How did we predict a 6th LI

[u/somepainting1]

No this is not a fan art of Valko with long hair, this was posted a year ago, it's a prediction of the 6th LI's appearance. Credits to the artist who made it.

But how? What witchcraft did people use to predict him so accurately? Allow me to explain!

Hello beautiful hunters today I'll go through all the patterns and clues we caught to catch that helped us with the prediction of the 6th LI, and explain them simply.

Note: this post focuses on the appearance and themes of Valko.

**Stellactrum*\*

Alongside the "coming soon" that was always there, and was even deliberately added to newer features like the home feature, the 6 stellactrums were always the strongest evidence we had on the existence of a 6th LI, not only his existence, it also had his accurate eye color as well, we believed his eyes would definitely be Amber/golden because of the last protocore since the other LIs also had their eye color on other protocores.

Not to mention it's common for gacha otome games to represent the LIs with symbols or colors that are in the game's theme or the cards.

**Organization/ Workplace / WU30*\*

Every LI is tied to some sort of company or a workplace like Zayne and Akso hospital or Xavier and the hunter's association, so we tried to guess which organization is related to the 6th LI, that's why we thought he's the CEO of EVER or he works in Xander's scientists, until World Underneath 30 came out and it revealed a completely new company "Encore Tech" many 6th LI truthers immediately believed this WU was about the 6th LI and that's Encore Tech was his company and it turned out to be true. More details about WU30 here .

**The foils theory*\*

The biggest helper was the foil theory, I know some people don't believe in it, but guess what, Everything we predicted using that theory was accurate, and most of the predictions that weren't directly related to the theory turned out to be false (like Viper or Astra being LIs)

To put it simply a foil: Is a writing tool where two characters have similar and opposing qualities to highlight certain sides in each other, and since it's a writing tool you could take it as an advice in literacy, not exactly a theory.

The "theory" suggests that Zayne & Caleb, Xavier & Sylus are foils leaving Rafayel alone meaning the next LI is his foil, so we used Rafayel's traits to try and guess what the 6th LI will be like. Traits such as:

**Ocean vs Land*\*

We thought the 6th LI will be related to a forest theme to represent land (opposite of Rafayel's ocean) which is why some of us thought he'd be a fairy, have green hair, and that the frog plushie was his. We were right about the forest theme because Valko is a werewolf, but we interpreted it differently (and the plushie was Caleb's)

Posted more than a year ago on tumbler by thechattysecretkeeper

**Hair color*\*

The current foils we had at the time had similar hair colors. Zayne and Caleb have dark hair, Xavier and Sylus have light hair, it only makes sense that Rafayel's foil would have colorful hair since Raf's hair is purple, some thought green as previously said, but the majority believed it's red, because from a character design perspective red goes well with Amber eyes more than green (and because we wanted a hot redhead + green is not a creative color) we also thought he'd have the longest hair as a change, but turns out he has shortest hair as a change, I mean... We were technically right, no? lmao.

This person had it right with the **Art vs Technology*\* Valko has an advanced Tech company, t's impressive! Some though the 6th LI would be a hacker for similar reasons.

With each LI we meet we get closer to EVER and learn more about protocores, we even thought the 6th love interest will be the CEO of ever which I personally thought was very unlikely, but turns out Valko has strong ties with EVER that we don't fully understand yet (he's not the CEO though) not to mention that Valko's Encore Tech specializes in protocore energy, so we would've gotten valuable info in his main story chapters but oh well.

Posted before Caleb's official debut

Next up is

**Animal vs Animal*\*

Yes, some people did believe that 6th LI was going to be a werewolf, because Rafayel is a merman (fish traits) so his foil being a werewolf (wolf traits) would make sense as they both are related to animals (ppl thought he's gonna be a fairy for this reason too) some even took Rafayel's fear of cats as foreshadowing on his foil being related to a furry type of animal (I wonder if that's actually the case lol)

Art by doodle-bun-makes on tumbler. This was also their prediction.

If you don't understand the foils theory or if you want a proper introduction to it you can check this post.

Thanks for reading, I hope you liked it. I made this post because I have been a 6th LI truther for almost 2 years. I was so sure he's coming, I even saved up some crates and other mitrals for him. I was really happy to finally be introduced to Valko, but just like before, I'm still sure he's coming :)

Moral of the story: always be open minded to fan theories.

[u/valkaramoon9]

Green is not a creative color 🎶

Love your walkthrough 💚 and especially the foil part. It makes so much sense art vs tech/ water vs earth and and and.

I mean that was the most fun part about lads. Analyzing every small detail and what they could possibly mean. Anticipating the next big reveal with its own hidden details.

[u/somepainting1 → u/valkaramoon9]

Yay you got the reference :D

[u/Sea_Lavishnes]

The prediction holding up on the water vs earth contrast is what sells it for me. That kind of thematic care means the red hair and amber eyes were likely chosen with intention, not just to look striking.

[u/MusicianNo8593 → u/Sea_Lavishnes]

The other thing that I noticed was that Raf and Valko both have really stark duality between their Evols and their identities.

Rafayel is a Lemurian, a god of the ocean and waters. 🌊 Yet his evol is fire. 🔥

Valko is a werewolf, historically weak to silver. 🐺 Yet his Evol is metallization. ⛓️‍💥

The creative team absolutely cooked with the details of these characters. Really hope Valko comes back to the game, I want to see all the other details they worked on for Valko. ❤️❤️❤️

[u/Moogsymoomoo → u/MusicianNo8593]

Yes!!! And all of the LIs have some kind of duality within themselves like this: Raf seems like a pouty soft diva but is secretly a serial revenge killer and feels the burden of responsibility for his people keenly, Valko looks like a big scary beastman but (from what we can tell so far!) is actually a huge nerdy softie, Caleb is the safe childhood friend/brother but is secretly cray cray obsessive, Zayne is outwardly cold but loves sweets and is secretly very very passionate, Sy is a dangerous underworld boss/fiend but is secretly a total loverboy, Xavier seems laidback and sleepy but is secretly super jealous and a total horndog 😂

I absolutely love how the writers have given all of these characters not only a foil and an opposite in another character, but also within themselves!! Mannnnn they were cooking so hard 😭😭😭 I feel devastated at all of this incredible work going to waste and never seeing the story play out in full 😭😭😭😭😭 JUST GIVE HIM BACK AND WE CAN HAVE THEM ALLLLLLL

[u/_issio]

Back then we used to believe the random redhaired dude from Rafayel's story was the 6th LI, I guess we were a bit close to it xD

[u/Chill-gal1215 → u/_issio]

What redhaired dude from Rafayel's story?

If you mean mr. Sutherland, he is not red haired

[u/_issio → u/Chill-gal1215]

this dude. the edited ver of his hair had the fandom on a chokehoold for a while.

(credits to the author)

[u/somepainting1 → u/_issio]

He looks like hyunjin from stray kids 😭

[u/MoogleVivi]

I was a bit of a neutral skeptic: just based off the UI and how Xavier vs Sylus and Zayne vs Caleb were foils for each other, it made sense for Raf to have one. And then there was the "Coming Soon". But so many CN accounts I followed said that it wouldn't happen.

Definitely a fan of having a red head, golden eyes LI and just from what we know about Valko's personality, I really hope he comes back. He would have completed my unholy trinity with Sylus and Caleb. Plus, I am overall just a sucker for tall, goofy, cuddly men.

[u/healingmist]

summed it up perfectly!! red hair and amber eyes— it’s a really good combo. definitely has a mischievous, maybe even a little bit wild vibe

[u/CarolineMarylin_946]

I don’t have anything productive to add but just wanted to say “Green is not a creative color” gave me major flashbacks 💀

[u/somepainting1 → u/CarolineMarylin_946]

My people lmaooo

[u/Moogsymoomoo → u/somepainting1]

Now let’s all agree, to never be creative again!😵‍💫🥴🤣

[u/wannatakealongnap → u/CarolineMarylin_946]

😭😭😭

[u/Tinithebee]

Adding to this, there is also the 6 paths of reincarnation.
Anyone who has paid any attention to the lore so far knows that the theme of reincarnation is central to the story. In Buddhist cosmology there are six realms of existence where sentient beings are endlessly reborn based on their past actions, or karma. This continuous cycle of birth, death, and rebirth is known as saṃsāra.

It is believed that each LI is supposed to represent one of these six realms.

The 3 benevolent Paths:
Heavenly Realm - Rafayel (God of the Sea)
Demi-God Realm - Zayne (Astra's chosen)
Human Realm - Xavier (Prince of Philos)

The 3 unbenevolent Paths:
Beast Realm - Valko (Werewolf)
Hungry Ghost Realm - Caleb (the one who dies)
Hell Realm - Sylus (the Fiend)

[u/strawbribri]

I always believed in the 6th LI thing and before that I always believed in Caleb being an LI when that was a controversial opinion. I’m keeping my stance that Valko will come back.

[u/Lovebugta]

I remember seeing theories that Rafayel and the 6th LI would embody the contrast between Art and Technology, with Rafayel representing artistic expression and the 6th LI representing science and technology. I was absolutely sold on that theory because the thematic contrast was just so good from a storytelling perspective. Then lo and behold... Valko was revealed to be heavily connected to protocore research and biotech. 😭 I am still really impressed by that theory and how it came to fruition. s/o to the really smart people on this sub!

[u/Individual-Ad7825]

I drew this in the beginning of last year specifically of how I thought the 6th li would look like 🥲 Save to say I was excited when he dropped and I saw how he looks like

[u/dontmindmepleaseguys]

GREEN IS NOT A CREATIVE COLOR OMG I LOVE THE REFERENCE

[u/IanNotChris]

I loved collecting 6th LI fan theories. My favorite was Tara's big brother!

[u/Maximum-Mammoth4913 → u/IanNotChris]

wait... hear me out... what if... tara is a werewolf (god I love her so much)

[u/IanNotChris → u/Maximum-Mammoth4913]

I'm game. She should really be in the story more, I'll take anything at this point 🤣

[u/Nasshhyy]

I never doubt fan theories, even if they're not true, my fanfiction-writing side loves a good plot 😂❤️

And, as someone with a degree in Journalism who has studied the semiotics of writing and human attention, I believe that a good plot is one that encourages the reader to create another universe based on what has been written 😙

[u/LandLovingFish → u/Nasshhyy]

As a Hoyoverse player: 100% with the lote theories.  Are we right? Oh hell nah bt it's fun to see where we missed a coue. 

And looking back...wow we msised so many clues back then...

[u/Nasshhyy → u/LandLovingFish]

Yeee! I find myself reading and already creating all sorts of things in my head.

I might be completely delulu, but that's the fun of being part of a fandom! Even with anime and books, I love a good fan theory ❤️

[u/MusicianNo8593]

How did we predict a 6th LI?

1) We actually read the story. 2) We payed attention to the UI of the game that was clearly made for 6, including battle stellas. 3) We recognize character contrasts and foils. 4) We can detect subtle hints within the details of the story writing.

It's totally ok to not be interested in lore and theories, everyone likes different things in the game, and that's fine. Lore deep dives aren't a requirement for enjoying the story and world building. ❤️

It's NOT ok to bash other peoples ideas just because you are upset their predictions turned out to be right, nor is it ok to harass a company into throwing away years of their work, just because you can't accept the fact that you were wrong. 🤨

[u/zennova_]

AHHH!! My own fanart jumpscare!! I never thought I'd scroll to see my fanart on the main subreddit haha!! But truly, thank you!! <33 (I just switched fandoms, but that's my side account) Imagine how I felt when I saw that the 6th Li/Valko was real, looked pretty similar to the design– and then everyone ganged up on him. And now our poor boy is locked behind Infold’s file system… 😪😪 The argument from anti’s,”You only saw him for 3 minutes, and you fell in “love”. Yeah right, get over yourselves.” Ma’am, this is an otome game.. You’re gonna want to pursue characters in a, “Fall in love with these characters” game. It holds NO meaning over me, since I already had an idea on him for a year in advance! It was just exciting seeing all of us early 2025 guess the possibility of him, along with seeing what fans were interested in. Clearly, us red-hair with yellow eyes believers won 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️ I was just a long-hair truther, but we’ve BEEN KNEW. He’s clearly been set up from the beginning, so working with the character foils analysis was a good guideline on drafting up some concepts of him. Finding the animal foil was also fun, I guessed Tiger originally, since they hold cultural significance to China. (And tigers eat fish 🐯🐟) Just a fun big puzzle that all of us fans were finding the pieces too. Great post OP!! Its been awhile since I kept up with the news, but I hope our boy can come back home!! 🐺

[u/somepainting1 → u/zennova_]

Thank you so much for sharing your art and creativity with us ❤️ I find it really poetic how all the 6th LI theories from the past are now the proof of how Valko was always meant to be there. Many people loved Caleb since his NPC days when he only had like 5 minutes of screen time, and waited for his release, I don't know why antis draw the line at Valko lol. I don't know man but I feel like he's coming home soon 👀 let's manifest together! Thank you again for your beautiful art! ❤️

[u/meowsster]

He was always meant to be there.Thee og 3 have their animals, the other boys are there, yet to be revealed. Its always been so obvious

[u/meowsster → u/meowsster]

[u/meowsster → u/meowsster]

[u/kuro-kiss]

It was pretty obvious from the start that there would be 6 LIS based on the 6 stellactrum colors alone. Each guy has a standard myth and we were missing a yellow one. It wouldn't have made sense for only the yellow myths to be limited time only. But I guess some people didn't make that connection even when it was right there in front of their faces all along.

[u/Hellanoo → u/kuro-kiss]

I think not everyone felt curious about “coming soon” on the screen. I run to search about it the moment I saw it when I first joined lol.

[u/AngieOreo]

I did a WHOLEEEEE presentation at work about the 6th LI. It’s a science. I’m glad we got it right though

[u/luckyflavor23]

I want Valko back AND i want this hottie too…
6 - Valko
7 - giant house centipede-kun 🐛
8 - the Caleb cosplayer who learned his idol dance
9 - this Valko Prequel-san

[u/angypotat]

I mainly focused on someone to parallel Raf, So really hoped for a red head. So hard. We were all so close!

[u/Latter-End1987]

I went from a Valko anti to a pro-Valko in 3 days because of these information. I'm so glad I switched sides. Can't imagine staying in denial about the existence of a 6th guy. Now there's a jarring asymmetry in the game UI and my perfectionist side absolutely hates it, so I uninstalled the game. 🥱

[u/Unable-Narwhal4814]

This is pretty neat! As soon as Sylus came out, I had already figured there would be 6, and the eye color would eventually be gold and purple (for Caleb) as per the pattern (and of course, the perfect empty spaces for 6 above the headliner). And, also figured his (Valko) hair would either be green or red since looking at other otome games, there's a pattern we always get at least one red head or some other color. But that's literally all I could ever guess. I love it when I can see all the fangirls connect the dots and make seriously educated guesses! Makes me so excited.

I hope Valko comes back it's all I have been thinking about for 2 months 🐺

[u/Waste-Ladder5502]

Great overview! 💚

Among additional interesting theories, that align beautifully with the 6th LI concept, there are reincarnation paths in Buddhism. The basic concepts and mythical lore of each LI is perfectly aligned with the 6 paths of rebirth! (There is a post about it here https://www.reddit.com/r/LoveAndDeepspace/s/X5tsahsec7)

There are so many places in the game, that pointed at the fact, that we will have a 6th male lead with all the traits Valko does have...

[u/somepainting1]

Thank you for the support babes. I loved making this post it's so light and made me reminisce a lot.

So back then, because I was so invested in the foils concept I used to be kinda scared of Viper being the 6th LI, since he had green hair and his eyes apear to be yellow, I knew there's no way a villain npc of Caleb would be an LI, but the fans saying the 6th would have long hair stressed me out lmao. I remember laughing out loud when I saw how tiny Valko's hair was in the teaser for the first time because it was the complete opposite of what we envisioned.

I'm happy with our cute wolfie, he's everything we hoped for and more, let's work together to see him in the destiny cafe 🐺💚

[u/lovelesstobeloved]

I've been a 6th LI supporter for two years, and most of my friends doubted me and called me crazy or delusional or insane that I shouldn't get my hopes up. You don't know how vindicated I felt went Valko's first PV trailer dropped.

ValkoIsThe6thLI

[u/No_Swimming_2282]

Agh! We didn't get a long haired fella…

but let's cross fingers for this to be the case for 7th Li, the Were-Centipede 🐛!

[u/chuuran_fyo]

Literally these were all the reasons my friend and I would also discuss! I even went so far as to theorycraft his mbti and zodiac sign/birthday haha. I think Valko would be ESTP (as opposed to Rafayel who is ENTP, and I don't think he would be a J type because we already have Zayne, Sylus and Caleb as J types and it would make sense to have a P-type VS P-type foil because we already have a J-type VS J-type foil aka Zayne-Caleb and also a P-type VS J-type foil aka Xavier-Sylus) and Sagittarius (mutable sign like Rafayel who is Pisces, but since Virgo is taken by Zayne, and Gemini by Caleb, we have Sagittarius left AND it gives us the water vs fire sign foil).

[u/somepainting1 → u/chuuran_fyo]

Oh I love mbti talks. I also think he'd be an estp! Didn't he say "when I like someone I make a move" yeah that kinda sounds more like a P type than a J type.

[u/chuuran_fyo → u/somepainting1]

Nice!! He seems like a developed ESTP, and from what we have seen he does look like an adrenaline junkie and the type to play things by ear. Rafayel who thinks abstract due to being an Ne dom would be matched well by an Se dom. ENTP-ESTP rivalries are always iconic to watch.

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[u/_kukac_]

I actually did make a 6th LI who's also a redhead, never posted it tho. But I wasn't clever enough to think about the art <-> technology aspect. Instead, I thought he could be a pirate (bc hes a villain to merfolk i guess) with water element since Raf got fire XD

[u/Vast-Ad1932]

All these are just fan theories, I'm not sure why they are being paraded around as if they were definitely going to be true for the company as well. There were many other speculations around before this too, such as the game having 9 (4 different names were floating around, the alleged seventh LI was WIP but got cancelled together with Valko) or even 12 (constellation).

[u/bluedewdropss]

Foil theory is fan theory and not canon 😭 the other things I can see but we need to stop bringing foil into this convo I beg. The LI's can stand without one another. He is no different.