The Funny Way Emiru Found Out This League Of Legends Character Was Based On Her - Exclusive
"League of Legends" has grown into a core pillar of competitive gaming, with tournaments occurring worldwide and millions of players logging in every month. While the game's status as an esports mainstay certainly helps keep it relevant, it has also established a deeper connection with fans through its rich lore and intricately crafted characters.
There are well over a hundred unique characters available in "League of Legends," who are not only carefully balanced to adapt to different playstyles and team roles but designed with an aesthetic flair that makes them memorable outside of the arena. The game's many fan-favorite characters and rare skins have made "League of Legends" particularly popular for cosplayers, such as Twitch streamer Emiru. However, no one, including Emiru herself, could have seen one unexpected honor coming: inadvertently serving as the inspiration for an actual "League of Legends" hero.
SVG recently sat down with Emiru in an exclusive interview to hear that particular story. Here is the funny way that Emiru found out she had become a part of her favorite game.
A Riot Games artist told Emiru she inspired Gwen
Thanks to her close attention to detail, Emiru is no stranger to having fans tell her just how much she resembles their favorite "League of Legends" heroes. She explained, "Ever since I started streaming 'League,' people would say I look similar to characters pretty often because of my makeup style."
However, when Riot Games released a new hero, Gwen, in April 2021, Emiru couldn't help but notice that people on social media were commenting about similarities between them rather often. The streamer said, "I didn't think anything of it. I was just like, 'Oh, that's cool. Another character I can cosplay.'" She went ahead and put together another excellent cosplay and posted the results, pulling off every detail of the character right down to her different colored eyes and subtle bang part.
Her fans on Twitter were ecstatic, but one comment stood out in particular. Twitter user @anninosj told Emiru, "It's all come full circle! I had some of [your] makeup looks saved in my reference board for the splash!" It turns out that this was Jeremy Anninos, an artist with Riot Games who had used images of Emiru's previous cosplays as inspiration during Gwen's design process.
Emiru was shocked by the revelation, posting her disbelief to Twitter. She told SVG, "I was like, 'Wow.' So it's kind of like I have a small piece in the game that is my life." There aren't many higher honors paid to fans or cosplayers than that.