Is the new League Champion Zeri just a copy of Neon and Jinx?

Riot Games has unveiled the latest League of Legends champion in a trailer. Her name is Zeri and she resembles several other characters, which fans have mixed feelings about. On Thursday, January 6, Zeri, The Spark of Zhaun, was officially revealed with a trailer.

Shortly before that, there was a leak that announced the agent with the squeaky yellow-green hair and gave a first look at her. Riot Games has said about Zeri that she comes from the Zhaun region and carries a homemade weapon. She charges the weapon, just like herself, with electricity. She is described as temperamental, compassionate and headstrong. She has a lot of empathy and likes to stand up for others.

Zeri – a mixture of Jinx and Neon

What immediately stands out in the trailer is that she resembles the new VALORANT agent, named Neon – a lot. The faces are similarly designed, the hairstyle is almost the same except for the hair color, the voice of the voice actress Vanille Velasquez is the same and even the abilities are suspiciously similar!

Just like Neon, Zeri can summon electric current from her fingers to attack her enemies (only Zeri’s current is bright yellow and poison green to match her hair, not bright blue like Neon’s). She can also sprint and slide – just like Neon – showing us that the new champions are getting faster and faster. Fans also drew parallels to other characters like Jinx. The similarity between the two is striking as well. While Zeri has much more mobility unlike Jinx, these two characters are otherwise very similar too.

In the short reveal trailer, fans were able to see Zeri move for the first time. At the beginning of the trailer, she appears out of nowhere and takes on some thugs in an alley who are about to beat someone up. In her right hand she carries a massive gun, the left she uses like neon for the electricity from her fingers. Shortly after, she flexes her skills. In the footage, Zeri shoots some kind of projectile that resembles Jinx’s “Zap!”. Later, she sprints away from an enemy, showing us that she has an escape tool that is increasingly seen on newer champions in League of Legends.

Just copied?

Fans have mixed feelings about this. Some think it’s cool that the champions are so cross-game, others think it’s brazenly stolen and complain about the lack of innovation and new designs. In any case, there was a lot of criticism from the fans that Zeri was designed just like Neon and Jinx.

What exactly the developers had in mind is not entirely clear. Are the parallels intentional? Does it perhaps have a deeper meaning? Or was it just another shameless steal? So far, there is no public statement, but if Riot comments on it, you’ll find out again here on Fragster.

At the moment there is no exact release date for Zeri, but you can assume that she will appear on the PBE server in the next few days or weeks.

What do you think of Zeri’s resemblance to her colleagues Jinx and Neon? Let us know on Twitter!