CaitVi

"I never thought I would stand opposite you again, Vi..."

- Caitlyn's in-game first encounter line about Vi.

CaitVi is the femslash ship between Caitlyn Kiramman and Violet from the League of Legends and Arcane fandoms.

Act II
Vi and Caitlyn met in act II of Arcane. Caitlyn, who just a few episodes before struggled with the limitations of her youth, finally cemented herself as an officer within the Piltover enforcers by the end of act two. When they met, trust was a big issue, given that the topsiders and the people in the undercity seldom see eye to eye and because Vi was arrested for too long and her parents got killed by the enforcers. When they went inside the brothel, Vi, being the charismatic thug that she claims to be, checks Caitlyn out, corners her on the wall, then proceeds to tell her she's hot and gives Cait a crash course in selling herself to people so that they can give her the info that they need. Vi then asks, "so what will it be, man or a woman?"

When Vi came back to the brothel, she saw Cait in her peripherals, nestled comfortably with a woman. One of the writers of the show confirmed that Vi went through a lot of emotions at that time. The two struggled to maintain common ground while venturing through the streets of Zaun in search of Silco and Jinx due to the restraints Caitlyn and Vi had for one another. The divide stemmed from the lack of understanding regarding their two drastically opposing lifestyles, but the rift between the two shrunk during their time in the undercity.

Though not entirely understanding Vi's plans nor how to traverse the undercity, Caitlyn steps up to search for a way to tend to Vi's wound, even going as far as to trade her rifle for a potion that could save her new friend's life. The two create coordinated mayhem to escape Silco's grasp when he ambushed them in a part of Zaun that housed to the people "the topsiders don't want to think about." As they escaped, Vi spotted the blue flare she gave her sister in act one.

Caitlyn is consistently ridiculed by her fellow officers as not belonging in their ranks, as well as tampering too heavily in places she doesn't belong—which may bring the downfall to Marcus's corrupt scheming with Silco. This sense of curiosity is what drives Caitlyn, enabling her to have a chance encounter with Vi and learn about the secrets about Silco that the Sheriff of Piltover had been hiding from the city.

At first, Vi was just focused on finding her own sister Jinx, so she doesn't really pay much attention to Cait who keeps following her. Vi recklessly charged towards Sevika, because that's the only way she could get answers, by using brute force and violence. She doesn't have much knowledge about the Shimmer and what it can do to people, so the stab on the stomach came unexpectedly, but not a surprise anymore. She doesn't know how Cait found her, but she just did, ultimately saving her from the foe. When Vi was writhing from pain, Cait was there to somehow ease Vi out if it by stroking her thumb on her cheek.

Caitlyn had damaged the relationship with the acquaintances she had in Piltover to embark on this private investigation. She also lost Vi—and their blossoming connection—to the kidnappers, leaving the Piltover enforcer all alone with no support system on the streets of Zaun. Vi warned her the undercity was "going to eat her alive." With Silco on her trail and no way to defend herself, her situation looks bleak.

Act III
During act three, Caitlyn gets the Hextech Gemstone, asking Ekko if she can present it to the Council—and, more importantly, to her old friend Jayce. After getting the Gemstone, she goes back to the Kiramman residence alongside Vi, and the two discover the crystal is missing. Even then, the two present their case to the Council and ask them to take down Silco.

Vi and Caitlyn had similar character arcs in the third act. Like Caitlyn, she gets abducted by Ekko at the end of episode six. Unlike the enforcer, however, Vi doesn't feel scared since she knows Ekko is behind the mask. She talks about the conditions of the undercity that have worsened after Vander's death and agrees to appeal to the Council with Caitlyn. She backs out as she was crossing the bridge into Piltover to go find her sister. She rushes back for Caitlyn after she hears the commotion between the duo and the enforcers, angering Jinx in the process. Caitlyn didn't let Vi down and proved that she was sincere about helping the Zaunites and in healing their city in general.

After the Council decides not to help them, Vi breaks her relation with Caitlyn, quoting they are not compatible to eachother, and they are like "Oil and Water". Caitlyn later thinks about this scene later while in the shower.

When Jinx kidnaps Vi, Caitlyn and Silco, she refers to Caitlyn as Vi's "girlfriend".

League of Legends
In LoL, Vi's story is very different from what is shown in Arcane, especially regarding her past. Her biography on the official League of Legends website states that she doesn't remember her childhood, and doesn't even know who her parents were, having grown up in an orphanage. Even her name wasn't really hers, but a consequence of the tattoo on her cheek. Likewise in Arcane, she is involved in criminal acts, although in the lore version she is part of a gang before forming her own.

The character's big turning point comes when she plans a heist on a chemistry baron's mines, which ends up in conflict between her and a rival gang. The story goes that she took out the entire gang by herself, making her reputation in Zaun even more legendary. From this it is not explained how she leaves Zaun, being only said that she disappears at a time when tension between the two cities was particularly high.

Several rumors indicated that she had been killed in an explosion, while others said that she abandoned her friends to go to distant lands. The truth was only revealed when an extremely violent gang, responsible for several murders in Piltover, was ruined by Caitlyn, the sheriff of Piltover, and her new partner - none other than Vi herself. The biography itself reaffirms that no one knows how or why Vi came to work with Caitlyn. All that is suggested is that the partnership has something to do with Jinx.

Quotes
"It's been real, Cupcake. Thanks. For everything."

- Arcane (2021) - S01E07 The Boy Savior

Fanon
Vi and Cait's relationship was considered memetic due to their possible romantic relationship or at least mutual feelings back in the original game. To the point that fans even semi-seriously tried to ask Riots if Vi was a butch lesbian, but they deliberately avoided giving a straight answer. Although, given the above, the game has not yet contained any direct confirmation, many fans considered them a formal match and even said that it would hardly surprise anyone if the Riots did recognize them as such.

Much has changed with the highly anticipated premiere of Arcane, where the girls, while not being billed as a couple either, had a much more explicit ship baiting relationship than the entire game could provide before. For example, shippers could not help but notice that many scenes or dialogues between girls have intentional direct or indirect sexual subtext, and Jinx even sarcastically calls Cait "Vi's girlfriend" in one of the scenes. In fact, their entire subplot resembled a classic love story between a delinquent boy from a slum and a girl hungry for freedom from a wealthy family.

This made the ship much, much more popular, as at the very end of the broadcast, the show became one of the most successful and popular projects of the year and its finale almost directly portrayed their relationship as possibly romantic. At the same time, while their relationship has yet to be confirmed on-screen, the show writer who wrote their subplot, bluntly admitted that their relationship was intended as a lesbian romance and the only question was with how subtlety it should develop at the start of the show.

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Trivia

 * Vi has several secret interactions with Caitlyn in the game.
 * Allied Caitlyn: Each gains the cosmetic buff, "On The Case: Piltover's Finest".
 * Each gains +1 movement speed while near one another and each gains +1 bonus gold if both of them participate in a kill.
 * Three unique phrases in response to an allied Ace in the Hole
 * Enemy Caitlyn: If Vi taunts while near an enemy, Caitlyn will perform one of two special taunts. Doing so gives a cosmetic debuff to Caitlyn called "Agitated: How Agitating", which remains until Caitlyn damages Vi or Caitlyn dies. Three unique phrases in response to an enemy Ace in the Hole which hits Vi, but does not kill her.
 * Cait's death voicelines in LoR and LoL both say "Tell Vi I-" while she gets interrupted in a very emotional tone. This may implies her true feelings towards her partner and that she values her enough to think of her even before she is dying.
 * When Miss Fortune jokingly flirts with her in LoR, Vi replies "Heh, try cupcakes." in response to Miss Fortune saying "Vi! I should have brought flowers", which might be a reference  of Caitlyn's nickname, since Vi gave it to her.
 * In Wild Rift, Vi tells the player she got a date tonight, and her partner doesn't likes when she is late. Caitlyn is shown to be very punctual.
 * In LoR, in a conversation between Caitlyn and Jinx, Caitlyn says she'd never betray her own partner, referencing Vi. Shockingly, Jinx replies "Your own WHAT?".
 * In the game, in the map Howling Abyss, if you enter the store as VI, the shopkeeper (Hermit) says "Do you and Caitlyn get along or not? Seems ambiguous."
 * In RiotXArcane, when you first meet Vi, she says "I also help Cait... uh, i mean the sheriff, when she needs me". The player has a option of replying that they both seem to make a great team.
 * Caitlyn has a line about the first move with an Ally with Vi. She says "I'm glad you'll have my back, Vi. Let's keep the chaos to a minimum, shall we?"
 * Vi has a line when taunting an Enemy with Caitlyn. She takes out a teacup from inside her gauntlet, takes a sip, then throws it on the ground. She then says "Care for a spot of tea? Or maybe a spot of punch in the face" and "Oh, look at me... I'm on the case".
 * When Caitlyn kills Vi in the game, she says "I never wanted this, Vi..."
 * Upon using Cease and Desist when an ally Caitlyn uses Ace in the Hole on the same enemy, Vi has some interesting voicelines.
 * "Yeah! Teamwork!"
 * "High five, cupcake!"
 * "Boom! Headshot.
 * Vi also has some voicelines when she survives an enemy Caitlyn's Ace in the Hole attack.
 * "Nice shot, cupcake."
 * "Aww, was that supposed to hurt, Cait?" and "Nope!"
 * During Valentines Day, they were one of the ships that had a skin sale in the brazilian server.
 * Both Vi and Caitlyn are one of the few champions who can apply crowd control on themselves.
 * In Arcane, Caitlyn is taller than Vi However, in game and in some official artwork, Vi's model is taller than Caitlyn.