Who is Jinx? Who is Powder?
Jinx, born Powder, is one of the main characters in Arcane. After seeing the death of her family and her sister's abandonment, Powder adopted the identity of Jinx possessing a frightening combination of warmth, psychosis, and sadism. Jinx is incredibly mentally unstable and has become unpredictable and remorseless as a teen, showing no mercy towards her opponents or anything she perceives as a threat. She is incredibly smart, both in her combat and her weapon-making abilities. Despite her outward appearance of a "manic pixie nightmare girl," her innocent, bubbly attitude is a conscious front used to manipulate the people around her. Along with her wild nature, we also see her being vulnerable and childlike in her actions, a contrast between Jinx and Powder, who are separate identities (as a result of both her childhood trauma and likely DID) based on her actions she is basically a child trapped in the body of an adult. She is left alone to deal with her guilt from the traumatic events leading to the deaths of those she cares about and her resentment towards Vi, who she believes abandoned her, something drilled into her by Silco to cement her loyalty to him.
As a little girl, Powder was shy and sweet, but clumsy and prone to making mistakes. This, paired with a case of middle child syndrome, sparked irritation from her older "brother" Mylo, who referred to her as a jinx. She greatly admired her older sister Vi (her only biological family) and saw her as a role model and an almost parental figure. While not as physically capable as Vi, she was very creative and spent much of her spare time making different kinds of inventions, mostly bombs and other small explosives. However, they were predictably unreliable and were only effective later in her teens. She showed how skilled she was with a gun, beating her best friend, Ekko, and her brother, Mylo, on various occasions. Despite her general timid, quiet nature, Powder was shown on multiple occasions to have extremely strong emotional reactions, especially when faced with the possibility of abandonment, screaming, and crying with accompanying hallucinations and self-harming behavior, something her character retains later in the series.
Jinx's relationships with other characters
Season One Vi is Jinx's older sister and they were both orphaned due to the war on the bridge between Piltover and Zaun. After Vander took them in, Vi took over as a caregiver to Powder. She taught her how to swing from the rooftops, took her on jobs with her and encouraged her when her bombs turned out to be a fail. She also protected her from their adoptive brother Mylo's taunts and did her best to keep her out of harm's way. They were shown to be very close and were very protective over each other. Their relationship turned when Vi, Claggor and Mylo went to go rescue Vander, and Vi told Powder to stay behind. When Powder decided to join anyway and saw Vi in danger, she set off a bomb with the hextech stones. The explosion not only resulted in the deaths of Mylo and Claggor but was a catalyst in Vander's death as well. When Powder ran outside to find Vi, she saw her standing over Vander's body. When Vi realised what Powder did, she called her a jinx and ended up hitting her. Upon realising what she'd done, Vi left to cool down, but Powder was left with the impression that Vi had abandoned her. When Vi turned to check on Powder, she saw Silco standing over her. She attempted to go to her sister's aid, but was dragged off into the darkness by Marcus. As Powder cried in Silco's arms she stated Vi left her and wasn't her sister anymore. Thus Jinx was born.
Season One Vander is Jinx’s adoptive father. Vander was particularly doting on her, as seen when he tells Vi to take care of her as his last words, but also when he repeatedly saves her as Warwick. Vander had taken her in after the death of her and Vi’s parents, and she lived at The Last Drop with her sister, Mylo, and Claggor.
Season Two Isha and Jinx had a familial bond that could be seen as sisterly or mother and daughter-like, with Jinx being Isha’s adoptive guardian. Isha's presence helped Jinx to heal after the death of Silco and Vi's betrayal, as Jinx is shown to grow into a much better mental state with Isha around, becoming noticeably calmer and hallucinating less. Isha had followed Jinx around after she saved her from Chross’ goons, and Isha returned the favour by saving Jinx from Vi in episode 3 of Season 2. After this, Jinx takes Isha to live with her. Her and Jinx play games together, draw, and play around in the Undercity. They enjoy bug-battling, and Isha begins to look up to Jinx in this time. She wants Jinx to go back to being a figure of the revolution, and eventually gets her wish when Jinx saves her from Stillwater Hold. They reunite, and share a tearful hug. !!SPOILERS AHEAD!! Isha sacrifices herself to save Jinx, which results in a Jinx sinking into a deep depression. She decides to end her own life, but is saved by Ekko.
Season One Ekko is Jinx’s childhood best friend, enemy, and eventual ally. Ekko and her are around the same age, and played together in the undercity. They would use an invention of Ekko’s to ride around, and would practice fighting from Vi’s instructions together. [1] When Powder was taken in by Silco and became Jinx, Ekko seems to have tried once or several times to dissuade her from this decision, but she stayed with Silco. Jinx also started killing his friends and allies, which is why he buried Powder and became angry at Jinx. In episode 7 of Season 1, her and Ekko reunite. They fight over the Hextech Gemstone, and Ekko wins but hesitates to kill her as he sees Powder in her expression. She then releases a bomb, blowing up the bridge. !!SPOILERS AHEAD!! In Season 2, after Isha and Vander’s death, Jinx tries to kill herself. Ekko appears from the alternate timeline, and saves her by going back in time each time she blows up her bomb. They then go to Piltover with the firelights and people of Zaun to fight in the war against Noxus together.
Season One Silco and Jinx have a complicated father-daughter bond. Silco sees himself in Jinx, and Silco took Jinx in in episode 3 of Season 1, and begin to raise her by praising her explosive tendencies and using her as part of his drug ring of Shimmer. Silco tries to teach Jinx to be strong, and often tells her that she needs to free herself from the past, including the pain associated with her sister, because according to the information available to him, Violet is dead. He also protects her from the aggression of his subordinates when Jinx wreaks havoc. After the unsuccessful first experiment with the stolen stone, Silco conducts something like an acceptance ritual for Jinx, in the place where Vander once tried to kill him. When Vi returns to the Undercity after being released from jail by Caitlyn, Silco tells Jinx that he didn't know she was alive, and that it looks like Marcus tricked him. He also points out that it is possible that Vi is only there for the Hextech Gemstone that Jinx had stolen on Progress Day, not her. When asked to give Jinx in to Stillwater Hold in order to create the nation of Zaun, Silco’s lifelong dream, he tells Jinx that he would never do it. Jinx accidentally kills him in the end of Act 3 of Season 1, but Silco isn’t angry with her. He uses his last words to try and comfort her, telling her, "Don't cry. You're perfect."
About Arcane
Arcane (titled Arcane: League of Legends) is a steampunk action-adventure television series created by Christian Linke and Alex Yee. It was produced by the French animation studio Fortiche under the supervision of Riot Games, and distributed by Netflix. Set in Riot's League of Legends universe, it primarily focuses on sisters Violet / "Vi" and Powder / Jinx as they become embroiled in a conflict between their native underbelly of Zaun and the city of Piltover.
Arcane was met with critical acclaim, with praise for its visuals, writing, worldbuilding, soundtrack, and voice acting. Some have noted the series' appeal to both viewers who have never played League of Legends and longtime fans of the game. It was Netflix's highest-rated series within a week of its premiere, ranked first on the Netflix Top 10 Chart in 52 countries, and second on the chart in the United States. Several critics and publications considered it one of the best video game adaptations ever made. In 2022, the series became the first streaming series to win a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program. It also won an Annie Award for Best General Audience Animated Television Broadcast Production.
The making of Arcane
At the peak of work on the new season, Fortiche Production’s creative team consisted of about 450 artists spread across the US and France. Their expertise touched every aspect of visual artistry, from animation and environments to matte paintings, props, FX, texture, and more. Click HERE to learn how those Season Two visuals made it from page to screen, as told by the Fortiche experts who worked to bring it all together.
Where is Jinx from?
Zaun is a city-state across the river from Piltover, a large portion of which runs beneath the latter. Whereas its upper counterpart is thriving and rich, Zaun is the opposite, becoming almost literally the catch basin of the waste from the city above it where its residents try to survive from scraps spared to them.
