Yasuo/Trivia

General

• Yasuo is voiced by Liam O'Brien.
• The flute Yasuo plays in his dance emote is most likely a Shakuhachi (harmonica for High Noon; wind controller for PROJECT).
• The length of Yasuo's sword is about that of a tachi or even an ōdachi. However, he wears it cutting edge up like the shorter katana.
• Yasuo [jasɯ̟ᵝo] is a Japanese masculine given name, rendered as 康夫 (peaceful man) in the Japanese localization.
  • From Old Japanese *yasu-(si) "cheap, easy > peaceful" & *wo "man, boy"
    • Yasuo is not his birth name, but was given to him when he joined the sword school in an effort to steady his wild nature.
  • Since his brother is named 米 Yone < *yəna-i "[hulled] rice", Yasuo's birth name might be likewise mundane (e.g. Serizawa Kamo's given name means "duck").
• Way of the Wanderer's doubled critical strike chance references Samurai gameplay portrayals in video games.

Quotes

• Yasuo and Karma each speak a different, unrelated Ancient Ionian language, given the lack of sound correspondences & cognates (Yasuo's dialect sounds like broken Japanese, parts of it referencing Kiai)
• "No cure for fools" might be referencing Yojimbo by Akira Kurosawa.
• " Wuju? No, I wouldn't" references "Wuju... pass me that potion?.
  • "Nice... sword... boots?" might be referencing 'Pro as heck guide to Master Yi'.
• "Ninjas... I hate those guys" resembles "Noxians... I hate those guys", which in turn references Indiana Jones.
• "A wanderer isn't always lost" resembles "No one who wanders is ever truly lost" and "Not all who wander are lost" (all reference All that is gold does not glitter by J. R. R. Tolkien)

Nightbringer Yasuo

• Some of his interactions to his counterpart skin, Dawnbringer Riven, have references to two poems written by the British aristocrat & poet George Gordon Byron.
  • His kill quotes towards Dawnbringer Riven, "Long, long shall I rue thee, too deeply to tell." and "Pale grew thy cheek, and cold.", as well as his taunt to her, "How should I greet thee?"-- "With silence and tears." are from the poem When We Two Parted by Lord Byron.
  • Dawnbringer Riven's taunt and his response, "The sword outweighs the sheath."-- "And the soul wears out the breast." is from another poem by Lord Byron entitled So We'll Go No More A Roving.

Skins

Original Yasuo

• He references and resembles Miyamoto Musashi and/or Haoumaru from Samurai Shodown via his iconic ponytail design shared with these individuals, where in Musashi's case, it is in reference to the common visual design he is depicted with in fictional media.
  • Haoumaru himself is based on Miyamoto Musashi as well.
    • Another note of Yasuo is how his Steel Tempest in the Chinese servers is written/dubbed as 斬鋼閃 (Zhǎngāngshǎn, lit. Slashing Steel Flash), which when read in Japanese with the same characters (Zankousen) is exactly the same name as one of Haoumaru's attacks.
  • Yasuo's taunt in most of his skins (save for Nightbringer's demon form) involves him in-taking fluids from his bamboo flask, then spitting the fluids on his blade to "bless it". This is a habit shared by Haoumaru in his home series' battle intros.

High Noon Yasuo

• He references a Spaghetti Western with his harmonica.
• He wields a pistol sword-styled Japanese blade.
• He shares this theme with Jhin and Twisted Fate.

PROJECT: Yasuo

• He is from an alternate future in which he was cybernetically augmented as part of the PROJECT Initiative.
• describes him as:
  • "Tempest, a blossom caught in drift, fluid form. He speaks. 'Death is like the wind'... he is a storm, blade howling... 'always by my side'... the eternal wanderer."
• If one tells PROJECT: Ashe they fight for 'truth' she'll say the following:
  • "We're on the right path."
• His gear includes:
  • Plasma Forge Drop Blade
  • Leather Gauntlet
  • XX-250 Environmental Barrier Unit
  • MC-2 Firing Piston
  • Unknown
• He was originally conceived as 'Cyber Ops Yasuo'.
• He references Gray Fox, Samuel Rodrigues or Raiden, all from the Metal Gear series. The last was further referenced in Yasuo's recall animation pose that is similar to Raiden's when he battled Vamp's robots in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, where he holsters his blade by the pommel underneath his foot.
• Compared to his other skins' attack animations (barring Nightbringer Yasuo), this skin has different attack animations, along with only having three animations compared to the other skins' four.
• When performing his joke, taunt or dance emotes, his helmet reveals his actual face, thus featuring none of the sound altercations. This is unique to him among the PROJECT skins.
• His sword blade turns olive-yellow while Last Breath's bonus armor penetration is active, as opposed to a subtle aura covering his sword.
• In this skin, he drinks from a fuel-container which may contain a substance suitable for cyborgs.
• He shares this theme with Ashe, Ekko, Fiora, Jhin, Katarina, Leona, Lucian, Master Yi, Vayne, Vi, and Zed.

Blood Moon Yasuo

• He was conceived by 'daemonstar'.
• The mask he is wearing references the ones used in Japanese Noh theater.
• The flask he normally drinks from is instead turned into a gourd in this skin.
  • Despite wearing a mask in this skin like with PROJECT: Yasuo, Yasuo does not remove it during his taunt to drink.
• He shares this theme with Akali, Diana, Elise, Jhin, Kalista, Kennen, Shen, Thresh, Twisted Fate, and Zilean.

Nightbringer Yasuo

• During the development period, the skin was called "Demonblade Yasuo".
  • This development name is shared with  Demonblade Tryndamere, which implies that Nightbringer Yasuo may have originally been intended for the "Demonblade" theme.
• He resembles Nightmare from Soulcalibur.
• The flask he normally drinks from is instead turned into a potion vial in this skin.
• He shares this theme with Dawnbringer Riven.

Relations

• Yasuo is an Ionian swordsman accused of treason for allegedly murdering an Elder. He is being hunted down across the island continent under the evidence that the killer employed a wind technique, one that only Yasuo has mastered in the present day.
  • He crossed paths with Taliyah while on the run, teaching the Shuriman stone mage how to control her powers. When they parted ways, she gifted him a long thread from her handspun wool tunic (the same one he uses to tie his hair up).
  • Yasuo suspects Riven of being the Elder's killer, as evidenced in interaction quotes with her.
    • "Wait, that technique... huh"
    • "Huh, three swift strikes... "
    • "Another wind blade?"
    • "Who taught you that?")