What if Warwick is Doing Exactly What Singed Wanted Him to Do?

Ok, so the Warwick update is live on the PBE now, and I've provided a link for anyone who hasn't seen it yet to check it out. Gameplay-wise, I think he looks phenomenal; it maintains the simplicity and accessibility of old Warwick while adding a certain modernization and complexity to the champion that allows him to escape the binary and linear pattern that has plagued the champion in the ever changing world of League of Legends.

This is not a post about gameplay though. Rather, this is a discussion about the man Warwick was, the beast he's become, and the man who was behind it all, Singed.

I'll start relatively simply. The link provided below is to the "Engineering the Nightmare" short story that details Singed's experiments on Warwick to essentially create a monster.

http://universe.leagueoflegends.com/en_US/story/singed-thenightmare-story

So in this story, Singed performed countless heinous and unethical experiments designed to mutate Warwick into a monstrosity. But why? That seems to be the crucial factor in understanding why Singed would've done such a thing to not just one man, but at least 1088; Warwick was referred to as Subject #1088, so it's safe to assume that he has experimented on at least 1087 other individuals. But this is the piece that gives a clue as to Singed's goal.

>The metamorphosis will reshape the man into a chimeric predator, and all of Zaun will be its hunting grounds. >all of Zaun will be its hunting grounds.

Firstly, notice the noun shift from the man to it. This would indicate that Singed is fully aware that this experiment will deprive Warwick of his humanity, but it's quite possible that's exactly what he's hoping for. Think about this in context of what we've just seen on Warwick's page. The quote follows:

> “He is someone who in the past vaguely remembers doing good things, helping people, and it didn't work,” says narrative writer David “Interlocutioner” Slagle. “Zaun is so messed up that he couldn't make a difference.” His newfound power allows him to clean up the streets of Zaun through brutal violence.

So Warwick was a man who wanted to make things better. One who we can assume was a good Samaritan who tried to genuinely help those he saw in need, but we see that he failed due to the corruption that exists within Zaun. We can assume this is due to some criminal element because it must supersede his capabilities as a man to solve single-handedly. Notice the other part of the quote as well.

> His newfound power allows him to clean up the streets of Zaun through brutal violence.

It's safe to say that Warwick wanted to help before his mutation, but wasn't able to. Now, he has the means to change Zaun by using his mutation for bloody justice. It's probably safe to say that Warwick is doing this of his own accord; he clearly wanted to help, and now he can, albiet in a very different and more gruesome manner. What little bit of humanity remains in Warwick is the desire to make Zaun a better place; this is supported by the idea that he is "clean(ing) up the streets of Zaun," which we know is what he already wanted to do.

But what if Warwick is also fulfilling the wishes of Singed as well? Think about it like this:

>The metamorphosis will reshape the man into a chimeric predator, and all of Zaun will be its hunting grounds.

What's he hunting and why? Why would Singed make a monster and then just have it loose on the city to mindlessly kill whomever it pleases? Surely such a monster would return to him and take vengeance, or simply be mindless and kill him anyway. What makes Singed any different from another bystander? This can't be the case; we know that Singed worked meticulously, God only knows for how long, day and night working on this project, so surely he must have had an end goal beyond "I just want to make a monster to kill everyone." Singed is clearly brilliant, insanely crazy, but brilliant, so surely he must have some clear purpose for what he's doing.

So what would Singed have to gain from unleashing Warwick? This is all speculation at this point.

Let's begin with this knowledge: we know that Warwick is killing criminals, who are doing illegal things (obviously). Warwick had wanted to help clean up Zaun and help people, which he is now able to do. Is it possible Singed knew what Warwick wanted? What if Singed wants the same thing and can make Warwick able to do it for him?

> Only a disciplined eye could recognize the beast within, yearning for release. How could I refuse? For what is my work if not an attempt to reveal life’s hidden truths through science?

What if Singed saw not only the potential for Warwick to become a beast, but also his desire to rid Zaun of crime? What if Singed sought to help Warwick remove the criminal element while also furthering his own knowledge of genetics and science? It seems like a win-win scenario for Singed; if Warwick dies, which Singed thought he did for a while, then Singed still gains knowledge ("The only consolation is that even failure adds to the vast reservoir of knowledge."), and if Warwick lives and succeeds in his tasks, then Singed gains the benefit of both the knowledge and the riddance of the criminals.

I think that Singed would benefit from the removal of the criminal element of Zaun, regardless of his position in relation to it. Unless Singed is heavily involved with criminals, which seems rather unlikely given his rather extreme methods in experimentation and the fact that never mentions anyone helping him experiment in his notes. Singed would rather seem to be a lone wolf type of character, maybe associating with the Chem Barons who run Zaun. If Singed is indeed a lone wolf, then it would be possible that he would feel threatened by criminals, who would likely have some form of association similar to a mob. This would be safe to assume, given the fact that random acts of kindness were insufficient in making Zaun better from Warwick's standpoint. If Singed is alone, it's possible that he could be extorted or threatened by the criminals, who would almost certainly have a numbers advantage over him. If he's competing with them, then he would benefit from their removal and gain profit as well, further increasing his pros from going through with his experiments. If the reasoning is due to Singed having political ties, then It's probably safe to assume that the criminal element would likely be undermining the authority of the Barons, either through further their own interests or further the interests of one Baron over the others. If Singed is aligned with one specific Baron, then it would behoove him to ensure this Baron remains alive and powerful. If Singed is aligned with the Baron union as a whole, it would also behoove him to ensure the Barons remain in power by eliminating the criminals if possible. It would make sense to assume Singed is associate with the Barons due to his extensive knowledge and his ability to provide chemicals and drugs to the Barons, who could likely use it as a means of control and power.

Enter Warwick, who wants to do the same thing. Singed is aware of Warwick's desire to help people, and by brutal experimentation and torture, he gives Warwick everything he needs to be killer.

> Singed wasn’t trying to turn Warwick into a wolf specifically—he was gene-splicing. He put all sorts of hyper-monster DNA in there, and the result is something more akin to a chimera. Warwick has bat ears, a longer fox-like tail, and chemical machinery to tie him to Zaun.

Bat ears for keen hearing, canine (wolf and fox) DNA for tracking, agility, etc. These all act as indicators to show that Singed was interested in making the perfect killing machine, and obviously, he succeeded.

Singed knew what Warwick wanted, and he used Warwick to not only fulfill his desire for experimentation and knowledge, but also his desire to rid Zaun of criminals who threatened Singed himself. In a way, Warwick is doing Singed's dirty work for him without even realizing it. Everything is working exactly according to plan.