Gangplank/Background

"I was cutting throats and sinking Noxian war galleys when you were still pissing your britches, boy. You don't want to take me on."

As unpredictable as he is brutal, the dethroned reaver king known as Gangplank is feared far and wide. Where he goes, death and ruin follow, and such is his infamy and reputation that the merest sight of his black sails on the horizon causes panic among even the hardiest crew.

Lore
Main= "I was cutting throats and sinking Noxian war galleys when you were still pissing your britches, boy. You don't want to take me on."

As unpredictable as he is brutal, the self-appointed reaver king known as Gangplank rules Bilgewater through a mix of fear, violence, and cunning. Where he goes, death and ruin follow, and such is his infamy and reputation that the merest sight of his black sails on the horizon causes panic among even the hardiest crew.

Having grown rich preying upon the trade routes of the Twelve Seas, Gangplank has made himself many powerful enemies. In Ionia, he incurred the wrath of the deadly after ransacking the Temple of the Jagged Knife, and it is said that the  himself has sworn to see Gangplank torn asunder after the pirate stole the Leviathan, Swain's personal warship and the pride of the Noxian fleet.

While Gangplank has incurred the wrath of many, none have yet been able to bring him to justice, despite assassins, bounty hunters, and entire armadas being sent after him. He takes grim pleasure in the ever-increasing rewards posted for his head, and makes sure to nail them to the Bounty Board in Bilgewater for all to see whenever he returns to port, his ships heavy with loot.

In recent times, Gangplank has been brought down by the machinations of the bounty hunter. His ship was destroyed with all of Bilgewater watching, killing his crew and shattering his aura of invincibility. Now that they have seen he is vulnerable, the gangs of Bilgewater have risen up, fighting amongst themselves to claim dominion over the port city.

Despite receiving horrific injuries in the explosion, Gangplank survived. Sporting a multitude of fresh scars, and with a newly crafted metal arm to replace his amputated limb, he is now determined to rebuild his strength, reclaim what he sees as rightfully his – and to ruthlessly punish all those who turned against him.

''The massive Noxian war captain shuddered and dropped his axe as Gangplank rammed his cutlass deep into the man's gut. Blood bubbled from the warrior’s tattooed lips as he mouthed an unheard curse.''

''Gangplank pulled his blade free with a sneer and shoved the dying man to the deck. He collapsed in a clatter of heavy armor, his blood mingling with the seawater sloshing across the war galley's foredeck. The black-painted hull of Gangplank's ship loomed above, the two vessels locked together with boarding grapples and lines.''

''Gangplank's black and gold teeth gritted in suppressed pain – the Noxian had almost bested him. Nevertheless, he refused to let his crew see his weakness, forcing his lips into a wicked smile.''

''Wind and rain whipping at him, he turned to survey the rest of the Noxians. He'd issued a blood-challenge to the enemy captain, and now that he'd won, their will to fight evaporated.''

''"This ship is now mine," Gangplank roared, loud enough to be heard over the driving gale. "Does anyone else have anything to say on the matter?"''

One of the Noxians, a huge warrior with blood-cult tattoos upon his face and garbed in spiked armor glared at Gangplank.

''"We are sons of Noxus," he bellowed. "We would all gladly die before we let our ship be taken by the likes of you!"'' Gangplank frowned, then shrugged. "Fair enough," he said, and turned away. Gangplank favored his crew with a vicious smile. ''"Kill them all," he roared. "And burn their ship to the waterline!"''

Quotes
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Captain=
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 * "What shall we do with a drunken sailor?"


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Development
 was designed by Fantasyworld, an old designer who is now in the Business team for Riot Games.

Champion Update (Visual) : Gangplank
By Rahares

Avast, summoners!

''As part of our continued commitment to keeping League of Legends a fun and engaging experience, we will be updating yet another of our classic champions with a salty new model and some truly seaworthy new animations. Like Kayle, Janna, and Tryndamere before him, Gangplank, the Saltwater Scourge, will be the next champion of the League to walk down the plank (err… runway!) sporting some knavish new looks. We think you’ll like the cut of his jib!''

Champion Update (Visual & Gameplay) : Gangplank
BY FIZZNCHIPS

''As unpredictable as he is brutal, the self-appointed pirate king known as Gangplank rules Bilgewater through a mix of fear, violence and cunning. Where he sails, death and ruin follow, and such is his infamy and reputation that the merest sight of his black sails on the horizon causes panic among even the hardiest crew.''



''Despite his notoriety and savagery, Gangplank commands absolute loyalty from those who run with him. Many of his trusted lieutenants have gone on to become renowned captains or brutal gang leaders in their own right, but they remain loyal--more than willing to fight alongside him--granting him an unmatched power-base within Bilgewater. Nevertheless, there are those who would dare challenge his rule. Gangplank relishes these moments, going to war with pistol and blade in order to show everyone that Bilgewater is still his, and his alone.''

"The self-appointed pirate king known as Gangplank rules through a mix of fear, violence, and cunning. "



''We’re giving the dread pirate lord of Bilgewater a gameplay overhaul and a fresh coat of paint in time for the upcoming event. Along with a new kit that keeps the ca-ching in the bank and adds some powder-ful new interactions between his abilities, we’ve spruced up his bio with a look into the man behind the Scourge of Twelve Seas myth.''

Larger-than-life corsair kings tend to accumulate tall tales the way a warship picks up barnacles, but the tenuous balance of power in Bilgewater hinges on everyone believing the stories told about him.

Passive= ''Every several seconds, Gangplank’s next melee attack ignites the target, dealing bonus true damage over time and granting a brief burst of movement speed. Destroying a Powder Keg instantly refreshes Trial by Fire.''
 * Trial by Fire

Q= ''Gangplank fires his pistol at his target, dealing damage and applying on-hit effects. If Parrrley kills a unit, the shot plunders bonus gold and refunds mana. For each Gold plundered, Gangplank gains a Silver Serpent that he can use at the shop to upgrade Cannon Barrage.''
 * Parrrley

W= Gangplank consumes a large quantity of citrus fruit, curing all disabling effects and healing him based on his missing health.
 * Remove Scurvy

E= ''Places a powder keg that can be attacked by Gangplank or his enemies. If Gangplank destroys a keg, it explodes in an AoE blast that slows and spreads the damage of the attack to all nearby enemies. Other casks within the zone will chain explode. If an enemy destroys the cask, it defuses the explosion and grants gold.''
 * Powder Keg

R= ''Signals Gangplank’s ship to fire waves of cannonballs at an area. Each wave deals magic damage and slows enemies. Cannon Barrage can be upgraded up to three times.''
 * Cannon Barrage

Death’s Daughter fires an initial mega-cannonball in the center of the area of effect.

Raise Morale gives allies within the area of effect additional move speed.

Fire at Will increases the rate of fire over the duration of Cannon Barrage.

Champion Insight: Gangplank
By Statikk

Although already entertaining to play, Gangplank's gameplay lacked a deep mastery curve and interesting counterplay for his opponents.

''Outside of slight optimizations such as Parrrley farming, Remove Scurvy timing, or Cannon Barrage placement, Gangplank never really had a unique tool he could invest in mastering over time. When we thought about new toys we could give Gangplank, we focused on the most fun moments Gangplank was already having. One topic came up over and over again: buying items like Statikk Shiv or Ravenous Hydra and being able to Plunder several enemies with a single Parrrley. With this update, we added explosive barrels to Gangplank's arsenal so he can do just that and more. There's nothing like setting up a chain of barrels to utterly decimate unsuspecting enemies.''

"There’s nothing like setting up a chain of barrels to utterly decimate unsuspecting enemies. "

''Whenever we add a new mechanic to the game, we strive to make it just as fun and interesting for opponents as it is for the champion using it. As sly and clever as Gangplank can be with these explosive barrels, we wanted to ensure that enemies could also interact with them and potentially outplay Gangplank at his own game. Whenever Gangplank places an explosive barrel, enemies also have the opportunity to attack it in order to defuse it - it's a race to the finish to see who gets the final hit which can end in an explosive finale or a sputtering dud.''

Overall, Gangplank will retain a lot of the classic things we have all come to know and love, but with the addition of some new upgrades--quite literally as he'll be able to upgrade his Cannon Barrage--Gangplank will be just as menacing as ever.



Gangplank returns
BY PABRO

"TLDR: Bilgewater: Burning Tides sails away on August 10 at 2:00 AM PDT. You can earn the free Captain Gangplank skin if you own the champion and play a full matchmade game with him (or if you’ve already played at least one) before the event ends.

''The orchestrated spectacle of the Dead Pool’s destruction led many to believe that the dread reaver Gangplank perished in the flames. But what is dread may never die, and Gangplank returns to reclaim what he believes to be rightfully his.''

''Fitted with a new limb to replace the one he lost, the Saltwater Scourge will soon rain cannonballs down on Summoner’s Rift again after a brief stay on the PBE. Since this is the first time we've done something so dramatic with story and theme, we're commemorating the event with the Captain Gangplank skin depicting the dread pirate from before the events of Bilgewater: Burning Tides. All players who own and play (or have already played) an entire matchmade game as Gangplank during the event will receive the Captain Gangplank skin for free.''

''Captain Gangplank reflects a simpler time, when one uncrowned reaver king ruled over Bilgewater with an iron cutlass and a fearsome love of scrimshaw. While base Gangplank has been irrevocably changed by Miss Fortune’s masterful scheme, the Captain Gangplank skin hearkens back to before the pirate’s bloody fall.''

''With Gangplank’s return imminent and the conclusion of the story trailing the choppy wake behind Bilgewater: Burning Tides’ stern, the end of the in-game event draws ever closer. Bilgewater: Burning Tides sails over the horizon in just over a week, stowing in its hold the bundles, merch, icon rewards, and game modes. Whether you’re looking to brawl in the black market, add the free Captain Gangplank skin to your wardrobe, or acquire any other Bilgewater spoils, you’ve got until August 10 at 2:00 AM PDT.''

We hope you’ve enjoyed the journey so far, and we’ll see you on the battlefields!"

During the Bilgewater: Burning Tides event, Gangplank was brought down by the machinations of the bounty hunter Miss Fortune. His ship was destroyed with all of Bilgewater watching, killing his crew and shattering his aura of invincibility. Now the gangs of Bilgewater have risen up, fighting amongst themselves to claim dominion over the port city.

Despite receiving horrific injuries in the explosion, Gangplank survived. Sporting a multitude of fresh scars, and with a newly crafted metal arm to replace his amputated limb, he is now determined to rebuild his strength, reclaim what he sees as rightfully his, and ruthlessly punish all those who turned against him.

Champion Insight roundtable: Gangplank
BY RIOTEXLIBRIS

TLDR: As part of our ongoing commitment to keep League of Legends fresh, we often update champions both visually and in their gameplay. If you followed along with the Bilgewater: Burning Tides event, you know that with Gangplank’s champion update, we went even further. Catch up on the story here, or if you’re already a Bilgewater veteran, dive into a conversation between the devs behind the update below.


 * How did Gangplank become the biggest champion update since Sion?

Michael “IronStylus” Maurino, senior concept artist: So, there’s this thing called scope creep. But seriously, we needed a lot of buy-in, for one. We were shopping around [Gangplank-related] ideas a lot, whether to teams involved in Bilgewater, stakeholders, all the way up to Marc and Brandon [co-founders of Riot Games].

Scott “Jaredan” Hawkes, narrative lead: Gangplank’s lore was actually quite different from Gangplank in game. In-game, he didn’t seem like the baddest bastard in Bilgewater. He wasn’t convincing, he wasn’t brutal enough to rule it. So, that meant finding that essence in the stories that had been told about Gangplank, because in a city full of people you don’t want to meet in a dark alley, he’s the guy they don’t want to meet in a dark alley.

James “Statikk” Bach, champion designer: I think one of the bigger challenges was that the character, you just couldn’t take him seriously, he was too over-the-top. And if we wanted him to be a serious character, we had to show, “this guy is a badass,” we had to go to an extreme.

George Krstic, senior writer: Multiple teams, multiple dependencies, and the nature of an international release. From the moment we started to what we landed on, things changed drastically. But all for the better. It’s one of the things I like most about Riot. We have flexibility here. If something isn’t working and needs to change, people will support you. So, everything changed, every day, all the time. So that was a challenge, but it kept us energized.


 * What was behind the decision to basically make two champion updates for Gangplank?

Michael Maurino: So we had all of these crazy ideas, but we couldn’t really execute on them. And then as we heard the story come along, and the event being potentially a couple of pieces including a before and after scenario, we went, “hmmm…” and then we learned that we were gonna scope up into a much bigger visual update. So we thought, instead of banging our heads trying to make one Gangplank that covers all of the things we want to cover, why not just make two Gangplanks? One for before the narrative and one for after? Scott Hawkes: The biggest narrative goal for the Bilgewater event was to show characters and a place changing. So everything that happens to him shows the same man experiencing the high and the low, and having that reflected visually by the art was huge, because it’s not just who he is, but also shows how he’s changed.


 * In the explosion of the Dead Pool, Gangplank ends up losing his arm. Why’d we do that?

Scott: He’s going through his own trial by fire. He had to change physically. This is the most extreme trial by fire he’s been through, perhaps since he killed his own father. And so he can’t just walk away, there has to be a physical toll in addition to an emotional one.

George: To speak to that, this is also partly a response to feedback from players that nothing ever changes. We wanted to meaningfully change champions and a faction. We wanted to set things up and pay them off in a single self-contained story.


 * Statikk mentioned the great hat conspiracy of 2015?

Michael Maurino: I didn’t even want to bring it up, but...it’s kinda interesting, because it basically divided the company. We started out: obviously he has to have a hat, right? But then we decided to do “Pre-plank” and “Post-plank,” and somebody drew “Post-plank” without a hat. I remember a meeting with the biggest stakeholders in the company, and the room was split. Some executive stakeholders were like, “Hat!” And the others were like, “No hat!” Then someone said, “Let’s be bold and not ship a hat,” which was immediately met by, “No, let’s be bold and keep the hat!”

James Bach: I remember everyone in design was like, “He’s gotta keep the hat, he’s not Gangplank without the hat.” And then all the artists were like, “But look how cool he looks without a hat.” And we had to admit, he looked good without the hat. It just became this huge thing.

Michael Maurino: I remember meetings specifically about the hat. They’re still on my calendar somewhere. Scott Hawkes: From a narrative perspective, some of us said, “Well, he’s a changed person and he’s lost his ship, maybe he doesn’t give a shit about the hat right now.”

George Krstic: At the core, it’s because everybody cares so damn much. That’s the reason we have these meetings that get so tense. Luckily, we work at a place where we’re not ever like, “Okay, good enough, ship it.” It’s instead, “No, let’s beat it up, let’s make the best thing possible.” So that’s why we have meetings about hats.


 * Was there anything we knew we weren’t going to change?

Michael Maurino: Oranges.

James Bach: Even on the gameplay side, everyone knew oranges were gonna stay. Even when we were like, let’s make him really, really, dark, he still had oranges. There were small things, at least on the design side, where we were like, we want to make sure that people understand that he’s still having fun up there in top lane--like keeping his laugh during his ultimate.

Michael Maurino: B-arrr-els.

James Bach: He still enjoys vitamin C and violence.

Michael Maurino: It’s the darker shade of fun. It is absurd for the guy to do the juggling thing with the oranges, and then slice throats with a flaming sword, but it’s great contrast and it’s kinda neat.

We’re nodding backwards but looking forwards.

George Krstic: When it comes to what we decided to keep the same, we were very mindful of what the important things were to players. Across the board. Every team. We were nodding backwards but looking forwards. We wanted something for new players to discover, and for old players to say, “Yeah, they got it.” So...that’s what we aimed for, we’ll see if we were successful.

Can’t get enough of the Gangplank dev insights roundtable? [Check out a longer, unabridged version here.] Bilgewater: Burning Tides may be over, but the Saltwater Scourge lives on. Is one-hitting minions something you wish? Let us know in the comments below and we’ll see you on the battlefields.

Previous Lore
Hide= Old lore= Gangplank was born the son of the dread pirate captain Vincent the Shadow - one of the most wealthy and feared pirates in all of Blue Flame Islands. One might think this would have spoiled the boy with a cushioned life of privilege, but the truth is quite the opposite. Growing up in the city of Bilgewater isn't easy; pirates are not known for their compassion, and that most certainly extends to their families. Vincent wanted his son to grow up tough and strong, so he was extremely hard on the young Gangplank. Even as a child, Gangplank was as mean as a snake and is said to have slept with his eyes open. As he grew, the young man rapidly became the most ruthless and feared pirate in all of Bilgewater, and his daddy was never more proud than on the day of his son's eighteenth birthday - when Gangplank stabbed his old man in the back and claimed the famed pirate ship, the Dead Pool, for his own.

The continent of Valoran, however, is a dangerous place for pirates; Gangplank could read the writing on the wall. The den of pirates known as Bilgewater would soon be pulled down by the undertow of Valoranian politics and the Institute of War. It was time for Bilgewater to have their own champion to represent them in the League of Legends, and who better than the fiercest pirate of them all? It is said that Gangplank has enough power and favor to claim the title of the Pirate King back home, but that he is simply biding his time and building his reputation as a champion before he returns to a life of piracy.

"Yo ho, blow the man down. Or at least shoot him when his back is turned and steal all his booty."

Previous abilities
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