Name a Champion whose story "couldn't progress" because of the League.

CupcakeTrap·Nov 17, 2014·21 votes·6,763 views

http://i.imgur.com/k3uWOAe.jpg

I jotted this thread down on the old forum before the transition to Boards:

Link: Name a Champion whose story "couldn't progress" because of the League

I've been meaning to revise this, polish it up, and post a new version on these boards. In the meantime, any feedback or suggestions?

You can also feel free to submit new "challenges", or to take a stab at handling some yourself. (It's not rocket science, Narrative's protestations that it's "too hard" notwithstanding.)

89 Comments

CupcakeTrapNov 17, 201423 votes

Most of that thread is somewhat lighthearted, but, of course, there was a very serious discussion of Syndra joining the League.

Originally Posted by CataclysmCrash View Post You can't argue Syndra. It's too little too late.

Legit murdered someone and uplifted a solid block of the country side. Summoners get to dig through her mind. They ain't going to be like "Alright she seems legit" and let her in the League with her free will.

Instead a story would have to be written, possibly involving Zed (running with the power theme) where the Kinkou and Karma/Irelia fight them and arrest them.

To which I responded:

I don't think being a murderous psychopath keeps someone out of the League. It just means that Ionia isn't going to sponsor her. This is realpolitik. Most factions in the League — not individual Champions or Summoners, but most entire factions, entire nations — are guilty of horrific crimes by the laws of other factions. That doesn't matter: the League is a supranational body. It can be called on to punish war crimes and adjudicate armed conflicts between nations, but it doesn't care what a Champion has done to their own faction. If she sets foot on Ionian soil, Ionia can arrest her, but Ionia has no jurisdiction over her within the Institute, or in Noxus, or anywhere else.

So she shows up, and Noxus is all "she's gonna fight for us kthx" ^.^

and Morgana goes, "omg wtf we don't need more mages srsly she's like 18 this is ****ing insulting im a fallen angel and you want to recruit a ****ing teenager **** this"

and Noxus is all "w/e ur support now"

and then Noxus is like "(frostfang pretty strong on you now imo)"

and LeBlanc is like "what about me"

and Noxus is all "lol nerfed. but srsly summoners we want her k? so do the paperwork and stuff"

and some dorky Summoner from Ionia is like, "uh, guys, this chick is totally nuts. I don't even need to read her mind. Talk with her for five minutes and she'll start raving about how she wants to murder Ionia's elders and rule over Valoran with an iron fist. Seriously, she's bat**** insane. Why would we want to help her become more powerful?"

and then Noxus is like, "Gosh, maybe we'd better persuade a founding member of the League to demand her entrance, like, a world superpower that the League can't ignore. OH WAIT **** THAT'S US. So how about you *****es write down whatever Judgment you want, then let her in. Instead of talking about a bunch of things that 'might' happen. I mean, hey, Demacia, everyone deserves a chance, right?"

and the Ionian dude is like "omg demacia don't u ****ing do this"

and the Demacian Summoner is like, "everyone deserves a chance and we have anger management classes maybe the good summoners of the league can help her find tru peace"

and the Noxian Summoner is like, "yeah, totes"

and the Ionian Summoner is like "karma srsly ur like a master diplomat do something"

and Karma is like "w/e id rather have her in the league doing ARAMs than wrecking ionia"

and the Ionian Summoner is all like :(

and Noxus is like "superpower" ^.^

and Syndra is like :3

and Noxus is like, "lol ur a cat"

insaiyanbaccaNov 17, 201410 votes

i like this i may save this somewhere on my computer lol

Killer X 12Nov 18, 20142 votes

much love

dengenNov 19, 20143 votes

tx for making my night after work, lol

Maple CrusaderNov 17, 20147 votes

Alright, I have a few champs in mind: Renekton and Warwick. I'm not sure how Renekton's story with the League's existence would progress because he's a prisoner in the league (unless he's not a prisoner in the new lore, which I hate immensely) and he doesn't have much potential development in his personality other than being bloodthirsty and mad. Warwick's new lore makes him completely focused on killing Soraka. Sure, champions have fought against each other outside the Fields of Justice (Karthus ended up dead when Malz and Kass fought one time), but Warwick would never be able to eat Soraka's heart as long as the League is still around.

eztarg3tNov 17, 201414 votes

Are you implying Warwick should be allowed to eat Soraka's heart?

[Seriously though, this is one of my greatest fears with the lore ret-con.]

NarasimhaNov 18, 20143 votes

I think merely having the actual opportunity to do so is interesting in itself.

WW tries to kill Soraka but is fended off by Leona or WW tries to kill Soraka, but she escapes in critical condition or even WW tries to kill Soraka, but she retaliates, wounding him and driving him off for a time.

Sounds a bit more interesting than being on a never-ending hunt.

eztarg3tNov 18, 20144 votes

I won't lie and say it isn't interesting but that doesn't make it any less terrifying for me.

Seriously, if Soraka ends up biting the proverbial bullet, I'm gonna be one salty mofo. She's pretty much the reason why I stuck it out with League.

Ulric GreatswordNov 19, 20141 votes

But all of those scenarios could still have happened with the league's existence. The only one that would require the league's removal would be

WW actually kills Soraka, gets her heart, cures himself, and is no longer a werewolf, effectively killing off two characters.

The existence of the league explains why a naive entity like Soraka hasn't been (quite literally) hunted down by the best tracker in Runeterra. Without political repercussions for killing her or a safe haven where WW wouldn't be allowed to harm her, the story of the "never-ending hunt" requires either a huge suspension of disbelief or really powerful allies constantly protecting Soraka. (and yes, I know she has star powers and (lore-wise at least) can defend herself, but from what we know about Warwick he is cunning enough to outmaneuver her/trap her/etc.)

NarasimhaNov 19, 20142 votes

Not really, it could just as easily boil down to "Soraka joins Demacia, lending her aid in exchange for their protection." Boom. Now it becomes extremely hard for WW to get to Soraka, and she still can be placed in very real danger.

CupcakeTrapNov 17, 201415 votes

Here's a five-minute answer for Warwick.

Warwick Warwick

Essential Lore. ~~Soraka sacrificed her divinity to turn him into a mid-tier Jungler.~~ He's a Zaunite manhunter who drank an incomplete magical potion and turned himself into a mid-tier Jungler who increasingly empathizes with the wolf camp. He needs to eat Soraka's heart to stabilize his transformation, before he's demoted from Champion to jungle creep.
Soraka's Heart. There's an inherent problem with this story as written, which is that Warwick obviously can't succeed (because it would remove Soraka) or fail and go insane (because it would effectively remove Warwick). Note, however, that the League isn't the problem here: the problem lies with writing a story hook that relies on one major character killing another major character. Take away the League, and it's still a dead-end story.
Proposed Fix. As a free bonus, let me address that. Maybe it's not just Soraka's heart that will do this. Maybe tearing the heart out of some other celestial being would do the trick. Maybe Soraka's mentor, patron, or friend would suffice. He probably doesn't know this "right now", but he could discover it.
The League. Warwick's problem is fundamentally a magical one. The League is a great place to go for that. Through the League, he could convince Summoners or other Champions to double-check Singed's diagnosis. (Insert story of him allying with them and earning their support, likely in a bloody fashion.) They might discover that, hey, another celestial being would do the trick as well.
Aside—Rewriting versus deleting. I'm not apologizing in these snippets for embellishing or slightly modifying established lore. That's clearly not off the table, given that the alternative is (apparently) to completely erase the League of Legends from the lore of League of Legends. Still, I'm trying to hew as close to established canon as possible, strongly favoring "reveals" over "rewrites" (e.g. "everyone thought X, turns out it's actually more like Y").
Combat off the Fields. It's true, there's this one derpy JoJ issue that says something about how Champions aren't allowed to fight off the Fields. That's a problem. I'd blend that in with the following elaboration: the brawl between Malz and Kassadin was especially problematic because it happened relatively near the Institute. I can't imagine the League has too much ability to do more than finger-wag at fights in other nation-states, but within its own territory, it can probably impose harsher terms. With so many super-human Champions (and so much dangerously high-energy magic) in the area, it's a veritable powder-keg, and the League has both the power and the motivation to smack down anyone who starts super-brawling in that area. However, I don't think the League would prevent Warwick from trying to gut Soraka on a battlefield somewhere outside the League's territory. If it's part of a war that the League is overseeing and has allowed, then it ought to be kosher.
Option One: War. Warwick gets in on a war (one that's lawful under the League's rules: contained, no Rune Wars magic, etc.) and tries to bait Soraka into a duel or an ambush. If he can do that, he can (quite lawfully) rip her heart out of her chest and avoid his jungle-camp fate. (He can't succeed, obvs, but his attempt could be a story.)
Option Two: There is Another! His allies at the League might discover that there is another way: if Warwick could get the heart of another celestial being, that should stabilize his transformation. There aren't a lot of them about, but Ionia has some. Insert adventure where Warwick goes to hunt him/her down. He could ally with someone like Zed for this.

TaarkiNov 17, 20149 votes

Plot twist. Teemo has a heart just like raka. and ww kills him, removing teemo from the game!

NarasimhaNov 18, 20145 votes

But... Teemo is already a heartless soulless demonspawn..

SharjoNov 17, 20145 votes

I'll stick my hand in, as much as my gut tells me not to, because well, screw it. On the question at hand: No one. Everyone could have developed if they kept the League. It's not like anyone disagrees with that. In the dev blog, Riot said they could do it, but essentially didn't want to. Why? Because the stories involved were, in their opinion highly contrived and sometimes, not all of the time, things being contrived kinda sucks. Here's my thing here: this question seems like a trap because contrivance solves it completely. An example:

Vel'Koz's Velkoz is the super cool lasery void floaty guy of doom. His purpose is to consume and learn, but his ultimate goal is to attain the ultimate knowledge. He believes Zilean Zilean , floaty timey whimey old guy of Urtistan who he's never met holds this knowledge. This means he wants to meet and kill Zilean, because Vel'Koz learns by lasering things to oblivion.

So Vel'Koz goes around, gets some intel, finds Zilean, and then stops because there's an institution of people in his way. At this point, the story goes one of two ways:

Vel'Koz says fuck these sods and tries to fight his way to Zilean, and winds up imprisoned.
Vel'Koz decides to be sneaky about it, either by hatching a plan to trick the summoners or covertly getting through their defenses to get to Zilean.

The first option kills his story dead in its tracks and puts him in the "Next step of the story is his break out!" a story that Cho'Gath, Brand, Renekton and Nocturne all suffered from. These summoners can keep a primal fire elemental, a monstorous void creature, a (former) alien warrior and a living nightmare imprisoned potentially indefinetly. So what happens then? A contrivance to solve the problem. A rogue summoner breaks him free, he somehow manages to figure out how to break free despite the sheer implausibility of such a thing, malzahar breaks him out, which is also pretty implausible considering that the Summoner's are probably sensible enough to not let him do that. Either these contrivances (there's likely more I haven't thought of) or some big institute shattering event would need to happen.

The first part of of the second option is unlike Vel'Koz. He's not the kind of entity to negotiate well with humans, especially considering that his kind are not so well received in Runeterra. The second option is more plausible but this is the INSTITUTE OF WAR. They'd figure it out. If they didn't it'd be poor writing IMO. If the institute can figure out how to keep so many baddies in check, what about Vel'Koz is so sodding special that he can't be? How is this solved? A contrived story to sort it out. I actually can't figure one, and kinda don't want to, because I feel like it'd be insulting Vel'Koz to do so, and I really like the little guy- wait no he's huge. I really like the big guy!

A contrived story can work, and be compelling, but you can't do it too many times or else it just feels really cheap. This is why filler anime is generally always bad, at least in my opinion, because in order to make it a reasonable threat, it has to have some kind of powers and involve certain characters in ways that mess with things. The contrivance there sucks, and is wears you down really quickly.

In League's case the same applies. If one imprisoned character escapes, the rest are fucked. Because logically, the rest of them would never be able to escape because the methods for keeping them imprisoned would drastically improve, and by extension their chances of escaping dramatically fall to around 0%. If they wanna make those characters get out and develop properly, they have to compound things further and make an even BIGGER contrivance to allow for it. For me, that shit would get old really fast. You can only pull contrivances once or twice before they get old.

So in the end I have to ask, not who couldn't develop because of the League, but who couldn't develop without a contrived story to push them along? To be clear, contrived stories can be great, but League would need to many.

CupcakeTrapNov 18, 20145 votes

So in the end I have to ask, not who couldn't develop because of the League, but who couldn't develop without a contrived story to push them along?

This is not a symmetric situation of "which version does Narrative like better? A universe with a League or a universe without a League?" First, it's called League of Legends: deleting the League is a truly bizarre act that should only be considered if there's no other way. Second, retcons are inherently problematic, because of the damage they do to continuity, prior lore, and the organic universe of the story.

Is it a game with a story or a story with a game? I think the latter option is supremely arrogant. No; the core experience of League of Legends is a game, and the story is there to add life and color to the game, explaining what we're looking at and giving us a place in the game's universe. This is what backstories are for.

Even if we hopped in a time machine and went back to the creation of League, when the second factor (i.e. that this is a living, growing universe, and you can't go around retroactively hacking pieces out and expect it to survive) wouldn't apply—and let me remind you this is a counterfactual scenario—the first factor alone would suffice to show what a misplay this retcon is. Imagine you go up to the early Riot team and pitch Narrative's story. "Yeah, that's cute, but it's not an actual story for this game. Maybe you didn't see: the core experience of this game is Summoner's Rift. You're telling me your story has no Summoner's Rift? Wait, what? You don't even have Summoners? Or a League of Legends? Dude, you had one job."

Speaking of time machines:

Vel'Koz's is the super cool lasery void floaty guy of doom. His purpose is to consume and learn, but his ultimate goal is to attain the ultimate knowledge. He believes Zilean , floaty timey whimey old guy of Urtistan who he's never met holds this knowledge. This means he wants to meet and kill Zilean, because Vel'Koz learns by lasering things to oblivion.

So Vel'Koz goes around, gets some intel, finds Zilean, and then stops because there's an institution of people in his way.

This is not a problem unique to the League. Actually, the League somewhat solves it. Let me explain.

Delete the League, and you still have the basic problem here: someone's got to stop Vel'koz from killing Zilean. What's awkward is giving Vel'koz a quest that involves killing another major character. You can have someone stop him—the League, Demacia, Azir, Noxus, Zilean himself—but you usually only get to write that two or three times before it starts looking kind of goofy.

How does the League solve this problem? Well, here's an example.

Who says they've got to lock Vel'koz up? Maybe he just joins the League. Why would he do this? Because in the League he gets to disintegrate-scan all kinds of stuff, including people, over and over again. (Who says that one disintegration is enough? He's a chaos monster, after all; perhaps every nuance of the setting adds data. Perhaps he learns as much or more from disintegrating Teemo the hundredth time—something he can't normally do—as from the first.) True, he'd have to promise not to go around disintegrating people within the Institute when off the Fields, but once he crosses that border he becomes somebody else's problem.
Something that keeps coming up: being a League Champion can be a big part of a Champion's story (and it's great for telling lots of kinds of stories, especially more political ones), or a small part. Maybe for Vel'koz it's a big part: it can be a springboard for him to go investigating all kinds of arcane mysteries. But if you like, it can be a small part: "he shows up at the League every now and then for matches, so he can study Champions, then he goes and spends most of his time being spooky Vel'koz."
Maybe the prospect of scanning all these Champions is so tantalizing that he'd be okay with getting locked up, at least for a while.

Out of space now, but there you go.

CupcakeTrapNov 18, 20147 votes

Ran out of reply space.

One more preliminary remark: while I'm happy to outline future plot material to allow for multi-part, complex story arcs, let's remember that Narrative's definitely not churning pieces out on a weekly basis. It's not like they're desperate for fresh material. The overwhelming majority of Champions, perhaps 90% or more, haven't had a token side-role in new lore so far. (That percentage dwindles to nearly 0% if you further ask who's had "real story progression" that would have been in any way inconvenienced by the League.)

In League's case the same applies. If one imprisoned character escapes, the rest are fucked. Because logically, the rest of them would never be able to escape because the methods for keeping them imprisoned would drastically improve, and by extension their chances of escaping dramatically fall to around 0%.

Hey Summoner Jeff Goldblum, what do you have to say about that?

"The Void, uhhhhhhhhh, finds a way."

I wouldn't be too quick to assume that the League can lock Void monsters or anything else down with 100% certainty. Especially not transdimensional beings.

There are alternatives, but I think the "Void jailbreak" plot works rather well:

Imprisonment. Many if not all Void monsters start as "prisoners" of the League. The League thinks it's done a good job of trapping them. The Void monsters tell them often that they wouldn't be there if they didn't want to be. The League tries to ignore these claims, double- and triple-hexing all their cells to hold them in, posting guards, asking all their best mages to confirm that they're secure. Good story material here; at least a few story updates' worth.
**Scheming.***Meanwhile, the Void monsters rampage across the Fields of Justice and tempt Summoners and Champions alike with offers of knowledge from distant realms. (This is the "Shadows"/"Mr. Morden" angle.) You remember Cho'gath telling you that YOU HAVE STAINS UPON YOUR SOUL—that's what I'm talking about. Every time you summon them, they get deeper into your head. A few Summoners probably go crazy. Plenty of story material here.
Jailbreak. Then, they escape! They take over Icathia. The League might end up realizing that it's impossible to truly contain Void creatures. Now, the challenge here is that you need to explain why they're still fighting in the League. Maybe it's a pretty rare event, but that sometimes, at the request of parties with whom the Void has had its dark dealings, the Void monsters show up on the Fields. They're not afraid of the League; the League doesn't even try to lock them up again, because they have a feeling that might provoke a rampage through Valoran, or at least a messy demise for at least several members of whatever band of Summoners and Champions try to lock them up like that.

I think that's, if anything, more interesting than "and they wander Valoran and do spooky things sometimes but nooooooone knooooows if they're real! Oooooooooooooooh!" Of course, they can still spend most of their time wandering Valoran being spooky, if that's what you want, but the League is a great way to show them getting their hooks into Valoran and corrupting the power-hungry with otherworldly temptation.

Sneak DogNov 18, 20144 votes

Imagine is a champions' VO changes as you summon him more and more often as build-up to an event. Cho'Gath trying to slowly pull you into the darkness. Kassadin trying to convince you that you need to make a stand against these monsters. Malzahar trying to convince you to do him this little favor, perhaps asking you to play a match as Kog'Maw (unranked only).

Then after a week this event pops up on the homepage of LoL revealing that summoners have already taken a side (perhaps including you, even though you might have barely realised).

This kind of immersion, this potential, is what I miss without IoW.

CupcakeTrapNov 18, 20144 votes

Imagine is a champions' VO changes as you summon him more and more often as build-up to an event. Cho'Gath trying to slowly pull you into the darkness. Kassadin trying to convince you that you need to make a stand against these monsters. Malzahar trying to convince you to do him this little favor, perhaps asking you to play a match as Kog'Maw (unranked only).

Then after a week this event pops up on the homepage of LoL revealing that summoners have already taken a side (perhaps including you, even though you might have barely realised).

This kind of immersion, this potential, is what I miss without IoW.

Hear, hear. This is something we really strive for in Factions. I recently did a review post on the finale of Hextech Revolution which discusses this. What makes Factions lore exciting, IMO, is that the events you're seeing resulted from real decisions by Summoners, and the outcomes of matches they fought.

Like, in that lore update, it was definitely not a given that Demacia would attack. They could have decided to wait and try to win in the League before resorting to such desperate measures, or they could have told Ceruleana off. (It was actually engineered as a way to potentially write Ceruelana out, or at least reduce her relevance.) As for her prophecy, that was also rolled out: to keep ourselves honest, we didn't pre-ordain that she was right or wrong, and there was a whole spectrum of possibilities. The Battle of Shurima itself was resolved significantly through matches.

It makes it so much more exciting to me than something written entirely by authorial fiat in some sterile cleanroom isolated from gameplay or players. People are still arguing over the Battle of Shurima. Come by the Factions chat and you'll often see someone commenting about "betrayordles" or making an argument about who was in the right and who was in the wrong. To me, that's living lore.

HellioningNov 17, 20144 votes

I think most of the 'imprisoned by the League' champs might have had difficulty showing up in any sort of way with the League in place. Basically the only option for a story they had is 'AND THEN CHO GATH BREAKS OUT!' Which isn't a bad thing, but I do think the League was limiting their options when it comes to those champions.

EDIT: I guess that wasn't what you were asking, though. I can't think of any champ that had hit a dead end in their story, except possibly by Riot not WANTING them to continue their story. For example, Demacia's faults never showing up after Lux's judgement.

CupcakeTrapNov 17, 20144 votes

I think most of the 'imprisoned by the League' champs might have had difficulty showing up in any sort of way with the League in place. Basically the only option for a story they had is 'AND THEN CHO GATH BREAKS OUT!' Which isn't a bad thing, but I do think the League was limiting their options when it comes to those champions.

EDIT: I guess that wasn't what you were asking, though. I can't think of any champ that had hit a dead end in their story, except possibly by Riot not WANTING them to continue their story. For example, Demacia's faults never showing up after Lux's judgement.

No, that's very much the sort of thing I'm asking about. In the linked thread, many of the Champion entries are "imprisoned Champions". These are admittedly the most difficult, but in most cases the constraint of their captivity actually makes them more interesting. (Otherwise, they'd just be rampaging around until they destroy the world or get hunted down.)

MEMEME670Nov 17, 20141 votes

This makes no sense. How is a character who does literal nothing more interesting than a character who is rampaging and could potentially face hardships or challenges?

Not that either option is extremely interesting most of the time, though.

CupcakeTrapNov 17, 20146 votes

This makes no sense. How is a character who does literal nothing more interesting than a character who is rampaging and could potentially face hardships or challenges?

The imprisonment is itself a hardship and a challenge. Look at my Nocturne example, for instance. If free, Nocturne is likely to just run around giving people heart attacks in their sleep. It's not a very interesting story. But what if someone offered to open a teensy tiny gap in his prison, just enough for him to slip out and do some killing? His "liberators" warn him that he can't be obvious about it, or the League will realize what's going on and lock him down even tighter. It becomes a cat-and-mouse game. He does his contract killings, but he must be devious and clever to cover his tracks. Add in an adversary investigating those mysterious deaths and you've got a great Deathnote-style storyline.

MEMEME670Nov 17, 20142 votes

Firstly, I find it dubious that the league wouldn't have security cameras or some equivalent.

Secondly, this ONLY works for nocturne, and only because he can move while remaining undetected. Cho, Xerath, Brand, etc can't do this, and thus are way less interesting as characters.

ALSO, it does not make sense for Nocturne to do this. You would have to put a collar-esque device on him that allowed you to track him, incapacitate him if necessary, AND prevent him from going 'spectral', else he would just leave. And if he can't go spectral, how can he leave the League?

CupcakeTrapNov 17, 20145 votes

Firstly, I find it dubious that the league wouldn't have security cameras or some equivalent.

Secondly, this ONLY works for nocturne, and only because he can move while remaining undetected. Cho, Xerath, Brand, etc can't do this, and thus are way less interesting as characters.

ALSO, it does not make sense for Nocturne to do this. You would have to put a collar-esque device on him that allowed you to track him, incapacitate him if necessary, AND prevent him from going 'spectral', else he would just leave. And if he can't go spectral, how can he leave the League?

My impression was that Nocturne could invade people's dreams without "physically" floating around; the bladed shadow-monster is just his corporeal manifestation. That's part of why he's so dangerous: no amount of ordinary security will keep him out of your head at night.

I mean, if he has to like float over to you to get at your dreams, then he's not really that scary. A lot of Champions can kill you dead if they're standing over you while you're asleep. (Enjoy your Teemo nightmares tonight.)

Cho, Xerath, Brand, etc can't do this, and thus are way less interesting as characters.

At the risk of sounding impolite—I would request that you read the linked thread.

Killer of PorosNov 18, 20144 votes

Jax Why does this guy exist if there is no institute of war? He's just a mercenary who was good at fighting in the league and wasn't known for anything before that.

CupcakeTrapNov 18, 20148 votes

Why does this guy exist if there is no institute of war? He's just a mercenary who was good at fighting in the league and wasn't known for anything before that.

Well, I mean, that's kind of my point. Riot might come back and say, "But we have a totally new Leagueless bio for Jax!", but that's not within the parameters of the original challenge. Obviously, you can take any Champion you like and redo their background from scratch.

I personally subscribe to the fanon that there's something kind of odd about Jax, and the League helps brings that out: e.g., with his strutting right past the Council during his "Judgment" (the doors swinging open before anyone could ask him anything), or his effortless hundred-win streak before he switched to the lamppost. Maybe he's Darkin, like Aatrox; maybe there's something about him that keeps him focusing on fighting as a pastime and an artistic pursuit rather than as a means to power.

I mean, I think his original lore was just a handwave "super tough merc dude who's comically awesome" backstory, but with just a few adjustments, one can add a lot of depth. He's also got this Zac-esque gruff, lovable side; I see him as having some dojo in Ionia and playing with kids. He fights as a merc, but he never comes close to unleashing his potential; he's just a dependable merc who for some reason uses a lamppost and still manages to beat people up.

Here's a Factions lore update I did for Jax: Not Your Hero

On a tangentially related note, this came up in another thread:

(redniwediS)

I don't know how a Noxian army would react to someone beating the crap out of them with a lamp post, but I could picture Jax fighting them off over and over in an attempt to humiliate them, not injure them.

(Me)

You know, that's an interesting angle. I had assumed that the invasion would be a "character-break" for Jax that revealed another side to him. But that's really pretty generic. I like the idea of him maintaining his friendly, gruff demeanor even on the battlefield.

The Ionians are demoralized. They're losing the will to fight. They've seen unspeakable death. It seems like all the world contains anymore is sadness and misery. They turned to anger, but anger only lasts so long.

Then, Jax comes strutting in. Everyone expects to now see Jax, their lovable friend, turn into a cold-blooded killer in a desperate attempt to defend Ionia, just like every other Ionian has had to become a soldier to survive. But no. He stays Jax. A veritable Jackie Chan movie plays out in front of their eyes as he humiliates the Noxians and drives them into retreat: all with his trusty lamppost. The city is saved, and the story spreads throughout Ionia, restoring hope and giving a few laughs to people who haven't had cause to laugh in a very long time.

warpenguin555Nov 17, 20143 votes

Lee Sin

CupcakeTrapNov 17, 201410 votes

LeeSin Lee Sin

Given that the Great Retcon deleted his origins (Summoner stricken with remorse for a fatal mistake), his striking introduction (setting himself on fire to convince the League to take jurisdiction of the Noxian invasion of Ionia and recognize Ionia as a member-state), and his current quest (representing Ionia in the League), I feel it's safe to say that the League is not an obstacle to his story progress. Deleting the League? Now that sounds like a problem for his story.

ULTRAF0RCENov 17, 20142 votes

Brand, his character in general makes it impossible to create a story with him, the removal of the league means that there is an easy excuse to make him be whoever they want him to be, also he can be a reverse pre big lore xerath he can go from being Jafar to some dude who likes fire too much

CupcakeTrapNov 18, 201410 votes

Brand, his character in general makes it impossible to create a story with him, the removal of the league means that there is an easy excuse to make him be whoever they want him to be, also he can be a reverse pre big lore xerath he can go from being Jafar to some dude who likes fire too much

I think Brand is in that category of Champions whose backgrounds are inherently problematic, not because of the League but because they're written in such a way that their story is hard to move forward. If anything, the League improves the situation.

I actually addressed Brand in that linked thread; he was one of the first challenges I received.

NarasimhaNov 18, 20142 votes

I think I posed this in the original thread, but I thought about it a bit.

Gangplank

If I recall correctly, you responded with "He could be in the League for political reasons." But I did a bit of thinking, and I came to this: He's a PIRATE. What use for gaining favor in politics? If anything, it'd be easier for him to just roam and Bilgewater and gain fame (or infamy) from there. He doesn't gain too much from the League, and he doesn't lose anything from it either.

CupcakeTrapNov 18, 20147 votes

I think I posed this in the original thread, but I thought about it a bit.

If I recall correctly, you responded with "He could be in the League for political reasons." But I did a bit of thinking, and I came to this: He's a PIRATE. What use for gaining favor in politics? If anything, it'd be easier for him to just roam and Bilgewater and gain fame (or infamy) from there. He doesn't gain too much from the League, and he doesn't lose anything from it either.

Gangplank's entry into the League indicates he might want something more than just being a really scary pirate. Here's that reply again: (out of space; see next comment)

Gangplank gains some complexity through the League. Without it, he's just a pirate running around pillaging. Those stories can be fun, but I think he's more interesting if he's also a League representative for Bilgewater. It helps develop Bilgewater as a deeply chaotic faction, with pirates, merchants, and people like the Marai (Nami's civilization) all jostling under one banner for a common goal of League status. (Compare: internally fractured countries fighting for EU membership.)

Essential Lore. Gangplank is the son of an infamous pirate. He comes from Bilgewater, a maritime city-state ruled by pirate clans and merchants. He now represents Bilgewater in the League of Legends.
Note — Factions. I'd be remiss not to mention that Gangplank has developed had some story progression via Factions; the latest arc features Bilgewater as a playable faction. Here's a snippet of him from the introduction, and here's an epilogue to the previous arc in which you can see how the League allows more complex conflict between him and MF, rather than just having them shoot at each other as they would outside the Institute.
Story. Want a story about Gangplank just pirating? This is just as possible with the League as without it. Have a conflict between, say, Piltover and Zaun. Zaun issues Gangplank and other Bilgewater pirates letters of marque allowing them to raid Piltovian ships.
Development. Nami joins the League under Bilgewater's flag, to search for the Moonstone. She discovers the secret to creating a new Moonstone, but it will require arcane materials forged by the Lunari long ago. Hearing there's treasure to be had in the same trove, Gangplank joins Nami, Diana, and whoever else as they voyage to the location described in the League's records. Miss Fortune might well come along, adding tension: nothing stops them from killing each other once they leave the Institute, but the League also makes that dynamic much more interesting, due to their common cause of advancing Bilgewater within the League. (Without the League, it's just an action scene; with the League, there's something for them to chew on.)
Development. The above is more of a typical pirate story, with the League weaving in some substance. If you want Gangplank to change somewhat, though, the League can certainly do that as well. One example: Gangplank could decide he's not happy with just being the leader of a bunch of pirates, struggling to survive and kicked around by more powerful factions. The League provides a natural avenue toward him realizing that the world's a lot bigger than Bilgewater. He'd see the big factions raking in some impressive coin through their legalized pillage and plunder. And maybe he'd start to wonder if sailing around boarding ships isn't a chump's game. So he gets serious. He goes to Nami, and tells her "here be my terms" for an alliance with the Marai. He goes to Fizz, and he helps him find the Atlanteans, with the intent of gathering more allies. He forges Bilgewater into a serious faction, representing not just Bilgewater itself but the Marai and Atlanteans. (Random idea: he could use magic to blast Bilgewater free of the mainland, so that anyone wanting to attack it must go through its navy first.) The League recognizes Bilgewater's dominion over the seas. Bilgewater thereby has an "in" for essentially any international conflict.

NarasimhaNov 18, 20141 votes

Maybe its just me, but I still don't see it as 'vital'. Helpful to his story yes, but not really something he needs.

Does he want to unite Bilgewater? Become the Pirate King and rule with an iron fist. Does he want to make Bilgewater more present in the world? Solidfy its place as the strongest Navy. Why does he want to do all this? Maybe the most recent Black Mist made him realize that his hometown isn't as strong as it should be, and that it needs to gain power and influence. What if he encounters Nami and Fizz's people? He help them as he sees fit.

CupcakeTrapNov 18, 20148 votes

Maybe its just me, but I still don't see it as 'vital'. Helpful to his story yes, but not really something he needs.

Does he want to unite Bilgewater? Become the Pirate King and rule with an iron fist. Does he want to make Bilgewater more present in the world? Solidfy its place as the strongest Navy. Why does he want to do all this? Maybe the most recent Black Mist made him realize that his hometown isn't as strong as it should be, and that it needs to gain power and influence. What if he encounters Nami and Fizz's people? He help them as he sees fit.

I don't think the League is vital to GP, though it may be to a more complex portrayal than "yar har har pirate dude". (And I'm not convinced that this is needed: I think there's a lot to be said for clear, simple Champions.) But it doesn't stop his story from progressing.

The proposition I'm advocating is that the League doesn't (on balance) prevent Champions' stories from progressing. I'm not volunteering to argue the extreme position that "every Champion is most fully realized by having all of their lore revolve around the League". That's crazy, and completely unnecessary. Some Champions will be closely tied to the League, others will have a few significant connections, and still others will basically have it as an interesting footnote and a sometimes-useful story hook to get them interacting with others.

CupcakeTrapNov 18, 20145 votes

I think I posed this in the original thread, but I thought about it a bit.

If I recall correctly, you responded with "He could be in the League for political reasons." But I did a bit of thinking, and I came to this: He's a PIRATE. What use for gaining favor in politics? If anything, it'd be easier for him to just roam and Bilgewater and gain fame (or infamy) from there. He doesn't gain too much from the League, and he doesn't lose anything from it either.

It gets to the question of what Gangplank wants. His entry into the League implies that he might want something more than just being a scary (and/or rich) pirate who plunders and pillages. I think that makes him more interesting.

If you're wed to the idea of Gangplank just being a played-straight pirate, and I'm sympathetic to that, here are a few alternatives.

He likes shooting people. This is a way to make the League a minor part of Gangplank's story. Just say that he enjoys showing up and shooting people, then getting paid for doing so. So he does that. There's no law that says that a Champion's story must revolve around the League. He's free to show up at the League, do his bang-bang-stab-stab-bling-bling, then go back to Bilgewater and resume being a pirate. If you want to talk about being fearsome and respected, regularly slaughtering Valoran's greatest heroes in personal combat sounds like a fantastic start.
Over his head. You could also engineer a scenario in which Gangplank gets in rather over his head, and needs to up his game beyond just being a pirate-y looter in response. Maybe Demacia gets fed up with him raiding ships and starts deploying its fleet to hunt down pirates. (I mean, Noxus would oppose League regulation of the high seas, especially if we're talking about its enemy Demacia hunting down its ally, Bilgewater, but whatever, maybe Noxus is having a bad week in matches and Demacia makes some dramatic headway. Or maybe Noxus has something else as its focus, and sells out Bilgewater to pursue that—okay, Demacia, do whatever you like with these pirates, so long as you lay off the Shadow Isles for a while.) Ruh roh. Suddenly, Gangplank realizes that he's got to play a smarter game than just raiding one ship after another, at least for the short term. So, insert story about him gathering support to "free the seas" (ocean neutrality?) or maybe find allies to amp up his pirate fleet, like some mercs from Zaun who want to steampunk his ships a little.

Twilight DrizzleNov 18, 20142 votes

Nami.

Because the ARAM Ghost was just fresh out of moonstones

CupcakeTrapNov 18, 201410 votes

Nami.

Because the ARAM Ghost was just fresh out of moonstones

This was actually the very first one I did in that thread. I've copied it below.

Nami Nami I'll get started with an oft-cited example: Nami. I seriously typed this response in about 20 seconds. I'm sure a team of 30+ professional authors could do much better.

Nami uses the League's resources to uncover the mystery of the Moonstone (surprise: it was the Lunari) and forge a new one. She saves the Marai. But in the process, she's come to realize that the Marai can't just hide (almost literally) under a rock forever: they need to join the larger world. Everyone expects her to resign from the League, now that her quest is complete. Instead, she declares that she will remain a Champion, fighting on behalf of the Marai, and perhaps her new friends. (Insert next story hook here.)

But I can do better than that. The current Factions chapter, Nyroth, includes Bilgewater as a playable faction. The Bilgewater Summoners voted Nami in as their leader, over MF and GP, and she has played a considerable part in the story so far.

No need to take my word for it. Hop into the "Factions" chat in-client and ask someone how Nami's story has progressed since the arc began. (Granted, we're in the process of writing out another major episode of her story as far as Nyroth goes, but there's already been a fair bit of movement.) That story is still playing out; the Nyroth arc will continue until December 21. You are welcome to sign up, hit the Fields, vote in lore events, and play a role in determining what happens next. How's that for immersion? (No pun intended.)

Twilight DrizzleNov 18, 20144 votes

Ok. I wasn't expecting an answer but.. Oh well xD

tau43Nov 17, 20141 votes

Nasus doesn't really have a reason any more.

Maple CrusaderNov 17, 20145 votes

Nasus doesn't really have a reason any more.

He may be fighting to keep Renekton in check and to keep an eye on Xerath. He probably has a feeling that Xerath will attempt to pull off another scheme once again, which could lead to a devastating disaster, similar to what happened to the ancient city of Shurima.

tau43Nov 17, 20144 votes

I could see him doing to keep Renekton in check.

NarasimhaNov 18, 20142 votes

If anything, he actually HAS a reason now. To find and keep Renekton in check. Before it was just "Eh. You summoned me. Bad things are happening here. I guess I could help."

CupcakeTrapNov 18, 20146 votes

Nasus doesn't really have a reason any more.

Sure he does. He's a librarian. The Institute is full of books. It also lets him keep Renekton in line, as LungDrakkar suggested.

The League is also currently overseeing Shurima. That provides a lot of material for Nasus, as a sort of de facto Shurima representative. (The one who isn't totally nuts.) Once Azir shows up, that gets even more interesting. Azir's got cred as the emperor, but Nasus is (presumably) much more respected as an ancient hero and level-headed intellectual, while Azir's a bit crazier and more ambitious.

delonixNov 18, 20141 votes

Ao Shin. Legend has it he will appear when Ionia faces its greatest crisis. The Institute of War and the League of Legends within have been holding off this crisis, which is apparently worse than a Noxian invasion.

Also, I'm curious if you still feel the same way about Fiddlesticks. Having him ult into an Institute of War meeting and start advocating for an independent Shadow Isles seems sort of out of character for the demon in the basement.

Sneak DogNov 18, 20147 votes

Fiddlesticks was a being that claimed a room in the institute biding his time. How is this story unprogressable?

The League of Legends tries many things. The summoners and champions that make up the League of Legends each have their own agenda too, regularly conflicting with the Leagues agenda. There's a reason why Kalamanda has all these suspicious events and how conveniently the League claimed both nexi in the only stable area and used them for a field of justice, essentially giving them control over the entire stable area. The institute kind of generates stories about intrigue by its very nature.

delonixNov 18, 2014

Fiddlesticks was a being that claimed a room in the institute biding his time. How is this story unprogressable?

Fiddlesticks' story was literally that he stood in a room and didn't move except to kill people who came to see him. How do you develop a character like that? He's supposed to be the harbinger of doom, but if he ever gets to the step of incipient doom he'll either be stopped (which ends his character development) or he brings doom, which, I'm guessing, would end the League and maybe his character development.

CupcakeTrap had an interesting answer in the other thread about Fiddlesticks, but it seemed strange to me. Basically, Fiddlesticks becomes a sort of rallying point for Shadow Isles champions to develop their own political agenda. That story would be awesome, but Fiddlesticks seems out of place in it.

I don't know if your second point is about Ao Shin or Fiddlesticks. I think an Ionian crisis would have to be larger than intrigue to summon Ao Shin. I also think the way Fiddlesticks' lore is written, he is not a candidate for any intrigue. I like CupcakeTrap's idea that Nocturne can be manipulated into killing specific people, but Fiddlesticks doesn't communicate with anyone, he just kills everyone who comes into his room.

XulsigaeNov 18, 20145 votes

A champion's lore is probably much easier to change for narrative purposes than the entire structure of the story and with less anger from fans. If say Fiddlesticks wasn't progressing, that doesn't mean it's the League's fault, but the writers.

His lore was actually changed from being connected with a witch to being a harbinger, so it wouldn't be the first retcon for him.

Sneak DogNov 18, 20143 votes

Fiddlesticks is the harbinger of doom. He is the herald of the doom to come. When his time comes, when he bursts out of his room, he will be the one telling people about the impending doom. The crows and fear make sure he gets taken seriously and might have something to do with the doom he heralds.

He is also unrelated to the shadow isles so far, or did I misunderstand you? Wasn't it Hecarim who came galloping into the league to herald the Shadows Isles' will?

CupcakeTrapNov 18, 20144 votes

Ao Shin. Legend has it he will appear when Ionia faces its greatest crisis. The Institute of War and the League of Legends within have been holding off this crisis, which is apparently worse than a Noxian invasion.

Karma, you want to take this one?

Karma "There is an old Ionian story about a man from Demacia who loved dragons, especially Ao Shin. His home was filled with scroll paintings and figurines of all manner of dragons, and it was said that he had read nearly every dragon legend ever written in all of Valoran. He often said, as he grew older, that his one regret was that he feared he would die without ever having seen a dragon himself. The story goes that Ao Shin himself learned of this man, and was so pleased that, as a gift to brighten the man's elder years, he sent one of his dragon emissaries to appear before him and grant his wish. The man heard a great rush of wind outside his window, and parted his curtains to look out."

Karma leans forward and smiles, rather morbidly.

"The man fell dead from fright. As I listen to you speak of this prophesied 'crisis', Summoner Delonix, I sense that you yourself yearn for Ao Shin's advent. You should be careful what you wish for."

Karma addresses the room.

"Summoner Delonix is correct that Valoran's decision to form the League has surely saved it from catastrophe. Without the League, I fear that the next Rune War would have led Valoran to join in Nyroth's tragic fate. And may we all give thanks for that. But to think that so long as the League stands, Valoran's peace and prosperity are assured, alas it is not so. The League is a powerful ally in our quest for harmony and balance…but not that strong."

Her smile fades.

"I have seen two Noxian invasions of Ionia in my lifetime. Our cities were burned, our people slaughtered, and our too-brief time in this world forever tarnished by the vicious greed of the High Command. The League of Legends was instrumental in ending both invasions, it is true: without the forum provided by the League, or the international commitment to Valoran's future that the League represents, perhaps Ao Shin would have come forth—and perhaps even that would not have been enough to save Ionia. As for the League, I admonish you, Summoner, not to forget that both invasions were launched while the League looked on, and that the aggressor, Noxus, was itself one of the League's own founding members. When the first ships landed in Shon-Xan, we made our protest to the Council; we were overruled, and the matter was sent to the Fields, where we fought for months as the devastation spread. The League is a force for good, an expression of hope and a manifest recognition of our shared lot in this tumultuous life. The ideals of the League are more than empty words; they are the mortar that holds the League together. But do not let your optimism blind you: though ideals be the Institute's mortar, the blocks of stone that they bind together are hewn from raw power, not kindness or compassion. The Institute's corridors can be as treacherous as any battlefield. No, we can rely no more on the League to save us than we can Ao Shin himself. The League is our last, best hope for peace—but only our tenacious courage can keep that hope alive."

Also, I'm curious if you still feel the same way about Fiddlesticks. Having him ult into an Institute of War meeting and start advocating for an independent Shadow Isles seems sort of out of character for the demon in the basement.

I lol'd. "I YIELD THE BALANCE OF MY TIME TO CROWS NUMBER SEVEN THROUGH THREE HUNDRED AND SIX."

There is always a risk that a more political plot will come off as awkward. (Personally, I think that a League of Legends with no League of Legends is also awkward.) But in the end, I consider that a key part of the "demon in the basement" idea: a malevolent force, barely constrained, grasping at the bars and luring its jailers closer.

Arufa OrimeNov 19, 20143 votes

I've just got a theory here. Almost no proof to back it up, but here goes anyways.

What if this next disaster, happens to come around... Oh... I don't know... The next Harrowing? We just got a timeline of the Harrowing's events and how it's getting worse and worse. It's also coincidentally heading straight towards... You guessed it, Ionia.

Maybe next Harrowing is when this "Darkest Time" happens? It is quite possible, and it's something I'd love to see. Perhaps we can actually get some nice stories in with what may or may not be to come.

Either way, whither I'm wrong or not, this is certainly interesting. Keep on reading, researching and writing my fellow summoners.

I've been your fellow summoner; Arufa Orime, The Frosted Kitsune