TFT Set 11: The Fascinating Lore in Inkborn Fables (3/4)

TFT Set 11: Inkborn Fables was released soon after League of Legends’s yearly Lunar Revel event ended in March 2024.

The Lunar Revel commemorates the Chinese Lunar New Year, and it’s heavily inspired by Chinese mythology and aesthetics. This inspiration seeped into Set 11, giving it a distinctly East Asian aesthetic.

It also laid the groundwork for some fascinating origin traits, packed tight with references to East Asian myths and legends.

We’ve already covered six origin traits in our previous articles, which mainly focused on Chinese culture:

• Part 1: Mythic, Heavenly, Storyweaver
• Part 2: Porcelain, Fortune, Dragonlord

Now, we’ll broaden our horizons toward the Land of the Rising Sun by examining the Fated, Umbral, and Inkshadow traits.

The real-life lore you’re about to read covers various themes from both Chinese and Japanese culture.

Fated lovers, ghosts, tattoos, and legendary outlaws—it’s all here!

Fated

The idea of “fate” or destiny being the driving force in mortals’ lives is common in mythologies worldwide.

Most of us are familiar with the concept thanks to Greek mythology, which notably features the Moirai (Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos) as personifications of fate.

However, we’ll have to look to East Asian mythology to find the ties that bind the Fated units together.

Specifically, we’ll look at the legend of the Red String of Fate.

The Red String of Fate

According to this Chinese legend, an invisible red string ties soulmates together. The Lunar God of Matchmaking—Yuè Xià Lǎorén—can make this string temporarily visible, usually resulting in whoever sees it trying to escape their destiny one way or another.

No matter the circumstances, the red string will always pull them closer until they are finally united.

Note: Local versions of this myth also exist in Vietnam, Korea, and Japan.

These ties that bind people together resemble the bond between two Fated units in TFT, although you can easily change which units are connected.

The Chinese author TangQi GongZi perfectly captures the Red String of Fate idea in the Three Lives, Three Worlds series of novels.

The books follow immortal beings who fall in love and are repeatedly torn apart over hundreds of years until they finally end up together. They’re the perfect mix of romantic drama with Chinese mythology.

Note: Those who can’t read Chinese can still enjoy these stories in their TV show form. Start with Eternal Love (2017), then check out Love and Destiny (2019) and Eternal Love of Dream (2020).

If you feel I’m going off-topic by focusing on romantic C-dramas, let’s remember where the cosmetic skins used for the Fated champions come from: Spirit Blossom.

Spirit Blossom: That Time Riot Made a LoL Dating Sim

This skin line is based on the Ionian Spirit Blossom festival.

Ionians believe that the veil between the physical and spirit worlds thins during this time of year, so they take this opportunity to honor the dead.

Note: Similar celebrations exist in East Asia, including the Japanese Obon Festival and the Chinese Zhongyuan and Qingming Festivals.

When this skin line was released in 2020, Riot delivered most of the lore through a mini-game, Spirit Bonds, which could be played from the League of Legends launcher.

The game was a visual novel/dating sim where you could get to know the Spirit Blossom champions. They included Spirit Blossom Ahri, Cassiopeia, Kindred, Lillia, Teemo, Thresh, Yasuo, and Yone.

Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine Riot would allow me to romance my fave LoL champions. It was truly the peak of League of Legends. 10/10.

But the story was about more than just romance: it also gave us a peek into the inner workings of the Ionian afterlife. It showed us the different spirits that interact with the souls of the recently deceased.

Kanmei: Psychopomps of the Ionian Pantheon

The characters included in TFT Set 11 as Fated represent Kanmei, or “good” spirits that would guide souls to the afterlife. They’re not always the most helpful, but they’re a positive influence overall.

Spirits and gods who serve as guides for the dead are called Psychopomps, which means “guides of souls” in Greek. They’re ubiquitous in mythology worldwide.

Some well-known examples include:

• Greek: The deathly ferryman, Charon, carries the souls of the recently deceased over the river Styx and into the realm of the dead.
• Aztec: Xolotl, the dog-headed twin of Quetzalcoatl, guides the dead to the Aztec underworld, Mictlan. 
• Norse: The Valkyries guide the souls of great warriors to Valhalla, Odin’s eternal feast hall.

The Spirit Blossom character that acts the most like a traditional psychopomp is Ahri.

Although she’s only a one-cost unit in TFT, she’s one of the most essential entities in the Spirit Blossom universe.

Ahri: Ionia’s Playful Psychopomp

Known as the “Spirit of Salvation,” the nine-tailed fox Ahri guides the souls of the recently deceased through the afterlife as if it were a game.

Nine-tailed foxes like Ahri are known as kitsune in Japanese mythology. They’re usually depicted as tricksters who’ll lead people down dangerous paths for their entertainment, sometimes resulting in the unsuspecting human’s death.

Note: This is similar to how foxes lead you to Inari Shrines in Ghost of Tsushima (2020). Inari is the god of foxes, among other things, and some texts describe kitsune as Inari’s messengers.

She might be a good-natured Kanmei, but she stays true to her kitsune nature. She’ll show you the path to salvation but won’t intervene if an Akana leads you astray.

What’s a game of chase without a bit of difficulty?

Umbral

According to Ionian folklore, there are two kinds of spirits that a soul might encounter on their way to a peaceful afterlife.

We covered Kanmei before. They are primarily benign spirits that might even lead a wayward soul to the afterlife.

On the other hand, there’s the obsessive Akana, who make up most of the Umbral line-up.

Akana: Yurei of the Ionian Pantheon

These dark entities remain bound to the world of the living due to earthly obsessions they couldn’t overcome.

In the case of the Umbral champions:

• Darius became a “Spirit of War” soon after death to continue experiencing the thrill of battle.
• Yorick saw the grove he inhabited burnt to the ground shortly before his death. His rage consumed his soul, and he became a Spirit of Ruin.
• Sett seems to wander endlessly in search of his father, challenging the souls of mighty warriors to battle in the meantime.
• Alune is… somewhat mysterious. She’s probably here just for the moon-related vibes.

The Akana are wholly reminiscent of the concept of yūrei in Japanese folklore.

Yūrei are vengeful ghosts who, like the Akana, are unable to find rest due to trauma (murder, suicide, violent accidents) or unfinished business.

Another reason souls become yūrei is that their living family members fail to perform proper funerary rites. This is classic Japanese culture, which emphasizes responsibility and family ties immensely.

Yūrei usually haunt a specific place and are most likely to manifest between 2:00 a.m. and 2:30 a.m. At this hour, the boundary between the world of the dead and the living is supposedly thinnest.

This belief in yūrei haunting specific locations is one reason a new Japanese emperor might move the imperial palace after assuming power. They wouldn’t want the deceased emperor haunting their reign!

Inkshadow

The Inkshadow trait is based on the Inkshadow Uprising continuity within the League of Legends multiverse.

In this alternate timeline, a band of outlaws known as the Inkshadow Warriors fights for freedom against an evil Cabal who rules the land by monopolizing magic.

The Inkshadows get their name from the ink on their skin. These tattoos show their allegiance and grant them immense power.

Tattooed Outlaws in Chinese Historical Fiction

In East Asian culture—and specifically in China and Japan—tattoos are often associated with outlaws and criminals alike.

One example is found in the 14th-century novel Water Margin. It’s hard to determine who wrote this Chinese classic, but it’s usually attributed to Chinese author Shi Nai’an.

The novel, also known as Outlaws of the Marsh, follows a band of 108 outlaws who gather at Liangshan Marsh to stage an uprising against the Song dynasty (960 – 1279 CE).

Note: Water Margin is based on an actual historical rebellion against the Song dynasty staged by outlaw Song Jiang and his 107 companions in 1121 CE.

But where are the tattoos?

Those are found on one of the outlaws: Shi-Jin the Nine-Tattoo Dragon.

Talk about a bad-ass name.

Although he’s not the only bad-ass in the novel, the idea of a freedom fighter covered in tattoos was a hit among readers.

Water Margin seems like the obvious inspiration for Inkshadow. Still, the Inkshadow aesthetic doesn’t look particularly Chinese.

Instead, it looks Japanese.

Note: The mitsudomoe (three commas in a spiral) symbolizing the Inkshadow trait has long been used in Japan. It’s most frequently seen in Shinto temples dedicated to the God of War, Hachiman.

So, what does Japan have to do with Water Margin?

That’s where the story gets really fascinating.

A Brief History of Tattoos in Japan

Tattoos have probably existed in Japan since the Paleolithic (circa 10000 BCE), but the first written records of Japanese natives inking their skin come from the Yayoi period (300 BCE – 300 CE).

According to contemporary Chinese sources, the Yayoi used tattoos as signs of status. They might also have had spiritual significance.

However, tattoos acquired negative connotations during the Kofun period (300 – 600 CE), when they began tattooing criminals according to their crimes.

The only status a tattoo would signify at the time was that of a criminal or outlaw.

This remained unchanged until the late Edo period (1603 – 1867 CE), when tattoos started transforming into art instead of punishment.

This is where Water Margin comes back into the picture.

How a Chinese Novel Created the First Japanese Tattoo Artists

The novel was translated into Japanese and published as Suikoden in 1757.

It was a hit, and in 1827, publisher Kagaya Kichibei commissioned the creation of a series of woodblock prints depicting the 108 outlaw heroes.

Japanese Ukiyo-e master Utagawa Kuniyoshi created colorful prints gloriously depicting the heroes in scenes from the book.

Note: Ukiyo-e is a traditional Japanese art style emphasizing bold outlines, flat colors, and intricate details. The style lent itself to the production of woodblock prints, which made it more accessible to the masses and contributed to its popularity.

Many outlaws were depicted with full-body tattoos of dragons and other beasts. This included the aforementioned Shi-Jin, as well as others who weren’t described as tattooed in the original Water Margin.

These prints catapulted Kuniyoshi to fame and caused a tattoo craze in Japan. Wealthy merchants and many others now wanted to adorn their bodies with bad-ass Suikoden-inspired tattoos.

Note: Many ukiyo-e artists swapped the wooden blocks for clients’ bodies, becoming Japan’s first bonafide tattoo artists. The tools and the ink they used remained mostly the same.

Tattoos as a Yakuza Symbol

Still, tattoos couldn’t thoroughly shake the negative connotations.

During the Meiji era (1868 – 1912 CE), the Japanese government outlawed tattoos as the country began to open itself to trade with Western powers. They remained illegal until 1948.

For years, only the yakuza—Japan’s notorious mafia—would decorate their bodies with full-body tattoos in the style of the 108 outlaws.

It’s not only a way to show your allegiance to the yakuza but a permanent mark that won’t let you completely escape it if you choose to change occupations.

In that way, yakuza tattoos are the same as Inkshadow tattoos. They grant the user a great deal of power, but there’s a steep cost.

Only Two More Traits Left!

After three articles covering three traits each, we’re almost at the end of our journey.

Only one article remains, covering the Ghostly and Dryad traits and finally wrapping up our analysis.

These two traits are special because their cultural background will take us away from East Asia. The Ghostly trait has some especially unusual connections, so look forward to that.

Click here to check out the complete TFT Set 11 analysis collection!