Gender & Sexuality - Perception in Runeterra

SaltyToplaneGoat··17 votes·2,107 views

Before you downvote, this is no weird extreme-feminism thread wanting to nerf Ahri's boobs. Ok, so now that we got that out of the way, let's get on the point:

How is gender and sexuality viewed across Valoran? And I'm not talking just about homosexuality and stuff, but about the general question. How are men and women viewed in the different regions? I think this says much about a culture, so I thought this might be an interesting thing to talk about. If Garen woudl suddenly wear a dress, would it be a scandal or would people just say "meh, it's weird but if he likes it...". I could list tons of potential examples here, but you get the point I think.

For example I can really demacians being super prude about that question "Pssh! You don't talk about this in public!", or being irked by non-conforme sexuality for whatever morale-reason. "Because HOW WE DO IT IS RIGHT!" (or so...)

On the other hand I can see Noxus being quite liberal about this. They don't care if you're male, female, a zombie, or how you dress and what you do as long you can split someone's head in two. Strenght over everything, remember? On the other hand they probably woundn't help anyone who's getting hate for the choice of their partners and attire, because of "be strong and do something against that or you're worthless anyway".

Piltover and Zaun probably are the most liberal - certain regions, such as Shurima or Freljord remote regions could be total conservative (comparison to our world here), or the opposite, just not caring in the way Noxus does.

So, what do you guys think? ^^

22 Comments

IcyPepper5 votes

I'm going to be honest here. When you have women who can turn into dragons Shyvana or cut you apart with music Sona , I don't think people care too much in the fields of justice.

For Runeterra? It'd just be a cultural thing. Compared to Canada that's pretty chill, the USA used to (or may be) stuck in the 1960's, for instance. Cultures vary, early and modern. Native Americans had two-spirit people that were considered both genders at the same time, only to be taken over by today's citizens with various opinions from marriage equality to all f*** are going to hell.

Culture is weird.

Runeterra is probably even weirder.

For example I can really demacians being super prude about that question

That probably explains Garen's attitude toward Katarina. Nobody wants to talk about the girl they spend half the time fighting to the death, and the other half banging. Probably a cultural thing.

SaltyToplaneGoat2 votes

That probably explains Garen's attitude toward Katarina. Nobody wants to talk about the girl they spend half the time fighting to the death, and the other half banging. Probably a cultural thing.

Somehow that sounds like a really Noxian way to talk about your lover... "She's so sexy - AND SO STRONG!". Why do I imagine Noxian to have the romantic culture of klingons now? xD

IcyPepper3 votes

Yeah, I can actually see that. Demacians seem more like... Romulans, led more by logic than emotion, especially considering Lux 's backstory, but not to the point of Vulcans.

But since we're talking Star Trek...

Zaun seems like a mix of the Q and the Federation. Free, chaotic, and sometimes a bit crazy (Federation is chill, but humans in Star Trek seemed a bit unhinged at times).

Shadow Isles remind me of the Borg, hands down.

SaltyToplaneGoat1 votes

Zaun doesn't care as long as you have money and science - everything else is completly irrelevant. I wonder if Bilgewater is on a similiar level here...

Yes, they are like the borg. The dead seem to follow a general doktrine, led by very few powerful individuals (Mordekaiser/Hecarim/Karthus - not the ruined king apparently, judging from the new lore teaser) - a comparision to the Borg Queen and the collective would be indeed fitting.

Also I think sex&gender isn't a problem on the isles. You can't pork when you're dead anyways...

LANWhale3 votes

Much like are real life cultures, Valoran has its own unique ones as well. All ranging from tribal wears to magnificent robes made of silk and imbued with gold.

Much like you said about Demacia,

demacians being super prude about that question "Pssh! You don't talk about this in public!"

Each one will have there own view on things. Noxus doesn't care how you look, as long as you get the job done. Demacia seems like they would care on how you look, if you don't look righteous and glorious, your doing it wrong.

As for Zaun and Piltover, Zaun is very loose with what they must say is proper. While on the other hand Piltover seems much more accurate on what people should be wearing.

In the end it comes down to us.

I would assume some cities hold a more obvious social acceptability when it comes to what one might wear. But in the end, it matters not what you wear, but who you are.

"Its not about how much lift, its about how good you look!!"Zac

Don't listen to him, hes a pile of goo.

SaltyToplaneGoat3 votes

But he's a quite handsome pile of goo...

Ok all jokes aside, this is exactly what I was getting at: how does the perception of that differ with the various cultures of Runeterra? We know some champs, some bit of fashion, but we barely know anything about the culture and social events of the city-states. This is something riot should fix if they want to keep on with their world-building.

LANWhale1 votes

Oh, you are asking what one culture thinks of another culture's looks?

Hm, really i would imagine they either ignore it or hate it. For example,

Demacia is about looking like your righteous and heroic, while Noxus doesn't care about how you look. I would then assume Noxus wouldn't give two hoots if you looked good while doing it. but given Demacia and Noxus history, they would then hate the style they have.

Solidair33 votes

I've thought about this before, and while I won't speak on sexuality (I pretty much regard every champion as asexual), I will say that I would expect a more relaxed view on gender.

After all, both women and men are important figures in every part of the world. LeBlanc, Karma, Ashe, Sejuani, Leona, Swain, Jarvan, Garen; they're all regarded as extremely important figures, so I'm thinking that there aren't many people who say "women get in the kitchen" or super feminists going around claiming that strong womyn are all that matter.

But I would think things like cross-dressing and the like might be viewed differently in different areas. Specifically I would assume Piltover and Zaun to be the most progressive, closely followed by Noxus, then Demacia and maybe Shurima trailed behind the furthest (or most progressive, honestly I'd like more world-building done on modern day Shurima)

It's an interesting point of discussion, though. I'd certainly like to hear what the narrative team thinks.

Dotintheparadox2 votes

Despite outcries of over-sexualization, Runeterra has never really struck a "Sexist" chord with me, if you're capable there, you're known for it. Like Sivir, despite my dislike for the new lore, she's known for being a great treasure hunter, not for wearing clothes so small Lucy Lawless would cringe. We as viewers are the ones who assign the sexual values to it.

The female characters are definitely sexy to us, but honestly they aren't actually boiled down to just those aspects in lore, except for Evelynn, Janna, and more often than not Ahri. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, people who disagree with the design decision, just ask Riot for more Man-whores, then it will all be balanced! And in the end, most of us will find it either hilarious, or erotic.

SaltyToplaneGoat2 votes

While you are right, the point of my thread is something else. Not how WE, as the players percieve sexuality and gender, but how the world and their inhabitants view them. I couldn't care less about who thinks what champ is sexy and what champ is not.

Sivir is a special case here: while we know that she's from Shurima, but she's also an outlaw, belonging to a group of people that couldn't care less about the standarts of society and other things. We have basicially no idea about the culture of present-day shurima apart from some hints in the rek'sai teaser.

Dotintheparadox1 votes

I kind of view Shurima as an open Nomadic state, the other factions are considered city-states, meaning they are still relatively small, so who knows how many smaller civilizations there are on Runeterra.

Nomads were very family oriented, and if there was a feud, there wouldn't be any piece keepers to stop it.

Terra Booma2 votes

Going on how Noxus normally operates. I think we can conclude they give no shits as long as you can be strong

GreenLore1 votes

I think Demacia might see women as weaker,I mean the only demacian melee champ we've got is Fiora ,who was born in a family of duelists(Not counting shyvana,because shyvana never lived among the demacian humans and poppy grew up in bandle).

While Noxus is all about strenght and thus probably doesn't differentiate between man and woman,when it comes to battle,they are also rather xenophob and thus would most likely not tolerate homosexuals,unless the homosexual person has proven him/her-self.

I think Zaun and Piltover are the most open city states when it comes to gender and sexuality,especially zaun,who even made a robot an official citizen,something other city states wouldn't have done.

Wordofmask1 votes

This is very interesting for me.

What about Bandle City? What is Yordle's view of sexuality? They are peaceful and sociable being like Hobbit so I think they may have a liberal view of their sexuality.

SaltyToplaneGoat4 votes

Let's take this a step further: how would the relationship of a human and a yordle be viewed? And yes, humans ARE weird enough to do that ^^ I mean... take a relatively small human and a relatively tall yordle and the size difference isn't much of a problem xD

Overall I think of yordle's as quite liberal, having no intention "to disturb the happiness of others". I think the comparision to the "Hobbit" might be well fitting. Hobbit's don't care... there are more important things in life to argue about, such as what to have for second breakfast ^^

ravenswolfy1 votes

If we look at the many champs of the league:

Demacia: Fiora Garen JarvanIV Quinn Sona Lux Vayne XinZhao (Not counting Shyvana Galio since they are more like secret weapons/specialized guards). Demacian's seem to be pretty militaristic, wearing heavy armor with a high sense of justice and morals. In terms of gender/sexuality, I think OP may be right, they seem prude. I think they're cultural mindset is something similar to like a pre WWII Germany (Lots of national pride).

Noxus: Cassiopeia Darius Draven Katarina Leblanc Swain Vladimir Talon . Whole group feels like a spartan society and with their theme that only the strong survive it seems to me they don't care what your gender or sexuality is as long as you are useful and can serve. iirc from ancient history class, spartans had gay/lesbian relationships and males sometimes took their wives by force. This iono kinda feels like what Noxus is like. We see the how their citizens continue to serve such as Urgot Sion but also we see how they don't seem to care about how sexualized they can be(ie: what cass use to do, leblanc's attire, draven's fandom).

Piltover Caitlyn Corki Ezreal Heimerdinger Jayce Vi Pretty sure Cait is bi and Vi is lesbian. And Ez may be bi too... Anywho though, this is more a place that cares more about engineering and is more progressive than other factions. But It almost feels like women are held back. All the smart/'genius' individuals are male. /shrug

Other Areas:

Freljord - Seems like a highly woman dominated or controlled society. Ashe Lissandra Sejuani. Sure they are strong males such as Braum Olaf Tryndamere but they aren't in charge.

Ionia - Mix society. Gender means nothing. Women can be in charge if they're worthy and men can too. Ex. Irelia . However, sex may sell for this area though. Ahri Akali Seem to be pretty sexualized by nature. Syndra (see her dance) Karma ("spiritual leader")

Random other champions: Elise - definitely abuses her looks to lure in her prey. Janna - part time phone sex operator Zyra - plant with boobs? Nami - fish with boobs but no gender definition on Fizz (says its male but could be asexual) Nidalee - totally a cougar. (And whenever she's in cat form...she's technically naked.)

SaltyToplaneGoat2 votes

To Demacia:

Hrmmm as a german myself I feel the need to correct you with the demacia-comparision. With their heavy focus on militarism they might be more close to pre-WWI middle europe, not pre-WW2. Yes, that's only 20 year differences, but you have no idea how much such a war can throw society-standarts around (did you know that post WW1 berlin was the kingdom of femdom bdsm? IN 1920? Yeah... things got weird...)

To Noxus: yeah, spot on. No more comments on that

Freljord might be an intersting point here, since even the three iceborn who were in charge back then were female. Although it has to be noted that Tryndramere is in charge of his tribe too... (or was, until it was brutally slaughtered).

Ionia caring even less than Noxus (aka, screw stenght, we don't care even if you're strong) might make sense.

Of course looks and sexualisation are used by certain individuals to achieve their goals, but that's like this everywhere, even in our world. You wouldn't find a champion loike Ahri in Demacia tho...

I don't think Zyra, Nidalee or nami care much about that whole gender/sexuality thing. Zyra is a PLANT. She probably doesn't even know how these things work. Nami comes from a totally different society, so... and nidalee is a cat. Cat's don't care about that either. if they want to pork they pork. Welcome to nature (well... firendly reminder here that cats are quite brutal with that. I do not pity whoever has tried to seduce Nidalee...)

ravenswolfy1 votes

[{quoted}](name=Kyoki Shinkuro,realm=EUW,application-id=6kFXY1kR,discussion-id=N8OjF1Je,comment-id=00060000,timestamp=2015-02-24T19:40:01.451+0000)

To Demacia:

Hrmmm as a german myself I feel the need to correct you with the demacia-comparision. With their heavy focus on militarism they might be more close to pre-WWI middle europe, not pre-WW2. Yes, that's only 20 year differences, but you have no idea how much such a war can throw society-standarts around (did you know that post WW1 berlin was the kingdom of femdom bdsm? IN 1920? Yeah... things got weird...)

yeah I said like a pre ww2 germany mainly for how their nationalistic pride and near fanaticism was when hitler came to power. that coupled with their military buildup made me want to compare demacia to that sort of state of mind. Something like that or with perhaps full metal alchemist , central. Some sort of heavy military state. As for for femdom/bdsm... headmistress fiora :P ?

SaltyToplaneGoat1 votes

SHOCKING RELEVATION: Demacia is now the capital of secret femdom. I wonder if we will ever get a headmistress Vayne/Lux skin xD

Ok, now all jokes aside, I'm not sure if we can put the demacian doctrine on the same level as fascism in 1930 germany. Sure, they have some ideologic weird-things and they are buffed with their military - but that's a description better fitting to the Pre WW One German Empire (that with a kaiser and stuff) The purssian society was totally structured like the military and soldiers were glorified to no end - something the Nazis tried to revive, but that never really worked out for them (not in that way at least).

Levyathyn1 votes

I feel the need to debate a bit of your Piltover lore, on the gender roles and constructs bit.

Being 'genius' doesn't necessarily mean 'inventor'; first, Vi was a very badass criminal before she joined the side of good, and taught herself on the streets how to build and use her arms. Jayce, considered among the top male inventors and heroes in Piltover now, was just a lowly researcher writing a thesis, and was largely ignored by the authorities when Viktor first attacked and stole the Hex Core. And Cait, though she may not be all steampunk warrior, is a renowned detective, a sheriff through merit and not election who is famed for tracking and capturing criminals, much as I imagine Sherlock Holmes would be, if he were also a long-range rifleperson.

And Corki, though he's skilled with his gyrocopter, isn't responsible for its design or construction.

Interesting note, in the old lore, Ezreal wasn't even officially listed as a champion. His magical bracer, responsible for much of his abilities, was said to harmonize with summoning magic and occasionally got him sucked into League matches by accident.

NorthernDruid1 votes

I imagine both Noxus and Demacia to be rather conservative about the entire thing, not necessarily hostile about non-standard sexualities, but in both of those city-states I imagine the subject to not be something you discuss openly.

In Demacia because of the classic prudishness and some sort of stupid "Their personal buisness is their thing, and if your personal business is non-standard we don't want to hear about it" dogma, so not actually opposed to it or anything, but not open for discussing the subject of even normal cases of sexuality and related issues.

As for Noxus... Well, everything that's taboo is a weakness for whomever has issues with that taboo. So therefore, more taboos mean more people have a weakness, and the more people who have a weakness you don't the stronger you are in comparison. So basically, anything that could be seen as a weakness is taboo because that way it'll remain a weakness, and the people who don't have any taboo issues, or manage to cover them up well enough, remain on top.

On the other hand, in both countries, if you manage to be open about your whatnots, and have the guts and stubborness to pull it off, I'll imagine you'd get a lot of respect about it and wouldn't face many of the barriers society puts up, simply because the systems don't already deal with them at all (unlike ours which have a history of being actively opposed to stuff outside the norm).


Piltover and Zaun... I dunno, I'm not that informed about Zaun, but it seems like these things would be the sort of eccentric traits that anyone with enough money or power could get away with, while anyone without the means to make people accept them would have a harder time with it. Piltover I imagine being more relaxed about everything, because someone would have written lots of papers on the subject and as such a lot of the public (or at least the upper class who make it their buisness to read all the stuffs that everyone writes) would be well informed, and then they'd start teaching it in school and badically, as the city-state grows more informed and people know more, the more open they'd be to 'anomalies' in this kind of stuff because it's not something weird they don't know anything about, it's just another thing that happens.


Freljord: No idea, I imagine them as not very conservative. But not very open about it either. Maybe not very aware of those kinds of issues at all.

The Rakkor: Not that i know more about them than Leona's League Judgement, but they strike me as being very much 'anything goes', if you've earned the right to live past your coming of age, you've earned the right to live as you are.

Bilgewater... who knows. I'd imagine it varies from tavern to tavern and crew to crew... Or even table to table in the same tavern.

Bilgewater doesn't strike me as a very organized faction.


As for Bandle City. I imagine Yordles making a bigger deal of romantic stuff (and non-romantic love) than sexual stuff. So it'd be more common, and any one person wouldn't necessarily have a ready opinion on the subject because it's not as much on their minds as it is on ours.

For the not-diectly-sec stuff, I'd imagine them to be like "that's weeeeird.... shrug well, whatever"


Side notes:

Runeterra in general seems like a very gender-equal setting. Which I like. Sure there aren't as many female champions as there are male champions. But there's enough that you have all sorts of very important and impressive people who aren't men. There's a real streak of diversity in the League, and it's certainly not hindered by the fact that most of the political leaders in the game are (as far as i'm aware) women.

One Champion concept we're really missing is "The Commoner of Demacia". Which should also totally be a woman because really, most of the Demacian champions seem to come from noble/aristocrat families. I wanna see the lowborn soldier, risen through the ranks and having earned their place through merit.

I know it sounds a bit more like a typical Noxus thing, but that's the point. It's how Noxus in general works, which is why it's a more interesting story for Demacia.

BluePolarizer1 votes

so Demacian Riven ?

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