Urf

Urf the Manatee was an April Fool's Day Champion joke in League Of Legends.

Background
Despite the traditionally peaceful ways of his people, Urf the Manatee idolized the strength and prowess of Champions in the League of Legends and strived to become one. Of all the League's Champions, there was none that Urf admired more than. Since the introduction of the arena, no man has forced the League of Legends to revise their regulations more often than Jax, and the self-proclaimed Grandmaster at Arms rattled off a streak of consecutive wins 152 long. In order to compensate for the extreme power of this Champion, the League created special sanctions for Jax: He is only allowed to fight with weapons the League deems suitable. For now, that list includes a lamppost, a chicken's foot, a spatula, and a fishing rod.

In his admiration and pursuit to become a weapons master like Jax, Urf has equipped himself with the two great symbols of his Manatee heritage as his weapons: a fish (to symbolize the bounty and providence of the sea) and spatula (to pay homage to his people's age-long pursuit for culinary mastery). Urf now begins his aquatic journey as the League's first Manatee Champion, hoping one day he will have the opportunity to cross fish and spatula with chicken's foot and lamppost.

Death
Unfortunately, today, the story of Urf Day took a tragic turn, for as Urf was swimming along, dutifully guarding the river in the Summoner's Rift, he met with a tragic demise. Eye-witness accounts have been unreliable at best, but everyone seems to agree that just before it happened a blue streak was seen darting out of the nearby jungle. A great clamor ensued, followed by the doleful screams of a manatee done wrong. In the end, all that was left of this brave prince amongst sea cows was his skin... and even that was stolen by this most nefarious of perpetrators.

Now any good story needs a moral. So if there's anything that the story of Urf Day and the story of the Big Bad Wolf have in common, it's this: deep within every wolf, there is a cunning master of disguise just waiting to get out. Take, for instance; a giant, bloodthirsty werewolf able to cunningly adapt by blending into even the most innocent of surroundings. He could be anywhere at any time... behind a rock, in the brush, in the jungle, or cleverly masquerading as a lovable, spatula-wielding manatee.

April Fool's Day
Riot Games has used Urf the Manatee two years in a row for the April Fool's Day celebration. The first year it was announced as a Champion for the Beta Test as well as the following year. And to commemorate the occasion Riot Games launched a special skin for Warwick:


 * If you want to ensure that your Blood Hunter appears completely inconspicuous to even the most wary of foes, be sure to snatch up the Urf the Manatee skin, on sale now in the League of Legends store. Now, you’ve all heard about Legendary skins. And so, in light of the recent events, Marketing has determined that the Urf the Manatee skin is now even more Legendary than we had originally anticipated. As such, Warwick’s Urf the Manatee skin will be available at the cost of 6,000 RP. However, in the interests of giving everyone the opportunity to pay their respects to this magnificent mammal, Marketing has also agreed to offer this tribute to his splendor at 99% off for one week only. That’s right: I said 99% off! At a cost of only 50 RP, you have no reason to shirk paying tribute to the passing of this brave soul!


 * During the second week of availability, the Urf the Manatee skin will be purchasable for 500 RP (still not a bad deal, considering that’s 90% off). And on Urf’s final day, if you haven’t yet snatched him up, you’ll have one final chance to do so for 5000 RP. So hurry and fire up the League of Legends store, already! It’s Urf Day!


 * Urf the Manatee’s final resting place is the Skins section of the Store. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victim’s family.''


 * R.I.P. Urf the Manatee April 1st, 2009 - April 1st, 2010

Urf Proceeds to Benefit Manatee Conservation
The April's Fool joke was so successful that, Riot decided to give the earnings of that Day, to SaveTheManatee.org, a charitable institution that dedicate to save these types of animals.


 * While we knew that Urf was pretty fantastic, there was no way for us to possibly foresee the level of community response Urf's death would garner. You were moved by the tragedy of the event, and so were we. We were so moved, in fact, that we wanted to guarantee that Urf would live on in the hearts and minds of everyone as a champion of all manatees.


 * And so, to help ensure that no sea cow shall have to suffer the same fate as our poor, beloved Urf, all the proceeds generated by the sales of Urf’s skin on Urf Day have been donated to the Save the Manatee Club. And given that over 15,000 Runeterrans chose to celebrate the memory of this majestic marine mamal in style by sporting their very own Urf suit, that’s no pocket change! Even in death, Urf’s indomitable spirit endures to help his fellow sea cows in their hour of need! If you’re interested in learning more about Save the Manatee Club visit: www.SaveTheManatee.org.

Trivia

 * A few of Urf's skills are in reference to the song "I'm on a Boat" by the Lonely Island. Most notably are Flippy Floppy, Big Blue Watery Road, Poseidon's Gaze("Poseidon look at me!"), and an old skill, Straight Floatin'.
 * Urf's skill "Omnisplash" could be a reference to Yurnero the Juggernaut from dota skill "Omnislash" or Cloud Strife's final Limit Break from Final Fantasy VII. Alternatively, following the "I'm on a Boat" trend, it may be a reference to a point in the official music video where "the dolphin's splashin, gettin everybody all wet," including the friend that was not invited on the boat ride, who was somewhere inland at the time.
 * Also notice in ' "Scuba Skin" there is a spatula in the background, most likely belonging to "Urf the Manatee"
 * In Urgot's butcher skin, you will notice that in the background is a big lump of meat with the writing "Manatee 1/2 Off", this no doubt must belong to Urf. Perhaps Warwick sold Urf's leftover meat to ?
 * Urf's Ghost and Grave can be found in the 2010 Harrowing Login Screen and on the Harrowing Version of Summoner´s Rift
 * Urf's Ghost is also known to attack when he appears, dealing no damage, but it can pop a banshee's veil.