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The brute in Ekko's teaser may be hired by none other than Stanwick Pididly

333lom··30 votes·6,155 views

It has been confirmed that the brute is not Urgot nor Singed. Some people are suggesting he is Viktor's creation, sent to steal Ekko's time-travel device.

But some things don't add up. The technology the brute is fused with, looks very poorly done. It breaks very easily when hit in right spots, it looks clunky and half - done. Viktor is a genius, and his technology is on a far greater level than this. Remember how Jayce's entire lore had to be reworked by the request of the community? It had to be changed to not present Viktor as a petty villain that steals other's technology, since that's in stark contrast to Viktor's origin story. Stealing other's intellectual property is something Viktor hates the most. Because that happened to him. Pididly stole Blitzcrank from Viktor's team. Not just that, he stole some of Viktor's early research, and later used that to revive Urgot. Now - this brute was called Urgot by many, simply because he really looks like him. This points to Pididly's work. That man has very shady moral and is very likely to try to steal some technology again.

Now comes the speculation. If Ekko's lines "never go full robot." "you're everything wrong with Zaun" "I'll never be like this guy" "see you're a part of the problem" are directed to Viktor, this again turns him into an outright villain, while Viktor's lore was meant to present him as a character in a gray area, left for the reader to decide. What if Ekko thinks the brute was sent by Viktor, but was actually sent by Pididly?

15 Comments

SkyMagpie17 votes

I completely agree with this post.

Well already know that Stanwick is a greedy man, since he stole Viktor's inventions for glory and fame, and probably fortune too. So nothing prevents him from actually developing a whole line of augments based on the stolen research for Urgot's augments (mentioned in Viktor's lore) and selling them to whoever wants to get augmented without even considering whether his buyers would use them as a weapon or not.

Also good point on the fact that the augments on this thug are sort of clunky and perhaps that's because Stanwick stole Viktor's research so pretty much he had to work based on drafts and sketches, hence why these augments on the thug are not as advanced as Viktor's augments.

So quite honestly if Riot pulls off that the zaunite thug was Viktor's, there is just as much possibility that it's Stanwicks.

And I wouldn't be surprised if Riot makes Viktor a more stereotypical villain as they "expand" their lore, considering the last incident with Jayce. His own lore just puts him in that grey zone and makes him either an anti-hero or an anti-villain depends on the point of view of the reader, and Riot should have kept that thing going on because it gives that third dimension a lot of champions begin to lack lately.

Ebonmaw Dragon14 votes

Stanwick trying to tarnish the image of Viktor? It would make a lot of sense.

I definitely think that the guy from the video is not working for Viktor... he has a lot of "flesh"... and as you said, looks clunky and half - done.

And call me crazy but i think that the guy is using a similar tech to Vi. Maybe Stanwick also stole tech from her? Heck the guy is even using ice... mixing Ice with hextech its an idea from Lyte.

So, i think that the guy was made by Stanwick, using tech from Vi, Viktor and Lyte.

junglerboy164 votes

Vi created her gauntlets from a hextech mining suit (likely Zaunite in origin), so that technology would actually be pretty commonplace within Zaun.

I'm not sure this is Stanwick trying to tarnish Viktor's reputation so much as him not caring that his actions do tarnish someone's reputation.

The Anagram King7 votes

I, for one, would LOVE it if Viktor were portrayed as a sketchy villain in everybody else's lore, but a selfless genius in his own. The guy lives with the constant accusatory claims of his peers; those who are afraid of what a metal frame and a budding robot 'army' might mean for their own freedom.

Viktor is unprecedented in Zaun. Viktor is unprecedented anywhere. Not only unprecedented, but powerful. Out of nowhere powerful.

And that makes people afraid. It makes them paranoid. But from the point of view of the Herald, there's nothing sinister going on. He researches, he builds; further improving upon his own revolutionary designs with each passing day. He goes out of his way to humour the requests of those who would request augmentation and, even if only so that other recognise his genius, betters the lives of those around him.

Not even a hero, Viktor's just a researcher who rejected the oh-so-common Zaunite lack of empathy. And so the knowledge that his intent is not global domination, or even the forced evolution of his peers - the very technology he pines over? That would be a lore gem. Something to keep him on that awkward line of:

"Wait... Has Viktor actually done anything WRONG yet?"

SkyMagpie8 votes

This comment was everything I thought put to words.

Viktor really didn't do anything wrong in canon, aside from stealing Jayce's crystal, which compared to what other champions have done is child's play.

However instead of pulling off as you said Viktor being a villain in his world but not in his story, Riot decided to vaguely make him a cliche villain without any good explanation about what Viktor did. Maybe we will get something more in Ekko's lore, however I think they will lean towards Ekko's ties with Vi and Jinx, and leave Viktor to be forgotten and vaguely written as "the bad guy" for no reason other than to make few extra lines in Ekko's dialogue.

revliledpembroke6 votes

That is a very good idea. But it seems that Rito has forgotten they had such a character mentioned in their lore and it will instead be attributed to Viktor. Which could still make sense if it was somebody who broke out of Viktor's lab before Viktor was finished with him and then went crazy. Or if they decided they didn't give Viktor enough of a B-movie villain vibe. I mean, a Russian mad scientist leading a "Glorious Evolution" where he plans to turn everyone on the planet into robots. I doubt anything could make him sound more of a B-movie villain, unless he turns out to have killed Jayce's parents or something. Or Ekko's, I guess.

manbearswine3 votes

I think you're overestimating riot's lore team,this is probably all to look kewl and whatnot,not to be consistent with lore at all.

SkyMagpie3 votes

Yeah, I was thinking that. I am pretty sure they just added that guy to the video for shock effect and looking cool, and he actually won't have any connection to the actual lore (and probably won't be mentioned).

ElJanitorFrank3 votes

I feel like an idiot. I thought that the guy might have been Stanwick himself (still not out of the question I suppose) but it makes more sense to me that he'd be one of his goons.

And that being said, I 110% think it's correct. EVERYONE thought this guy was Urgot because of how messed up he was and all the technology on him looks like Urgot's.

Stanwick is the one who did that to Urgot (minus the claw and some other stuff, Urgot was pretty fucked up before he died in the first place).

And as a Viktor main/lore nerd, I will have to burn Riot if Viktor ACTUALLY made this guy. Viktor doesn't even use chemicals and stuff like in the video, he's all about machinery and metal, not green goo. I love the idea that Stanwick framed it on Viktor as well.

And by the way, Viktor does have a lot of followers that he augmented with extra parts, so if I were Ekko I'd definitely think it was Viktor too.

NeoJusteBelmont3 votes

While I know Viktor has his fans, I find it baffling that people would just tone down his actions in the name of 'Glorious Evolution'. Yes, I recognize that Viktor had his research stolen by Stanwick, but he retaliated by trying to turn people into machines, because he himself feel better as machines. Now, in the eyes of many people in Runeterra, who doesn't know what Viktor went through, the act of turning people into robots are NOT a pleasant and understandable act, they still like their humanity, flaws and all. So it's no wonder that in their eyes, Viktor IS that feared B-Movie villain.

Ekko had quite a lot of rights to say that Viktor is a problem of Zaun, because no sane human would agree on being turned into Viktor's automaton. Doesn't matter how Viktor feels, Ekko is human and still takes pride in it, imperfection and all.

This is also why Jayce stands opposed to Viktor, though I agree that his lore rework was necessary, he's still very much a hero.

Viktor just reminds me a lot with Diana, AKA someone with very dangerous thoughts getting a lot of Draco In Leather Pants treatment and then giving them free pass to do whatever just so they get their own share of justice, and painting their opposition as badly as possible (Jayce and Leona, respectively). At all cost. Yes, Viktor not being petty is great, but people seems to just love treating him completely as someone who is just being ignored and just wants to prove himself, and everyone, willing or not, should just join his 'Glorious Evolution', discarding their humanity. Who wants their humanity removed anyway? ... Aside of Viktor.

The Anagram King5 votes

Battlecast isn't cannon. Viktor has never (reportedly) augmented a person unless they came to him and volunteered.

SkyMagpie8 votes

Only the thing is that Viktor doesn't get a free pass like Diana. And even if Diana gets a free pass like you said, people still love Leona equally and frankly most of Diana and Leona fans ship them. So no Diana is nothing like Viktor in terms of fanbase. Viktor is villainified by everyone, he was since he came out. Having a fanbase of five people that view him as more than a cliche movie villain doesn't mean he gets a free pass. So in truth Viktor is both forgotten and immeasurably ignored compared to Diana. Also Diana clearly states the wants to bring down the Sun (kill Leona) while really Viktor just vaguely says in his quotes that he wants to "upgrade" humans and considers them inferior but unlike other champions he doesn't say he will kill everyone. In fact it feels like his lore and his quotes were written by different people.

However we didn't say that Viktor is a hero or that he is ultimately good. I am actually curious why would Ekko hate him aside from knowing vaguely what Viktor is all about. When Riot first wrote Viktor they made him into this gray morality character because they really left a lot of space open for interpretation. They didn't make him a hero, but they didn't make him a villain either. They just hinted he might go darkside with the whole augmentation thing however it was still up to the readers to decide.

When Jayce's lore came out (especially that first one) it was obvious that the writing team decided to make Viktor the villain without giving him the opportunity to be anything else (either a tragic villain or an anti-villain) and with Ekko's lore they just further this villainifaction. Also I am pretty certain that the entire Battlecast sells better with their "evil" leader and creator, rather than the "might be evil" leader and creator.

And like as the poster that replied before me said, Viktor never reportedly augmented a person unless they came to him. There is nothing in canon that supports this whole "he forced people to give up their flesh" thing. In fact his followers are referred to as acolytes, not experiments, so that sort of implies they willingly follow his idea.

And its funny how aside from stealing Jayce's crystal (after trying to ask for an alliance) Viktor didn't do anything else that's bad in canon. So people saying what he did is just as incorrect as us saying what he didn't do. In canon he never killed nor hurt anyone. There is no canon evidence of him being anything other than a researcher and somehow a crystal thief.

However I strayed away, the point of the topic was that the brute has no reason to be sent by Viktor considering Viktor hadn't done anything in canon and suddenly he sends his acolytes to kill some kid with a time device? Awfully cliche and out of the blue. And the problem was if Riot does go down this path we will have the same old "villain attacks hero for no reason" thing.

NeoJusteBelmont2 votes

Uh... five people? FIVE? You know, call me underinformed, but everywhere I go, I see everyone going "Yay" over Viktor, not villifying him. I could see more people bashing Jayce for the sake of Viktor, even after his second lore came out... We're talking about players, right? I don't think Viktor's fanbase is THAT small...

Also if you're talking about villainification via Ekko, that comes from his quotes, I don't think his background story is out yet, though considering the 'lore team', it'd be minimal.

But thing is, Viktor sees humanity lowly, even if he doesn't force that on people, his belief is something that is unacceptable for people who liked being human, so it makes sense that Ekko would hate and villify him. With that belief alone, there's a lot who'll believe that Viktor is just one step away from jumping off the slippery slope, and I don't think him taking inactive stance is going to clear that up (though I think it'd be OOC even for him).

So in case of Ekko, I think it's less about "You force your beliefs into us, you are a monster!" but more "You research things like that without regards of humanity? No. Just no. I don't like you."

If anything, I think this is more in-line. Viktor is a gray character, but everyone in that world sees him as a villain, and he didn't do anything to fix that up. We can understand him as a gray one, but for these guys in Runeterra, he's assumed to be a villain. In the eyes of Ekko and Jayce, not us, they have every rights to be suspicious and distasteful towards Viktor.

GreenLore1 votes

You know,you talk about how viktor didn't do anything bad except for stealing jayces crystal,but you kinda forget that stealing the crystal says already a lot about viktor. I mean he walked up to jayce,asked him to hand him over the crystal and cooperate with him and when jayce denied,he blasted jayce through his lab and incinerated it just to get the crystal. And this alone shows that if you stand in the way of viktors plans,then he won't hestitate to attack you,regardless if you are innocent or not. And well why wouldn't he?He purged himself of most of his emotions,so why would he feel sympathy for others?Why would he feel bound by human morality? Yes we never heard of him augmenting a person against their will,but that doesn't mean he won't do it.

Also while it wasn't described what Jayce saw in viktors lab,I kinda doubt that the machines he destroyed there where just harmless machines to help humanity,he wouldn't have destroyed them if they weren't dangerous,but there are too many jokes about jayce destroying viktors lab for funzies for most people to think about this...

So yeah from what we know about Viktor he is an Anti-villain at best.

And NeoJusteBelmont is right when he says that a lot of people tend to demonify jayce and the Solari(rarely Leona herself though,but I've seen enough people thinking that it'd be right to bring down all the solari) while seeing Viktor and Diana as just "misunderstood" and often see them as Anti-heroes(if not straight up good people) instead of more complex villains.

GreenLore1 votes

Pretty much had a similar theory about the brute http://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/story-art/qtPEOEbQ-theory-about-ekkos-timemachine-and-the-brute

So yeah I think the brute might have been sent by Piddly and not Viktor. But I'd think it is easily possible that Ekko simply hates both Viktor and Piddly(and he merely doesn't have any quotes about Piddly,because piddly isn't a champion)

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