Ramblings on Yorick's narrative and design.
This is a champion with a terribly boring kit. His model is also hit and miss. He's way too short but he has grotesque qualities that bring about pity and pensive melancholy whenever he is witnessed.
Yorick from a narrative perspective is fantastic. His character is believable. A Quasimodo like character in appearance and whose moribund work left him alone, childless, and one wont to introspective brooding. His shovel also makes sense as the catalyst that allows him to live as a tortuous wight centuries old.
Yorick arrived to the Shadow Isles a dead man lead somehow consciously or unconsciously to the daemonic island. This, narratively speaking, sets Yorick apart from the other denizens of the Shadow Isles whom brought themselves there willingly or started the the Island's decadence save that of Maokai.
Being a sarcastic, and a nearly stark nihilist, he comes off as more indifferent than vicious or evil to the normal inhabitant of Runeterra; however, the League Judgement shews a side of unsuspecting humanity from the walking corpse,
"The shovel clattered into the hole.
Yorick hadn't lost grip of his shovel... ever. Panicked, he chased after it, but he slipped again. The soil he'd mounded next to the grave started to slide in on its own, an unprovoked avalanche. Yorick tried frantically to hold it back, but it flowed past him unhindered. He glanced down and it finally came to him.
The shovel rested neatly atop the body, clasped beneath its folded arms. The face - that face he should have known - was his own. It was the face of innocence, hope, sadness. It was a face so early on its journey, already convinced it had seen the end.
And Yorick didn't even recognize it."
Yorick is a tragic caricature typified by loneliness. Perhaps he wants to be remembered. Perhaps he can do this through healing the Shadow Isles through his work as ferry man and allowing the spirits of the land to climb deaths many tiers? Would he be at odds with Thresh, the chain warden, who captures souls and allows them to stagnate while Yorick wishes to see them transcend? Would he willingly side with Maokai or the others who despise the Shadow Isles or would he rather stay along like he always has and seek is own solution. Would he even care for such trifles?
This to me is Yorick.
http://lolwp.com/wp-content/uploads/Alas-Poor-Yorick-by-Combat-Banana.jpg
A grotesque and sardonic figure who is gentle of soul and who earns the respect of lesser spirits. A singular individual who has a strong Gothic and brooding persona whose kinship and control over the wretched spirits makes him a force to be reckon with, a champion.
Other things that add to Yorick visually is his hobble and the way he carries his lantern. That all feels highly original. His eccentric mask for his Undertaker skin and his commanding, deep, twisted voice.
One thing I do not care for is his shortness. The guy is tiny!