Boards›Story, Art, & Sound

So if a vastaya's powers and appearance are highly dependant on the surrounding magic...

SaltyToplaneGoat··9 votes·1,109 views

... does that mean all of Nami's skins (save for Urf-the namitee which is obviously a costume) are canon and she changes her appearance if she spends a long time in a "new" enviroment? Like, being to long in the abyssal depths turned her into the "Deep Sea" appearance, spending time in the rivers of Ionia has given her the Koi-appearance, and being close to Kumungu for a long time could make her look like in her pretty River Spirit skin?

And obviously if she is in a "normal" area or one with a low concentration of magic she would slowly revert into her "usual" appearance.

Note that I am not talking about a sudden change here, that could only possibly occur if she was hit by a LOT of magic at once, and that sounds quite unhealthy for me, even for a species that lives from it. Like, I need to drink water to survive, but drowning is still a problem for me for obvious reasons.

What I am mostly talking about is a slow adaption over the course of weeks or even months of being exposes to the "new" kind of magic, and tbh that would be kinda awesome.

13 Comments

Oleandervine4 votes

I believe the Vastaya interaction with their surroundings would take many thousands of years for their species, like evolution IRL.

SaltyToplaneGoat2 votes

Yeah obviously it would affect children being born and raised in a specific "magical field", but when you have a species descending from shape-shifters that are highly sensitive to magic, it wouldn't be weird for some small changes to occurr over a long time of exposure, in the limit of their species of course (like, no changes in the basic anatomy, etc.)

I mean, nature can be kinda weird even in our world. There are even fish that can change their sex depending on what is needed to keep the species going... (why am i curious about genderbent Nami fanart now? O_o)

HeroineSam2 votes

oh oh oh oh oh OH OH ohhhhhhh.

wow. didn't think of such a possibility.

There is the fact about evolution taking a long time, but if I remember correctly, there's an article Riot posted that mentioned that these magical creatures were considered shape shifters. Also, do remember in Eduardo Santangelo's journal he met a normal seeming merchant who scared off Ahri in the pond, well, was normal until he shapeshifted back into a pig man that found a truffle.

SaltyToplaneGoat1 votes

Well the Vastayans descended from a union of humans and ancient magical shapeshifter-creatures, so them having - even if somewhat limited - shifting capabilities isnt so weird. The only difference would be that in this case the change is not from a conscious decision, but rather the body slowly reacting to the surrounding magic over weeks and weeks ov exposure...

Skelenth2 votes

Imagine the possibilities! A Vastayan in Piltover/Zaun. What would they look like?

SaltyToplaneGoat1 votes

Well...

Warwick

Does that answer your curiosity? He is an artifical one, or one who must have had really weak vastaya genes before Singed found him and "let out the beast he saw in the man"...

Skelenth2 votes

Not necessarily. Pretty much half of Warwick is Singeds chemtech, which is probably not how a Vastayan would adapt to the magic of the cities, which is primarily contained in Hextech crystals.

SaltyToplaneGoat1 votes

Hmmm I wouldn't be so sure if the crystals are so much of a big deal. There might be leylines going right through the city, and I have the theory that one of those magic-power-lines was used in trying to create the canal, what ended in a massive catastrophy that wiped out half of Zaun and Piltover...

They noticed this line running through and tried to use it (aka "what if we can make it explode?"), and fucked up. Massively.

However, Warwick is in every sense a "Product of Zaun" - even when his genes were pushed by chemtech, his body literally merged with his metal prothesis, and him enraging causes the metal to heat up and all the like, what implies vastayan shapeshifting capabilities to some point, at least when it comes to the merging point of tech and bio, as that is definetly not Singed's area of expertise...

Leben Weiss2 votes

I think is both, an adaptative mechanism and a conscious change. As someone point out, Rakan say that he can change the color of his feathers but it will need magic, he too say to Rengar "So, just tiger stuff? Buddy, you've got to mix it up" and "I know you're Vastaya, but your tribe lacks style!" implying again that Rengar and his people could probably change their looks if they wanted to, lastly i remember that a rioter said in the couple's Q&A that Xayah's and Rakan's appearance is a form they deliberately choose.

Because of all that i think that every "modern" Vastaya still possess the shapeshift ability and all of them can change their form at will using magic but don't do it because they don't really need to (being already adapted to their environment) or simply because they just don't want to (maybe they are very proud of their tribe's chosen look, who knows?)

SaltyToplaneGoat1 votes

... or because big sudden changes might require a ton of energy and can be quite draining on the user, which is why I favor the "slow and subconscious"-theory here.

Blue Moon Wolf1 votes

That would explain why all of Wukong's skins are just Wukong referencing a different aspect of journey to the west (save underworld)

GreenLore1 votes

They don't change shape based on their surroundings automatically. They can change their appearances themselves if they want to,but they need to invest time and magic into the changes(for example Rakan thought about changing the color of his feathers).

SaltyToplaneGoat1 votes

Well I'm not talking about sudden change here, but rather about slow changes. Like, at first its like one scale or two changing color, and half a year later she's all pink due to swimming too much in ionian rivers. Vastaya are very in touch with the surrounding magic, so it wouldn't be surprising that a specific type triggers some subconscious tendencies to change to "adapt" to this new magic.

More from Story, Art, & Sound

Petition to keep the Bilgewater ARAM map in circulation
Story, Art, & Sound154 comments
1,161
votes
[SUPER IMPORTANT PETITION] Change Sion's ban quote...
Story, Art, & Sound54 comments
597
votes
Can we get an Honor animation?! 4 ways to insult an opponent but none to congratulate them.
Story, Art, & Sound202 comments
578
votes
Petition to make Rengar wiggle his butt when there's a pounce-able target near his bush
Story, Art, & Sound140 comments
476
votes
About this years harrowing...
Story, Art, & Sound357 comments
459
votes
RIOT, please postpone Blood Moon Diana and make it into a Legendary skin.
Story, Art, & Sound236 comments
423
votes

More by SaltyToplaneGoat

As a 600k Soraka main the very existence of Senna is just a slap in the face
Gameplay198 comments
247
votes
Congratulations Riot, with this patch...
Gameplay252 comments
234
votes
Wouldn't it be possible to code the Nami Ult as a lot of tiny projectiles?
Gameplay141 comments
199
votes
The focus on Esport will be the downfall of this game.
Gameplay137 comments
175
votes
I do understand that Akali as an assassin needs massive damage and mobility, but...
Gameplay207 comments
170
votes
We shall remember the date as Caitlyn has become completly obsolte...
Gameplay201 comments
167
votes