Demons in Valoran; Tahm Kench, Shaco and Jericho Swain
So with the arrival of Tahm Kench many questions popped up about him, one in particular being "what the hell is he?". He looks like a catfish, talks with a particular accent, and wears two coats sewn in to one. Overall he's pretty enigmatic, but Riot's actually already told us what he is.
Tahm Kench is infact a demon, a river demon specifically.
When the original River King video was released it struck me that the word demon was used. Demon has had VERY limited use in the game, being used only in two places as far as I remember; Shaco's title and in one of Swain's jokes. I'd never really considered that demons could be a thing in Runeterra, and now with actual confirmation that Mr. Kench is a legit Demon, I can't help but be taken aback, particularly when thinking about Shaco and Swain.
http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20141015120139/leagueoflegends/images/a/af/Shaco_OriginalSkin.jpg
Shaco's been known as the Demon Jester for years now, so the possibility for him being a demon was probably never that big of a deal, but for me I never considered the implications. I always passed Shaco off as a mysterious man, some malevolent entity, something mysterious, but with this new information that demons do exist in Runeterra, then it suddenly puts Shaco in to a space; Shaco might just straight up be a demon, and "Demon Jester" is just a really literal title. In a way Shaco is quite similar to Mr. Kench; they're both mysterious, sinister entities, they both interact with people in dubious ways; they both have some feature of their personality contrasting to who they truly are. Shaco and Tahm are both murderers, and both do it with pleasure. Shaco does it seemingly just because he likes killing, while Tahm just loves to eat, to the point of being philosophical about it.
I know this is an old and tired thing but bare with me here! If we look at the seven deadly sins we- no wait come back! I swear it's not what you think!
Jokes aside Tahm and Shaco do represent sins in someway. Tahm of course representing sins like greed and gluttony, if being philosophical about hunger wasn't a big enough indicator, while Shaco represents sins not strictly tied with those we associate as the "seven deadly sins". Murder, cruelty and deception are things we as people would say are pretty sinful, and things Shaco indulges in. Tahm does this as well, I mean his whole thing is deceiving people with a charming voice and alluring propositions, only to eat them or their friends and family later. If we consider that Tahm is a river demon and Shaco is the "Demon Jester" then it's possible that demons in Runeterra are entities which are born from "evil" and are as such more like a negative force than creatures from hell.
To put it in to perspective; imagine Tahm as being the incarnation of all the evil things people have done in rivers. People being drowned or otherwise disposed of in rivers is the obvious one of course. Those negative feelings manifest in to Tahm, who is essentially the evil of the river and the things that go in it. As Tahm says "Water forgets the names of the drowned."; the river water cares not for whatever bodies are dumped in to it, so why should Tahm? Shaco's something a bit different, as he's much closer to humans than Tahm is. Shaco is more of a literal manifestation; he is the physical embodiment of decieving and murdering someone. Jesters and clowns are what are associated with being funny and comical (even though some folks find them creepy), and Shaco represents the ultimate joke involved in betrayal; the final backstab. The demon jester manifested as a jokster, a deciever and a liar because of the capacity of human beings to betray one another. Or so I'd like to think. This might all be bollocks.
http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100930194920/leagueoflegends/images/d/d1/Swain_OriginalSkin.jpg
So then there's Swain, a dude who despite being a character who's been very involved in lore in the past, is still an enigma. He just kinda hobbled in to war one day and quickly rose through the ranks. Of all the champions in the game Swain is the one who's powers have never properly been explained, and his motives were never truly made clear. One thing's for certain; he can turn in to a demonic raven.
Swain has always been an enigma, but the idea of him being a demon never really crossed me. Again, like Shaco; a mysterious, malevolent man. He was once a part of the Black Rose but to what extent we don't know. He's been involved in wars and is intelligent and cunning, much like a raven. One thing I remember strongly now is a line from Boram Darkwill that Sion just barely remembers before slipping back in to a haze of death in his extended lore.
"SION. BEWARE RAVENS."
This is a memory that is likely centuries old, from a time when Boram and Sion were still alive. Boram knew of Swain back then, knew of the ravens, enough to warn his close friend Sion to watch out if they ever appeared. Of course Swain being around then isn't a big stretch considering LeBlanc and Boram have and had lived for centuries, but Boram tells Sion to beware of ravens. Not Swain, or anyone in particular. Ravens are just bad apparently. It's this that leads me to believe that Jericho Swain himself is some kind of raven demon.
When LeBlanc and Swain have their little chat about Sion, it's Swain who is in control. He sought out the Black Rose, they didn't offer him any deal like they did with Boram. Swain says that they "Have his favor" as if they were supposed to be in his good graces. I feel like LeBlanc knows of Swain's true identity and agenda, enough so that she's willing to try and get close to him so she can either undermine him later or get power from him when she's curried enough favor from him.
But how could he manifest? If he's a demon in the way I've described my thoughts on how such things come to be, then how did Swain come to be? Ravens are birds that are heralded as bad omens. They're associated with things like war and death, and I believe Swain is a manifestation of that. He originates from the conflict between Noxus and Demacia specifically, being born from the death and destruction surrounding their endless struggle against one another. Noxus is the land where the strong always triumph and for Swain, having the cunning and intelligence akin to a raven, was able to move his way through the ranks, growing in power and gaining great influence. Where will it take him? Well it's taken him to High Command and to the seat of the Grand General. What this demon plans next is anyone's guess, but I feel like he's making plans to become even greater, gain even more power.
And how will he do that? The same way he always has. In the same manner as he was born.
Through war and strife.
Well that went on for a while. This was something that's been on my mind for a couple of days and I wanted to get it down and see what people thought. I feel like I ended up making this be way more about Swain than I intended but eh, whatever, it's Swain, the guy's amazing!
So anyway I want to know, what do you guys think? What do you think about demons in Runeterra? Who do you think could actually be a demon? Where do they come from? What do they want?
.. Probably demons too
and his Shrooms
looks like a demon,so it felt a bit like they didn't want to use the word demon just to be original or to avoid confusions with shacos title.
Now it makes me wonder even more, about what is Jax...
Could he be a demon? And if so, why, and how...
He has always been so mysterious, and the closest thing that might look like him that we've ever seen are Trundle and the trolls, and the good old Manbacconian Shopkeeper, 'Bob', maybe.
Though, he doesn't seem as sinister as the other demons/supposedly demons. Perhaps that's just what we think. Maybe he has some kind of a hidden demonic nature? Maybe his thirst for brawling, dueling and fighting was born out of something greater... After all, there must be a reason why, in his splash art on the website, there's a mysterious, Darkin-like figure seen standing behind him, right?
Khorne
Slaanesh
Tzeentch
