Riot quietly tweaks controversial skins on the League of Legends Test Server as Viktor mains get angry about their favorite being hit by the Arcane Twink Ray.

Viktor has, uh... looked a little different recently. Riot Games, as shown in their recent Season 1 update for League of Legends, is eager to incorporate the lore changes from Arcane - a TV show that was way better than anyone could have imagined - into League of Legends. It's a marketing move that's understandable, but it's been done in a way that's irritated the old guard.

Viktor has been in the game 13 years. Fans have grown attached to his presentation and aesthetic, as well as his machine herald swag. This is why Riot hitting him with a twink beam, to make him more like Viktor (the TV personality), hasn't been received well. The square, jaded idealist is gone. So too is the genius philanthropist who has an obsession with cybernetic replacement. Arcane Viktor has arrived, no negotiations.

The community subreddit of the character r/viktormains has been having a particularly normal one. They have called a campaign for his slightly buffered, chonkier look the "revertlution". "Why are his hips SO GRABBABLE?" One player laments his slender frame and effeminate appearance, while another adds: "I can't stand the top erasure!" Where is the bulge ???" I love this "in loving memories" card that mourns his memory for being a "scientist and innovator, divorced, and communist". May he always be remembered.

And, look. While I will always laugh at people who lose their gourds, I am on the side of the players. At least to a certain degree. Riot is entitled to do what it wants with the IP and game it has created, but it feels unfair to redesign skins for which people paid money years ago. It's one thing to have a botched graphical upgrade, but it's another to do body-swapping that costs real money. Here are some direct comparisons courtesy of Remus, on YouTube.

Riot seems to be listening to the feedback. VrrSolo shared on the same subreddit that both the Death Sworn Viktor and Creator skins had received some touch-ups in the Public Beta Environment. This is League of Legends test server. Riot has added more details to the Viktor skin and restored some of its chonkiness.

The subreddit that responded to the post was at best lukewarm. This whole rework seems to have been handled poorly. The skins of League of Legends are not uniform in their appearance. There are many skins that show alternate canon versions of the roster. Why reinvent the wheel if players can have both? Riot is all-in to weave Arcane into the universe of the game, so let's hope for smoother integrations in the future.