It's the color scheme and the rose motif that his abilities have.
I'm guessing he was swapped over to Ionia late in his development and rose traps were turned into lotus traps to try to shoe-horn him into it, but the rest of the particles weren't changed.
GreenLore4 votesHonestly he doesn't look that demacian to me. The poncho doesn't really fit demacia and just because he is white/gold doesn't have to mean he is demacian.
I mean 
are purple,does that make them void champs?
Rebonack2 votesHonestly he doesn't look that demacian to me. The poncho doesn't really fit demacia and just because he is white/gold doesn't have to mean he is demacian.
I mean
He's kind of a weird hodge-podge.
I could see him as a Demacian assassin.
Or possibly an aristocratic Piltover or Zaun assassin.
But there's really nothing about him that makes me think Ionia.
GreenLore1 votesI think the mechanical parts of him clash even more with demacia than it does with ionia. I mean in Ionias case it would make sense that some of the higher ups think that they should invest more in technology,because they were overwhelmed by the zaunite weapons.
But Demacia never had such a problem. It was always one of the biggest and strongest states,they never had a reason to invest into technology.
Though I could definetly see Jhin as a Piltovian. I mean he is a killer so he would have made a pretty good enemy for caitlyn and the smooth design of his technology would fit much more into piltover than zaun.
Rebonack1 votesI think the mechanical parts of him clash even more with demacia than it does with ionia. I mean in Ionias case it would make sense that some of the higher ups think that they should invest more in technology,because they were overwhelmed by the zaunite weapons.
But Demacia never had such a problem. It was always one of the biggest and strongest states,they never had a reason to invest into technology.
Though I could definetly see Jhin as a Piltovian. I mean he is a killer so he would have made a pretty good enemy for caitlyn and the smooth design of his technology would fit much more into piltover than zaun.
I suppose, good point there.
Pegging him as a Pilty would have finally given that City State someone who isn't quite so shiny and upstanding for their roster.
Wickedfates2 voteshe's ionian?! wha!!!
eh my bad i rely on the boards for more info than i should i suppose.... lore is a joke at the moment in this game... please make better lore for me to read and i soooooo will...... i think the lotus thing is an appeal to asian players which someone told me is the larger playerbase and /income for them
FloRaider422 votesA lot of his inspiration comes from Asian culture, so they probably made him Ionian because of that. He doesn't look very Demacian or Zaunite, in my opinion. The only place where he could be from is Piltover, but there he would have to survive against Cait + Vi and Jinx (there can only be one psycho in town) so he might have some connections to Pilt, but is ultimatly from Ionia.
Baby Ghoul2 votesI agree with you OP. He does seem like a Demacian on the surface. I'm surprised to see people disagree with that. The cape, the flowers, and specifically the mask. That sticks out like a sore thumb among Ionians. Originally a lot of people were comparing him to Fiora, who embodies Demacia, and they do share some similar features.
Only his name sounds like Ioania, then again Soraka and Varus don't exactly fit in aesthetically with the rest of the affiliated Ionian champions. Overall it's a little bit awkward, but I'm still more disappointed that they gave him a High Noon skin.
LaoBushido1 voteswell most ionians are not psychopathic killers, so the justification is welcome imo
stealthfox941 votesLol no he doesn't look demacian at all.
Lajinn51 votesKeep in mind we don't know WHERE he is actually from, all we know is that he is a psychopath that works for some of the Ionian council after they freed him. It simply stated that he was an Ionian prisoner, nothing more about his past. Its entirely possible he could originally be from one of the other city-states in the world
Star Guardían1 votesHe has a taste for the avant-grade. To him Demacians is more cultured and decadent. It makes sense that he would want to adopt their culture. In addition, from Jhin's quotes we get the sense that he finds Ionian culture backwards or unevolved.