User blog:LivesByProxy/Heir To Blackblade: Fulfilling League's Thief Fantasy

Ages ago, there was nearly a champion named Rob Blackblade. I say 'nearly a champion' because he didn't make it into the game, seeing as how, Riot admits, "he didn't keep with League's art style." I think this is fortunate for us, as The Dashing Rogue was as bland as they come. His presence would've made League worse, and Riot dodged a deadly bullet when they ditched him.

The niche remains though - that unfulfilled fantasy of the thief. No champion in League embodies this archetype, even though. A quick Google search reveals that there is demand for a thief champion, if only for the sake of saying that League has a thief in her roster. The kits I see put forth though, aren't convincing.

The potential is there though! Riot has for a thief champion, all they need is nudge in the right direction.

Champion Insights
The kits I see proposed are varied, but ultimately amount to the same thing: steal gold (or some other stat), do a CC thing, and deal tons of damage. The champion descriptions, too, are often much the same - apparently everyone imagines the generic leather-clad, dual wielding thief in one form or another.

If this were any other game, that might not be so bad, but this is League of Legends. Our heroes should be iconic, thematically cohesive, interesting. For Riot to do a thief in League any justice, they must NOT do the typical grim cut-purse or gutter-skulk.

I knew this much from the outset, but what room did that leave me?

I began to think where in Runeterra would a legendary thief most likely come from? The answer came quickly: the Bilgewater. What better place for a thief than a land of, , and ? With the setting in mind, her character evolved. Suddenly, her questionable acts are moral - she steals from the thieves! But why does she steal? It's not for money, or even because she needs too, or because it's 'the right thing to do'. She does it for the challenge.

It's fun for her.

Fun.

It was then I realized that our thief champion was, in fact, a little girl. Older than but younger than, she was this spunky, sarcastic, energetic waif living an almost care-free lifestyle in a place that is, by all accounts, not a very nice place to be.

Almost at the same time, I knew that she needed to wield a key as her weapon. It just makes sense doesn't it? What more useful tool could a thief have at his or her disposal than a key that could open any door, and unlock any container or seal. Unfortunately, that idea had already been done in the form a of blade.

But wait! What if, instead of using her key like a sword, she used it like a gun? So she became a Support / Marksman in my mind, and I attempted to give her abilities that suited her. I also tried to think of how she would look, and her silhouette in game. What I imagined was a little girl, with an oversized key-gun, and a cloak large enough for a grown man (perhaps alluding to a master-teacher-thief of hers) that was bright and gaudy, a rainbow of colors. This juxtaposition - that idea of a 'sneaky' character who wore loud, bright clothing - rang true to me.

It also helped cement her personality, which is that of CeeCee, with a little bit of and, with a touch of Pinkie Pie, Maple Pines. She's also reminiscent of Pippy Longstockings in many ways.

She's this brazen little girl who is equal parts cutely naive and cruelly clever, but one of League's most light-hearted champions.

She's explicitly a homage to two characters: Rikku from Final Fantasy X, and Imoen (for whom she's named) from the Baldur's Gate Trilogy.

I'm sure there are many more characters to which countless players can recognize and identify with her, which is why I feel so strongly that this is a powerfully resonant thematic, one worthy of League of Legends.

Concept Art

Questions For The Community
Is she a thematically resonant champion? Do her abilities, artwork, and personality make sense? i.e. does she come together in a thematically cohesive way? Does she look fun to play? Over-loaded? Over-powered? Let me know!