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What in the actual fuck is Tahm Kench? I think I just found out

Maxscart··20 votes·10,845 views

here me out, i currently extremely like this character

when this character got his lines, and his model, i was extremely displeased with what i saw. he looked like someone ripped out of fucking spongebob squarepants. his attire made no sense, why is a fish able to speak and why is it wearing clothes and a top hat? just for kicks? is there nothing behind this character besides he likes to eat, and he feeds off of metaphorical ideas? he makes deals then screws people over? why can this random fancy fish fuck travel anywhere in space??

where did he come from? what is he? where did he get his power? what are his relations?

when i begin to read the quotes, i notice in the gnar/ekko taunts he specificaly states he can travel not only in all of space, but in ALL OF TIME. this made me extremely upset, because now the spongebob fancy fish fuck with no story can travel in time. this is not a card to throw out to a character because you feel like it. time travel is extremely important, and must be treated with caution, giving it to random characters is very reckless of writers to do for obvious reasons.

at this point i was distraught at this character. what were the geniuses (and i'm not being sarcastic i fucking love their previous work especially ekko) thinking?? why did they make this character with seemingly no explanation around him at all? a spongebob catfish that can talk with a southern draw, makes evil deals, eats a shit ton, literally and metaphorically, a bit of a sleezy cardshark, and for seemingly no reason can travel in SPACE and TIME? what the fuck riot? this guy looks so out of place he looks like an elephant in iceland. and why is his name so weird? where did they get the fact that he's a demon??

then it hits me.

Holy shit, he's the third Ancient Power. These types of characters have no particular race, or atleast a very old/extinct race. They are Aatrox, Bard, and now Tahm Kench. But more than this obvious fact, he is the Devil of the League of Legends universe.

And it makes sense! It explains his attire, an aquatic theme to the devil, he is a demon who makes deals that always screw them over in the end. It explains why he can travel in space and time, it explains why in all of his quotes he is friendly and wants to strike a deal when they are on the ally side, but when theyre an enemy he is rotten. It shows his two-faced personality, he is only in it for the business. It would not be the first time a Lucifer like champion was portrayed in a suit. It shows the 'Deal with the Devil' aspect to him. It explains why he calls Aatrox a form of brother, though it may just be a form of speech. All of the sudden this off the wall crazy champion makes sense, and the writers connected it beautifully.

Tahm Kench is an ancient demon, a devil, who feeds off of the ambitions of others, and uses those clueless ambitions to his own advantage, to devour and grow, and feast and swarm. This form of the Devil is in an aquatic form, designed, and aquitted to make deals, like a sort of business man. Now we have a character that makes sense.

17 Comments

GreenLore8 votes

Yup,you nailed it. It was confirmed by a rioter that Tahm is in fact a demon. Thats why he also refers to Aatrox as a brother,because Aatrox is an ancient being just like Tahm himself(they are different species of beings,but still on a more similar level). Thats why he also refers to other champs as "child","son","boy","girl" or "young lady",because they are like children compared to him,when it comes to age.

Sharjo4 votes

Now I want a Deep Terror Tahm Kench skin. Thanks Yogg Saron.

EvilMerodach4 votes

The true horror is finding out the river is evil. As a jungle main, I thought it was my friend. item 3070

Baron, dragons, and now this guy...all connected to the river, and all possibly caused by it, or they cause it. What's in that water??

Celio Hogane HD1 votes

How can you like the river as a jungle? the river gives vision to the enemy, it lets him put WARDS.

Fowus1 votes

I actually doubt he can travel through time he just promises his clients things because in the end he will just screw them over

Maxscart2 votes

Well he offers to take Gnar back to prehistoric times, which is pretty straight forward. He then tells Ekko he can travel in time.

Read the lines it doesn't sound like he is trying to strike a bargain, more so just saying "Yeah I can do that too."

DG Ashabel5 votes

Just because he said he can do it, doesn't mean he can actually do it.

He's patterned more after the American Civil War version of the Devil and fables from that era imagined the figure less like someone who will fulfill your wish at a terrible cost and more like an underhanded roadside swindler who will promise you the world and deliver a nugget of coal, so long as it gets him your soul. Hell, his design is even patterned after stereotypical portrayal of old western robber barons.

You're assuming he speaks the truth and... c'mon. He's the Devil. Why would he ever speak the truth?

Maxscart3 votes

considering the whole deal couldnt be completed unless he could travel in time, i assume he can.

we could also assume he's lying about everything else he said with that logic. i think this is a bit different

Phantasus1 votes

As the devs said, Tahm isn't a betrayer or a liar... he always delivers what he promises. He just doesn't tell you the fine print or his ulterior plans. So when he says he can time travel, you best believe him, and additionally be worried the harm he could do because of this.

Squeaky Dreemurr1 votes

I love how you articulated your thought process... GG

Teslablade1 votes

Completely. I love how scary he is; he seems satanic, especially at the end of his teaser video.

Gunpoint1 votes

There are definatley more than 3 "ancient powers." (Bard Zilean Aatrox Brand Soraka and Tahm Kench). But yeah it's been pretty well known since being revealed that Tahm Kench is what is considered a "Crossroads demon." Even stated on his league of legends wikia page as his occupation.

Varalessia3 votes

{quoted}

There are definatley more than 3 "ancient powers." (Bard Zilean Aatrox Brand Soraka and Tahm Kench). But yeah it's been pretty well known since being revealed that Tahm Kench is what is considered a "Crossroads demon." Even stated on his league of legends wikia page as his occupation.

Zilean is an old human with Chronodisplasia, Brand was an old human marauder from Lokfar, Soraka is a celestial that is the mouthpiece of the stars, if she was an ancient powers she would have been the stars itself. As OP said, ancient powers are part of races that are extinct of they're a part of their own thing, therefore basically excluding Brand and Zilean.

Blitzidious3 votes

What about the flame that corrupted Lokfar? That could be an Ancient Power.

Phantasus3 votes

^ I'm going to have to agree with this guy. You can't discount that the being that now possesses Brand has been a flame that has been burning for a very very very long time.

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