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

Malicious Metal·12/8/2016, 10:22:00 AM·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

333lom12/8/2016, 12:41:52 PM31 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."

Ulquiorra99512/8/2016, 1:54:51 PM17 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.

Rozzeta12/8/2016, 3:33:52 PM9 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.

The Anagram King12/8/2016, 1:06:16 PM9 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.

TyrekGoldenspear12/8/2016, 1:42:57 PM6 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.

HowPlayGAEM12/8/2016, 5:43:23 PM6 votes

[deleted]

Sraeg201312/8/2016, 6:34:58 PM5 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.

EndGamer1112/8/2016, 9:13:28 PM4 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 oil2412/8/2016, 1:30:47 PM2 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.

Ask the Herald12/8/2016, 9:00:49 PM2 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.

Flyinguillotine12/8/2016, 2:48:56 PM2 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]

HalfTangible12/8/2016, 6:10:25 PM2 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.

ModKnightsKemplar12/8/2016, 5:13:33 PM2 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.