Boards›Story, Art, & Sound

So, the Old Lore...

Ironclad Dragon·7/10/2015, 6:06:45 PM·9 votes·1,281 views

Okay, the old lore had something going for it. Let’s recap.

Previous Rune Wars had drastically altered the physical landscape of Valoran, left derelict weapons that caused unprecedented mutations in nearby organisms, and afflicted the land with violent earthquakes and horrific magically-fueled storms. Basically, the people of Valoran waged nuclear warfare, and it came back to bite them. As a direct response to their world’s growing instability, Valoran’s key magicians concluded that conflicts needed to be settled in a controllable way. So began the League of Legends, an international coalition dedicated to resolving Valoran’s conflicts without resorting to mass warfare. That’s a pretty good foundation for a story. Nations and causes send representatives to settle their differences through combat-by-champion, whilst whispers of corruption and subversion circle about.

That’s all _so _much better than having random people fight for no reason at all, as in the current “lore”. Oh wait, that happened in the old lore too. You see, as much as people decry the current lore for lacking substance, the old lore had some problems I’ve only now realized, post-mortem. Everyone loves how, in the old lore, everyone had a reason for fighting in the League –they represented. Some champions worked out for that . . . others did not. I’m going to over these problem champs, one-by-one on a post-by-post basis. The first up is none other than the first name in alphabetical order: Aatrox! Conveniently, he’s also one of my biggest points.

Aatrox** Aatrox** What if I told you that Ares, the actual flesh-and-ichor Greek God of War, walked up to NATO’s front door and requested membership? That’s apparently what Aatrox did, if he followed the old lore’s conventions. Although he was released before the Great Retcon, he comes from the preceding era where a champion’s lore didn’t mention the League at all. But I think we all assumed he joined the League of Legends because that was the newest form of war in Valoran, and he needed to adapt accordingly. Or at least I remember reading something like that . . . could be mixing that up with another champ’s lore.

But the point is, he was allowed to join the League! I’m sorry, but no one just walks up to NATO, to continue my analogy. The League’s meant to settle international differences that could otherwise incite conflict. WHO THE HELL ALLOWS A BEING WHO LIVES FOR WAR TO WALTZ IN AND JOIN? Did no one say, “That is a freaking monster outside the door?” Reasonable, logical people don’t let in dangerous animals in the office building! You’d think the same thing applies to a fantasy world, where things are capable of even more murder! Why not kill the thing? It doesn’t belong to anyone in the League, so it isn’t going to spark nuclear war! In fact, if you keep that thing around, it’ll incite that very same thing! And don’t tell me, “The League wasn’t powerful enough to destroy Aatrox!” Well, I thought the League was supposed to maintain order between magic-flinging nations! I question the credibility of an organization that claims to enforce peace and order across multiple nations that could very well destroy each other, yet cannot kill a single being that threatens everything it stands for. “But Aatrox is an immortal war god, so he can’t die! Trying to kill him would just fuel him! Plus, his passive is probably taken to extreme levels without the limits of game balance!” Okay, I can go with that.

But if he was for some reason allowed into the League, whom would he represent? It’s a combat-by-champion system! Himself? Bull crap! You’re not allowed into NATO for personal reasons. Who would even get to decide which nation he represents, and at what authority are they even allowed to decide that? Neither can Aatrox be held accountable for his actions like the Demacians and Noxians. What stops him from doing anything he wants? Punishment? Well, if he can’t be killed by the League, how can they possibly threaten him? Imprisonment? Surely no one would survive the attempt, if Aatrox has cut down whole armies singlehandedly. And if magic was used to lock him down, what’s to say it’d last? Cho’Gath can bust free of his bindings whenever he darn well pleases according to his own lore, so I’m pretty sure Aatrox can’t be contained either.

I don't hate the old lore in the slightest. Nor do I believe that you need to cram your opinions on the new lore. I understand your frustration. It's been a long drought on "longer lores". But the old lore had some problems of it's own that we shouldn't ignore, which I'll continue to touch on as I post.

24 Comments

Dextix LT7/10/2015, 8:02:03 PM5 votes

And every critisiser of the old lore has not read any of it or has only read the half of it. Yes League and joining the league was a plot hole, but EVERY EFFING STORY HAS ONE! There always has to be a plot hole for the whole plot to happen, be it an accident or some other shit. Now lest go over all of this, okay? First of all, why would aatrox join the league?

  1. He likes war, In league all things are about fighting and war, also he can find worthy opponents to beat.

  2. History with tryndamere, he may have wanted to join the league to check on and look over tryndamere, "His creation".

  3. He doesnt wage war for himself, he only joins existing wars, and with IOW in place conflicts were not really happening, so the only place for him to get hgh from fighting is IOW.

Second, why can he fight for himself?

  1. Many champions are recruited into league (willingly and unwillingly) for many reasons, some are imprisoned, others just like the fight, others get paid, others like being in centre of attention (Draven ) That is allowed.

Thidrly, why would IOW take him in?

  1. Another champion to the roster.

  2. He doesnt start doing fcked up and uncontrolled shit.

  3. They can learn about him, history.

  4. They can learn his weaknesss and defeat him in case of something going wrong.

And last but not least, IOW = NATO. NOPE! Dude, NOPE! IOW is not NATO, it doesnt even reasemble it. IOW is there to let the big countries duke it out with eachother without collaterall damage. But it also serves as a training ground for summoners and also as an enternatinment medium. Imagine it as a blood sport TV. It is nowhere near NATO, and nowhere near a "peacekeeping organization". THese guys are not keeping the peace, they just want to keep the war and its damages to a minimum.

Impetual7/11/2015, 8:48:14 AM4 votes

Did you even read the old lore?!!!

Most champion's had a personal or political reason for participating in the League of Legends. Some champions were coerced and controlled by summoners (Brand).

Regardless, under the old lore each champion certainly had a reason to fight.

And hey, here's a huge upside to the old lore: THE** LEAGUE OF LEGENDS **ACTUALLY EXISTED WITHIN RUNETERRA'S LORE!

Xano5017/10/2015, 10:41:00 PM3 votes

We want old lore back and get the retcons out.

The Soulforged7/10/2015, 6:30:35 PM2 votes

Aatrox was a powerful being that the league would be able to study. Instead of inciting war, and other stuffs, what's the harm in letting him join the league of legends? He simply lives for war, and the league of legends in a way might be called organized warfare. Let him sate his wish and also let him help peacefully settle disputes between nations. People may freak out over him, but he's intelligent enough to know he prolly shouldn't kill someone outside the fields. It may be an awkward situation with him in the league, but that's true for very many a champ.

NorthernDruid7/10/2015, 9:43:21 PM2 votes

So the old lore... was actually Lore, as in, it was actually connected to the video game it was expandatory story details for.

The new lore doesn't factor in the game at all because apparently telling a completely different story and calling it a retcon is ok. Especially when you base the decision on factual errors about the lore you're retconning.

Whatever new stuff they put out, as long as the game doesn't exist in the setting, it's not Lore.

Another good thing about the old (by which i mean current, since they never actually did release any material retconning the stuff they said they were gonna retcon) Lore. It had an actual setting since it's stories didn't take place in a setting which had it's core setting elements ripped out and left open.

Shíny7/10/2015, 11:56:01 PM1 votes

{quoted} But I think we all assumed he joined the League of Legends because that was the newest form of war in Valoran, and he needed to adapt accordingly. Or at least I remember reading something like that . . . could be mixing that up with another champ’s lore.

Yeah since Riot didn't fill in the gap there was great speculation about it.

WHO THE HELL ALLOWS A BEING WHO LIVES FOR WAR TO WALTZ IN AND JOIN?

You mean a great war hero who is in good standing with multiple nations?

But if he was for some reason allowed into the League, whom would he represent?

Like Amumu Malphite Ryze Zilean ? Independent champions help out where needed, kinda sounds similar to Aatrox's MO.

What stops him from doing anything he wants?

Why are you only presenting brute force options? Between the Magical and diplomatic powerhouses at the IoW, i'm sure there's other ways of "punishing" Aatrox.

dramatic banana7/10/2015, 9:45:31 PM1 votes

Well, people can apply to the League, no matter who they are, and that's how Jinx was allowed to join. I'm also guessing that the IOW was a safe haven for criminals of all types (Graves, TF, Viktor, Jinx) and that the League accepted everyone no matter who they were. Let's take Jax, no-one knows much about him, but he was let in. Same thing with Gnar and Skarner.

James Stone7/11/2015, 4:58:31 PM1 votes

Honestly, if Aatrox existed with the Institute of War intact, it would most likely be a Cho'Gath-style story. He knows a major conflict is about to rise, like the old lore was hinting up to the point it got canned, and he wanted to be right in the smack middle of it, to start gaining the trust of various champions and summoners, so he could lead them to battle in the biggest war man has ever known, where the Champions are unshackled and the Sixth and Final Rune War is unleashed in all it's glory

Tsumikiri7/11/2015, 7:04:02 PM1 votes

Good job, OP. I look forward to seeing your analysis of more champions in the future!