Any news? Please some news? It's been quite a few months since we've had any word about it, and I'm hoping for some kind of update?
Maybe I should use the Parrot summoning ritual...
EDIT: Forgot about this guy.
RiotIronStylus20 votesHowdy.
So as you know, Heimer was sort of our new flagship for yordles, male yordles at least. He was built off of the framework of such characters as Ziggs and Lulu.
Now that he's out, we're ideating on several different yordle designs, revisiting a lot of our furry/semi-furry friends which need love. What's ended up happening is not so much a grand exploration or style guide creation, though some artists have chosen to take on entire swaths of general yordle anatomy/shape/character exploration. Most of what we on ChampUp have been doing is adhering generally to what we've set forth in Heimer, what we've seen other internal collaborators make, and then let the individual concept artist working on a design execute with their own discretion with heavy feedback from the team. The results have yielded really good concepts for a number of characters. Currently we have two yordles in the concept phase which are candidate for production. These concepts still represent the very beginning of our production pipeline, and any such concepts won't be contributing to a VU or otherwise for some time. However, my hope is that by the end of the year we'll see at least one more yordle make it out. My hope is that it'll a female yordle ;)
With that said, no promises, no certainties, but that's what preference is.
My current priority is the building of a concept "front-log" which will supply our production pipeline with approved character concepts in the form of a bucket which characters can be easily plugged into the production pipeline without a problem. All of the above characters in the OP qualify for a VU, some higher priority than others.
Hope that helps! Sorry for a certain amount of ambiguity.
Thales5 votesHuh. Even Lulu? She's not 100% up to modern standards, but hardly anyone before Jinx is. To me, she seems in better shape than most champs.
RiotIronStylus11 votesShe's in generally good shape, but she's going to start to look like she has problems the further we go with other yordle VU's. She has more anatomy than most, but right now she's pretty much all head. Though Heimer's head is gigantic, I'd attribute that to him being a brainiac.
That said, she's not nearly anywhere near the top of the priority list.
Zerglinator2 votesWill some Yordles stay blue? I worry about all Yordles becoming some tan color.
PhoenixSlayer133 votesThe new blue shopkeeper on the Summoner's Rift VU is a female yordle, right? Does she represent a general aesthetic for female yordles?
Hexflashed1 votesI think they're too far in conceptual phase to even be able to make a response. But yes, she is suppose to be a yordle from what I have been told. I wouldn't hold the character as an expectation IMO.
Jingerbeardman1 votesthis is well said actually. for those that think this is to ambiguous take ziggs and heimer and what do they share in terms of characteristics and visuals traits.
John Berserk7 votesI sure hope you guys have been paying attention to one of your past Rioter's most recent work on Yordles, because he certainly loves the furry little guys/gals and draws them quite often!
RiotIronStylus6 votesI talk to Kienan a lot ;)
HigeR2 votesas you should D: that image is awesome!!! is there such a thing as being jealous of art? xD
Hexflashed3 votesI really like his take on LuLu. I agree she shouldn't be a priority, but when the time comes she should look like this verbatim. I also agree her head is a bit bigger than it needs to be atm and should emphasize cuteness more in her appearance. I'm sure the girl Lulu lovers would appreciate this as well. (Correct me if I'm wrong girls :) ).
Tristana and Poppy (to an extent) should also adopt this more feminine yordle look. Poppy can still look her serious theme with being feminized. Right now she looks so ugly. Also, I hope Poppy's kit rework involves more interaction with her hammer than just pressing Q. Maybe use it to direct someone to a wall so she can properly use her headbutt?
As for veigar, not seeing his face and applying the black mage trope is best suited for him. I still find his voice / lines funny. I hope we can get something very close in his VU. One of my favorite champions.
Oh and we still need that yordle jungler please. :D
Thanks Riot for feedback on yordle <3!
Bandle City Bot1 votesPoppy can jungle quite well brah.
Hexflashed1 votesShe can (unless an invade prevents you to get blue), but with the upcoming rework, who knows? Still a new yordle designed specifically for the jungle would be awesome. :)
Bandle City Bot1 votesWell the invade preventing blue stops the other Yordle Jungler (Amumu) as well as any Blue Dependent champ.
A Yordle built exclusively for jungle I think would suddenly be used in the Top Lane with how Today's meta works just based on what 'jungler' kits usually entail.
Boi Got Clout1 voteswe have donger ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Fishing Boat1 votesOkay.... T.T
Mad Hit Monkey1 votesThanks for answering, oh great and powerful Parrot. Here's some more Leona and Diana as tribute.
CupcakeTrap1 votesHeimerdinger as a model for male yordles? That seems strange. I always thought of Heimerdinger as having an unusual appearance, out of an attempt to hybridize his "old midget man" classic appearance with a fuzzball. (I think it worked well, but it seems strange to think of him as a normal yordle. And to be honest, I still think he looks ... not very cute. I don't think he's supposed to be cute.)
I feel like hamster-yordles are cuter than cat-yordles, though a sort of hamster-cat combination seems reasonable to me. But a Bandle City full of Heimerdingers? Ugh.
Ziggs sort of strikes a hamster/cat balance, although I feel he's also more obviously feline as a tip of the hat to the Cheshire Cat motif.
So all in all, it seems weird to me to think of Heimerdinger and Ziggs as the baseline; I always thought of Teemo and Kennen as the baseline.
Tamat8 votesYou forgot the Pantheon summon, that's alright, I'll came anyway.
Continues the Parrot summoning ritual
Mad Hit Monkey3 votesYay! I got a Rioter! Now bring Iron Stylus!
Anrui5 votesPlease don't change voice and quotes, it's one of my favorite things about him, in addition to the way he hops around.
"YOU DENY THE DARKNESS IN YOUR SOUL, YOU DENY YOUR POWER"
(Also reinforce X pls)
FatedTitan3 votesI'm afraid of this in a way. They say they are wanting to VU Poppy and Veigar soon. Poppy has been known for a long time, but the Veigar update scares me. The biggest reason why is because they're wanting to make all the Yordles furballs in some form or fashion. I don't know about the rest of you, but a furball Veigar is not Veigar. That would be giving him the Trundle treatment. And his quotes are so great too, though more diversity in them wouldn't be bad.
@IronStylus, please comfort my fear for Veigar.
Mad Hit Monkey6 votesI don't really think Veigar's VU will involve too much furbally-ness. One of the iconic things about him is his Black Mage appearance, doing anything to tweak that, other than adding Yordle Ears maybe, will get fans in an uproar.
I doubt they're going to reveal his face. And if they do? SHAME ON THEM!
ChroniclerC3 votesAs much as I'd like to see some standardization when it comes to how Yordles look, I do agree that I would much prefer good ol' Veigar keeps his face obscured. Or, at least, go with the fan-cannon that gives him black fur (either naturally, or due to his dabbling in dark cosmic magic).
CupcakeTrap1 votesI think Veigar has to be a furball underneath the hat, but I also think they should keep the black mage aspect and not show his face.
A voicework change would make me sad, but we all know Riot will do it, after what they did to Nasus.
Hexflashed1 votesOld Annie's VO was done by the same person when they did the new VO.
Even though it's disappointing and sad, Nasus' original voice over was done by someone who passed away. There is only so much they can do about that.
Vanthiar3 votes
OH GREAT AND POWERFUL PARROT!
NconveníentTruth3 votesdrop everything and work on POPPY!!!
Hexflashed2 votesI wish she would look something like this in attire. Though her face should look less child-like and probably more cougar-ish. Older is better than a fat football head anyway. >.>
I can't wait for Tristana's VU too. Her face creeps me out in-game...
Khodexus2 votesWhich ones still need VUs? I know Heimer got one recently, and as mentioned, Ziggs doesn't really need one. I think it's possible Teemo could use one, his walking animation is weird, but then that's also part of his charm for some people.
I would love for Veigar to get a new voice over. He'd actually be fun to play if he wasn't a whiney brat over sensitive about his height. I think he'd be more interesting/fun as a character if rather than being insecure he was just plain evil. Maybe didn't even get that people were poking fun at his height or even unintentionally made fun of it himself.
The only other Yordles I have personal experience with are Kennen, Lulu, and Amumu. I think Lulu looks fine, for the most part, though I wouldn't mind if they made some minor adjustments to all three female yordles to give them more yordle-like noses and show that they have fur like the males.
As for Kennen, my biggest gripe with him is that his gameplay doesn't match his fluff. He's supposed to be this insanely fast little guy, and yet he feels so slow when you're playing him.
And last but not least, Amumu. I think a basic purportions/texturing update is all the love he needs. He's cute as he is now, but his purportions are just a little too cartoony for my tastes.
HigeR2 votesHopefully is on the list! I think his particles need a ton of polish and I kind of wish he looked a little bit more like Karate Kennen, without the hood and mask... though, one could say the mask is an important part of the triumvirate ._. so perhaps just take the hood or at least make some emphasis on his ears (I don't really understand how they are covered xD)
As for the rest, Riot already started to work on their most classic champions, 
and to name a few, Working on is only a matter of time though by the look of it Teemo would probably entail a classic skin since his regular model is quite bland even in comparison to the rest of his skins.
They also said would be getting both a visual and gameplay update but there are other champions being worked on currently, 
and 
come to mind, though I'm guessing Poppy will come after those 2 are done.
will probably be retconned into a young human again, can't remember where but I read they didn't even know why they made him into a yordle anyway so... that's that.
Hexflashed2 votes
I hope this guy either stays yordle or small and cute. I can't imagine him any other way.
HigeR1 votesuhm I actually find it hard to see Amumu as a yordle I tried drawing him with ears and stuff but it looked really awkward. I actually believe Amumu will be a big challenge for Riot when the time comes, since cute and mummy are hard to merge, his eyes right now are weird but there are not many other eyes they could use (zombie with cute eyes?)
So all in all I think right now Amumu is a dead end =/ he looks the best he could look for his concept =/ sad.
CupcakeTrap1 votesI think Amumu should stay a yordle. Heck, there's even an Egyptian tie-in there, with regard to cat-mummies. It also makes the loneliness more poignant, given that yordles have that thing where they go crazy without enough hugs.
Jolan2 votesI'd kill for a Kennen VU because JESUS christ he looks horrible, unless it's Karate Kennen, Kennen MD or Arctic Ops. His base should be modeled after Arctic Ops, definitely. His lightning animations are decent enough, so I believe that just his base model+recolours need work badly.
Sneaky Pızza1 votes ziggs? But I agree, Yordles are boss! (/°~°)/
Mad Hit Monkey1 votesForgot about him! I knew there was someone I was missing!
Garentheon1 votesZiggs doesn't need a VU. But you do pose a good question. I too, am curious as to how the Unification is coming along
Mad Hit Monkey1 votesI wasn't trying to say Ziggs needed a VU, he's perfectly fine. I just wanted to include him in the Yordle Line-up and forgot. XD
Linna Excel1 votesAre you working on Poppy now, or is she going to be held off until she can get a kit rework as well?
Flemman1 votesIn all the Yordle visual unification, I think corki will be the one who'll need the most change in his design (and maybe on all his skin) cause for now he looks more like an old midget than an old little Humanoide fury beast :p
Relentless Rogue1 votesIf I had to take a shot in the dark...
would be the next one to get updated, followed by...
or or maybe
At least as far as Yordles go.
Khodexus1 votes 's gone pretty long without a VU...
OrderSOL10241 votesI want the new, beautiful poppy and her early stage should be easier
