League fans call out Riot for “fatphobic” Renata skin changes
Riot GamesChanges to Renata Glasc’s Prestige La Ilusión skin’s splash art have sparked a debate in the community, one that has led many to call out Riot for “fatphobic” changes.
League of Legends has a massive cast of characters over 160 strong, with each champion having their own unique identity and set of abilities that make them stand out from the rest.
However, many fans of the game have been fighting for diversity and representation from the roster, particularly when it comes to getting a wide variety of body types onto the Rift.
This conversation has been re-ignited thanks to a Renata Glasc skin’s splash art being modified ahead of release to flatten her stomach and widen her hips, leading some players to call out Riot for changing her proportions and contributing to the ongoing conversation about “fatphobic” character designs.
Prestige Renata skin sparks controversy among League fans
With so many champions in League of Legends, it takes a while for every champion to get their fair share of skins. Riot have to find ways to make everyone happy despite only being able to create so many skins at once, and the skins team at the company is massive and tends to outsource their splash arts from various studios to keep up with demand.
This leads to, at times, art getting edited before the final release version of the skin. Riot will often make small changes to the art they’re sent before it goes live.
However, the tweaked version of the art for Renata Glasc’s Prestige La Ilusión skin has sent some fans into a frenzy. They’re saddened by the changes that flatten her stomach, widen her hips, and slim down her legs.
The changes appear subtle at first, but there’s a lot that has been swapped around. Much of the color palette changed along with her figure as well, leading many to believe that the final version of her splash art is much worse than the original.
For comparison’s sake, Spideraxe put together a gif showing the major differences.
Comparison gif pic.twitter.com/h9X7dbhtbp
— Spideraxe (@Spideraxe30) September 28, 2023
This has stoked the fires of an ongoing conversation within the League community about “fatphobic” character designs in League and a near-complete lack of representation for plus-size body types outside of someone like Gragas, a character that, for many, makes fun of the idea of being fat rather than acting as good representation.
TBSkyen, the person who started the conversation with his hot take on the topic, started discourse that is still ongoing in the League space. The recent changes to Renata’s splash art have certainly contributed to that discussion.
