#mostly cuz i wonder if we'll see more than just aatrox in the cinematic tomorrow

[league-of-blorbos]

My Theories for what each Darkin was as an Ascended

(to preserve my sanity, i'm only gonna talk about the main 5 darkin, which are all the darkin champions and xolaani, and i'll put them in order starting with the one with the most supporting evidence and the going down to the ones that i purely made up)

Xolaani: Bird

We already know this one, we can see her statue in The Call cinematic and you can see feathers on her chest and a bird-like head shape. We can't tell what exact kind of bird she was, but she was definitely avian.

Aatrox: Angel

First off, it's never said that Ascended have to be based on animals. Every fan interpretation I see of Valeeva, a Darkin described in Twilight of the Gods, looks like a humanoid with venomous spines, so Ascended beings could theoretically also be humanoids with extra apendages (like Valeeva's spines or Aatrox's wings) but are just more commonly animals.

Second, we know Aatrox is trying to morph his vessel into looking as close to his former appearance as possible and it's implied he envies Kayle since she resembles himself as an Ascended. Kayle is an angelic human with wings, plus I feel Aatrox would try to reform himself with animal traits if he had them, but instead he looks, again, like a human with wings. Also there's the metaphors with Darkin being fallen gods, and the Darkin (mostly Aatrox and Rhaast) looking like demons, and that fits the trope of the fallen angel, you get the point, Aatrox is basically meant to be Satan so it works for him to be a corrupted angel.

Rhaast: Goat

This is one I've seen a few other people headcanon, and it comes from one of Kayn's taunts as the Shadow Assassin where he calls the enemy a "two-legged goat" which is so oddly specific and I can't find anything it could be referencing, so the theory is he's taunting his opponent by comparing them to Rhaast, who as SA, Kayn has already defeated. I would also like to mention that Kayn's baggy pants paired with Rhaast's hooved feet and horns give him a satyr-like silhouette.

On the more symbolic side, goats are often associated with the devil (again, Darkin are based off demons) and to death and the occult in a similar way a scythe is despite both being common things found on a farm; they both seem innocent until put in the right contexts, which is perfectly ironic for a violent being like Rhaast.

Varus: Lizard

In his short comic, we see a vague fanged head that wasn't shown when just Kai and Valmar walked these same stairs, so some theorized that this is what Varus looked like before being trapped. To me, the head looks most like it's reptilian. He could also be a snake or even a dragon, but in Runeterra we already have a snake Ascended with Naganeka and a humanoid dragon with Shyvana so I went with a lizard since it felt the most unique.

Naafiri: Feline

I remember seeing some people guess she used to be a cat when one of her teasers said that her becoming a hound was "ironic", and felines are seen as the opposite of canines. That's pretty much where the evidence ends, I'm just going based off vibes that maybe she was a big cat like a panther or a tiger.