So which are your favorite pairings for Garen, if I might ask? Love your blog!
Thank you for the question and for enjoying the blog! I usually ship Garen with Darius or Katarina, but I was planning to start a series of posts where I talk about some crack ships involving Garen (and by "planning to," I mean procrastinate). I suppose this post can be the first installment.
I love the idea of Garen x Yasuo. It feels like the League version of the stereotypical cowboy and samurai duo. I'd watch the hell out of a Garen Yasuo buddy cop situation. (Note: I don't like cops, but I tried to think of a synonym for the "buddy cop" genre but there really wasn't one, so...)
They're both swordsmen but in different ways, first of all. They'd find each other's weapons ridiculousâYasuo would think Garen's weapon is barbaric and Garen would call Yasuo's sword a toothpick or something like that. But when it's time to lock in, they'd make a great team. They complement each other's weaknesses in combat.
It's also a great contrast that, on a surface level, Yasuo is sardonic and grumpy, while Garen more of a optimistic, golden retriever-type. But when you get to know these characters, Yasuo is a laid-back, "I go where the wind takes me" wanderer, while Garen is bound by honor and code. They're essentially opposites on multiple levels.
But, intriguingly enough, it is when their innermost layers are revealed that they converge, in the sense that Yasuo's journey is, in reality, a path to atone for his past sins, while Garen's loyalty to the noble cause is wavering. In the later acts of their adventure together, once they've grown to trust each other and confessed to one another their deepest anxieties, they'd realize that they have more in common than they thought. There's real potential for some dense character writing here (that Riot will never tap into because they suck).
Some scenarios where they could cross paths/example adventures they could go on together:
Garen, to investigate the causes of Xin Zhao's death, sets off on a mission to Ionia, where he stumbles upon the masterless swordsman Yasuo. Mistaking one another for an enemy, they cross swords, but is convinced by the trueness of the swordplay amidst the battle that they are closer to brothers than foes. Yasuo accompanies Garen in his adventures as his guide, where the duo uncovers a sinister Noxian plot and is abruptly tasked with saving the nation of Ionia.
Yasuo, during his travels, takes a detour to Demacia due to an injury and is subsequently arrested for suspected magic use. Garen, instinctively sensing that Yasuo is an innocent man, orders the Mageseekers that he will detain Yasuo personally. Yasuo, to his frustration, has no choice but to keep it on the low in Garen's (admittedly very cozy) estate, and romantic hijinks ensue. However, his feelings towards Garen become complicated when he learns that Garen is willing to face tremendous consequences to illicitly set him free and return him to Ionia.
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