Uhh guys... I might have figured out what Brand really is...

SaltyToplaneGoat··63 votes·5,326 views

Screw the old vague "spooky spirit posessing a human" trope. Back then in old lore that might have made sense, but right now in new lore we actually have a whole cast of body-snatching-spirit-thingies from outer space. The targonian aspects to be exact.

At first I never thought about it, because Freljord and Mt. Targon seem to be completly seperate worlds to me, but nevertheless they are connected and part of the same universe. But what exactly could Brand be an aspect of? I mean, we got the sun Leona , the moon Diana , the protector/life Taric, a certain constellation Bard (bard is not related to targon, but as a celestial being he still needs to posess a material body to act in thew world) and Pantheon , and the stars/the night sky itself AurelionSol (who, as a matter-manipulator, can materialize at will).

However, there is something missing. What about a falling star? Pantheon's lore mention a falling star, although he might as well be refering to Aurelion Sol in that moment.

Now imagine the following scenario: celestial body crashes down on valoran while filled with gody power. Usually it would eradicate everything in its surroundings due to the excess energy. HOWEVER, it crashed right into a giant block of true ice that basicially locks up the giant meteroite and the being it contains.

However, it can still form a connection to a sentinent being, even when seperated in matter of space. Pretty much just how the protector "pulled" Taric onto the mountain, it draws a nameless Lokfarian to it and takes him over. But the fall and the long imprisonment in ice that is potentially void-corrupted might have caused some little mental damage (if the being was not insane already before dropping down to earth), and now it's oddly fixated around burning everything. (if that wasn't its thing before, just how pantheon's thing is war).

What exactly that fallen star once was? No clue. Maybe a Targonian that has turned on his friends and was defeated? Aurelion Sol's lore mentions that there had been "more voices" in the past that echoed through his crown. Internal conflicts of the Targonians were mentioned as well, so Brand might be a causality of that conflict. A god banished from the skys to to speak.

HOW DID I NEVER EVEN NOTICE THAT POSSIBILITY?

86 Comments

Sharjo34 votes

Brand's always described himself as a force that "cleanses the world". Perhaps as far as Targonians go Brand was one specifically focused on destroying worlds that had been overwhelmed by the Void. Perhaps Brand was the Targonian who wiped the slate of these wretched worlds clean and allowed for new life to appear as the world began to heal over the eons.

Hm...I can see the potential there. I like the way you're thinking here Kyoki san.

SaltyToplaneGoat12 votes

No need to be that formal Sharjo ^^

I think the fire thing is more something that's a side effect of being trapped in true ice for too long. Like, no matter where he goes it's still cold. he could turn his body on fire still cold due to true ice trapping the celestial body. So to get rid of the cold he simply has to make it so EVERYTHING burns. maybe that's hot enough to get rid of the true ice...

... combined with your theory that it might been a world-destroying aspect (the opposite of the protector so to speak) this all makes an disturbing amount of sense.

Smitty Manjensen3 votes

{quoted}

Brand's always described himself as a force that "cleanses the world". Perhaps as far as Targonians go Brand was one specifically focused on destroying worlds that had been overwhelmed by the Void. Perhaps Brand was the Targonian who wiped the slate of these wretched worlds clean and allowed for new life to appear as the world began to heal over the eons.

Hm...I can see the potential there. I like the way you're thinking here Kyoki san.

So, basically he's a reaper from Mass Effect?

It Hertz When IP4 votes

He makes several apocalyptic remarks. I always assumed he was the avatar of fire itself, kinda like how Anivia is Ice.

SaltyToplaneGoat3 votes

Fun Fact: Anivia is actually not an ice-elemental.

She is a local spirit, that is the manifestation of what is commonly known as a jungian archetype of the Freljord. She's actually an representation of the lands she is bound to. If there was a radical climate change going on and Freljord would become a forrest, she would probably stop being an ice-bird.

On the other hand, if the Freljord was to be swallowed by black ice, she would die and be reborn as Blackfrost Anivia.

Another, more fancy description, might also be "Soul of the Land" for this type of spirit.

Mecha MaIphite12 votes

I'm just imagining a godly entity raining down from the heavens in a fiery blaze, only to bump into a lump of ice and get stuck.

item 3751 BEHOLD MY LIMITLESS POWER item 3751 item 3110 bump item 3751 item 3110 ... item 3751 item 3110 well shit

SaltyToplaneGoat4 votes

In my head the situation looks awkward beyond measure <_<

Ralanr11 votes

Or he could be a victim of the conflict, one of the many voices that had been shut out. Nice theory, I'll get out the tin hats.

SaltyToplaneGoat5 votes

Grab one for me please. This might be even bigger when we consider that the Freljordian Watchers are Void-Related... and how does Lissandra fit into all this? Questions over questions...

Ralanr1 votes

Well considering how big the void is, it is possible that there are void beings that are more inclined towards frozen areas. Though personally I'd like to have the Frozen Watchers be their own thing.

SaltyToplaneGoat2 votes

Actually... the Void is pretty much the coldest realm that can possible exist. Warmth is the motion of matter. However, the Void is nothing but inexistence tearing at the fabric of reality. With that it has an effective temperature of zero kelvin or even less considering the potential to even lower the temperature of it's surroundings without heating up.

Btw that's EXACTLY as True Ice works...

Veeeeery suspicious all that.

Also, most Void beings mentions that the Void has no sun. No sun (because no existence) = no warmth in any way.

Lauchmelder7 votes

Interesting theory, but I still feel that Brand is a flamer.

Heartsought7 votes

No, he's a magma Neopet.

...But in all seriousness, this theory is super cool.

SaltyToplaneGoat1 votes

Well, technically Brand shoud be able to posess not only human bodies. So a cat or dog (whatever this is) - Brand is theoreticaly possible.

At least for a short time. My personal assumtion is that Brand is a bit too strong to be housed by such a tiny body. He doesn't even fit into the human one properly without changing it drastically and constantly leaking energy (the fire)

DeathTheHorseman3 votes

Sorry to disappoint you guys but Brands true lore is this:

Back in 2009 when league was just out there was a summoner: Brand He was a good player but very bad at team play and very toxic to his teamates. He flamed so much that his teams started trolling him.

However, Brand persisted in trying to climb.

One day as he was on his way to win his promo deciding game to get into silver and finally leave bronze a fire started in his house (he had forgotten the kettle on).

Brand refused to move from his chair and played to the best of his ability but his team trolled him hard and victory was yet out of reach. Then as he was choking on smoke and the fire started licking his clothes his team trolled on max and died, leaving him in a 1vs5 because they were fighting in the enemy base for kills instead of finishing the enemy nexus with 100HP. Brand would have none of it! As his skin was melting he performed the most stunning mechanical outplay in the history of the league. Upon getting the pentakill and marching for the nexus, his team decided to troll him one last time.

Yes they did a 4-1 surrender vote. Brand was Auto attacking the nexus when he got the defeat screen.

Legend has it that he was flaming in the end game screen even as he burned to cinders. His flaming was so vulgar and deranged that Riot decided to delete any records of the game, to avoid exposing us to it, even if that game had the best pentakill in the history.

His soul was so filled with such malice that he managed to possess an unsuspecting citizen of Valoran giving him his flaming abilities so he can extract revenge on all the trolls and feeders in league....

ModCaptainMårvelous5 votes

Not a fallen star, an elemental.

Back when the world was young, there was a cabal of elementals. They were the first of this world along with the angels (Kayle Morgana ), the darkin (Aatrox ), the first beings of magic, the djinn, and he who came before all others. (Jax )

When the first great invasion was squelched and all other races were weakened immensely, the elementals went their separate ways to guard all portions of the world.

The leader (Anivia ) stayed in the north, the vanguard of ice and snow. The titan (Malphite ) returned to the mountains, silently keeping vigil from the eyes of fledgling races. Sadly, they are the only ones who remained whole after the invasion.

The sage (Maokai ) guarded a beautiful island all alone...until a fledgling race corrupted his home and drove him to rage. The archer (Janna ) grew too weak to live on his own. He bound himself to one who may cleanse the filth of pollution from his domain. The assassin (Nocturne ) grew tired of the new races. He wanted peace and silence....bought with blood. The healer (???) sank to the depths of the ocean, remaining there in silence. The others are unsure if life still flows in the waters. Finally, most tragic of all, the warrior (Brand ) grew restless. He yearned for war and combat, he yearned for another invasion...and he yearned for stronger foes. He turned against his brethren, only to be captured for an untold millenia.

Ice. Earth. Nature. Wind. Shadow. Water. Flame. The seven elements of runeterra, the seven sentinels who guarded this world.

Neamean2 votes

I like this, I had a head canon similar to this but brand didn't betray his brethren necessarily instead he was corrupted because of the misused of the element. I say this because of Blackfrost Anivia, if this skin is canon that it could be believed that the sentinels can be corrupted or become obsesses instead of maintaining order in their element they become consume and want their element to have supremacy over the world.

Also I want Brand to have a Legendary skin where he preach about the purity of fire, it represent passion not chaos it doesn't burn but nurture.

macromite3 votes

it's terribly wrong though, in actual canon.

The Last Ballad2 votes

For the healer it could of bonded, or created, Nami's people, as she heals with the power of the tides, but she had to swim into the depths of the ocean to gain the power...

TeCoolMage1 votes

Janna is a male archer???

Also just make water 'The jerk' and put fizz on it :P

ModCaptainMårvelous3 votes

Elemental was male. Janna wasn't.

EvilMerodach3 votes

{quoted}

Elemental was male. Janna wasn't.

Janna transgender confirmed. Yes, it's true, for just $2.95 a minute, for 6 years, Janna finally paid for that surgery (s)he always wanted.

Bend over ADC's, Janna's now the dom in this lane.

macromite4 votes

like all of this is wrong. you made it all up.

ModCaptainMårvelous3 votes

Literally everything in this post, both mine and OPs, is made up. It's headcanon. I'm not parading it around as fact.

macromite5 votes

there is a difference here. op has headcanon that is plausible. you have headcanon that is implausible.

First thing, morgana and kayle are not ancient, they as of right now don't even share a spot in this world. we don't know much abou darkin, but we do know that they are related to jax, so adding a djinn thing is not good, its just extraneous.

malphite is extra dimensional, not ancient.

maokai isn't an elemental, his magic is a form of the corrupted magic that created him, not elemental magic.

nocturne is literally a nightmare, not a shadow elemental.

there is no water elemental for life, nothing resembling a water elemental for life.

a few things your headcanon does bring up is the relation between brand and janna having comparable connection to elemental magic, but in essence headcanon that doesn't build off of actual canon is misleading and pointless.

most of the points that the op made are based on actual canon, while you sit over here and start spewing a canon for an entirely different story that has nothing to do with league, other than to steal its characters and rename them. if you want to make an original story go ahead, but don't make it here, and don't put it in someone else's comment section, and if you can help it don't steal characters.

ModCaptainMårvelous3 votes

Oh, ok, so we're doing that. "You're headcanon doesn't work so I hate it." Let's go through this:

First of all, Kayle and Morgana are heading for a large lore rework. So literally anything you suggest could be factual. And let's be clear: Riot's never been afraid from making massive, character changing reworks. (Remember the Freljord or was that before your time?)

Second of all, again, all of the things OP listed are headcanon as well. You can approve or deny it or say "IT HAS LIKES TO LORE" but that don't mean a damn thing. It's still headcanon. It still has just as much relevancy as anyone elses, whether you like it or not. (From the downvotes, I'd assume not).

Thirdly, all your spouting about "THEY'RE NOT FROM THIS WORLD" is pointless because Riot has already established that they're making this a cohesive, singular world. Notice how Renekton and Nasus used to be from another world but are now Shuriman? Notice how Taric used to be a gem knight from another dimension but is now a Targon aspect? Saying "NO NO IT CANT BE THIS BECAUSE THE OLD LORE"- Old Lore is dead chap. Deal.

(Nocturne's also headed for a massive rework because his story is STILL all about summoners so hold onto that while you can.)

And why should headcanon have to have direct ties to old lore or pre-existing lore? Why should one HAVE to work with old lore? Let's get one thing straight: Old lore, just like new lore, has problems. Old lore is not some friggin' sacred golden cow that can't be touched and is a bastion of narrative excellence. Arguing an idea for lore change to better suite the world (Which it would, considering it explains things better than current lore) doesn't make it wrong.

You're dismissing headcanon because you're saying it doesn't tie to the original canon. Which is a weak argument. You should go back to the drawing board and think about what you're arguing because right now it holds even less basis than my headcanon.

macromite4 votes

I feel like I can pretty much sum up the entire reason why you are in the wrong in a concise manner,

A. Your post has nothing to do with the op.

B. Your post shares nothing with any of the lore, and is nearly completely fabricated.

C. Your headcanon should stay as such, in your head.

D. The Story you created would probably be better off as its own thing.

ModCaptainMårvelous2 votes

A.) Sharing headcanon on Brand, an alternative take. Has relevancy to OP.

B.) Builds on lore in some cases while giving new purpose.

C.) Terrible argument. You're basically saying no one should share lore ideas ever.

D.) Again, built off strings of League lore so the ties are there.

At this point you're playing lore police and deeming what's acceptable head canon and what is not.

SaltyToplaneGoat4 votes

Sorry to get into your argument, but the strings you are building from seem to be so thin they might as well not exist.

There is a difference in a headcanon that fits into the rules of the prexisting universe, or just taking some ideas and trops from it while trying to build something entirely different.

Also, for the "strings" you seem to use, you are totally ok with cutting off every strong that doesn't fit in. That is not acceptable to be called a proper headcanon if I'm brutally honest here.

A headcanon should fill the gaps in between what is said, not twist everything around and "give it a new purpose". Go write your own story if you like it, but don't force other fictional universes to bend to your liking.

ModCaptainMårvelous3 votes

Sorry but I disagree.

Let's be frank: League's strings have always been immensely weak after the lore rework. As an example: What are the strings to your own theory? Brand is a star because.....there are celestial bodies that exist and Brand could be one of them because he possessed someone. That's just as strong as my own. You're basically giving Brand an entire origin that in no way references anything about his previous characte other than "stars are fire too"r. I disagree, but I'm not going to say "Your thread is garbage" because I don't agree with it. (Which seems to be what's going on here)

And if we're being brutally honest, you're cutting out just as much from Brand. He's no longer a chaotic fire elemental, he's a celestial star. Why would a star care about setting a world on fire? Does that mean Janna is an aspect from Targon as well because a wind elemental bound to her and she's the winds of the cosmos? How much are we going to cut and slash so that we're agreeing that "it fits the universe better"? Why is it ok for you to bend the rules of a character and make him from an entirely different realm but it's not ok for me to do similar things, just with other characters that share a thematic element?

Overall, I really don't agree with head canon fitting 1:1 in the bounds of a universe. Head canon shouldn't just be about fitting puzzle pieces, it should be running with threads, seeing where they go and imagining things in new lights. Does this mean I'm passing my story/idea as law? Course not. It's just head canon. Am I completely and utterly destroying these characters to fit them to my whim? Again, of course not. Just building on what the character is. But to argue that one head canon has somehow more factual basis and relevancy than another and that one story completely changes the original character while the other "stays true to the roots" is farcical.

SaltyToplaneGoat3 votes

A headcanon doesn't have to be 1:1. However, there is a difference in crack-headcanons (like weird shipping) and serious headcanons that have a high possibility rate of being canon.

I don't think I have to explain to you which ones are respect in this kind of forum and which ones are laughed at (or at least tolerated). Your headcanon disregards several already established canon premises while my theory fits in more or less flawlessly into the established set of rules and canon elements.

Also, Janna is not an celestial candidate because there is no confirmation of spiritual-posession in her lore. She's a magician with an amplitude to wind powers. Nothing more, nothing less. Good grief, if you want to make a statement, at least read the souce material first.

You say a headcanon is about fitting puzzle pieces. Yet my version fits as it changed nothing on brand's personality, origin, currently canon lore and whatever, while yours simply cuts parts of the pieces away just for the sake of mashing them together in the disgusting excuse of what you call a serious headcanon.

Also, trick question: what is the difference between a fire elemental and a star elemental? Both spiritual beings with terrifiying fire powers that posess a human body. I changed pretty much nothing. I added depth.

Save your ideas for fanfiction writing, but please do not pester an area of the board dedicated to serious canon discussion with them.

Doneyear1 votes

I changed pretty much nothing. I added depth.

SaltyToplaneGoat2 votes

At least I think that's the fitting description to it. In my theory Brand is still an spiritual entity trapped in ice that posesses a human to interact with the world while posessing a sheer limitless amount of energy based on fire.

Also, he seem to have some mental issues, inculding a fixation on burning stuff. But with immortal beings you never know if they are crazy or if it's just normal.

All I do is pretty much fill the gap of information about what happened before the being became trapped in ice. And according to what we know about the posession mechanisms of celestial beings as well as the absolute properties of True Ice (heat absorbing and never melting), this is the most obvious conclusion.

The fact that the Targonians had some kind of internal conflict just the "icing on the cake" so to speak.

And I think that is called adding depth based on the current canon elements without cutting or changing anything.

macromite3 votes

Exactly, you sir are a scholar and a saint.

SaltyToplaneGoat3 votes

A scholar I may be (I just finished my Bachelor Thesis on League lore for Media Studies :D), but a saint I am not. I just have a really low tolerance for bullshit ^^

cinomenapplebae4 votes

Interesting post

SaltyToplaneGoat5 votes

It's so obvious. WHY DID NO ONE NOTICE THAT? O_O

On ask.fm Jaredan said something interesting about brand being from Freljord: " (...), he's guaranteed to come from an area of the Freljord that's oddly full of steam."

That pretty much got this whole "bruning star trapped in ice" - thing going.

Milky Star4 votes

SO brand is Calcifer from howl's moving castle?

LostFr0st3 votes

This would be pretty cool.

Kai Guy3 votes

I dig it. Have my upvote good sir.

Scrimshäw2 votes

and ahri is the aspect of deceit

and zyra is the aspect of vengeance

and tahm kench is the aspect of greed

you can attribute these things to many champions

Hyper10sion2 votes

Wouldn't Kalista be the aspect of vengeance? Seeing as her name IS the Spear of Vengeance? Or Leblanc Deceit seeing as she IS the Deceiver?

macromite3 votes

zyra, the aspect of plant.

ModWulf Helhammer1 votes

Um, Bard and Sol aren't aspects. Nor does Bard need to inhabit a runterran to do anything on the world

SaltyToplaneGoat4 votes

All aspects are celestial beings. Not all celestial beings are aspects. However, they share the same properties as celestail beings.

Bard does inhabit a doll. You can see him "leave" the body when he dies ingame btw ^^

Skelenth2 votes

We actually don't know if the Aspects (like, the Space-Brain-Viruses that inhabit Diana, Leona, Pantheon and Taric) really are Celestials. The only Celestials we do know for sure are Aurelion Sol, Bard and Soraka (who is fallen, so she isn't really part of that list anymore) And as far as we know, these beings don't require a possession in order to work.

Yet again, we don't have much knowledge about Celestials, but I doubt Aurelion Sol would be enslaved by the spirits of stars (mostly because the Celestials until now have shown to be a peaceful environment) or the Targonians being those. (I actually think the Targonians are a much more advanced version of the Ascended <- at the bottom)

GreenLore1 votes

I wouldn't compare Bard or AurelionSol to the aspects,i mean yeah they are also supernatural beings,but that doesn't make them aspects or even similar to them(humans and insects are also both physical beings,but still extremely different).

Though I think you've got a nice theory there,I mean brand does posess the body of someone and its implied that he had other bodies before.

SaltyToplaneGoat1 votes

Let me copy paste something I already said in the thread:

All aspects are celestial beings. Not all celestial beings are aspects. However, they share the same properties as celestial beings.

Yes, insects and humans are different, yet they follow the same definition of being alive: being mortal, being bound to one body while being under several limitations (not invulnerable, not invincible, no absolutes in their existence). That's how it applies to the celestial beings as well.

Targonians are relatively simple while bard is a being beyond all comprehension. However, the "celestial beings"-rules apply to all of them.

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