User blog comment:Deathkin12/Champion concept: Zelos, the Blade of Ionia/@comment-112.204.223.196-20120823145750

Here's my opinion on this since i'm quite a fan of Irelia. While the backstory fits Zelos' resolve narrating the events of the Ionian war, I think the skills doesn't match his origins.

Let's review for a bit by basing on some parts of Irelia's backstory as well as her league judgment:

"Master Lito was a swordsman whose teachings were sought by ruling classes from nearly every city-state. His art was a highly-guarded secret, but it was said that swords would breathe in his grasp."

"You know what that means." Lito sheathed the blades in the blue folds of his robe. He inhaled sharply, his hands circling in front of him, channeling energy.

Though he stood twenty paces away, the long cloth from the sleeve of her father's training robe lanced out, lashing her squarely in the chest. She hurtled backward, sliding down the tiles. Catching her balance, she rolled back up the roof. Tiles cracked as Lito's unrelenting strikes thundered after her. He paused for a moment.

"Messy. Your mind is clouded." Lito flicked his wrist, and cloth gripped her neck from across the roof.

"Zelos!" Irelia sputtered. Zelos was between them, his right arm blocking the roundhouse kick, and his left hand holding his father's sleeve so she could extract herself. The fabric released her neck.

"Alright, let's go!" Zelos brandished a sword of his own from a sheath strapped to his back and slashed at his father.

Zelos directed his energy into his own reverse roundhouse, and Lito was forced to block the blow with his arm. The saber clattered from the grip of his sleeve.

"I thank you for allowing me to set eyes on my family again, but my father would never have let us land a blow. He joined the Elders by staying dry on this very roof during a rainstorm. According to the records, he never even moved. You can view the images in my mind all you like, but you'll never appreciate their true nature."

From the events we can tell that:

Lito is some kind of Jedi and the same way Irelia is able to use the "Force" by manipulating multiple blades, I believe that Zelos too should be able to do something similar. In this, I commend his ultimate since it feels that way howevr, his skills feels a bit bloodthristy; A trait that is more evident on Noxians.

If Lito is able to "weild" his robe/cloth and Irelia able to "weild" multiple blades, I think Zelos should be capable of "weilding" something else. Probably a display of force powers and such.

Zelos fights barehanded using fists and kicks so his skillset might involve some of those though it was mentioned that he can also use blades. For this, I somehow imagine Tatsumaru from the Tenchu series. He's able to fight barehanded but uses his blade during some stealth kills.

From Irelia's flashback, Zelos' personality felt lighter and fun. I imagined Ezreal in this but with how you painted the backstory, I imagined him to transform into something more serious. And I think that's good. People change in the face of such tragedy so his skills may also involve that.

Overall the idea is nice but feels more Noxian than Ionian. I think it would be consistent if he has skills fitting of his origin.

p.s. Love the animation of his ultimate. I could imagine the murder of it all.