Spark - Neon's Reveal Trailer

Spark - Neon Agent Trailer

The "Spark - Neon Agent Trailer" was released on January 5, 2022 to serve as an introduction to the VALORANT PROTOCOL's 19th agent, Neon. The trailer features the song "Entertain Me" by Ylona Garcia, and depicts Neon settling down in her new room at the VALORANT PROTOCOL Headquarters.

## Synopsis

This trailer serves as an official introduction for Neon, with fast-faced gameplay sequences that showcase her unique abilities and animated segments where Neon tries to settle in by decorating her room to make herself feel more at home.

## Plot

The video starts with Neon walking through a monotone hall inside the VPHQ. After reaching the door of her assigned room, she pauses to provide a hand scan in order to unlock the door. Much to her frustration, the system doesn't register her hand scan properly— likely because of her bioelectricity— and Neon is forced to hit the scanner to make it work again.

* Neon entering her new room
* Neon's Bioelectricity
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After the door unlocks, Neon sets foot inside the room she'll be calling home. As the room illuminates, we see a bed to the right, a long table to the left, and a few unopened boxes scattered around and about. Neon takes it in, saying "Home sweet home" sarcastically, likely because she doesn't feel at home quite yet. As she explores the room, she pauses to drag her hands against the surface of the table, making small electric currents release from the tip of her fingers. Then, she picks up a tablet that includes a briefing message from Sage, welcoming Neon to the VALORANT PROTOCOL.

She pauses after hearing the beginning of the briefing, though, as something in the background of the tablet display catches her attention. With a swift motion of her hand, she projects another video to the huge digital display in her room. After seeing a few seconds of the video (which depicts Phoenix fighting against Maxbot, a scene from the *WARM UP* cinematic) she tosses the tablet back to the table, sighing "Hay, buhay" (English: Oh, life) before throwing herself on the bed. Controlling her phone with her biolectricity, Neon then plays the song "Entertain Me" by Ylona Garcia to fill the silence.

In the next animated sequence, we see Neon starting to unbox her belongings. From unboxing portraits of her family to decorating the walls with posters, medals and string-lights, the room starts to carry details that represent Neon's unique personality and cultural heritage.

Aside from unpacking, Neon seems to be vibing to the song that plays in the background, "Entertain Me", as evident from her singing while using her everyday home items as pretend-microphones.

The next animated shot serves as a continuation of the gameplay sequence that precedes it. After dying in the gameplay sequence, we see Neon in her room before the surroundings slowly black out. Electrical currents release from her body, and not long after, Neon seems to be regaining consciousness, as evident from the gradual glow in her arms. As she's regaining consciousness, she mutters "Kontrolado ko to." (English: "I can control this.") multiple times. Then, after Neon gets revived by Sage, we see her eyes glow blue before the gameplay sequence carries on. The brief animated sequences after this scene are interlaced with the gameplay sequences, and with them we see Neon continuing to gleefully enjoy the song.

After the gameplay scenes end, Sage knocks on Neon's door, asking if it's okay to come in. After being invited inside by Neon, we see that the latter has finally finished decorating her room; walls and tabletops adorned with her family portraits and cherished items. After complimenting Neon's room, Sage says that the team is waiting for them, and suggests that they race to their destination. The video ends with Neon nodding at Sage confidently, accepting the latter's challenge.

## Lore

### The Room

#### Family

The very first thing Neon unpacks in the video is seen to be the picture of an "Aspin Pinoy" (the Tagalog term for mixed-breed dogs in the Philippines) next to a beach. The adoration we see in Neon's face highly suggests that this is her own dog.

As a prelude to the Spark Reveal Trailer, a tweet posted by the official VALORANT Twitter account featureed an audio recording of Neon talking to her parents right after she arrived in her room at the VPHQ. In the audio, we hear Neon momentarily freaking out because she thinks she hasn't brought her beloved pink octopus plushie named "Squish Squish" with her to the VPHQ. Thankfully though, she finds it not long after, sighing in relief that "crisis [has been] averted." Making sure to tell her family that she misses them already, she hangs up after saying "Ah sige… babye… Nay… Tay…" (English: “Ah Okay bye bye Mom… Dad…” The affection we hear in her voice suggests that Neon maintains a strong relationship with her family.

#### Culture

In Neon's room, we can see multiple decorations that serve as nods to her culture and heritage. One corner of her room seems to be reserved for plants— likely a reference to the "plantito/plantita" culture that promotes gardening at home. (This practice became exceedingly popular in the Philippines during the years of the COVID-19 pandemic) Next to this plant corner, we see fabric banners suspected to be a representation of a traditional weaving called "Langkit". On another wall of the room, we can see a "Walis Tambo", a hand-crafted broom that is commonplace in Filipino households. Aside from these objects that represent Neon's culture, there is a poster on her wall that depicts Filipino singer Ylona Garcia.

#### Hobbies

* Neon's "Bonifacio 19" Basketball Jersey
* Neon's framed "Gilas Pilipinas" Basketball Jersey
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In Neon's room, we see multiple objects that showcase her hobbies. First there's Neon's love for basketball, from the blue Gilas Pilipinas 2017 jersey framed on the wall to the basket hoop next to it. Aside from being an admirer of basketball, the jersey that reads "Bonifacio 19" on her bed suggests that Neon used to be a part of the Bonifacio Global City basketball league in her hometown of Taguig, Philippines. The various medals that are framed in her room also support the theory that Neon is an accomplished basketball player herself.

Aside from her prevalent love for basketball, Neon is also suggested to have a passion for music, evident from the silent travel guitar propped against the wall in her room to her visible enthusiasm as she sings along to Ylona Garcia's song "Entertain Me".

#### Devices

In two scenes throughout the video, we see Neon interacting with various digital devices. The first device she interacts with is the tablet in her room, which is notable as it visibly bears Kingdom Corporation's logo and UI. Another Kingdom Corporation device is the laptop situated on the desk seen at the very end of the cinematic.

#### Easter Eggs

In Neon's room, we see a life sized plushie of "Squish Squish", Neon's beloved pink octopus friend. Aside from this, she also seems to have a water bottle on her shelf with "19" (her agent number) written on it, and also a cup that has the "VALORANT Go! Vol. 1 Collection" art on it. Another noticeable detail is the framed picture that depicts a young Neon celebrating her birthday. As Neon was released way before the Agent Dossiers, it writes "Happy Birthday Neon" in the background of the photo instead of Neon's real name, Tala.

##### Cinematics

In the aforementioned devices that Neon interacts with, we see various references to previous cinematics, including the *WARM UP *cinematic* that depicts the duel between Killjoy's creation Maxbot and VALORANT PROTOCOL Agents, and the* DUELISTS *cinematic*, that depicts the duel between Phoenix and Ω-Jett that serves as a prelude to the Venice Incident.

### Control

  **Neon**
What did Chamber say about my suit? I KNOW he called you. Was it the voltage caps? *[sighs]* *Sabi ko nga ba* [I knew it]. If he said, "remove them", he's WRONG. Even with the caps on, I can power a whole city block. And not like a small block, a BIG one! With restaurants! Hotels! Take them off, and say goodbye to half of headquarters. The limiter stays on, Brim. *Tapos* [end of discussion]! End of story.

In the animated scene that serves as a continuation of the gameplay sequence (in which Neon is shot), we hear Neon saying "Kontrolado ko to," (English: "I can control this.") repeatedly. This is likely Neon referring to her electric powers she struggles to control. In the Patch 4.03 voicemails (see above), we also hear Neon talking about how strong she is— even with the voltage caps that restrain her powers to an extent— and how catastrophic it could be if her limiter is off. We also see the anxiety Neon has around her powers in the Agent Dossiers, in which Fade refers the concept of "control" as something that "[Neon] will never have." Even this seemingly brief sentence of self-encouragement, "I can control this," reveals to us Neon's fears and anxieties in a covert and elaborate way.

## References

1. ↑ An Article on the cultural details inside Neon's Room Go
2. ↑ Neon's Phone Call to her parents Go
3. ↑ Cynprel's Transcription of Neon's Phone Call to her parents Go
4. ↑ A Twitter Thread on the cultural details inside Neon's Room Go
5. ↑ An Article About Langkit Go
6. ↑ The Wikipedia Page for Gilas Pilipinas Go
7. ↑ Neon's skills and history with Basketball were confirmed later - Discord QnA with Narrative Lead Riot, ParmCheesy Go and Creative Director, Riot KingKut Go
8. ↑ The VALORANT Wiki's Page for VALORANT Go! Vol. 1 Collection Go