Just curious.
It's not really important to her identity; probably isn't even canon since she hasn't been updated since the retcon; and most people probably don't even know... but I thought I'd ask.
Veraska6 votesshes a what now
Fasmodey4 votesFor being a lich, your soul being trapped in a artifact or bound to something is not enough. You should be free from senses, requirements like food, sleep etc. and cursed. You sould have weakness against against the light etc.
I dont think Irelia has any of them. She is technically not a lich, just a human carries her soul in her blades.
Eeyore10 votesFor being a lich, your soul being trapped in a artifact or bound to something is not enough. You should be free from senses, requirements like food, sleep etc. and cursed. You sould have weakness against against the light etc.
I dont think Irelia has any of them. She is technically not a lich, just a human carries her soul in her blades.
I always understood lich to be, simply, "your soul is not kept inside your body", with the pros and cons of this being entirely variable based on setting.
However, to run with that setting: maybe she doesn't sleep, or feel pain, or any of that - any more? The need to rest definitely isn't evident in her personality or gameplay. ;)
But irrelevant of technicalities and my potential misuse of flexible jargon, the question still stands as to whether it will still be true.
Chembaron Yamada1 votesSo Voldemort is a lich? And I didn't even know that these blades carry Irelia's soul. >__>
Cowseed11 votesSo Irelia isn't a human carrying blades but rather blades carrying a human body?
Well my world just turned upside down.
Eeyore5 votesSo Voldemort is a lich?
He’s closer to a possessive spirit - he’s not functional unless his spirit is inside a host. His horcruxes also have no continuity of self - they’re closer to save points. You’ll note in Chamber of Secrets that it was a backup of his school-aged brain. I imagine the main purpose of the spell is the fact his primary spirit won’t pass on while a portion of it remains (because the “phylacteries” themselves are kinda useless).
So Irelia isn't a human carrying blades but rather blades carrying a human body?
Well my world just turned upside down.
Yes, essentially.
As far as thematic niches, she’s one of- if not the game’s only “good” undead: kept from death in moment of desperation. It’s a sad story and a glimpse into the turmoil of war we haven’t really seen in League, beyond Tryndamere (well, Aatrox’s lore).
Plus, maybe there could be consequences. I mean, look at Mercy and Reaper’s story in Overwatch. It’d be interesting to see if Irelia turns into Mordekaiser, in time.
Soraka: LIVE!
Salson5 votesI always understood lich to be, simply, "your soul is not kept inside your body", with the pros and cons of this being entirely variable based on setting.
It can also make one a magical girl. Star Guardian Irelia confirmed.
IcyPepper5 votesI understand that reference and applaud you, sir.
Fasmodey1 votesBut it is like saying zombies and vampires are same as path of turning into these 2 goes from getting bitten.
Trapping the soul is way of becoming lich but it isn't specific to only liches.
Mordekaiser is more lich than Irelia can ever be IMO.
50000000000000001 votesThose two actually share a common literary origin, hence the similarities.
Fasmodey1 votesStill not same. Actually there are significantly different power level and weaknesses between them.
Overlord Forte2 votesThis detail was pretty killed back in the old lore team. Though the setup seems like it could lead to that direction, Irelia never fulfilled some of the other requirements of Lichdom. On top of this fact, becoming a type of undead doesn't really push her story in any way it's worth keeping.
Eeyore3 votes[{quoted}](name=Overlord Forte,realm=NA,application-id=6kFXY1kR,discussion-id=nxPeL4je,comment-id=0002,timestamp=2017-10-19T00:47:29.997+0000)
This detail was pretty killed back in the old lore team. Though the setup seems like it could lead to that direction, Irelia never fulfilled some of the other requirements of Lichdom. On top of this fact, becoming a type of undead doesn't really push her story in any way it's worth keeping.
It could go somewhere worth keeping, though - that's why I thought I'd mention it.
Akin to Gangplank's Burning Tide story-based classic/traditional skin, Riot could do a post-retcon Ionian War for Irelia's relaunch event - with Irelia's first Visual Update depicting her as an Ionian Warrior. She would be fierce and passionate with a core of steel. But she dies (for real, not like Gangplank), perhaps as part of some massive chemical attack orchestrated by Singed (whose lore also hasn't been updated yet, I believe). Soraka would find her as she flies across the battlefield searching for survivors - and in a desperate moment, revives the fallen warrior. What Soraka brings back doesn't necessarily have to be the live-server Irelia - since that fantasy would be delivered in her Ionian Warrior skin. Perhaps post-revival she cold and empty; humourless and without empathy. She cut through the surviving Noxian forces like they were nothing and she felt nothing.
TyrekGoldenspear2 votesLittle-known lore bit.
I applaud you for knowing this good sir.
Khâmul2 votesbring back Kel'Thuzad
The Soulforged1 votesI feel like her souls's only partly outside her body, so you can't say she's a full lich.
Agonys Embrace1 votesI hope so but honestly i doubt they'll keep it, a long while ago it was commented on by Iron stylus and though he no longer works at Riot its probably what they are thinking. Feels bad man.