League of Legends Wiki

Want to contribute to this wiki?
Sign up for an account, and get started!
You can even turn off ads in your preferences.

Come join the LoL Wiki community Discord server!

READ MORE

League of Legends Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Your Move Emote
"It is just as the spies described."
This article is a character stub. It needs a lore enthusiast to help fill-out the missing sections following the written conventions.

Missing section(s):

If you're eager to help but would like to reference a completed character article:
Image
Tahm Kench OriginalCentered
Tahm Kench
Tahm Kench (Universe)Tahm Kench (Universe)
Tahm Kench (League of Legends)Tahm Kench (League of Legends)
Tahm Kench (Esports)Tahm Kench (Esports)
Tahm Kench (Teamfight Tactics)Tahm Kench (Teamfight Tactics)
Tahm Kench (Legends of Runeterra)Tahm Kench (Legends of Runeterra)
Tahm Kench (Development)Tahm Kench (Development)
Tahm Kench (Trivia)Tahm Kench (Trivia)

Known by many names throughout history, the demon Tahm Kench Tahm Kench travels the waterways of Runeterra Crest icon Runeterra, feeding his insatiable appetite with the misery of others. Though he may appear singularly charming and proud, he swaggers through the physical realm like a vagabond in search of unsuspecting prey. His lashing tongue can stun even a heavily armoured warrior from a dozen paces, and to fall into his rumbling belly is to tumble into an abyss from which there is little hope of return.


Tahm KenchSquare"The whole world's a river, and I'm its king."  Tahm Kench
Separator
Read Biography

Background[]

(TBA)

Appearance[]

Tahm Kench is a catfish-like humanoid with a large, rotund body, short, stubby limbs, and a tail. His most noticeable feature is his enormous mouth, lined with rows of countless uneven fangs and containing a long, prehensile tongue. He has a thick, mustache-like pair of catfish barbels on his upper lip. He has shiny green skin, pale in the front with darker green markings across his back. His wide-set eyes are a sinister, solid yellow. He has three clawed fingers on each hand and four clawed toes on each foot. He also has dark red fins on his tail and elbows.

Tahm attempts to dress as a gentleman, though his clothes appear too small for his massive form, particularly the black human-sized top hat which is dwarfed by his oversized head. The hat features a dark red ribbon edge trim and a golden accessory on the side. He also wears a dark maroon dress shirt and what appears to be two overcoats (one brown and the other dark blue) stitched together into one. The sleeves are missing, seemingly unable to fit his bulky arms, but he still wears the detached cuffs on his wrists with additional wrappings on his hands. The clothes are worn and ragged with faded golden buttons. He also wears a gold ring with a green gem on his left index finger and another gold ring on his left barbel.

Personality[]

Tahm Kench is a voracious being that is constantly hungry and craves nothing more than to indulge himself with as much as he can consume. He is cruel and manipulative, taking advantage of those that are vulnerable to make them make deals with him, using an affable façade to trick others into trusting him, using their desires to lure them to their doom.

Abilities[]

  • Demon Physiology: Kench is a demon, a malevolent spirit that feeds from human emotions. He has no physical form and cannot be harmed by physical weapons (unless it has magical properties). Each demon is linked to a specific emotion, in this case, Tahm Kench feeds from greed and despair.
    • Emotional Feeding: Like other demons, Tahm Kench can feed himself from an specific emotion, in his case, addiction. By absorbing the despair and suffering that comes from addiction, Tahm Kench can sustain himself for prolonged periods of time. Tahm Kench instictively knows what are ones vices.
    • Immortality: So long as vice and addiction exists, Tahm Kench will exist in some form.
    • Form Shift: Like any spirit, Tahm Kench can change his shape depending on peoples emotions.
    • Amphibious: Tahm Kench can breathe underwater.
    • Massive Stomach: Tahm Kench's stomach is massive and can be used to devour everything in sight. He can also use his massive stomach as a way to hold objects of interest, including living beings, for long periods of time.
    • Water Teleportation: Tahm Kench can use water to teleport himself to other places.
    • Wish Granting: By listening to the desires of others and making a deal with them, Tahm Kench can warp reality to a small degree.

Relations[]

Runeterra Crest icon Runeterra[]

Tahm Kench knows a lot of champions (both as fellows and adversaries, those who get consumed by their inner demons, and those who overcome them) and all Yordles have encountered him at various times (easy to manipulate when socially outcast, harder when not so).

Aatrox Aatrox[]

He seems to be on friendly terms with, or at least respect, Aatrox Aatrox (Tahm Kench calls him 'brother') given both manipulate mankind (their foibles and their lust for bloodshed, respectively) for personal gain as well as both being timeless entities known across the ages in various names and forms.

Evelynn Evelynn[]

Tahm Kench is considered both an equal and a rival by Evelynn Evelynn, as they are both long-lived demons that feed on human emotion for sustenance, with Tahm Kench preying on greed and the misery of loss, while Evelynn preys on lust and the pain she causes her victims.

Kalista Kalista[]

Kalista Kalista occasionally comes after him; however, he is safe from her as he technically did not betray his victims, just followed his contracts.

Read More

Biography

Tahm Kench OriginalCentered
EditImageReference

Bilgewater Crest icon

Biography

The River King

By Odin Austin Shafer, Ariel Lawrence

Starring Champion

Bilgewater Legends
EditImageReference

Bilgewater Crest icon

Narration

The Gambler's Woe

By Anthony Reynolds Lenné

My, that's quite the haul ye have, there! Won at the tables, was it? Well, here's to your very good health. Cheers.

Tahm Kench The River King
EditImageReference

Bilgewater Crest icon

Video

The River King (Video)

Desperate times call for desperate measures. I can make you a fine bargain... but you gotta be willing to pay the price.

Mentioned Champion

Graves Nilah An Intimate Evening at Oyster Bill's
EditImageReference

Bilgewater Crest icon

Short Story

An Intimate Evening at Oyster Bill's

By Jared Rosen

You will know joy...

Ruined King Promo 01
EditImageReference

Runeterra Crest icon

Game

Ruined King

By Airship Syndicate

Rise Against Ruin - Unite a party of League of Legends Champions, explore Bilgewater and set sail for the Shadow Isles to uncover the secrets of the deadly Black Mist in this immersive turn-based RPG.

Bilgewater The Harrowing
EditImageReference

Bilgewater Crest icon

Short Story • 51 Minute Read

Shadow and Fortune: Chapter Two

By Graham McNeill

Something Stupid, The Red Shroud, The Shadow of War

Graves Twisted Fate The Boys and Bombolini 01
EditImageReference

Bilgewater Crest icon

Short Story

The Boys and Bombolini

By Jared Rosen

There existed, among the multitude of disgusting Bilgewater shipping warehouses filled with rusted knives and arms-length carnivorous rats, one Bilgewater shipping warehouse devoid of such things.

Illaoi Yorick The Will of the Dead
EditImageReference

Shadow Isles Crest icon

Short Story

The Will of the Dead

By Laura Michet

Long before she became a Truth Bearer of her people, Illaoi had been an acolyte priestess at a Buhru temple on the coast.

Alternate Universes

Vayne FirecrackerSkin
EditImageReference

Runeterra Crest icon

Video

Fortune Favors the Lucky

Join Firecracker Sejuani, Firecracker Vayne, Lunar Wraith Sylas, and Coin Emperor Tahm Kench in celebrating the Year of the Pig!

Worlds Ignite
EditImageReference

Runeterra Crest icon

Music Video

IGNITE

By Numerous creators

Since its inception, Worlds has grown and evolved. Each unbelievable play and phenomenal match created moments and memories that will never be forgotten. In these iconic moments, players and teams reached for something incredible within themselves and brought it to life on the Summoner’s Rift...

LoR Monuments of Power
EditImageReference

Runeterra Crest icon

Video

Monuments of Power

Seek what makes you strong.

Talon The Stranger on the Road
EditImageReference

Runeterra Crest icon

Short Story

The Stranger on the Road

By River Jaffe

The road from Tenacity to Progress was a flat, barren thing, unspooling across miles and miles of cactus country from one edge of the sky to the other.

Trivia[]

  • Tahm Kench represents the foibles of mankind, an individual's inner flaws. His name and appearance change from culture to culture, person to person. His current name come from a Bilgewater gambler who appears in his teaser video while his in-game appearance is based on how people from Bilgewater see him as he is more culturally important and relevant here. He has no real name, no form of his own, only those he takes.
    • There is a Freljord Crest icon Freljordian demigod who is suspiciously similar to him, who may be the River King itself or at least shares the same source of energy.[1]
    • Tahm Kench's names, like Aatrox's Aatrox's battles, have been carved into Runeterran history but he, unlike the Darkin Blade, is too much of a gentleman to make a fuss about it.
    • Tahm Kench refers to himself as a "monstrous siren ", referencing chimeric songstresses who sweetly and sorrowfully lulled sailors into underwater dangers, just like Tahm Kench who deceptively brought desperados to short-term pleasantries but would utterly ruin their lives afterwards.
  • Tahm can eat whatever he wants, but his specific appetites are only sated when he strikes a bargain.
  • The River King would view the newly flowing rivers in Shurima Crest icon Shurima as a new market opening up for fresh deals with naive mortals.

Change log[]

Character blurb
Added.

References[]

See also[]

Advertisement