It's been a while since Riot Games unveiled that one of the oldest and emblematic champions of League of Legends would also be entitled to his rework. After several weeks of teasing, the rebirth of Fiddlesticks has landed in the Rift with Patch 10.7.
A voice, an identity, a plunge into horror
Players can say goodbye to the scarecrow as engaging as it is ridiculous, in order to find themselves faced with an unnamed horror. For the more curious, or those with access to PBE, you will have noticed the incredible work that has been done on his voice. In an Ask Riot, Riot Zimberfly talked about the performance of the actor lending his voice and his energy to Fiddlesticks, Kellen Goff (English voices of Gouketsu from One Punch Man and Overhaul in My Hero Academia ).
Riot Zimberlfy explains that he was seduced by Kellen Goff's performance, and it is true that when you listen to him in the skin of the scarecrow, Fiddlesticks seems to be a creature straight out of a horror film. On her Youtube channel, Kellen Goff unveils a ten-minute video on his work, giving lots of advice, if you want to imitate Fiddlesticks.
However, voice alone is not enough to make Fiddlesticks a horrifying creature. The trailer had set the tone, and the rewriting of the history of Fiddlesticks allows us to press on the aspect of a myth that has come to life.
A scarecrow with various origins
Indeed, we learn that Fiddlesticks does not come from a particular region; but from legends of several regions of Runeterra. It is the return of a creature, perhaps recalled by a mage — but nothing is less certain. In any case, Fiddlesticks is not a separate entity, as Bard can be for example. The fact that its design is based on a set of things, an amalgam of canvas and metal reinforces this idea. In the same way that he does not seem gifted with intelligence, since he's only repeating sentences he has heard, or else to imitate animals. He embodies for the few champions that he mentions their nightmares. For Annie, for example, it will be the loss of her half-sister.
Fiddlesticks, and Ancient Greece
To understand the work of Riot Games, we have to go back to the basics: the scarecrow myth. It is usually a subterfuge erected in the fields, in order to keep the crows away, and to prevent the crops from perishing. A vaguely human appearance, standing in the middle of the fields. However, the way in which Riot Games decided to reuse the figure of the scarecrow recalls the myth of Mormô , whose name means in ancient Greek "scarecrow". Basically, it was the ancient version of the Boogeymonster, whose role was to scare children, and to make them wiser. Mormô is capable of metamorphosing, sometimes taking the appearance of a wolf, sometimes that of a horse, or simple ... groans. If you pay attention, you can indeed hear Fiddlesticks imitate among others the horse. Mormô is the representation of an unfounded fear, as can be Fiddlesticks within Runeterra.
The return of evil to Demacia
Finally, in the trailer, the soldiers of Demacia mention a drama taking place in Fossbarrow (a city, represented on the map of League of Legends), whose name comes from Fossian Crownguard (the great-grandfather of Lux and of Garen). Fossbarrow having long been the cradle of a nightmarish entity. It could be Fiddlesticks, and the "drama" the soldiers mentioned could be the mage who recalled the creature in the biography of the champion. In one >of the news stories about Lux, while visiting Fossian's grave, a child named Luca is missing.
First, everything suggests that he was kidnapped by Magi, at least that's what the Demacians suppose, in view of their rejection of magic ... However, Lux arriving at the tomb of his great-grandfather finds the child, manipulated by what he himself will call " a nightmare man ". It could be Fiddlesticks, or at least, the entity that seems to control it, and have brought it back to life. The clues that confirm this? Fiddlesticks' interactions with Garen and Lux in the game. He shouts "Demacia" when he sees Garen, and calls Lux "little light".
Scarecrow horror
"Nightmare Man" is a fairly poetic way to describe the fears of the champions of League of Legends embodied by the scarecrow. In any case, Riot Games wanted to highlight the grotesque aspect of Fiddlesticks — his voice is not supposed to come from vital organs, his aspect sometimes animal, sometimes metallic makes it a disturbing creature.
Nowadays, scarecrows have lost their horrific sides within the pop culture, which made them especially funny, even sympathetic characters (as can be this dear Jack Skelllington). Riot Games, with the rework of Fiddlesticks, put this creature supposed to scare crows back to taste. Fiddlesticks then became a grotesque creature, striding aimlessly around Runeterra ... and that's what makes him particularly scary.
In any case, hearing him gank the players on the Summoner's Rift promises great moments of play ... and cardiac arrest!
The Harbringer of Doom was completely reworked and is now the most terrifying and disturbing creature of Runeterra.
