Development
- Main article: Xayah (Development)
- are voiced by Laila Pyne.[1] and
- [2] was originally slated to be the antagonist to and .
- Influences for April Ludgate from Parks and Recreation, Kubo and the Two Strings and We Can Never Go Home.[3][4] and include
- During development she was simply called Duo Carry.
- [5] was instead called Duo Support.
- Gameplay motivations for [6] include having a source of power originating not from a bow or gun, creating a unique auto attacking experience, and giving marksman players an option to survive difficult situations.
- Her basic attack sound effects come from a: drum brush swish; elastic band; whooshing leather; whooshing towel; processed whoosh and slingshotted bullet casing.
- Several scrapped spells for [7][8][9][10]
- Summoning a shadow clone copy of every ally that was not nearby.
- A passive called "A thousand cuts", where she would gain one stack per basic attack, up to ten, and it would dramatically increase her damage.
- but it would have no condition and would forcibly return to her starting position after a delay.
- An ability that would mark the side of an enemy champion. You would be able to attack the mark repeatedly but it would become progressively smaller.
- An ability like with an ammo system.
- An ability that gave a single like missile that would deal damage and steal some movement speed if it hit an enemy.
- An ability shared with that would fire a beam like , but they could shoot them together and combine them into a megabeam.
- Another ability shared with that would create a storm cloud that followed them around and could summon a lightning bolt in the area to stun people. The other had a gust of wind that would knock enemies back.
include: - [11] was created extremely late in development, only three weeks prior to shipping.
- Some possible thematics explored for [12][13] and included being a vampire couple or being a storm shaman and storm elemental.
Universe
- Main article: Xayah (Character)
- Her tribe's name, Lhotlan, was named after Lhotl, a Vastayashai’rei hero during the war against a race of titans from the sky.
- Xayah was originally intended to be 23 in equivalence to human age, but due to being a young Vastaya, she is possibly a few hundreds years old.[14][15]
- This can be explained that as one enters a vastayan forest, time—as we know it—becomes to be less reliable. This is the border to the spirit world, so time can go strangely—Days can become years; or months can become seconds in the world outside of the forest.[16]
- Xayah's cloak is actually her wings disguised by Vastayan magic (to blend in with humans).
- Xayah and Rakan are sometimes depicted together with combined wings. The one-winged Jian bird in Chinese mythology has a similar codependency, which represents the bond of two lovers.
- Xayah does not lay eggs.[17]
- Xayah is somewhat prejudiced to Yordle due to people confusing yordles for Vastaya and lumping them together as “magical creatures”, the yordles’ association with humans, and the magic of human ideals.[18]
- Vlonqo, the town where Xayah and first met, is a town with a monastery and a Quinlon.[19]
- Xayah views their relationship as starting after a tavern brawl. They had the sexy time there—it's very scenic. It's just a nice memory.
- The Vastayan culture's relationship and marriage rituals are somewhat different than ours—in part because magic is literally a part of them and their landscape. Their culture is big on declarations. Symbolically when you declare something it becomes true—but with the magic the vastayan's use—those sort of declarations also form a weak charm. Reinvoking it maintains its status and makes others aware. From an American perspective Xayah and [20] are not married or even engaged, and would self-describe as "a couple."—But for a Vastaya declaring someone your boyfriend/girlfriend is a much bigger deal than for Americans. It means you are allowing your magics to entwine.
- Quinlons are the magical filters and damns scattered around Ionia that attempt to contain the amount of magic released into the region, or limit it to positive and helpful magic, which in turn affect the Vastayan livelihood due to their dependence on magic.[21]
- In Wild Magic, Xayah and destroyed one of the Quinlons that and his Shadow Order use to create their Ichor which is used to channel Shadow magic.
- Xayah views their relationship as starting after a tavern brawl. They had the sexy time there—it's very scenic. It's just a nice memory.
League of Legends
Gameplay
- Main article: Xayah (League of Legends)
- Xayah is one of 20 champions without a single ability power ratio on any ability: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , and .
- Xayah's and V1.0.0.72. dual release is the first one since
- Xayah's and Rakan's loading screens always align themselves to the rightmost side before a game starts and when picked on the same team (to mirror their shared splash art).
- Xayah's and Rakan's dual recall animation is divided into three sections, an intro, a middle section, and then an outro. The whole sequence would take 8 seconds if Xayah and Rakan recalled at the exact same time, while the intro and the outro are both (<2 seconds).
The system will always play the intro, then it will always play the outro when there is 2 seconds left in the animation, regardless of how long the middle section has played for. This means that the characters will blend from whatever position they are in, to the first pose of the outro part of the sequence.[22] - Xayah does not lay eggs.[23]
- Xayah is the sixth dark-theme Ionian champion, the others being , , , , , & .
- Bladecaller's victim is an acolyte of The Shadow Order.
- She has a base size of 35 which is considered small.
- however, is one exception.[24]
and Rakan are likely to always receive skins together.
Quotes
- Main article: Xayah (League of Legends Audio)
- Xayah's pick quote ▶️ "I can never resist an invitation to dance" is an answer to ▶️ "Let's dance.".
- Xayah and
- Both are the first voice-overs to feature ping-related voicelines.
share unique interactions depending on the situation.
- ▶️ "–I love you!" ▶️ "–I know" quotes The Empire Strikes Back.
- ▶️ "I wanna travel the world with and "▶️ "I want quote happiness to evaporate"Parks and Recreation ("I wanna travel the world with her" and "I wanted his happiness to evaporate").
- ▶️ "Yordles, why'd it have to be Yordles?" references Raiders of the Lost Ark ("Snakes, why did it have to be snakes?").
- Xayah shares quotes with:
- ▶️ "Drop a heart, break a name." is a reference to the song Sugar, We're Goin Down by Fall Out Boy.
- ▶️ "The Star Guardians are people I work with and our job is to be awesome and destroy the darkness." references Veronica Sawyer from Heathers ("Well, it's just like they're people I work with and our job is being popular and shit.").
- ▶️ "Get in loser, we're getting ramen." is a reference to Mean Girls ("Get in loser, we're going shopping!").
Skins
- Main article: Xayah (Collection)
- She references the harpy from Greek mythology, with corvine dark plumage.
- She wears a shoulder pad made from a skull and adorned with a couple of (he wears an identical one adorned with a couple of ).
- She shares her splash art with
- They are the first champions to share their Classic splash art, the other two being and .
.
- This skin shares the Cosmic theme with:
- ...and others
- This skin was released along with:
- She might be referencing The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo.
- She was inspired by the Gemini constellation.
- This skin shares the Heartbreakers theme with:
- ...and others
- She was released in celebration of Valentine's Day 2018 along with:
- This skin shares the World Champions: 2017 theme with:
- She represents Ruler.
- The idea for the
- A side-by-side comparison can be seen here.
- The flowers that appear in her solo Recall are the national flowers of Korea, the Hibiscus syriacus.
animation was thought up by Ruler himself and displays his signature.
- A side-by-side comparison can be seen here.
- The idea for the was thought up by Ruler and CoreJJ themselves.
- A side-by-side comparison can be seen here.
- They hold up a Summoner's Cup in their Recall animation.
animation with - A side-by-side comparison can be seen here.
- The idea for the
- SSG Xayah and are both references to Korean magpie.[25]
- This skin shares the Star Guardian Season 3 theme with:
- Her original non-corrupted form can briefly be seen when using
- Her fully corrupted form can briefly be seen when using . and when recalling without
and when recalling.
- Saki, Xayah's familiar spirit, acts as her and .
- This skin shares the Elderwood theme with:
- ...and others
- This skin is a direct reference to Titania, a fairy queen from medieval and Renaissance literature such as A Midsummer Night's Dream.
- This skin shares the Phoenixmancers theme with:
- This skin shares the Phoenixmancers theme with:
- This skin shares the Arcana theme with:
- This skin shares the Broken Covenant theme with:
- This skin shares the Star Guardian Season 4 theme with:
- ...and others
References
- ↑ Xayah's voice actress
- ↑ Nemesis
- ↑ Influences
- ↑ Influences 2
- ↑ Ask Riot
- ↑ Gameplay motivations
- ↑ Scrapped Xayah spells 1
- ↑ Scrapped Xayah spells 2
- ↑ Scrapped Xayah spells 3
- ↑ Scrapped Xayah spells 4
- ↑ Xayah's W
- ↑ Possible thematics
- ↑ Possible thematics 2
- ↑ Xayah's age from Riot's AMA
- ↑ Scathlocke on Vastaya champions' age
- ↑ Time in Vastayan forests
- ↑ Does Xayah lay eggs?
- ↑ Xayah's prejudice to Yordle
- ↑ Xayah and Rakan's first meeting
- ↑ Rakan and Xayah's relationship in Vastayan culture
- ↑ The nature of Quinlons
- ↑ Xayah and Rakan recall system
- ↑ Vastaya Q&A
- ↑ Xayah and Rakan skins
- ↑ SSG Rakan and Xayah references