Boards›Story, Art, & Sound

What are your thoughts on the new Demacia character lores?

Forhonor321··2 votes·1,518 views

So after reading through most of the new bios, I'd like to share my thoughts on them and then see what your thoughts are. Now keep I'm only going over the bio and not the characters short stories as I have yet to read them. So if I miss anything or don't get something that is explained through the stories I apologize in advance for mis-information. Also spoilers for Vayne, so if you don't know/want to know what happens, leave and/or go read it real quick.

(Note: I'll be adding my thoughts on Galio's bio shorty. It's just too late for me to read and write about it right now.)

Lux - Overall I think this is a vast improvement from her old lore. Before it was just like "she got magic. neat. you're now in the army". Here on the other hand, with the whole set of Demacia now being somewhat fearful of magic, kinda like in the Dragon Age universe a bit, it has more impact. She discovers her powers, but knows about the horrible things she hears about magic users. However she just goes out in private to teach herself to use and control it and even though she soon is discovered by the military for magic, they give her a choice of helping them or having her banished, all while keeping her magic abilities a secret from her family. On top of this, she also wants to explore the world and see what's outside of Demacia, even having ideas that could help it. This as a character trait I actually like about her. Though one thing I do have to ask is how if Garen going to react to this, seeing how they're both in the "For Demacia" story as far as I can tell?

Garen - Ok as far as I can tell (& find), Garen's old lore was literally just fighting Katarina, essentailly falling in love with her and going out to try and fight her again. The new one at least gave more character development, with him hearing of his uncle's tale of peace falling in Demacia, his uncle dying, and his last words echoing through his mind. However, how did he exactly enroll in the fucking military at the game of 12? I mean, ok, this is technically a medieval type nation with knights and looking back at history knights did have squire's to attend them and help them train to be knights themselves (I think that's how it went) but this isn't the same as taking up a squire this is a fully functioning army, like today's armies. It's just a little off putting to me. Also the end of his bio just threw me off. I mean he goes to save Jarvan, presumes he's dead, goes into a semi-depression of failing, is honored by the king, distances himself from his sister from the suspicions, and then it just ends saying he's one of Demacia's finest. I mean, what? It doesn't say how he was when he found out Jarvan wasn't dead and came back? Granted you're more than likely suppose to read them from top to bottom as they are on the page but even still that just didn't feel right to end on that note as it didn't feel fulfilling.

Jarvan - Jarvan, for the most part, has remained the same. It still tells about how he got captured by Noxian forces, but this time it didn't include Urgot (and thank Riot for that since he's getting reworked more than likely to be associated with Zaun) but at the same time it doesn't involve Swain in the slightest so I'm unsure if their rivalry is still a thing. As well, outside of his part of the lore of being captured, the rest is literally Shyvana's lore except from his perspective. It's not wrong to do something like that but I kinda wanted something more out of his lore than just retaking something and shoving it in as the last half of his bio. Speaking of Shyvana...

Shyvana - Now as a Shyvana main who cares a lot for this character I have to say Riot did a pretty decent job of updating her lore. Before, having some random dragon chase after them was decent but still made very little sense, as well as we never knew what happened with her mother. Here, it sheds a lot more light on what happened. Now it's both her mother and father that are dragons but some mage messing with magic caused Shyvana to become what she is now. That makes a whole lot more sense than randomly having Shyvana's dad just turn human (by whatever reasons) and meet her mother. But what also makes this more tragic is that it's the mother that's chasing after them and kills the father. That actually makes a much more emotional impact on this story.

However, with all of that said I start to have issues when she meets Jarvan. Not the actual part where she helps him, it's where she meets the townfolk and they all just perfectly fine with her like nothing is different. What? The rest follows to Jarvan and her slaying her mother (which was written quite well) and she goes back with Jarvan to the capital to serve her new home. The complete acceptance of the villagers is what really hurt the story for me. I mean I know they live in a world with Valoran's versions of halflings, killer hunter cat men, void monsters, the undead, and what not but they're not the very least suspicious of a purple skinned woman with eyes like a dragon? Everyone else in the world seems to have disdain for her, which makes sense, but here it's just like "oh its ok we don't notice it" for a people who are fearful of magic and they just don't question her.

Secondly, the lore doesn't have the feel of her wondering how humans react to her, or better yet try to question herself if she's more of a dragon or human. From this lore, it's just like she see something that she's always wanted to be apart of and in the end does get that with only knowing that she has to face her dragon side one day. I was hoping for something that would expand on if she thought of herself as more of a human or as a dragon, or knowing only what she is not, how the humans she lives with have some sort of respect for her but keep wary of her and if she thinks that they have a right to fear her, like how it says at the end of her old lore. That's what made me like this character: trying to figure out what half she truly is. The new one just feels far too much like she feels human with a dragon side rather than trying to fit in to human society as her half human side but also keeping her pride as a half dragon. Overall though, outside of this nitpick, it's a good update that I can (kinda) get behind.

Vayne - Ok so the new lore essentially expands on her old lore of parent getting murdered, her finding a trainer, and then becoming a night hunter. So in the new lore her parents now get murdered by this... horned woman (seriously who the fuck is this bitch? A demon? Darkin even? Why does she leave Vayne alive? Why kill her family? This is creating more questions than it is answering them), goes out to find a trainer, nearly gets eaten by a troll, finds her trainer after being saved, and after years of training she finds a lead to the woman that murdered her family. Though hunting her, they're attacked by one of her cult followers and Vayne's mentor shapeshifts to save her then tries explaining to her that she resorted to shamanism to which she had to resort to some dark magic to obtain. Ok, now this looks extremely bad and adds lots of conflict between Vayne and her but maybe explaining why she did it Vayne could se-- (0_0)

.......oooooorrrr Vayne just shoots and kills her cold-heartedly before she can explain herself. And then from that she thinks about those she would hunt and smiles about it. What. The. Fuck. I mean, I know she hates and hunts those who use dark magic but holy shit that moment just took me by storm. This was someone she was starting to view more than a mentor, a friend, mother figure even. But as soon as she says she dabble a tiny bit in black magic she just shoots her dead. What if she didn't even say she used dark magic or didn't even have to use it and just said it was being a shaman through other means? Would she still have killed her? I'm sorry but that ending hit me hard and Vayne just is absolutely crazy to me now. That was just fucked up.

Quinn - I surprisingly don't have a lot to say about Quinn's bio update. Overall it feels exactly the same as before: she and her brother want to grow up to be knights, brother gets killed in accident of sorts, she gets depressed, find Valor, they join the military and are now backline scout/recon unit. All I can see is just more explanation on how her brother died, how she met Valor and where she got her crossbow. Overall I feel it's the best to be updated to be called an update and still have basically the same bio, which I give credit for.

Anyways those are just my thoughts but what are yours? What are your opinions on the updated Demacia bios?

19 Comments

Epicurus4 votes

I love them all. Garen now has character complexity beyond the clichéd Romeo and Juliet plot. Vayne is no longer just another Lucian. And most importantly the Caleb = Talon theory has been officially disproven. Thank Nagakaborous, I hated this theory.

Fasmodey3 votes

All I can say, It made me like Demacia. I actually had 0 interest for Demacia, and I was more like a Noxus man (not that I'm Noxus fan, It is just I would pick Noxus over Demacia). But not anymore. Everyone region update by Riot was a success for me. I liked regions that I thought I had no interest.

Well Done.

GreenLore2 votes

Lux Yeah I also think it is an improvement. I mean her old lore was ok,especially with her judgement,but it never resonated with me that much. Especially the scene where Luxs mother tells her that she called a "doctor" for her condition,when you know that said doctor likely is more of a quack who is willing to do whatever it takes to stop Lux from using magic. The order that Lux joins also interests me,I mean it makes sense that some demacians wouldn't be completely against magic simply because of how useful it can be.

Garen Well I'd say his bio was one of the less interesting,but still a vast improvement form his former "he likes to fight Kata"-lore(which to be fair wasn't very hard).However I do like his color story a lot,it might even be my favorite color story that was released with this update. A bit confusing was that his lore doesn't mention anything of Jarvans survival,I even thought that Jarvan IVs story might even end with him in the noxian jail. As for him joining the military at 12:It looks more like he joined a boot camp at the age of 12,as it only mentions how he got training and learned the arts of war,not him participating in any direct battles.

Jarvan Yeah I felt like jarvans own lore didn't give him enough spotlight and its really surprising that they highlighted his leading abilities instead of his fighting abilities.In general I feel like his lore&color text were probably the worst of the lore updates(though I wouldn't say they are bad,they are just not as good as the others)

Shyvana I pretty much agree with your points.The villagers just accepting her like that,felt a bit out of place,but I also liked the change that it was actually her mother that was chasing her.However they do speak about how some people weren't happy with Jarvan recruiting Shyvana and that she has to keep her dragon form hidden from the others,so I do think that the whole "getting accepted"-thing will play a role in the future.

Vayne Her lore really is fucked up,but I do like this a lot,as it differentiates Vayne a bit more from Lucian and I think it is overall more interesting than just the VanHelsing-Batman mishmash that she was before.

Quinn Its pretty much the same lore as before,just with some minor changes and more details.I like how Lestara is connected to this lore piece as it shows how she lost her children,which will likely lead up to Sonas adoption.

Overall I'd say the lore update was pretty good,every lore at least seems like an improvement to me and they stayed quite faithful to most lores. Though I also have to say that none of the new lores were particularly mindblowing,but I guess this might be related to the fact that Demacia is one of the less interesting factions for me in general.

Sonasaurous2 votes

I'm hoping after they update the Noxus lore, there will be an event between Demacia and Noxus that clarifies some old points in their new context (such as: Are Garen and Katarina still a sort of kind of thing? Why do Quinn and Talon still have each other as "related champions"? Does Jarvan still have his rivalry with Swain? DOES Lux know Ezreal??). Honestly, the lore team can easily make a multi-part event on those old points alone, like what they did with the Bilgewater event.

Though I have feeling that Garen's new bio and short stories is a set up for him and Lux for an event, or at least an expanded lore, where Garen finally finds out about 100% about Lux's powers. I feel like that would be a good story to test his Demacian morals. That would definitely be something I'd love to read because I love drama.

Forhonor3211 votes

Yeah I do hope the Noxus lore will be updated soon but that probably won't happen till either much later this year or the next if they decide to rework Swain then. It would also help clarify some relationships. Garen x Kat I think is still a thing due to Lux's new dialogue (seriously we need more of that kind of stuff) but as for Talon and Quinn/ Jarvan v Swain it does still have missing pieces. And I'd absolutely love another Bilgewater-like event!

With Garen and Lux, I also have to say it would be interesting for a story. However, with the For Demacia, or whatever it's called, story that they had it has both Garen and Lux on the little cartoon art so maybe it already has him seeing what Lux can do. Idk I'll have to read it when I'm not busy with my classes.

HalfTangible1 votes

Urgot is the next champion getting a VGU. I would be willing to bet that Noxus is getting their big lore update next; same as Zaun and Piltover did.

Forhonor3211 votes

Yes Urgot is getting his update next but for all we know Riot may decide to just make him associated with Zaun alone. Honestly his backstory is just a bit confusing to me. He's a man from Noxus but get repaired with tech from Zaun since they were working together. However this was the old lore and the new lore so far, at least from what I can tell, has kept these nations separate so I'd still make little sense to have Urgot associated with both of these nations.

Wildlife11 votes

Garen and Vayne are equally fucked up, they are willing to kill family/friends or close people in general, because they use magic. Like what the actual fuck Garen, distancing from your sister because she might use magic, you just got the price for worst sibling in history. And well, Vayne, your mentor saves your life(multiple times), teaches you how to hunt monsters and treats you like the family both lost, and you shot her in the head. Vayne does receive the price to the most fucked up person in Valoran.

I'll agree with you about the other lores. Lux's was a amazing, it felt so much real than all of the the other lores, she feels like an actual person with purpose and fears. Quinn feels the same, its quite nice to have the same vibe from her. Shyv and J4 will be shipped for eternity, both lores did feel like they were missing something. J4's his own story and not shyv's. And as you said shyvana's story needed that "What am I?" questioning from her.

And considering J4's lore he will probably be the ruler in the future, imagine what implications that will have on Lux's and Shyvana's future. He already knows magic can be used for good and one of her guards is a creation of magic, so it would be interesting to see how J4 rules.

GreenLore4 votes

Well it is not clear if Garen would actually kill Lux if he found out about her and I think that even if he did,he would hate to do it.

Him distancing himself from Lux might be not because he is afraid that Lux could hurt him with her magic,but more that he might need to hurt her,which he doesn't want to do.

Forhonor3213 votes

I don't think Garen would necessarily kill Lux for being able to use magic, at worst he'd probably just look at her very differently. The only time I feel he would actually have to kill her is if he felt she was being corrupted by it or even possibly under orders for the same reasoning. As for distancing himself from her, it's more or less he may not want to hurt her if the rumors of her magic are true, since in his Bio they're still a rumor.

Vayne now is more different from Lucain in some ways but at the huge cost of any chance of me liking the character anymore. She just comes off now as cold-hearted, sociopathic, and down right crazy. She feels like a mother who'd immediately murder her own child if she knew they had magic (which to her mind will lead to dark magic). It's just fucked up.

And now that you bring it up, yeah the shipping between Shyv and Jarvan is still a thing and I completely hate that. I mean I can see how people could ship them, but for crying out loud it just feels stupid to do so. This is almost why I like the old lore a bit better since she took his offer of serving as a sign of gratitude and more or less to protect herself if any other dragons come after her. Now it's just more fuel for this ship train and probably won't ever end now.

HalfTangible1 votes

Garen's exact feelings on his sister being a mage are unknown, because he's done all in his power to repress them. The two are also somewhat estranged.

I doubt he'd actually kill her.

HalfTangible1 votes

These bios took every fear I had for what Demacia might be and smashed them into a million pieces, THANK GOD. We have a kingdom built not just on nebulous "honor and tradition", but on anti-magic sentiment and comraderie in the face of outside magic. More importantly, it makes SENSE. Each bit of Demacia's history flows into the next and into its current state of affairs in a consistent, logical way: the people found anti-magic trees while fleeing the rune wars, therefore magic = bad. They banded together to protect each other both from magic outside their kingdom and from monsters all around, so camaraderie became very important to them. Their main colors are white and gold, the former because of petricite and the latter because... because gold looks cool?

I can't stress enough how much I love this. It's a bit of a reimagining AFAICT, but it's a very good one.

Lux's lore update (particularly the story between her and Galio) was imo the best. It turned her from the League's genki girl into a genuine + loving person with a strong conflict. Her talent makes her an outcast in Demacia, but the symbol of Demacia itself basically tells her that her talent makes her special and she should use it. We even see her power actually help at a later point, showing just how right Galio was.

Vayne's was the worst, though unlike a lot of others in this thread it's not the actual character that bothers me, it's the way that she comes about. If, for example, her mentor had been driven insane by the dark magic, or tried to trick Vayne into taking up some herself, she'd be easier to sympathize with. As is, though, she's just a psychotic bitch that takes glee in the suffering of her victims. Yes, I realize she hunts demons and monsters, but the problem here is that she revels in it even when those monsters are friends and practically family. Her color story actually made me laugh more than once.

I'm a little disappointed that Garen's 'totally-not-a-relationship' thing with Katarina is gone, but the same general conflict of ideal and close relation is there (except now it's between him and Lux). No one says that old bits of the lore can't return later, and until we get the war between Demacia and Noxus (let's be honest, it's gonna happen at some point) I'm content with him trying to repress that his sister is a mage.

Quinn... nothing's really any different, just expanded. She had a cool color story though, and making her crossbow from the creature that killed her brother is a nice touch.

The decision to change Jarvan's time away from the kingdom was a good one. The weirdest thing about J4's old lore was that about half of it was missing. He met Shyvana during that time, we knew that, but otherwise J4 was very much a blank slate. I like that we not only have a clear arc during the period, but that we get to see all of it.

Speaking of Shyvana... my main and fav didn't change all that much. But the reason for her personal conflict of "are the humans right to fear me" has an actual explanation now, and I love it. Her past with the dragon has legit pathos, and we learn a bit about how elemental drakes can empower those who kill them (runes).

Ya know what I want to see?

Ryze coming to Demacia for this rune. Now THAT sounds like a fun time. (Maybe he corrupted Shyv's egg? =O ... no that's stupid)

Forhonor3211 votes

Jarvan's old lore was pretty dull and left him as a blank slate for character, but the new one while it does try giving him a character doesn't really give him his own story. I mean the beginning starts out ok but then delves into how he met Garen and the ambush, which we've already read from Garen's point of view, and then we just to his escape only to go back into another story we've already have read, Shyvana, and that's pretty much half of his new story right there, its just from his perspective. They didn't really add anything different about his bio and just took elements from others and shoved them into his. It didn't feel like it added anything to the character, other than his leadership skills, or anything new outside of these previous stories where he's already mentioned.

As to your views on Shyvana's lore, I in no way see how her "humans fearing me" has any explanation. My reasoning is before when they encountered her, they were probably scared shitless considering they're meeting a half dragon lady who could transform and burn them all if they pissed her off. On top of this she kinda she was both half dragon and human. She couldn't appeal to her dragon side since they want to kill her and she couldn't really turn to her human side since they're kinda scared of her looking like and being able to transform into a dragon and wondes if they should be afraid of her because of that. Here on the other hand she thinks about that briefly but almost completely sets that aside when they just accept her, no questions on why she's purple, has dragon like eyes, they just are completely fine for a people who fear magic. And this leads her to just accept that she's more of a human who has to deal with her dragon side one day rather than a being who knows that she's not a full dragon and not a full human, only knows what she is not, and wonders if the one half of her kind have a right to fear such a being. That's what made me fall in love with this character and now it's still kinda there but more or less I feel one sided.

Though funny thing I also thought about Ryze being the mage that corrupted her egg.

HalfTangible1 votes

I actually read Jarvan's lore before Shyv's, but okay, that's fair.

Shyvana in the old lore had a line about how "she can't help but wonder if the humans are right to fear her" but it comes out of nowhere, makes no sense and actually runs contrary to the previous story of finding a place she belonged: at Jarvan's side to repay a debt. That is very much a one-on-one issue, and would only give her a connection to him (which I imagine is a major reason for all the shipping). Such a solitary existence does not lend itself to wondering what others think of you, but at no point does her lore imply a shift in her attitude.

It's not impossible or even a bad story, but it is strange.

(Yes i know it's probably the same reasons we get now but the point here is that it wasn't shown in any way)

What makes Shyv's new lore work for me is the fact that she sees the camaraderie between the Demacians, and THIS is what makes her go with Jarvan. She already had the strength and bloodlust that made her into a dragon, now she wants the unity that makes her human. It works so well (again imo) because the dragon half of her life is essentially a broken home. It makes sense she'd want to find one that wouldn't screw her over. The fact that Jarvan is incredibly hot oh baby gimme your long hard la rallied the Demacians behind her and helped kill the monster hunting her was just icing on the cake (and also demonstrated that he could indeed bring her into the kingdom without getting her lynched, if only because he was there to say 'no nooses'). It is a little strange that they accept Shyv just like that, but keep in mind that she walked into town with the Prince of the land there to vouch for her and/or for her to save.

As we see in her color story, she's constantly wrestling with her desire to be a true Demacian and her desire to be a ravenous dragon. Like Lux, this is a legitimate conflict where none was shown previously (it might've been in the JoJ, but I think that wasn't a thing anymore when i joined?) and I like it.

Forhonor3211 votes

Ok I can see your reason why you think this works, and I respect that, but to me it doesn't feel like the character. That line in the old lore didn't seem out of place, I thought it fit in pretty well. Yes she did want to find belonging but at the same time I felt there was an important character aspect to her: she knew what she was not. She knew that she was half dragon and half human, but not fully one of those. As to her joining Jarvan's side, that was more out of gratitude for helping her avenge her father and more than likely a place to actually stay for a while And even while serving under Demacia people still feared her for what she was or better yet what she could do since she's a half-dragon, even though she was there to protect them causing her to ask that question. And even then, it was possible that she wasn't completely tied down to Demacia as she still wants to find belonging in her life but with the fear of mostly everyone around her it could have been a matter of time before she felt that she belong there and decided to move on, still trying to find that place where she could fully be accepted and belong.

The new one I can see why her viewing camaraderie would draw her to the nation, but having the people just accept her, even with Jarvan's vouch, without any questioning of her just puts me off. As well, it doesn't really go into detail that she knows that she has the strength and power of a dragon and now wants the unity that makes her human, at least when I read it. I don't even buy having the dragon half being her broken home as her father did travel with her, care for her and protect her, making him her dragon home even if it was just him and if he died. Really when it comes down to it, it's way to heart-warming and cheerful for me to accept. She just doesn't acknowledge that she's both dragon and human and while she wants to find unity and belonging she can't fully find it for how and who she is. That's what made me like this character. Her new bio just instantly makes her feel like she belongs in human society and embrace her human side to keep being accepted while still thinking how she'll combat her beast side that makes her an outcast. Now I can see this working, don't get me wrong it's not terrible, but for what I came to know and love about this character through her original lore I just have a hard time accepting that she gets accepted so easily.

Also, as I stated in the beginning, I haven't read any of the color stories yet only the bios and that's what I'm asking people's opinions on. But as you said, it does go over her struggle of being human and a dragon so maybe if I read it sometime soon it may fix some things for me. But if we're going from bios alone, it just doesn't fully sit with me.

HalfTangible1 votes

I can respect that.

At this point i think we'll just need to see how she's portrayed in future stories and events. Jarvan vouching for her will be enough to at least let her in the city, but it certainly won't last. As we see with Lux's story and Garen's repression of such knowledge, anti-magic sentiment runs deep in Demacia.

... Now that I think about it, Garen's actually in a very interesting position. He's got an unresolved lore bit with Katarina (that judging by Lux's dialogue is still going to be a thing), one of his close friends gained magical power from Mt.Targon, Jarvan is paling around with a half-dragon, and to top it all off his sister wields a force he hates and distrusts above all else. He's got all sorts of forces in Demacia and without, pushing him to move away from those ideals. Thoughts?

Forhonor3211 votes

The Garen situation does seem to be interesting. However, we haven't gotten an official story with Garen and Kat interacting yet, so maybe that comes later, Taric is still exiled when he got his powers, so Garen may not even know he has them yet or know where he is even, and from what I can still tell he's still only hearing rumors about his sister's powers. With Jarvan and Shyvana I'm pretty sure he'll already have distrust just by her appearance but also how she may act in battle since she is half dragon and thus may have a different way of fighting or doesn't completely follow orders.

With everything else I think it's just up to stories we get and when he interacts with these characters.

GreenLore2 votes

Honestly I doubt that you should sympathize with Vayne. Her story made it pretty clear that Vayne became just as bad as the monsters that she hunts.

Forhonor3212 votes

Her story made it pretty clear that Vayne became just as bad as the monsters that she hunts.

Damn......I never thought of describing her that way but that's actually pretty accurate now.

More from Story, Art, & Sound

Petition to keep the Bilgewater ARAM map in circulation
Story, Art, & Sound154 comments
1,161
votes
[SUPER IMPORTANT PETITION] Change Sion's ban quote...
Story, Art, & Sound54 comments
597
votes
Can we get an Honor animation?! 4 ways to insult an opponent but none to congratulate them.
Story, Art, & Sound202 comments
578
votes
Petition to make Rengar wiggle his butt when there's a pounce-able target near his bush
Story, Art, & Sound140 comments
476
votes
About this years harrowing...
Story, Art, & Sound357 comments
459
votes
RIOT, please postpone Blood Moon Diana and make it into a Legendary skin.
Story, Art, & Sound236 comments
423
votes

More by Forhonor321

Anyone Else Feel Like Class Updates Aren't Very Successful?
Gameplay202 comments
138
votes
OK as much as I love PROJECT Jhin...
Story, Art, & Sound192 comments
121
votes
Sooooo....no skin for Shen, but Yi Gets Two Skins in One Year?
Story, Art, & Sound141 comments
109
votes
I still will not understand why Paragon/Rogue Blitz walk didn't change
Story, Art, & Sound30 comments
106
votes
Malzahar is becoming a "Press R" only champ
Gameplay113 comments
101
votes
I'm disappointed- No, FURIOUS, at these Lunar Even bundles
Story, Art, & Sound97 comments
71
votes