Why does everyone taunt Lucian with his wife’s death?

ForgottenStone·9/11/2018, 6:01:30 PM·38 votes·18,063 views

One thing I noticed is that Riot is pushing for more champion interactions in their VOs which is good.

But I noticed with Lucian EVERY single interaction with him revolves around the death of his wife which makes him seem pretty 1 dimensional.

And kind of odd since while I know it’s an important part of him, it seems almost every non psychotic human champion have lost someone they loved so death seems pretty common. Getting your wife eaten by monsters, or watching your best friend get murdered in cold blood and being powerless to stop it is a Tuesday in Runeterra.

Strangely though even “good” champions also like to go for the low blow and mock him for it.

I'm sure your wife forgives you for getting her soul taken by a remorseless creature of darkness!"

PROJECT (to enemy Lucian) "Senna would be ashamed of what you've become."

35 Comments

Ashe mage AD9/11/2018, 6:03:18 PM55 votes

Implying that Lux is even remotely sane?

Eleshakai9/11/2018, 6:24:01 PM26 votes

Lucian's design IS one-dimensional. He's functionally a tragic berserker. Lost his wife, so now has devoted everything to revenge.

Pretty crappy story, honestly.

JoeAnarchy9/11/2018, 6:40:18 PM16 votes

have any of you been married/been in love? because i have.. and if some ghost demon thing came and stole my wife/partners soul, i would dedicate myself to revenge also.. he's one dimensional, because that's the most realistic thing for him to be.. he doesn't NEED more than one single dimension..

Umbral Regent9/11/2018, 7:11:45 PM11 votes

I find it kind of funny that you use the (enemy) taunt quote from PROJECT: Ashe there - it's a quote meant to chastise Lucian for siding with PROJECT over G/NETIC. If Lucian's on Ashe's team when she taunts him, she has quotes like this;

"We're your family now." "We'll make them pay - together." "We've all lost people we care about; it's up to us to make sure no more are taken."

PROJECT: Ashe does her best to try to console and inspire her fellow Champions who join G/NETIC - but she's not above reminding them of who they are if they submit to PROJECT.

Lux, on the other hand, means well, but definitely doesn't really know how to word things. Her words come out more like a vague insult than an honest statement, but, that's kind of just Lux. Trying to keep infectious positivity, even if she fumbles it.

You are right though, death isn't uncommon in Runeterra. Whether it's Yasuo having to slay Yone, Riven witnessing the omnidirectional murderbombs Singed launched in Ionia, Lucian losing Senna, Camille/Fiora having to kill their family members for various political reasons, Miss Fortune's parents, Quinn's brother...

Although, Lucian has pretty much the strongest tie to that "lost a loved one" trope, especially because she's not just dead, she's trapped in Thresh's torturous limbo to sate his sadism. That forces Lucian to just go all or nothing on his relentless undead-slaying, to either save Senna's soul or die trying.

It's definitely one-dimensional, but that's kinda just the way that Lucian is. Although, he at least did get some pretty great characterization in Shadow and Fortune, IMO.

DuskDaUmbreon9/11/2018, 6:52:35 PM7 votes

Ashe there is less mocking him with it and more trying to...appeal to that sane, good side of him.

But, let's be honest: There's not much else they can do. Some gun-using champions can go "You think those are guns?", but that's about it. There's not much else to base any kind of taunt on that wouldn't have extreme backlash. Nocturne could go "Shit. I ult and lose vision of you" to him, and it'd be hilarious to some of us, but Riot'd probably face a lot of backlash for a racially-based joke like that. Riot is left with either mocking his guns or using his dead wife in some way, because there's just nothing else they can use.

At least, not until his lore gets expanded on. Because his lore, as has been said, is one-dimensional. Everything about his lore pretty much just revolves around his wife's death.

Melledoneus9/12/2018, 5:03:59 AM4 votes

The problem I have with Lucian's current story is that, yes, Senna was a big part of who he was and her death left him with a void, and all he can do is try to fill it with cold-blooded anger and vengeful thoughts. He is a man who has 'nothing to lose' which is fun to watch work because there are no inhibitions in Lucian: he is a badass killing machine.

However, from a narrative standpoint, this isn't very good. Lucian's goal used to be hunting down Thresh to free Senna, but he failed his first time around and now he's in this story-telling purgatory where he is just suspended without drive, motive, or direction. He's standing still in the world and not moving. He has nothing.

The way to fix this is give him a new goal. Give him a reason to live (since we can't take the route of Lucian offing himself for gameplay purposes). Have him meet someone he would want to protect, dig up his past amd rediscover himself, go on a spiritual journey where he realizes how selfish he is for not spreading the warmth and kind mercy that they used to when Senna was still alive, something. Hell, have him hone his skills for his next showdown against Thresh, to take him down for good this time.

Lucian is a character who is badass and cool, but has narratively left to gather dust. He needs a narrative that ends with a question that will be answered sometime in the future, way after the story reaches its conclusion.

D357R0Y3R9/11/2018, 6:08:51 PM3 votes

cuz obviously riot wants him to be like this "uh duhu he lost his wife so now he doesn't care about anything anymore and wants to exterminate as much shadow isle creatures as possible"

sounds like a terrible vampire hunter comic and it's shit

Oleandervine9/11/2018, 7:11:19 PM2 votes

Wait a minute - since when did Ashe have VO for people?!

Fondling Gems9/11/2018, 6:58:18 PM2 votes

Mostly agree with you but I don't agree with Ashe's quote being a low blow or mocking. Senna WOULD be ashamed of how he is acting, and since Lucian is acting that way because of what happened to Senna Ashe is just hitting the nail on the head.

If anything Ashe's quote sounds like her trying to help him change by pointing out that the person he is acting on behalf of wouldn't want him to act that way.

NLY Popp5icle10/25/2019, 11:19:27 AM1 votes

Well, jokes on them, she's not dead!

RookPusher9/11/2018, 7:55:55 PM1 votes

It's not even a good taunt. The past is just a ghost, according to Lucian.

Summonah123699/11/2018, 8:02:51 PM1 votes

Lucian was bullied by his peers in Summoner middle school.

Hexs Fortune9/11/2018, 10:00:17 PM1 votes

I've called for Senna to be released as a full champ, but lately i've been thinking, where would that leave lucian?

rtbf2256182419/11/2018, 11:55:17 PM1 votes

When the hell did Ashe say that?

ChuShoe9/12/2018, 3:37:39 AM1 votes

{quoted}

One thing I noticed is that Riot is pushing for more champion interactions in their VOs which is good.

But I noticed with Lucian EVERY single interaction with him revolves around the death of his wife which makes him seem pretty 1 dimensional.

A revenge plot is typically pretty 1-dimensional, isn't it? Which is exactly what Lucian's whole character arc is. I'm not disagreeing with you, it's stupid that his character really only revolves around Senna. We don't even know much about Senna either, other than she was close to him.

Sexy Jack Rabbit9/12/2018, 12:40:41 PM1 votes

I think if they developed Lucian's and Senna's relationship it would honestly improve the situation.

Lucians is one-dimensional, but Senna herself is even moreso.

Knowing WHY Lucian loved her so much would make their story more impactful in my eyes.

PaladinNO9/20/2018, 1:32:57 PM1 votes

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