Gwen league of legends champion release
Gwen wields a giant pair of scissors and a killer smile.
Riot Games
  • Gwen, a doll-turned-human, is the 155th champion added to "League of Legends."
  • Within the world of "League of Legends," Gwen was brought to life by haunted mist.
  • Fans who were excited about a new doll champion said they were let down by her aesthetic.
  • Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

In "League of Legends," players take control of one of 155 champions, including a pixie-fueled sorceress, an angry rock-music monster, or a brute with a penchant for revenge. Gwen, the latest champion to join the game's options, is a doll-turned-human wielding a giant pair of scissors that can snip away at enemies.

Though the new character has a unique playstyle that allows her to skirmish and stab, her design has left some players unenthused.

Over the past year, under the limitations of COVID-19 restrictions in Los Angeles, developers at Riot Games have been working to give Gwen all the stuffing necessary for her release. Riot artist Paul Kwon worked on a few different designs for a new fighter, but the team gravitated towards the idea of an optimistic girl with giant scissors.

"We felt scissors was a new weapon we hadn't explored in League yet, so we decided to dive deeper into that idea," Lead Champion Producer Ryan Mireles told Insider. "Paul did a bunch of different explorations of girls with scissors, one of which was a gothic 'Lolita'-inspired girl."

gwen league of legends champion reveal
Concept art for Gwen in her early development phase.
Riot Games

Based on the idea of a macabre doll with cute pigtails, developers then worked on designing the rest of her lore and abilities. This gothic "Lolita" character was soon connected to the Shadow Isles, a haunted mist that has been quickly encroaching on the entire "League of Legends" world over the last year. Gwen was created by the wife of Viego, the last champion added to the game. She was brought to life through the evil wickedness of the Isles' mist.

"Her hair was transformed from the doll hair that Isolde made for her, and she is like a magical human version of that doll," Mireles said. "So it just comes with the perks of being a magical human created from an adorable doll with fluffy hair."

Some fans are asking why Gwens looks like a human with pigtails, rather than a doll

Gwen was revealed on Friday, and numerous fans took to Twitter to share that they were a bit disappointed at first. While the idea of a possessed doll with giant blades is appealing, some in the "League of Legends" community found the actual design only took inspiration from that premise.

In a fantasy world where anything is possible, "League of Legends" champions are often humanlike in their appearance. Gwen is the latest in the game's long string of good-looking playable champions with slight fantasy flair. The last monstrous champion designed without chiseled cheekbones was the cat Yuumi, released in May 2019. Since then, the only non-bipedal champion released was Lilia, a centaur, and she's still fairly conventionally attractive (even for a half-horse lady).

"Her design simply doesn't include a strong visual link to her origin as a doll," League of Legends YouTuber TBSkyen, who doesn't use his real name online, told Insider. "A lot of fans have suggested things like button eyes, a stitched mouth, have her be made of felt and fabric."

When creating Gwen, developers said they did not want to copy any of the other tropes that "League" already has in its roster: Orianna is an automaton and Shaco is a possessed marionette. Mireles, the Riot producer, said that while some "doll-like features" were kept - including "the bigger and rounder eyes, her curls, and her general face shape" - they wanted to be clear that she was a "human brought to life."

TBSkyen, who has 89,000 subscribers on his main YouTube channel and has been reviewing the game's cinematics and art designs for nearly a decade, said he believes Gwen was created for "broad appeal rather than high concept." He said it the champion seems "generic," rather than "evoking anything specific."

Gwen was just released in the Public Beta Environment testing realm and will become playable for all users in the next few weeks.

Read the original article on Insider