Boards›Story, Art, & Sound

Why Do You Play A Champion?

BraverBlue·2/28/2019, 6:29:24 PM·26 votes·14,677 views

You'd be living under a rock if you hadn't noticed the effort Riot has put into the world of Runeterra as of late. This IP has grown into something much more than anything we could have imagined and it has easily become my favorite world. I've watched Runeterra grow into what it is today, and I am proud to have been a very small part of its growth, if anything, by playing and enjoying the game of League of Legends.

I was curious to see how many people in the community played a champion for their aesthetic and lore solely, and not what's meta or superior at the time. I think that's an unusual concept for most, especially if you're a competitive player and want to stay most relevant in your current role while playing League of Legends. I've played League passionately since its conception, and though League has created many characters that I find interesting, none of them have resonated with me like Garen Crownguard.

Garen is considered the starter champion because he's fairly simple, but that's not why I enjoy playing him. I've always been drawn to strong and disciplined characters with compassionate hearts and selfless spirits. They fight for those who cannot, and defend the weak with heroic resolve. They are brave heroes who inspire and lead by setting an example for those around them. Call me old fashioned, but Superman & Captain America are my two favorite comic book heroes. People may consider characters like this to be boring, but they truly inspire me to want to be a better person in life.

We've seen the hero archetype done with Braum ( which I adore him as well! ) and other champions, but Garen has remained my all time favorite character in Runeterra. I really hope to see his story expanded on more in the future. The Demacian laws against magic has me worried about where he might go from here, but something tells me Riot won't disappoint.

I am very passionate about Garen as a character in the world of Runeterra, and that's why I play him. No other reason really.

Thank you Riot, for creating Garen.

ok that's it I just really like Garen guys...

Please respond if you play a champion for their lore, and give us reasons as to why! I'd love to hear from you all. =)

_"This world needs hope." - Garen Crownguard _

102 Comments

Mr Elessar2/28/2019, 6:42:58 PM13 votes

Urgot His ult is perfect for dealing with annoying champions. Right into the meat grinder they go.

Hammermancer2/28/2019, 6:34:32 PM10 votes

Jayce Graves are the apex of manliness and wit

also they're deranged self absorbed assholes

so naturally I feel a deep and strong connection to both of them because I'm the apex of manliness and wit and am a deranged self absorbed asshole

Zapzya2/28/2019, 8:19:57 PM9 votes

AurelionSol

He has such a strong personality. He talks like a big shot, going on and on about how everything sucks compared to his stars, how he could obliterate everyone, just how cool stars are. His personality is just so freaking funny.

“Put it on my tab. The name’s Pantheon, with a P”

He actually has the power to back it up. He literally forges the stars. When he is summoned to Runeterra in his short story, he creates a mini storm of starfire, scarring the world and creating a second dawn for its inhabitants. Yeah, he is kind of arrogant and could be more accepting of lower life forms, but I just love all powerful dickheads if they have that snarky charisma.

His visuals are the best of the base champions in my opinion. His colour palate is gorgeous, the look of tiny little stars along his hide actually looks like a beautiful night sky. The stars that orbit him look great as well, and he is a dragon. Seriously, he even has sunglasses, what’s not to love?

More exciting though is his lore. I always sympathise with those who have been enslaved, even dickheads. Yeah, so what if Targon was protecting the universe? Let my star dragon go! I have always wanted to see that first meeting from the other point of view though. Did Aurelion really just go to say hi or did he threaten them to make them worship him? Was he as benevolent as he tells it, or was he a tyrant? Did the people of Targon ask for his help, or did they just go straight to enslaving him? Celestial Targon is my favourite area of the lore, plus there’s some void mixed in.

A Sol is my favourite champion because he is so cool, has thrilling lore and is a beautiful star dragon.

Falrein2/28/2019, 7:56:58 PM6 votes

"Power without limit" -Syndra Syndra

Syndra is my favourite character. Ever since I decided to read lore -back when IoW was still a thing- Syndra's themes have been appealing to me. Not only is she powerful, she is also not afraid of using that power. It is hers by right, and she doesn't care about balance in the end. Well, her new lore is a bit different, but in the end it doesn't matter because the core of her character is still here. She can grow and can become so much more than what she is. She is a human born with incredible powers, unlike other Runeterran characters who used knowledge/other weird shenanigans to access power. And from what we know, I doubt even she grasps what her true potential is. Anyway she basically is everything that appeal to me in a character: unleashed power. A bit sad she doesn't have the ever-growing thing anymore but I can live with that!

"Feel something! Anything! -Morgana Morgana

This one's a bit trickier. Morgana was my first main, because I liked her kit. She didn't have much lore back then, but now that she's been updated, oh boy. Her new look and lore are awesome. I love the dark-fire thematic. I just overall like her as a character! I can't say as much as I did with Syndra because I still need her color story, but I'll love her no matter what!

Linna Excel2/28/2019, 6:54:37 PM6 votes

MissFortune : I Sona : Have Zyra : My Ahri : Reasons

Soraka : also, bananas

I PT I3/1/2019, 5:11:29 AM5 votes

For me my mosy adored champion is Taliyah . I really lover her aesthetic and how unique she is (in my opinion). She is really admirable, especially with her coming of age of coming to terms of utilizing her power and saving her people.

She may not be popular but she has a special place in my heart.

Also she is fun to play as.

Galiö2/28/2019, 8:22:57 PM5 votes

Galio:

I love the character that gave up on everything and then was inspired to be the good he wants to see in the world.

I love the on damage heal.

I love the character that looks like a dumb brute but is a calm and calculated character.

Then he was reworked

He is ok now I guess... still miss the heal.

Galio

SuicidePlank2/28/2019, 6:49:08 PM5 votes

Gangplank, because Gangplank.

FEELTHEBRAINBOW2/28/2019, 7:17:40 PM5 votes

Jhin FOUR

Kurorade3/1/2019, 12:30:34 PM5 votes

Kled - He's a badass Yordle who made's literally no sense.

MasterLico2/28/2019, 7:28:23 PM5 votes

Zoe i love everything about her*[sg-lux]*

ForgetMeNotKeanu2/28/2019, 9:29:21 PM4 votes

Diana : I love this champion. Her playstyle is fun to me on top of me loving her story. (Unlike Kindred who I love their story but I think isn’t fun to play). I love the moon so originally that’s why I bought her. Digging into her lore and I just connected with her. She’s ostracized and misunderstood. She’s just trying to figure out her place in the world but she still has a cause important to her. Diana is cool and powerful and I love her.

Valaran Nara2/28/2019, 6:43:56 PM4 votes

I only ever touched Poppy once before her rework. I barely played her (despite being first bought champ at 450 cause I didn't know).

After her rework, I better understood how to play (and she was busted on release. We all know this).

What I loved most was honestly the comic. Her visuals are cute. Her personality is aloof, but the comic somehow struck a chord with me that drove my obsession.

She is determined. She is persistant. She is an overall good person who wants to do what is right.

She has a mission, but often feels like she isn't worthy to fulfill it. She is in search of a hero who may actually be herself, but she refuses to believe it.

Whether it's out of delusion, humility, or an in-bred sense of doubt and sense of self, she still at least tries.

And also, even though she was griping and started losing sight of her drive and purpose, she still had to save the people. Because SOMEBODY had to do it. Period.

Oh, also I like Rakan. Poppy is my idealized thoughts when I was in highschool and shit, but Rakan.

He's me. Loud. Flighty. Easily distracted. High-energy. Will have very brief moments of being very romantic. "CHOCOLATE! We're eating chocolate!"

Poppy is my ideal. Rakan is literally just me. (I had 5 people say we're the same, so I'm not even projecting that hard.)

QMighty2/28/2019, 7:55:17 PM4 votes

Nunu Absolutely delightful fantasy and delightful characters. They're my favourite champ just because of their lore and character design (and Willump is adorable)

Hjelp3/1/2019, 4:37:18 AM4 votes

Rengar

Now before I get relentlessly downvoted, I'd like to specify that I dont like assassin Rengar. It seems cheap and far too easy to win games with, so I play him as a bruiser top lane, where I feel he's much harder to get a hold of and play properly.

The reason I love Rengar is because of all of his complex mechanics, he's able to stun and set up for someone else, cleanse, heal, just outright make someone perish because he feels like it, while also being fully reliant on bushes. If you take a Rengar away from bushes lvl 1-5, he loses. You push him in, he loses. You play a strong jungler to counter him and he loses, but that ONE time you get fed and start popping off its so much fun.

Xano5013/1/2019, 10:46:30 AM4 votes

[deleted]

Bardmageddon2/28/2019, 7:35:22 PM3 votes

Bard Meep Meep

Jerry SeinfeId2/28/2019, 8:30:32 PM3 votes

Jinx she's fun, she's got a little bit of a punk vibe going, depending on what you believe she's got somewhat of a tragic backstory and she's got blue hair, tattoos n small tiddies. She's perfect. Only sad thing is that her voice over coulda been so much better since riot got more ballsy with the "mean words" and she barely has any good skins. She's the champ that appealed to me the most when i started, and i often stick to that choice.

Singed He's fun, got him in aram and loved it. This one was initially 100% only based on gameplay, but he does overlap with themes i like and has a few visual tropes i like (bandage mask for example). Also poison.

Leona Ngl I love a lady in armor, and leona's ready to bash some faces in anytime too. I'd love to be free from the support role again but alas rito overlord says no.

Teemo Did i mention i like poison, stealth and making big beefy guys feel completely miserable vs a little cute boi? (the first 2 also apply to twitch)

Ezreal He's the most relatable character in the game imo. He's literally just some guy fucking around. His new voiceover also made him try so hard to be a chad which is pretty funny.

that's my top 5 mastery points, well 6 since i mentionned twitch.

Seviel Vorose2/28/2019, 9:06:51 PM3 votes

Syndra Because i love her design and kit. I love that i must always be aware of what i'm doing if i don't want to get punished and killed for any mistake. I don't get any free tool to get away from bad situations like many other champions these days, i have to hit my skillshots, keep my spheres up and count on my skills only instead than low cds, free dps or ward jumping. Every resemblance to mechanicaly forgiving champions is purely casual ;)

Boreas IX2/28/2019, 7:34:44 PM3 votes

I play Garen because he looked cool. Then they reworked him and now he's shit. But I still play this game purely because of him and how he fit into the game. I'm starting to hate Riot games because of the people they have working for them and how they utilize these people. If they ever fuck up Garen again I'd quit and encourage people in detail to stay away from League of Legends.

#LoLVanilla #OldSchoolLoL

Saelon2/28/2019, 10:19:30 PM3 votes

Karma

Karma is the first champion I ever fell in love with when I first started league back in 2012. I loved her unique playstyle, design/aesthetic and personality.

After her rework I lost a lot of things I loved about her, like her uniqueness and design, but I never stopped playing her. She is still by far my favorite and most played champion but I still miss old Karma like crazy.

Kairoptra3/1/2019, 3:20:55 AM3 votes

I actually made a thread about this about a year ago for the great hentai monster himself (itself?). I've copied and pasted it below, but it's all gameplay, so if you want to hear my thoughts about his lore, then you skip to the paragraph below it.

Let me start out by saying that this is from my experience; you may think differently. I just feel like Riot did such a good job when designing him and making him balanced.

I feel like he's one of those champions that's underappreciated by the community or otherwise overlooked because he isn't useless or broken.

While he has mediocre cc, he has awesome peel. With Vel'Koz, you can't really carry, but you can take measures to make sure your team doesn't lose any harder so that you can come back.

And the DAMAGE, holy crap, the DAMAGE you can crank out with this guy. But even with that damage, he has to rely on skill-oriented combos or has to get stupid fed, in which case the enemy team probably would have lost anyway. If he gets fed, he can burst down people like you wouldn't believe, but is still immobile and squishy enough to take out if he gets cocky or is out of position. Even then, he's got some escape tools, but they do take a good bit of skill on your end (or a lack thereof on your enemy's).

If he's on the loosing end, he can still deal a good bit of sustained damage while still having the consequences of his normal squishiness and lack of mobility. There's always an opportunity to come back if you play your cards right, even though you still have the punishment of being behind.

While he does require some skill, he's not overly difficult to master. Pretty much anybody can pick him up and find great success with a little practice. You don't need any fancy maneuvers, although they are fun and at times very useful.

Fun. Now that is a word I would use to describe Vel'Koz. He's not too hard to play, but he makes you think. You've got an edge with all the true damage you deal, but that won't count for much if you just let yourself get picked off. You're a solo laner who has to be able to take care of yourself, but you also find great success in team situations with your AoE. If you can get some experience under your belt, Vel'Koz can almost never be a bad choice.

In conclusion, I would like to sincerely thank Riot for making such an awesome champion.

While I play him mainly for his kit, I do find his lore pretty intriguing. Unlike the other Voidborn who live to consume in the literal sense, he is definitely a different beast entirely. Tirelessly absorbing information without the slightest ounce of empathy, even with his ability to take human memories, he is the perfect researcher. Couple that with his all-terrain body and you've got a truly formidable creature, bordering on perfect in relation to his function. While there's not much to him character-wise, studying him as an organism (if you can call him that) is truly fascinating. Perhaps this thirst to learn more about him is part of why I chose him for more than one reason; perhaps I see some of myself in him (no pun intended).

"I must know more." - Vel'Koz Velkoz

Eternal Torment3/1/2019, 11:45:22 AM3 votes

Aatrox because I resonate with his viewpoint. I hate everything and everyone and want either them to die or myself. Im not picky over which dies first. So long as one side does.

Terozu2/28/2019, 7:23:48 PM3 votes

Lux and Kat are fun to play and have interesting lores and personalities.

Kovaxz3/1/2019, 12:49:07 PM3 votes

I fell in love with Sona when I first started playing. I found the idea of using music as a weapon interesting, especially as a musician myself and have consistently played her since season 2

RJay1233/1/2019, 1:58:19 PM3 votes

Evelynn

Evelyn became my jungle main soon after her rework and eventually, I just started one tricking her. What about Evelyn appeals so much to me? Well... It's the feeling of terrifying people. I remember I had a play where I flashed to instantly get into melee range on a recalling champ and before they had the chance to react, they were dead. The player then all chat's "Dude, you scared the sh** out of me." That was exhilarating. The feeling of being a dangerous possibility. I can be wherever I want as long as they don't pink up the whole map of course and no one would know I'm there until it's too late. The way it feels to play her is, in my opinion, exactly the way she should feel out of game. She comes in, tears you to shreds, and then gives you a kiss goodbye with her ultimate. It really does feel like, "You might chase me, try to find me, but you'll never catch me." Like playing a game of hide and seek, except often times, you're the monster doing the seeking and the enemy squishes are the ones doing the hiding. Often times if I'll have multiple kills drawn out over the course of a fight and I'll go back after to rewatch it but only through enemy vision and I legitimately attack from 2-3 different angles and someone dies every time I appear and reappear.

Lore-wise, it's hard to say much cause she's rather mysterious. A demon woman of legend that's whispered in and out of history as a cautionary tale. But her coy personality, the way she talks as if she already knows you're going to die just by the mere fact that she's revealed herself to you, is priceless. Riot did absolute wonders with Evelyn and she is by far my favorite champion.

5StackUltOneShot2/28/2019, 7:53:52 PM3 votes

Darius I get camped alot so with the main man I can kill both at the same time

Tin Obliterates2/28/2019, 7:50:21 PM3 votes

Aatrox Something about rushing into the enemy team with ult and landing that perfect 3rd Q is just so satisfying.

Also big darkin boi with a huge sword, 'nuff said.

Emo Twink3/1/2019, 4:07:18 AM3 votes

Zoe I was in a horrible place in life when I heard when we'd get a cute burst mage (I like cute things, and burst mages are my fav). I only just dropped from Uni that year and I latched onto just waiting for her announcement/release because it was the one thing I had to look forward to. Needless to say, she's exactly what I always wanted in league. A burst mage with the capabilities of being super creative (walls, summoner spells, angles), and is super cute to boot.

Just that excitement and her announcement were enough to keep me going. Now I am actually in such a better place, and a nursing student now. I really feel like Zoe helped me a lot, and I love her so much. And justs having another lighthearted champ in this game always feels like a godsend, they make me happy.

King Braum2/28/2019, 7:33:10 PM3 votes

I started playing Braum since he just felt the best to me, with the most focus on helping out your team, setting up plays and protecting others but I must say, his voice work is really what sold it to me. I could have the worst of days and Braum would still keep me from ever getting mad just because of how positive he is at all times.

Kenneky3/1/2019, 8:16:02 AM3 votes

I myself enjoy the most champions that are both not easy nor hard to master, something in between, even tho I do enjoy more simpler champions as well.

Jhin I love everything about him, his lore, his gameplay, his visuals, I can't get enough of him. His skins are also amazing, I really like the PROJECT skin the most, it has the most changes. He is also great for jokes we make with my friend, since we both like him. I always liked snipers in video games, Jhin is kinda like that, but in strange, unique way.

Pyke How dare I love him, but I do. Even If he don't have the most original or unique lore, I still like it. His personality seems chill at times, which is something I like. His gameplay is so fun, he have become one of my most played champions because of his fun gameplay. His design is something I have never seen (the same goes for Jhin as well), it's so unique to me, he is not another pirate.

Neeko Even tho she is simple and easy to play, I still find her enjoyable. She become my favorite mid laner, she is just to much fun. Her character is not the most original thing I have seen, but still a cool idea. Her passive is so cool I love disguising as whatever champion I like on my team. I love that she is so much colorful, colorful champions is not something we see often.

Twitch I love rodents so much, Twitch is the best rodent. His character and voice are so cool, I love that about him. His skins are stupid I love his Pickpocket skin the most. And also his late game is so damn good, this also one of the reasons I like his gameplay. As lore goes there nothing really to talk about, he probably won't get an lore update any time soon.

I guess I like AD champions a lot...

SUPERX4PANDA3/1/2019, 11:39:46 AM3 votes

Vladimir Wish I could see more blood mages in video games. Really cool and underused "element" in any game with elemental mages.

Chembaron Yamada3/1/2019, 11:42:04 AM3 votes

Playing all the Piltover and Zaun champions by default, simply because I absolutely love these 2 regions. Besides that, I pick my champions by their lore and aesthetics. I can learn how to play a champion and I can deal with it if they are weak. But I want a champion that I actually like from a story and design point of view.

Ebonmaw Dragon3/1/2019, 3:31:50 AM2 votes

I play a champion because playing as a neutral monster would be awkward, trust me, i tried.

Baa Woof3/1/2019, 5:26:04 PM2 votes

Kindred

Here is why:

Let's start with lores:

A Good Death

A short story about a team of actors who's jobs is to re-enect Kindred, death it self. So it just shows, that people know who Kindred is and actually give respect for them instead of hate. Kindred visits the actor who plays Kindred in the play. Kindred likes to play with their prey, and also likes to scare them, even tho they were not there to take her away. This proves that Kindred actually exists in Valoran, and it isn't just a tale, since Magga (the actor who plays Kindred) actually meet them. A really good story, but still leaves you guessing about a lot of things like:

Who are they?
Where did they come from, or who made them?
How old are they?
Were they the first "champion" to set foot (hooves) on Valoran?

Next one is:

Forest For The Tress

The story is about how Kindred takes part in fights across in Valoran. They usually stay behind, hidden watching from far, waiting for the best time to haunt. They don't care, if you are young, old, male, female, good or bad, they only care about taking away those who's time has come. They still leave you with the choice how you want to be killed. Just like they did in the other story (even though at the and they didn't kill her.) Wolf in these story are much more scarier than in game,

"Wolf buried his sharp teeth in the squire’s neck, tearing out ribbons of vibrant life.

Wolf reveled in the boy’s scream and crunching bones. Lamb, who had trailed behind, laughed to see such sport."

Yes both of them are sick f*cks, but I guess it fits them for good.

Both of the stories are great, wish they were longer. ** Next is the in game:**

Kindred is a really unique champion, the only champion infact that has a custom summoner icon ingame and champion select. It is actually 2 champions in one. Both of them needs to work together to be good. The design is really good when it comes to the lore:

Lamb:

Calm, and fast killer.
Doesn't feel, but understand.
Innocent looking like a little lamb.
The "body" of the champion.

Wolf:

Excited, ready to kill and he likes to see the "victim" suffer.
He has feelings, but doesn't understand them, that's why he really doesn't care who hard is the victim hurt.
Very spooky looking, he looks like your worst nightmare, wouldn't want to meet irl.
The "soul" of the champion.

Gameplay:

Passive:

A unique passive where you actually have to think about who do you want to mark. If you mark early your prey will flee. If you are late, the mark will not be able to trigger and you lost it.

This was Riot's way to actually put and ADC like champion in the jungle, I think that they had a good idea, but I think they kinda felt like it failed since there hasn't been any other ADC champion made to go in to the jungle.

Their Kit is a very simple one:

Q - Good way to get around the map.
W - Works well with Q and helps you in the Jungle.
E - The Ganking tool in the Kit.
R - The game changer (Doesn't mean it's always in the favor of the good change).

One thing I don't like, and it isn't Kindred's fault:

The lack of content made for them. But we shouldn't be crying about this, it could be worse. Atleast we got some nice things in the 3 years of having them in the game.

A really cute Plush (Wish it had Wolf too not just Lamb still cute)
A nice little figurine (Wolf is present Yay :3 )
A Cute little T-shirt (I should really buy one)

What I'm not happy about is the Line of Skins:

The default is probably the best looking one so I use it often.
Shadowfire is decent looking but it is just a Meh at best.
Super Galaxy is probably the worst, it is not bad but simply doesn't fit the champion.

And the other sad thing is that they have so much potential for skins, but since they are not popular they will probably not get one this year either. Still I enjoy playing them, I think they are kinda cute in a way, but I just feel sorry for them when they didn't get anything new for a 1000+ days.

Hope this short post had the info you needed.

"Words, words, la la la, pew twang pew!" "Are you imitating me?"

ThıghConnoısseur3/1/2019, 2:55:43 PM2 votes

TahmKench he’s hot

yung settings3/1/2019, 12:48:15 PM2 votes

Yorick because i still want that shovel knight skin

BraverBlue3/1/2019, 1:01:18 PM2 votes

I love a lot of these responses so far! Riot has given us such an amazing cast of characters! Hearing why you all enjoy them really excites me. :D

Devilangel61613/1/2019, 10:03:50 AM2 votes

So there's a multitude of reasons I play champs, from team comp to meta. To pick placement and mood. But champs like LB I play cause it's fun exploding people, katarinas voice lines are just great long with other champs like talon and zed.

I think Fiora is one of the champs I play kinda for the lore, but also because of the lore attached to the PROJECT skin.

The other 2 are lux and jinx, lux because A) I like playing her and B) cause of the SG skins and lore. And jinx is chaos incarnate which I just love, she got a music video and is a star guardian with all that going on, and again her voice lines are one of the only ones that made mute everything else just to hear them. While champs like sivir Cait and Ashe I'll play if they are like A tier cause meta slave, jinx I play if she's even B tier cause I just lover her so much.