A few notes about Ezreal’s abandonment issues and how they manifest detailed under the cut.
Abandonment issues usually occur when an individual is afraid to lose loved ones as a result of parental figures being largely absent in a child’s life, physically or emotionally. In Ezreal’s case, his parents were largely absent due to being away on expeditions most of the time, and while they were very kind and loving to him, they were still largely absent during times where Ezreal needed support. It doesn’t help that Professor Lymere, the secondary guardian of Ezreal, didn’t exactly provide the emotional fulfillment he needed in his childhood.
It’s also important to note that Ezreal was pressured a lot during his childhood. Due to his genius level intellect, there was a whole lot expected of him, and thus pressures were mounted on him in the form of rigorous, high-level studies. This is a large part of why his needs for affection were also neglected.
It is said that abandonment issues come in three different styles according to something called attachment theory. Ezreal would likely be recognized as having avoidant attachment, where he acts incredibly independent, hides his outward need for love and affection, but has the same anxieties and needs everyone else does. While he does fish for praise a lot outwardly, you’ll notice that most of it is for his ego, and he otherwise rarely displays a desire for closeness, affection, etc.
He’s always hiding his inner turmoils, and he does this by suppressing his negative emotions and memories, as well as refusing to properly complain about his problems. Everything negative he has to say that has anything to do with how he’s feeling is always sulking, or lampshaded by humor.
If he gets caught up in a conversation he really does not like, he emotionally withdraws himself from it, tuning out what there is to be said. As a primary example, I’m sure a lot of people who know about Ezreal’s situation think he’s in serious denial and want him to accept that his parents are probably actually dead so he can move on, but he never really listens to their words. He ignores much of what is said, brushes it off, or changes the subject.
Something that is often seen with people that have Ezreal’s type of attachment style is that they have a very high opinion of themselves, and a very low opinion of others. They also tend to focus too much on themselves. I think in Ezreal’s case, this is pretty self explanatory.
Intimacy is definitely something that does not come easily to Ezreal as a result of these emotional problems. If anything, he avoids it, and it’s very easy for him to think that his partner is being clingy or overstepping boundaries, when they might just want to understand him better or help him out.
That isn’t to say Ezreal does not fall in love ( I mean, look at his lines towards Lux ) but I really doubt he’s going to allow himself to be truly close to anyone very quickly. That kind of trust takes a lot of time for him to build up.
Fear of rejection is a big thing for Ezreal. It’s a major reason why he does not have many close relationships; he fears that he will inevitably be cut off by people, so he tries to do it first to avoid the emotional fallout of being dropped. As a result, he sabotages a lot of his relationships, platonic and romantic.
