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Legends: defined as a story from the past that is believed by many people but cannot be proved true

Zaine Draconis·10/16/2014, 6:19:58 AM·3 votes·1,294 views

So normally I am a lurker and my original idea was to post a story of Fiddlesticks. It was going to tell his origin being told around a campfire, like a folk tale or scary story. And since I am a lurker, i hadn't noticed until now that the rules had changed were we are not allowed to post fan faction. Yes i know i could just post it anyway, but i am not one to mess with rules. So ill just try to write what i was hoping to get across with the story.

There was a thread a few days ago about looking for input on champions who were most effected by the Retcon of the removal of the League. A lot of the talk started to focus on the champions Fiddlesticks and Nocturne, because of there need to be contained. I would have liked if the Reds in the thread had thrown in some of the other champions that should of been affected almost as much; like Sona, Ryze, Zilean and any void related champion . Why these? Because without a League these champions stand alone in Valoran cause although they might have been born in one of the nations, there characters have no real reason to be fiercely loyal to any particular nation. (Morganna and Rengar i think are part of the list but there rivals give them a setting within a setting.)

So obviously these character will be slated for a rewrite, to make them more intriguing or that they can be interacted with. The reds in thread had stated themselves that they didn't just want to put champion in a nation just add character depth to them, but what else can be done with them? The Lore team believes they needs to add something so drama can happen for these characters, everyone wants to see there favorite champion and how they come about in the new lore. Whether they agree with it or not.

Ryze for example he is a gather of knowledge, trying to protect his scroll of magic out of other hands, interacting with people would just increase the hassle of his core identity. Just like not long ago when Karthus was just trying to protect his own Nexus crystal, he did not wish to be disturbed he wished to be left alone to his own private work. That makes it hard to write about him, but to change a part of Ryze that makes it easier to interact with him could easily destroy him. When it was done to Karthus the mystery that drove him to lichdome, the part that had added a mysterious depth to his character was stripped of him. To be fair at least now with Karthus being part of a faction he can have the potential of being improved upon. Ryze does not have the same protection, even if he was sided with a nation.

I could see them very easily trying to say Ryze's scroll is incomplete so he goes from nation to nation trying piece together scroll on his back. He would then be able to interact anywhere they needed him to be and come in conflict with any champion for any number of reasons, but he would stop being a protector of dangerous knowledge then. His identity changed just so he can be interesting combatant 65 as if Valoran was a world like, Bleach, Naruto or The Batman. (The Batman not to be confused with Batman animated series, if your having trouble following my complaints. Just find the The Batman episode where Mr. Freeze is introduced. In that series he is only a Jewel Theif so he can fight coolly with Batman. No Mrs. Freeze just a jewel thief. Seriously)

To me that would be insulting to the character and the reader, the dumbing down of his potential to fit the plot. But the die for the Retcon has been cast, its to late to turn back and Riot shouldn't turn back just because a few unhappy people, but what can they do? Simply, make Ryze a Legend. The League might not be around but the Legends part hopefully has not changed. Ryze could be the Legend of the man who hordes magic knowledge for the protection of Valoran. Fiddlesticks the folktale of why armies should bury there dead rather than leave them strewn across the battlefield for carrion birds. Nocturne, the fear of darkness made whole. The Maven of strings who soothes the unknown savage beast. Something more than New Challenger enters the battle.

TL;DR: Wanted to leave a story, so i wouldn't rant. Ranted anyway about how not all characters need to be 'living' champions, mystify and make some like legends no one is sure if true or not. Don't turn League into Naruto/Power Ranger level story telling, not expecting Game of Thrones, but pg-13 is hopefully not to much to ask.

To any Reds that might read this, i do not expect a reply. Especially when i am being mostly negative about Rito's current actions. But when it is inadvertently expressed that you fear one character being to powerful cause a murderous rampage is its nature, and it could only be solved by death of said character. I fear you overlooked the threat the Void and said Void characters introduce to a narrative without a League or superpower to keep it in check or gutting the void. CupcakeTrap has been doing a nice job of voicing an opinion i agree with, i don't wish to be add more stress to the situation, just throw in my 2 cents.

2 Comments

Tenant10/16/2014, 8:17:22 AM2 votes

There's any number of ways they could approach Ryze's lore, especially since it's mostly always been vague (as is with many, many other champions).

I actually like the idea you mentioned about Ryze travelling the world, learning about a region's use and style of magic, but there's no reason he can't also protect his uber-dangerous scroll. Do both, really; it'd show off his rogue-magic-wanderer style of character and both aspects would emphasize how deeply rooted in magic he is. He already visually gives this off to; he's covered his body in magic after all.

This isn't even mentioning some of the plot threads that his Judgement from way back when brought up (the origin of his Thorn magic), but personally I wouldn't mind if they swept that under the rug, it wasn't too memorable.

I don't see Riot doing the whole "Legend" thing at this point though, but if they play their cards right they won't need to. Not every champion needs/is associated with a region/faction, and I imagine not every champion will share the same amount of interaction between the rest of the cast. But there really were just too many "mysterious" champions who were extremely vague and mysterious for no reason. Fiddlesticks and Nocturne were one of these champions, and before his lore rework, Karthus's origins and motivations were so muddled and vague that it really was just stupid. The less "mysterious for no reason other than to be mysterious" champions there are, the more special the "mysterious" champions that are left will feel. Mystery can be fun, but the old lore just had too much of it.

I'm of the mind that there are plenty of champions that are benefiting from these lore changes, but that's not to say every champion needs to see extensive changes in their lore. It's still too early to tell, since there's a ton of lore Riot needs to look back on (not to mention that we need a more reliable way to consume lore content), so I don't see much point to be upset over stuff that hasn't happened yet.