Montrous Potential 1: Cho'Gath and Chaoskampf
I'll open with an oldish digital art of my Cho'Gath redesign, since pictures are cool :) (I've heavily modified how he looks since making that but but regardless) https://imgur.com/a/IpDMlRV
Hello, it’s your hungry neighborhood Void/Monster Champ fanatic back at it again with another juicy thread to remind you all that Void monsters are super cool! You may recognize me from this Void lore thread I posted a while back. Or this one about monster champions
I’ll be touching upon on both of these topics in this post. I hope to explain the potential of monster champions in general throughout several posts. This thread is dedicated more specifically to the potential of the Voidborn; something that I’m concerned is being cast aside in order to make the Void more mysterious.
#So What's the Problem?
It’s no secret that The Void as a “region” is suffering right now. Like many others, it has received an update to bring it into the modern lore and away from its previous identity as a weaponized plane of existence. This solution, however, is not without its flaws. Voidborn (arguably the most important aspect of the Void) have been left behind by this update whilst their human counterparts receive most of the attention in the story.
Riot has stated in the past that they see little appeal in “monster” champions, despite the many flaws that this universe’s monsters have that their more compelling brethren in other media do not suffer from. Perhaps that is why we can find bios like Cho'Gath and Kog'Maw whose lore directly contradicts the current state of the Void.
For context: There is not a single Voidborn who has actually been to the Void. They are created on Runeterra, either via the will of the Watchers or by the nature of the Void itself. Their creation is very much alien in origin but the Voidborn themselves are essentially locals. Both Kog’Maw and Cho’Gath suggest that they are waiting in, or have emerged from, the Void. It’s things like this that cause general confusion in the community and leave where the Void actually stands quite unclear.
They are untouched, and that is not a crime. Resources are limited, and both of them likely will need a VGU or a VgU in order to be fully brought into the world. That is not where the problem in Voidborn characterization lies. The problem lies in what information is available and the conclusions they begin to lead one towards.
#Why Should the Voidborn Get Their Due? Let’s start with the common objects of focus: The Watchers. The majority of recent lore involving Voidborn or the Void (that isn’t a brief instance of one of them showing up and killing a couple of people) has centered entirely around the Watchers and their influence on lore. They’re the movers and shakers, the embodiments of the primordial chaos that is The Void. They are the great celestial other, the antithesis of those who crafted and tamed the raw potential of reality to shape it into the form it takes now.
**But they are not the ones acting on the world. They are trapped or isolated. **
The Voidborn, their children, are. They are the eyes and ears of the watchers, the crude and jagged instruments through which they attempt to exercise their will. This by no means makes them a part of a hive mind: the fact that Vel’Koz is required to return to a Void rift in order to communicate with the Watchers indicates that after they turn a Voidborn loose they have no direct method of influencing behaviour that follows.
They are, for all intents and purposes, independent, potentially intelligent, immortal, and destructive. They are matter turned against itself, ageless and self interested. Yet what we see of them in the lore is merely a flock of gibbering, screeching monsters incapable of behaving in a way that more complex monstrous characters might.
#What's Happening Behind the Scenes? Thus far we know very, very little. Tweets and reddit comments make up the bulk of new Void information. This means that none of this is strictly canon, which is why I am taking the time to challenge it now before it becomes canon.
There are a handful of information clumps we have received that suggest the direction Voidborn are going which prove somewhat concerning.
Take, for example that the most recent lore fact we have received about Cho’Gath is that he would lose to Aatrox in a fight. (I don’t have a link to it but I’m certain somebody out there does.) Like earlier, not a crime. Most champions would lose that matchup. But when all the information you get about a champion is that they are weaker than X it's not encouraging.
When it comes to Voidborn and their capacity to interact with the world around them, we have this twitter conversation. Chain? Thing?
Don’t be mistaken. There is a huge part of me that is absolutely elated to see narrative members at Riot being passionate about the Void and it gives me plenty of hope for the future. I have nothing but respect for L.J. Goulding's work and how open and communicative he is about potential directions for the lore! Unfortunately, in this case the direction being indicated is anything but relieving.
#They Can't Speak, So What? That the Voidborn are incapable of speech/communication with other entities on Runeterra isn’t making them more frightening or alien,** it is restricting them**. Although they are born as ravenous, mindless beasts it is their unlimited capacity to grow and to learn that is truly their most terrifying feat. As long as there's flesh and magic for them to break down to fuel the unholy fire in their bellies, they will continue to grow more powerful both physically and **intellectually. **
Voidborn, like any living thing, are a part of the world even if they experience it in a way quite different from other beings. Gaining the capacity to communicate would eventually be a part of that.
Be it used for cruelty, like Cho’Gath, analysis like Vel’Koz, or for the enabling of more complex thoughts like Kha’Zix, an understanding of language enables a deeper capacity for interacting with the world around them. This complexity subsequently allows us as players/readers to get a more tantalizing look at what is going on behind those many purple eyes. Language gives form to thoughts, and having them be capable of utilizing language would humanize them just enough to make them compelling characters whilst still leaving the mind behind the words disturbingly alien.
A creature cannot live an interact with the world around it without picking up some ability to communicate. The fact that even some of the oldest Voidborn are incapable of it makes them less intimidating, rather than more. In a world that once teemed with Ascended god warriors, aspects, and deadly spirit gods it makes little sense that the majority of ancient Voidborn are the apex superpredators who never had the need to have more complex thoughts.
Some of Mythology’s cruelest monsters have been capable of using speech. They utilized their vile intellect to harm the world around them and to have ambition. The Voidborn themselves, from what we have seen, often have been the ones shaping these myths of legendary monsters around the Runeterra, be it Vel’Koz the devil from the underworld to Cho’Gath who in his current (and very dated) iteration seems to be the entity that humanity bases their inaccurate understanding of the nature of the Void upon.
They are things told in stories, monsters whose existence seems too horrific to be anything more than an allegory. Yet exist they do.
#The Legendary Voidborn
Voidborn are historical actors. Their impact on the world is undeniable. But Legendary Voidborn should stand out amongst the legion of monsters. It is these legends who are the mythological monsters of Runeterra ,and can be informed by real-world mythologies. When they are being written, we can compare them to monsters which have been culturally compelling enough to be carried on through stories time and time again (which goes a long way towards challenging the idea that monster characters simply aren’t compelling enough.)
For the purposes of this post I’ll be demonstrating the capacity to relate Cho’Gath (because he is my favourite) to the archetypal hero vs monster story of Chaoskampf.
#Chaoskampf
Chaoskampf crosses cultures. Similar stories pop up all over the globe, telling of a serpent or monster representing chaos battling and being defeated by a storm god. It represents the conflict between creation and destruction, and as the name would suggest: order and chaos.
(if you would like a bunch of information and analysis on Chaoskampf, Rosanna Rackley offers a fascinating examination here. There are several other resources available online as well, but my research will be kept on the lighter side here as the minutiae of Chaoskampf and its real-world applications aren’t as important to my argument as how widespread and popular it is.)
Rackley makes the argument that the Chaoskampf story may not merely be about creation, but also the right to/validation of kingship, a theme which I find worth keeping in mind here.
**A few examples of Chaoskampf tales from around the world: ** Thor vs Jormungandr Zeus vs Typhon Indra vs Vritra Ra vs Apep/Apophis There are many others, take a quick look at wikipedia if you'd like a more examples!
#What does this have to do with Cho’Gath?
I’m glad you asked, theoretical person. Cho’Gath is described as “the perfect expression of the Void’s desire to consume all life,” it’s not much of a stretch, then, to state they he is an incarnation of the Void (Runeterra’s primordial chaos) given flesh in the material world. In a sense, he is Runeterra’s Chaoskampf serpent.
The argument could be made that this applies to many voidborn, as they are all incarnations of the Void. It is not incorrect.
But Cho’Gath is most fitting as there is a perception in the community that although he may not be the eldest he is the greatest of his kind. On top of that, world-eater themes are common to the Chaoskampf dragons, and Cho'Gath is the champion who most aligns with being a world-eater. Him not living up to community expectations would be a disappointment not only to me, but to many other fans of League of Legends.
#How could this Look?
Cho'Gath's presence in the world would not go unnoticed, as the prime embodiment of chaos he would throw the world asunder wherever he went. In his pursuit of his desires he would encounter opposition. Soldiers, mages, heroes who have sought to destroy him. But none were worthy. How did this twisted, animalistic newborn grow into the apocalyptic being he would become, and how did that influence his understanding of the world? Where did his cruelty come from? Why did he feel the need to become intelligent?
And since he is not currently active in the world: Who is his storm god?
Is it **Volibear **(the only literal storm god), a rivalry between two titans who use up the lives of humanity for their own gain? Whose clash split the earth with tendrils of corrupted matter and tore the skies with forking lightning?
An ascended leader like Setaka, whose defeat of the creature cemented her place as a legend in the eyes of her peers?
Perhaps it was an Aspect who previously laid him low?
Or a legendary Ionian swordsman?
Who was the hero who defeated him and tamed the great chaos in their corner of the world? Did they become a king? Did they validate their authority? Who was the one who finally proved a worthy rival to the mighty Cho’Gath, and what did the Voidborn make of them with its twisted perspective on the world?
How can we better communicate that Cho’Gath was no mere low-class monster, he was something akin to the legendary enemy dragon that has been culturally relevant for millennia?
It would not do to make him just a large creature to be defeated. That isn’t enough to make him stand out as a Champion. He would be a glorified NPC, not a Legend. His mind, like the minds of most other Voidborn champions, sets him apart. Even the lowliest Voidborn has the potential to become physically powerful. In the most notable cases it should be Voidborn who have the will and the intellect who rise to the top. They don’t need to be a collection of Rek’Sai’s.
There is nothing wrong with making a monstrous character somewhat human. Even one as alien to us as the Voidborn. It can make them more compelling, and it makes one wonder where the difference lies, how their strange intellects pieced together their place in the world. How could they have a mind and still behave so strangely?
Make their roles and understandings complex and colorful. Make their impact on culture visible even if the last time the Void was encountered by those cultures happened long before the time of any living mortals. Not every Voidborn needs to be amazing and special. The majority can and should be low-tier monsters in much the same way mythology was packed with fodder creatures and monsters whose impact on the world was small.
But the Voidborn who stand out enough to appear in game should be more, deserve to be more. There is an abundance of source material from which one can draw. Rather than making the void only exist in isolation from Runeterra, embrace the Voidborn as a part of Runeterra (they’re technically locals, after all!) They’re destructive but also can make our understanding of the world as readers more vibrant.
Monsters can be compelling if done properly, but fully dehumanizing the Voidborn and isolating them from every other piece of the world’s story will only make the statement that monsters aren’t compelling a self fulfilling prophecy when it should be seen as a challenge to do better.
##If you read this far, thanks so much!
