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Intelligence of the Void

WOOOOOOOOHOOOOOO·12/13/2017, 9:08:17 AM·4 votes·823 views

With the Void champions we have varying levels of intelligence, and I wanted to bounce some theories as to why that is.

So the premier champion when picturing intelligence of the Void is Vel’Koz. Vel hungers for knowledge, and he learns about things by ripping their molecules apart. He knows a bunch of bigs words and seems to follow some sort of scientific principle. While his initial base knowledge of human physiology is lacking, he is aware of what he doesn’t know and continues with his tests.

Next up we can take Kha’Zix. Khan is stated by Riot to initially be mindless, having evolved intelligence over the course of his life. For Kha’Zix intelligence is another tool to hunt down prey. Kha’Zix may indeed have the potential to be quite clever, but only if it is the path his own micro evolution takes him on.

Cho’Gath is also said by Riot to be intelligent. We don’t know how intelligent he is or how it compares to Vel or Kha. I believe however that Cho’Gath is likely very cunning, as he is brawn and brains combined.

Kog’Maw is a baby, but he can express his thoughts and he appears to have the capacity to grow in intelligence. There’s nothing to suggest that he is more or less intelligent than any other voidling. What’s interesting about Kog is that since he’s a baby, he doesn’t possess any of the malevolence that the other voidborn have, nor the intense hatred for daylight. In fact, Kog’Maw may end up flipping sides in the coming Void war, but that’s just me theorizing.

Rek’Sai is the last of the bunch, and the only voidling that cannot express her thoughts in English. Is she a mindless monster? Not likely. We know she’s capable of strategizing and planning, as she is leading the Xer’Sai in constructing what can only be a large portal. We also know that the Xer’Sai as a species resemble ants, with Rek’Sai as the queen. This means that Rek’Sai is likely to be more intellectually capable than her subordinates. The differences between Rek’Sai and the other voidborn likely stems from the fact that Rek’Sai and her species have existed in Shurima for a long time, and have developed their own niche in the landscape of the desert. The language that she uses to communicate with others of her kind (the clicks) likely makes more sense for subterranean communication.

All in all, one of the unifying factors about the Void is that they are all working together in a capacity. All voidborn share the goal of spreading the Void (except for Koggers). Can the voidborn communicate with eachother? Can Vel’Koz teach Rek’Sai anatomy? Is Rek’Sai building the portal of her own volition or is it her instinctual drive?

13 Comments

Binding Eclipse12/13/2017, 9:32:17 AM3 votes

I don't believe that Rek'sai is intelligent per se, but driven by instinct. Consider the ants that clump up into little ant-rafts to protect their queen when the colony gets flooded out.

DariusDemiurge12/13/2017, 9:14:02 AM1 votes

I want to think Rek'sai is more animal like to her counter parts. Like vel'koz and khazix would be human equivalents while Rek'sai would be more wolf or tiger.

Now I'm curious if an intelligent voidborn has ever tamed a more wild or less intelligence seeming beast like voidborn.

Would be cool to have a void counter pair to Kled and skraal.

SEKAI12/13/2017, 9:38:19 AM1 votes

Just because they're from the void, it doesn't mean they are all the same species. The relationships between each other can be akin to a human to a Vastaya etc.

Rek’Sai is interesting though, because it doesn't even seem like she's intelligent in any way beyond the level of being primal and animalistic. She may just be a wild animal from The Void, who knows.

Though this is conjecture at best, I'd like to say if there are say, multiple Cho'gaths or at least very similar to each other, and other stuff like that in the Void.

Whyte Lyon12/13/2017, 11:15:50 AM1 votes

Im more curious about what the hell have these champions been doing for all this time, twiddling their thumbs, hatching dastardly plans, cowering in the closet?

While we're all waiting for World Building to release the work they've been hard at from behind closed curtains.

Here's a question I would like to know at the very least. Are all the Voiborn champions currently somewhere on Runeterra? I assume yes myself, but there's nothing at all that says they most definitely are.

Blaiz Fenix12/15/2017, 2:33:21 PM1 votes

From my understanding, all Voidborn are capable of high levels of intelligence given enough time. Vel'koz has 2 main advantages when it comes to intelligence; he's been around longer and can actually learn by obliterating things. His linguistic skill may is probably just the natural product of age.

That being said, when it comes to intelligence as that of human level intellect, I would say that all Voidborn champs outside of Kog'maw are at that level. So "intelligent" really mean around as smart as an average human.

One last thing I do want to point out about combat prowess though is that the most combat capable of all the Voidborn is Rek'sai. No competition. Cho'Gath is definitely the largest and most powerful and Kha'Zix is light years ahead in terms of tracking, but when it comes to defeating opponents of all skill sets, Rek'Sai has them beat. She is cunning, fast, and calculated. And if you, by some terrible circumstance, end up in her lair. I'm sorry it's over for you. She will intentionally pull you so deep into that dark maze that you'll never find you way out. Once you're tired and weak, she'll consume you Alien-style and add your biomass to her catalog of Void portals.

That's the what I get from the Void stories. I think all the void creatures have their niches, Vel's just happens to be knowledge, but I think all the older Void creatures are intelligent.