LogInSacrificing style for utility.
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This article might contain spoilers for Arcane Season 2.
Several characters in Arcane Season 2 received a hairstyle change, but not all of them were just a fashion statement. Jinx is one of the most popular League of Legends characters, and her braids are simply iconic. However, in one of the after episodes, she cuts them off, and while you might think it's just a statement of crossing a certain line of her old life, the truth is a little more prosaic.
The Arcane artbook published at the end of 2024 reveals many interesting insights, and one of them touches upon Jinx's design: early, late, and unreleased.
"Then she came back in 104 after being with the pirates in Bilgewater, and that's why she has striped pants and looks like a pirate," character and props design supervisor Matthieu Gouget de Landres explained. "So that look is a leftover from the original version of the script, since we'd started designing the character based on that. The final version is completely different since she was raised by Silco."
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Jinx as we see her was inspired by a script that was never shot, "which goes to show how characters sometimes don't evolve in a straight line."
For example, the old Episode 103 ended with Powder on an airship – something she's always dreamed of. Alas, not every idea could be realized in the series; some of them had to be put down because of how difficult they were to achieve.
"Powder became Jinx in a scene where she screamed for, like, thirty seconds. Looking at the storyboard, you couldn't wait to see the finished version. Bart [Maunoury, Arcane's co-director] said, 'Guys, if you do a shot like this, it's going to take two years to put together!' They used a bit of that idea when Jinx gets angry in her room," Gouget de Landres added.
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The last change in her design happens after she escapes from jail and gets rid of her braids. Part of the reason for this was technical constraints.
"In Episode 208, she cuts her hair after getting out of jail," Gouget de Landres said. "Due to technical issues, the directors wanted to get rid of the braids. They're really nice but in the final battle, in Episode 209, she's on a flying skateboard and braids were just one more thing we had to worry about."
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But, of course, a deeper meaning is still there: "The decision was not made for just practical reasons: She has braids in the game and the directors thought it'd be cool to have Jinx look a little different in the show." It also shows a change in Jinx, letting go and freeing herself.
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