 |
This article is a compilation of the trivia sections found across |
|---|
Development
Development- Main article: Kindred (Development)
- Lamb is voiced by Marcella Lentz-Pope in
League of Legends and 
Legends of Runeterra.
- Lamb's Japanese voice actor is Mamiko Noto.[1]
- Wolf is voiced by Matthew Mercer in League of Legends and Legends of Runeterra.
Gangplank, 
Captain Gangplank, and 
5Gangplank are also voiced by the same voice actor.
- During development, they were called Jmarks.[2]
- Kindred had been in production since 2013 (their final incarnation was conceived during
Jhin's development).
- Before their release,
Mark of the Kindred's symbol appeared randomly over champions' heads, with the symbol being dubbed 'They are Coming'.
- Before their release,
- Inspiration sources for Kindred include:
- Aesop's fable The Wolf and the Lamb;
- Yin and yang;
- Various myths/legends/stories from all over the world.
- Other literatures such as Death in Neil Gaiman's "Sandman", "Pretty Deadly" by Kelly Sue DeConnick.
- One of the ideas pitched during their development was having skins based on different regions.[7]
- Lamb and Wolf are chosen as the duo sides of Kindred as they are such polar opposites. It also let their designers play with their personalities (flipping the masks) more to challenge the expectations of what a Lamb or Wolf would normally be in that pairing.
- A lot of their relationship is based on Matthew 'FauxSchizzle' Dunn and his wife with FauxSchizzle being like Wolf and his wife being like Lamb.
Universe
Universe- Main article: Kindred (Character)
- Kindred means 'one's family and relations', from Old English cynrēde[8]
- Kindred are Runeterra's most common spirit god that embody death, although they are not the only ones.[9] They usually don't kill actively but rather appear to those who die naturally except for a few circumstances like in All Kindred Eve. They also can prevent death if they want to.[10][11] They are empowered by the relevance sentient beings give them as well as the extent of their sphere of influence.[12] Kindred is a character that straddles the border between life and death. Lamb interacts with the world more physically than Wolf does to draw that parallel.
- Yin and yang are presented in both their appearance and personality wise. Lamb feels little but knows everything, whereas Wolf feels everything but knows relatively little. This is meant to reinforce them being halves of a whole. They're two halves of one whole that are always in conflict with one another but couldn't exist without each other.
- Lamb ends those who have accepted their fate, she likes creamy. Quick deaths are the realm of Lamb.
- Wolf chases those in denial of their end, prefers crunchy. Slow, lingering deaths are in the realm of Wolf.
- Different cultures of Runeterra have different understandings and relationships to death. Kindred is interesting as the myth of Kindred takes many forms across many of Runeterra's cultures. Kindred are a mythical being, known only in legends and folk tales. They have many names. The
Lamb and 
Wolf are known in the west as Ina and Ani, in the east as Farya and Wolyo, and many others, but they are always the Kindred. Although their masks are a universal symbol of theirs, their existence 'per se' is only known to the dead or those few who almost were.
- In-game Kindred (Lamb and Wolf) are depicted as they appear in southern
Freljordian myth. Lamb and Wolf are by far the most prevalent representation drew from wider Valoran as well as the oldest depiction of the Kindred.
- Some northern versions make lamb more baby elnuk like. (The southern Freljord does have goats and visually it's more of a kid than a lamb).
- As said in All Kindred Eve, the
Kindred are seen by 
Shurimans as elegant tusked gazelles partnered with speckled hyenas, by 
Ionians as a snake and a sparrow. Some Ionians also imagine them as 
the Taker, represented as a little girl and her beastly companion. Other interpretations are a jaull-fish and a minnow, a bloody-antlered stag and a sleek rabbit, a rose and a stinging bee.
- Different cultures have different preferences of the Kindred. In
Demacia, Lamb's arrows and swift deaths are praised. In the Freljord, warriors fight for their lives and accept a violent death in battles with Wolf, while the children and weaklings will be claimed by Lamb. Similarly, 
Noxians are more into Wolf than Lamb due to the nature of the empire. In 
Bilgewater, Lamb is seen as weak and coward.
- In Bilgewater, a festival known as Kindred Eve, is held in celebration of the Kindred. There, people from the isles gather in an island called "Witch-Tree Rock" where they watch a play about their tale of the Kindred, party, and watch the most "coward" person found in Bilgewater at the time, fight a strong person. The coward, also known as the Lambfool, fights the Wolfkin Warrior and the outcome of the fight, determines the behavior of the folk of Bilgewater for the next year. They want the Wolf to win, otherwise, they would have to act as good people, not lying, cheating, or killing, hence why the fight favors the side of the wolf. (All Kindred Eve).
- In
- The Noxian
tally-men illustrate a case of pseudo-worship. - It is unclear which version of Kindred one may see when they die, however. Is Lamb and Wolf the one true version of Kindred one sees when they die, or do people see their own cultural interpretation of Kindred? It's interesting, really, because to go one way over another would suggest the power of the conscious mind overrides the spirit world, or vice versa with Lamb and Wolf being a cold, hard truth about death. Both of these interpretations have valid arguments and say a lot about the natural and spiritual worlds. In A Good Death, each person who died in the Mechanical's camp met Kindred, but did they see a Lamb and a Wolf, or some other interpretation?
- If the culture does not have the concept of Kindred, the souls of people from it possibly would not be claimed by them, with the prime example being
Mordekaiser's.[13]
- In-game Kindred (Lamb and Wolf) are depicted as they appear in southern
- Due to different planes of existence, like other spirits they don't meet up with celestials but both sides are aware of each other in some forms.
- Yin and yang are presented in both their appearance and personality wise. Lamb feels little but knows everything, whereas Wolf feels everything but knows relatively little. This is meant to reinforce them being halves of a whole. They're two halves of one whole that are always in conflict with one another but couldn't exist without each other.
- Kindred are primordial forces that may predate humanity. Kindred have always been in
Runeterra as long as people have known. Some of the earliest myths in Runeterra were about Kindred.
- Pre-split Kindred is a myth that has become widespread across Runeterra, though the myth will be present among its people, Kindred have always been Kindred. The story of the Pale Man is not intended to be literal, but a coded origin story, one most likely made up by people, and therefore it grasps certain truths but fails in the details. The truth may be known only to Kindred.
- A version of this story from Bilgewater appears in All Kindred Eve. The story of a Pale Rider who rides a great black beast, who people avoided since looking at him meant death. One night he came upon a forked path, with an edlock tree in the middle. He then knelt before the ancient tree and cut "himself right down the middle", using an axe, so he could go through both paths. One road led to a deep, dark wood, and the other toward a city of light. The two paths met again, and the Pale Rider's halves regarded each other. They had grown different despite being the same. They drowned his axe in a river and decreed to forever walk side by side so they would never be alone.
- A version of this story from
- Pre-split Kindred is a myth that has become widespread across Runeterra, though the myth will be present among its people, Kindred have always been Kindred. The story of the Pale Man is not intended to be literal, but a coded origin story, one most likely made up by people, and therefore it grasps certain truths but fails in the details. The truth may be known only to Kindred.
- Kindred are a neutral force of nature, like a tornado isn't inherently good/evil.
- Kindred are either happy or sad when souls die. Death is a natural process, and they play a role in the passing of souls from one stage of life to the next. Whether Lamb or Wolf claims a soul depends on the internal conflict within the dying person and whether they accept death willingly or struggle to cling to life. It has less to do with the means of their death.
- Morality and actions in life do not matter, only the way one chooses to die.
- People don't know that they are running from Wolf—or accepting Lamb's arrow—until the bitter end. If someone is being attacked by, let's say, their ultimate nemesis, and choosing to run rather than fight back, Wolf will be chasing that person's soul to give them a brutal end. If that person fought for their life, choosing to take on the challenge, Lamb would be there in the final moments to give a swift end. Lamb and Wolf end a soul's life based on the choices one makes in his/her life.
- Running away from Wolf not always physically fleeing, but a denial of the inevitable; a fear of whatever comes next. In some cases this is physically running (from a battlefield) in others, it's living with a choice one has made and slowly passing away.
- People don't know that they are running from Wolf—or accepting Lamb's arrow—until the bitter end. If someone is being attacked by, let's say, their ultimate nemesis, and choosing to run rather than fight back, Wolf will be chasing that person's soul to give them a brutal end. If that person fought for their life, choosing to take on the challenge, Lamb would be there in the final moments to give a swift end. Lamb and Wolf end a soul's life based on the choices one makes in his/her life.
- Morality and actions in life do not matter, only the way one chooses to die.
- Kindred are either happy or sad when souls die. Death is a natural process, and they play a role in the passing of souls from one stage of life to the next. Whether Lamb or Wolf claims a soul depends on the internal conflict within the dying person and whether they accept death willingly or struggle to cling to life. It has less to do with the means of their death.
- Everyone (who believes in them) that dies has a direct interaction with Kindred. Some get to meet them earlier, others only at the moment of death. People who have near death encounters can see Kindred. As with all near-death experiences, people tend to re-examine their lives afterwards. This was Magga's case in A Good Death.
- A Good Death is set in Demacia, pre-Jarvan III.
- A Good Death is set in
- Kindred as entity do not follow normal rules that apply to us beings of space and time; therefore; they can be in different places at once.
- Their large presence grants Kindred many insights.
- The Shadow Isles are not welcome to them, and in their eyes its undead are a mockery of the cycle of life and death they uphold. Shadow Isles beings are abominations in the eyes of Kindred.
Timeline 
disruption is fascinating. Timeline cheating still won't save them from Kindred once they have met.- Resurrection (
coincidental, 
forced, experimental) or even 
artificial life extension is cheating. Lamb may be feel sorry for Sion's current state. Wolf will be coming for all of them at the end of their newly borrowed time. 
Robotic 
lifeforms may or may not be exempt of being paid a visit. Lamb would probably admire/appreciate the wonders of man-made/robotic conscious beings. Wolf would probably be slightly confused in a "I want to chase this but I can't" sort of way.
- Their large presence grants Kindred many insights.
League of Legends
League of LegendsGameplay
- Main article: Kindred (League of Legends)
- Kindred is one of 15 champions that have an ability that infinitely stacks an effect:
Aurelion Sol, 
Bard, 
Bel'Veth, 
Cho'Gath, 
Draven, Kindred, 
Nasus, 
Senna, 
Shyvana, Sion, 
Smolder, 
Swain, 
Sylas, 
Thresh, and 
Veigar.
- In Kindred's case, Mark of the Kindred infinitely stacks the bonus attack speed of
Dance of Arrows, magic damage of 
Wolf's Frenzy and bonus physical damage of 
Mounting Dread.
- In Kindred's case,
- Kindred is the first champion to not have their icon derived from their artwork (considering theirs is a two-for-one case) as well as the first whose release was celebrated with summoner icons (one for
Lamb and one for 
Wolf). - Kindred's dance references the 'Cups' tap dance performed by Christopher Rice.[14]
- A side-by-side comparison can be seen here.
- In the classic splash art, Lamb's hand has 4 fingers (with a possible hidden thumb) while in-game and in
Super Galaxy Kindred's splash art she has 3 fingers.
Quotes
- Main article: Kindred (League of Legends Audio)
- ▶️ "Have we met before?" might be referencing Burning Tides and/or Matthew Mercer voicing both Wolf and the Saltwater Scourge.
- ▶️ ▶️ The two versions of "And everywhere Lamb went..." - "...Wolf was sure to follow." are references of Mary Had A Little Lamb.
Skins
- Main article: Kindred (Collection)
- They resemble San and Moro from Princess Mononoke by Studio Ghibli as well as Moon Lady and Sky Wolf by Chiara Bautista.
- The scene depicted resembles The Nightmare by Henry Fuseli.
- Lamb and Wolf wearing masks styled after each other references Yin and yang, while the masks themselves were inspired by Tragicomedy ones.
- This skin shares the Infernal theme with:
- They were first called 'Vindicator.'
- Wolf resembles the titular character from Diablo.
- Lamb might have been inspired by Angels of Death (Michael, Samael)
- This skin shares the Super Galaxy theme with:
Spirit Blossom Kindred
Chromas: Aquamarine, Catseye, Night Blossom, Obsidian, Peridot, Rose Quartz, Ruby, Sapphire
Chromas:- This skin shares the Spirit Blossom theme with:
- This skin represents the Taker, an Ionian representation of the Kindred. Lamb's mask can be seen been worn by Satokka on the Perennial story's artwork.
- They represent the Spirits of Death in the
Spirit Blossom festival.
- They represent the Spirits of Death in the
- This is the first skin where Lamb has a human-like appearance.
Porcelain Kindred Chromas: Catseye, Emerald, Golden Tiger, Obsidian, Pearl, Rose Quartz, Ruby, Sapphire, Tanzanite
- This skin shares the Porcelain theme with:
- This is the first skin to give Lamb a human-like face, and second to give her a human-like appearance (following Spirit Blossom Kindred).
Woof and Lamb Kindred Chromas: Catseye, Citrine, Granite, Obsidian, Rose Quartz, Ruby, Sapphire, Turquoise
- This skin shares the Cats Versus Dogs theme with:
DRX Kindred Chromas: Elite
- This skin shares the World Champions: 2022 theme with:
- They were released in celebration of DRX winning the Season 2022 World Championship along with:
- They represents Pyosik.
- This skin shares the Porcelain theme with:
References
- ↑ Almost all Japanese League of Legends voice actors
- ↑ Ask Riot
- ↑ https://indo-european.info/pokorny-etymological-dictionary/index.htm#mer-4_mer%c9%99.htm
- ↑ https://indo-european.info/pokorny-etymological-dictionary/index.htm#mer-5_mer%c9%99.htm
- ↑ http://www.palaeolexicon.com/Word/Show/28805/
- ↑ Lincoln, B. Death, War, and Sacrifice: Studies in Ideology & Practice, p. 96
- ↑ FauxSchizzle on Regional Kindred Skins
- ↑ https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/m/mec/med-idx?type=id&id=MED24327
- ↑ Runeterra's gods of deaths
- ↑ FauxSchizzle on Kindred
- ↑ Kindred as a spirit god
- ↑ Spirit gods and cultural ideas
- ↑ Mordekaiser's culture and Kindred
- ↑ New Champion Q&A: Kindred, the Eternal Hunters