Recently, League of Legends released the documentary "League of Legends: Origins" for free. The concept drawings of the first 36 heroes aroused a lot of interest in me. Although the art style at that time was relatively crude, and the images of many heroes were hugely different from those in 2023, we can understand who these 40 heroes are from their basic outlines and characteristics. It is worth mentioning that the third hero in the first row was originally named "Alista", and later this name was given to the last hero in the first row, the Tauren. The original Alistar was remade two years later and became the familiar Lee Sin.
Except for Li Qing, some of the original 36 heroes were not implemented into the official server. They were canceled during the development process and Riot Games replaced them with other characters. These heroes are Tabu, the seventh in the first row, Plant King, the first in the second row, Water Winyard, the second in the second row, Averdrian, the third in the second row, and Spider Queen, the eighth in the third row. You can also find some relevant information on the Internet, as well as an introduction to some of the first-version skills. Let’s take a look at what the level of designers was in 2009 and whether their skill sets are interesting now.
Voodoo Shaman Tabu
Tabu is a voodoo shaman. This hero was obviously influenced by the witch doctor, but was canceled during the alpha test stage, and his visual and gameplay were later redesigned into Swain. Tabu means "taboo", and he has an exclusive game mechanism "tabu", which is the dual control of disarming and silence. All of Tabu's skill icons were later recycled.
Passive: nearby enemies take 15% less damage.
Q: Connect to allies or enemies for 20 seconds. When connected to an enemy, damage is shared with the enemy; when connected to an ally, healing is shared with the ally.
W: Curse the target area, causing damage to enemies and healing allies.
E: Disarm and silence enemies for 4-6 seconds.
R: During the charging period, it will continue to cause damage to yourself and continue to heal the same value.
Gavid, King of Plants
Gavid is a plant near Demacia. Due to the rapid growth of thorns and vines, the Demacians came and destroyed the entire forest. The remaining Gavid decided to take revenge. Riot Games believed that Gavid's art style was not suitable for League of Legends, so it canceled development, but Zyra's skill set was obviously influenced by him.
Passive: A grape vine is randomly generated around you every 2 seconds.
Q: Consume the target vine to upgrade to a thorn plant, which attacks nearby enemies. The thorn plant has HP and resistance.
W: Consumes the target vines and entangles the enemy, causing imprisonment and continuous damage.
E: Consume the target vine to upgrade to a life plant, which will heal nearby allies every 3 seconds. The life plant has blood.
R: Imprison yourself for several seconds and restore a percentage of maximum health. The ultimate skill immediately summons 7 grape vines, and the next small skill will consume all nearby vines.
Water Soul Well
Water Winyard's later title became the Hydrosoul, and the character's real name was Well Soterios, with the internal codename being Water Spirit. This is an evil priest who revives humans after drowning and turns them into his attendants. Later, he asks his attendants to perform a rebirth ritual on him, but after the failure, he is turned into a water spirit by other forces.
Passive: Nearby allies recover mana every second.
Q: Summon water element to assist in battle.
W: Releases a water column to cause straight-line damage. If it hits the water element, it will be released again in the direction it is facing.
E: Generate a water vortex at the target location, causing continuous damage and slowing down the enemy.
R: Summons heavy rain that covers the entire map, increases the health and mana recovery of allies, and increases the spell power of all allies.
Astral Guardian Averdrian
Because Averdrian's mother abandoned him, he became a bad guy and looked like a blue alien. The chief special effects artist NOC once used Averdrian as his forum avatar and promised to release this hero, but in July 2011 he changed his avatar to Nocturne. But this hero's skill set is very similar to Malzahar.
Passive: There are 4 protoss around you to form an energy shield, reducing the damage you take.
Q: Fire a beam at the enemy to cause damage. This damage cannot be prevented.
W: Casts an energy wave, causing slowing effects and damage to surrounding enemies.
E: Absorb 1 protoss, giving yourself additional spell strength and damage aura, and causing damage to nearby enemies every second for 60 seconds.
R: Suppress the enemy for 5 seconds, causing damage to the target every second. (Isn’t it very similar to the old version of Werewolf’s ultimate move?)
Spider Queen Priscilla
The original hero's name was Nidalee (Nidalee is also the name of the Leopard Girl), which later became Priscilla, but she was canceled during the closed beta phase, and her information and icons were retained in the game files. League of Legends briefly launched an equipment "Priscilla's Blessing" as a tribute in 2011. Players launched a petition survey on the forum. More than 24,000 people requested Riot Games to add the Spider Queen to the game. She later appeared as the new hero Elise. . Urgot's image design should be based on her model.
Passive: Gain additional mana recovery based on your level.
Q: Place a spider web in the target area, imprison the enemy and drag the target back to you, causing damage based on the drag distance.
W: Purely passive effect. Basic attacks slow down the enemy for 4 seconds. If the enemy dies during the passive period, a small spider will be spawned. The small spider will have health and resistance for 60 seconds.
E: Purely passive effect, gaining life stealing effect.
R: Suppresses the target for 2 seconds, then performs four rapid attacks.
Okay, here are some of the heroes who haven’t been able to officially meet us.