Thoughts on the Vastaya topic.
Clarification: I myself do not personally identify with the champions of League that could fit into the Vastaya category, i.e I don't really play them. Therefore I'll try my best to validate my opinions without pissing off too many of you guys. Also I am basing this on the assumption that because we only have one source of information to gleam from this currently, I'll most likely be proven wrong when a lot more information comes out. But hey, that's what theories are. Theoretical until proven correct or wrong.
So. The Vastaya. Hot topic nowadays as everyone is now in turmoil about feeling like their own champion being shunted aside and being placed within the 'Vastaya' category. I'd like to disagree with that statement, and until it is written out for us on paper, laid bare to us by Riot I will hold this thought.
Specifically, what is a Vastaya? I'll refer to Eduard Santangelo's Vastaya Field Journal.
**"I learned that the vastaya’s origins could be traced back long, long ago, to a hidden corner of Ionia where a group of humans fled to escape the myriad horrors of the Great Void War (a subject upon which I have written numerous tomes, all of which can be found at the better Piltovan booksellers for more-than-reasonable prices). These refugees came into contact with a tribe of intelligent, shapeshifting creatures who were greatly in tune with Ionia’s natural magicks. The pairing of these two groups produced the creatures I eventually learned to refer to as vastaya. Over time, the offspring of these pairings settled into a variety of regions and therefore adopted diverse forms, from the winged humanoids of Ionia or the sporadically-limbed sandshufflers of Shurima, to the Freljordian scaled manatee with a look of perpetual discomfort on its face." **
We've learned three things from this statement:
- There already existed a tribe of shape-shifting creatures within a certain region of the Ionian continent.
- The offspring of these refugees and tribe creatures resulted in the Vastaya
- These offspring went on to further expand upon the rest of Valoran, taking many forms.
Next, I'd like to take a look at Rakan & Xayah, as I feel their interactions with seemingly Vastayan champions has a role to play in this theory I'm forming.
At a glance, it's obvious that Rakan & Xayah are on their own self-fulfilling mission. What that is hasn't been revealed to us, but thanks to their VO and interactions, as well as their personalities, it's easy to fill the holes.
Firstly, I'd like to make an educated guess that Rakan and Xayah are both victims of a Human-Caused conflict. As their operations seem to be based in Ionia from their short flavor pieces at their reveal, it would be accurate to assume that, perhaps when they were very young, their tribe was victim to a battle during the Ionia-Noxus War. The aftermath of the war probably didn't help, as Ionia's humans were likely scrambling to defend themselves should Noxus strike again, leaving the plausibility of the Vastaya all around Ionia being left in the mud. The trauma of being war survivors is most likely drove Rakan & Xayah extremely close, and survivor's guilt, coupled with possible mistreatment of the Vastaya from the Ionian Council is what caused Xayah to become 'The Rebel'. Or, in other words a freedom fighter. Instead of waiting around for help that may never come, Xayah is taking the initiative for herself, with her goal seemingly to be to inspire other Vastaya to join her cause into a rebellion, revolution or uprising. While Rakan seems to be a jokester and very carefree at first, he follows her willingly because he genuinely cares for her and believes in her cause, showing distaste for certain Humans. His interaction with specific Ionian and Noxian champions reveals the more serious undertone within him. Xayah on the other hand seems to hold nothing but contempt for Humans, but specifically hammers down even harder on what she perceives to be Vastayans wasting their potential calling them race traitors. This is important because I believe Xayah's biggest flaw is revealed here.
While Xayah may be Vastayan. It's plausible to assume that some she assumed to be Vastayan are in-fact not, and that their goals do not appear to align with hers. She is young and inexperienced but very, very angry, misled and possibly disillusioned about the world around her .
What gives this away is that she reminds me of myself when I was younger. I didn't know much and liked to assume that I knew everything because I was too proud to admit I was wrong. I also generally lumped stuff together and made completely wrong conclusions about many things, and I believe Xayah is very much repeating these actions. Rakan to a much lesser extent because he is far more relaxed personality-wise whereas Xayah is intently more serious.
This brings me to my third point in my theory. Which, of our animal-like champions, could fit into the category of a Vastaya. As I said at the start of the post, until Riot outright and directly makes statements that outweigh my theory I'll hold this opinion as my own interpretation of what champions potentially fit under the category of Vastayan, or not at all, as this is where it gets kind of gimmicky and is pure speculation. I'll try to elaborate further on them individually.
The list is as follows.
- Ahri
- Nami
- Rengar
- Shyvana
- Swain
- Udyr
I'll now try and further elaborate on these specific champions.
** Ahri**
The Nine-Tailed Fox has seen her fair share of controversy within the newest reveal. Many of her fans are afraid that Ahri will be shunted into the category of Vastaya. However I believe that she herself could not be considered Vastayan. While Mr. Santangelo certainly seemed to beleive that Ahri was Vastayan, as well as Shai by the sounds of it, also believing her to be Vastayan, I disagree on that theory. Ahri's form was born in the wake of a battlefield. Until this happened, she was still a white Ionian fox. Her fox form inherited the magic that was still seeping from the aftermath of the battle, giving her her deepest desire to become like the Humans around her. While still not complete, she was left with some of her physical animal traits, that being her ears and nine tails. To someone like Shai, it's entirely beleivable that he would assume Ahri to be from a tribe that wasn't known. To Xayah, she also is Vastayan as far as she is concerned, disgusted with Ahri's desire of wanting to become more Human than fox.
** Nami ** Nami is believed to be Vastayan from the point of Xayah. As above, I do not think that Nami is Vastayan. I beleive Xayah is just trying to force her perspective into our face, to add to her character and for us to conclude that, while Xayah's cause may be good in her nature, her complete inexperience with the world outside of Ionia leaves us knowing that she's still just a young, angry person.
** Rengar **
Given that Rengar's background as of the moment is that he's the lone member of his tribe, possibly wandered away from them or was abandoned by them and was raised by a Human hunter, his potential of being Vastayan is somewhat concrete in my eyes. In fact he fits very well into the idea that he may in fact be Vastayan, and possibly descended from one of the original animal tribes of Ionia. While he shares human-like traits, his animal side very much dominates as he uses his natural weapons to his advantage in every way possible.
** Shyvana **
Shyvana is a long-shot. Her new lore has revealed that she was the result of a Dragon being exposed to Human magic. Of course, she can indeed transform into a fire-breathing dragon at will but I find that is just her instinctual heritage. I believe Shyvana is a special case that exists outside of whether she is or isn't Vastayan. Unless the mage that tampered with her egg was coming from a long, diluted line of Vastayans, there's no plausible way that she fits into the category either.
** Swain ** Swain, is very interesting. It could be possible that he was involved directly in the Noxus-Ionian War instead of just directing it from the throne in the Immortal Bastion. With rumors of creatures capable of shape-shifting form at will probably being common within Noxian soldiers stationed in Ionia, I think that kind of power would be very interesting to a master of magic like him. It's very likely that this power could have been what sparked the war, his potential desire for this Vastayan magic. I think it's likely that he could exist within the categorization of Vastayan if he managed to figure out the key to it's magic and thus gain the same abilities the Vastayan do with the use of Beatrice, transforming at will from a human to a monstrous, anthropomorphic raven.
** Udyr **
The Spirit-Walker is also another interesting case. His tribe are potentially one of the results of the far-reaching descendants of the first-born between the refugees that settled on Ionia and the chimera animals. While he displays no Vastayan traits, his lifestyle as well as his natural shamanic heritage could plausibly give him the potential to harness the essence of natural animals.
Obviously there are some champions that I've left out, such as Nidalee, Fizz, Wukong and potentially Alistar. However I think there's far too little information on these characters to draw a conclusive idea for them, which is why I excluded them from this list.
In conclusion, I do hope some of you feeling disjointed about possible revelations may take solace in this post, or find my thoughts intriguing.
I'm also not very good with closing statements so uh..How about I hear your thoughts? :D
