So. I’ve got some questions and thoughts about Viktor’s cane. (And a heads up—I am abled, so I apologise profusely if I miss something or get anything wrong!)
I saw another user point out that baby Viktor uses his cane incorrectly. According to my trawling of the interwebs, using a cane on the opposite side of the affected limb is best as it provides better overall body support. Vik’s bad leg is his right, so he should use his cane in his left hand.
We can only assume that coming from Zaun, and with limited access to education or medical experts, lil’ Vik had to make do (especially given that his cane is a bent stick that’s been repaired and modified). So yes. Viktor is young and no one around him knows better.
But look! He’s still using it incorrectly well into his twenties. Now, maybe he’s a special case and just has a preference for using it in his right hand. And I seriously doubt Fortiche made a mistake with this, because…come on. We’ve seen the detail they go to.
From this, we can brainstorm a few ideas—maybe Viktor uses it this way because it’s all he knows and for some reason, no one has corrected him. Which, given his status as a Zaunite and a disabled person, is quite a fitting way for the people of Piltover to treat him. Or, maybe, even when working for the Academy, he still lacked the funds to get appropriate treatment and so carried on as he was. Hell, maybe Piltover ostracises anyone with a disability and they’re clueless about proper care (unlikely, but still has a shred of potential).
But after the time skip? He’s corrected his use. Even though he’s now using a crutch instead of a cane, the advice is the same—use it on the opposite side.
So now we’re thinking…why now?
Well, I noticed something on the render of Viktor used for the RiotX Arcane experience. Even though it’s non-canon, it’s set once Hextech becomes an accepted technology—a few months or years after, it’s hard to tell. Anyway, he’s using his cane correctly here as well!
So naturally, this leads me to think that maybe Viktor finally got the right medical advice once he’d made a name for himself as part of Hextech. Like only after achieving something seemingly impossible for a Zaunite was he recognised as a proper member of Piltovan society. Anyway. It’s all conjecture and I have no idea really. :P But I’ve got one final note to make.
So we’ve all seen the back brace Viktor wears, presumably to keep his spine straight because of his crippled leg throwing things off (a really nice detail, really). But I also noticed that he has screws in his actual spine. Like damn.
I makes me wonder…did he have spinal surgery to fix problems caused by long-term incorrect cane usage!?
And, by extension, is that another deliberate example of the disadvantages the people of Zaun suffer from? I mean. It makes sense. As if they’d have access to good medical care or advice. All the doctors probably disappeared into Piltover for the cashed up aristocracy.
(Alternatively, he was destined for spinal surgery and a brace no matter how he used his cane, but… still. :P)
Anyway. Thanks for coming to my TED talk on probably another brilliant detail from Arcane.
