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[Diving Deeper]: The River King

Keagn·6/19/2015, 10:31:45 PM·3 votes·2,509 views

######(Originally posted in Skin/Champion Concepts, but apparently people thought this location would be more appropriate)

Hello Boards! In this discussion you will see me ranting and speculation on the possible nature of The River King. This will include Lore, Abilities, and possibly Interactions as well. Feel free to continue down river if you don't feel like looking deeper into this, figured I'd share the collective speculation though.

#Lore

From what we can tell, The River King is a semi-humanoid, amphibious creature accustomed to the aquatic lifestyle. He is likely ancient, or at the very least has been around long enough to know his way around, and to become legend. Its origins are likely of Runeterra, as it does not resemble creatures typical of the void. The creature's body is large, possibly for buoyancy, and has two arms with clawed hands, as well as two legs. Its face is catfish like with the protrusions of his face, one of which has a decorative band on it. His mouth is large enough to hold a young man or woman, and forms a sort of Cheshire grin, and his long tongue is strong and large enough to be used similar to an octopus's arm. The River King wears a large coat and hat, either suggesting that he was once human, or dresses as such to draw the attention of man. His skin is slick, and patterned in curved markings and swirls of sorts. What we know most about The River King is his siren voice, and lure of deals. His repayment doesn't stop at material wealth, but perhaps he demands things of a different kind of value for his payment, as he ate the gambler's bride. He reminds me a of the Shadow Man from "The Princess and The Frog", both in appearance and behavior/sound. He could be a spirit like Maokai/Bard, but this is currently unclear.

(He reminds me of Kog'Maw's lore and how he lured Malzahar into the Void, but I do not think the two are connected.)

#Tahm Kench, the River King

It is confirmed that our slippery friend here will be a tanky support, with the potential of solo laning (watch out Urgot).

http://news.cdn.leagueoflegends.com/public/images/pages/2015/tk/img/TK_Splash_WP.jpg

#Abilities

Since Tahm Kench as been revealed, we have significantly more information. Turns out, we weren't too terribly far off! We weren't incredibly close either, but let's check out how cool this guy is!

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Z0eE6Un14a8/VYmhnWaDAHI/AAAAAAAAEPo/NdzcAWnbf-M/s1600/TK_Passive.png

#Passive: An Acquired Taste

http://news.cdn.leagueoflegends.com/public/images/pages/2015/tk/video/TK_P.webm

Tahm Kench applies a stack of An Acquired Taste to all enemy champions he hits with basic attacks or damaging abilities. Once he’s applied three stacks, he can interact with them… differently.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jaSuG5B4oZc/VYmhnVptHiI/AAAAAAAAEPU/kMyDTn0AWIs/s1600/TK_Q.png

#Q: Tongue Lash

http://news.cdn.leagueoflegends.com/public/images/pages/2015/tk/video/TK_Q.webm

Tahm Kench roots himself briefly while launching his tongue in a target direction. Tongue Lash stops once it hits a target, damaging and slowing minions and monsters, while damaging and slowing enemy champions unless they have three stacks of An Acquired Taste - then he stuns them instead.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MNl70jHSsps/VYmhn3Ess-I/AAAAAAAAEPg/ZeRUpgfah_M/s1600/TK_W.png

#W: Devour

http://news.cdn.leagueoflegends.com/public/images/pages/2015/tk/video/TK_W.webm

Tahm Kench briefly swallows a nearby targeted unit. Enemies suffer a portion of their max health as magic damage. In addition:

  • Minions and monsters: Once Tahm Kench Devours an enemy minion or monster, he can reactivate the ability to spit them out in a target direction. They deal damage to whoever they hit.
  • Allied Champions: When Tahm Tahm Kench devours an allied champion, he renders his ally immune from damage and gains extra movement speed when he heads toward enemy champions. Both Tahm Kench and his edible ally can choose when the latter leaves.
  • Enemy Champions: Tahm Kench can only Devour enemy champions once he’s applied three stacks of An Acquired Taste to them. His movement speed is drastically reduced while enemy champs - who suffer greatly reduced vision and can only see things immediately around the River King - are in his belly.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dpPO5_hKwaU/VYmhnTGvFAI/AAAAAAAAEPQ/aSbT7sF58k4/s1600/TK_E.png

#E: Thick Skin

http://news.cdn.leagueoflegends.com/public/images/pages/2015/tk/video/TK_R.webm

Passive: All damage Tahm Kench takes is turned into grey health. Once he leaves combat, the grey health falls off, healing him for a portion of the amount of grey health he’s earned. Active: Tahm Kench converts his grey health into a shield that quickly falls off.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kv5_2qGuNUk/VYmhoGCB7ZI/AAAAAAAAEPk/R-jsmW5ulus/s1600/TK_R.png

#R: Abyssal Voyage

http://news.cdn.leagueoflegends.com/public/images/pages/2015/tk/video/TK_R.webm

Passive: All of Tahm Kench’s damage scales with his maximum health. **Active: ** Tahm Kench opens his maw, offering an ally a spot inside his belly. Once they jump in, or once Tahm Kench decides he’s diving solo, he starts channeling, conjuring a whirlpool beneath him before diving in, reappearing a few seconds later at his target location. Abyssal Voyage has a huge range, but the ability is pretty well telegraphed by its lengthy cast.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IieDViEk9pw/VYmhS-KMbTI/AAAAAAAAsDk/mkZRqV8QO_A/s640/Promo_TK_Reveal_Comic.png

14 Comments

Variks the Loyal6/19/2015, 10:41:30 PM1 votes

I think he's an animal mutated by the Rune Wars, assuming the Rune Wars are still a thing (Which could be an easy explanation for all of the anthropomorphic animals around).

After his mutation, he likely lived below the waters of Bilgewater, which is where he picked up his New Orleans-esque personality and outfit.

GreenLore6/20/2015, 12:17:27 AM1 votes

Actually I think it isn't unlikely for him to be from the void,considering that his lore about how he wants to satisfy his hunger,which is a common theme among all the void creatures(cho'gath eats to grow,kog'maw eats out of curiosity,kha'zix evolves when he eats stuff,rek'sai is said to have an insatiable hunger and even vel'koz more or less consumes others while he analyzes them).

Since Rek'sai is known to be pretty ancient,it would be easily possible for him to adapt to runeterras life style.

Astropanda6/21/2015, 9:55:03 AM1 votes

I'm going out on a limb and say his ultimate will involve devouring a champion for a short period of time like Stitches gorge in HOTS. The slowing ability on his Q I really hope he lashes at people with his tongue. o_0

Lore wise he just comes off as a malevolent spirit or entity native to the waters of the world the River Devil would be a more fitting title. Really hope he's just always been there and isn't the product of the void, the Shadow Isles or whatever else making him kind of a unique being in the world.

Noctius286/22/2015, 9:45:13 AM1 votes

Finally a speculation kit post!

ok here are some ideas, both gathered from the interwebs and my own

(Note: I am abysmally bad with numbers so adjust as necessary) Not good with cooldowns so handle yourself

Crowd Control Tank

Passive1: River King: Tamm leaves a trail of water behind him, any ally (including himself) that walks on it get +5% Movement speed Passive2 : Hunger: Tamm gets permanent +1 armor and +1 magic resist for each 5 small creature, +5 health on champion kill or assist passive3 : Debt paid: Tamm has a deal with his teammates, every time one of them dies near him he heals for 10/15/20% of his max health (ulti ranks)

Q: Taste: Tamm whips his tongue in a line, dealing more damage at the tip and slowing enemies hit Range: 450 damage: 30/55/80/105/130 + 0.7 (Tamms) max hp, slow: -20% movement speed cost: 7/12/20/30/45 hp

W: Siren: Tamm sings in an area, charming all enemies caught in it range: 100/125/160/200/300 damage: 0 Charm: 0.5 seconds Cost: 0

E: Invite: Tamm dashes to a target, dealing damage and stunning in the area Distance: 500 damage: 20/45/70/95/120 + 0.5 (Tamms) max hp Stun: 0.2/0.3/0.4/0.5/0.7 cost: 10/15/20/35/50 hp

R: Let me in: Tamm swallows an enemy champion for a few seconds dealing damage, if the enemy dies he heals for 20% of the enemies max hp, if not he spits him out (enemy is untargetable by all other characters during) Range: 100/120/150 damage: 20/50/100 + 0.2 (Tamms) max hp per second Duration: 2/5/8 seconds Cost: 5/7/10% bonus hp

I know some of the numbers might be way off but I would like to discuss the abilities more than the numbers if possible

Noctius286/22/2015, 10:23:46 AM1 votes

Loose abilities that probably won't work but would be cool regardless

Deal: Tamm makes a deal with an allied champion, Ally gets 30% bonus xp and gold but Tamm takes 10% off all gold income from that champion

No place I can't go: Tamm dashes to an Allied champion/ward/minion or tower within 3500 range

Bind release: Tamm eats an allied champion, making him untargetable for the duration and healing him for % of tamms max health

Apologies: Tamm charms a single enemy to fight for him (with reduced stats) for 2/3/5 seconds

Snap: Tamm bites in a line in front of him, dealing damage and slowing the target for X seconds

Swim: Tamm creates a water area around him, slowing targets in it and giving him 50% increased movement speed

Your Hungers: Tamm swallows a target, gaining 50% of the targets stats for the duration (target is invulnerable for the duration)

Rivers flow; Tamm changes all his scallings to fit the flow (ad/ap/hp)

The fool: Tamm creates a decoy worth 1000 gold (removed from Tamms gold income) anyone who takes it is visible to Tamm for the next 5 minutes and Tamm can dash to him at any point

A Deal Taken: Tamm marks an enemy, giving both him and the marked target a 50% hp boost for the duration but they take reduced damage from each other (50% damage reduction), and the target is visible to Tamm for the duration

Time to Pay: Tamm takes away the targets highest stat by 50% for the duration (Ap or AD)

Godchaser6/22/2015, 11:20:33 AM1 votes

I only have some loose ideas, so nothing concrete here...

  1. Somehow I feel like he'll have OP movement speed (or other buffs) in the river (as his passive?) (makes sense, right?)

  2. I go along with the "carrying allies around" idea too! Too OP to be anything less from his ult, I suppose.

  3. His slow will either be from his tongue (popular option, I see), or from spitting muddy water.

  4. If he's into making deals so much, there must be some kind of ally/enemy-interaction that involves gold. So either he buffs something in exchange for gold, or he just steals gold passively from enemies by whipping them with his tongue (your e ,I guess, having an active and passive)

That's about it for now, but I like it! Great post!

GreenLore6/22/2015, 3:27:15 PM1 votes

I think it is really likely for him to have an ult,where he swallows a champion and is able to carry them around for a bit,because I remember that they once thought about giving Gnar this ult,but thought it didn't fit his kit and overall character,so it is easily possible that they moved this ult to the river king.

Keagn6/22/2015, 3:28:54 PM1 votes

Its cool checking out what all you guys have come up with! I've taken a few days to come up with my own, its not entirely complete yet, but feel free to check it out!

#Tamm, the River King

Passive: ?

Tamm

Q: Just a Taste

Tamm uses his tongue to get a taste of the enemy, dealing X physical damage and slowing them for Y seconds.

W: Siren's Gapper

Passive: Tamm receives 4/6/8/10% less damage from incoming auto attacks when his mouth is open.

Active: Tamm lets out a melodic sound in the area around him, causing enemies within a 400 unit radius, dealing X magic damage and causing enemies within the radius to be stunned for 1/1.25/1.5/1.75 seconds.

E: The River

Tamm creates a river in front of him that passes through terrain, lasting X seconds.

R: Let Me In

Passive: Tamm can travel through enemies, dealing X physical damage.

Active: Tamm stores an enemy or allied champion in his mouth for 3/5/7 seconds, causing his mouth to close, and causing him to be unable to use any of his abilities for the duration. Instead, each of Tamm's abilities will be replaced by a speed boost, each granting him 15/21/27% movement speed for three (3) seconds. If Tamm's target champion is an ally, that ally cannot be targeted for the duration of Tamm's Ultimate. If the champion is an enemy, they will take X damage per second for the duration. At the end of "Let Me In", Tamm spits out the champion, if the champion is still alive that is.

Some things may still be changed, I really think this guy will be a lot like Nunu/Kalista/Bard/Rek'Sai. Nunu for the eating, Bard/Rek'Sai for the traveling, and a Kalista-like passive/ult. I really think Noctius is on to something.

Keagn6/23/2015, 8:48:16 PM1 votes

#TAHM HAS OFFICIALLY BEEN REVEALED.

Will update soon™

Keagn6/23/2015, 9:26:05 PM1 votes

Still have some videos to put in, working with the formatting, but bear with me.

Also have his splash art here, with a jungle-y looking setting behind TK. Going by some of the locations in the outdated map, this could make him from Plague Jungles, or since he's the River King, the Howling Marsh (connected to the Serpentine River). Going to go on a limb here and say he's independent. More to come of course. There's a lot of speculation available for this guy.