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Ahri isn't any less special for being a vastayan than Lux is for being an animal

yay nibbers·4/9/2017, 4:53:21 PM·41 votes·3,475 views

Humans are all animals alongside things like fish and birds. Ahri and some others are, in the same respect, all vastayan. The notion that she's somehow less special because she shares a very loose, high up classification with champs like Wukong or what have you is silly. Ahri is special because of her unique lore and tragic backstory. Here's something to help illustrate my point:

Here's Lux, she's an exceptional light mage beyond the scope of anyone Demacia has seen. She's pretty special!

Here's Taliyah, she practices a mysterious magical ability to weave the very stones of the Earth itself that she herself doesn't fully understand. She's pretty special!

Here's Ahri, she's a fox who discovered an affinity for the magic surrounding her. On a stroll one day she found some human souls and turned into a (almost) human! She's pretty spe- WAIT! Sorry, she shares a very loose label with a small handful of other champs, she's not special anymore.

See how silly that sounds?

This applies to all the other newly dubbed vastayan champs as well.

37 Comments

TyrekGoldenspear4/9/2017, 4:58:21 PM22 votes

You're completely correct. However I have a theory for the backlash, one I would like to reiterate.

I see a similar situation with Viktor's lore update that had his fans all riled up, and we all remember how that went.

I believe that the causes of this backlash are the same: They were generic yes, but not to the eyes of the fans, they were alive and real to them and the lore update threatened to make them into something that they were not thought of as before.

Unique yet Generic

Here's an explanation. Say that I'm an Ahri fan. Besides her vague origin story and her defined motivations, she's almost a blank slate in terms of the deeper aspects of her personality. I could imagine her as a seductress, I could imagine her as a struggling monster trying to be human, I could see her as a famous popstar in Runeterra. What Riot has given her before was generic yes, but they gave her enough detail so that she seemed real to her fans, and her genre appealed to many varied people, so this is partly why:

A. She has such a large and varied fanbase. A champion like Camille is very defined personality-wise and lore-wise, so only people who identify enough with her will main her. (After her nerfs). Ahri on the other hand isn't as defined, so her mains and fans fill in the gaps how they want to, and she has just enough detail in her lore to fit snugly with their headcanon and work.

B. Her fanbase is quite concerned for this lore update, because it threatens this relationship between being generic and unique.

However the tool Riot has used for her uniqueness is unstable, and it is what you mentioned.

Unique Only in Name

It's pretty obvious by now that Ahri's only special because of her looks and her uniqueness via rarity, but if we dig deeper we see her story arc is quite common. If you want to see another champion in the game that struggles with her humanity, look at Shyvana. If you want to see another protector, look at Ivern. If you want to see another attractive champion, look at Evelynn.

Yes, she takes all of these traits and puts a unique spin on them, but save Evelynn (who's getting a rework anyway), take these traits away and look deeper then you have a blank slate.

Ivern is the most heartfelt example of redemption and penance I have seen. He was a bloodthirsty marauder who learned the error of his ways, forced to come to terms with all the suffering he caused and spent years upon years in emotional turmoil and wonderment at the value of life, and lives now to spread life, no longer to bring destruction to it. From his VO and his lore you can see his personality.

Shyvana's lore has come out recently, so I imagine it's all still fresh in the mind, but her lore and color story show her personality well.

Ahri doesn't have anything yet, but what comes out can conflict with the headcanon of many varied fans; this lore will make her more defined and more unique yes, but the result will end up pushing some mains away.

But yes, being labeled a Vastayan will not make her any less special. Surely her fans want her to have a family.

AbiwonKenabi4/9/2017, 7:56:31 PM8 votes

I'm no Ahri fanboy, but the reason I personally am not a fan of the Vastaya label on Ahri is that it throws her entire backstory into question. She was a normal fox who started to gain humanity through absorbing souls; the more she absorbed the more human she became, but also the worse she felt about it.

From what we know so far about Vastaya, they are born like this. So it puts Ahri's original story into doubt. Until we get more info, I think it's reasonable to at least be a little worried.

ExcessiveProtest4/9/2017, 6:36:26 PM6 votes

Can't speak for anyone else, but here's my problem with it: the semi-uniqueness was vital to making the old lore work. Ahri wanted to become human because humans were the only people around; there was nobody else (except maybe Wukong) in Ionia, so it was either kill humans to become human, or stay in the forest forever.

Now she's a Vastayan, though. There are others just like her around, so why does she want to become human? Removing the isolation factor undermines the core motivation of becoming human, and with it, the forced conflict of killing, and being driven away, to maybe be accepted eventually. Instead of an internal struggle, it looks like she's abandoning the Vastaya and trying to become human because they're cool or something.

Sure, they might fix it in a week and a half (or a year and a half, as much as they've improved, Rito's lore-updating record isn't exactly reassuring), but I'm struggling to see any way to make Ahri's lore of trying to become human work when there's suddenly an entire civilization exactly like her.

NineTailedMystic4/9/2017, 10:44:57 PM5 votes

I'm trying to hold my peace until we get her new full lore, but there's a potential to have a lot about her current lore not make any sense anymore, or overall make her less appealing lore wise.

I like Tyrek Goldspear's comment about how we have a rough idea of how she's like, without her being completely defined. It gives us freedom to envision her how we like. While she could use some improvement, at least giving more of her personality, I feel she doesn't need that much to be a successful character lore wise as is. Everyone has their own image and ideal for Ahri. I won't define mine personally, but ask any Ahri main about what they'd want Ahri to do or be about and you'd likely get incredibly varied answers.

But Ahri being Vastayan has the potential of her being...shunted out of the spotlight, so to speak. How do we know there aren't more fox Vastayan like her? Xayah and Rakan are basically two pieces of Ahri already with Rakan having her iconic Charm CC and Xayah looking very similar to her physically excluding the wings. On top of this, it really removes her isolation. Being a fox turned human and moreso with taking life essence from others really gave her no options in being able to approach anyone. She wants to take life to become more human, but doing so wracks her conscious that she even gained from taking humanity. In her Stray Fox story, she took the life of the Noxus captain because she didn't mind taking the humanity from men who had no use for it.

She yearns to be part of a human community, but if she's Vastayan, why? She had people who wouldn't shun her. Xayah would probably accept her if she didn't want to become human. Who knows if she's even a humanoid being born from a fox transformed anymore.

There's a lot of potential, both good and bad. But until then, us Ahri mains will have to fear the unknown.

KoKoboto4/9/2017, 10:37:40 PM2 votes

Meh who cares just a sex-fox or in other words "voluptuous fox woman" - Eduard Santangelo

CaptJayceSparrow4/9/2017, 8:43:06 PM2 votes

I mean, she's technically classified as Vastayan, but she wasn't born that way. If anything this adds hope to her story that she has a group she can fit in with as opposed to being isolated from all of Ionia. Even offers chances at stories of Vastayans not accepting her for being the product of magic as opposed to born that way. To be fair I have been on the bench a long time but I'm excited for the lore expansion this race will bring and I'm glad that Xaya looks as fun as she does to play.

Ark Sorcerer4/9/2017, 5:20:59 PM2 votes

In my opinion, I am uninspired to care about Riot's lore for League, characters are fine though. They have screwed up the lore when they got rid of summoners being cannon, yet have champs who still acknowledge summoners via their dialogue. From there on, Riot has been a mess with their lore. I mean, the champion lore since Ekko, maybe a little bit before, have been good. Great even. Book quality. But the lore in itself is uninspiring.

Now I think Riot is just putting things together to make something of it all the while alienating the fan bases some players have for their favorite champs. I know the character lore for a lot of champions and reading the changes seems very, very... very dumb at times.

Riot is recreating the lore for League, which can both ways. It allows them to be more unified yet throws off the people who do pay attention to it.

I read somewhere Demacia has so little magic in the kingdom they actual fear it and will sometimes rationalize it. Don't ask me about Lux, the Lady of Luminosity. Or how they makes any sense. Few magic in the world, Ionia acknowledges it existence but Demacia does not? Okay. Sure. Whatever. EVERY champion from Demacia better have AD scaling and no AP. I don't care about you being hated and feared Galio, get out.

I will give a look at some of the champions personal lore again and see how stupid it has become. If there is a change that makes them a new classification, who cares. Ahri is Vastyan or whatever? Cool. Whatever that implies. Ahri is still a sexy, powerful, seductive, mage vixen who I like playing.

Until Riot release a mode where characters lore actually plays apart in battle-- say Noxians deal bonus damage together when attacking the same target, MF and GP have some ratio changes in their ults to the other specifically, Ashe and Sejuani have something going on, Kat deals less damage to an enemy Talon, Kindred gains 3 stacks from killing anyone from the Shadow Isle, Ahri's charm last longer on a Nidalee, Rakan blocks 5% of Xayah's oncoming damage, Tristana gains vision Teemo's shrooms... (Add this now)-- I don't see a huge reason to care.

I mean, I get it. Some people are into the lore and don't want to see change but if they do, they do not like what the implications are with a term and then applies to their favorite champion. If I were to read Ahri's lore, some 2 dozens years from now, and see what she is, I may view her in a different light and have less of a connection to her. That is something to fear, yes. And I do like Ahri, both her vague but directional lore and her game play (not her play rate though. Wish that would drop so I don't have to fear a rework with her sticks tongue out)

But I guess I should try to get into the lore so someone at least tell me what the term "Vastayan" means?

Not a negative post or anything. Just a comment.

EDIT: Yay, 17 downvotes for... my opinion. Awesome.

Prophet of Urgod4/10/2017, 1:46:59 AM2 votes

[deleted]

Meliodäs4/9/2017, 7:38:25 PM1 votes

Ahri as Vastayan is non-unique. However she isn't vastayan, she's just kitsune and no, vastayans and kitsunes aren't the same, so stop with it. thanks.