Riot recently killed off one of our favorite characters in order to tell his story. However, he will return to us in new form soon™.
League of Legends champions are constantly getting reworked and new champs are always being introduced, but never before has a champion passed away. Just recently we lost a champ that was near and dear to us, the one and only Gangplank. He was taken from us abruptly by Riot in an effort to progress the story behind the legend.
Ok, so the champion is not actually dead… or at least we hope not. League of Legends actually was doing this to be clever in order to rewrite some of the lore behind the Gangplank character. Recently Riot has been promoting the Bilgewater Event to tell the story behind Gangplank and his arch-nemesis, Miss Fortune. In the story, Gangplank and his ship were actually taken down by the bounty hunter, Miss Fortune, and he was left to die with his crew. The lore of the game has never truly affected the game itself, so props to Riot for being creative with the storytelling of its characters.
For the time being though, Gangplank is unplayable and a message on screen tells us that Gangplank is in fact dead. Riot responded with some sarcasm and wit to the fans by saying, “Champion death is unprecedented in League of Legends, and we do not take it lightly. We encourage all Gangplank fans to remain calm for a few days until we can fully assess the situation. At this time, we are not addressing refund requests for him or his skins but please know that over the next several days we’ll do our best to make things right for everyone.”
Several Riot employees have joined in on the hoax in an effort to honor the champion:
A Riot Brasil se reuniu pra se despedir do GP. Ele vai, mas as histórias e saudade ficam pra sempre. #SomosTodosGP pic.twitter.com/gvsrSVdCoU
— Juliana Magno (@RiotFishbones) July 30, 2015
The memorial to #Gangplank grows. Sleep well with the (gold)fishes #rip #LeagueOfLegends pic.twitter.com/AMAKW5neGA — Juliet Nuzzo (@Riot_Razor) July 31, 2015
As most fans predicted, the champion will not actually remain dead. Gangplank actually just received a number of reworks making him viable even in the LCS. Not to mention the fact that he already has a Spooky Gangplank ghost skin that may have been a part of the character’s history. In a dialogue from the Bilgewater Event a voice claims, “He’s gone. It’s over,” and Miss Fortune replies, “No, not yet.” Riot released that at the end of the Bilgewater Event on August 10th, at 2:00 AM PDT, Gangplank will be resurrected in a completely new form (displayed in the featured image). Gangplank owners will be receiving not only a new skin for Gangplank, but the champion will also now sport a new metal limb in the place of the one he lost in the story. The new skin, Captain Gangplank will be reminiscent of the old Gangplank before the loss of his limb and all of his troubles.
Riot did a really good job on this by not only reworking a champion but also incorporating a kick-a** story with some pretty cool game modes. I’m actually sad to see the new ARAM mode go away if it leaves with the Bilgewater Event, and from what I have heard, Black Market Brawlers is a very entertaining game mode as well. I hope to see Riot using this same creativity with old and new characters in an effort to get users more hyped about their reworks in the future.
