[LORE DISCUSSION] Races of Runeterra
PREVIOUS DISCUSSIONS Who built the Mercury Hammer? Are the Watchers Void-Beings? What happened in Shurima? Shurima Part 2 Who killed the man Yasuo was guarding? Who is C? The Black Rose Where is General DuCouteau? The Lunari The Darkin Zaun The Shadow Isles Urtistan and Zilean Runeterra Holidays
http://i.imgur.com/4NB6uRG.jpg I don't like finals, work or any sort of stress. Anyways, sorry for it being late but it's the weekly lore discussion thingy time again. Viewership has been kinda going down so I might kibosh this series for a bit but let's get to the topic at hand: Runeterra Races. For this discussion I'm going to avoid talking about races that are singular representations in League (Trundle, Zyra) because those can be difficult to get facts straight on while I'll add a section at the bottom for races that -could- be linked but in total are varied and extremely different in important ways.
http://i.imgur.com/Ren0SW0.jpg #Humans: Every fantasy has one. Height: Four feet to Seven feet. Hair Color: Extremely varied based on region. Hair color alteration possible? Skin Color: Again, varied based on origin. Dark colors to the south with lighter colors to the north. Distinguishing Features: None.
The tired, true and blue humans are the most common thing you'll see in Runeterra. From Ionia to Freljord to Shurima, all these people are of a single race. Humans seem to be fairly similar to how we are in our world: Heights average around 4-7 feet (With 4 and 7 being oddities) and with a variety of hair and eye colors. It should be noted that hair-alteration seems possible in this world, as we have things like Fiora's single pink streak of hair that would imply she either dyes it or highlights it.
In addition, there are a variety of sub-categories such as half-breeds (Shyvana, possibly Swain), augmented (Viktor) and magically altered (Kassadin, Ryze). I won't delve into every single sub-cat but you can be assured that humans can survive and adapt to almost any climate, any situation and any requirement that they may need.
http://i.imgur.com/BTBxOYg.jpg #Yordles: Nobody likes gnomes. Height: Three to four feet. Hair/Fur Color: White/Beige and Blue seem to be the main two colors. Skin Color: Males Unknown, Females Blue. Distinguishing Features: Large ears, Males are vastly hairier than females, high intellect.
Yordles may not be the most physically imposing figures but they more than make up for it with pure mental power. Yordles are unique in Runeterra for the clear sexual dimorphism (Males look way different than females) that can't be matched save for humans: In addition to different body types, females are far less hairy and feature skin that ranges from blue to purple. Contrary to males, which are completely covered in hair and "fur". We can assume males are blue as well but we can't really make any clear distinctions.
Yordle subcategories are rather sparse. Outside of Veigar's possibly-black appearance (It could just be shady) and Gnar's prehistoric status, most yordles seem very clear-cut. I also want to make note that the yordles are are in the middle of a lore and characterization transition. I used Heimerdinger and Tristana to emphasize this because they are the clearest examples that have only recently been changed.
http://i.imgur.com/p61qypM.jpg #Void Beasts: Ewwwwww... Height: Too variable to count Color: Emphasis on a violet-to-purple or beige/white carapace. Distinguishing Features: Extremely varied physiology. Not of Runeterra. Incredibly hostile.
Look, it's the void! Void-critters are a unified race from that section but are so varied that one could possibly argue they're all different. Maybe there are hundreds of Kog'maws. Maybe Cho'gath is of the 'gath family. Either way, these critters can all be unified thanks to similar color and place of origin. Every single void-beast has the capacity to defend itself with any manner of self-created devices. From Vel'koz's void lasers to Kog'maw's bile to Rek'sai's tunneling claws, every void-creature has it's own devices for self-defense.
What should also be noted is that the void itself corrupts. Kassadin's transformation to a void-walker and Malzahar's madness turning him into a void-chucking messiah means that the environment is a hostile place that warps and changes those who venture into it. On this regard it's possible that all void-creatures are just normal critters that wandered too close to a swirling purple portal and thought "hey y'know this might be way better than being a simple bug".
http://i.imgur.com/jE7JIw7.jpg #Elementals: By your powers combined I AM CAPTAIN PLANET! Height: Varied, although it seems to gravitate around human-sized barring exceptions. Color: Hyper varied. Hair: Depends on element embodied. Brand has a flame "hair", Maokai has mossy "hair", etc. Distinguishing Features: Extremely primal roots to an element such as fire, earth, etc.
While it's a topic for discussion that I'll go into later, I think elementals are a fair choice for race in Runeterra. While a small race in number, they more than make up for it in power. Naturally, the key fact of an elemental is that it has root in a core element. This list is solidified at Malphite (Earth), Brand (Flame), Maokai (Nature/Magic, possibly), Anivia (Ice), Janna (Wind) with possible outliers also being Nocturne (Darkness), Lux/Leona (Light?), Ryze (Arcane), Zyra (Nature, non-magic infected) and Soraka (Astral).
Elementals are those I'd consider the most powerful beings in Runeterra, being the literal embodiments of these powers. It explains why Malphite is giant in his art (The tough, craggy earth with the power of brute force) while Anivia is graceful and stunning (Being that ice is crystalline and majestic) and Brand is wild and chaotic (Fire is uncontrollable). However, the possibility with elementals means that we have some possible outliers as I suggested above and that elementals may be able to transfer their power to human hosts, the prime examples being Brand and Janna.
#Outliers and examples I don't feel can be accurately summed up:
As said at the start, there are definitely some races and critters that are too varied to list together and to make a claim about their race but let me try my best to put it all down here in this little list of possible creatures/races/etc.
-
Beast-Men/Women-
ignore the ascended rank but I'm unsure if these are all creatures of a singular race of beast-humanoids or if every single one is a different race. Alistar, for example, is said to be a minotaur but I'm unsure if he's one-of-a-kind now or if there are a race of minotaurs. -
Spirits-
could all be considered spectral manifestations, but I'm not sure if they can be put down as humans that have broken bonds of mortality, elementals that roam free or the actual embodiments of things like darkness, fear, terror, torture, etc. -
Trolls-
is the only troll we have and I'm not sure how far the sexual dimorphism/spirituality goes. This goes doubly true if frost trolls are not the only type of troll (Swamp troll, Ionia Trolls being Oni, etc) -
Aquatic Critters-
and 
are the only ones of their race and, again, I question the difference between male and female as well as how each would look in a large setting. Maybe Nami's people are almost a rainbow of colors while Fizz's people hover from teal-to-light purple. Too much to base on a single representation. -
Bracken, Iceborn, Darkin and Ursine-
, 
, 
and 
occupy a similar space as Nami and Fizz, except these are given names and have some semblence of culture, I just don't know how far these stories stretch and how different the genders can be (If there are even genders!) -
Man/Yordle-made Life-
are the prime examples but there is also the chance that you could argue magical constructs like 
and altered men like 
could fall under this category. -
Races there aren't enough info on/Retcon-
I'd rather not make claims at due to future retcons and possible alterations while ascended like 
and 
may be humans, may be a special race all their own, I can't be sure entirely.
With all this done, do you think I missed anything? Maybe you don't think one of the suggested races are as unified as I think they are? Either way, leave a comment and be sure to vote on next week's topic. Have a great discussion and keep it civil!
are known as voidborn. Voidlings are known as... uh, voidlings.
being earth,
being fire,
being wind and I dunno about the water part(one could argue about anivia being water,since ice is frozen water,but I'll talk about this later).
These 4 would be what I'd call the "natural elementals"
However the 3 that we already have all have their differences,so that would bring up the question why that is the case.
,
and 
?
Well they all seem to share something and that is that they are/were tied to a specific region.
Anivia is connected to the freljord,if the freljord gets corrupted,then anivia will be corrupted too.
And Maokai was once a forest spirit(so he was most likely connected to the forest) and fused with a tree to leave the shadow isles and safe the last life from it.
So they all have some connection to certain regions,which is why they could be considered to be a seperate category of elemental.
Soraka was connected to her grove and entered a weakened state to be able to leave it.**Edit:**made a mistake here,she lost her powers cause she used them for harm,not because she left her home,so soraka would be something on her own anyway,but I'd say Soraka never looked much like an elemental
& 
,who are only elementals on a superficial level.
Xerath was once a man who basically turned into a magic elemental,while Zyra is simply a powerful plant that got the ability to take a human forme.
?
are still beings of another world. Like the void, these three are nightmarish beings who seem otherworldly and kill anybody they come across or when they feel like it. Even if they are manifestations of some sort, they still have a conection to each other, indicated through their "friendship" status. This leads me to belive they have common origin, originating from the same place or the same cause.
