What is Riots/Leagues stance on champion sexuality?

Bultz·6/26/2017, 5:32:26 PM·2 votes·2,564 views

Just curious, What are you stances on sexuality? Such things like sexual preference, nudity, intimacy? I know that you get a big fat boot from the boards for anything sexual, but since you addressed sexuality in the champions in a previous /dev blog, I believe, I was curious.

38 Comments

Ralanr6/26/2017, 5:50:34 PM5 votes

I think it's, "We won't try to be super obvious."

There will be flirting here and there, but they won't primarily make sexuality a big factor in a character. If a character is gay, they won't exactly play it up like it's the only important thing about them.

Sharjo6/26/2017, 6:01:17 PM5 votes

If it's important to their character it'll be brought up when it makes sense. Otherwise it's probably not gonna appear since it's not a key point of every given story. For example Gangplank's probably not gonna be thinking about the time he couldn't get up one morning after some rough sex with Illaoi while he's driving a hot knife in to someone's arm. If she's punching him in the face though those kind of memories might come up again.

LostFr0st6/26/2017, 5:40:10 PM4 votes

From what I've gathered their stance is:

"if it makes sense for the champ/feels natural then it'll be there. They don't want to put it there for the sake of putting it there in a forced way."

Brutusness6/26/2017, 6:22:39 PM3 votes

Diana is 100% gay. She wants her sunshine girl.

Zyranium6/27/2017, 4:36:48 AM2 votes

I already heard that Diana is bisexual plus in love with {{champion:89} Vi and Caitlyn might have a relationship together Graves and TwistedFate too, (I don't really know about them, btw Evelynn and him were a couple) And finally, a classic, Ezreal and Taric

We don't really need a gay champion tbh, it's not a need to have, but it wouldn't be so bad to have a real one, if they don't focus this champion in his/her sexuality...

TerraRising6/27/2017, 1:24:00 AM1 votes

Ghostcrawler said at the last Game Developers Conference (GDC) that there will be an LGBT champion for League. To quote from a Polygon article.

“We owe it to the players and, I think, to the world to do something like that,” Ghostcrawler said. “What I don’t want to do is be like, ‘Okay, team, next character, whatever you do, has to be lesbian.’ I don’t think we’ll end up with something good there.... From the beginning, it has to be the character’s identity. I’m sure we’ll do it at some point. I don’t know which character or when it will happen.”

Nudity and sexual intimacy haven't really been addressed officially, unless you count that one drawing of Ahri in the Vastayan Field Journal. Even then, she's just taking a bath. There may have been hints of sexual tension in the old "Journals of Justice" between champions (including one jackass writer who wrote himself into a love triangle with Janna and Nidalee), but all of that was erased with the Great Retcon.

My question: Does it matter?

Moonboy656/27/2017, 1:51:53 AM1 votes

I mean, Ahri can charm every single champion in existance so...

Captain Nemø6/27/2017, 10:17:09 AM1 votes

Now that someone said it, TwistedFate and Graves were really giving a very gay vibe in the new Bilgewater lore, and that what great (at least in my opinion).

Most of league champ where never confirmed heterosexual, or even cisgender, we only assumed they were. It wouldn't change a thing to have some champs make their comming out as gay, bi, asexual (so much champs doesn't give a f. about relationships and romance), pansexual (I think Ahri doesn't really mind the gender of the personn she's seducing for example) or transgender, non binary, neutral ect..

But sadly, I agree with what Some Degenerate said. And it also make me really sad. But Blizzard said they'll do more for the LBGT+ representation in the future, and did some other cool thing like confirming Symetra was autistic.

What I really fear is if they create a champ whose main personality trait were gay, trans.. ect.. people aren't just that, it can be important in their lore, but not the only thing about them (if some of you are familiar with Dragon Age, I think Dorian is a great example of a gay character, whose sexuality is important, for him, and in his story, but not the only thing about him to say).

But even if the majority of player are heterosexual males, it's not the only type of players here ! And a lot of them would be accepting, at least I hope. (outraged reactions about Tracer were sometimes as much funny as they were stupids...but people are still playing Overwatch)

But for now, with what we have in League, Taric, is manly a target for jokes, and whatever is going on with Ezreal is only inspiring people for more (rape, often..) jokes, not very interesting... but I think it's because there isn't really anything confirmed or even developped by Riot. (Give us a story about Taric remenbering times with a lover when he was young, before going to Mount Targon for example, give us something that will maybe stop him to be a caricature in people's mind and the target of jokes.)

Jaspers6/27/2017, 10:27:53 AM1 votes

There is an issue in fiction about having a gay character and IF it becomes the aspect of their character, because it shouldn't be (unless that's the point). What sexuality you are only comes into play if you are not straight for some reason, so gay characters end up being defined by being gay not being who they are and in a sense, I'd hope Riot's lore team never really mentions the sexuality of characters (outside of the Garen x Kat thing, they should expand on that).

Other than Ranak and Xayah as well... being a couple kind of spells that one out.

Captain Nemø6/27/2017, 10:47:57 AM1 votes

Well, then if their sexuality is never mentioned, they are heterosexual "by default". But in real life, there is diversity everywhere. Sure, gay people, for example, are not the majority, but they exist, they're not just 1% of the population. If league can have a celestial god like AurelionSol, then it can also affords at least a little bit more representation.

And that's what LGBT+ people stands for, more representation. And not just caricatures. I personnally think it's important to put diversity in games (orientation, color, ect..), because there isn't a "default", when I look at people in the street, everyone is different. And some fictional characters, even if not defined by their sexuality, have their heterosexuality all over the place. We don't need a big "HEY THIS CHAMP IS GAY LOOK AT THEM OMG" from Riot. Just something like in Overwatch, Tracer is having a Christmas time with the one important to her heart, her girlfriend, that's all, no big deal, no inner monologue on her sexuality, she's just enjoying time with her lover !

Xayah and Rakan love each others, Lucian had wife, Garen and Kat have a crush on each others ect... things like that with LBGT champs would'nt be different, neither forced, out of place or too much. (Taric remenbering an old lover, Cait and Vi spending an afternoon together and playfuly taunting each other on manners, or taste in tea, idk or Graves and Tf having some Bilgewater adventures....)

Fasmodey6/26/2017, 6:06:00 PM1 votes

I'm just curious about which champions are gay, as they already have confirmed that we have gay champions.

Will it be a surprise or something obvious?

Lady Faceless6/26/2017, 7:51:29 PM1 votes

As far as I know, RIot will only talk about sexuality and co, if it's important for the story/champion design. Just look at our love-birds - Xayah and Rakan has been designed to cover the couple trope and still they aren't only reduce to their relationship, they have goals and personalities on their own. If you actually enjoy their personalities is a different question, tho. I'm all abord for a canon LGBTIAQ+ champion (with Jhin we actually do have on, but well... an psychopath isn't the best role model), but as long the character isn't reduce too it and it feels natural. We do actually got some canon LGBTIAQ+ mentions, however they aren't champions. Both stories felt well written, since this wasn't the main focus. X X

Krabohod6/26/2017, 11:55:10 PM1 votes

It was real shame that Riot killed the theory that Lux is gay. It would be good trope and it would be good correlation with her life journey as Demacian mage.

Also making Lux gay would be a good move from company perspective and PR perspective. Making one of your poster girls gay gives your company more audience approval. Also it makes LGBT community really proud and grants a good press coverage. Overwatch with Tracer case clearly showed that.

RusselChambers6/27/2017, 12:55:44 AM1 votes

I mean, Taric Exists