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Institute of War??? (Canonicity of JoJ, Summoners, etc.)

Kitts··1 votes·1,043 views

I'll start off by stating that I am a HUGE lore fanatic. League's lore has some of my favorite story telling and lots of characters and locales that I can really sink my teeth into. The biggest problem though, and I've seen others address it too, is that while League has this vast universe and complex lore for every character, it lacks an overarching story. Long ago, before my time in LoL, there existed the JoJ. But then the Riot nation attacked, and rebooted the lore, or so many people claim. As I spent multiple hours diving into old lore and trying to find parallels and connections to the new lore I found nothing on the new lore direction. Now, this doesn't mean it doesn't exist, but if nothing else it is difficult to find and overall confusing as no one truly knows what is canon and what isn't. So I will now propose my questions after such a long introduction. What remains of the old lore? Do Summoners and the Institute of War still exist? Why do the champions fight on the rift? Is the rift still a Field of Justice? What do they get out of it? I love Riot, and this isn't an attack or defacing. I'm simply needing clarification or {{summoner:2}} (ba dum tss) on the future of the Lore. Most lovingly, Shivv

19 Comments

Sharjo6 votes

Summoners exist in a form that has yet to be elaborated on by Riot. The Institute does not. Champions don't fight on the Rift or on any fields of justice, and these fields of justice are not called such; they exist in the lore as physical locations with backstory and the like, but they aren't tied to gameplay. Champions, in the canon, don't fight on the rift. They're there entirely because it's a game.

Kitts2 votes

I sure hope Riot changes this, because that feels lazy to me, I understand it, but it also feels like a poorly done job. I feel like the lore of the game should connect to the game more literally. We can see other aspects of the lore are very prevalent on the rift, such as statues and even the towers being related to the Protectorate and Magelords. But what role do the summoners play if not summoning champions to the rift. I think this has become MORE confusing.

Sharjo4 votes

They made this change nearly two years ago now and have been building towards lore with this new setting during that time. They're not going back to how things work. Yes they've screwed up in the past, especially in regards to announcing the reboot, but they're working solidly towards new and more frequent lore that stands tall by own its merits.

The statues on the Rift have never been expressly related to the Magelords and the Protectorate, and considering new lore findings it's more hinted that the folks on the Rift were entirely seperate from those two factions, given the timing of things. Also even when those factions were introduced it was in a time where it had been over a year since the League had been mentioned in the lore in any form, so yeah.

Given how the league client's shaping up in terms of aesthetic I personally reckon that Summoner's are being transitioned in to something more related to hextech, as Riot's designing the new client entirely around the concept of "what if League was a game played through a hextech device?", but that's just my observation there.

Kitts1 votes

My personal feeling now, is that Summoner's Rift may be what's left of the old way of workings. The old lore may be more canon than we think, but it is ancient, with the recent rework of Ryze we learned that the Rune Wars took place about 1000+ years ago, but in the JoJ it states that the rune wars were 20 years ago, maybe the League of Legends was a very temporary solution and was crushed almost 1000 years ago, just a thought. This is of course from a purely lore standpoint and would have to gloss over the fact that current champions existed then.

Beyond Legends1 votes

The Institude may or may not have existed in some form but definately the old lore version of it just probably a concept ans name.Events like Kalamada and the Ionia war still exist but the resolution will be largely different(that isn't a lazy deus machina). The Old lore that was deleted by Riot was nearly the concept the we the summoners existed along the champions ands the champion fight each other in some stupid tournament in deciding “important” political situations. The old lore was written by rather lazy people who really just wanted a quick way to ship out a new dota, it's a fact people forget about.

PS: I had that theory when Aurellion sol came out but no one believe me, so eh

Raven Elizabeth3 votes

JOJ isnt canon anymore. some stuff may be but as a whole it is not.

Kitts1 votes

My big thing is that, Riot needs to clarify what is and isn't, it's next to impossible to do so.

Sharjo3 votes

Riot's rule of thumb so far has been "If X doesn't contradict anything new we've put out, it's canon", like the details about Gangplank's father. Some stuff is 100% canon, and a lot of stuff is dubious, so really the way to treat some of the lore is with a pinch of salt at the moment. Hardly a good solution but right now it's the only available one.

Ebonmaw Dragon2 votes

{quoted}

So I will now propose my questions after such a long introduction. What remains of the old lore? Do Summoners and the Institute of War still exist? Why do the champions fight on the rift? Is the rift still a Field of Justice? What do they get out of it?

  1. Anything that doesnt involve the summoners or the Institute of War still canon, unless the new lore contradicts it.
  2. Summoners as "people who summon things/creatures", yes, they do, Malzahar for example is a summoner, the "Serpent Callers" are summoners... But "Summoners" as the player do not exist in the new lore. The IoW do not exist.
  3. Champions do not fight on the rift, nothing in game is canon... Imagine something like a Super Smash Brothers for Runeterra.
  4. Is not a Field of Justice, its just a random place of Runeterra.
  5. Nothing, because as i said, game is not canon and the champions never go there.

In fact the word "Champion" is not used in the new lore as well.

Kitts2 votes

As I said to another person, this just seems too lazy, I get that it is difficult to make it work, but I think Summoner's Rift needs a little more context, I'm hoping we might get some more information regarding Summoner's Rift actually recognized in the lore. I explain why I think this here: [(http://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/story-art/uaOdIUEW-kled-skaarl-the-ironspike-mountains-and-summoners-rift)]

Ebonmaw Dragon1 votes

{quoted}

As I said to another person, this just seems too lazy, I get that it is difficult to make it work, but I think Summoner's Rift needs a little more context, I'm hoping we might get some more information regarding Summoner's Rift actually recognized in the lore. I explain why I think this here: [(http://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/story-art/uaOdIUEW-kled-skaarl-the-ironspike-mountains-and-summoners-rift)]

I would also like to hear more about the lore of Summoners Rift.

Right now, many people think that the Rift is a place were the battle between the Magelords and the Protectorade took place... However, considering the new lore of Ryze... i think that the Rift might be connected with the Runewars and even Ryze himself... but we dont know, for now.

As for your thread... i might post something there... Its an interesting idea...

Kitts1 votes

I said the same thing as you are saying about Summoner's rift just a few comments back, I think that perhaps Summoner's Rift is what is left of the League of Legends. The JoJ may have some portions that are canon. Such as it saying the rune wars took place 20 years ago, but Ryze's lore stating it was 1000+ years ago, maybe the League was a very temporary solution and Summoner's rift WAS a field of justice, but is now simply the ruins of one where Magic freely leaks.

QuantumPanther2 votes

So I've been studying the lore in my free time for a while. So as near as i've been able to tell, summoner's rift is a place (possibly a scar or holdover from a great war such as the Rune War) where magic flows both free and wild. This magic has infused a lot of the creatures, giving them special properties (jungle camps) and the place is actually home to a dragon (at this point, it's a nest for 5 dragons) In addition, it is home to a small rift to the void (through which we get Baron and the Herald). Insofar as I know, it's just a land with a lot of magical ties, which makes it kind of an ideal fighting space.

Kitts1 votes

Also, can we get a new map of Runeterra / Valoran, I mean, it seems as though the current one is immensely dated.

http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/leagueoflegends/images/c/cd/MapofValoran.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20100821100304

Ebonmaw Dragon1 votes

{quoted}

Also, can we get a new map of Runeterra / Valoran, I mean, it seems as though the current one is immensely dated.

http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/leagueoflegends/images/c/cd/MapofValoran.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20100821100304

It is. Riot mentioned that the new Runeterra has at least 3 continents instead of 1... Shurima being in a continent separated from Valoran.

Kitts1 votes

I think much of the map holds some truth, but not near all of it, there are also many locations that have been mentioned such as the blessed isles, which are hidden and would likely not be on the map, but it shows that Riot has interest in expanding the lands.

Kitts1 votes

http://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/story-art/uaOdIUEW-kled-skaarl-the-ironspike-mountains-and-summoners-rift

Ebonmaw Dragon2 votes

{quoted}

I think much of the map holds some truth, but not near all of it, there are also many locations that have been mentioned such as the blessed isles, which are hidden and would likely not be on the map, but it shows that Riot has interest in expanding the lands.

Well, the Blessed Isles is just the name that The Shadow Isles had before the incident of the Ruined King... and those Isles appear in the Bilgewater map

http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/leagueoflegends/images/2/2d/Black_Mist_Map.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20141106011552

So, they would appear in the map.

Anyways... a place that might be actually hidden might be Bandle, since Yordles are now "rare mitological creatures" or something like that acording to Illaoi, Poppy Lore and some QaA (Like the Ekko QaA that mentions that Ekko has never seen a Yordle)

Kitts1 votes

Oh yeah, I guess you are right, I think I misread Kalista's story the first time I read it, I apologize. But it does seem that the Yordles will be taken up a new mystical role, as they are now being said to know of secret passages only Yordles can see among other things.

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