Yorick/Background

Lore
The work of gravediggers is essential amongst the living, but invaluable in the Shadow Isles. There are many shades of death there, and each is embraced rather than feared or reviled. One can only ascend from one state to the next with the magical aid of a skilled professional. At the end of the first Rune War, Yorick Mori made his living as a gravedigger. His family owned and maintained the Final Rest Memorial, one of the oldest cemeteries in Valoran. The shovel he employed for his work had been passed down for generations. Each gravedigger taught his son that this shovel was imbued with the spirit of every forefather, and that those spirits would protect him during the long lonely nights amongst the tombstones. To his eternal regret, Yorick died without an heir, bringing the proud Mori line to a close. His body was interred with his shovel in the family mausoleum, and the Final Rest Memorial soon fell to ruin. Death, however, was not the end Yorick had expected.

Yorick emerged on the haunted shores of the Shadow Isles – not quite dead, definitely not alive – still clutching his beloved shovel. He soon learned that with it he could act as a ferryman for the Isles' undead denizens, helping them climb death's many-tiered ladder. This proved a curse, as a gravedigger must "bury his quota" before he too can ascend, or so the legend goes. No one knows what "his quota" is. Yorick dug tirelessly, waiting in vain for the day when he would be freed of his burden. As decades turned to centuries, the shame of his failures came to a head. He returned to Valoran to find his corpse, convinced that salvation might be buried with it. When he arrived, no trace remained of either the mausoleum or the memorial. Hope nearly lost, he discovered the League of Legends, and there saw an opportunity to immortalize the family name he allowed to be forgotten ages ago.

""Die first, then we’ll talk.""

- Yorick

Quotes

 * Upon selection
 * "Death is only the beginning."

Movement
 * "You will remember Yorick Mori."
 * "Embrace the inevitable."
 * "Answers lie beneath the dirt."
 * "Everything has an expiration date."
 * "Who requires my services?"
 * "Life... slips away."
 * "There is only one destination."
 * "Do you hear the ghouls?"

Attacking
 * "Join me in eternity."
 * "Live bodies are so... fragile."
 * "They will make splendid corpses."
 * "Fill the ground with them."
 * "Another claimed for the Shadow Isles."
 * "The last breath is sweetest."
 * "Death is the gift I offer."


 * Upon using 
 * "Feast."
 * "Devour!"


 * Upon using 
 * "Rot."
 * "Torment!"
 * "Wither."


 * Upon using 
 * "Revenge!"


 * Taunt
 * "I will bury you alive!" *laughs*


 * Joke
 * "I think I might know a relative of yours. No hair... sagging flesh... always going on about brains. Ring any bells?"

Development

 * Yorick has been designed by Coronach.

Champion Sneak Peek
Announcement made in the sneak peak by Average Gatsby on June 7th, 2011:

''The true sign of a master is when you’re able to impress everyone with your execution of a skill that might otherwise be considered mundane. So it’s probably quite safe to say that in order to dazzle anyone with your skillful shoveling, you’re going to have to be rather good at it. With this in mind, allow me to introduce Yorick, the Gravedigger. In addition to being more adept in the art of entombment than any who have come before him, he makes a point of keeping good company… or at least ravenous undead company. One of those two.''

Mechanics Preview
Announcement made by Morello on June 14th, 2011:

Greeting Summoners!

We wanted to give a sneak-peak into Yorick’s gameplay in a quick mini-update.

''Yorick is our first champion that utilizes the creation and use of summoned minions. All of Yorick’s spells have varying immediate effects, but each leaves behind a different minion of the appropriate type. For example, Omen of Pestilence creates an AOE explosion at the target location that does damage and slows, and leaves behind a Decaying Ghoul. This ghoul will then slow targets adjacent to it during its lifespan. All Ghouls have a constantly draining life bar that limits their lifespan to a short duration, and enemies attacking them will shorten it even more.''

''Yorick isn’t some frail, weak Necromancer that just commands minions though – he’s a burly fighter who can dish out punishment on his own. This was done primarily to make his play more consistent (as frail summoners typically have really binary PvP gameplay on if their minions are up or not). Yorick can get into a fight and go toe-to-toe with enemies while commanding an ever-changing army of undead Ghouls.''

''Omen of Death is his trademark ultimate that brings players back from the dead to exact Vengeance. Yorick can use this Omen on an ally, which creates a revenant of that champion. If that champion is killed while the revenant exists, then the target gains temporary undeath, coming back from the dead at full life which drains on its own rapidly. After the risen ally runs out of health again, they collapse once more.''

We really hope you enjoy our new master of undeath in the upcoming patch!