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Is Riot foreshadowing the apocalypse?

shadowhunter4444·3/25/2015, 12:19:01 AM·16 votes·3,566 views

I was just looking at the new Omega Squad Teemo teaser, and got to thinking - A lot of the newer skins are pretty dark (new being a relative term, might be going back a little far at times). Most are either war machines, bounty hunters, or deadly killers. I feel that the trend is going towards either an apocalyptic setting or some kind of the end of peace on Valoran.

Mecha skins are giant Yordle war machines. A generally peaceful race is making multiple mechs based entirely around dealing death. Headhunter skins have purposeful fighters becoming bounty hunters. They abandon their causes. Project Yasuo, if you read the skin's blurb, is a brainwashed, upgraded death machine. This new Special Forces Teemo has trophies of various champions littering his desk, and he seems to have left the military, if his hung up medals are any indication.

Skins aren't all, new lore offers other chilling prospects. The shadow isles are powerful, and trying to take over Valoran. Voidborn have taken a foothold on Runeterra (Culminating recently with Rek'sai). Azir has returned, and has the capability of bringing Valoran to its knees.

Bard has appeared, and he only does so in dire times, when the fate of the universe hangs in the balance.

I feel Riot is giving us teasers towards a future climax of the Valoran story, making the struggles between Demacia and Noxus seem pitiful, more on scale with the ancient rune wars that almost destroyed the world.

I picture a world where the powers that be have fallen, and it is everyone for themselves. Some great heroes may try to restore order, but others will be consumed by the chaos. Panic reigns supreme, and dark forces corrupt the world. The League of Legends has fallen, and few if any of the summoners remain. If any are alive, they do not have the power to save the world. All outlooks are bleak.

Many skins with altered quotes (and some champions' base quotes) seem to foretell a coming doom. It could very well be that Riot has been putting the evidence right under our noses the whole time. Many things could cause this apocalypse, but I feel a few would happen together.

Most likely:

  • Voidborn conquest
  • Shadow Isles invasion
  • Viktor uses the Battlecasts to initiate his Glorious Evolution
  • I have a theory that Mecha skins may have been made by the Yordles to combat Viktor and his battlecasts

Other possibilities:

  • Azir attempts to take over Valoran

  • Demacia and Noxus are destroyed either by each other or an external force (I feel this happens no matter what started it, but his could also be the spark)

  • Tensions raise among champions slowly, until all turn on each other. Alliances are made and broken, and the League comes crashing down. The loss of this power that had been keeping the world in check causes unchecked war and anarchy.

  • Lissandra attempts to take over

  • Some Nation launches an invasion of others, and a chain reaction causes a world war.

    This end of the world as we know it could include lots of current skins/alternate lores. It could be that Riot has been giving us just enough information to make theories, and may someday reveal the truth. All we know is that if I'm right, Jinx may be happy.

TL;DR: Riot has been foreshadowing the fall of Valoran's major powers and the coming apocalypse or anarchy.

54 Comments

Sukishoo3/25/2015, 1:21:39 AM6 votes

The teaser is just called Omega Squad , pretty sure the skin is Special Forces since that's written in the page HTML

SleepyLionCub3/25/2015, 4:26:49 AM5 votes

Order of the banana will be a new post apocalyptic religion.

Dj's will use high tech sound boards to detect and harness radioactive material to fight off raiders.

Police forces will be comprised of sentiment polar bears and giant mutants

Doctor Dyment3/25/2015, 3:16:13 AM4 votes

An event kicked off. An event that was like no other before it. All of the city-states have done some questionable things, but what they did was just too much. Friend turned against friend. Family against family. Man against man. Even the Yordles of Bandle City, who thought themselves above the trifles of mankind found themselves turning on each other. Alliances meant nothing when the world erupted into fire. If that isn't bad enough, the Void attacked. Twisted abominations from a realm beyond time and space poured into our world with intention to kill. And yet we still fought each other. Eventually, the abominations from the Void met some real competition from the Shadow Isles. The armies of man, Yordle, Void, and Shadow all fought against each other in a furious attempt to claim dominance. New civilizations were made, old ones were destroyed, and millions died. The ground ran into a dark multi-colored rainbow of blood from everything, Void, Shadow, or not. The fires of war rose higher and higher. More and more innocent people were forced to take up arms just to survive. Now, the entirety of Runeterra awaits with baited breath, as all four armies march towards what will be the most legendary battle to ever exist in the history of everything. Celestial beings no longer have the power to change things, and the only the strongest of spirits are not corrupted by all of the evil magic. Every faction, from the metal creatures of Viktor's revolution, to the sand filled soldiers of the Shurima, to the horrid creatures from the Void, and all others now march onward to the ruins of the Institute of War. A pillar of searing magic is constantly shrieking from the top of the highest building, causing darkness to creep over the land. Storms constantly rage with spats of angry lightning, earthquakes ravage the land, and volcanoes spill fiery molten death upon all who walk below. But all march on. They all have a single goal in mid, to conquer the rest of Valoran, crush their enemies, and take the magic of the Institute for themselves. The fate of Runeterra rests on the shoulders of these converging armies. Whoever wins, will decide the fate of generations to come. Who is to win? Only time will tell my friends... only time will tell...

The Anagram King3/25/2015, 1:47:37 AM4 votes

Here's how I see it going down:

  • Void invades.
  • Heroes fail to repel first wave.
  • Viktor creates the beginnings of an augmented army in order to combat the voidspawn.

Then there are branching points.

In one dimension, Viktor wins. Something then happens - likely an attack by Jayce and his paranoid friends. This sparks a chain of events leading to the Battlecast future.

More likely, however, I think Viktor - with the help of any remaining factions (the Yordles and their Mecha, in particular) - scores a decisive Viktory over the Void, but fails to end the war, beaten down by Malzahar or something. Spawn still wander into Runeterra, and humanity is stuck in a state where they are perpetually fending off attacks from pocket groups of voidspawn.

This, in turn, gives the Shadow Isles a very real advantage over the remnants of civilisation. Lots of dead at their disposal.

Enter the post-apocalyptic future!

DeadlyQuestion3/25/2015, 5:09:59 AM3 votes

I wish Riot was as clever as you are, even if just as part of an idea team they should hire some creative players for ideas like this, but it feels like to me you haven't really paid attention to how Riot does things.

A.) They're not going to use any idea a player posts to the boards, and I can't find the link anymore (I thought I saved it) but a Rioter said that they have been refusing to take into account any sort of fanfiction or ideas from the boards into their lore, heavily implying that they even have been scrapping ideas they formed and then afterwards found players on the boards come up with the same idea. So now that you've put it on the internet, you've probably just guaranteed your theory won't be implemented.

B.) Riot's creative team has so far been kind of shit. From the minimal research I've done (just do a few Google searches), they seem to have been using the same psychological team (the one they used a few years ago to try and mitigate player toxicity) to help them create an interview dynamic for new employees that they could use to hire staff who did what they were told as was expected of them without bothering higher management of time frames or details. This is just MY PERSONAL speculation (I am not putting my words into anyone else's mouths), but it SOUNDED like to me that they just hired a creative team, told them it was for lore and creative ideas they could implement, while paying that team as little as they could get away with so they (Riot) could "prove" to those who care more about the story and creative ideas for the game that they're being proactive about the lore/creative aspect of the game. Meanwhile, they're instead giving that creative team minimal busy work in order for the company to focus as much energy and invest as much income as they can towards making LCS more profitable for 2015.

Again, this is just personal speculation, it's how I interpreted Rioter quotes concerning lore and their creative team.

Sneak Dog3/25/2015, 12:34:25 AM2 votes

I think it's just the skins team liking the idea of serious toned post-apocalyptic themes and the lore team getting every nation to have some odd perpetually ongoing conflict with something for... reasons.

Avorok3/25/2015, 7:07:28 PM2 votes

For those who aren't close minded here. This could be a probable thing. Just like the Boots of Ionia. Moons ago, players chose a side between Ionia and Noxus between 10 players in a match which changed the lore of runeterra. Phreak was the commentator. Ionia won and those boots were added to the game, and changed the lore. Maybe something else will soon happen. [ Want to know more, google Ionia Versus Noxus: Rematch. ]

Tesla Effect3/25/2015, 1:19:54 AM2 votes

"War. War never changes." - Teemo

junglerboy163/25/2015, 2:29:49 PM1 votes

inb4 they reveal the retcon wasn't a real retcon and the IoW falls in a super climactic apocalypse-style runewar that outstrips all others in Runeterra's history.

I hope that's how they do it, but not likely... :C

Chaotic Reks3/25/2015, 5:17:46 PM1 votes

well, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .. . they buffed Yorick

HighH13/26/2015, 5:27:12 AM1 votes

Team AzirAzir

Why? BECAUSE ALL MIGHTY SUN DISKAzir PRAISE THE SUN WITH THEM INFINITE SAND SOLDIERSAzir CAW CAW SUCKERSAzir

Statikin3/26/2015, 9:46:37 PM1 votes

OMFG GUYS HELP ME THIS IS TOO EPIC. leaguegasms aside, I start to think a lot of the other champions, who have no place in this.

Im hoping, if Riot ever does something like this, it would have an epic gamemode, new map and everything, each team first chooses a side they fight for and then are given a selection of the champs from each respective nation theyve chosen.

Also, what about Ionia? Man, I'm hoping Ao Shin.

Mori Please3/28/2015, 12:38:45 AM1 votes

Wouldnt the apocalypse already be here considering Malzahar Chogath KogMaw ,Nocturne,Fiddlesticks , Shaco are free to roam and do whatever since the lore change

Antirrhinummajus4/1/2015, 9:10:45 PM1 votes

Guys I am so confused on all this lore. Ive read all the champs lore, Ive been searching and searching for an actual story-line, and I cant find one.

But I do have an Idea, even though it's pretty lame cause I know close to nothing.

-----> The League of Legends is a guild (Right?) so it must have some kind of Rival. Maybe the rival guild challenges The League, and all the "Champions" will have to fight together to protect it.

It's just a small Idea, but thats my best guess

GreenLore4/3/2015, 10:52:58 AM1 votes

I dunno in what way skins seem to become rather dark.I mean lets look at the last legendary(and above skins) DJ Sona (not dark at all) BCA Skarner (well this one could count,but the BC line is nothing new) Dunkmaster Darius (again not dark at all) Final boss Veigar (not darker than our usual veigar)

And while we had many darker skins recently,its not like there were no "lighther" skins either I mean we had Safecracker Evelynn ,pickpocket Twitch ,constable Trundle ,captain Volibear ,el tigre Braum,the debonair skins(who have another skin coming) and all those april fools skins now.

bad arcade kitty3/25/2015, 3:35:22 AM1 votes

they are releasing a few very cute skins too for 1st april

Spacesuit Spiff3/25/2015, 6:17:28 AM1 votes

I feel like there's enough going on with this game that you can nitpick enough for this to look convincing, but you might be right. This would be a pretty interesting thing for them to do.

Angry Monster3/25/2015, 11:46:18 AM1 votes

A combat type game is going to have more "dark" skins by nature.

Laughing Fish3/25/2015, 12:21:06 PM1 votes

Yet in that chaos, Garen still won't falter. http://media.giphy.com/media/mRwpS7MtuWffO/giphy.gif

Laughing Fish3/25/2015, 12:27:02 PM1 votes

I was discussing this very point with my brother the other day. The last several champions have had extravagant reveals, often accompanied by some form of cinematic. But then when you read their actual lore it appears lacking. Why is that? Riot is clearly spending plenty of time and money on these champions, so who is the lore page so very short? I believe they are building to something huge. I think it is important to note that both Kalista in-game speech and bard's lore make mention of the Ruined King.

Oleandervine3/25/2015, 1:32:04 PM1 votes

This is the spoiler for the Great Retcon. It just took Lore this long to make the lore.

Only Play Darius3/25/2015, 1:43:57 PM1 votes

No.