bird as a motif,she doesn't have bird powers).

There are so many desert-themed things that could be done,that 3 birds in a row would seem a bit out of place.

And of course they are likely going to differentiate the different bird champs,because as you say,there are a lot of birds and a lot of ways to differentiate them,its mostly that I feel that because they need to be differentiated that it'd be better if the next bird champ wasn't from Shurima.

But in the end we'll have to wait and see what we'll get. Maybe the champ isn't even shuriman,she'll likely be revealed in a few days.

SaltyToplaneGoat2 votes

Let's see what we do know about Shuriman culture:

Animal gods (Ascension gives you the form your subconsciously choose. Those who aspire to "be strong like gods" look how they imagined their gods. Xerath was not exactly theistic, he only believed in freedom and so we was freed from his body.)

Sun worship was a central aspect of the ancient shuriman empire and echoes throught he culture until today.

These two combined would already give birds some special place. So if there was a place in Runeterra that was "bird island", it would be Shurima.

GreenLore1 votes

Sun worship is one thing. Bird worship is another one. We never heard anything about Shurima regarding birds as something special.

Yes Azir transformed into a birdhuman,but Nasus and Renekton didn't,so why would birds be something special and jackals and crocodiles not?(Also Xerath looks different because he corrupted the ritual and took much more energy from the sun disk than usual)

Not to mention that even if birds are something special to them,then that doesn't mean that they need to push out one bird champ after the other. I mean Demacia is a place that values antimagic,does that mean that every demacian champ needs to be an antimage?Bilgewater is full of pirates and values sea monsters,yet we have only 1 pirate in the game and not even a single serpent caller.Ionia is a very spiritual and pacifistic nation,yet our latest champion for them was a serial killer.

Shurima is pretty much our desert-faction.If a champion is based on a creature/mythical being that lives in the desert then chances are high that they'll be from Shurima.So if this champion started with the idea to make a shuriman champion,then they had plenty of other options. And if this champ started off as a harpy/phoenix,they had the chance to connect her to another faction,like Targon(after all if this champ really has a connection to the sun,then Targon would also make sense as a faction)

In general I am not saying that this champ will be unoriginal or that the champ can't be from Shurima,I just think that it is unlikely for Riot to give us 3 bird-champs for Shurima in a row.

Trenitaliyah2 votes

They have an upcoming updates schedule's site page, and Kayle isn't listed for any rework. So this must be something else, but the similarities - two different wings like Kayle and Morgana, and the sphere like her ultimate - are too much evident. I don't know either.

Arakadia1 votes

I do think the leak was correct or had some info regarding this champion. Because of the lack of symmetry, one side looking female with the hips and skirt and the other looking male, and the whole theme of being different on each side. It was definetly intentional to make it assymetrical.

Nice theory, I doubt it, but I liked your point about two faces on a desert hill.

DJ Lucio1 votes

I saw some ideas of a new champion being two in one

who knows

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