Seriously, can we just wait and see how this entire thing plays out before ranting about Viktor

Malicious Metal·Dec 8, 2016·59 votes·2,939 views

Riot has already written all their lore pieces, they'll be revealed in due time and us bickering at every oh so small change regarding Viktor makes me fear what will happen when Riot DOES affirm our fears and make him the villain.

I feel the reaction regarding everything Viktor is out of proportion, and I know why, we've been burned before, we have yet to get a GOOD Viktor lore piece that doesn't just slanders his character and makes him less likable. But really, my fellow Acolytes, why can't we just wait and see how the entire dynamic works out when Viktor finally gets his lore, and maybe even be heavily featured in the Piltover Story?

Yes, Riot has given us literally ZERO in terms of content that paints Viktor in a positive light but that's EXPECTED. We only got the Piltover side of things so far, Zaun will definitely switch the point of view and show the Pilties as the vile bunch and give Viktor another angle.

67 Comments

333lomDec 8, 201631 votes

It might be too late then. And Orianna's lore isn't subjective, and she's a better cyborg than Viktor now.

Look, I know you're trying to farm upvotes by shunning "drama", but don't you see how negatively you're painting us who care about this character? No offense man, I'm just so sad right now. I've put so much effort into creating a comic based on Viktor's lore, this is a very hard blow.

There is no other angle to "Viktor wanted to prevent the workers from disobeying orders."

Malicious MetalDec 8, 20169 votes

I love your comic man and I'm a Viktor fan myself but every time Riot changes something we're up in arms about it. Maybe it's time to stop? We've told them a million times how we'd like Viktor to be the misguided Genius with a vision and not some crazed magical villain but everything we've gotten leads us to believe they have no idea how to handle his character.

it's Xerath 2.o and we all know his fans weren't able to change his twisted character. Everything has already been said, trying to change Riot's mind won't help seeing that they certainly won't change stuff now.

Hell, even in the official Riot response to the Gloriously Evolved we did not get anything substantial and to be frank it was rather disheartening.

Besides, Upvotes are useless anyways, I can't buy myself anything with them but Viktor fans have to simply stop overreacting seeing that WE're sadly not the writers of his lore. We're not in charge, be it for the better or the worse.

But hey, at least Viktor was friends with Jayce, riiiight?

333lomDec 8, 201630 votes

No, this is the very last chance we've got.

After this, he's buried in his grave.

I will not give up on this only character I like in LoL.

And what's wrong with writing about lore on Boards? It crowds out the lee sin and zed complains from the Gameplay.

Ulquiorra995Dec 8, 201617 votes

We could wait, but I highly doubt that we will be even remotely satisfied with the response. The fact that Viktor approves of stripping people of their free will completely nulls everything he stands for. If they are able to fix this in Vik's lore I will gladly eat my words.

The Anagram KingDec 8, 20169 votes

I don't mind if Viktor becomes a villain. A good story can sell me on that kind of descent. Battlecast Viktor is intriguing as heck.

But it's not about Viktor being a good guy, for me. It's about the unique traits that make him up, being torn from his history.

From my thread:

The worst part, is the fanbase KNEW Viktor could be bad one day - maybe even right now - warped ideals and all. But the beauty of what he was, was that he had to evolve to the point where he could be. To become bad, was to progress his story. And his was a beauty:

Viktor BEGAN as naive. As an idealist. He BEGAN as a student; a member of a team. He collaborated to create sentience. To create life. It wasn't until his accomplishments were stolen, that he took it out upon himself. He destroyed his body. He remade his body. He REALISED his potential through the story that framed his character. And in turn realised the potential his vision had for the society that had wronged him.

By contrast, the NEW Viktor was always potentially bad. Always of questionable morality. He did not care for the ideals of a better tomorrow, but he always wanted to turn humans into robots. He never evolved into The Machine Herald - he always was. And the beauty of what made him unique is gone, in favour of a short cut designed to favour the hero sent to stop him.

There's more to the ambiguous greyness that was VIktor's old background, than the multiple interactions we see through Jayce's lore. And we know that his lore contradicts quite a few of his old personality gems; in order to justify Jayce's paranoia. Though, admittedly, it is a paranoia no longer.

Malicious MetalDec 8, 20165 votes

Exactly. This is the problem, one that may be fixed in the Zaun part of this TWO part event.

Viktor has, by design, an antagonistic role in the role, the circumstances of why he's in that position are important though to really show how complex his character really is and that he treads a delightfully grey line.

That's why I'm optimistic for his own Lore, it can all be salvaged, even though most of the Piltover stuff somewhat messes with what he stands for. But hey, that was expected, Viktor is seen as a villain by a lot of people, sadly.

The Anagram KingDec 8, 20167 votes

If I can be blunt, Jayce's lore isn't particularly well written. You have a good chance at guessing every excuse or justification that will be made without seeing Vik's take. I have very little optimism there will something great to show for it.

I imagine the first story will be him being mad/obsessed/paranoid, with a short story demonstrating his growth + humanity after the fact. The destruction of a gem to character 101 him.

Tell me I'm wrong. :P

Chromatic EagleDec 8, 20162 votes

He wanted to turn people into robots for a better tomorrow. It wasn't until Jayce got him expelled that he snapped.

Lintu PuckDec 9, 20161 votes

that pretty much sums it up. betrayal of your only friend, and that friend physically stopping you later is yet another bit to Viktor just losing whatever loose screws he already had.

RozzetaDec 8, 20169 votes

You mean to stop complaining and await something that was never delivered to us before, and has a history of being fucked up by them before?

Sure, I can do that. Mostly because I completely gave up on LoL's lore and I can't be bothered.

TyrekGoldenspearDec 8, 20166 votes

Just a question, but why are we so obsessed with making Vik a good guy?

Nothing in his old lore says that he was and he has a death ray.

I mean his splash art looks somewhat villainous, or at the very least antiheroic.

Malicious MetalDec 8, 201614 votes

We don't want him to go around picking flowers and doing boy-scout things. He's a GREY character!

What we don't want is making him your maniacal psychopath villain, something we already have enough of. He has always been a misunderstood, conflicting character, which was where most of his appeal came from.

TyrekGoldenspearDec 8, 20169 votes

And he is.

Wanting to improve dock workers' lives? Good.

Inproving productivity by essentially slaved to their superiors? Bad.

He does both thing because his concerns are towards improvement. The fact that morality is a second priority is what makes him grey.

He will do the right thing or the wrong thing, letting logic dictate his actions instead of empathy.

Also, you can't see the misunderstood and conflicted part from Jayce's lore.

You need Viktor's lore.

ElectroScalarDec 8, 201613 votes

He is supposed to be LoL's Nikola Tesla.

We see a character who was wronged by the world, but who didn't go for revenge like so many others did! He turned on himself! He didn't force anyone to his Evolution! This is why we love his old lore.

His laser is a tool which is very ineffective as a weapon. It just has a cool sounding name. His splash looks badass, and teaches you to not take everything at face value. Just because someone looks like a bad guy, doesn't mean he is a bad guy! Now Riot wants to ruin everything.

GreenLoreDec 8, 20161 votes

His laser is ineffective?It was shown that it is able to melt through steel,so I'm not sure how it is ineffective in any way,since anyone who'd be touched by that thing would likely die.

Also it was never really said that he remained good. His old lore talked about how his desire to help humanity was REPLACED by his fascination with his glorious evolution.

333lomDec 8, 20169 votes

As a physicist, I have to say. Lasers are extremely ineffective as weapons. They use up so much energy, it's ridiculous. They're only useful as tools, for cutting metal as you said. Viktor doesn't have a single ability that is a weapon. All of them are tools or devices created to test physical laws.

replaced does not mean that those two are opposites. The Glorious Evolution is meant to help humanity. Help humanity = to better society. Just in a different way.

Ever wondered why so many of us like Viktor's old lore? There must be something there that shows us he's not a flt villain. Think about that.

GreenLoreDec 8, 20162 votes

As a physicist, I have to say. Lasers are extremely ineffective as weapons. They use up so much energy, it's ridiculous. They're only useful as tools, for cutting metal as you said. Viktor doesn't have a single ability that is a weapon. All of them are tools or devices created to test physical laws.

Real life lazers are inefficient. But real life cyborgs don't come with a laser shooting third arm either... If the laser was just a tool,then why does it have such a huge range?Why does it create explosions after hitting the ground?

Also how is a gravity field a tool?Or a laser shooting staff?Or whatever he uses for his Q.

replaced does not mean that those two are opposites. The Glorious Evolution is meant to help humanity. Help humanity = to better society. Just in a different way.

He wants to help humanity as a whole,but that doesn't mean his methods are acceptable. For example removing human free would kinda help humanity,but the cost would be likely seen as unacceptable by most.

Ever wondered why so many of us like Viktor's old lore? There must be something there that shows us he's not a flt villain. Think about that.

I did and honestly it helped me to see Viktor as a more multilayered character. However that doesn't mean that he is a hero. I saw a lot of Viktor fans who went to ridiculous lenghts to defend his actions over and over again(and the same with many other characters) and a lot of people interepret far too much into Viktors character,which is mostly due to the fact that Viktors character was barely established in the old lore.

Sure we got his backstory,but his backstory also tells us how drastically he changed eventually,without actually telling us into what he changed.We only ever saw glimpses of the man he used to be,not the man that he actually is.

333lomDec 8, 20163 votes

Real life lazers are inefficient.

It's spelled lasters. Light amplification through stimulated emission of radiation. I can explain their principle of work, if you want, if you don't believe me I understand this subject.

But real life cyborgs don't come with a laser shooting third arm either...

Tell that to the cosplayer, a guy who is an engineer by profession, who made a functioning third arm just like Viktor's. And the pauldron on his left shoulder makes perfect sense, because that's where the computer for the 3rd arm, and power source for the laser are situated.

If the laser was just a tool,then why does it have such a huge range?Why does it create explosions after hitting the ground?

This belongs in the Gameplay section, it has nothing to do with the lore. And explosions were never meant to be part of his original kit because lasers that make the normal ground explode is ridiculous.

Also how is a gravity field a tool?

We scientists create simulations of phenomena we want to analyze. In this case, gravity.

For example removing human free would kinda help humanity,but the cost would be likely seen as unacceptable by most

He does this only in the new lore, the one we dislike!

I did and honestly it helped me to see Viktor as a more multilayered character.

That doesn't erase the fact that a considerable number of other people did. There is a reason for this. Nobody's defending Mordekaiser or Kartus, or Mundo.

Malicious MetalDec 8, 20164 votes

Nobody's defending Mordekaiser or Kartus, or Mundo.

I'd like to see someone defend Runeterran's murderous Genghis Khan, Death priest or Mister Hyde trying his hardest to be Jack the Ripper.

5000000000000000Dec 8, 20161 votes

Mundo is misunderstood. As in, nobody understands him.

333lomDec 8, 20162 votes

That's exactly the point. It's obvious who should be the bad guy, and who shouldn't.

GreenLoreDec 9, 20161 votes

{quoted}

**It's spelled lasters. **Light amplification through stimulated emission of radiation. I can explain their principle of work, if you want, if you don't believe me I understand this subject.

Oh my,if you want to correct my spelling of the word,thn you yourself should spell it right xD

Tell that to the cosplayer, a guy who is an engineer by profession, who made a functioning third arm just like Viktor's. And the pauldron on his left shoulder makes perfect sense, because that's where the computer for the 3rd arm, and power source for the laser are situated.

Can said cosplayr control the arm with his mind? Wearing a cyborg costume and being an actual cyborg are 2 very different things.

This belongs in the Gameplay section, it has nothing to do with the lore. And explosions were never meant to be part of his original kit because lasers that make the normal ground explode is ridiculous.

You can see in all of his splash arts how he can shoot the laser quite far,that was always a part of his character.

We scientists create simulations of phenomena we want to analyze. In this case, gravity.

So why does he carry it around in a portable device then?What would be the point of that? Using it as part of a greater machine,where it has some purpose would make sense,but that isn't the case here.

He does this only in the new lore, the one we dislike!

That was just an example to show that you don't need to be good person to want to better humanity. And his old lore never specified to what lenghts he'd go to do it.

That doesn't erase the fact that a considerable number of other people did. There is a reason for this. Nobody's defending Mordekaiser or Kartus, or Mundo.

Actually there were people who defended Karthus for a while,before it was established that karthus actually kills people to bring them the "gift of undeath",there were people who believed that Karthus was convincing people to join the ranks of the undead willingly.Showing that sometimes people start to misinterpret the way the character acts,just because the old lore didn't made it clear enough.

333lomDec 9, 20162 votes

Lol I mistyped lasers. Gloat all you want.

Anyway. The majority of your arguments are based on irrelevant details that exist purely for the purpose of gameplay. They have no weight.

That was just an example to show that you don't need to be good person to want to better humanity.

The entire point of the feedback that's currently on the Boards is that Viktor is **not **this case. He isn't the case that only in his head he's doing the right thing.

And yeah. I remember now. I disliked the Karthus change as well but undeath was always too close to the danger territory.

HowPlayGAEMDec 8, 20166 votes

[deleted]

Jinzo TorranceDec 8, 20162 votes

Only one thread per day? He released like 3 each hour.

Sraeg2013Dec 8, 20165 votes

I'll just repeat a part of my comment from the other thread.

_ "My intention in “The Weakest Heart” was never to strip Viktor of his background. (...) Viktor wants to bring people to his cause. He wants those people who join him to understand his cause as he does."_ ~ The Rioter responsible for Camille's story

Apparently there is no better advertising of how noble is your cause, than sending a goon-squad of brainwashed low-lives to kill a revered hero of the city you live in.

I have hopes, but no expectations from Riot.

From from the top of my mind - Pantheon, Leona, Diana and Orianna were COMPLETELY retconned for no reason other than "because I can". Their motives, personalities and pasts were completely obliterated.

We want lore EXPANDED, not RETCONNED every single time a new story is released.

For example Cait and Vi had their lore genuinely expanded. Jayce's story is basically rewriting of his release bio. Viktor was portrayed as a madman in two consecutive stories, even by the one set in Zaun. Orianna got completely retconned.

For every decent piece of lore we get a steaming pile of shit done at what was released in the past.

KuroCaliberDec 8, 20161 votes

{quoted}

I'll just repeat a part of my comment from the other thread.

_ "My intention in “The Weakest Heart” was never to strip Viktor of his background. (...) Viktor wants to bring people to his cause. He wants those people who join him to understand his cause as he does."_ ~ The Rioter responsible for Camille's story

Apparently there is no better advertising of how noble is your cause, than sending a goon-squad of brainwashed low-lives to kill a revered hero of the city you live in.

I have hopes, but no expectations from Riot.

From from the top of my mind - Pantheon, Leona, Diana and Orianna were COMPLETELY retconned for no reason other than "because I can". Their motives, personalities and pasts were completely obliterated.

We want lore EXPANDED, not RETCONNED every single time a new story is released.

For example Cait and Vi had their lore genuinely expanded. Jayce's story is basically rewriting of his release bio. Viktor was portrayed as a madman in two consecutive stories, even by the one set in Zaun. Orianna got completely retconned.

For every decent piece of lore we get a steaming pile of shit done at what was released in the past.

Orianna's new lore makes much more sense than her old lore. The new one is tragic, and written beautifully. People who liked her old lore, should probably a different game, as any standalone character is going to be assigned a faction at some point. Now Orianna has the opportunity to actually interact with other champions in a story. Before we had no indicaation of when she existed, if she ever met any other piltover champion or even how old she was. This new lore goes further in making the champion relatable.

Sraeg2013Dec 8, 20161 votes

I'll repeat myself.

EXPANDED not RETCONNED.

Yes, we had no indication of most champions' relations, but just because, for example, does not having a car means you aren't going to have one, unless you emigrate to a country on the other side of the globe?

Yes, I bet there is a country or two where getting a car would be impossible or highly impractical, but that doesn't mean all of them are like that.

You present the old lore as if it was set in stone and nothing ever could've been added to it, which is a very narrow-minded point of view.

KuroCaliberDec 9, 20163 votes

{quoted}

I'll repeat myself.

EXPANDED not RETCONNED.

Yes, we had no indication of most champions' relations, but just because, for example, does not having a car means you aren't going to have one, unless you emigrate to a country on the other side of the globe?

Yes, I bet there is a country or two where getting a car would be impossible or highly impractical, but that doesn't mean all of them are like that.

You present the old lore as if it was set in stone and nothing ever could've been added to it, which is a very narrow-minded point of view.

Riot certainly believes there is more potential in beginning from the foundation, and I'd agree, it gives more creative liberty. Imagine if you wrote a story as a 12 year old, then at 16 you needed to write a story with the same characters. You knew you had to change some things, so why not begin afresh and create something rich, rather than vague? The reason so many people liked Viktor was because of what Riot didn't write, not what they did. It gave him potential and nothing more to be a neutral character. This headcannon became so fanatical that when Riot intends on fulfilling their vision, there is a wide public outcry because people love the ideal they've crafted for themselves. Honestly, people upset over Viktor's lore is like people trying to find meaning in a an art piece an artist made for fun.

Lintu PuckDec 9, 20161 votes

1 - can you explain how you view the difference between "retcon" and "expand" please? 2 - we don't know all of Viktor's story. we just know Viktor's history through Jayce's experience with him. 3 - by the point of time where Viktor is sending drugged thugs after Jayce is a point where Viktor is probably still extremely pissed with Jayce after the destruction of the crystal, the warehouse, and his old organic body (I believe that there warehouse collapse is why Viktor is the augmented man we see on The Rift today). 4 - sure killing the "hero" won't turn a majority of Piltover to your side, but the criminals of the city and good number of people from Zaun would probably cheer for Viktor if one of Piltover's bright lights were snuffed out.

Sraeg2013Dec 9, 20161 votes

1**.** Do you seriously can't see a difference? Expanding is like, say, changing tires between seasons so the car has better traction. Retcon is like having a car, selling it, buying a different brand and slapping the logo of the previous car on it and telling everybody it's the same car.

3**.** At that point Viktor was past the point of being able to be "pissed off". If anything he'd see him as an obstruction. Plus he was also past the point of caring about his organic body. 4**.** Zaun already cheers for him, even if it's for wrong reasons.

Lintu PuckDec 10, 20161 votes

I only asked about Expand Vs Retcon, because Cait's lore did get a bit of a retcon. In her old lore "C" was a criminal in Demacia commiting high profile thefts so Demacia called in Caitlyn because of the reputation she had built up in Piltover. In the new lore, however, "C" is not some mysterious thief in Demacia that Caitlyn had no personal vested interest in beyond the one that gets away, but is now instead a mysterious and dangerous figure that had a hand in the assault on her home, the theft of many items, and most personal to Caitlyn's drive to find them now, the kidnapping of her parents. In the old lore it's more Top Cop Vs Top Thief in a game of cat and mouse, but now with this new lore the connection between Caitlyn and "C" was, as I see it, retconned into something much more personal. Sure it's not as big a retcon as what happened to the Targon Trio, but it is still a big enough change that one could consider it as a retcon.

Sraeg2013Dec 10, 20161 votes

Is that Cait's new bio or a new story?

I'm basing my judgement on the most recent story as I have no knowledge of any other stories related to Cait being released in the past 2 years or so.

Lintu PuckDec 10, 20161 votes

it's her new bio. the old bio can still be found in the league of legends wiki

Sraeg2013Dec 10, 20161 votes

Well, that explains a lot. I don't really check bios and changes to them are rarely announced, if ever.

Lintu PuckDec 11, 20161 votes

except these were. did you not check the whole page for the piltover event? it gave us pages for the new champ, camilie, 2 character stories involving her, new info for the retconned Piltover, and said that new stuff for Caitlyn, Vi, Jayce, Ezreal, and Orianna were coming, and you could get a free Summoner Icon of the Piltover Crest. links to this were on the front page of this very site, not to mention there are sites like Surrender@20 that repost all the big things that league posts and announces so all can see.

Sraeg2013Dec 11, 20161 votes

I checked stories, not bios.

EndGamer11Dec 8, 20164 votes

Brave words coming from Mr. "If riot nerfs rylais without thought for Morde I'm uninstalling".

Although I agree that some patience is necessary, there is plenty of evidence we are having a Jayce Lore Fiasco 2.0. Viktor is not supposed to be the kind of b-list villain with dead bodies hanging by chains with jars containing picked eyeballs in his ebil spoooooky lab. Viktor is supposed to be an outcast genius who does not force his will on anybody, which is exactly what this lore has him do! LITERALLY! I'm all for some change, but this is not the right change.

My preferred change would be to have the automatons be PURELY MECHANICAL, and have the twist be that Viktor realized the only "morally acceptable" way to have absolute servitude is to program the brains himself. All the while, I may add, without ruining his mental state.

In short, the old old Jayce lore presented Vik as a mustache-twirling villain, and was fixed. The current lore has Vik and Jayce as rivals somewhat. This new lore turns Vik back into the mustache-twirling villain, but this time with authoritarian ideas and grisly writing. There was no reason to add the mind-control stuff, other than to add something 99% of people consider evil to a character who must be the villain to prop up Jayce Stark

midnight oil24Dec 8, 20162 votes

I just don't want Jayce to be a full good guy. Even if he's a jerk, he's still treated like a hero by citizens, and he needs to face consequences for his crimes agains Viktor. Viktor also needs punishment, but still. I just don't like Jayce.

Chromatic EagleDec 8, 20161 votes

What crimes against Viktor? Getting him expelled for potentially illegal experiments?

midnight oil24Dec 8, 20161 votes

Breaking and entering and destruction of property.

Chromatic EagleDec 8, 20161 votes

After assaulting Jayce, stealing his crystal (which was clan property), and revealing that he was raising an army of zombie-like thugs.

We're getting into #didnothingwrong territory.

Lintu PuckDec 9, 20161 votes

the people treat him as a hero because he stopped a potential threat to the people. the ones that know he is not a grand hero are the ones that have spent even a few seconds with him and see how much of an ass he is. Viktor bashed a crystal over Jayce's head and took it said crystal, Jayce went to find him and possibly take it back, and found a slaughter house of human remains and brains stuffed in machines. Jayce didn't barge in, especially with the intent to break stuff or even hurt Viktor back. The hammer was just there to find the rest of crystal and a bit of self-defense in case Viktor wanted to try that again. Jayce made a plea to Viktor not to go full villain, Viktor went full villain. Jayce could barely defend himself against the automatons, and smashing the crystal was a last ditch effort that ended up working in Jayce's favor. Given the news of what was in the warehouse, what Viktor was doing to people and was going to do to people, and the fact that Jayce stopped that from happening, I really don't think Piltover's elite would want to punish him, and I highly doubt Zaun's "elite" would lift a finger was well without very proper means of getting the job done.

Think of it this way, do heroes like Superman or The Power Rangers ever get really billed for the wreckage of cities they cause? Nope. In general "heroes" are going to be safe from that stuff unless there is an action that turns the people against said hero, be it the hero going to far, turning evil, or the people getting mind controlled.

FlyinguillotineDec 8, 20162 votes

https://media.giphy.com/media/1Z02vuppxP1Pa/giphy.gif

It's been, what, a week since the forum was last flooded with Viktor whining threads? And we're already back at it? Come on people.[zombie-brand-facepalm]

The Anagram KingDec 8, 20167 votes

If only our thin skin were made of metal...

... Like the creator.

ModKnightsKemplarDec 8, 20162 votes

I agree. It's entirely possible to interpret things as fairly neutral. It's not a bad thing to have to use your imagination to do that; the more surprises that are left with Viktor's lore, the better, and I think this opens the door pretty wide.

I think this is an interesting dynamic for LoL lore. It gives Viktor and Jayce a real ideological difference that fuels the drama around their relationship. I am disappointed that so many people think Viktor is evil just because he is against free will... That's exactly the sort of assumption that Viktor is pushing against in his new lore.

To draw a real-world comparison, I have recently been questioning the merits of democracy given what's going on in the US political scene. I get really frustrated with people that can't admit that democracy, especially by a largely under-educated population, is dangerous. There are drawbacks to it.

Same thing with free will. Viktor has unconventional ideas; THAT was always the core of his character, and that has remained true. I think that's why I am okay with this rewrite; I'm looking past the changes in details and considering the message that his characters sends. He's a character about challenging society's assumptions.

Lintu PuckDec 9, 20161 votes

Give this person a cookie! They actually understand what they read goes deeper then good vs evil at this point!

ModKnightsKemplarDec 9, 20161 votes

I really wanted a sticker of a champion eating a cookie that I could reply with. But there isn't one in here and I'm too lazy to look further. XD

HalfTangibleDec 8, 20162 votes

While I share your sentiment that Viktor's fans are up in arms too early, I can't say I don't sympathize.

It was the free will thing that broke it, I think. Viktor was way too gung-ho about stripping away someone else's ability to choose, right from the start. If it weren't for the dang diving suit...

I could see him having a psychotic break after being "betrayed by his best friend" and regretting it later, maybe. But even before he was kicked out of the Academy he was nonchalant about removing the free will of a random dock worker. It comes across less as a misguided genius with warped ideas and more like Lord Zedd with less anger.

Seriously, the guy even had an army of putties. -.-

EDIT: On a side note, I kept expecting the little girl that went to Jayce to be Viktor's real trap.

Ask the HeraldDec 8, 20162 votes

The problem now is mostly with the fact that Jayce's biography and story clearly paints Viktor as the kind of villain willing to force his ideals onto others, to deprive them of the choice of whether or not they agree with him. In the old lore, Viktor never did this. Viktor APPEALED. He made legitimate attempts to show others how beneficial his methods and work truly was, a clearly objective and scientific display from a man ruled by logic. And then Jayce got made, and threw Viktor's character into the shitter. A villain is a character in a narrative that commits not-exactly proper things, but a villain is not exactly defined as an evil individual. Tons of villains in fiction have been well-intentioned extremists, like how Viktor was meant to be described. They did some bad stuff because they thought it the ends justified the means. Break a few eggs to make an omelet, that kind of thing. But Viktor had been specifically described as the kind of person who worked for the betterment of others, not just himself, and he was irrefutably willing to give others the opportunity to decide for themselves if they approved of his means or not.

Successful "misunderstood" villains include Jetstream Sam (Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance), Father (Codename: Kids Next Door, and yes, he IS misunderstood because despite trying to seem like an evil bastard he's only doing it to prove his father wrong), Shadow the Hedgehog (yes, he was a villain and he was very much misunderstood because even he had not known he was supposed to be heroic), Gilgamesh (Fate/Stay Night), and even Kessler (InFamous). Suffice it to say, the archetype requires that the villain be the kind that you can't help but root for due to any number of factors from their motivations to their circumstances. But now, in this new lore, Viktor has lost that. NOBODY wants the guy who genuinely wants people not to be able to choose to win. NOBODY wants the guy who actively denounces sentience and sapience to succeed. Viktor can't be a "Misunderstood" Villain if none of his fans, none of his followers, none of those who would otherwise sympathize with him, are willing to bet on him.