History YMMV / Arcane

*** It's simplistic to assume those goals/flaws are mutually exclusive traits. One of the most important examples is that Jayce is willing to be a vigilante to realize his goals, as seen when he experiments with hextech in the first place (even going to the undercity to purchase supplies, which is arguably what sets up the *entire plot* in the first place [[spoiler:(if Jayce hadn't bought the supplies for his illegal studies specifically from Benzo, Little Man wouldn't have given Vi's gang the tip to raid his place)]]) and shown later when he and Vi invade the Shimmer factory, which ultimately results in the death of a child and Jayce's sudden face-heel realization.

** Does Ekko actually believe Jinx is BeyondRedemption or is it something he ''wants'' to believe? He tells Vi [[spoiler: Powerder]] is gone, but in episode 6 [[spoiler: when he has to fight Jinx, he immediatelly tricks her into reliving happy memory of one of their childhood games - a strategy that relies betting on something of Powder still remaining in Jinx]]. Morever, he [[spoiler: hesitates from finishing Jinx off because for a moment her roughed-up face looks too much like Powder's]]. Some people even analyzed the [[spoiler: explosion on the bridge, coming to a conclusion Ekko must have throw the grenade away, effectively saving Jinx's life.]]

* CrackShip:
** After the show's first season, Jinx/Lux gained an oddly strong following despite the fact they have never met in the show or canon lore of the game[[note]]Though they are a rather close leader/lancer duo in the non-canon [[MagicalGirlAU Star Guardian alternate universe]][[/note]]. They are in a couple of promotional ads together where Jinx kidnaps and forces Lux to be on her team, but that's very much ''not'' canon. The main draw is that they are two young women who are scorned by their respective societies for being who they are. It also has a similar OppositesAttract feel to Vi/Caitlyn as given Jinx is an (almost) unrepentant murderer and Lux is something of a TokenGoodTeammate for Demacia's ruling class.
** Also shipping Jinx and Ekko due to the heavily implied PuppyLove the two had when children. This is ignoring that Ekko sees Powder/Jinx as BeyondRedemption, considering she, well, has murdered a lot of his friends because of her [[DesperatelyCravesAffection extreme need for validation, which just so happens to come from Silco]].

* TrueArtIsAngsty: The show is unflinchingly DarkerAndEdgier than the game it was based on, as it incorporates many dark themes. It is also one of the major reasons why critics and audiences love it. Paste writer Tara Bennett notes in [[https://www.pastemagazine.com/tv/netflix/arcane-review-league-of-legends-tv-show/ her 9.0/10 review]] how it "unflinchingly utilizes violence, adult language, and very dark storylines when needed".

* SugarWiki/AwesomeArt: Not only are individual frames absolutely gorgeous, the animation [[https://youtu.be/KmsHSeIv1nM adds small touches to body language]] that helps add even more depth to characterization.
* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic:
** Arcane features prominent artists such as Music/ImagineDragons and Bea Miller. And that's without mentioning the absolutely phenomenal soundtrack.
** Special mention to Ramsey's "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omgSWqwVTjY Goodbye]]" from the ending of Ep 3, which builds to an emotional crescendo that echoes the equally heart-breaking "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvpxVbAgJPY You're a Jinx]]" from the score.
** It's almost unbelievable that "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Yr3sKPi8mM Our Love]]" is an original song for the show and not an obscure motown classic from 40 years ago.
** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbDQY0-wBeM A Bicentennial]]", a stirring track that perfectly captures the awe of seeing the Hexgate in action for the first time.
** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKNEx-9OqRM Guns for Hire]]" by Woodkid, which plays in Episode 6 to heart-rending effect when [[spoiler: Jinx decides to light the signal flare in the hope that Vi will find her again.]]
** "[[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OkscEokV238 Dynasties and Dystopia]]", an ''awesome'' song that, combined with the [[ArtShift extremely stylized combat]] makes the fight in Episode 7 between [[spoiler: Ekko and Jinx]] even cooler.
** The tragic "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_bp7waAc_I&list=OLAK5uy_l_z0h-139ao0T6_idP0tigadYeTnI_Pfo&index=23 Fallout]]" that plays in episode 8 [[spoiler:as Jayce accidentally kills a child and Caitlyn has her ShowerOfAngst]].
** "[[https://open.spotify.com/track/4Oih3RDrSFg3afaOphBVuy?si=ec9b4060941a44d4 What Could Have Been]], sung by {{Music/Sting}} at the end of Episode 9, is a hauntingly beautiful track that perfectly encapsulates [[spoiler:Jinx's despair at Silco's death and the fact that her and Vi have changed too much to make reconciliation possible. The lyrics sing of what could have been had Vi not left Powder behind, in addition to underscoring that it was ultimately Vi, and not Silco, who started her transformation into Jinx. In the end, it also serves as a goodbye song, as the sisters, as well as Piltover and Zaun, have gone beyond the point of no return.]]
* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: The show makes use of modern music to generally good effect, but in the second episode of the second arc, the show's theme song by ''Music/ImagineDragons'' starts to play. This wouldn't be a big deal, except the band members also appears in the show playing the song in-universe for brief moments. It's generally agreed that this sticks out like a sore thumb since the characters don't actually do anything else in the brief time they are onscreen.

* DiagnosedByTheAudience: Jinx suffers from multiple delusions, is immensely traumatized by what she went through as a child, and has extreme attachments to both Vi when she was young and Silco in the present, among ''various'' other things. There is immense discussion from fans and actual psychologists alike over Jinx's issues, with many pegging her as having schizophrenia, PTSD, and Borderline Personality Disorder from what she displays over the course of the series.

** Jinx also gets this treatment from some of the fanbase, excusing her more heinous actions in favor of playing up her tragic backstory. Sure, Jinx started out as a traumatized young girl who fell in with the wrong crowd, but she's still responsible for [[spoiler:a number of Enforcer and Firelight gang deaths. She [[LackOfEmpathy never shows remorse or a guilty conscience for the people she kills (Mylo and Claggor aside)]], willingly chooses to follow Silco's orders and goes out of her way to terrorize innocent civilians, and makes the ''highly unreasonable'' demand of wanting [[ShootYourMate Vi to shoot Caitlyn to get Powder back]], putting the already-scared and distressed Vi in an impossible position]].

** In an argument, don't do or say anything you can't take back. [[spoiler:After learning that Powder was responsible for their family getting killed, Vi slaps her hard and calls her a "jinx", [[PartingWordsRegret which remain the last things she says to her for years because Vi is captured before she could apologize]]. By the time she reunites and makes amends, Powder had already adopted "Jinx" and became Silco's right-hand woman.]]

** ''Listen'' when you're told to stay out of the way for not only your safety, but for those you care about. Especially when you've proved that you're not quite skilled enough to be of any help just yet. [[spoiler: Jinx would have saved countless lives and prevented a lot of her own trauma had she just done what Vi told her to do when they went to rescue Vander.]]

* LikeYouWouldReallyDoIt: [[spoiler:The whole fake out DecapitationPresentation scene is only slightly marred by the fact that Caitlyn’s status as Champion in the game ensures that [[SavedByCanon there is no way she dies here.]] Doesn’t stop that scene from being incredibly tense and disturbing, though, and many non ''[=LoL=]''-playing viewers (a significant number) unaware of this were genuinely afraid that Caitlyn was dead during this scene.]]

** The world presented in the show is a fantasy setting with many unique races, groing through a rapid industrial revolution that combines steampunk and magitech, with characters personal struggles interwoven with larger political schemes and even bigger, cosmic-scale lore. It is no surprise that many ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' fans (allegedly including even Keith Baker himself) called ''Arcane'' the closest we will ever get to an ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'' show. In particular Piltover and Zaun invoke a lot of the same themes and atmosphere of Eberron's iconic city, Sharn, with biggest difference being Zaun is across the river from Piltover, not underground beneath it, like the Cogs beneath Sharn[[note]]this is actually one of the more significant examples of AdaptationDeviation in the series, since in ''[=LoL=]'' canon, Zaun ''is'' actually beneath Piltover, and one story ("Child of Zaun") actually features Zaunite terrorists assaulting Piltover by ascending the towers that connect the two cities[[/note]].

** The world presented in the show is a fantasy setting with many unique races, groing through a rapid industrial revolution that combines steampunk and magitech, with characters personal struggles interwoven with larger political schemes and even bigger, cosmic-scale lore. It is no surprise that many ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' fans (allegedly including even Keith Baker himself) called ''Arcane'' the closest we will ever get to an ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'' show. In particular Piltover and Zaun invoke a lot of the same themes and atmosphere of Eberron's iconic city, Sharn, with biggest difference being Zaun is across the river from Piltover, not underground beneath it, like the Cogs benheath Sharn.

* RootingForTheEmpire: The Piltover council is run by politicians that are either corrupt or outright stupid (with the exception of Heimerdinger, who instead is oblivious to all of this and out of touch with real human problems), the Piltover police routinely harass the residents of Zaun, and the city dumps all their garbage there. It's not hard for fans to think Silco's ruthlessness is justified given how Piltover treats Zaun, especially when taking his tragic backstory into account. [[spoiler:His methods end up working, and Jayce also tries to push for Zaun independence and Silco's other demands]].

* AuthorsSavingThrow: One longstanding criticism of ''League'' is [[OnlyOneFemaleMold the lack of variation regarding its female character designs]], where even with more recent female champions, they tend to have similarly slim builds and [[OnlySixFaces generically "pretty" faces]] regardless of their background. ''Arcane'' addresses this and adds more variation among the women, and also isn't afraid of having them looking realistically "plain" even within its stylized art style. Preexisting female champions get subtle tweaks that make them better stand out among each other and feel more appropriate, such as giving [[BoxingBattler Vi]] actual [[MusclesAreMeaningful defined muscles]].
%%** The yordles, while always somewhat goofy, [[{{Flanderization}} have become more and more goofily portrayed as the lore has gone on]]. The portrayal of Heimerdinger and minor character Babette in the show hit a better balance of being goofy and serious.

* FanPreferredCouple: The Jayce/Viktor ship is much more popular than the canonical ship of Jayce/Mel.

* DiagnosedByTheAudience: While what she suffers from goes unnamed (since Runeterra is a ConstructedWorld, these terms probably don't even exist), Jinx is usually diagnosed with schizophrenia[[note]]due to hearing Mylo in her head as an adult[[/note]], PTSD, and Borderline Personality Disorder[[note]]due to her extreme attachment to Vi as a child, and immediate transference onto Silco at the end of Episode 3[[/note]].

** A popular theory is that [[spoiler: Vander]] is Warwick. This one may have more to work with than most - one of Warwick’s alt skins does look similiar to [[spoiler: Vander]], his dialogues in the game suggest he remembers [[spoiler: Vander's adopted daughters, Vi and Jinx]], teaser of season two does use a part of Warwick’s theme and [[spoiler: short of Vander's corpse in Singed's lab in episode 9]] lines well with Warwick’s backstory - but for now it remains unconfirmed.

* DiagnosedByTheAudience: While what she suffers from goes unnamed (since Runeterra is a ConstructedWorld, these terms probably don't even exist), Jinx is usually diagnosed with schizophrenia, PTSD, and Borderline Personality Disorder.

** A popular theory is that [[spoiler: Vander]] is Warvick. This one may have more to work with than most - one of Warvick's alt skins does look similiar to [[spoiler: Vander]], his dialogues in the game suggest he remembers [[spoiler: Vander's adopted daughters, Vi and Jinx]], teaser of season two does use a part of Warvick's theme and [[spoiler: short of Vander's corpse in Singed's lab in episode 9]] lines well with Warvick's backstory - but for now it remains unconfirmed.

** A popular theory is that [[spoiler: Vander]] is Warvick. This one may have more to work with than most - one of Warvick's alt skins does look similiar to [[spoiler: Vander]], his dialogues in the game suggest he remembers [[spoiler: Vander's adopted daughters, Vi and Jinx]], teaser of season two does use a part of Warvick's theme and [[spoiler: short of Vander's corpse in Singed's lab in episode 9]] lines well with Warvick's backstory - but for now it remains uncomfirmed.

* MemeticPsychopath: While Jayce [[spoiler:immediately regrets killing a child in a blind rage in canon]], many jokes were made about Jayce hating [[spoiler:children]] or devolving into wanting to [[FinalSolution kill all Zaunites]], with edits made of him in place of Anakin Skywalker [[spoiler:when he murders the Younglings.]]

* AbandonShipping: Jayce/Viktor was a popular ship which suffered defections after the scene which contrasts Jayce having sex with Mel while Viktor is dying as he tries to get the hex core running. A lot of grumbling that Jayce didn't deserve Viktor ensued. Somewhat mitigated by the fact Jayce did not know how severe Viktor's condition was and when he found out what happened he left Mel without telling her and rushed to the hospital. There was also Jayce referring to Viktor as a [[HeterosexualLifePartners brother]] later on.

* SpiritualAdaptation:

** A number of Creator/DCComics fans, particularly those of Franchise/{{Batman}} and other Gothamites, have picked up on favorable similarities between those characters and ones from ''Arcane''. Common comparisons include Jinx to ComicBook/HarleyQuinn (general aesthetics and demeanor), Vi and Jinx to [[ComicBook/{{Batwoman}} Kate]] and Beth Kane (a redheaded, kindhearted fighter and her AxCrazy sister who were separated after a tragedy at a young age), and Caitlyn to [[ComicBook/TheQuestion Renee Montoya]] (the aforementioned redhead's strongest LoveInterest who is a cop/detective and is generally color-coded blue).

** Ambessa Medarda's nameless Piltovian guide during her visit is variously known as "Local Cuisine" and "Howl's Moving Coochie" by fans.

** With ''Anime/CyberpunkEdgerunners'' due to both shows having similar themes of family and mental illness, as well as sharing similar settings of CyberPunk and BioPunk. Both shows are also considered to be [[VisualEffectsOfAwesome visually excellent.]]

* CrackShip: After the show's first season, Jinx/Lux gained an oddly strong following despite the fact they have never met in the show or canon lore of the game[[note]]Though they are a rather close leader/lancer duo in the non-canon [[MagicalGirlAU Star Guardian alternate universe]][[/note]]. They are in a couple of promotional ads together where Jinx kidnaps and forces Lux to be on her team, but that's very much ''not'' canon. The main draw is that they are two young women who are scorned by their respective societies for being who they are. It also has a similar OppositesAttract feel to Vi/Caitlyn as given Jinx is an (almost) unrepentant murderer and Lux is something of a TokenGoodTeammate for Demacia's ruling class.

** Like [[WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower Catra]] before her, jokes that Jinx needs therapy to help her deal with all the toxic shit in her life are fairly common. It helps that [[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBNA43Ppw3sCUbq-x2SvP8g an actual therapist]] reacts to the show.

* DiagnosedByTheAudience:
** Jinx/Powder is ''very clearly'' mentally unstable, and unlike her premiere video, it's PlayedForDrama. While it's hard to pin down an exact disorder, she shows signs of several different ones:
*** As a child, Powder shows some signs of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dependent_personality_disorder Dependent Personality Disorder]], being desperate for approval from the rest of her group, dependent on Vi's emotional support to feel a sense of self-worth, and generally struggling with feelings of being inadequate or useless. She also shows signs of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borderline_personality_disorder Borderline Personality Disorder]] in that she's shown to be very impulsive and fears being abandoned, with her emotional stability easily crumbling whenever she thinks [[spoiler:Vi has left her behind or doesn't have faith in her]]. All of these symptoms are magnified tenfold after the time skip, showing her becoming agitated at the thought of being useless or needing to take time off. On top of that, she displays intense, risk-taking behavior and has hallucinations and flashbacks, reminiscent of [[https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd-and-complex-ptsd/complex-ptsd/#:~:text=Complex%20post%2Dtraumatic%20stress%20disorder%20(complex%20PTSD%2C%20sometimes%20abbreviated,or%20distrustful%20towards%20the%20world C-PTSD]]. She's also seemed to have developed a dissociative disorder, referring to herself as both Powder and Jinx at different times. Her reunions with Vi shows that she's aware of her trauma in her moments of lucidity, but she quickly lapses back into her maniacal Jinx persona when she feels threatened. By the end of Act 3, she's resigned to being Jinx entirely. A lot of her symptoms, chiefly the hallucinations, paranoia and hearing voices, also point towards potential [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizophrenia Schizophrenia]] or [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychosis psychosis]].
*** A lot of her more mundane personality quirks, such as her hanging onto mementos from her childhood and fixation on childish things like stuffed animals and coloring with crayons on her bombs and weapons, points to some fairly severe [[https://emotional-intelligence-training.weebly.com/arrested-psychological-development-you-maybe-younger-than-you-lookhellippsychologically-speakinghellip.html arrested psychological development]], as the trauma of her childhood going unaddressed into her young adulthood caused her mind to become locked in a more childish state of mind.
** Heimerdinger shows some signs of suffering PTSD from the Rune Wars, suffering multiple flashbacks to mages doing terrible things when confronted with magic. [[spoiler:While he seems to have come around on Hextech after the time skip and is proud of what Jayce has accomplished with it, the sight of the Hexcore has him declaring it categorically must be destroyed after what he's seen what has been done with something exactly like it. Note that [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness he's uncharacteristically confrontational]] when he says it too.]]

*** The opening of the music video seems cool when you first watch it, showing Jinx riding a missile while leading a vanguard of missiles towards some unknown building. Then [[spoiler: you watch the final scene of the first season, showing Jinx using a rocket on the main council chamber building, which has a similar design to the one from the video, and starts off a war with launching it. Now, those missiles and her riding on one isn't as funny, because [[MakesSenseInContext it can be seen as her starting a war]].]]