Voli's new Story is really cool. There's just one problem...

Grizzlpaw·3/1/2019, 6:24:27 PM·3 votes·3,026 views

It's a bad story for Volibear.

So little of his current theme and character is kept in this new version. I'm sure that his new story will appeal to a lot of new players who like the sadistic, horror vibes he gives off, but for the people who fell in love with Voli for his current lore... the only thing he keeps of his old identity is the fact that he shoots lightning.

Based off of his description in the story, i'm hesitant to even call him a "bear" anymore. He's essentially cthulu with a bit of bear anatomy tossed in. Similar things can be said for his ursine followers.

This would have been an excellent story if it were given to a new champion. It would have been excellent as a skin with an alternate storyline. As it is currently, Volibear's story fits a character like Mordekaiser, or Chogath far better than it does him.

13 Comments

ChasmOfTrossm3/1/2019, 7:46:24 PM7 votes

{quoted}

It's a bad story for Volibear.

So little of his current theme and character is kept in this new version. I'm sure that his new story will appeal to a lot of new players who like the sadistic, horror vibes he gives off, but for the people who fell in love with Voli for his current lore... the only thing he keeps of his old identity is the fact that he shoots lightning.

I've been playing LoL since season 4, so I can say that not only am I not a new player, but I am without question very into this new direction they are taking with Volibear, having played games like Bloodborne, and reading up on Lovecraft for a very long time. This is less of a Lovecraftian horror story, despite how easy it would seem to slap the label on, like so many are wont to do with anything horror-themed these days, but Volibear's new lore is not trying to explore that kind of horror. What it is exploring is primal, spiritual horror since it revolves around the idea of an animal spirit taking such firm control over a person's mind that it literally starts to amalgamate their humanity with that of the animal as opposed to harmonizing the two elements, which is what Udyr represents, and is very likely why he was included in the story to help provide a contrast of perspective.

If I am being frank, I feel his old lore, while cool, was ultimately pretty cliche at the end of the day, and reminded me of pretty much every Freljordian who had some kind of big leadership schtick going on. Ashe and Tryndamere leading the Avarosa, Sejuani leading the Winter's Claw, and of course Volibear and the Ursine. All of those characters were trying to prove what great leaders they were, and though they succeeded, it was all the same thing at the end of the day. Even Trundle went through this same journey, where he was laughed at by his tribe until he found the club of true ice, pledged his allegiance to Lissandra, came back and caved in the head of his chieftain before assuming his new role as King of the Trolls.

I am by no means a fan of change, and I sure as hell don't advocate doing something different for the sake of being different, because that's just plain fucking thoughtless. It really didn't even occur to me just how similar Volibear's old lore was to the rest of the Freljord's until recently, but now that I know it how much it was, I have to say that in this case, change is not only good for Volibear, but change is what needs to happen for him.

Based off of his description in the story, i'm hesitant to even call him a "bear" anymore. He's essentially cthulu with a bit of bear anatomy tossed in. Similar things can be said for his ursine followers.

How the hell is Volibear Cthulhu. In case you didn't pick up on the visual references while reading the story Riot wrote, he's very clearly a massive bear with four glowing eyes, and all the flesh on one side of his face missing. He has rusted armor on his body, and bunch of weapons embedded in his flesh from past battles.

Cthulhu is a vaguely humanoid creature with draconic wings, and a head resembling an octopus with webbed hands and feet.

This Cthulhu: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/JEx0F7Wcc9A/maxresdefault.jpg

This is the new Volibear: https://i.imgur.com/GEuniny.jpg

They look nothing alike.

This would have been an excellent story if it were given to a new champion. It would have been excellent as a skin with an alternate storyline. As it is currently, Volibear's story fits a character like Mordekaiser, or Chogath far better than it does him.

I highly doubt that it's official in any capacity due to Riot's love of outright rewriting a champion's story as opposed to allowing the story to progress along its natural course, but if I were to put my imagination to work in an effort to provide canonicity Volibear, it would, it would go something like this: Volibear proves himself leader of the Ursine by defeating the triumvirate. Years pass and eventually some unknown force starts to infect him, at first manifesting itself in the form of a tyrannical attitude that is displayed in as his clash against Ornn, and ultimately transforms him from Volibear, the person, into THE Volibear, a spiritually corrupted monstrosity.

Galiö3/1/2019, 6:51:29 PM3 votes

It's also The Volibear now btw ;)

RÉÁL HÚMÁN BÉÁN3/1/2019, 9:45:28 PM3 votes

To me the new Voli is a welcome change of pace for the generic "me from freljord, me lead tribe of barbarian like people to war for victory/honor/survival/whatever the hell. He gives off very Lovecraftian vibes to be sure, though he's far from being just Cthulhu, he's more reminiscent of something out of Bloodborne, rather than coming off as an incomprehensible alien being (the closest thing to that being shit from the Void I guess? Although the void always felt like an almost cartoony attempt at something Lovecraftian), the new Voli is more like a corrupted, primal nature spirit.

There's an interesting blend of Lovecraftian and nature worship, as he's a bear deity with a twist. One thing which is often missing from the stereotypical forest or nature spirit is that nature can, and often IS fucking terrifying and unforgiving. Volibear's new lore makes it feel like he's some sort of brutal, wendigo like creature, drive by a mad hunger and bloodlust.

All in all, it's a unique take on a champion that wasn't aging very well with the times. The biggest beast of all, the times, Kaz.

GreenLore3/2/2019, 2:03:18 PM3 votes

I agree that they kept very little of Volibears old character, but his lore might have actually not changed that much.

After all his basic lore pretty much consisted of 4 components:

Volibear is the leader of the ursine.This one is still canon, though the Ursine went from bear-humans to humans that transformed into bears.

2.Volibear is an ally of Sejuani.This one is also still canon as the story is about how Sejuani and Voli allied themselves.However the dynamic between the 2 was changed a bit, with Volibear being now more than just one of Sejuanis lackeys.

3.Volibear is a Shaman of his tribe.This was actually kept to some degree in his lore, as it was mentioned that Volibear might have been a human shaman once that was overtaken by the spirit of Volibear.So while Voli himself isn't a shaman, he might have shamanistic roots.

4.Voli saw into the future and wants to prevent a coming threat. New Volis motivations are still rather unknown, so this could still be canon. We know that Volibear is preparing for something, just not for what.

So while his character became much more evil, his lore might have not changed as much as you might think.

mrmeddyman3/2/2019, 8:53:57 AM2 votes

Have you ever considered the possibility that Volibear may be the lamest character in the game and has nothing worth preserving?

He launched as a hero, as Ashe's ally, than became a villain on Sejuanis side. Than League lore levelled up and gained the perk: Moral Ambiguity so now he's a deity. The guys a joke just let him go.

As long as he's still has a little bear DNA at the end I'm on board. Everything else? Throw it out start anew Riot