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I'm not saying don't complain about Kai'Sa, but keep in mind something...

Chromatic Eagle·2/20/2018, 6:26:16 PM·6 votes·4,872 views

Champion Reveal: Kai'Sa, Daughter of the Void

She's not supposed to be as corrupted as Kassadin, Malzahar, or even Jax.

To survive among predators, Kai’Sa became one. Stranded for years with no hope of rescue, Kai’Sa endured through sheer will and a symbiotic second skin adapted from a living Void creature.

That seems to be more effective than what Kassadin did.

Cutting a burning swath through the darkest places of the world, Kassadin knows his days are numbered. Though once a notorious adventurer, he had chosen to live anonymously and raise a family among the nomad tribes of Shurima—until the day his daughter was claimed by the Void. Kassadin vowed to bring her back, combining a number of arcane artifacts and forbidden technologies for the struggle ahead. His precautions were not enough, however, and these devices now only serve to slow the insidious corruption that ravages his body... but he will gladly pay that price, if only he can save her...

As for the suit itself, they could've went with a Venom or Metroid style of living suit, but because she's this high speed marksman, Riot went with a sleeker design. It's like Gundams vs. Mobile Suits, at least the ones the main protagonists tend to use.

At first, I was triggered by the cleavage, but apparently she can cover that up.

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/318134046276321280/415557768985051136/kaisa.PNG

Overall, I like her, and think people should asses things more carefully before getting upset.

EDIT: To put it in another way, Kassadin is barely keeping it together. Malzahar is mentally warped. Jax is physically corrupted. Kai'Sa adapted to the Void. She probably mastered it.

17 Comments

Rebonack2/20/2018, 6:55:24 PM8 votes

As soon as I found out that she can fully suit up, all the problems I had with the splash were gone. A full environmental suit made out of a symbiotic void critter seems like a pretty solid way to keep Void corruption at bay. I'm just hoping that the suit will be something of a character in its own right. That would make for some neat interactions.

She must have stumbled on this critter pretty fast, though, the Void seems to warp folks pretty quickly from what information we've been given thus far.

JustCallMeSPED2/21/2018, 4:56:40 PM4 votes

I know people are already complaining about a number of different things, from looks to kit, but I think (outside of people being terrified of her kit prematurely) that there are two chief complaints that at least I find valid:

Less importantly, she looks way too much like a hybridization of several other champs we already have: Ahri's facial marks, Vayne's guns, and just an overall safe, easy design. This was someone who was in the Void, and yet she looks like she just took a jaunt through Jumanji instead of someone who battled the unknowable insanity-scapes of LoLs Lovecraftian plane. Maybe her voice-over and stories will show her to basically just be a monster on the inside with great modified vocals and a thirst for death and revenge, but nothing about her splash indicates that this is where it would be going. I'd love to be shown wrong in the end though.
"Kai'Sa" apparently translates to "Mary Sue". Every other creature who has had any contact with the Void is massively changed by it, coming out insane, dying, or being transformed into something horrific. Unless this woman managed to kill and symbiotically fuse with a voidspawn in her first MINUTES of being transported there, she should have already seen some harrowing side effects just from her initial transport to that realm. To say her "sheer force of will" is what kept her sane isn't so much a "oh, look how weak Kass and Malz were to have been so easily corrupted" as it is to completely dilute the horror that the Void itself is supposed to represent. If someone can just hop on in, skin something, wear its skin, and come out totally fine, then this harrowing plane of existence suddenly just another area of Runeterra that just happens to produce monsters sometimes. Her very existence this way dumbs down what is supposed to be the most mysterious and terrifying place in the entire LoL universe, or simply flies in the face of all the lore we have been given up to this point on it. And I really thing THIS is what has been bugging people most about her.

4 Step Cadence2/20/2018, 6:51:05 PM3 votes

Exactly. I love how she joined with a Void creature to survive in there. That's what makes her different and I like it. So it does move and morph around her body to cover/uncover her? That's really fucking cool. I can't wait to wait a month or so after she comes out in order to try her outside of practice mode!

Quepha2/21/2018, 5:18:06 PM2 votes

[{quoted}](name=Chromatic Eagle,realm=NA,application-id=6kFXY1kR,discussion-id=dgAb3YEk,comment-id=,timestamp=2018-02-20T18:26:16.627+0000)

She's not supposed to be as corrupted as Kassadin, Malzahar, or even Jax.

Because she's a female character and female characters sell much better when the writers pull out a deus ex machina to make them appear to be a basically nude supermodel.

Camille Ferrøs2/20/2018, 7:57:20 PM2 votes

Adapt or perish.

Camille Ferros

Queenpin2/21/2018, 5:48:20 AM1 votes

I'm thinking you're right.

People (myself included) thought the splash was a little weird given her the backstory in the blurb but if Riot is gonna go the "ultimate survivor" route rather than the "driven mad by retaliation" route then I guess everything checks out.

Personally, (and I've mentioned this before) I think being able to "survive" the Void diminishes the power of the the place because it's not Mount Targon you know? People don't "master" the Void. It's not a place you go to test your mettle or transform, it's not a place you go at all. I've always pictured it as a terrifying lovecraftian plane of existence but if that's not the direction League wants it to go anymore then who am to stop it? Nothing but a pebble in the ocean over here.

TerraRising2/21/2018, 5:52:17 AM1 votes

First, I think you mean to say "assess" not "asses." :)

Secondly, I find the design of the character to be the epitome of "corporate safe." Kai'Sa is weird enough to not be immediate wank material, but it's far more attractive than it needs be. Don't get me wrong, I like a nice set of cleavage. However, I'm not a fan of gratuitous cleavage, especially for a champion that's supposed to be a survivor. Hell, the champion looks like Riot tried to redesign Widowmaker for League, only they had to use the Void as a motif.

It's as if Riot told her "Sorry, Kai'Sa, but we only have enough insect armor to cover everything except your face, neck and part of your chest."

Hell, that "Bullet Angel Kai'Sa" skin is really a recolored Project Vayne with rocket boosters.

I'm getting the champion because it's a League champion and I already have them all, but I'm not nearly as excited about this one as Riot might have hoped.

Valaran Nara2/21/2018, 5:04:58 AM1 votes

Like, I feel like she found a second Kha'zix, ripped off his exoskeleton and hopped in.

Also, this helps confirm the Void's "Bio-weapons" status. I don't remember where in the lore it was mentioned, but those monsters were created as biological wmds, so I would assume Targon's main disdain of them come less from "These are from the negative dimension horrors", and more on the lines of "We must recover and deactivate all lost assets as soon as possible. The longer this is left unfettered, the more dire our situation will become."

midnight oil242/20/2018, 9:11:09 PM1 votes

Yep. I love how she looks (not a big fan of the chest in her non-suited form, but I can live with it). I love her black/grey/purple color scheme, her sleek design, her suit, and the way it really feels like she's this apex predator who's managed to survive in the void through sheer willpower. Her appearance sends a message of power, and I really like how she's designed.