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Looking back on Tahm Kench's lore

Sir Poodle·1/7/2017, 8:35:46 AM·6 votes·2,510 views

So, looking at the Q&A, there's lots of little details that stuck out to people-

His is tied to the foibles of mankind-- and his current form is especially tied to vices of Bilgewater. This is not to say he has feed on things before man-- only that he existed differently before we provided him with sustenance.

Tahm Kench is the name commonly given this spirit in Bilgewater. The real question is what is the gambler's name.

If I can answer a question with a question. Who's despair is Tahm eating in the story? How is his bargain causing the maximum amount of sorrow? Yep he could show up in a town and just start eating people, but that wouldn't provide him with meal he wants. Also -- he's a picky eater.

Tahm knows many of the champs-- both as fellows and adversaries. Certainly all of the Yordles have encountered him at various times.

You could say Tahm taught himself, but it was more evolutionary than that. He developed the ability as his prey did.

There is an ocean of darkness in every man's soul.

Like many things about Tahm think of a river metaphorically.

Tahm tastes and spits out everything in the game. He's a creature of very specific tastes.

What is the gambler's character flaw?

Is The Gambler separate from Tahm?

We look at a lot of Jungian archetypes when making champs and look for areas they overlap, with the assumption that is fertile ground for us to explore and find something resonate.

This gambler is a part of this form of this demon's story. Remembering that "Tahm Kench" is one of this demon's many names.

and

Correct. You also win a cookie.

to

Basically, what ate the gifts, the guests, the house, was the Gambler's addiction to gambling?

My question is, "what exactly is Tahm Kench?" because I really don't entirely understand. Putting it all together, he's certainly not strictly physical in nature. Does he exist as a separate entity at all, or merely a metaphor? Is he a demon in the sense of a malevolent entity, but he's not actually a cat-fish with two coats? Assuming either of the above, then what got the gambler out of the bind? A vice doesn't really make sense for saving him, even if we accept the teleportation (to a "palace of chance," no less) as a metaphor, how could a hunger for dice and cards possibly help him if he's already being chased?

Thank you to anyone who explains.

19 Comments

Sharjo1/7/2017, 2:21:55 PM9 votes

Tahm Kench is for all intents and purposes a demon. Demons in the League universe aren't truly physical entities as they originate from the spirit world, but they can physically manifest and in Tahm Kench's case he does so to tempt humans in to succumbing to their vices. Tahm Kench himself is a river demon and exists more so as a malevolent pressence within rivers, but when he does manifest he takes upon an appearance and demeanour befitting of his current environment, which is why he looks like he does now and why he talks the way he does; Tahm Kench, in name and form, is tailored around the vices of Bilgewater and its people.

Tahm's shtich is that he offers "transport" for people to a new life, giving them the chance to start a fresh, or get what they truly want. Like I said before, Tahm Kench's true form is like a pressence within a river itself, and he encompasses all of that river, not just a part. As such when he transports folks he does so by devouring them and then spitting them out somewhere else along the river. That's how Tahm's ult works; he goes non-physical and then remanifests somewhere else. The problem for those who take up Tahm's offer is that they "let him in", which allows Tahm to then influence their decisions later on as his pressence causes them to succumb to their own vices. Eventually they end up ruining their entire lives because of this, and the despair that follows is what Tahm Kench actually wants, because despair is the force by which he sustains himself.

In the case of the gambler (Whose name was Tahm Kench, that's where the demon got the name in Bilgewater), the Gambler got what he wanted; a fresh start, a new life, but the demon's influence made him succumb to his own greed. When you look at the River King video, Tahm goes on about how "It ate the gifts, and house, and gold", this is the gambler's greed which the demon is feeding in to. These aren't the things that the demon actually wants, it's the despair that came after the gambler's greed finally brought about his wife's death.

Tahm's super ancient, predating humanity levels of ancient. He's had many names and taken on many forms over the years, something he'll likely keep doing for a long time yet until someone figures out how to stop him.

Hopefully I explained that somewhat reasonably. If you've got any other questions or just want me to clarify what the sod I just said, go for it.

Bunb0t1/7/2017, 9:31:49 AM3 votes

I always assumed he was a physical manifestation of greed and avarice

Whyte Lyon1/7/2017, 10:18:51 AM2 votes

Disclaimer: i dont have the answer to your specific question but here is my take on the behind the scenes of why TK has weak lore atm.

Have you ever noticed that TK doesn't have any colour text? Where as all champs and reworks released after him did?

Well during Tahm's release the lore team had lots of internal difficulties around the time when they retconned the old lore. They had big plans which put TKs extra lore on hold but due to unforeseen problems the bios and stories for champs from about Vel'koz until TK had very little to weak lore explaining their characters.

These "unforeseen issues" proved to be very difficult for Riot and they were forced to create new approaches time and time again for the community to get easily accessible lore. In TK case the only way to learn more about him is from his Q&A on Reddit.

Obviously this should all be fixed now with the Universe site up an running. Even some of the champs that were effected received more lore eg. Yasuo, Ekko, Rek'sai and every new champ/ rework since last year. But TK, Bard, Vel'koz and Gnar (hell even Aatrox) have yet to be fully remembered. Perhaps with good reason, perhaps not... who knows.

GenoXx1/7/2017, 6:09:53 PM1 votes

I was wondering this same damn thing....Like it doesnt make sense to me......Does tahm exist or not? Is he a fish monster? Is he disembodied? How can someone even communicate with this guy. The lore makes it seems like he's just imaginary and doesnt exist.

Berserknurple1/8/2017, 6:04:10 PM1 votes

It's alluded to in the story that Tahm didn't literally eat anything, the Gambler's addiction is what destroyed him, his home, and his wife.

In fact, the only thing Tahm himself is described as physically devouring is the Gambler's wife. I think this is very important, because we know Tahm Kench took his name from the Gambler. I think that Tahm is possessing the physical body of the Gambler, hence his clothes, the way he looks and talks, all related to the Gambler and his home of Bilgewater. That moment when his wife begged him to stop, but he manipulated her into allowing him "one last time" is when the Demon truly took over Tahm Kench. The Gambler might even still be in there somewhere, feeding Tahm with more despair as he's forced to watch victim after victim fail like he did.

Eternal7911/8/2017, 6:07:01 PM1 votes

Tahm seems sort of like a fishy demon version of Thresh to me. Both Tahm and Thresh strive to take advantage of weakness in mortals, albeit in different ways.