If they hadn’t gone so hard on describing her as a monster, her design could work a lot better. She has a similar origin to Doctor Doom, where they were both “horribly disfigured” and became villains. But one really cool theory about Doctor Doom is that he wasn’t really disfigured that badly, in fact that he only really got a tiny scar. Being the massive narcissistic perfectionist he was, he saw that tiny scar as a horrible unsightly thing. It would be cool to take Cass down the same road, where she is actually still beautiful, but having valued her looks so highly, having them changed made her see herself as a hideous monster.

Wait, nobody in Noxus would bang a snake? Like a good old undead man from the golden age of Noxus would say: COWAAAAARDS!!!

Zyra : humm ..... poison ivy maybe Cassiopeia : well just another medusa ver Elise : man love lady with legs Me : ok riot

I imagine all of Cassiopeia's innuendos relating to military tactics.

You’d think swearing an oath on Jafar’s staff would be a bad thing.

Canon cassiopea: noxus cursed woman transformer into a hideous monster snake. Ingame cassiopea: sexy snake lady with shurima cosplay

It would be cool if they did what i saw in a yuan ti (dnd snake people race) fan art where their mouths could dislocate their jaws and open wide with large fangs. It was supposed to fall in line with snakes able to dislocate their jaws and eat creatures or things larger than their mouth can normally fit in.

I've never been into LoL, but your character design analyses are super interesting

THANK YOU When I read that Cass is Katarina's sister I was so confused because she looks so Shuriman. Honestly I wouldn't mind if he got a visual update kind of like Morgana where her moveset is the same but her character design is revamped

11:35: Also lamias, which mythologically speaking are akin to legless succubi. Seems like a good point of comparison, especially since "lamia" is the standard pop culture term for snake-ladies. 1:40: So, she's basically pop culture Cleopatra, except without any power of her own. Wish she was more like historical Cleopatra; she was _way_ more interesting than "bone Caesar until he protects me". 8:20: Why do these sorts of curses make the accursed stronger? "You dare plunder my tomb for the ancient secret war-magic of Sharima? For this defilement, I will turn you into a venomous warbeast! Who still has a face and hands and stuff, we don't want to inconvenience you." 18:10: If Cassiopeia had been transformed by some Shariman artifact she didn't understand (maybe her pharaonic headdress), the "boon not a curse" angle would make more sense. But since it's explicitly a curse laid by a guardian...mixed messages. Speaking of which, if Riot is going for the "empowerment" angle, they should delete the bit about her being horrifying and just say people are creeped out by her power and snake bits. 5:15: Why would you write _one_ organization as the source for basically all secret conspiracy-ey stuff? The closest thing to that I can think of that worked was [spoiler] from _Worm,_ and most major characters dabbled in conspiracy-ey stuff. Plus [spoiler] was being pitted against an enemy strong enough that an Illuminati-level conspiracy can't just casually deal with, and that's not a thing you can do in most stories without that enemy wrecking the entire plot. You need at least a few Illuminatis to bounce off of and check one another, which also lets multiple sides in any given conflict use such resources without making the whole plot feel like something the Illuminati contrived. 10:30: "Sharima is ruled by a _bird!"_ I don't know why that line is so funny, but it is.

Maybe you didn’t know this, but when it comes to the mythology correlation, the name of Cassiopeia relates heavily to the Medusa story. Cassiopeia was the queen of Aethiopia and mother of Andromeda. The story tells that Andromeda was so beautiful, that she even surpassed the Nereids, daughters of Poseidon (the story sometimes tells that the mother too had this beauty). Angered by the arrogant words of Cassiopeia, who told everyone that her daughter was more beautiful than the Nereids, Poseidon decided to flood the whole country or destroy it by sending one of his sea monsters, Cetus. Trying to save the kingdom, the king and queen consulted an oracle, who told them that they had to sacrifice their daughter. Now, Andromeda had a lover, which was Perseus, and when he knew about the destiny that awaited his beloved, he went for the Medusa head, or more specifically her eyes, which were the only thing in the world that could stop the giant monster. When he killed her, he came back and saved Andromeda, who was chained to a big rock and awaiting to be eaten by the sea monster. He turned Cetus into stone with the Medusa head, and released Andromeda from her punishment. At the end of the story, Poseidon thought that at least Cassiopeia should not escape her punishment, so he placed her in the heavens, chained forever to a throne. And that’s how we have the Cassiopeia constellation.

Why would there be a staff that turns people into snake ladies if not because some wizard was into snake ladies

No idea how transforming into a snake with poison magic that can wipe out half an army is a "curse" but hey, what do I know about curses that ancient Shurimans don't. If it where me, I wouldn't give somebody raiding my tomb magical powers.

People in Shurima haven't seen ascendants for ages and are kind of scared of them. Mutants in zaun are in hiding and people are also shitless scared of them (warwick is a city myth called howler after all), even yordles arent common and accepted everywhere. Noxus is kinda accepting of those things but still people know several vastaya species and arent frwaked out by them but i dont think that if they seen something like cassiopeia for the 1st time they wouldnt shit themselves

The greens probably made more sense back when it was Noxus' main color (like with Riven, Singed and old Swain). As it stands, I never knew she had anything to do with Noxus without the lore.

Thank you SO MUCH for pointing out the difference between the original tale of Medusa and Ovid’s reworking! Ovid was also indulging in some political satire here; he was trying to show how the gods toy with helpless mortals, and comparing them to the Imperial family of Rome (which he despised).

The only reason why I can see her using the colours she does is because they go with her tail but then they could have just made her tail black and red and no one would have questioned it

This is two years late, but I’m fairly certain that the whole “Medusa-snake-tail-body” thing comes directly from the old Clash of the Titans movie, which has pretty much cemented Medusa’s status as a half-woman-half-snake creature. Also, it introduced the Kraken, not a Greek myth, as part of the story, and coined the phrase “release the kraken”. I doubt that an American character designer wouldn’t have taken influence from that.

Does that mean that someone has to pledge TBSkyen $100 to make him watch Jojo?

Nobody : Cassiopea : I am sneck

Black and red would be an interesting aesthetic shift for this type of character archetype.

One thing to note with her animations. At some point she received an update causing her tail to follow her realistically, rather than just being a normal animation, so if you turn corners and such, the tail will follow along in a realistic way.

Why no comparison with the Lamia?

I always thought it was a little bit weird how they never mentioned the finger fangs thing, it looks so cool in the splashart how you can see trails of poison coming out of them and it could make for a really interesting fighting style (the one she has in game) but they really don't spotlight it a lot on the lore

I'm not a patron but I think the patreon system is great bc it gives the patrons the privileges they deserve (since they literally pay for it) but still allows us non patrons to enjoy the content wether that be requested videos or q&as.

I know you said you don’t to videos on request, but you also said you haven’t talked about the Black Rose. So how about a Whats the Deal with LeBlanc where you go more in-depth with the Black Rose. Also what was that about LeBlanc and Swain wanting to bone?!?!? I mean I know he’s like Daddy Lucius Malfoy Material now but is that really a thing?

I remember that when cassiopea was revealed they talk a lot about the hard that was aninate the slithering tail. Years lather they develop tech to make aurelion tail that was applied to Casio tail and arhi tails too

I think they could fix her design if they were to take inspiration from clash of the titans' medusa

got bless the patron & T B Skyen. I love your analysis

I really appreciate the effort you made to view the character design from another perspective, specially when you brought up the references to mythology. As a side note, those descriptions of her animations made me die from laughter, how am I supposed to click on the like button now?

I've been waiting for this!!💞💕💞😂😃🤣

Great video as always!

Amazing video. Thank you very much for this time.

Thank you, for whoever patreon'd this :>

The model was updated from the older model (The design of her headdress/hood looks different from the original incarnation), but I agree her animations are a little old/janky.

21:15 if you're a snakelady and you know it clap your hands

Cassiopeia is actually the only character with the "generic sexy lady" design that I don't mind, because they baked it into her story of being a seductress. Though I will admit that there isn't a solid gameplay connection between the aesthetic/story of "sexy seductress" and the gameplay of "YOU POISON EVERYTHING AND TURN PEOPLE TO STONE!" Ahri probably pulls this off better, but I just don't like anime, so I hate her.

Cassiopeia, the greatest anti-hero we didn’t know we needed

The way you seduce someone into telling you military secrets is by acting normal and inocent. Since you're sexy they'll want you around and all you have to do is ask them about their day

Good video.. good job as always

i do not understand why these videos dont have 100s of thousands of views

The black rose is Illuminaty, change my mind.

TOP SNEK

i love this chanel so much, holy shit!!!!!

It's really fascinating to me how in recent years Riot have moved away from a Demacia centered Runeterra to a distinctly Noxus focused one. Certainly doesn't hurt that Swain automatically elevates any narrative he is put into.

I really wish they would've gone harder on the Lamia thing and less Medusa. The Medusa story itself has been overused in media and I wish they'd take the "snake person" thing in a more positive direction in general. Snakes are amazing creatures and not malicious in the slightest. I think it's about time that we, as a society, re-evaluate fantasy stereotypes. Also... As a degenerate. I'd appreciate a fully snaked out monster lady. A good bit of scaly eye candy. Plus, the most unique female we have in the game is Reksai which is a shame.

Probably one of the most wasted characters they came up with for League - so much unused potential, and yet so little attention. She doesn't even get skins - infact she had to wait 4.5 years just for the Eternum one to come out, and that was already 2 years ago. Still no trace of any love for her.

take a shot every time Skyen says "I have breasts"

13:40 yaaaaaay ancient [EXPLETIVE DELETED] greece But also, there's another interpretation, possibly backed up as an interpretation among Ancient Greek WOMEN, that Athena's curse was instead a gift... after all, being able to turn anyone who assaulted or threatened them to stone would be a gift indeed to most people who have suffered any form of sexual abuse. And, more sadly, many women who HAVE been assaulted try to make themselves look less attractive to avoid further abuse.

Hope she get a rework like morgana and evelynn , keep some old skill like R , and change all 3 skill also give her new model and new voice lines .

"she decides no one wants to bang snake ladies" she's clearly never met Mia

wasn't Boram Darkwill an emperor and NOT a grand general, because swain brought the trifarix and different "rulers" of different departments?

See- and I know it's a old video- but, despite being a mediocre film, Clash of the Titans (2012) had what I think is the best depiction of Medusa in film. Simply because she has the mythical beauty and her curse affected her whole being; her snake features didn't stop halfway, no she had scales on her entire body.

man shurima event was so cool I hope they bring it back

I would love to see her reworked as an melee assassin

Cassiopeia can't become a diplomat of Noxus because of a snake tail.... meanwhile we have the rulers: Swain who literally turns into a demon and a pale lady(LeBlanc) shrouded in so much mystery that not even former Noxian nobles could see her true face

In some versions of the Greek myth, Athena turned Medusa ugly so that no man would ever commit such a crime against her again, in a sense, saving her. This is probably why Medusa became a symbol of empowerment.

I think her design could make more sense by just making canon what her origin story, I think, quite clearly implies: she did find her superweapon, literally the most powerful magical artifact in Shurima. She spilled the royal blood of Sivir, awakening the dormant magic of the Sun Disc and she became Ascended. But since she doesn't really understand anything about the culture whose artifacts she's plundering, she misinterprets its holiest ritual she accidentally triggered as a punishment, a mere trap for graverobbers. It could very well be made explicit whenever she's added to Legends of Runeterra, by having her be a Noxus/Shurima multiregion card that levels up a second time just like the other Ascended (and giving her some lines for that second level-up where she's like "holy shit, what the fuck is going on").

There is a telling of the story that Medusa was a priestess of Athena, who took a virgin oath in honor of the same one Athena takes. When she’s r*ped by Poseidon, Athena’s“curse” was actually her ensuring that Medusa would never be taken advantage of ever again, and even if they try, she’d have the power to protect herself. She is the only Gorgon to be able to turn people to stone, as far as I recall

I am waiting for a "what's the deal with Tahm Kench" I think he is a really interesting character by every means and would fit perfectly in this video format of your's. But I am probably pretty biossed by the fact that I am a hard-core Kench main since he is out but after the destructive nerfs in the current patch I think he at least deserves the privilege of being the topic of a video on your amazing channel.

I don't know if this makes sense but I think the dance can at least be partially excused for not sticking to her themes since a bunch of champions have 'mainstream' dances

hm, her design maybe fits to noxus, if the sword, that made her to a snake was from shurima can just do shuriman snakes. But making a "noxus" skin would be nice

Wonder how he feels about smite's Medusa? 🤔

Hey, so, I know this is a bit late, but there is an interpretation of the Medusa myth that is...better...and also contemporary. So once Poseidon defiles Medusa in the temple of Athena, someone needs to be punished by the goddess of said temple, the gods can’t let that sort of thing stand. But Poseidon is a king, Athena can’t very well punish him, and the other gods are pressuring her to make it clear that this action was not okay by punishing the mortal involved. So what does she do? She “punishes” Medusa by taking away the beauty that attracted her rapist to her (not the best analysis of the situation but it was the classical era so what more can you expect) and grants her the power to turn anyone who dares to look upon her to stone so that she will never be forced to go through that experience again. This is why you can find a gorgon’s head over the doors of contemporary Greek women’s shelters (yeah, they had those) as wards to keep away the men who assaulted them.

I love Cassiopeias design, from a stand-alone perspective. But if the lore is that she's a horrifying monster, it's a total failure.

Medusa’s transformation is still a matter of debate; some claim it was Athena victim-blaming her, while others insist she was actually helping Medusa by making sure her assault would never happen again. Whatever the case, Ovid was kinda known for going against the status quo with his works, so it’s no surprise he took a character originally characterized as pure evil and remade her as a tragic victim of uncaring gods and societal conventions.

Oh shit here we go again :^)

There's a slight disconnect between the lore and the art with regards to her physical appearance, but even if she is a "hot snake lady" it's important to keep that within context of "that used to be a normal human". Certainly non-humans exist within the world of _League of Legends_ and there are even those who do body modification (for various reasons). However, I'm not certain that a character like Camile, Urgot, or Cassiopeia are not "monsters". Even if this kind of stuff happens _often enough_ (keep in mind _League_ is composed of "Legends", these aren't common people) it's doubtful that this kind of thing is normal enough that a "Snake Lady that used to be a normal human" is going to be considered "Hot" within universe. Consider if you saw her in real life, it would probably be one of the scariest things you've ever seen, probably more so in a world filled with murderous plants, undead, and magic. Also, similar to other "human hybrids" the "snake" is a kind of age old character 'trope'. Snakes are not to be trusted for a variety of reasons, so Cassiopeia literally turning into a snake is a kind of physical manifestation of that aspect of her character.

Will there be a limit to the amount of champs League can make?

Interesting to note, some myths describe Athena’s “punishment” of Medusa as an underhanded way of giving her protection so that no man may ever harm her again.

3:33- *OBJECTION*

" looks more like she saying boo 2 a bunch of children on Halloween" I'm currently watching this Halloween night 2020 lmao

Nice, if you still take requests from YT chat I'd like to ask you to take a look at the new Warframe intro cinematic, perhaps there is not much to comment on however this is Digital Extremes's first attempt at something of this size and I'm quite curious to know if you think they handled it well.

Greetings!

I unleashed the darkness, now I can't leash it again. What should I do?

To be fair in some versions Medusa was Poseidons lover and she go to the temple of her own will with the help of her sisters so that why they are also transformed.

Why is Camilles Theme playing at around ~6:00?

ok, now just take a cup of tea.

Isn't she cursed in Shurima? Perhaps her headdress and all could be 'seared' into her skin or something. Maybe she literally is wearing ancient Shurmian clothing.

I have breasts, tell me all your military secrets

Do you really think having a couple of monstrous champions from Noxus, who mostly hide from everyday interaction, would make the 3 meter tall snake lady (when standing like in their idle animation with size corresponding to the splash art) who can crush your skull with one hand not make noxians run away in fear? People run from Chem Barons in Zaun and Nasus goes around with their head covered. The only reason we find that sexy is because it's a fictional character, most people would soil their pants at the mere sight of them approaching.

I have a fairly decent idea. How about we take the short story for Varus where he goes looking for his Darkin sister, only to find the supposed tomb with ,ahem -> snake statue

The Ascended are legendary figures, only a few of them exist and the fact that Shurima is another country really should have been considered. My thoughts about that one little rant near the beginning. Speaking of Ascended. What in the world was Nasus thinking when he build the trap that turns people into snakes?

I laughed so hard on the monstrosity of cass, like, damn, riot is such a comedian

Let the DuCouteau family be together So now Talon and Kata, right? :P

No one: Shurimian architect: Mb to defend that crypt we should build a giant-ass snake statue-trap-thing that bites when anyone open it and then gives you a cool superpowers, but also transforms you into half-snake, ye, that will do... time to a break, lol

Now do her sister next, Katarina. I would love to hear your opinion about her, as she needs a freakin' update.

i think the reason medusa got punished was purely to emphasize the severity of what Poseidon did.

“Old champion” was personally a weird thing to hear, she was literally the last champ to come out before I quit playing for good (barring a couple dozen games with co-workers five years later, compared to the 1500 I had by the end of 2010)

I agree with most things , but she looking shuriman could be explained by her time spent there and the curse, as well as for the belly dancing, I can see it for Shurima

She's a solid 9

Cassiopeia: Search - secrets Offer - Breasts

A cassio main says thx

Now onto the real question, why does a shuriman defence system make the intruder more powerful?

Can we talk about how hilarious sion and urgot lore used to be with katarina and necromancy??

It would be cool to look at civilization 6's portrayal of historical figures

What about Xerath?

In the greek version of the medusa transformation, Athena turns Medusa into that form, so she could never be assaulted again. Of course that is only a variation of the story, and with myths there is never a true "right" way to present a story

Yo... What's the Deal with Camille? Can you look at it?

I was a Cassiopeia main, but ye I can see dat she isn't monstress enough, especially after Spirit Blossom Cassiopeias, Riot saw that people are rather into snakegirls. Do they even want to visually update her design to looking more grotesc? Also they did something with Medusa aspect that is kinda like, the BIGGEST mistake you can make making a Medusa wich is leaving the snake hair out. Without the snake hair she aint a gorgon, just a snakelady. And for god sake riot please give her a passive because Nocturne can buy boots and he doesn't even have a lower half.