I'm a little sad that Beatrice/Demon of Secrets and characters like it aren't explored more fully

Naalith·2/5/2018, 11:08:16 PM·13 votes·6,427 views

So I've been pretty hyped for the Swain update, he's always been a character I thought had a lot of potential and Riot really pulled it off in my opinion. A couple days after the reveal a Rioter said that Swain had tricked the demon into a Faustian bargain, only reversed and basically had control over the demon and its powers. Unfortunately this event wasn't really explained in Swain's lore, which sadly means it will basically never be explained in any great detail in a story. For those of you who haven't read the Swain bio yet, I'll give you this short little passage about how Swain captured the demon:

"Though his meticulous preparations took many years, Swain and his remaining allies seized control of Noxus in a single night. Physically restored by the demon, he crushed Darkwill in full view of his followers, leaving the throne shattered and empty."

It's not even horrible storytelling, it's just so vague and leaves so much to be desired. Don't get me wrong, Swain is the main character and any character whose power stems from something else SHOULD be the main focus of their own story, but I feel like even a couple sentences to a paragraph could have made the Demon's little piece of the story infinitely better. It doesn't have to be the most in depth thing ever, but you also can't deny that having Swain see a "darkness" after every battle and realizing the ravens are eating secrets only to then explain what he did about this fact in two sentences that don't even explain what the demon is, how it was tricked into the bargain, what powers this even gives Swain, etc. just feels super unsatisfying. That passage basically just reads like "Swain noticed the demon and then he captured the demon and then something something cool he's superpowered now and he has the throne and the end."

Again, Riot hit it out of the park with the Swain update and basically everything in the Noxian lore update besides this little rant about the Demon was amazing. I love Darius, I can't wait to learn more about LeBlanc, the Faceless is super cool (and is probably LeBlanc), and I love the fact that Noxus isn't just a bunch of evil dudes who literally live inside a skull mountain anymore. There's a lot of depth and room to explore for future stories, and that's an awesome thing. I'm a little sad we didn't get Riven and more backstory for Sion, but hopefully we'll see Riven in Ionia when Irelia or Akali reworks come out.

That being said, I can't shake the feeling that Riot needs to give a little more explanation for side characters who are integral to champion kits. I had the same problem when Kayn came out, Rhaast is literally half of Kayn's kit but we know basically nothing about him other than that he's particularly bloodthirsty and one of the five darkin. I do believe he is the Well of Death mentioned in LeBlanc's lore and hopefully we get more story for him when Aatrox or a new darkin comes out, but at the same time it seems like the best time to go in-depth on a side character's story is when the main character of said story releases. Elise and the Spider God is another painfully vague example that comes to mind.

Anyways, that's just a small rant from a lore nerd. I only rant about small stuff like this because I really want to see the fantastical elements behind lots of champions explored more, as a general rule though Riot's lore department is amazing and I really appreciate that Riot lets you go above and beyond what essentially any other online game with so many characters is allowed to do from a storytelling department. Other than my desire for Beatrice to be explained more this lore drop was great and I'm looking forward to more. Other than the lack of Riven, Sion, and Talon, what did everybody else think of the Noxus lore drop?

18 Comments

HonestJohnTheCon2/5/2018, 11:11:13 PM5 votes

I think the point was to leave a hanging plot thread to pick up later in the year/future updates.

I would've liked more details on the extent of his power, as well as how he pulled it off. But perhaps vague mystery is the best route for now.

"Terror coming... vagueness coming!"

ModKnightsKemplar2/5/2018, 11:20:08 PM4 votes

They're still playing the long game here. I have no doubt that we'll one day get some details on that (provided League of Legends lasts long enough).

The lore team is still playing catch-up on all of the characters and everything from the retcon; once they're reasonably caught up, we can really get the ball rolling on some innovative story-telling, I think. But it's going to take some more time; that much is clear.

ZT Xperimentor2/5/2018, 11:36:30 PM2 votes

''It's not even horrible storytelling, it's just so vague and leaves so much to be desired.'' This right here is why I haven't been fond of their bio rewrites, they strip the personality of the character out of their background without giving a reason or replacement for the narrative; each time leaving behind some unfulfilling and uninteresting filler, stupefying the whole point of their background in the first place. It's not that vagueness can't be a good tool for storytelling, but it'll drown out any plot if there's too much of it; compare it to fiddlesticks for example, some unexpectedly possessed scarecrow that's supposed to be a sign of the end times, leaves a lot to speculation without making it feel pointless.

Whyte Lyon2/5/2018, 11:46:39 PM2 votes

I've seen a writer confirm that their stories genuinely have a word limit, so take that for what you will.

Mieczyslaw2/6/2018, 2:59:44 AM2 votes

"It's not even horrible storytelling, it's just so vague and leaves so much to be desired."

How do you say it's not horrible and then say what makes it horrible? It is horrible. They tried to tell too much for the amount of space they allotted.

GenoXx2/6/2018, 5:38:28 AM1 votes

That's what Riot does. They leave bread crumbs and I've far been annoyed by it.

Drugoth2/6/2018, 5:48:06 PM1 votes

My theory is that whoever is in charge of proof reading and editing is just lazy so they set a limit on how much the writers can write lol.

[slayer-jinx-wink]

Space Odity5/18/2018, 7:32:47 PM1 votes

Ever since I read Swain's new lore I kept on thinking that the way he conquered the demon is a secret , which is a pun, because the demon is a demon of secrets
wink wink