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Yordle Biology (yes, this again)

Torpig·1/17/2016, 8:15:17 PM·2 votes·1,581 views

This is my first post in the forums, and it may very well be my last. I've just been bothered by Yordles since I began playing, and I want to try and justify their existence for my peace of mind, at least? I just think most folks explain how diverse they are as a species by saying "they magic" and leaving it at that. If this is the wrong place for this, sorry! I really am. Again, I'm... new.

Okay, I’m going to put forth the theory that Yordles are a diverse species made up of several intra-species “races”-- or really just two races and the genetic combinations thereof.

Yordles seem to exist on a scale from “cat” to “smurf”, with Teemo on one end and Tristana on the other. I don’t think we can assume it’s sexual dimorphism, though perhaps the “cat” traits are more easily carried on to males than females. For example, Heimerdinger (a male yordle) has “smurf” traits as well as “cat” traits-- with long, elf-like ears on the side of his head but thick patterned fur covering his whole face. Lulu is mixed like this as well, with “smurf” skin (velvety and purple) and “cat” ears like Rumble or Ziggs.

This seems like a good time to mention that I don’t think Corki is a Yordle. His traits are too anomalous-- human-like ears, exposed hairless skin, broad flat teeth. I think he’s a very small human man who lives with the Yordles, and nobody’s had the heart to tell him otherwise.

Anyway. The weirdest part to me, even weirder than the fur, is the presence of animal-like noses on champs like Teemo, Heimerdinger, and debatably Kennan. I feel like this whole thing is the result of two purely “cat” and “smurf” species-- again, for example, Teemo (or even Gnar) and Tristana-- being able to cross-breed, possibly influenced by magic. As a result, something as significant as nose structure becomes an inherited trait, depending on luck and the genetic makeup of your Yordle parents.

Anyway, who knows. Seems like the best theory I can come up with. What do you guys think? And again sorry if this is in the wrong place for this haha

6 Comments

GreenLore1/17/2016, 9:03:50 PM3 votes

Keep in mind that several yordles are outdated in terms of design. Heimerdinger Tristana Poppy and maybe Ziggs are the only yordles whose design is up to date and who should be seen as standard for yordles(Gnar is also up to date,but he is a prehistoric yordle)

Female yordles seem to generally have shorter fur,which makes them look almost human-like(hence the smurfiness),while male yordles are seemingly covered in fur and have more animal like noses. Their ears tend to vary in terms of size and form,but the human ear isn't that different in that aspect(its just less noteable since our ears are smaller),though the recent trend seems to go for larger ears compared to the earlier yordle designs,so it is possible that older yordles will get bigger ears as well.

Corki might look quite a lot like a human,but that will probably be changed when he's updated(the same happened to heimerdinger) and in the meantime one could justify it as a sign of age

Sharjo1/17/2016, 8:24:36 PM1 votes

It's already been said that yordles are highly varied in terms of biology. Eye shape, ear shape and placement, fur colour, animalistic features, all of these things vary from yordle to yordle. They've been likened by Rioters to the physical differences between dog species, but there aren't any sub-species for yordles. Essentially imagine if all the dogs in the world had no identification of species, and were all just called dogs. That's what it's like for yordles.

Ebonmaw Dragon1/17/2016, 8:35:03 PM1 votes

{quoted}

This seems like a good time to mention that I don’t think Corki is a Yordle. His traits are too anomalous-- human-like ears,

With that helm that covers the half of his face, i guess that you must have X ray vison. Because skins doesn not count as canon.

And he has short fur, like the female yordles... but he has fur with the same color of the human skin.

LaoBushido1/17/2016, 9:03:57 PM1 votes

This is the right place as it is story related, and regards to the temmo and other males of the yordle race none of them have been reworked so how they look might be different when this does happened . Otherwises with this subject does come to mind I like to compare them to newer gen Pokemon games in terms of gender difference some Pokemon of male and female have vastly different trates among them

Torpig1/17/2016, 9:05:13 PM1 votes

Both are very fair points! As per Corki, yeah, I guess you can't see his ears. Don't know where I got that. Fanart, maybe.

And yes, dog breeds seem like a fair comparison!! I just think most Yordle breeds exist on the cat/smurf scale, ya know.

Ah well, I'm not claiming to be an expert or anything. Just thought it would be fun to try and figure out.