JayVik

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 know as VikJay or VikJayce. Currently VikJay is more used for the League pairing, while JayVik is used for the Arcane one.
== Canon ==
Jayce and Viktor are collaborators developing new Hextech technology.
While in the League of Legends canon they are colleagues and later enemies (Jayce "does not understand" Viktor), the Arcane canon subverted fans expectations by having Jayce stick by Viktor until the end ("Jayce will understand"). 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. Their original versions are much more antagonistic.
Since the success of Arcane, Arcane lore has been canonised in League. This led Riot to alter Viktor’s default look, making him similar to Arcane Viktor. 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 is being reworked (6th February 2025). Notable differences between the OG characters and the Arcane are as follows:
League and Arcane differences
 	League Viktor 	Arcane Viktor 	League Jayce 	Arcane Jayce
Last name 	- 	- 	- 	Talis
Faction/Sponsor 	- 	- 	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.
==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.
===Official Account's 2025 Valentine's Day Cards===
On Valentine's Day 2025, League's Official Weibo accountRiot Games Music 拳头游戏音乐 Official Weibo Account posted several Valentine's Day Cards of Arcane characters.Riot Games Music 拳头游戏音乐's Valentine's Day post 2025 on Weibo 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.jayvikism's post noticing the placement of the V-Day Cards on Twitter (X) 
Viktor's:
Jayce's:
Fans had discussions over the cards' subtextPlutopepper's post about the meaning of 恰恰 in Viktor's V-Day Card on Twitter (X), noting the romantic connotations to Jayce's canon line from the show regarding Viktor's disabilitiesjayvikism's post regarding the imperfection's line being romantic on Twitter (X) 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:
About ten hours later, the official Arcane Twitter Account posted a linkArcane's official account's 2025 Valentine's Day Card post on Twitter (X) to a website featuring the English version of the cards.Arcane's 2025 English Valentine's Day Cards The English version of the text doesn't match the chinese one exactly, with Viktor's being "You are perfectly imperfect"Viktor's 2025 Valentine's Day Card and Jayce's "I would go to the ends of the Earth for you"Jayce's 2025 Valentine's day Card 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 V-Card Request meme by yearnerjayce on Twitter (X)JayVik V-Card Request post by yoongisleeves on Twitter (X)JayVik V-Card Request post by jayvikism on Twitter (X)JayVik V-Card Request post by WelcomeTheLight on Twitter (X)JayVik V-Card Request post by booongles on Twitter (X)JayVik V-Card Request post by ma262 on Twitter (X)
== 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.the annoying thing about jay/vik is that I'm legitimately indifferent to the ship bc I don't care about either of those characters but it's when the fandom starts sidelining mel into the disposable black girlfriend role (but make it woke) that said indifference bubbles over into hatred. it truly takes nothing away from the ship to acknowledge that mel and jayce mutually desired each other and cared for one another. you don't have to ship meljayce or even like mel as a character but desexualising her and making her out to be unworthy of loving and being loved is simply racist.
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.https://ambelle.tumblr.com/post/726653372943532033[https://honestlyitsjustsam.tumblr.com/post/668542894840414208
 2021] https://ambelle.tumblr.com/post/725109836692504576(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.https://x.com/trailstofollow/status/1871600203494834247 While many Mel fans have no problem with shippers enjoying the JayVik ship itself—and some themselves even ship JayVik[https://www.tumblr.com/sukibenders/767952547280568320/im-a-jayvik-fan-im-a-meljay-fan-and-im-a I'm a JayVik fan, I'm a MelJay fan, and I'm a MelJayVik fan (as well as a fan of all these characters), full disclosure, but it's really annoying how people in this fandom still only use Mel and Jay as props for Viktor, whilst ignoring who they are as characters outside of him. This is especially prevalent in shipping spaces where people will frame MelJay as being boring (they aren't, many people just can't get over themselves enough to see the value between them), to the point where you can hardly find things in their tag without it resorting back to Vik, over JayVik, but then, in turn, hardly add anything of equal value to Jay in JayVik regards, it's all about Viktor or how Jayce needs to make amends and grovel, but nothing of value besides making him the punching bag---something a lot of people in this fandom do (not saying all JayVik shippers do this, just to clarify). Like it's also very telling with the fact that you have two nuanced poc/poc coded (in Jayce's regards) characters, but can't/won't give them equal time of day as their white counterpart unless it's to elevate said counterpart (this is also prevalent in MelJayVik where some still completely push out Mel and make Jay ooc just to focus on Viktor, yall are not slick). And this isn't me saying that you can't enjoy either of these ships or characters, nor dislike them, but it doesn't take much to see the flaws (and thinly coded forms of racism and misogynoir) that also play a role in this fandom. It's so frustrating to see. https://old.reddit.com/r/arcane/comments/1he5tdb/does_anyone_else_find_most_jayvik_shippers/m2141np/jaymel and jayvik are both great ships and both have complicated, interesting dynamics. people are allowed to have personal preferences but as a disabled person who ships jayvik i have a ton of animosity towards abled jayvik shippers who treat viktor in ableist ways. and the way that a lot of people treat mel, just in general, is riddled with racism and misogyny. i love mel and she’s an incredible (and COMPLEX! that’s the point!) character on so many levels, and while i personally prefer wlw ships for her as i am a wlw, jaymel shippers deserve just as much respect and space in fandom as anyone else. (also there is absolutely no evidence to support mel being ableist towards viktor. explore their dynamic as much as you want but it is an incredibly bigoted disservice to both characters to portray her that way) —there is much more objection2021 to the JayVik arguments that focus on devaluing, dismissing, and demonizinghttps://rayraytail.tumblr.com/post/667896054501523456/arcane-arc-ii-spoiler-talk-topic-jaymel-mel"...a sizable chunk of the fandom (many of whom would much prefer to see Jayce get with Viktor), then you'd think she was a purely evil harpy stringing poor, innocent Jayce along with her vagina until she can literally seduce control of Hextech out from under him." https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/YMMV/Arcane 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.https://old.reddit.com/r/arcane/comments/126x56c/s1_spoilers_why_are_people_so_weird_about_mel/
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.If you guys are gonna run with “Mel used Jayce” you have to admit that Viktor used Jayce too.
Some fans disagree to varying extents with claims of the JayVik fandom having a notable bigotry-related issues with the views expressed about Mel.https://x.com/ISuney/status/1881999760833577011https://www.tumblr.com/vampyrevolution/768222599243235328/saying-mel-falls-into-the-disposable-black Some have claimed or implied that complaining about shipping-related racism serves to cause drama.https://old.reddit.com/r/arcane/comments/1he5tdb/does_anyone_else_find_most_jayvik_shippers/
Due to the impact of the JayVik fandom, Mel was one of the characters entered into the Victims of Yaoi poll tournament. 
=== 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/
* 
*Mel Medarda Deserves Better: Addressing Misogynoir in the Arcane Fandom
==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 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.
=== 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.
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.
==Common Tropes & Storylines==
*Transgender character: Viktor is frequently depicted as transgender in artwork and fanfic, with "Trans Viktor" being the 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 as him injecting himself with shimmer (mirroring hormonal injections). The trope is popular enough in visual arts that it's easily encountered within the first page of searches of the pairing.
*Submissive Top: Jayce is also frequently accepted by fans as being submissive. This comes in part from his behaviour with Mel.
*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)… 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 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 and others. AUs original to the pairing include a Zaun AU, in two main variations: Jayce as a Zaunite, or Viktor having stayed in Zaun, usually working under or for Silco.
*Hexcore seduction: 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.
*Soulmate AU: 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: 
**Alternative 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.
**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.
**Runaway AU: 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.
==Example Fanworks==
===Fanart===
* by QuantumField, 2022 (Leyendecker redraw)
* by bunnygirl103, 2022
* by hexhomos
* by cenfitto
* by sparvierosart
===Fanfic===
===Animations===
===Zines===
*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.
===Other===
==Links==
*Jayce/Viktor (League of Legends) works on AO3
*#jayvik tag on Tumblr
*jayvik tag on Deviantart
==References==
Category:League of Legends
Category:Arcane
Category:Slash Pairings