How do they work? A look at Aatrox, Bard, Tahm Kench and Kindred
So with Tahm Kench and Kindred, hell even Bard, there seems to be a bit of confusion about them because, in the canon, sometimes they're considered to be entirely fictitious. Flavour lore is what this is called; elements added to a world or story to give it more depth through the use of the in-universe perspective of things, but this can make it a bit complicated when the facts aren't laid out for the reader. So how do these beings work in the world itself, if they're little more than fairy tales to almost everyone who doesn't know better? Let's look at things.
So firstly, to clarify, Bard, Tahm Kench and Kindred all actually exist in the canon. They are real. To we as readers that's a given, but in the lore itself their existence is debated. Most will pass them off as folk legends or stories told to scare the kids, especially in the case of the latter two. The problem we have is that as readers we lack the information to know how they actually work in the universe beyond this, which can create confusion, so let's use a prior example to help us out!
Aatrox: How does he work? http://ddragon.leagueoflegends.com/cdn/img/champion/splash/Aatrox_0.jpg
Aatrox was a champion made in the era of long bios summarising the champion's history, which is seeing a return, but he's also of a similar nature to our three mystery enigmatic friends in the way he exists in the universe, so let's examine things:
What we as readers know:
-Aatrox is one of the Darkin, of which five remain and only three are known to history in any capacity. -Aatrox often intervenes in human conflicts, saving the losing side from what would have been a crushing defeat before leaving them to crush their adversaries. -He achieves the above by empowering the losing side with a mysterious power of his that inspires immense bloodlust. After a little bit of a push in the right direction they can continue without him. -Aatrox's first know appearance was during the conflict between two humans factions known as the Magelords and the Protectorate. He turned the tide for the Protectorate and then buggered off, but his influence remained until they won the war. -Aatrox has appeared in the history of Shurima, Freljord, Demacia, Noxus and Ionia, but his exact actions aren't well known as of yet. -Aatrox is heralded as a hero by all those he has ever aided.
What people in Runterra know:
-Nothing.
No one in Runeterra actually knows anything about Aatrox with the exception of a few scholars and Ezreal, and that's from them piecing things together without any clear direction as to where they were really going with this. From an in canon perspective Aatrox basically doesn't exist, and he is almost completely forgotten by the world, even among the people who he helped. His influence remains through iconography made to immortalize him, but beyond that? Nothing. Nada. Zero.
With the information we have as readers we know how Aatrox kinda works. He appears to turn the tide of war and then disappears. The mysterious surrounding him are more about his motives and species rather than how he actually exists. We know that both from both a narrative and in canon perspective. So let's take the above and apply it to the other champions.
Bard: How does he/it work? http://ddragon.leagueoflegends.com/cdn/img/champion/splash/Bard_0.jpg
So Bard was the first of these weird mysteries and probably the more clear cut of the lot. So let's go over things; What is Bard and what's he about?
What we as readers know:
-Bard is a celestial being that travels the various planes of existence that intersect with Runeterra. -Bard's goal is to keep the universe safe from destruction. He pays some special attention to Runeterra. -Bard works solely to stop major catastrophes from obliterating things entirely. A magic relic that's being used for chaos? Gotta remove that from the equation. Catastrophic event that could break the universe? Gotta go fix that shit. -Bard is super ancient and has appeared across many cultures with many different names. His current name was given to him by the Bards of the Mountain, and is not his first or only name. He might not even have a real name. He also lacks an identifiable sex. -Bard works in ways that aren't so easy to perceive for humans, and he doesn't actively work to save humans. It's not that he doesn't like or care about them at all, it's that universal integrity is higher on his priorities than human lives. -Bard travels the universe using a harmonic key, which he uses to create portals via the magical friction to travel to different realities. -Bard bore witness to the birth of the Shadow Isles, the Fall of Shurima and the Overthrowing of the Frozen Watchers, but his actions during those events are unknown. -Bard did something in Shurima. The exact nature is unknown but Nasus probably knows. Just sayin'. -If Bard talks to you, you'll know what he's talking about. If he's not, then you'll just here music.
What people in Runterra know:
-The Bards heralded him as a great caretaker and had some deal with him to safeguard an egg. They failed and Bard had to step in. -Bard is a being of immense power and influence. -The stars herald Bard's coming and going. -Beyond the Bards of the mountain, it is unknown what other cultures Bard has affected, both directly and indirectly, or how they view him.
In the canon, Bard is as mysterious as they come and, like Aatrox, is pretty much an enigma. Unlike Aatrox though, Bard is way more pronounced in his influence. He doesn't mess around and is right in there to fix things if shit hits the fan. Culturally, Bard is just as confusing to the people of Runeterra as he is us, if not more so, because they don't even have a couple of the answers we have about him.
An important detail about how Bard relates to the canon is that Runeterra physically reacts to his presence. As seen in both Bard: Mountain, the Wonder Above and in his pre-release teasers when Bard markings were all over the Rift, when Bard's doing something in Runeterra it's evident. The stars respond and places aligned with him react to his presence. I suppose you can think about it in the same way all the candles going out in a room when a spirit enters; but in Bard's case he's not putting out the candles, the candles put themselves out for Bard.
So to summarise “How does Bard work?”, he works like a universal agent – he gets magical messaging when he's needed, magical journey's his way in to save the day, and Runeterra gives magical messaging through places aligned with him to warn folks that Bard's dealing with shit.
Alright that was simple enough I guess. Or was it? I dunno, you tell me if that helped you understand Bard a little bit, but now let's get on to Kindred, because Tahm's a bit more complex so I'm saving him till last.
Kindred: How do they work? http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/leagueoflegends/images/a/a6/Kindred_OriginalSkin.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20150917025717
So Kindred is essentially Runeterra's grim reaper, but how do they operate? Let's examine shall we?
What we as readers know:
-Kindred is two entities: Lamb and Wolf. They were originally a single entity and are intrinsically linked to one another. -The main legend about Kindred is that a death was lonely as all things shunned him for being death, so he took an axe and split himself in two so he would always have a friend. -Kindred takes the same role (for all intents and purposes) that the Grim Reaper does in real life; ushering souls to the hereafter. They do this by killing people, which then delivers their souls to the afterlife of Runeterra. -Lamb represent accepting death and going peacefully. Wolf represents running from death and struggling before eventually dying. -Kindred does not appear physically in Runeterra in any capacity as far as we know. -Lamb is the more knowledgable and coordinated part of Kindred. Wolf is the instinctive and emotional part.
What people in Runeterra know:
-The legend of how Kindred came to be; this likely exists with different interpretations depending on where in Runeterra you are, but just about every culture in Runeterra has some form of legend concerning Kindred. -The mark of Kindred is a sign of death.
Alright this makes for a very weird existence here huh? Kindred doesn't physically appear in Runeterra, but still kills people? How the hell does that work? For this we have to go a little deeper, and look at some more tricky things: Kindred's “They are coming” teasers.
There were two main teasers released before the video where Lamb and Wolf talk to each other, and we all know them by now: The swirl and the twin masks. Why are these important? Well they give us context as to how Kindred actually works in Runeterra. Allow me to elaborate:
-The mark that appeared for the teaser is the Mark of the Kindred, and which is essentially the mark of death. -It appeared randomly on champions at any point in a match and could happen to anyone at any given time. -The twin masks appeared whenever a champion died. -Only one of the masks would ever appear; Lamb's or Wolf's. Not both.
So from this we can glean that Kindred exists beyond the physical realm, but the world still shows them working. To explain this I'll use an analogy from Harry Potter (I'm sorry but this is the only one I can remember to properly explain this)
In book three of the Harry Potter series, Harry has a fortune shown via tea leaves in a cup, which is known as Tessomancy or something. Fuck if I know. Anyway, the leaves showed a black wolf, which was a sign of danger and death in one's future, with the wolf itself being the symbol, providing it appeared in real life, that death was on its way. The details here might be a bit sketchy but it's been over a decade since I've read or seen Harry Potter so cut me some slack!
http://img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090407185401/harrypotter/images/e/ed/Tea_leaves_1.jpg
Now imagine yourself in Runeterra. You've got tea leaves at the bottom of your mug and you're like, “Huh, what a weird shape. It looks like two swirls. What could that mean I wonder?” and then you take it to your granny and say “Hey, anything special about this?” and then she starts crying because you've got the Mark of the Kindred and are doomed to die soon. This is how Kindred operates. Signs in the world, be they accidental or otherwise, act as omens of death that show Kindred is coming for your butt. In a way, Kindred's actual gameplay is essentially like the natural progression of your life; you were about to die, it's just you actually see Kindred killing you in game. In a spiritual kind of way Kindred probably exists everywhere and appears, like in their splash art, over the dead, coming to claim them.
If we draw back to the masks, the Lamb mask symbolised the person accepting death and Lamb taking them quickly and easily. The Wolf mask represents them resisting and trying to escape, to which Wolf hunts them down and kills them. Kindred is a hunter of souls; they take the dead either willing or unwilling, because that's their job. In reality the idea that they don't physically appear in Runeterra makes much more sense now; they're spirits hunting other spirits. They exist in a realm beyond the living one.
So hopefully that explained something decently, now on to the most complicated guy in the bunch (to me at any rate) Tahm Kench!
Tahm Kench: How does he work? http://ddragon.leagueoflegends.com/cdn/img/champion/splash/TahmKench_0.jpg
So, the River King, the Abyssal Maw, the Great Debt Collector, the Uncle of Despair, the...uh...Fuck I can't think of any good titles. Mr. Kench. What's up with him?
What we as readers know:
-Tahm Kench is the self titled River King; a river demon who is fairly infamous. -He is super ancient and predates humanity. He has appeared throughout history countless times. -Tahm Kench's thing is that he feasts on despair, and so makes bargains with people, offering them safe travel in exchange for that despair, which he collects later when he knows it'll be best. -Tahm Kench's current form is linked to Bilgewater, as is his name and current demeanour. This is not his true form, not his first form and certainly won't be his last. -Before lurking around Bilgewater he was stalking Yordles. Just about all Yordles know about him, but they probably don't know about his identity as Tahm Kench.
What people in Runeterra know:
-He's a mysterious, silver tongued monster who'll give you what you want, but take everything away from you later. -He's the River King, so you'll find him around the rivers. -Tahm Kench specifically is known in Bilgewater through the tale of the Handsome Gambler. He is known by a different name and face by the Yordles.
Right so what does that leave us with? Tahm's a being who isn't exactly the easiest to pin down, so what is he even? Well let's start with what we know: He's a demon. A river demon to be exact, and he feeds on despair. But what's that really get us? Not a whole lot, so let's look at the lore that introduced him to the canon: “The River King”, and the mysterious river laugh.
In the video we hear Tahm talking about the story of the Handsome Gambler, of which he was a part of. He was there, he met the Gambler, took him to a new life and then took it all away. But what can be gleaned from this? Things become clearer when we consider the laugh.
For those who didn't catch it; before Tahm Kench was introduced there was a thing that occurred on the Rift that was pretty creepy: when people died they would hear a mysterious, diabolical laugh. Now what's important here is that it didn't matter where in the river people died, they would still hear it. Now let's look back at The River King video: Tahm just came out of nowhere, singing a tune for the Gambler to hear. He snapped up the Gambler and conveyed him to a new location. He can do this in-game too! He then disappeared, only to return to claim his payment, and left by the river again. This indicates a great deal as to Tahm's actual nature as a river demon.
Considering his ability to be anywhere in the River at any time, and his dubious physicality in Runeterra, it stands to reason that Tahm's true form is actually a presence within the river itself. Let's reaffirm one of Tahm's most iconic lines:
*“Boy the world's one river, and I'm its king. Ain't no place I ain't been, ain't no place I can't go again.” *
Other variations include: “All the world's a river, and I'm its king.”, “Every river ends in me!”, “The river never stops!” and so on.
If we consider Tahm as a presence/force within a river as opposed to being a physical entity, then things begin to add up more. His form can change because it's a construct made by this force. He can be anywhere he wants, go anywhere he wants, because he is in the river, but let me stress this; Tahm is not physical and is not bound by physics or conventions. He is a demon. When I say he's “in the river”, think of it being that he haunts the river; that he is a part of the entire river. The only thing keeping him in check is that he seems to be stuck haunting on particular river at a time, since not all rivers actually link up.
BUT WAIT! They do! Via the sea.
The demon we know as Tahm Kench inhabits rivers and likely uses the seas as a means of travelling from place to place. He looks for places where he might feast on the greatest despair, and goes there. Before he preyed on Yordles, likely due to their mentality and social nature making them good candidates for people to drive to despair, but now he's gone for Bilgewater. Why? Well not only is it a hive of scum and villainy for a lot of the time but it's also had some recent tragedies, ten of them to be exact (I hope I'm right in that it's actually ten): The Harrowings. The amount of despair in a place beget by the forces of death itself? It's a veritable buffet just waiting to be chowed down on, but it's not that easy for Tahm, after all, he's a river demon, not a get up in your grill and smack you silly demon. How's he gonna entice people to get their despair?
Well this is where the story of the handsome gambler comes in to play. Remember the last line of The River King?
“So cry all you want boy, 'cuz you had a chance to walk away! Instead you're the fool, the fool who let me in!”
If you already get what I'm about to say just from that, hats off to you good sir! If not then I'll kindly elaborate for you. Tahm made his deal with the gambler and made his life hell after giving him everything. This is a legend that is now well known in Bilgewater. This legend's existence is what Tahm refers to when he talks about being let in. In this context, he specifically means Bilgewater. The Gambler's tale told the people about Tahm, it told them about his existence. It opened the door for Tahm so now he exists in their culture. People know about him, people think about him, and people fear him. But humans are stupid. Some people might believe whatever they desire is worth a bargain with Tahm Kench. Some might be idiotic enough to believe they could just best him in a fight, but regardless of what they think Tahm was let in to their lives. The door was opened and now folks will come and find Tahm on their own, and they'll bring their despair with them.
To summarise Tahm; he's a presence that exists in rivers and can manifest a physical form to interact with people. The legend of the Handsome Gambler was the thing that allows Tahm to haunt Bilgewater so well, as now people know about him and some will risk coming to have a bargain with him.
Ok so hopefully that all made sense to somebody. I made this because I've seen people complaining about getting all these weird mystery champions that might not even exist, so I figured something like this might be worth writing up to expand on the intricacies of their lore and better explain their existences. Of course this could all be bollocks but eh, it's always fun to do!
A final word though folks – EVERYTHING can count as lore. When you search for answers don't be afraid to look at the barest of teasers to find your answers, I mean hell this entire thing involved me talking about the pre-release lore and Summoner's Rift teasers for Bard, Tahm Kench and Kindred so hopefully you'll find some merit in a bit of deeper digging.
Thanks for reading!
EDIT:
As was requested I'm adding links to videos (courtesy of Surrender@20) showing the Summoner's Rift teasers I discussed:
Bard - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGITvTPFLu4 Tahm Kench - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoNdEy0nVCg Kindred - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNKgLFaRrrg
, sadly I really only have the "Journey to the west" story to get me to feel in character since Wu's lore is very vague aside from the parts taken from that story and altered to fit the game. Like how he was named Wukong by Yi in honor of him learning Wuju style. That alone kind of confuses me since He doesn't have any moves like Yi and his kit is mostly based on him being a magic stone monkey. What exactly in his kit is considered Wuju style?
directly encounter 
and make him who is today? That means 
