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I'm just so frustrating with Riot's refusal to push past gender stereo types.

Jacksin·12/5/2019, 1:39:57 AM·8 votes·6,496 views

HEAR ME OUT.

This is something I've been thinking about a lot. I LOVE League. A lot. I love the lore and I find the competitiveness so much fun. But it's just so jarring not having an array of great and engaging champion archetypes to have fun with.

This isn't just about girl champions, but male champions too. They're so many tough guy and girly girl champions, yet between them lies Illaoi, Diana and ... Rakan? I want to see flamboyant, light, playful and colorful men, tough, brooding, dark and strong women (that aren't necessarily sexualised). A world as big as Runeterra and you would guess there would be an abundance of tropes and themes to explore, yet Riot is just pumping out the same old edgy dark males with the girly colorful females.

Let me just say this: There is nothing wrong with these kinds of champions. There is just such a huge and ignored gap between these two types of champions. Something that bugged me a while ago was Qiyana actually. When she was teased as a new female AD assassin I was so fucking hyped. I was hoping for a brooding, dark and engaging female AD assassin, along the lines of some we already know: Talon, Pyke, Zed. And then we got... Qiyana. Qiyana is a really cool champion don't get me wrong but I just can't take her seriously. (I still love her) It's just that there was a bar that could have been met, but Riot just refusing to do something actually unique.

I had a similar expectation with Neeko. Neeko was deemed a "colorful mage" in the teasers, and I was so excited!!! I though for sure, Riot wouldn't just pump out another typical flowery girl mage. Surely not. And yet... They did. (Again, I play Neeko too and love her).

My problems don't lie with the champions, it lies with the absence of what could have been.

Just one more word on this. I said before "unnecessarily sexualised". Let me just clarify that there is NOTHING WRONG WITH A SEXY CHAMPION. This attracts all kinds of audiences, and we all know League is well known for their sexualisation (whether good or bad). But a champion Like Zed or Talon for example, pretty absent of sexualisation. I really want that for a female champion. It would be incredibly nice to see.

But yeah, I hope you guys can try to take this opinion and really consider my perspective! Hopefully we can agree on some things :)

96 Comments

JoeAnarchy12/5/2019, 4:06:20 AM9 votes

Annie Camille Cassiopeia Diana Illaoi Irelia Kalista Karma Kayle Leona Lissandra Lulu Orianna Poppy RekSai Riven Sejuani Senna Shyvana Sivir Tristana Vayne Vi Zoe Zyra Jinx Katarina Quinn Taliyah

all of these are female champions that aren't sexual or alluring in nature (outside of alt skins, but alt skins are for fan service.) several of them are "dark" in nature. exactly what you're asking for. most of them are clothed from head to toe, with the exception of Riven who has sandles.

ModKnightsKemplar12/5/2019, 6:22:52 AM9 votes

I'm offended that no one has mentioned Taric

The dude is simultaneously flamboyant and weirdly masculine. He does not fit a stereotype.

BLACK REALM GOD12/5/2019, 1:45:12 AM7 votes

zed and talon are absent of sexualization?!?!?!?

okay.

i guess muscles aren't sexualized.

Yuumi is absent of sexualization.

TahmKench is absent of sexualization.

RekSai is absent of sexualization.

zed and talon are most definitely sexualized.

C0NCH0BAR12/5/2019, 2:15:18 AM4 votes

So, you have problems with stuff but to be clear YOU DON'T HAVE PROBLEMS WITH STUFF. Just teasing. Say what you mean, not what others want to hear. As for your message in this post, I'd agree that having a variety of personalities and themes would be cool. Let's do a run-down:

Sexualized Female Characters I believe this is mostly subjective to what you find attractive as an individual, but to make this simple we will say that the females who have dis-proportionatly ratiod sized chests, waists, posteriors, and symetrical, elegant faces and minimal clothing are "sexualized". Female champions that fit all of this criteria is actually pretty big.

Sexualized Male Charaters Again, I believe this is mostly subjective to what you find attractive as an individual, but to make this simple we will say that the males who have strong, sharp features, chiseled muscles, sturdy frame, symetrical elegant faces and clothing that really frames their muscles and body are "sexualized". Male champions that fit all of this criteria is quite a lot as well.

So, a LARGE pool of champions are sexualized. Is that shocking? No. We like pretty things. We like to interact with pretty things. Each sex has sexy things about them, even if one attribute is more obvious than the other.

Moving on to your desire for more exploratory lore, I promise you it's there; You just don't see past the sexualization of the champions. Every single character could be boiled down to a stupid sounding cliche like every single thing in the world can. Looking at Akali , you could either choose to see that she is a rebel who finds the way she was taught tedious, encumbersome of the very teachings she was brought up to instill, and decided she had enough of it and went off on her own to bring what she beliefs is the true way of achieving her teachings goals. Pretty darn cool and epic.... or you could go "she is an edgy teenager who ran away from home". Her story is pretty cool and explorative of how ninja's traditionally work. It's not the traditional "damsel in distress" girl who can't fight for herself.

Sylas is the epitome of sexualized (his in-game dance is him gyrating!) His lore is cool in the sense of showing the oppression magic endures in the walls of Demacia. His people are shunned and "lesser" in the eyes of the nobles. His imprisonment festered his hatred of Demacia nobles. Then he found a way to abuse the power of petricite, which Demacia prides itself on. He persuaded Lux to trust him and eventually lead to his freedom, turning the pride of Demacia against itself and beginning a revolution to free magic from Demacia's oppressive clutch. Epic, right? Or you could go "He is just a prisoner who started a revolution. How un-inspired!" He is a man who was oppressed and lashed out. Not the traditional "Knight in shining armor" type of story.

I promise you all of the things you want are there and available if you are willing to look at the stories instead of the faces.

Arakadia12/5/2019, 6:01:35 AM3 votes

You are extremely clear and reasonable in your argument but people will still manage to misunderstand or just reject your post because your discussing gender.

I was hoping Neeko woulda been a colorful boy mage but that had like a 0% chance of happening looking back.

And I think its really sad that its true. "Cruel Zaunite Cyborg Dictator with Eight Six Legs" is by default a male character and I can't imagine Riot releasing a female equivalent of someone like Urgot. If a female character is evil they generally seem to be a sexy witch (LeBlanc, Syndra, Elise, Zyra, etc.) or Riot utterly abandons them being women at all (Rek'sai).