Boards›Story, Art, & Sound

Sometimes, Riot Really Nails It

The Yetii Rider·12/12/2015, 2:40:09 PM·6 votes·1,547 views

I'm talking about champion taunts and jokes. The other day I was playing Cho'gath mid for the first time in months and I pressed /t. Then I did it again, and again, and again.

"Death is not the end for you. I have seen to it. For eternity, you are MINE!"

Now, obviously one of the best parts about this line is the voice acting. I can't use italics or bolds to describe it, but the speed of the transition from the first second to the second, the emphasis placed on 'you' and 'mine', and the way the word 'death' stretches on for half a second are all fantastic.

Even so, Riot's story team wrote this line. And they have lots of other good ones!

Annie: "What's your favorite aminal, a bear?" - Adorable, childlike, and all of her lines have a giggle that reflects her age and is also unsettling without being creepy.

Irelia: "You rely on your weapons too much. Try letting GO!" - Her voice gets angrier as she builds it up, and the animation that goes along with it is perfect.

Vi: "Why can't I ever get a straight answer? It's always 'Oh no, stop hitting me! Ow, my face!'" - I admit, the voice acting is FLAWLESS on this one, but the line itself is also hilarious and on point.

Then you've got the kind of meh lines.

Ezreal: "Noxians...I hate those guys" - I am honestly not sure how this is supposed to be a joke. It's not a pun, it's not intentionally awkward like Diana, it's just there.

Teemo: "Size doesn't mean everything." Sure, it's kind of amusing with what it's referencing, but the character is a PTSD war vet with poison and the potential for drug references. Lots of good options here, but a generic short joke isn't using them.

Soraka: "No, I'm not happy to see you. Yes, that IS a horn growing out of my head." - Okay, Soraka's other joke is hilarious but this one is low brow, it doesn't make a lot of sense (how would you even suggest that her exposed horn could be confused for an erection?) and more importantly, it drags on too long for not a lot of payoff.

So, what taunts and jokes do you guys appreciate the most? Riot definitely nails it more often than they phone it in, so this is an appreciation thread of Riot's best lines.

12 Comments

Leadpaintchips12/12/2015, 7:47:15 PM4 votes

DrMundo "Mundo says his own name a lot, because Mundo forgets. It has happened before."

Kindred Wolf: "What happens if you miss?" Kindred Lamb: "I dunno." Kindred Wolf: wimper

Twitch "Stop moving! My eyes are on the side of my head!"

Maokai I just love his laugh. Super serious, but then his sapling and carved face on his arm laugh, and he tries to stop them.

Garen Phreak level puns. So wow.

Braum "If at first you don't succeed, tell me what it's like." The part that nails this line as probably my favorite out of league is how earnest he is about it, like how he really wants to know how it feels, because he's never had that feeling.

Dreamspitter12/12/2015, 8:21:32 PM3 votes

{quoted}

Then you've got the kind of meh lines.

Ezreal: "Noxians...I hate those guys" - I am honestly not sure how this is supposed to be a joke. It's not a pun, it's not intentionally awkward like Diana, it's just there.

http://i.imgur.com/C99zzrI.jpg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sp3dIyNA2A http://i.imgur.com/IFYZEcD.png

Lumen Sage12/12/2015, 10:02:52 PM2 votes

Anything by Kindred, one might criticize just how much Wolf is part of her abilities, but the banter between the two of them as they move around is just amazing.

Their very contrasting personalities, the emotional Wolf to the more detached Lamb is depicted perfectly in their voices and they have lines for so many things. What I perhaps like the most is the contrast that appears when playing against them, after you have played as them.

When you play as them they seem playful, if in a creepy way, Lamb reciting poetry and dancing around even as Wolf constantly wants to chase people as his way of having fun. It is wonderfully depicted and sometimes almost makes me forget they are the personifications of death.

But then you play against them and occasionally when you take a mark, they might talk to you and even the usually calm Lamb sounds quite angry about you taking away their target. It reminds me constantly of what they really are.

Another of my favorite moments is how, once the death timers get long enough, they might use the time when dead to recite the basics of their origin. My absolute favorite line from that is the end:

Wolf: "So he would always have a friend?" Lamb: "So he would always have a friend."

I don't know if it is just me, but Wolf sounds almost uncertain or questioning in that line, at least it sounds like that to me and Lamb sounds more reassuring than normal, in a way that just seems very heartwarming. It really makes me feel that despite Wolf's desire to chase, he seems quite scared to be separated from Lamb, this along with his "How long will we be together?" answered by Lamb's "Forever more."

There just seems to be so much character for both of them in the voice acting and lines, so many things you might glean about both of them.

NegaDKR12/13/2015, 1:50:59 AM2 votes

Zac "It's not how much you can lift. It's how good you look!" I really think Zac has one of the best VO's in the game. His laughs, taunts and even idle chatter just has so much genuine emotion packed into every word.

Noom Flow12/14/2015, 9:48:18 AM2 votes

Thresh has to be my favorite VO. Especially his line and the way it sounds, "Going somewhere?" So creepy but I love it. Then there's the line, "Oh, yes! It's about to get much worse." The "Oh, yes!" line in particular makes me think of Tim Currie's Pennywise when he said, "Oh yes. They float, Georgie. They float."

Crett12/12/2015, 3:07:54 PM2 votes

They jumped on that Soraka joke because it was an opportunity to indirectly reference bananas again. Which I can support

The Yetii Rider12/12/2015, 8:42:13 PM2 votes

Oh, it's another Jones reference. Got it. It's been quite a while since I saw the movies.

The Braum line is indeed excellent, as is Braum's entire friendly voice line.

Merxamers12/14/2015, 9:30:17 PM1 votes

Pantheon I really like his laugh-spam :) TahmKench Maybe cheating (it's not a taunt or laugh) but i really like when he's in combat, and suddenly his VO is a lot more menacing; "Every river ends in ME!" "GIVE IT TO ME!!" Thresh Great laugh, great taunts Nasus w/ the Infernal skin. Hey, maybe cheating again, but that VO is incredible. Same with Dunkmaster Darius ; he's got some sick burns :)

RiotRiot Fauxfox12/15/2015, 5:47:21 AM1 votes

YEAH. Those sound guys really kill it.

As an Anivia main, I gotta go with

Anivia "So young, SO NAIVE"

But I've recently fallen in love with Kindred

"And everywhere Lamb went... ...Wolf was sure to follow."