Boards›Story, Art, & Sound

How much League is left in League of Legends Lore?

ArnoldSchwarzens·8/4/2015, 2:00:59 PM·2 votes·1,022 views

Right now the central League of Legends Lore is that back in the day Runic Wars happened where magic was overused and corrupted and destroyed everything it touched. Then those badass summoner guys showed up who were Imba-Mages that were independent from all factions and way stronger than them all. They put an end to the war and created the League of Legends, where anyone and everyone could send in Champions or become one oneself. As a champion people and nations could push forward their interests without needing to start a war or violent act, because the summoners wwould send them to oblivion for that. The actual process of summoning is interesting aswell. The summoner creates a mental bond with whatever he has summoned. This way the champion and the summoner have equal control over the champion. Summoners are also able to revive, create and from bodies though they are not able to do the same thing with souls and minds. Minions and Baron are will-less creatures that were just created to fight on the fields of justice for example. We as players represent summoners by the way

Riot is planning to remove the setting above though because of several reasons. For example are champions almost like puppets of the summoners and the lore of a champion needs to be bound to the League and why he/she joined it. And while I can understand why that is it leaves some major plotholes in the existing lore we have. Riot stated that all of lore that they created before would still be valid even though they are moving away from the League-Lore.

That just makes no sense at all though. The Journal of Justice would be completely invalid, some Champion Lores that involve the League now make no sense aswell. Lee for example only decided to become a monk because he failed as a summoner. With summoners not existing, he never had a reason to become the blind monk he is right now. Another really big plothole is that Demacia and Noxus never had a reason to stop the Runic Wars without summoners stopping them. This also creates about the biggest plothole of all, why do champions even fight on Summoners Rift, get revived like nothing ever happened, do minions and monsters just chill around there and much more.

Riot still is great at storytelling, the Bilgewater event is the best example for that. Yet I demand some information and explanation on what the Lore is right now. A story without setting just sucks. For example, how does Bilgewater fit in the big picture? How do you explain the Summoners Rift, the other fields of justice and everyone fighting on it? Riot stated that they are moving away from the idea of summoning but just how much? If the old lore still counts as you stated, how the hell is it supposed to make sense without summoning and the League? And lastly, why is the game still called League of Legends and the map Summoners Rift? It should be called "Legends" and "Rift" at this point.

If you are interested in the Lore I've got some Links for you: http://leagueoflegends.wikia.com/wiki/Category%3AThe_Journal_of_Justice_Issues http://euw.leagueoflegends.com/en/site/bilgewater/#story-1 http://www.newsoflegends.com/index.php/azir-and-xeraths-lore-updated-28017/ http://leagueoflegends.wikia.com/wiki/Swain/Background ( On the LoL-Wiki website you can find every background of any champion that was ever published. In swains background you can find parts of the journal of justice, his client-lore and the league judgement which I found nowhere else)

1 Comments

Lost R8/4/2015, 2:43:53 PM1 votes

What you're witnessing is Riot jumping the gun on announcing the lore retcon before setting all of the pieces in place. Yes, it maroons a lot of champions whose entire existence was the League and Institute of War (Morgana, Kayle, Alistar, Brand, Jax, Nocturne, Fiddlesticks, Elise, Malphite, Taric) and throws much of the established history up into the air (what ended the occupation? Are Demacia and Noxus still at war, or are we in a momentary ceasefire?), but I think the recent champion stories since at least Jinx were written with the idea that they were no longer trying to enter the League of Legends, though you could argue that this could go all the way back to Vi and possibly even further. You may not have noticed it, but your brain did.

I think Riot's hand was forced because eventually people were going to catch on about the notable lack of League in people's lores. Problem is, this now means you have to walk back the lores of some 100+ champions along with the current state of Runeterra and all the various countries; it's quite the undertaking, even in an ideal situation. With some logical deduction, however, most of the established lore doesn't need to be changed that much. Noxus and Demacia are still at war (minus magic nukes), Ionia still got occupied by Noxus, Master Yi is still out for revenge against Singed, The Crystal Scar is still a vast mining operation because shiny (possibly magic) crystals, LeBlanc masqueraded as Jarvan IV for a time, and the Shadow Isles is still a clusterfuck of undeath.

I don't think, however, that Bilgewater was ever meant to be anything more than your archetypal wretched hive. It's just that it's a narrative focus for the moment because it involves a feud between several characters we know.