What if Thresh was not Evil?

The Chain Warden takes sadistic joy in tormenting his victims, both before and after their deaths. His grim task is never complete, and he stalks the land for ever more resolute spirits to unravel.

So it is fairly clear that Thresh is a monster in every sense of the word. He is visually terrifying, unnervingly soft-spoken, and unrepentantly cruel. He collects the broken souls of those who have fallen beneath his sickle for an unknown purpose, if any at all. Regardless, he certainly enjoys his work.

''There are few things as invigorating as taking a mind apart, piece by piece.'' -- Thresh

However, information regarding the Shadow Isles has revealed that it was once a peaceful place, a proud nation. It had its own monarchy, a substantial population, and a thriving economy if the number of ruins decaying on its shores is anything to judge. Maoki's lore and quotes from the Western Altar on Twisted Treeline reinforce these details. It was only when the now Ruined King ordered his sorcerers to break the barrier between life and death that the Shadow Isles came to be as we know it today. Considering the state of Twisted Treeline, the Shadow Isles overall spooky theme, and champions being hinted as something before the fall of the Shadow Isles, it is possible that many, if not all of the islands' inhabitants became a part of the spectral forces that creep across Valoran during the Harrowing.

With this in mind, was Thresh the same monster in life as he is in undeath?

Many would answer, yes, it is plainly written out on his champion page. Even the unreleased lore makes it fairly obvious Thresh has always been a sadistic madman. However, I would like to submit an alternative interpretation.

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Shrouded in Mist Myth Every Shadow Isles champion is a mystery; we have no idea who they were or what they did prior to the cataclysm that destroyed the island nation. Perhaps the only one who has an actual history is Thresh.

Little is known about the Chain Warden's past, and many of the details live only in nursery rhymes and campfire tales. They tell of a sadistic jailer from centuries past who took great delight in torturing his wards. Patient and brutal, he used a variety of methods to break his victims' minds before their bodies succumbed to his grisly designs. Chains were the jailer's preferred instruments of terror. Their shrill scrape marked his dreadful approach and promised agony to those he visited. His dark reign went unchallenged until his prisoners escaped during a massive riot. They overwhelmed him, and without ceremony or remorse, hanged him from his own chains. Thus began the unlife of the horrible specter known as Thresh,*** or so the tales go***.

So the tale goes.

Facts have a curious tendency of growing warped as years go by and truth becomes legend. The important facets of a story may be preserved, but the tale they form becomes twisted, a mockery of truth. So in what way could Thresh's history possibly be corrupted?

What if Thresh was indeed a warden in life, responsible for administrating a prison and its occupants located on the Shadow Isles? However, instead of being the cruel tormentor of helpless prisoners, Thresh was a respectable person, performing his duties with professional efficiency.

When the boundary between life and death was broken, the Shadow Isles descended into chaos as the dead moved among the living, with the latter eventually joining the former's ranks. During the kingdom's fall, Thresh did his best to keep himself safe and prevent his prison from falling into ruin. Despite his best efforts, chaos overwhelmed the facility, culminating in a riot as prisoners managed to escape from their cells. Security was torn apart by the mass of convicts doing everything they could to flee before they became victim to the calamity destroying their kingdom.

In the midst of escape, a group of particularly bitter prisoners decided to take their frustration out on Thresh, the only symbol of authority left which condoned their incarceration, hanging him by prison chains before leaving him for dead. At the end of his life, Thresh was beset by a number of emotions; fear, disappointment, indignation, but most of all, anger. He felt anger for those who caused the fall of his nation, anger for the prisoners who murdered him, and anger for himself in failing to uphold his duty as warden.

What difference would this make?

Motivation

Thresh currently roams Valoran to steal souls because he enjoys it and maybe for some nefarious purpose in service to the Shadow Isles. That is it. Rather cut and dry, in my opinion, so why not spice it up?

Ghosts in fiction typically manifest due to suffering a traumatic death, particularly strong emotions, and a sense of unfinished business. Thresh suffered all of these, being hung in a brutal manner, a deep sense of anger for his fate, and the need to redeem himself for failing to keep his prisoners contained. That there was a great, magical upheaval on the Shadow Isles at the time facilitates his means of returning from the grave as the specter Thresh.

Returned to a life without living, Thresh was filled with an intense desire to seek out and capture the convicts who had escaped his prison, one by one, if need be. This provides additional justification for why Thresh is the one who collects the souls of the living beyond merely enjoying it. But then you might ask, "If Thresh was a good man in life, why would he take so much pleasure in his evil deeds?"

Twisted by the Shadow Isles

Another hallmark of ghosts in fiction is that regardless of whether they were good or evil in life, they seek to share their torment on the living, guilty and innocent alike. Thresh does not appear to be in pain, or suffer trauma from his fate. I should also point out he is absolutely insane; he no longer cares about his unlife.

I find it interesting that when Thresh dies in game, his own soul is collected by his lantern. While this can easily be seen as a karmic death, the jailer bound by his own chains, I like to think of it as showing Thresh has always been a prisoner. The Black Mist, representing the magic that consumed the Shadow Isles, twisted its inhabitants, corrupting their very souls. Thresh's need for vindication became horrifyingly poisoned by the Black Mist's influence, instead of capturing the escaped prisoners as intended, he collects souls indiscriminately, fitting the Black Mist's needs whatever they may be. Why do I believe this?

The curse can never be broken. They will share my torment. No rest in death. Mordekaiser... are you also a prisoner?

These quotes are taken from the West Altar in the Twisted Treeline, indicating that even though they serve the Shadow Isles, many of its champions suffer, if they are not outright mad, as exemplified by the East Altar.

Here, Thresh falls under both categories. In the beginning he felt nothing but pain, but after so many years, possibly centuries as the Chain Warden, he lost himself. He started taking pleasure in stealing souls because it felt right, though he could no longer remember why. Some remnant of the man he was remains, and understands he was once something better, but instead of lamenting his existence, he embraced it. This preserves the heartless monster wandering Valoran for souls to steal, but gives him a tragic background. There is no redemption for Thresh, he was a prisoner the moment he picked up his chains, and he does not care.

Do not misunderstand me, I don't believe this is, or should be, Thresh's actual backstory; not every villain needs a sympathetic background because sometimes people are just evil, and nothing can explain it. Still, I like to speculate that what is League's perhaps most despicable villain was once no more than an ordinary man utterly twisted by pain and insanity, a nobody who became a living nightmare.

Just my personal take on what could be an alternative interpretation of Thresh's backstory.