JayVik

Pairing
Pairing:	Jayce Talis/Viktor
Alternative name(s):	VikJay, VikJayce, Men of Progress, Boys of Progress, Soul Partners, Jaytor
Gender category:	Slash
Fandom:	In Arcane as JayVik and in League of Legends as VikJay
Canonical?:	no
Prevalence:	popular
Archives:
Other:	Look. At me. by Saya_tsugu (2025)
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

JayVik is the ship of Jayce Talis and Viktor in the League of Legends and Arcane fandom. Before its popularity surge due to Arcane, the pairing was usually known as Jaytor, VikJay or VikJayce. Currently VikJay and VikJayce is more used for the League pairing, JayVik is used for the Arcane one, while Jaytor has fallen out of use.

Canon

Spoiler Warning: This article or section may contain spoilers. If this bothers you, proceed with caution.

League of Legends

Jayce was created as a counterpart for Viktor on July 7th, 2012, about half a year after Viktor's introduction to League lore and games. They started off as study and work colleagues at the Academy in Piltover and later became antagonistic, when Jayce didn't support Viktor and he felt betrayed, being expelled from the Academy. They worked in Hextech advancement and innovation.

Legends of Runeterra

During Path of Champions: Jayce's Story, an Arcane Event, Viktor returns to Jayce and offers plans for Progress day. If his proposal is accepted they both present the new invention, an adaptable source of power, to the public, with great success. Viktor and Jayce agree to take things slow, and collaborate, with Viktor calling Jayce an old friend. When he leaves, a small robot can be seen in the background scanning Jayce's notes. If Jayce refuses to read Viktor's plans and doesn't accept his proposal, Viktor attacks his presentation the next day, angry that Jayce decided to present what he calls an inconsequential foolishness, and not something that would help people instead. Jayce tells Viktor that they're not afraid of his tech, but rather of what he'd do with it. Viktor tells Jayce that this is the only viable future for him, since Jayce's betrayal. Notably, in this event, fans learnt that Jayce's nickname for Viktor was "V".

Arcane

Season 1

Jayce and Viktor met when Jayce was trying to develop magic through science. They invented Hextech together. The show played with watchers' expectations of their relationship in then League lore, but was more or less faithful to it during season 1.

Season 2

While in the League of Legends they are colleagues and later enemies (Jayce seems to not understand Viktor), the Arcane canon subverted fans expectations by having Jayce stick by Viktor until the end ("Jayce will understand"), possibly indicating this was always endgame for them. In Arcane, the catalyst of their separation is Jayce's broken promise, as he brings his friend back to life after his death and creates the Herald. In League lore, Viktor is expelled from the Academy and experiments on himself, becoming the Machine Herald.

Post-Arcane

Since the success of Arcane, Arcane lore has been canonised in League, but not fully. This led Riot to alter Viktor’s default look, making him similar to Arcane Viktor (December 11th, 2024). Although his human “shape” is the same now, Viktor still exists as Machine Herald Viktor and Arcane Herald Viktor in League lore. Jayce remains physically the same, with Arcane Jayce as a single skin option with new voice lines and interactions. Jayce’s League bio was reworked (February 6th, 2025). Canon information regarding Vikjayce (how fans tend to refer to the paring in original LOL lore) was archived by fans here. It's important to be aware that even before Arcane, with League lore prone to reworks and League skins featuring their own backgrounds, Jayce and Viktor's lore was still interconnected and difficult to separate.

Notable differences between past iterations of the characters and the Arcane ones are as follows:

League and Arcane differences

	League Viktor	Arcane Viktor	League Jayce	Arcane Jayce
Last name	-	-	-	Talis
Faction/Sponsor	Glasc	-	Ferros (originally Giopara)	Kiramman
Body alteration	Mechanical augmentation (by himself)	Hexcorisation (by Jayce)	-	Acceleration Rune embedded in wrist (by Viktor)
Race	White	White	White	Latino
Place of Origin	Zaun (city)	Piltover (the undercity part, known as Zaun)	Piltover	Piltover
Disabilities/Diseases	?	Unknown terminal pulmonary disease/Unknown leg and spine disability (use of braces and a cane/crutch)	-	Broken leg (use of brace)/Arcane infection

Although originally considered dead by the end of Arcane, it was stated in an interview that Jayce and Viktor’s ultimate fate is uncertain in overarching lore.

Fandom

While Jayce maintains his original design in League of Legends, with Arcane Jayce as a skin, OG's Viktor's design has been changed to appear more like his Arcane counterpart. This has left fans frustrated at the loss of their character. The current versions of the game no longer support OG Viktor's likeness and several fans have created pages to archive everything from game files to concept art.

Arcane Jayce is known as Jayce Talis and League Jayce as Jayce Giopara, with Giopara being the name of the House that originally sponsored Jayce in League (he, like Viktor, also doesn't have a last name).

Due to both pairings having different dynamics, Jayce Talis is typically seen as more submissive, but a top, while Jayce Giopara is seen as a bratty bottom. The dynamic is present in their pairing name, much like yaoi pairing names, except it's not just used to depict the actual "seme" (top/dominant) and "uke" (bottom/submissive) position, but, rather frequently, if the pairing is the League pairing (VikJay) or the Arcane one (JayVik).

Due to both characters being canonically disabled, Jayvik fandom showcases much disabled art, discussion, analysis and incentivises artists with disabilities to include them in cosplay. The trans allegories found by fans in the show (mainly regarding Viktor) have also sparked a large following of trans fans and trans art, including a T4T Zine.

Perhaps due to the nature of Arcane as an animated series, terms like yaoi and fujoshi became common in fandom, thought slash is also used, seemingly by older fans. A lot of derivative vocabulary is also used, both by fans and anti-fans of the pairing, such as fujo-ing, fujomaxing, yaoi cocaine etc.

Official Account's 2025 Valentine's Day Cards

On Valentine's Day 2025, League's Official Weibo account posted several Valentine's Day Cards of Arcane characters. Fans noticed that the cards notably included many characters from canon pairings side by side, with Jayce and Viktor following each other in this manner, each with a message that was related to the other.

Viktor's:

你的不完美 恰恰完美

拳头游戏音乐情人节 https://m.weibo.cn/detail/5133905848701142

---

Your imperfections are precisely what makes you perfect.

Translation from plutopeppers' Twitter (X)'s post https://x.com/plutopeppers/status/1890283190209901044

Jayce's:

无垠宇宙 我亦相随

拳头游戏音乐情人节 https://m.weibo.cn/detail/5133905848701142

---

No matter how infinite the universe, I'll follow you (be with you).

Translated by Aliandry

Fans had discussions over the cards' subtext, noting the romantic connotations to Jayce's canon line from the show regarding Viktor's disabilities and Chinese speaking fans shared that the wording was particularly romantic with Jayce's card, not only alluding to following the Valentine, but also being with them, due to the use of the hanzi "相" xiāng meaning "pair", as Twitter user sushiisiu noted:

相隨 is an insane word choice here btw because 相 means pair. he doesnt just say 跟隨 follow he says he will follow and Be With whoever he's talking to. Lol

https://x.com/sushiisiu/status/1890317893851562151 sushiisiu on Twitter (X)]

About ten hours later, the official Arcane Twitter Account posted a link to a website featuring the English version of the cards. The English version of the text doesn't match the chinese one exactly, with Viktor's being "You are perfectly imperfect" and Jayce's "I would go to the ends of the Earth for you" The placement of the Cards changed slightly, but Viktor and Jayce were still placed next to each other and their text still aludes to their relationship with each other. The comments under the official accounts post feature a large amount of fans requesting a JayVik card to be dropped.

JayVik and VikJayce tagging problem on AO3

TODO

Since Arcane as come out fans have used the Fandom Tag for Arcane and League of Legends to differentiate between iterations of Viktor and Jayce.

Fan Analysis of frames

Fans have been meticulously analysing frames of the show in order to discover easter eggs or easily missed moments. Some of the analysis are not fully supported. These include:

• Viktor's moving mouth in his Herald form (possibly his body returning to normal) during the moment where Jayce and Viktor get sucked into the rune. Possibly also Jayce retuning to his younger self (beardless)
• Viktor and Jayce apparently wearing their season 1 uniforms during the final moments of the show
• Several scenes where both their eyes seem to stray to their mouths
• Scenes where hearts are shown in their respective weapons
• Several hidden butterflies
• Jayce blushing while he hugs Viktor after he's been hexcorised
• Jayce's childhood room pinup poster featuring what looks to be a woman with a prosthetic leg and a corset, similar to Viktor's corset and leg brace.

Discussion

Mel Medarda

Racism, misogyny, misogynoir

Some topics discussed include:

• Two White Guys
• Migratory Slash Fandom and generic ship dynamics fanon
• Racially stereotyped fanon and racialized ship dynamics
• Disposable Black Girlfriend

Discourse has been provoked by the JayVik fandom's treatment of Mel Medarda, Jayce's canon lover (and eventually, former lover). While some of the discourse overlaps with a JayVik VS JayMel ship war, much of the discussion centers on the fandom's judgments imposed on Mel as an individual character and as a canon (former) lover of a main character, without seeking to defend or promote the Jayce/Mel relationship.

Mel is a Black female character—standing out from most of the Arcane cast—and many fans have complained of JayVik shippers actively and passively bashing Mel with meta commentary and fanon influenced by misogyny, anti-Black racism, and misogynoir.(See also: "Mel Medarda Deserves Better: Addressing Misogynoir in the Arcane Fandom" by Nayawrites)

Mel fans debate over the extent to which the Disposable Black Girlfriend trope may or may not be evident in Mel's storyline in canon—but there is more heated agreement that the JayVik fandom has earned a reputation for invoking the Disposable Black Girlfriend trope for the benefit of their ship. While many Mel fans have no problem with shippers enjoying the JayVik ship itself—and some themselves even ship JayVik—there is much more objection to the JayVik arguments that focus on devaluing, dismissing, and demonizing Mel, specifically to attack her importance in the narrative and her worth as a lover.

After Season 1, there was rampant speculation that Mel would be killed off; JayVik shippers were notorious for being conspicuously interested in the potential of such a development.

Fans have discussed that Mel is subjected to double-standards, such as when Mel is condemned for manipulating Jayce, while Viktor is not condemned for manipulating Jayce.^{[citation needed]}

Some fans disagree to varying extents with claims of the JayVik fandom having a notable bigotry-related issues with the views expressed about Mel. Some have claimed or implied that complaining about shipping-related racism serves to cause drama.

Due to the impact of the JayVik fandom, Mel was one of the characters entered into the Victims of Yaoi poll tournament.

And I truly don’t know how to explain to people that Mel did not steal Jayce. He was never Viktor’s boyfriend. I empathize with people who want to see a popular queer ship become canon (I was all up in the finnpoe trenches, I get it).

Hear me out: you can ship JayVik without falling into or using rhetoric that fits the disposable black girlfriend trope. You can ship JayVik without using Mel as some conceived ploy or antagonistic plot device that makes her out of character. You can ship JayVik without falling into misogynistic rhetoric (eg. viewing female characters as disposable or stepping tools, amongst other things). You can ship JayVik without erasing the impact Mel has had on Jayce and their relationship because, whether you shipped it or not or even gave it the time of day, Mel and Jayce did care for each other, and to deny that or say Viktor held more importance/impact than her in Jayce's life to where she's viewed as "unnecessary" just to further your ship is so wrong and, whether you intended for it or not, does carry undertones where black characters, especially black female characters, emotional impact on others is ignored or downplayed even though there's context to support just how important it is/they are. Lastly, you can ship JayVik without using anti-black and misogynoir type rhetoric because the amount that has flooded this fandom, but especially from some fans of this ship, is atrocious.

it's not even the ship itself because like it's FINE but a large volume of its fans exemplify the worst parts of yaoi fandom to such an insane degree. the dismissal and demonisation of mel, a dark skinned black woman, for being with one of them. the refusal to see her being loved and portrayed as desirable as important and celebratory. the tendency to hypermasculinise the darker skinned half and exaggerate the differences in height and build to make the white half tinier and more fragile and more feminine. the portrayal of a capable and intelligent disabled man as a helpless little uwu baby with no strength or agency. the insistence on the skinny white boy and the skinny white boy ONLY being trans and gender and femme coded. the countless posts and essays about the importance of potential canon jayvik from fans who refuse to engage with the canon lesbian relationship beyond caitvi breakup jokes. the racism and ableism and misogyny of it all. ugh

Reactions to comments from showrunner-writer, animator

• https://old.reddit.com/r/arcane/comments/1h0cvva/s2_spoilers_i_feel_like_mel_and_sky_were_just_used/
• [7] [8] [9] [10]
• Mel Medarda Deserves Better: Addressing Misogynoir in the Arcane Fandom

Growth, Ship Wars and toxicity in fandom

TODO

Jayce/Viktor are one of the fastest growing pairings of the show and videogame fandom, being the most popular ship during the first bimester of 2025 on Tumblr and, at that mark, getting nearly 10k new fanfics since season 2 aired. The fans are very keen on having the pairing become canon, frequently contacting Riot, and leaving reminders under social media posts. The pairing is also supported by several voice actors and the animation team of the show, with several employees at Riot also buying JayVik merch. Many influencers and streamers that typically do not interact with shipping and Slash fandom have also supported this pairing. This behaviour has made Jayvik very visible and supported on social media sites, which has lead to irritation by non-fans of the pairing and some occasional scapegoat behaviour by certain fans, with it being common within the fandom to attribute racist, misogynistic and even ableist comments to Jayvik fans through assumption. Anti, hate and homophobic tags were created by anti-fans of the pairing, which once found by Jayvik and queer fans, were taken over and mocked, making them useless for their original objective. Due to the sudden boom in use of these tags by Jayvik fans, some were not aware of their sarcastic use once they saw them.

Many fans liken the tiktok and twitter sides of the Arcane fandom to the Voltron fandom and its implosion. Many Jayvik fans consider their pairing and side of the fandom to be relatively calm and fulfilling, frequently expressing their surprise at such a rewarding fandom experience, and are surprised when there's active toxicity, with many having become aware of it through, Ekko's voice actor, Reed Shannon's harassment over him supporting Jayvik canonisation (See here and here for more information). Some argue that both Shannon and Mel Medarda's voice actress, Toks Olagundoye, who has also been harassed with racist statements, are pandering to fans. To some fans, support of the pairing equals an attack against Mel Medarda, Jayce's former lover. Fans have noted that such remarks aren't made regarding Harry Lloyd, Viktor's voice actor, leading many to discuss the racist implications of the statements. Same with other non black supporters of the pairing, such as singer bbno$ and political commentator Hansan Piker - they don't get harassed by fans due to supporting Jayvik. Reed Shannon has shown frustration over the matter, even scheduling a stream in response to the harassment, stating it was "too late for apologies" over the way he'd been treated. Some fans called the stream, once again, pandering, assuming it would be about JayVik, and a few requested that instead of/in addition to speaking of his harassment, Shannon speak of racism and misogyny against characters and fans in the fandom. Reed has made a statement:

the last time I got on my “big” platform to talk about racism and misogyny and oppression I was accused of being blasphemous while trying to champion my own personal beliefs!

This platform and this fandom have issues but I’m not gonna waste my time trying to save people who don’t wanna be saved🫶🏽

I’m currently traveling the world meeting so many beautiful fans of Arcane, performing beautiful music, and making lasting memories and moments!!

There’s more music, more TV, and more Film coming this year!!

Love one another

A small minority of fans are very loud, and their posts tend to go viral, especially on tiktok. Baiting is also common, sometimes using JayVik as an excuse or to further antagonise fans, with one of the most shared racist attacks coming from a troll account which frequently changes names and targets black characters of the show. The troll has gone by the following names: moidgrapelover, haterofgrapists, whosagoodboy333, star_heaIl, melfansukraine and possibly ra_istt. Twitter user PowPowdur is also suspected of being the same troll, since they use the same tactics and slurs.

Ableist language and unfounded accusations are also common against Viktor, a canonically disabled character with a terminal illness, within the context of the pairing and shipping wars, with many fans who dislike Jayvik calling him ugly, a skeleton, a corpse etc. One case of ableism, within the Jayvik community, became particularly notable, spawning the term "Hydrated Viktor", which was then used as another moniker for the unnamed character known as Ambessa's "Local cuisine" (due to similarities between him and Viktor) or as a benign joke in terms of his disability, with fans expressing he must not have drank enough water when he's shown in a wheelchair, for example. Fans have requested that depictions of the pairing that lack Viktor's disability be minimised, although they aren't very frequent. Misinterpretations of show scenes and pushback against Jayvik headcanons have also been part of the ship wars, with many fans calling out the hypocrisy and the spreading of misinformation simply because they do not like a ship. Homophobia is also a common part of the ship wars, with some fans not supporting and actively pushing back against a queercoded view of the characters.

Notable Transformative Fan Works and Interactions

The pairing was an entry in the first MLM Ship Bracket Tournament in 2023.

Bbno$ and Willneff’s JayVik Cosplay Stream

On the 20th of January 2025, singer bbno$ cosplayed Viktor with Willneff cosplaying Jayce. Together with Stellachuu they discussed various JayVik pairing tropes, memes and art. They kissed several times, recreated the famous forehead touch and other scenes during the stream. This and other moments were recreated with fanart by fans. Another important moment was when Stellachuu presented the cosplayers with a prop of the cog Viktor finds in the Commune, calling it “the cog with the Hexcum”, and Willneff placed it on bbno$’s finger as a wedding ring.

The days following the stream had fans hopeful for any kind of canonical JayVik announcement, in part due to bbno$ meeting with Riot, particularly as skins for Valentines' day or for Pride month. Many fans believe Riot won't ever acknowledge their relationship as queer due to homophobia in gamer circles but also due to Mel's status as Jayce's former lover.

On the 24th of January, bbno$ posted a short clip of a fan song by himself, titled “JayVik Anthem”. It’s since been used in short video ship content.

On the 6th of February 2025, bbno$ posted a video of himself delivering a presentation on canonising JayVik. Some fans thought it was presented as if being delivered at Riot. Fans also pointed out that actress McKenna Grace wrote “I’m listening” under the video.

Official Windows and PC Game Pass’ Twitter (X) Account Fanart

On the 31st January 2025, the official Window’s twitter account replied to Twitter user tsuyonpu’s photo of their JayVik plushies with original kaomoji art of Arcane’s Jayce and Viktor, with the caption “we love this in all timelines and possibilities”. PC Game Pass’ official Twitter account responded to this with “jayvik response to a kpoppie? Windows i know what you are”. Both interactions, plus another Window’s reply to tsuyonpu fed fan’s hopes of the ship becoming canon, as it gathered more visibility through mainstream accounts.

Later, on the 4th of February, the account once again posted original JayVik fanart, this time in a reply to Twitter user gamjaJB’s fanart of the first Window’s account JayVik fanart. This fanart featured Season 2 Jayce with his post time travel outfit with two Viktors as an angel and a devil on his shoulder, with Herald being the devil and Mage!Viktor being the angel. Same as with the first piece of fanart, the base of the characters is made up of punctuation mark kaomoji. The Kaomoji art shows a good understanding of the characters.

This led to fans making art of the Window's art.

Official KitKatGaming Instagram Account

KitKatGaming's official Instagram account commented a fan's JayVik Sims Reel with 🤭❤️.

Reed Shannon Signing a Make JayVik Canon Sign at Kamicon and Racism Accusations

Reed Shannon, Ekko's VA, signed a Make JayVik Canon Sign by kootiedoodad at Kamicon. He later found the post sharing his picture with it online and retweeted it with the word "canon". While most of the replies on both the main post and Shannon's retweet seemed supportive, funny or neutral, some fans, particularly Mel or MelJay fans, took to the quote retweets, saying Shannon disappointed them, some accusing him of supporting the disposable black girlfriend trope, calling him an attention seeker. Many fans were disheartened by the negativity and tried to express that it wasn't that serious (never warranting the attack on a real person) , liking or supporting JayVik didn't mean he's actively dismissing Mel, nor being racist, and that she's more than just someone's black girlfriend, being her own character. The situation had a lot of traction with Brazilian fans, mainly with them pointing out "gringo" fans' behaviour towards black people regarding their imagined lack of support of black characters.

Due to the toxic comments, some fans believe that Shannon then retweeted a picture of himself as Heimerdinger with the word "canon" as well, in order to make light of his JayVik post. The backlash over his apparent support of JayVik continued though, with Reed having to state that Mel Medarda was his favourite character, that he very publicly had said so several times in the past and that he was not racist.

Official Procreate Instagram Account

The Official Procreate Account on Instagram left a comment under user leviaanaa's animation of Jayce and Viktor floating in space to On Melancholy Hill by Gorillaz with the following message: Wow this video is 10 hours long.

In All Frames, Only You

In All Frames, Only You was a project released on Valentine's Day 2025. It's a multi-artist collaborative project inspired by works such as #LetThereBeFrames and #EVERYFrameMatters, where over 400 artists came together to draw 640 frames of Jayce and Viktor's final moments together, when Jayce returns Vitkor's acceleration rune.

All individual frames can be checked out at the project's webpage, where fans can also learn more about the project.

"In All Frames, Only You" is a love letter to the ship Jayvik/Vikjayce from the show "Arcane" and game "League of Legends."

Over 400 artists took on 640 frames of animation to recreate Jayce and Viktor's final scene in the Astral Plane. With each individual frame, we hoped to create a glimpse into all the timelines and possibilities in which these two characters found each other. Artists worked in a variety of mediums, both digital and traditional, to bring their frames to life. When put together in order, these frames form a full animation.

This project was inspired by several others, most notable being The Good Omens projects "Every Frame Matters" and "Let There Be Frames." Go check them out!

A huge thanks to everyone who made this project possible, especially our pinch hitter artists. We love and appreciate all of you!!

And of course, thank you to the people who made Arcane: the artists, cast, crew, writers, and all others involved. "In All Frames, Only You" is a gift to express our appreciation for this remarkable show, the artistry of which pushes the boundaries of what animation can be.

Thank you!

https://sites.google.com/view/inallframesonlyyou/about-the-project?authuser=0 In All Frames, Only You's About Us page

The frames feature many extra elements, such as moments from the series, quotes, references to fan theories and tropes, the original Jayce and Viktor from league, other iterations of the characters and more, each drawn in the artist's individual style.

Winner of the Our Love: an Arcane Ship Zine Favorite Ship Tournament

On February 25 2025, JayVik was declared the winner of the tournament held by Our Love Zine, a fanzine that celebrates the various canon and non-canon from Arcane.

Break the Bed Meme

Fans started a meme where they paired off different iterations of Jayce and Viktor with each other (and sometimes themselves) and associated them with the state a bed would be left in after intercourse.

VA stream of March 2nd (Lloyd and Shannon's JayVik comments)

VA stream where fans asked questions to the VAs of Arcane. Notably Viktor's VA was asked to confirm if the status of Viktor and Jayce's relationship was platonic. He gave a heartfelt response, talking about how their relationship was so much more than that, couldn't be expressed with simple words and how it was the deepest relationship two people could ever have. Many fans praised his response. Ekko's VA, Shannon, wrote "Long story short JayVik canon" then and doubled down on his previous statements regarding the pairing. Both these events were marking in the JayVik fandom.

Some fans wished that, although the way Lloyd described the relationship was far greater than any romantic one, the VA would have said the word "romantic", since, due to homophobia, such answers could be handwaved by other fans. The way he described their relationship also gave birth to several new concepts in the fandom, such as "soul partners" (soulmates), "little cottage by a stream" (cottage core JayVik as well) and "with four (...) children" (also called Jaycelings, Jayviklings etc.). It's notable that Lloyd has admitted to reading fanfic of Viktor before, and some fans have suspicions he might have continued reading after season 2, since living out the rest of their lives in domestic bliss in a cottage is one of the most popular post-canons depicted in fanworks, such as A New Knife. (this article needs re-wording, quotes and references)

This has led to what some fans call a JayVik baby fever.

Harry Lloyd at Power Con 08 March 2025

Spawned Viktor is Trans Everything movement, signing of Love was the Law, zine awareness etc.

Anti, Hate and Homophobic tags reclaimed by fandom: #antijayvik #Ihatejayvik #jayvikbenot

Although these tags had existed before 08 March 2025, it was Twitter user c_haetophi_l who made them known to the Twitter fandom at large.

Initially created as a way to help locate and connect with anti-fans of the pairing, these tags were exposed to other fans on Twitter in a viral post where c_haetophi_I requested more fans use the tags if they were against the canonisation of the pairing, so they could form a coalition. In the Twitter thread, the fan provided their opinion on the why, going over several well known homophobic talking points against mlm relationships on media, such as how romantic relationships are reductive in male friendship representations in mainstream media ("why can't men just be friends") and how asexual characters should not be put in romantic relationships, erroneously correlating sexual relationships with romantic relationships, calling the Jayvik relationship aphobic. Fans also pointed out how their character analysis of Viktor was inconsistent with canon.

There was immediate backlash, by both Jayvik and non-Jayvik fans, with several noting that the fan seemed to be against the pairing because they saw themselves as Viktor, and had no interest in Jayce (with the fan also expressing this), even jokingly wondering if they should try to hook them up with TeamViktor, a known anti-fan troll who is also focused on Viktor, and who generally posts homophobic, transphobic and ableist replies while trying to discredit JayVik theories. Several connections have been made between c_haetophi_I and TeamViktor by fans. Fans also wondered why there was a need for the tags, since term muting existed, and bemoaned the loss of fandom etiquette, assuming the fan was young. Others mentioned how this was part of the fandom toxicity these anti-fans supposedly wanted to avoid. c_haetophi_I was told by many to go outside and "touch grass", "stop being terminally online" and some fans called the behaviour out in less polite ways, for example: claiming they should get a job. A small sample of fans supported the initial statement by c_haetophi_I.

c_haetophi_I later shared a post saying the point was not hate, while also explaining that being "forced into being hyper-tolerant, hyper-inclusive, perfectly understanding all the time" was just stagnation, mirroring Viktor's way of speaking. They stated that blacklisting and curating their own feed wasn't sufficient, and thus they wanted other fans to tag according to their preferences, later proposing less aggressive and more generic ways to tag anti-Jayvik posts for easy search. Fans aren't sure how much of all of this was simply baiting and trolling.

The result of these interactions was a boom in the use of the tags, which were flooded by fans ridiculing the concept and several old, actually anti, posts being deleted due to tag visibility. Some fans, having never seen the tags in use, were unaware of the sarcasm in the posts, which lead to some initial blocking. The tags now feature an arrangement of negative images of the pairing, funny misquotes (Viktor: "Please stay, Jayce." Jayce: "You're finishing this alone."), emo or goth versions of the characters (many times made with MSPaint), creepy FaceApp smiles, Jayce and Viktor with cartoony evil features (sharp teeth, red eyes etc.), art of a different mlm pairing featuring Viktor, among others.

Official OperaGX Account

Official OperaGX JayVik themes mods interaction. The mod won second place at the Arcane Art Contest held by Opera GX.

Common Tropes & Storylines

Spoiler Warning: This article or section may contain spoilers. If this bothers you, proceed with caution.

• Transgender character: Viktor is frequently depicted as transgender in artwork and fanfic, with "Trans Viktor" oscillating between third and fourth most popular tag for the pairing. Many canon themes of the character resonated with trans fans, from his desire to change his body to more visual elements: such his loss of external genitals during his hexcorisation, his shift into what can be described as a more feminine style during the Commune Era, as him injecting himself with shimmer (mirroring hormonal injections), his body modifications being cohesive with top surgery scars and him having body modifications in the first place (this last one fitting both main iterations of the character). The trope is popular enough in visual arts that it's easily encountered within the first page of searches of the pairing. Many artists draw cis and trans versions of the same work. Notably, Viktor's character designer, Evening Monteiro, and also the artist Victor Maury, who designed his arcane herald form, are both trans, with Maury considering his work on Viktor's design to be filled with his own struggle. Viktor's Arcane Herald skin (the first League skin to be originally Arcane human Viktor) is decked out in the trans flag colours. Many fans of the game, who typically don't engage with fanart and fanfiction, have expressed that Viktor appears trans, effeminate or gay, sometimes in transphobic and homophobic ways.
• Submissive Top: 【JayVik】Jayce is also frequently accepted by fans as being submissive. This comes in part from his behaviour with Mel. This Jayce has been likened to a puppy or a dog.
• Bratty Bottom: 【VikJayce】An opposite to Jayce Talis, Giopara is usually seen as a bratty bottom, fighting Viktor while being dominated.
• Mask Kink: 【VikJayce】Jayce hasn't seen Viktor's face since the betrayal. Before Arcane fans didn't know what Viktor looked like, so creating a custom face was common. In works, having Viktor show his face to Jayce became a common theme. Most also have Viktor doing so reluctantly, or refusing (a sign or weakness, or simply him withholding this from Jayce out of anger).
• Wireplay: 【VikJayce】Due to Viktor having several mechanical augmentations, it's common in fanworks to see Jayce touching his insides, yanking his wires etc.
• Hex-: Fans have taken to adding the prefix “hex” onto several words, in order to create new terms that don’t exist canonically. In some cases the sound “hex” may simply come to be by replacement of a phoneme or syllable. Many of these seem to be made as memes. This is present in fanworks that aren’t necessarily part of the pairing, but the larger fandom, although they are frequent with Jayce/Viktor. New words include: hexbortion (abortion), hexterectomy (hysterectomy), vahextomy (vasectomy), hex (sex), hexgram (telegram, technically a telegraph), hexbook (facebook), hex-files (X-files), several iterations of hex-sextoys… The hexstrap (strap-on) is the most popular neologism and part of many fanworks, including memes and Tiktok videos. Some terms like hexcorization were coined by people associated with canon - this is the process Viktor goes through to become the Herald.
• Timetravel: Canonical. Typically depicted in art as Season 2 Jayce with Season 1 Viktor. Popular periods of time include pre-accident and pre-meeting.
• Alternate Universe: Canonical. Especially using League VikJay and Arcane JayVik. But also including different versions of their Arcane counterparts, overlapping with time-travel, and League skins, with their own lore and also unused concept art. Other popular or notable Universes include Harry Potter, Nosferatu, Reddit, Modern AU (particularly College AU), Vampire AU, Howl's Moving Castle, Pacific Rim, Frankenstein, Silent Hill, Avatar, Priest AU, Fairy AU, Elden Ring, My little Pony, Mermaid AU and others. AUs original to the pairing include:
  • Zaun AU, 【JayVik】in two main variations: Jayce as a Zaunite, or Viktor having stayed in Zaun, usually working under or for Silco.
  • Commune AU, 【JayVik】where Jayce doesn't kill or is unable to kill Viktor when he returns from the future. Partially canon, supported by flashbacks that show Viktor smiling and the cog he was holding falling differently from how it was shown before, when Jayce attacked Viktor in the Commune.
  • League/Arcane Mashup, where both main sets of Jayce and Viktor meet, are forced into each other's world or have contact somehow. Themes of their differences are explored.
  • Alternate Episode AU, 【JayVik】where episode 7 of season 2 is revisited, typically with Jayce from the main universe of the show. Since Jayce had not landed in it, many fans assume he died during the explosion that killed Vi, since both were the closest to each other, or that Jayce was successful in killing himself. Fanworks also explore Jayce being exiled. In these, Viktor is usually either unaware that Jayce is a traveller from a different universe, or he's very aware, having the Arcane Herald's consciousness (Post-Canon situation). More rarely, they are both their original versions from that universe, and the story/art is a glimpse into their lives.
  • Keep the Promise AU, 【JayVik】where Jayce keeps his promise to Viktor and destroys the Hexcore, allowing him a natural death. This either ends with Jayce dedicating the rest of his life to Viktor's cause, honouring his memory or committing suicide shortly after Viktor's death.
• Hexcore seduction: 【JayVik】Fans have pointed out the connection between Jayce's intercourse with Mel and Viktor's connection with the Hexcore. They've drawn parallels between the two scenes as well as pointed out how the Hexcore seems to entrance, seduce and manipulate Viktor, especially in what could be considered a toxic relationship. The Hexcore is sometimes jokingly depicted as a third party who is trying to steal Viktor from Jayce. After a while, these depictions stopped being a joke.
• Soul Partners/Soulmate AU: 【JayVik】Most fans consider this trope to be canonical since Viktor and Jayce's lives are intertwined at a mystical level, with Mage!Viktor (or End of the World Viktor) saying to Jayce: "In all timelines.. In all possibilities only you can show me this." And also being the one to spark Jayce's adoration for magic with their first meeting and them both holding on to the acceleration rune at the end of the show, which leads to their disappearance or death.
• Post-Canon: It's a common theme for stories, with it usually following one of three variants:
  • Alternate Universe: Both Jayce and Vitkor, or simply Jayce end up in an alternative version of their world. There they/he must either find a way to return to their/his original universe or continue living in their new world.
  • Timetravel: Again, both or just Jayce are sent back in time, usually to their second meeting, when Viktor stops Jayce from committing suicide or at a point before the hexcorisation of Viktor.
  • Little Cottage by the Stream/Runaway AU: 【JayVik】Jayce and Viktor either fall off the anomaly together in Piltover or elsewhere, and they must run away to avoid prison or execution (usually Viktor's). They typically end up living together and spending the rest of their lives in a domestic relationship. Sometimes partnered with the fake marriage trope.
• Butterfly motif: 【JayVik】Canonical. Seen throughout the show, particularly in the final scenes. The fans like to use butterfly wings when depicting the two.
• Heart motif: 【JayVik】Hearts seen in frames of animation featuring Jayce and Viktor through the show. Fans also enjoy finding hidden hearts, sometimes jokingly, throughout their scenes together.
• Found Family: 【JayVik】Jayce appears to be Vitkor's emergency contact. 【VikJayce】Jayce and Viktor are loners who find understanding in each other.
• Pregnancy/Mpreg: Typically with Trans!Viktor. Had a boom in popularity after Harry Lloyd's description of Jayce and Viktor's relationship post canon. Babies are commonly called Jaycelings or Javiklings.
  • Breeding kink: has become increasingly popular after March 2nd.
• Kintsugi: Canonical. Japanese art of fixing, usually pottery, using gold, allowing for beauty to be seen in imperfections. Used in fanworks depicting the two, isolated or otherwise. In the show Jayce can be seen touching the repaired Council table and seemingly caressing the kintsugi cracks, while discussing Viktor. Viktor's hexcorised body and automatons also feature the same jagged/irregular golden cracks throughout.
• Marking: Canonical. Fanworks often depict Viktor marking or branding Jayce with his fingertips, hands or arcane-ish web.

Example Fanworks

Fanart

• The Butterfly Couple, ^{Archived version} by QuantumField, 2022 (Leyendecker redraw)
• HexTech [Arcane Idol AU], ^{Archived version} by bunnygirl103, 2022
• things to do with your dearest nemesis, ^{Archived version} by hexhomos
• assorted gilded stuff, ^{Archived version} by cenfitto
• I believe in councillor Medarda’s supremacy, ^{Archived version} by sparvierosart
• 【JayVik】&【VikJayce】Divorced and newlywed by PoriAFLGiLake
• 【JayVik】&【VikJayce】some vikjayce for your Valentine’s Day by lika_vante
• 【VikJayce】CASANOVA POSSE by tripou_upnisher

Fan Skins

• Star Guardian jayvik by PoriAFLGiLake on Twitter (X)

Art memes

【JayVik】&【VikJayce】Robot Fucker Permit/Monster Fucker Permit from this meme

• it's giving forged documents by cuckzato
• FUCKCKFNDKDJDKDNDKDNDJ by anonymous for yearnerjayce

【JayVik】#islippedonjayce redraw from flawnsfw's comic page on Bluesky

• une des scènes by andixe on Bluesky
• heyyyyy by inconspicuousplant on Bluesky
• The moment I saw this I knew I had to do it by yanndude on Bluesky
• Redrew this bit by zafys on Bluesky
• Oups by halflinghands on Bluesky
• My contribution to this beautiful Jayvik comic by bobbyomori on Bluesky
• I love DTIYS prompts! by sketchyshit on Bluesky
• CW: NSFW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! by navire-exe on Bluesky

【JayVik】Vinyl art

Based on the Arcane show's Vinyl intro featuring Vi and Jynx. It has been done several times, usually as pairings:

• Hextech Partners by lioshaz on Twitter (X)
• nice… by PoriAFLGiLake on Twitter (X)
• (animation) you spin me right round baby right round by grunkleemm on Twitter (X)
• soo anyway by lioshaz on Twitter (X)

Fanfic

• 【JayVik】Cup Rune Over by surveycorpsjean (with reactions 1, 2, 3, fanart 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and memes 1, 2, 3, 4, posters/previews 1)

• 【JayVik】A New Knife by surveycorpsjean ( Art 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 memes 1, 2, playlists 1, 2, discussions about the ending 1, animations 1)

• 【JayVik】the line is covered in jellyfish by staroverlord (Art 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

• 【JayVik】Partners in Crime by ruinthatboy (Art 1, 2, 3, 4 and over 20 in the AO3 page)
• 【JayVik】&【VikJayce】Burden in my hand by MGCraig (series)
• 【VikJayce】like two halves of one heart; my life in your shape by alainey, bekkomi
• 【VikJayce】death or rebirth by celestialtrans (series)
• 【VikJayce】『classmates』 by orphan_account (Battle Academia AU)
• 【JayVik】Love was the Law by ruinthatboy (with fanart in the AO3 page), quite the popular fic which spawned more of this specific trope.
• 【JayVik】Ethereal Bonds by Proxysart ( Commune AU with art here and here)

Animations

• 【JayVik】arcane fan animation, ^{Archived version} by izbnart on Tumblr
• 【JayVik】i promised you 🦋, ^{Archived version} by haedyllic on Tumblr
• 【JayVik】Trying to get lunch after a huge hextech breakthrough U_u, ^{Archived version} by badookie on Tumblr
• 【JayVik】in all timelines and in all possibilities, ^{Archived version} by bloodbroox on on Tumblr
• 【VikJayce】Super messy but idk, ^{Archived version} by zd-ing on Tumblr
• 【VikJayce】he tends to overheat, ^{Archived version} by scallopi on Tumblr
• 【VikJayce】the great, ^{Archived version} by fishfingersandscarveson Tumblr
• 【VikJayce】jayce de gozaimasu, ^{Archived version} by rautavaara on Tumblr
• 【JayVik】what the hell sure by sorthernn on Twitter
• 【JayVik】Finally done… by iv0ria on Twitter

Fanvids

• 【JayVik】THE SON OF ZAUN - An Arcane AU Story by Langarang on Youtube (project page and poster)

Bangs Exchanges and Events

• Jayvik Exchange: 2025 Jayvik Gift Exchange
• Jayvik Big Bang 2025: The JayVik Big Bang 2025 is a collaborative, fandom-wide creation challenge focusing on the romantic relationship between Jayce Talis and Viktor! (fans are awaiting a proship statement due to anti behaviour by mods in the past in order to avoid harrassment)
• jayvik week: JANUARY 5th-11th, 2025, themed day event
• 12 DAYS OF JAYVIKMAS 2025: A JAYVIK CHRISTMAS! 12 days, 12 prompts!
• JayVik, Eight Missing Years: JUNE 1st - JULY 31st || 8 prompts, 8 weeks, for the 8 years in the lab we didn’t get to see.

Zines

Notably there is a lack of NSFW zines and NSFW content is relegated to an extra digital version of the zines that do have it.

• And In the End: a post-canon jayvik zine: [international - English] A for charity Jayvik zine focusing on post-canon events!
• Glorious Transition - a T4T Jayvik Zine: [international - English] is a partially for charity t4t zine celebrating trans artists in the JayVik fandom!
• Only You: A Jayvik Zine: [international - English] A charity fanzine for Arcane’s Jayce Talis and Viktor- and their relationship in every iteration and every universe
• Convergence: A Jayvik Zine: [international - English] a for-charity zine celebrating the completion of Arcane by exploring the relationship between Jayce Talis and Viktor.
• Boys of Progress Zine: [RU/Kazakhstan/Belarus - Russian] a zine to capture the incredible story of two scientists from Piltover. Due to the country's laws, romantic relations between characters are excluded from the zine.
• Perfectly Imperfect: Uma Zine Jayvik: [Brazil - Portuguese] A Brazilian zine dedicated to Jayce and Viktor and their relationship in all timelines, in all possibilities. (translated from: Uma fanzine brasileira dedicada a Jayce e Viktor e seu relacionamento em todas as linhas do tempo, em todas as possibilidades.)
• Our Eternity: Jayvik Journal Zine: [international - English] Arcane zine spotlighting the relationship between Jayce and Viktor through one of their Journals! (Originally: Arcane zine spotlighting the relationship between Jayce and Viktor through hidden scenes & moments unseen)
• Love.Exe: [East Asia - English] A collection of stunning art, crafted merch, and everything we love about JayVik. On AnimeK1tchen Marketplace.
• JAYVIK ZINE: [international - English] when you're going to make a zine, don't ask for permission.

Other

Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples.

Archives

• VIKJAYCE CODEX: in-progress archive collecting fanworks that focus on the relationship between Viktor and Jayce from League of Legends. This includes their spinoff game appearances, skin universes, and occasional promotional content! This blog will (for the most part) avoid Arcane.
• Jayce/Viktor (League of Legends) works on AO3
• #jayvik tag on Tumblr
• jayvik tag on Deviantart