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Kayle's Armor - A visual representation of character

Voidac·2/19/2019, 5:13:31 PM·32 votes·10,730 views

Kayle is a stoic, steadfast, knight-with-wings (put bluntly). Her wings identify her as a supernatural being while her armor perfectly symbolized her as a staunch fighter, ready for battle. It was something people attributed to her character, because wearing heavy armor fit her character so well. Let me explain.

When Warwick was reworked, his "armor" wasn't kept because it wasn't key to his character. He also didn't have that much of it. Now, with Irelia I noticed something that seems to be something of a trend. Removing armor from the legs to emphasize the hips/legs. Same with several newer skins. Now, with Irelia, a point could be made as "She's a dancer", and I would argue the same. Kayle isn't a dancer, she doesn't need a body suit. She needs armor. Kayle's current splash and even current model show that armor can be made to accent her body while still looking somewhat effective. It's clear whoever designed her new look wanted to really outline her hips and thighs as seems to be the standard for female champs (which I'm not against! I like da booty!), but I just don't think it fits Kayle. Not as we know her. Her new design isn't loyal to who she is and who we know her as a character.

Morgana is lookin' good, though.

Edit: Also, those phallic shoulder decorations, though... I get the point of the design is to be tall and more imposing (at least, I hope it is), but man, could we tone those down a bit? I'm all for big showy armor (honestly, in knights, it's one of the best things about fantasy as it's so easy to display character and their values through their armor).

8 Comments

Elite4Runner2/19/2019, 5:22:00 PM12 votes

This is actually one of the most well laid out arguments I have seen.

I can understand that other people probably mean what you said here, but they have all been really bad at expressing it, to the point where they really just come across like a child throwing a tantrum because they don't like when things change.

gerbe2/19/2019, 8:50:13 PM1 votes

i think the armor is just kayle’s choice. she can do what she wants because she’s an aspect of justice, same with the other aspects. they get to do what they want and wear what they want. leona wants to wear armor, zoe wants to wear whatever, pantheon wants to wear armor, diana wants to wear whatever.

ZaFishbone2/20/2019, 2:07:26 PM1 votes

Kayle flies, she doesn't need feet, so why would she care about protecting them?

Iota Theta2/20/2019, 2:42:00 PM1 votes

It’ll look better once they update the textures on her to make the armor clearer in the visuals.

I do want to say that while being armored has always been a thing for Kayle, the lighter armor style does work better for her. She’s a flyer, she fights while flying, and depending on the nature of her strength and wings, you don’t want to be wearing anything too heavy as it can hinder your flight, tiring you out from the weight and style. You’d want more aerodynamic and light armor to allow more free movement in the air.

This is especially true for Kayle now that she’s not purely some other worldly thing, but she’s half human, half aspect (quarter aspect? Since the Justice aspect is split?), so she likely has some more human limitations.

As for the pauldrons.....those are too much for me. Unlike you, I can’t stand high fantasy style like that, but that’s a personal preference.