Jhin has nothing tying him to Ionia. Why?

His colors and style are not Ionian. His mannerisms are not Ionian. His state of mind and personality, while certainly twisted, is not Ionian.

What Jhin could certainly have been, perhaps even should have been, and in being so have added a great deal more to the world than warping the Ionian state to its breaking point, is Demacian.

His lines fit so well with Demacian culture, taking it to the extreme, just as a serial killer or psychopath might do, it's absolutely shocking, even dumbfounding he's not from Demacia. His arm is gold, his mask and cloak are white, and the designs present across him match Fiora's established Demacian aesthetic, and also have similarities to Lucian's as well. He speaks about purity, rightness, his killing is an artform, a thing of beauty, and he is "right", all others are "confused", and "misguided". That sounds a LOT like Demacia's powerful idealism, taken and twisted by the unsound mind of a psychopath.

And then think of what that would mean for the world itself. Instead of having some grimmdark hidden faction in Ionia's government putting out hits on people and carrying out assassinations, in a nation full of NINJAS and MARTIAL tradition, with a GUN, think of how Demacia having a true unstable personality, a true criminal mind, a SOPHISTICATED killer, would impact that society. It's completely different than Noxus. It's artful barbarism, a corpse left behind, arranged beautifully with a flower over the bullet wound, a choir of voices following in his wake, a sunbeam dancing through a broken window behind him, while the killer sings or hums an aria as he wanders back into the pristine nation's alleyways or to their opera houses.

That drips with originality and reeks of a cohesion of character and setting, and I wasn't even trying. That small setup took me 5 minutes, and Riot has certainly been working on Jhin for months. In Demacia, Jhin is truly unique, the only "badguy", Demacia has to its name, and fits within their aesthetic. Even Noxus has Riven, their own "goodguy" if you will, seeking change and betterment.

Instead, Jhin feels displaced, and completely alien to the environment in which he's been placed. Why Ionia? What does he bring to Ionia other than more shadowy disquiet and a twisting of that setting, and a gun with a grin? He believes he's forward-thinking, but absolutely nothing about him fits with Ionia, at all. His personality and mindset doesn't, the fact he has a gun doesn't, his design, his silhouette, even his splash art place him almost anywhere else other than Ionia. It's as if Narrative and Foundations don't care, and are aware how poorly he fits into the setting.

In fact, one of Jhin's quotes when getting "Boots of Lucidity" calls them out as "painfully obvious" as being Ionian. They lampshaded the fact that he's not where he belongs, and just kept right on going.

Someone might say "Oh, but Varus isn't Ionian in aesthetic or design." Except, he is. Firstly, he was warped by the carnage of a brutal, barbaric war through loss of something dear to him. Ionia is full of such persons, and it fits who they are as a culture and in lore. Next, he uses a martial implement linked to "Ionian" traditions, a bow. The blade, the bow, the staff, the spear, all of these are "Ionian" or "Asian" linked weapons. The schools of martial training are prevalent in the island nation, as are shrines and other such locales, like the one Varus was guarding. But Jhin has nothing about him that is inherently Ionian, except, maybe, his name. That's it. Nothing else about him, not his style, anything, is Ionian. Even his mask, which could possibly be claimed to be a "Kabuki Mask" or "Noh Mask" looks nothing like either of those things. It's a stylized "Guy Fawkes" mask mixed with the westerized "Drama" masks. Again, not Ionian.

But his colors are known Demacian colors, and feature known Demacian styles. His hextech arm is reminiscent of Piltovian design, an ally of Demacia. His gun is artfully crafted in a Piltovian aesthetic as well, and not even close to anything Ionian. If you knew nothing about Jhin other than what he looked like you'd assume he was either Demacian or Piltovian based on his looks. Literally nothing at all ties him to Ionia, other than Riot has chosen to say he's from Ionia, and now has to write a convoluted explanation placing him there, which I'm sure we'll see in a few days.

It just makes no sense, not from a design perspective, or from a worldbuilding perspective, to put Jhin in Ionia. When Narrative and Foundations are working together to try and build a cohesive world, a baseline for all things to come, and then throw a wrench into that by placing someone like Jhin who doesn't fit into the chosen setting in the slightest, it screws up the dynamic.

I'm not claiming to be an expert or an insider when it comes to what Narrative and Foundations are doing inside their dark dungeon. Only Jaredan comes out occasionally to comment on something, as far as people specifically related to the team. I suppose that's better than zero transparency, but try as I might, Jhin makes no sense at all to me. Nothing about him does. His kit is a mish-mash of concepts already on other champions, his looks are those of Demacia or Piltover, but he's from Ionia, and his personality is a mix of Shaco, Sona, and maybe Caitlyn, since he's not stupid. It honestly feels like he was created by throwing darts at a board and then creating something out of where they hit. That's fine for a creative exercise, but a poor decision when you're trying to build a cohesive world and characters to match.

Just what are they doing?