General
- Yasuo is voiced by Liam O'Brien.
- His
Nightbringer skin lines are also voiced by the same voice actor.
- His
- The flute Yasuo plays in his dance emote is most likely a Shakuhachi (harmonica for
High Noon; wind controller for 
PROJECT).
- His Classic 'dance' references a performance of this instrument.[1]
- A side by side comparison can be seen here.
- His Classic 'dance' references a performance of this instrument.[1]
- Yasuo's design is largely based on the Japanese rōnin , a samurai whose masters had died or stripped of titles & lands. Many rōnin became merceneries, bodyguards, or even criminals.
- 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- "cheap, easy > peaceful"[2] & masculine morpheme *wo[3].
- The name of his older half-brother 米 Yone comes from Japonic *yəna-i "[hulled] rice".
Way of the Wanderer's doubled critical strike chance references Samurai gameplay portrayals in video games.- A functional real-life replica of Yasuo's 'Last Breath' Sword was crafted in an episode of YouTube series Man At Arms: Reforged.
- This video can be viewed here.
- There are also videos where the following are crafted:
- This video can be viewed here.
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'.
- "Nice... sword...
- "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)
- 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.
- His kill quotes towards
Skins
- 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 in regards to Yasuo is how his Steel Tempest in the Chinese servers is named/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 Haoumaru's standing heavy slash and one of his special attacks.
- Another note in regards to Yasuo is how his
- 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 another nod to Haoumaru via a habit done by him in his home series' battle intros.
- Haoumaru himself is based on Miyamoto Musashi as well.
- High Noon Yasuo Chromas: Amethyst, Emerald, Jasper, Obsidian, Sapphire
Chromas:- He references a Spaghetti Western with his harmonica.
- He wields a pistol sword-styled Japanese blade.
- He shares this theme with:
- He is from an alternate future in which he was cybernetically augmented as part of the PROJECT Initiative.
- Error: Skin PROJECTYi for Master Yi is not specified in Module:SkinData/data. 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:
- He was originally conceived as 'Cyber Ops Yasuo'[4] before being renamed.[5]
- 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:
- PROJECT: Ashe
- PROJECT: Ekko
- PROJECT: Fiora
- PROJECT: Jhin
- PROJECT: Katarina
- PROJECT: Leona
- PROJECT: Lucian
- Error: Skin PROJECTYi for Master Yi is not specified in Module:SkinData/data.
- PROJECT: Vayne
- PROJECT: Vi
- PROJECT: Zed
- 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.
- Despite wearing a mask in this skin like with
- He shares this theme with:
- 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.
- This development name is shared with
- He resembles Nightmare from Soulcalibur.
- The flask he normally drinks from is instead turned into a potion vial in this skin.
- His splash art is part of a larger picture in which he is fighting Dawnbringer Riven.
- Nightbringer Yasuo is a Being of Chaos and he is an ancestor to God-King Darius.
- He shares this theme with:
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.
- Eventually, Riven confessed to unintentionally killing Elder Souma, whose wind technique shattered her blade and killed him with a stray shard. However, Yasuo admitted to dereliction of duty, for he could have protected Elder Souma had he not left to engage the Noxians.
- He crossed paths with
