Works on the male faces.

It doesn't really work on female faces and ends up in the valley. (Because the jaw line.)

But very impressive.

(I would be curious to see what works with a female "driving video.")

Yeah... he was not the easiest character to pitch to our department heads and owners. (Though our PO Omar was onboard really quick) But actually a lot of Tahm's theming and personality was me trying to find a middle-ground between what Game design (The talented Daniel Klein) was leaning towards (an evil demon that eats you) and what Concept Art (The talented Chris Campbell) was leaning towards (a comedic big mouth character). While Chris got the basic image down (which Gem Lim then polished) I began wandering around the office doing the voice and accent with the catch phrase. "Now, I would hate be loquacious in my preambulatory..." while writing short stories. And Chris saw the character was more fun with an undercurrent of threat, while Daniel saw he could have the demon he wanted with comedy... while he was also realizing Tahm could be fun with an ally consume. (Which we called his APC ability at the time). And then it all sorta jelled. (Excluding a long fought battle to ...

WAAAARGHbobo

Yeah... he was not the easiest character to pitch to our department heads and owners. (Though our PO Omar was onboard really quick) But actually a lot of Tahm's theming and personality was me trying to find a middle-ground between what Game design (The talented Daniel Klein) was leaning towards (an evil demon that eats you) and what Concept Art (The talented Chris Campbell) was leaning towards (a comedic big mouth character). While Chris got the basic image down (which Gem Lim then polished) I began wandering around the office doing the voice and accent with the catch phrase. "Now, I would hate be loquacious in my preambulatory..." while writing short stories. And Chris saw the character was more fun with an undercurrent of threat, while Daniel saw he could have the demon he wanted with comedy... while he was also realizing Tahm could be fun with an ally consume. (Which we called his APC ability at the time). And then it all sorta jelled. (Excluding a long fought battle to let Tahm keep his tiny hat and accent.). Tahm was hard, but imho Tahm is a success story of collaboration. He's what happens when a team of creative people all find creative solutions to make something that appeals to the whole team.

AS a side note... hopefully at some point balance team will solve how to power limit/gate his ally consume. (personally I always thought he should have to eat an enemy to "reload" eating an ally again --in addition to the cooldown) But whatever I'm not a GDesigner.

Spideraxe30

Do you remember how you came up with the title of River King

Not exactly. I think both that title and Two Coats came out of a story sketch I wrote. (A story sketch is a idea I came up with while on champ team, which was writing short stories during development to illustrate a possible personality and possible theming to the team... and to hopefully create alignment. I called them "Story Sketches" to highlight their impermanence and their non-directive nature. I.e. to clarify it was a type concept art... (but with words instead of lines.). But because I wrote so many of those story sketches --they all kinda bleed together in my head. ( I think I wrote somewhere between 16 and 18 short stories just for Tahm.) I do remember the name Tahm came from Matt Dunn. (who apparently has a friend named that).

DanielZKlein

I miss you Odin!

And I remember our save the hat campaign :D

Aw dude, I miss you too! I loved working with you. I remember getting drunk with you and walking home from... that-bar-rioters-go-to (I won't name it on reddit) whenever I go there.

randomguy301048

so you were walking around doing the tahm voice and saying catch phrases? was it anything like this but with tahm instead of brolaf?

Uh... Hopefully I was a better actor than that. Donno I can't see myself.

Goredrak

Probably too late to the party but why was the voice a fight? A deep American South drawl a la Foghorn Leghorn (minus the SI) mixed with a Bayou dandy is a pretty original concept for a champs voice. Was it a localization issue?

Yes. But more for leadership needlessly worrying about stuff. I had to make a powerpoint deck, pointing out that I had done my research beforehand and themed him as "rural crossroads demon" (his real archetype) knowing it was a multi-cultural-- a true universal jungian-- myth. Then... eventually he was okayed and we left it to the various localization teams to figure out how to go about localizing his dialog, accent etc....

SeaHorseB

Hello Mr Odin! I Loved the comic even with those little artistic fails detail's ( like Shen having an undercut and then having none. We loved the undercut so much!!!)

I'm shy but I'm adventuring this time to write, in the hopes you sir at least just read this. I'm a lore fan, soon to be 30yo. Since I'm playing LoL I've loved the lore and I can say you're one of my favorite writer's at riot.

I will try to summarize my comment 1- the end with Zed and Kayn touched something in me, I'll elaborate, I've always tough that Kusho was a bad father, but for being negligent towards Shen in favor of Zed, not for being a abusive paternal figure to both! Less to Zed maybe. And the end confirming it, but... Making Zed grown up past the abuse he received from kusho, and even with his mistakes, Zed trying to be a better father figure to kayn make me cry a lot like I haven't done in time, I was abused at my 15yo in my search of a replacement of a paternal figure, because my dad died and I felt that part missing of my life. I've been in therapy and I'm better now, but I've dedicated so much time to these characters ( specially Shen and Zed, that I hope they'll make amends at least ) that finding this make me emotional. I've make this account just to pass you my gratitude's, I know Zed is not a good person, he's a assassin, and DO I love him being bad and having flails, but being able to be something he can't had in favor of Kayn having it to broke the cycle of abused, god, that was great.

Passing my gratitude's! And saying that the ninja fanbase have a lot of female fans ( and lgbt+ fans)

Thank you so much. I am glad to hear the story resonated with you. And I'm terribly saddened to hear you experienced abuse. (But I'm glad therapy is helping you and that you had the courage to engage with proffesional help!)

Please know that reaching people like you, is always the real goal of my writing.

In every story, I am hoping that I am being honest and that I am not alone. And hidden between the lines of any story, I am whispering and screaming to reader... that you are not alone either.

"You are not alone."

Because you're not alone. None of us are. Knowing other people have experienced similar pains. Have made similar mistakes, or suffered similar injustices, is a strength.

Knowing other people have seen and felt things like you... means knowing empathy is out there, and that healing is possible.

Thank you so much for kind words... and for taking the time to send them.

-Odin

PescadoIII

Every time you mention Yevnai, a kitten dies.

Actually, I'm quite allergic to cats.

Sooo...

Yevnai! Yevnai! YEVNAI!

;)

Ryuhardt

With Leds in his eyes I think he means the fact that Shen appears with no pupils in the comic

ah! I was thinking like LEDs the screens. (And was assuming some text to speech error had occured)

His eyes still have pupils but they are glowing white with the energy inside of him. When he connects to his power he can see the spirit realm on top of our world. Look out for the tales of runeterra short.

Hey All,

Hope you liked this look at Zed boi. I'll try and answer some questions today if I have time.

TheMinuteCamel

These comics were amazing. Literally drew tears at points for me. i am really confused as to how this will end up tying into Kayn's lore though. I thought his in game lore has to do with him actually wanting to overthrow his master. Either way, thank you for the excellent story

So mostly this puts limits on how Kayn wants to take over the Order. I think both Kayn and Zed are smart enough to know at some point they are going to duel. Maybe to the death. Maybe this will be because Kayn has become Rhaast, maybe because Zed has become a nocturne like thing. Maybe just because they disagree. But that fight will be a duel. Not some underhanded backstab. Because Kayn believes in the honor system Zed taught him, and in his master's values. And ultimately because they do care about each other.

Kisindiaaaan

Thank you so much for this amazing story! I thirst for more though.... Can't wait for a spinoff of Shen and Akali escorting Jhin back to jail(if they can, heh).

PS: I have noticed the Kusho doll on page 22 as Zed holds Kusho's body three weeks later :)))))

Almost like someone knew this duel was going to happen.. and even may have intended it to happen as a first act.

Bluelore

Honestly I did like the Kusho twist, but felt that we didn't really get a lot of insight into his character, so I wonder if he'll be explored a bit more later on.

So I was wondering: Was Kushos turn to evil due to the shadow magic? Do you plan to explore him a bit in later lore releases?

No idea on later lore releases I don't make those calls. I think he was a corrupt a-hole before the shadow magic. (i.e. Having his son, Shen relentlessly beat up an untrained boy seems pretty cruel to me; ditto letting your son believe you are dead ) . But certainly the ichor exaggerates your worst aspects-- (it feeds and gives you power based on your your worst aspects) So its a mix.

Ilyak1986

First off, loved the series. Just sad it had to end. Because I want to see so much more of this saga.

So many questions. Lots more.

1) Zed has no master/patron now, but we see he's as noble as they come. Who will be his next commander? I can honestly see it being Karma, considering she's a de-facto Ionian equivalent to a shogun? I.E. a central leader of sorts? Otherwise, how does Zed take care of the logistics of running the order? Does he become a sort of Ionian-equivalent to a daimyo of Zhyun himself?

2) How do we reconcile "spooky cinematic Zed" (I.E. particularly the Xayah cinematic one) with the fact that the real Zed (Usan) is, I'd like to say, within spitting distance of being as noble as, say, Irelia, as opposed to being an irredeemable villain? We've seen so many "spooky edgy dark ninja" Zed cinematics, and that's just not who he is. How does one reconcile that nonsense with "Zed is a badass along the lines of Illidan and Itachi, willing to do what nobody else will if it means saving lives"?

3) Not sure if you're the guy to ask this, but seeing as to how Ashe got a major VO upgrade after her warmother comic (which was amaaaaaazing), will Zed, Shen, and maybe Akali be getting the same sort of upgrade? No more "I AM LEET SPOOKY NINJA" voicelines Zed in both LoL and LoR, but actually have them be more Usan-ish? Ditto Shen acknowledging his own struggles with Zed, searching for the truth about his father, etc.?

4) How will Shen ever find out the truth, now that Zed was forced to actually shank Kusho (or maybe kill the monster that Kusho became)? I thought it might have been Yevnai that would have wound up freeing Jhin for reasons b/c in issue 1, Zed said he killed Kusho. But as it turns out, Jhin all but blurted it out that Kusho freed him, at which point, Kusho ordered Zed dead (ugh). At which point will Shen find out, and bury the hatchet? I guess double that for little miss brat-ninja too?

5) If Zed just convinced Kusho to fake his death, what's that whole thing about the kinkou being cut down in Zed's attack? Shouldn't his order have been in on the plan to not actually murder other kinkou, like say, Akali's dad, who died in the attack? It reminds me of a Mortal Kombat cinematic in which Scorpion explicitly states "wound, do not kill". Yet we see in "the bow and the kunai" that Zed's order did a pretty hefty number on the kinkou. Did nobody get the message to pull their punches, like Zed has been doing...throughout the entire comic when dealing with Shen and brat-ninja (Akali)?

6) Just how much do other Ionian champs know of the whole fiasco with Kusho, and what do they know of why Zed does what he does? I'd think that Karma or Kennen might be able to clue in onto certain things. Who actually understands why Zed does what he does, so as to (relating to question 1) make sure his order can continue to function?

7) What about the whole angle of "Zed kills vastayans" thing? It seems Xayah/Rakan have an issue with people that look like they belong to the order of shadows, but it doesn't seem very in-character for Zed to be this brutal oppressor. Will we ever see what's going on with that, will it be retconned out, or what?

1. I'm pretty sure Zed is honorable but he's not a good guy, so I wouldn't hold my breath on him working for Karma... but who knows. I think his order is in a rough place. And he's going to need to do some unsavory things to keep it together... that's kinda the problem with taking a dark path... moral compromises inevitably lead to more compromises.
   
2. So this comic is very much favorable to Zed.. This is Zed's story... from Zed's perspective. And it intentionally avoided some of the darker parts of him. It doesn't mean the dark parts aren't true. Most of America's founding father's were slaving owning shit heads... but they had some radical ideas about freedom which were very cool. Real people are complicated. Good and evil are often perspective and time... And Zed's story isn't over.
   
3. Thank you for the kind words on the Ashe comic. That one holds a special place in my heart (in part because I had a lot more freedom on it narratively adn in part because nina's art was great) ...

La_vert

This is my favorite comic so far, you did an amazing job making Zed a tragic figure. Can you tell us some other beats you were pressured to change?

Mostly stuff that was cut for page count. Ultimately, this was a 20page per comic issue. Ashe was a 24 page per issue comic. Which I found much, much more manageable. Ashe still felt too short per issue. (God's how I long for an extra page or two for some of the fights in Ashe.) but 4 pages is a lot to lose.

Esp because I read more manga growing up than American comics (So my relationship to the medium is based on 30+pages per chapter). There was a lot of Akali scenes which were cut. Including a fight between Akali and Kayn. Some investigating scenes. A couple scenes that I cut or replaced because they would have been too hard to do with rating's restrictions. Three different scenes where Zed/Kayn were doing horrible stuff to monks and/or Vastaya. (In three different drafts... I tried to keep it alive.) . A couple flashbacks with Kusho... specifically one when Zed got banished from the temple for using the ichor while Yvenai and Shen watched helplessly (that was a...

Ilyak1986

Who sets the page limit, and why?

Can you tell us about ratings restrictions scenes?

Also, why does Zed still have it out for the vastaya? I mean, everyone seems to love Ahri and her fluffy ears and tails.

And isn't the black ink a natural byproduct of harvesting magic, kind of like nuclear waste is a byproduct of nuclear energy?

Is there a reason that Zed insists on being a grouch to vastaya in the current day and age?

Marvel. 20pages.

Mostly just people Jhin killed (dead bodies) or people Zed and Kayn Killed (dead bodies). Even dead bodies are difficult with our age restrictions. This is a non-technical answer but in my experience at riot for some things we are pg13 but for most things we are PG max.

The ichor is a natural byproduct of harvesting (and damning) magic. It's not exactly like nuclear energy. Diffused the magic is strong and just sort of neutral. It's gonna do strange stuff... that's mostly just strange. Trying to force it or limit it into "good" and helpful magic means you end up with a negative or evil byproduct.

Spideraxe30

Hey Odin, loved the series overall. I think its the strongest out of any of the series so far. Could I ask why you decided to sorta reign in Akali a bit, since the way Michael left off with Akali, it looked like she was kinda done with the Kinkou and their complacency. And as a side note, are you able to share what you're going to be doing next since it'd be dope if you can work on another champ

Well.... in one issue. Akali had as many pages as Zed. She was a lot more fun to write than Zed. ( I actually only got into writing as a comedy writer, and it's still the most rewarding.)
I almost rewrote the whole series with her as the lead. But didn't...

I think, like the idea of Akali being a slighty younger character than Michae'sl version... and a bit more snarky and lower class.. My wife read a draft with alotta Akali and just said that Akali was very much me in my early twenties... And that made the idea if making Akali the lead feel... not exactly wrong... but self-serving rather than audience focused. (Shrug) It was an odd choice to make.

Beast1996

Just want to ask two questions I sent to you in message.

Would you say Zed guestimation during the fight to be factually correct? That Kusho had only dabble in Shadow Magic for a few months?

When was the flashback panel where Zed told Kayn to get close to their patron, in relative to the event we observed? My guess is somewhere in issue 1 2, but was it before or after Jhin attack?

1. Not entirely... he was guessing and kinda being intentionally insulting But he was correct that Kusho hadn't trained for as long as him.

2. Issue 1.

ndeahhhhhhhhhhh

Hello, I like the comic but I have been disappointed a little bit in some things ... 1) the cliche. I hate edgys protagonists with unlimited powers that are invincible and are cool in everything. Before the comic, Zed scared me, now he is a fantastic hero that everyone loves. If he's ruthless or extreme, none of that was seen in the comic. Please, if you have an idea don't change it, I would have liked to see Zed killing vastayas. Even if everything remained the same, that scene would have made a huge difference. 2) Currently Shen should be on the verge of suicide, because committing suicide is what I would do if everyone abandons me and if the only person I trust lies to me non-stop (and Zed says that maybe will kill him WTF) expected that Shen and Zed be friends again, or that reestablishes the confidence of both, or something different. Why did all this happen without anything changing between them? Zed used Shen to capture Jhin, he did the same thing that Kusho did to him, use and discard him; In the end Zed says he tries to be a better person, but he just abandoned his friend, after lying seriously to him twice, using and discarding him ... I know that sometimes the characters are stupid in decisions to help a plot, but Shen not only seems weak and stupid, he is the eye of twilight and he does not do his homework well, he does not know anything. I know you said he is the hero of the story, and I also understand that the Zed comic is made for Zed, but what he saw of Shen does not leave him well, it hurts a lot because he is my Main and it means a lot to me. Hopefully in the future they do something with that. I know that not everyone can be happy, and I dont know how they made decisions but sometimes I feel that they did not understand what people perceive of the characters ... the public. I don't mean you, but do all the people involved know the fans? they play Lol? Do you explore the images, posts, writings, etc. that create your characters? what they think of them, what fascinates them, etc. At times it seems not. 3) Its more personal, but there is no gore and that makes me very angry. it is a story of war and death, there is no gore. 4) please, no more romantic plots, use those sheets to explore other important things. Do you realize that if you remove that, everything is the same? it is irrelevant. (I mean, Val and Kai's relationship was important in the Varus´s history, but here, what do we care about that nonsense of Shen's fiancée? ). 5) nothing more xD I don't know how to use reddit and I panic to post or comment, so sorry if it's not the right place. Thanks for everything, IM NOT ANGRY, I comment in the best way I can. I do not speak English. And I don't want someone to feel bad about what I think, after all it is the opinion of a fool. Thanks for doing Lore things for nerds like us, it may sound angry but I'm not, in the end I know they do it for a minority and I appreciate this. my criticism is for you to know, maybe you don't even read it, or you care, but I wanted express myself. Greetings, sorry for my bad language.

This is a bit hard to read... but I totally get english is your second language. However I suggest trying to use paragraph breaks in the future, as this really hard to read in one big block

---

I'm not sure I think Zed l lying to Shen was really a choice... and possibly it was the right thing to do. Even if Shen knew the truth, Zed and Shen are on different paths now. They will never be friends again... but Zed was still holding onto a false hope.

Zed decided it was better for him to be disillusioned with Zed than for Shen to be disillusioned with his own father. That's probably not fair, and maybe Shen has a right to know. But Zed is flawed... and blinded by his need to feel he's worthy and honorable.

Shen I think is a tragic figure in this comic... but that's because this is Zed's view of him. And Zed's view is clouded by guilt. Shen, I would argue did his homework... and knew what he was capable of and importantly knew where his emotional limits were.

In the f...