Post by Master of Shadows on Jan 16, 2014 2:50:24 GMT -5
Points of interest within Zed’s lore with some of my own speculation. (Taken from Zed’s AMA)
The stuff in the brackets are my own thoughts, the rest are posts from a Red. If you read this, feel free to hit me up to discuss him.
Akali and Zed’s relationship:
• Shen is the one who makes unbiased decisions--the centerpiece of the Kinkou, essentially, with Kennen and Akali on either side. They represent the "scale" of perfect balance. Kennen is more or less the moral compass of the group, the good-hearted optimist, and Akali balances him with her darkness and capacity for violence and cruelty.
• He may have had a "favorite student" at one point... but this particular student is no longer a part of his Order.
(I believe this to be Akali.)
• Akali and Kennen remain Zed's enemies, but we have some interesting ideas about Akali's connection to Zed in particular. Food for thought: Akali's passive is "twin disciplines," her title "the Fist of Shadow
(It’s said that they believe the Shadow Arts lead one down the path of inhuman cruelty, so, perhaps Akali originally felt more connected to the Order of Shadows. Yet as she developed found she did not like what she saw in her reflection. She defected from the Order of Shadows and went to the Kinkou where she balanced the Three as the darker half, the one that carried out the kill. Perhaps she saw just where the Order of Shadows was going, down a path that scared even her, somewhere capable of greater darkness than herself.)
Shen’s Relationship with Zed:
• Shen had no animosity towards Zed initially. He saw him as a strong fellow student and respected him quite a bit. Perhaps he was even a little jealous of the fact that from his perspective, Zed's training was easier, as the master's training of Shen was incredibly strict. If they'd had a better understanding of each other, they might've ended up friends or at least allies.
Kinkou Relations with Zed:
• We wanted to keep the reasoning behind the forbidden nature of Zed's techniques vague, because we didn't want Zed to be "wrong" for accessing and utilizing them in an absolute sense. They were forbidden long ago with the goal of balance in mind, and elder masters like Shen's father believe these specific techniques to be inherently corrupting--that using them leads one down a path of darkness and inhuman cruelty. To maintain balance in Ionia, they were suppressed. Are they corrupting? Perhaps, perhaps not. Zed doesn't believe so.
• Akali wants him dead. Shen might think there are other paths to restoring balance, however. Kennen might favour a path to redemption.
(Akali doesn’t believe Zed can return from the path he has chosen, Shen believes there may be a way to correct the balance by turning Zed’s disciples into something else other than killers and seekers of power. Kennen wants to bring Zed back to the path of keeping balance.)
• Zed thinks Akali is a powerful ninja whose talent is wasted with the Kinkou, and he thinks Kennen is a disgrace.
(Akali taps from the vein of the Shadow Arts, she uses Shadow arts and the same art as Shen himself. Thus she uses ‘Twin disciples’. Kennen however, he is showy, he is bright, he is loud. These are things Zed believes a ‘True’ Ninja is not.
• As we've presented it now, the Kinkou Order was destroyed by Zed and rebuilt by Shen. We're going to have to smooth out some of the information in the ninjas' bios (Shen, Akali, Kennen) to really make this clear and to go into detail, but that'd the direction we'd like to take the story.
• (about the Kinkou)
They consider him a very formidable enemy, but I doubt they consider him utterly beyond redemption. The Kinkou wish to re-establish the balance upset by Zed's delving into forbidden arts, and there are multiple paths to that goal. Perhaps they can reason with him and convince Zed of his misdeeds, or perhaps they'll have to destroy him to regain order. Either way, the Kinkou will do what needs to be done.
Zed’s Personality and how he thinks:
• Q: Did Zed find it painful having to kill his former master? I mean, almost all of his actions where to gain his approval, similar to what happens in a family when one brother overshadows the other, and thus, the other brother feels neglected and looks for a way to attract his parents attention.
A: If he found it painful, he doesn't want you to know.
• There might be something he wants to hide with the mask. He donned it after he killed his former master, however.
(When he dons the mask he truly becomes 'Zed' without it on, he would be seen as human and nothing more. This leaves him feeling extremely vulnerable.)
• I don't think he cares much for Demacia, but I'd guess he has a certain distaste for Noxus as least. At his core, he is Ionian, and though he favors his own goals over Ionia's, he's a patriot in a bit of a twisted sense. By unbalancing Ionia, he believes its people will become more powerful, as all the restraints of said balance will be removed. He might believe that part of the reason Noxus was able to hurt Ionia so badly was because Ionia had become complacent and vulnerable in its state of balance.
• He's already got an army of sorts, and it will keep growing. They intend to end "balance" as Ionia has known it for so long--but of course, the Kinkou are going to try to stop them! He likely joins the League to pursue Shen, Akali, and Kennen. He could also be seeking more hidden knowledge or clues to lead him to forbidden power.
• Zed doesn't consider the Void a threat. He probably finds Lux childish and naive... and he's not really fond of light being thrown around while he's trying to do his shadowy moves, after all.
(Until something happens in Ionia that actually shakes the core of it, and is linked to the void, I don't think he's going to believe it to be much of a threat that his ninjas can't handle.)
• Zed is always training--he is a master of his technique, but that doesn't mean he cannot become more powerful. Perhaps there are other dark techniques out there, too, that Ionia hid away...
• Zed's Order of Shadow wants its students to fully realize their power and potential free of the constraints Ionia's "balance" places upon them. No power should be out of reach--no matter the consequences. Zed's order is under no illusion that they walk a dark path, they fully embrace it.
• the triumvirate is a relationship of balance and trust. Zed prefers to stand above his fellows--none shall be his equal.
Other Relations with Zed.
• Karma sees Zed as a dangerous force of chaos in Ionia and believes he must be stopped. For Zed, Karma is just another perpetrator of "balance" that stands in his way.
• Ohh, this is an interesting one. Though their paths have been different, Zed and Syndra have similar goals. Both believe the 'balance' that has maintained Ionia for so long must crumble for Ionia's people to come into their own and realize their full potential. Syndra might take interest in Zed's power, and given the right circumstances, an alliance between the two could "tip the scales" in Ionia all the more.
• Ryze's scroll is potentially of great interest to Zed.
The stuff in the brackets are my own thoughts, the rest are posts from a Red. If you read this, feel free to hit me up to discuss him.
Akali and Zed’s relationship:
• Shen is the one who makes unbiased decisions--the centerpiece of the Kinkou, essentially, with Kennen and Akali on either side. They represent the "scale" of perfect balance. Kennen is more or less the moral compass of the group, the good-hearted optimist, and Akali balances him with her darkness and capacity for violence and cruelty.
• He may have had a "favorite student" at one point... but this particular student is no longer a part of his Order.
(I believe this to be Akali.)
• Akali and Kennen remain Zed's enemies, but we have some interesting ideas about Akali's connection to Zed in particular. Food for thought: Akali's passive is "twin disciplines," her title "the Fist of Shadow
(It’s said that they believe the Shadow Arts lead one down the path of inhuman cruelty, so, perhaps Akali originally felt more connected to the Order of Shadows. Yet as she developed found she did not like what she saw in her reflection. She defected from the Order of Shadows and went to the Kinkou where she balanced the Three as the darker half, the one that carried out the kill. Perhaps she saw just where the Order of Shadows was going, down a path that scared even her, somewhere capable of greater darkness than herself.)
Shen’s Relationship with Zed:
• Shen had no animosity towards Zed initially. He saw him as a strong fellow student and respected him quite a bit. Perhaps he was even a little jealous of the fact that from his perspective, Zed's training was easier, as the master's training of Shen was incredibly strict. If they'd had a better understanding of each other, they might've ended up friends or at least allies.
Kinkou Relations with Zed:
• We wanted to keep the reasoning behind the forbidden nature of Zed's techniques vague, because we didn't want Zed to be "wrong" for accessing and utilizing them in an absolute sense. They were forbidden long ago with the goal of balance in mind, and elder masters like Shen's father believe these specific techniques to be inherently corrupting--that using them leads one down a path of darkness and inhuman cruelty. To maintain balance in Ionia, they were suppressed. Are they corrupting? Perhaps, perhaps not. Zed doesn't believe so.
• Akali wants him dead. Shen might think there are other paths to restoring balance, however. Kennen might favour a path to redemption.
(Akali doesn’t believe Zed can return from the path he has chosen, Shen believes there may be a way to correct the balance by turning Zed’s disciples into something else other than killers and seekers of power. Kennen wants to bring Zed back to the path of keeping balance.)
• Zed thinks Akali is a powerful ninja whose talent is wasted with the Kinkou, and he thinks Kennen is a disgrace.
(Akali taps from the vein of the Shadow Arts, she uses Shadow arts and the same art as Shen himself. Thus she uses ‘Twin disciples’. Kennen however, he is showy, he is bright, he is loud. These are things Zed believes a ‘True’ Ninja is not.
• As we've presented it now, the Kinkou Order was destroyed by Zed and rebuilt by Shen. We're going to have to smooth out some of the information in the ninjas' bios (Shen, Akali, Kennen) to really make this clear and to go into detail, but that'd the direction we'd like to take the story.
• (about the Kinkou)
They consider him a very formidable enemy, but I doubt they consider him utterly beyond redemption. The Kinkou wish to re-establish the balance upset by Zed's delving into forbidden arts, and there are multiple paths to that goal. Perhaps they can reason with him and convince Zed of his misdeeds, or perhaps they'll have to destroy him to regain order. Either way, the Kinkou will do what needs to be done.
Zed’s Personality and how he thinks:
• Q: Did Zed find it painful having to kill his former master? I mean, almost all of his actions where to gain his approval, similar to what happens in a family when one brother overshadows the other, and thus, the other brother feels neglected and looks for a way to attract his parents attention.
A: If he found it painful, he doesn't want you to know.
• There might be something he wants to hide with the mask. He donned it after he killed his former master, however.
(When he dons the mask he truly becomes 'Zed' without it on, he would be seen as human and nothing more. This leaves him feeling extremely vulnerable.)
• I don't think he cares much for Demacia, but I'd guess he has a certain distaste for Noxus as least. At his core, he is Ionian, and though he favors his own goals over Ionia's, he's a patriot in a bit of a twisted sense. By unbalancing Ionia, he believes its people will become more powerful, as all the restraints of said balance will be removed. He might believe that part of the reason Noxus was able to hurt Ionia so badly was because Ionia had become complacent and vulnerable in its state of balance.
• He's already got an army of sorts, and it will keep growing. They intend to end "balance" as Ionia has known it for so long--but of course, the Kinkou are going to try to stop them! He likely joins the League to pursue Shen, Akali, and Kennen. He could also be seeking more hidden knowledge or clues to lead him to forbidden power.
• Zed doesn't consider the Void a threat. He probably finds Lux childish and naive... and he's not really fond of light being thrown around while he's trying to do his shadowy moves, after all.
(Until something happens in Ionia that actually shakes the core of it, and is linked to the void, I don't think he's going to believe it to be much of a threat that his ninjas can't handle.)
• Zed is always training--he is a master of his technique, but that doesn't mean he cannot become more powerful. Perhaps there are other dark techniques out there, too, that Ionia hid away...
• Zed's Order of Shadow wants its students to fully realize their power and potential free of the constraints Ionia's "balance" places upon them. No power should be out of reach--no matter the consequences. Zed's order is under no illusion that they walk a dark path, they fully embrace it.
• the triumvirate is a relationship of balance and trust. Zed prefers to stand above his fellows--none shall be his equal.
Other Relations with Zed.
• Karma sees Zed as a dangerous force of chaos in Ionia and believes he must be stopped. For Zed, Karma is just another perpetrator of "balance" that stands in his way.
• Ohh, this is an interesting one. Though their paths have been different, Zed and Syndra have similar goals. Both believe the 'balance' that has maintained Ionia for so long must crumble for Ionia's people to come into their own and realize their full potential. Syndra might take interest in Zed's power, and given the right circumstances, an alliance between the two could "tip the scales" in Ionia all the more.
• Ryze's scroll is potentially of great interest to Zed.