Boards›Story, Art, & Sound

Let's Take Teemo Seriously For A Second

Tony Tomato·12/5/2014, 10:17:09 PM·59 votes·7,416 views

Enough about Satan. Enough about "Kill the Teemo". Let's break down the wall, and for once give Teemo some love. And to do so, we need to look at Teemo as an actual champion, rather than a joke. I really feel this way because there's a space being held by Teemo that isn't being fully recognized. Despite the cute and cuddly splash art and VOs, Teemo has some gritty realism that lies in his lore that really defines him. So I want to dedicate this board to really figuring out who Teemo really is.

Despite the cute and cuddly nature Teemo appears as he is now, if you read his lore, he has a pretty gritty backstory. Teemo is part of a military unit in Bandle City, trained in the defense of Bandle City. I'm sure that defending Bandle City is no...easy task. This is Bandle City we're talking about, home to many small little rodent people who feast on cupcakes like it's lunchtime. Judging by the Valoran map, I'm sure many other city-states have looked over at this society and figured that taking over such a place would be easy pickings. However, Bandle City is fairly remote in comparison to the majority of the other factions, being surrounded by a number of hazardous biomes such as Kumungu (where Teemo gets his poison), Plague Jungle, and the Voodoo lands (No idea what goes on there, but I'm sure it's not the most inviting). However, the two closest factions to Bandle City is Bilgewater and Noxus, both of which are not the most friendliest of city-states. That being said, I'm sure both factions must have sent a number of mercenaries and military units to Bandle City to conquer a supposedly easy target. But Yordles are clever, and they know their environment more than Noxus or Bilgewater do and definitely would use it to their advantage (Does Vietnam ring a bell to anyone?). This would speak a lot about Teemo, as he would spend time, surveying the area, finding vantage points and capitalizing on them through mushroom traps and ambushes.

However, It’s been stated and re-enforced that there is something quite…off about Teemo. He’s a very cheerful guy outside of battle, but in battle, he gets dead serious. Now, Teemo is a soldier. A soldier of war. War does things to your psyche that causes you tend to act differently in war than you would normally at home. There are numerous stories about Vietnam, about the horrors of the Vietcong and the affect it had on the soldiers. The same could be no different for Teemo, as I'm sure seeing one of your fluffy comrades getting sliced in half by a Noxian axe would be tragic to anyone. So I wonder if seeing the true horrors of war had a significant impact on Teemo's sanity.

In my opinion, Teemo, in short, is a psychopath. He’s not Jinx level of psychopath. He’s more of that guy that is perfectly nice and cheerful, but you can’t get some irking feeling that it's all for show. He has a smile, but in his eyes you could see the pain and suffering that he’s seen in war. Which is why he has them closed. Because if you saw his eyes, that would break the illusion. His lore also says that he abandoned his emotions so that he isn't burdened when he kills people. That clearly screams of someone that doesn't have a full grasp on reality.

That's what I've got, but I'm willing to edit this post to put up ideas you guys have to really bring out Teemo's core identity and, of course, thank you guys if you took the time to read this. I didn't want to put this here because it belongs more in Community Creations, but here's a re-imagining of Teemo, with concept art and explanation for the changes I did. My explanation here ties in with my explanations there so it's well worth the look.

73 Comments

Cale01712/5/2014, 10:27:13 PM14 votes

brb maining Teemo

SpecterVonBaren12/6/2014, 5:45:29 AM11 votes

They should probably redo his voice lines to be ones that could be taken to be stereotypical cute yordle stuff when looked at at face value but that have a more unnervingly serious implication when looked at through a different light if you catch my drift.

BetaDude4012/6/2014, 3:01:48 AM10 votes

I like the comparison to Vietnam in your idea of Teemo. I'm not entirely sure why, but Bandle City seems to bear a few odd references to Vietnam occasionally.

For example, let's look at Rumble and Corki. Both of these champions are, obviously, heavily linked to Bandle City's military (Rumble may or may not have really joined, but his nationalism to Bandle City and the fact he developed his own battle mech seem to say so.)

Isn't it strange how both of these champions have interesting mechanics on their abilities? For example, look at Corki's W, Valkyrie. He flies higher, goes straight forward and leaves behind a trail of fire. Similarly, look at Rumble's ultimate, where he launches surface-to-surface rockets that leave behind fire.

Compare that to Vietnam again. During Vietnam, the US undertook a campaign called Operation: Rolling Thunder. It was a massive, wide-scale bombing campaign all across the jungles of Vietnam, where they dropped more bombs than all bombs dropped by both sides during WWII combined. The primary agent of destruction in the US arsenal? Napalm

What does Corki do? He flies a helicopter that drops napalm bombs (or some other incendiary weapon) What about rumble? He fires rockets loaded with the same flammable material Corki has, AND he has a flamethrower

Corki also flies a helicopter. Vietnam is famous for being one of the first wars where helicopters were used very heavily in both troop transport and direct assault, where the US had massive carriers dedicated to servicing helicopters

I'm kind of interested in learning more about what Bandle City's military is like. I imagine that, although they may not be as advanced as Zaun or Piltover, they probably have the most powerful air force on Veloran. (As the only champion to use an aerial vehicle is Corki, and Rumble is the only other vehicle pilot in the entire game)

kitcat30012/6/2014, 3:01:42 AM9 votes

Some dualism in is quotes would be cool. Movement quotes could be happy/cheerful. Attacking quotes could be dark/violent.

UomoAfide12/6/2014, 12:07:31 AM8 votes

So.... basically speaking, Teemo is the Yordle version of Rambo

CupcakeTrap12/5/2014, 10:27:29 PM7 votes

Bandle City Psycho

A story about a yordle and his quest to return some hextech sensefilm reels.

I live in the Happy Friends Building on West 18th Street in Bandle City. My room’s on the third floor, which is the most expensive floor. Happy Friends has its own bakery, with a head chef whose cupcakes have been ranked first place in Valoran for the past six years, although I am sometimes concerned that the Sparklestar Bakery on 14th Street is catching up in the rankings.

My name is Teemo. I am 27 years old.

I believe in taking care of myself, and a well-frosted diet, and a rigorous exercise routine. In the morning, if my paws are a little sore, I’ll wrap them in chilled blueflower compresses while doing my jumping jacks. I can do a thousand now. After I remove the compresses, I moisturize my paws with a softening moss balm. I always wait at least five minutes before handling anything, to ensure the balm soaks in fully.

After my exercises, I go for a swim. While in the water I scrub my face with a cleansing berry scrub containing little or no sunberry, because sunberry bleaches your fur and makes you look older. I rinse thoroughly, then shake off as much water as possible before resorting to a towel, with which I carefully pat myself dry. Only when I am completely dry do I apply first a coat-glosser and then a final moisturizing protective lotion.

There is an idea of a Teemo, some kind of abstraction. But there is no real me: only an entity, something illusory. And though I can hide my cold gaze, and you can shake my paw and feel soft fur snuzzled against yours, and maybe you can even sense we have similar tastes in baked goods, I simply am not there.

Wise Squirrel12/6/2014, 2:08:33 AM6 votes

I'll be the person so said it, someone has to.

Odds are he is going to be Retconned.

He will be the Bandle City King (King of the Yordles), be released with a Visual Update with a big white beard and his lore will be composed of an entire sentence. His voice will probably also be replaced with a manly one (His model will look way more buff). Veigar will also be retconned into an evil yordle sorcerer who's only purpose in this world is to launch a new LoL event where players will have the grand chance to receive brand new avatars (Teemo face, or Veigar face, which team are you on summoner?).

The rest of Teemo's background will be hidden...behind Riot technical difficulties.

I am looking forward to it! Tear falls down cheek

General Keith12/6/2014, 5:59:34 AM5 votes

Additionally, he may have not let ALL of his emotions go. He has a hinted relationship with Tristana whom he fought with. Which gives them an even deeper relationship. I don't think he let go of his humanity entirely or he wouldn't see Tristana like that.

57740961_DEL12/6/2014, 8:39:03 PM3 votes

Aren't Yordles driven to insanity from isolation? If so, how come Teemo asks for solo missions? Wouldn't that affect him negatively?

FluxBound12/6/2014, 1:32:17 AM3 votes

I stopped at "give teemo some love"

Paradrakor12/6/2014, 5:00:50 AM3 votes

I wish I could make lcs bigplays with teemo

Narasimha12/6/2014, 12:36:42 AM3 votes

His lore also says that he abandoned his emotions so that he isn't burdened when he kills people. That clearly screams of someone that doesn't have a full grasp on reality.

Alright, let me stop you right there. Are you saying that all our men and women serving on the front lines are unhinged, are psychotic? Because the fact of the matter is, that is what you have to do. You accept that you have to take someone's life. But you still do it. Because in the end, its either you, or them. Or worse, its them, or a squadmate.

LordVeral12/6/2014, 8:10:47 PM1 votes

curious of what the point here is...do you want new lines for when he's in combat? I also saw your "re-imagining" and i see you complain about not having any dirt there...well make all champions gritty then since if you look at someone like darius...his armor looks polished, axe freshly sharpened etc. Also pretty sure that teemo has a backpack in the game and that's where he takes the mushrooms from (i don't play teemo, correct me if i'm wrong)

Teemo, imo doesnt need any changes

ƒæµ12/6/2014, 7:50:50 AM1 votes

Nice thread buddy. I have been a Teemo main since S1, he was beginner friendly but also The Rain Man was a Teemo only player and he was rank 1 in NA for a long time and that inspired me to stick with I'm because although simple, he was advanced and nearly unbeatable if mastered. It has been too long since Riot gave this champ some love.

As for the lore. I always kind of imagined Yordles to be the hobbits of League of legends; and Bandle City was similar to The Shire. At least, that's how I pictured it. I do not think he needs any type of over haul rework. His appearance and skill set match the lore pretty well IMO, and the fact that he is so cute and trolly, yet a beast in battle is pretty accurately represented already. (minus the beast in battle because he does need some sort of a buff). I would like some sort of new skin to maybe better represent that side of him you talk about but the champ as a whole doesn't need to be changed. :) Teemo