Поппи

Ability Casting

Using

Hitting an Enemy with

•  
    «Shield to the face!»
•  
    «Left hand!»
•  
    «Clang!»

Upon Picking up

•  
    «Hope it’s not dented.»
•  
    «Got it.»
•  
    «Shieldy.»
•  
    Poppy giggles.

Using

•  
    «Hammer!»
•  
    «Comin’ down!»

Using

Stopping an Enemy with

•  
    «Not so fast!»
•  
    «What’s the hurry?»
•  
    «Nope.»
•  
    «No getting through me.»
•  
    «Hold up!»
•  
    «Uh uh.»

Triggering

•  
    «Hold on… «
•  
    «Keep fighting… «
•  
    «Not like this!»
•  
    «Not today!»

Using

•  
    «Back off!»
•  
    «Look out!»
•  
    «Outta’ my way!»
•  
    «Move it!»

Stunning an Enemy with

•  
    «Hold it right there!»
•  
    «You. Sit.»
•  
    «Freeze!»
•  
    «Don’t move!»

Using

Knocking Away an Enemy with a fully charged

•  
    «Look at him go!»
•  
    «Remember to roll!»
•  
    «Up goes the guy!»
•  
    «And don’t come back!»
•  
    «And stay there!»
•  
    «Huh. Didn’t know I could do that.»
•  
    «Whoa. You went far.»
•  
    «Whomp!»

When an Enemy Ekko Uses After Being Hit by

•  
    «Wait, you’re here? I thought you were there.»
•  
    «Didn’t I just knock you away?»

Movement

First Move

•  
    «The hammer isn’t mine, just keeping it until the real guy shows up.»
•  
    «I’ve heard a lot about this hero with a hammer, can’t wait to meet him.»
•  
    «Hmm… if I were a hero, where would I hide…?»
•  
    «Not coming back ’til I find that hero.»
•  
    «One time I thought I found the hero… but he died.»
•  
    «Today’s the day I find that hero.»

Moving

•  
    «What do you mean my hammer’s too big?»
•  
    «If you’re waiting for me to give up, you might be here a while.»
•  
    «Me? The hero? Nah, that’s ridiculous.»
•  
    «I sure do a lot of walking.»
•  
    «Yep, it’s even heavier than it looks.»
•  
    «Oh, you like to fight? So does my hammer!»
•  
    «Guess I’m going this way now.»
•  
    «Do not make my hammer mad.»
•  
    «Every step is one step closer.»
•  
    «Some things are too important to give up on.»
•  
    «Who knew there were so many heroes?»
•  
    «I gotta’ see this through.»
•  
    «The hammer does most of the work, I just swing it.»
•  
    «How Demacian of you!»
•  
    «I’m in one-hundred-percent! That’s everything, right?»
•  
    «Okay, I admit it. I’m lost.»
•  
    «I hope the hero likes me.»
•  
    «Sometimes you just gotta’ do it yourself.»
•  
    «Just had a thought — three pigtails!»
•  
    «Man, quests are hard.»
•  
    «Know what I could use? A cart.»
•  
    «I could really go for a nap.»

History

Мечи

Main article: Bandle City

Cave drawing of a prehistoric Yordle family (Gnar’s)

Prehistoric predator of the Yordles

Yordles come from self-contained pockets within the spirit realm, with no direct «mirror» in the material realm of Runeterra. The origin of this race on Runeterra is unknown but can be traced back to a prehistoric time when there were no civilizations on land thanks to the existence of Fizz, an amphibious yordle. Most would agree that Yordles resided on Valoran during its prehistoric times. At that time they were a nomadic race, travelling from one part of Valoran to the other. Records show they had presence in Ancient Freljord. They lived in tight neat family groups as well as near early humans. Because of their small stature, they were mostly prey for many animals. During prehistoric times they had tails and front canine teeth.

Overtime as human civilizations advanced, so did yordles’ appearances and capabilities. To easily blend in human areas, yordles at one point started using an ability called «Glamour», which gave them the appearance of short humans.

To this day, most yordles stay inside the mystical spiritual realm known as Bandle City, only venturing out on rare occasions. There are numerous gateways across Runeterra that yordles, and other knowledgeable and perceptive individuals, are able to use to get to in and out of Bandle City.

A New Champion Approaches: Poppy, the Iron Ambassador

By Steve ‘Pendragon’ Mescon

Prepare yourselves. The tiny but mighty Poppy has joined the League of Legends! This compact little warrior packs one mean punch with her mighty hammer, . Boasting a powerful set of abilities, Poppy is ready to pulverize anyone who thinks it funny to make a short joke.

Champion Type

Tank

Abilities

Valiant Fighter

Any damage dealt to Poppy that exceeds 10% of her current health is greatly reduced.

Devastating Blow

Poppy crushes her opponent, dealing her base damage plus a flat amount and 8% of her target’s max health as bonus damage. The bonus damage cannot exceed a threshold based on rank.

Paragon of Demacia

• Passive: Upon being hit or attacking an enemy, Poppy’s  armor and  attack damage are increased by a flat amount for 5 seconds. This effect can stack 5 times.
• Active: Poppy gains max stacks of Paragon of Demacia and her  movement speed is increased 20% for 5 seconds.

Heroic Charge

Poppy charges at an enemy and carries them for a short distance. The initial impact deals a small amount of damage, and if they collide with terrain, her target will take a high amount of damage and be stunned.

Diplomatic Immunity

Poppy focuses intently on a single target, dealing increased damage to them. Poppy is immune to any damage and abilities from enemies other than her target.

The Arsenal: Forging Poppy’s Hammer

By Rumtumtummers

Reworking Poppy was a chance to tune up her biggest, baddest character elements while giving her completely new play patterns. We knew the , her signature weapon, would be critical in solidifying her refreshed identity; like Jinx’s , Nautilus’ , or Riven’s , Poppy’s hammer is an integral part of both her kit and her personality. We had to get it right for both to ring true.

In short, it was hammer time.

Small character; big impact

Poppy’s original and were designed to fit her small stature. «Before, Poppy had a Yordle hammer and a Yordle shield», explains concept artist Gem Lim. «But we wanted to do more with it.» The team realized that by choosing one primary item for Poppy to wield and over-emphasizing it, they could create a champion with a silhouette and style different from any other champion in League. «Instead of equal attention for the hammer and shield, we toned the down and made the ginormous», says Gem. «What struck me the most about Poppy was this sense of disproportionate power. She’s a small character who does big things. The hammer should communicate that.»

ChampUp played with several hammer designs while working on the Poppy update

Poppy’s new champion-smasher wasn’t custom-made to fit her; it’s a regular-sized hammer she wields with incredible power. «The new hammer is more than a weapon», Gem says. «Its humongous size contributes to her silhouette and her movement. No champion moves like her. When you see her swing that hammer, it’s so different from Sion with his or Garen with his .» Senior narrative writer John O’Bryan adds, «It’s almost like she puts all of herself into every swing.» The new hammer design contributed to Poppy’s new and each of her re-tuned abilities.

Gem emphasizes the idea of a tiny character packing a big punch: «We want people to feel that crazy disproportionate power. Like, ‘Oh, look at the cute little— ouch!’ It’s over-the-top and unexpected.»

A hero’s journey

Poppy’s hammer is an important part of her personal journey. ‘A Hero’s Calling’, which offers players a glimpse into Poppy’s world, is centered on the hammer and what it means to her. O’Bryan elaborates, «Even she doesn’t think it’s hers. She thinks it’s a tool for someone else.» Scaling the hammer to make it a normal hammer size helps emphasize the idea that Poppy doesn’t necessarily believe the hammer is hers to wield, that somewhere in the world is a hero meant to carry it. The hammer existed long before Poppy took possession of it.

Poppy’s hammer has hints of Demacia and a human-sized scale

Though she’s been carrying the hammer for a long, long time, Poppy hasn’t yet realized that she’s what gives the hammer its strength. O’Bryan explains, «If you were to ask Poppy, she would probably think she’s nothing special. Everything she’s doing is because of this hammer she’s carrying around. But really, it’s all coming from her.» Players know one thing Poppy doesn’t: the hammer is right where it needs to be.

The immovable object

Poppy’s new weapon is meant to emphasize core elements of her personality. «She’s purposeful», says O’Bryan. «Nothing can stop her; if you knock her down, she’s going to keep getting back up.» The team behind the Poppy update wanted to give a sense of solidity to Poppy, the idea that to get to Poppy’s team, enemies have to go through her. «When others run away, Poppy runs forward», says Gem. «She’s indomitable.»

The hammer is a symbol of Poppy’s strength, her unflinching dedication to her task, and her worldview. «Poppy doesn’t think of herself as a small character», O’Bryan says, «because she really isn’t.» Gem says, «She’s the pebble you thought you could kick, but couldn’t. There’s no one like her.»

Patch History

V11.22 — Returning

• Original Poppy
  • Tier 1 Yordle Bodyguard.
  • Active — Buckler Toss: Throws her buckler at the farthest enemy, dealing 180 / 210 / 240% maximum armor magic damage. The buckler then bounces back, granting her a 225 / 275 / 325 (× AP) shield.

V11.21

Ability damage increased to 150 / 250 / 450 from 150 / 250 / 400.

V11.15 — Returning

Returning to Set 5.5 with no changes.

— June 30th Hotfix

Starting mana increased to 50 from 30.

V11.13

• Starting mana reduced to 30 from 40.
• Maximum mana reduced to 70 from 80.
• Ability damage increased to 150 / 250 / 400 from 150 / 250 / 350.
• Ability shield increased to 250 / 375 / 525 from 250 / 350 / 450.

V11.9 — Returning

• Noxus Poppy
  • Tier 1 Hellion Knight.
  • Active — Buckler Toss: Throws her buckler at the furthest enemy, dealing 150 / 250 / 350 (× AP) magic damage and applying on-hit effects. The buckler bounces back to her, granting her a shield for 250 / 350 / 450 (× AP) health.

V10.19 — Disabled

Disabled due to Set 4.

V10.17

Base magic resistance increased to 35 from 30.

V10.16

• Ability damage increased to 100 / 150 / 225 from 100 / 150 / 200.
• Ability shield increased to 200 / 300 / 450 from 200 / 300 / 400.

V10.14

• Starting mana reduced to 50 from 60.
• Maximum mana reduced to 90 from 100.

V10.12 — Returning

• Base armor increased to 45 from 40.
• Base magic resistance increased to 30 from 20.

V10.10

• Ability damage reduced to 100 / 150 / 200 from 100 / 175 / 250.
• Ability shield reduced to 200 / 300 / 400 from 200 / 350 / 500.

V10.7

Bug Fix: Updated her tooltip to specify she deals magic damage.

V10.6 — Returning

• Now uses Star Guardian Poppy instead of Original Poppy.
• New Traits: Star Guardian Vanguard.
• New Ability: Active — Buckler Toss: Throws her buckler at the furthest enemy, dealing 100 / 175 / 250 magic damage. The buckler bounces back to her, granting her a shield for 200 / 350 / 500 health.
• Tier reduced to 1 from 3.
• Base health reduced to 650 from 700.
• Maximum mana increased to 100 from 75.
• Starting mana increased to 60 from 0.
• Base attack speed increased to 0.55 from 0.5.

V9.22 — Disabled

Disabled due to Set 2.

V9.20

Base health reduced to 700 from 800.

V9.14b

Ability damage increased to 300 / 500 / 700 from 300 / 400 / 500.

V9.14

• Base armor increased to 40 from 30.
• Stun duration increased to 2 / 3 / 4 seconds from 1.5 / 2.5 / 3.5.
• Number of targets hit increased to 1 / 2 / 3 from 1 at all star-level.

— July 1st Hotfix

• Base health increased to 800 from 750.
• Maximum mana reduced to 75 from 100.

V9.13 — Added

• Tier 3 Yordle Knight.
• Active — Keeper’s Verdict: After charging for 0.75 seconds, swings her hammer at the closest enemy, dealing 300 / 400 / 500 magic damage, knocking up for 1 second and stunning for 1.5 / 2.5 / 3.5 seconds.

Skins

Original Poppy: Base Skin
1 / 25-Aug-2021

Level 1

Humility is a mark of heroism, but many historians would agree that Poppy is kind of pushing it.

Level 2

Power is a famously corrupting influence, but Poppy proves that its corruption is no match for a good heart and stubborn, steadfast obliviousness.

Battle Academia Poppy: Common SkinFeatures: This skin is available for purchase.
700 / 06-Oct-2021

Level 1

«Seems to me like you got a little more weapon there than you can handle.»»»»Huh? Oh, this isn’t mine, I’m just—«»»»Good, so you won’t mind if we take it, then!»»»»Oh! Like a practice battle? I love training!»

Level 2

«Hey, come back! I thought you wanted to fight!»

Trivia

• The origin of the word «Yordle» came from a dream that Paul ‘Pabro’ Bellezza had. He had a dream about Yoda and Yaddle from Star Wars, and woke up saying «Yordles».
• Yordles were previously divided into Yordles and Meglings. The yordles were often seen furry in appearance, while the Meglings had blue skin. Since the «Yordle Unification Pass» development project, both sides of the same race have been unified to share similar features.
• While originally envisioned as a human child Amumu has been described as a Yordle for most of his presence in the game. His current state is left intentionally ambiguous, with characters in his lore commenting on the possibility of him being a yordle while others scoff at the idea.
  • Amumu might have been the first and the last Yordle emperor of Ancient Shurima.
  • Yordles have been shown to use a visual transmorgrification charm to look human, which may have a role in the ambiguity of his identity.
• According to a recognition scan made by Vel’Koz, a Yordle’s physiology appears to be «99% fur, 1% glee.»
• Most yordles were listed as rivals to Tahm Kench on
• Some say Yordles know secret ways through Runeterra others cannot perceive.
• Xayah states that Yordles are often erronously thought to be related to the Vastaya, or that humans mistakenly label them as Vastayan.
• Heimerdinger, Rumble and Ziggs are credited for the creation of Mecha Aatrox, Mecha Malphite and Mecha Zero Sion.
• In the comic Paint the Town, it is known that:
  • Yordles are often feared, hunted, and eliminated all across Runeterra.
  • Ziggs and other Yordles are recognized as a Noxian weapon, possibly because of Kled’s participation in the invasion of Ionia.
• There is apparently a high general bounty on Yordles in Bilgewater.
• It is unclear if Yordles are spirits in lore, despite a few champions mentioning them as spirits.

Yordle Unification Pass

By Michael ‘IronStylus’ Maurino

A while back we stated the Yordle Unification Pass of 2014 (The Y.U.P.). This kicked off with Heimerdinger. He followed some unintentional design decisions from Ziggs and Lulu. However, at the same time we sat down to do some comparisons of Yordles as a whole and are touching here and there upon a Yordle style guide of sorts. We haven’t been able to yet to write in stone any hard and fast rules, but we have gotten general aspects decided upon. Such as Yordles needing actual ANATOMY, not just being potatoes with huge heads. Another touching on how we possibly want to explain the furry/non-furry aspects of some Yordles versus others. We’re still scratching our heads on the finer points of that, but we’ve got the informal ideas settled.

Either way, as we crunch along, you’ll see Yordles becoming more coherent as a race, at least from a visual side of things where the Champion Update team is concerned. There are also larger discussions about background and other narrative stuff, but we deal mostly with visuals obviously. As we crank through these characters you’ll see some consistency emerge. We have a couple that are in our sites currently which will be touched on in due time!»

Quotes

•  
    «All right, team! Adventure time!»
•  
    «Today’s the day I find that Hero!»
•  
    «Wouldn’t be a quest without some danger!»
•  
    «I just know the Hero’s around here somewhere!»

Enemy 4Veigar present

•  
     Veigar: «A hero emerges! Good!»

   
     Poppy: «I’m no hero, but I’m still gonna try!»

Enemy 3 Babbling Balladeers present

•  
     Babbling Balladeers: «Poppy? We didn’t prepare you a villanous theme.»

   
     Poppy: «Oh , that’s ok! You should probably run anyway.»

Allied 3 Pompous Cavalier present

•  
     Pompous Cavalier: «Poppy! Might the Hero be on this very field? Eh?»

   
     Poppy: «I sure hope so! Lemme know if you find ’em!»

Allied 2 Yordle Smith present

•  
     Yordle Smith: «‘Member what I told ya?»

   
     Poppy: «Swing low, send ’em sky high! I’ll make you proud!»

Allied 1 Yordle Squire present

•  
     Yordle Squire: «Poppy! Poppy! I found the Hero!»

   
     Poppy: «Yeah, where? What’re you looking at me for?»

Enemy 1 Yordle Squire present

•  
     Yordle Squire: «Huh? Poppy? Did we switch quests?»

   
     Poppy: «Aww. Better get outta here, Peppy!»

a Unit

Enemy 5Garen

•  
     Garen: «For King and Country!»

   
     Poppy: «Same! But… uh… for this side!»

Allied 4Veigar

•  
     Poppy: «Veigar! You are soo scary!»

   
     Veigar: «And you are very brave, Poppy, speaking to me!»

Enemy 4Veigar

•  
     Poppy: «Wow, a real Villain!»

   
     Veigar: «You cannot stop me, Poppy! No hero can!»

•  
     Veigar: «I am Lord Veigar, Destroyer of Worlds!»

   
     Poppy: «Well, I’m just Poppy. But I’m gonna stop you!»

Allied 3 Babbling Balladeers

•  
     Poppy: «Play something we can fight to!»

   
     Babbling Balladeers: «Don’t rush the creative process, Hammerbrain!»

Allied 6 Yordle Ranger

•  
     Poppy: «What do you see up there, Pip?»

   
     Yordle Ranger: «For the millionth time! Shouting ruins the recon!»

Allied 1 Yordle Squire

•  
     Poppy: «I don’t say this often, but … don’t be a hero.»

   
     Yordle Squire: «Pip Pip! I’ve got a new tactic!»

•  
    «*grunts* Alright! Time to get serious!»
•  
    «*grunts* No hero, huh? Guess I’ll finish this one!»
•  
    «*grunts* For Demacia!»

•  
    «Ready, Hammer?»
•  
    «I’m attacking!»
•  
    «Hammer!»

a Unit

Allied 3 Pompous Cavalier

 
  «Guess he wasn’t the hero…»

•  
    «Orlon…»
•  
    «Oww…»

Turn timer appears

Allied turn timer

•  
    «Yeah… I’m not sure what to do either…»
•  
    «I can spend a whole fight wondering ‘Shield or Hammer’.»

Enemy turn timer

•  
    «Hey, if you don’t wanna fight anymore that’s ok!»
•  
    «Oh! I-if we’re taking a break can I practice a joke?»

Joke

•  
    «Jokes? Yeah, I know jokes.»
  •  
      «A Demacian, a Noxian and a Freljordian walk into a tavern.»
    •  
        «The barkeep asks, ‘What’ll it be?'»
      •  
          «The Demacian says, ‘Uh, I’ll have a wine.’ No, wait, an ale! Yeah… «
        •  
            «Then the Noxian says, ‘I’ll have a… a wine.’ Yeah, he wants a wine.»

           
            «And the Freljordian says, ‘I’ll drink anything, so long as— ‘ Wait, hold on, let me start over.»

  •  
      «A Noxian, a Targonian and a Piltie are robbing a bank.»
    •  
        «The bank guy says, ‘I’ll give you whatever you want.'»
      •  
          «The Noxian says, ‘I’ll take whatever gold you got back there.'»
        •  
            «The Targonian says, ‘Gimme’ all your gemstones!'»

           
            «And the Piltie says, ‘Can I own this ba— uh, I own this bank, so…’ He doesn’t want anything because he owns the bank… »

Keeper of the Hammer

As legend describes it, this hero is the only person who can unlock the full power of the hammer and lead Demacia to true greatness. Though Poppy has searched the furthest corners of the kingdom for this legendary fighter, her quest has proven fruitless. Each time she has attempted to pass the hammer on to a potential hero, the results have been disastrous, often ending in the warrior’s death. Most people would have abandoned the task long ago, but most people do not possess the pluck and resolve of this indomitable heroine.

Poppy was once a very different yordle. For as long as she could remember, she had been in search of a purpose. Feeling alienated by the chaotic whimsy of other yordles, she preferred to soak up stability and structure where she could find it. This drive brought her to the human settlements of western Valoran, where she gazed in wonder at the caravans striping the countryside in an endless file. Many of the people there looked tattered and weary, but they stumbled on in pursuit of some ephemeral better life that might lie just beyond the horizon.

One day, however, a different sort of caravan passed through. Unlike the other travelers, these people seemed to move with purpose. They all awoke at exactly the same time each morning, roused by the sound of a watchman’s horn. They took their meals together every day at the same hour, always finishing within a few minutes. They set up their camps and took them down with remarkable efficiency.

While yordles used their innate magic to fashion extraordinary things, these humans achieved equally astounding feats through coordination and discipline. They acted in concert like the cogs of a gear, becoming something much larger and stronger than any single person could ever be. To Poppy, that was more marvelous than all the magic in the world.

As Poppy watched the camp from the safety of her hiding place, her eyes caught the gleam of armor emerging from a tent. It was the group’s commanding officer, wearing a brigandine of gleaming steel plates, each piece overlapping, each an integral part of the whole. The man’s name was Orlon, and his presence seemed to stir the souls of everyone there. If someone became discouraged, he was there to remind them of why they pressed on. If someone collapsed from exhaustion, he inspired them to get up. It reminded Poppy of certain yordle charms, though again, without magic.

Poppy crept in for a closer look. She found herself following this shining commander, as if drawn to him by fate itself. She observed Orlon as he led his soldiers in training exercises. He was not a large fellow, yet he swung his massive battle hammer with surprising alacrity. At night, Poppy listened intently to his hushed discussions with the elders of the camp. She heard them making plans to pull up stakes and head west to build a permanent settlement.

Poppy’s mind was overwhelmed with questions. Where was Orlon going? Where did he come from? How did he assemble this meticulous band of travelers, and was there a place for a yordle in it? At that moment, she made the most important decision in her life: for the first time ever, she would reveal herself to a human, as this was the first time she’d ever felt a connection with one.

The introduction was a jarring one, with Orlon having just as many questions for Poppy as she had for him, but the two soon became inseparable. He became a mentor to her, and she a devotee to his cause. In the training grounds, Poppy was an invaluable sparring partner — the only member of Orlon’s battalion who was unafraid to strike him. She was never obsequious, questioning his decisions with an almost childlike innocence, as though she didn’t know she was supposed to meekly follow orders. She accompanied him to the site of the new settlement — an ambitious new nation called Demacia, where all were welcome, regardless of station or background, so long as they contributed to the good of the whole.

Orlon became a beloved figure throughout the kingdom. Though few had actually seen him wield his hammer, he always bore it on his back, and the weapon quickly became a revered icon for the fledgling nation. People whispered that it had the power to level mountains and tear the earth itself asunder.

Orlon passed the hammer to Poppy on his deathbed, and with it, his hope of an enduring kingdom. It was only then that Orlon told her the story of his weapon’s creation, and how it was never truly intended for his hands. He explained to Poppy that the hammer was meant to go to the Hero of Demacia — the only one who could keep Demacia whole. As her friend drew his last breath, Poppy swore to him that she would find this hero and place the weapon in his hands.

But what Poppy possesses in resolve, she lacks in ego, as it never even occurred to her that she might be the hero Orlon described.

General

Poppy, the Iron Ambassador

• Poppy was the first champion released in .
• Poppy is the first and so far only post-launch champion to be priced at 1350 on release (all other champions with the same price were already present when the game officially launched in October 2009).
• Poppy is one of two champions that went into the weekly champion rotation on the day of their release. The other one is Udyr.
• Of all champion updates in the game, Poppy has gone the longest without an update to her base splash art prior to her VGU in .

Poppy, Keeper of the Hammer

• Poppy is the first champion with full facial animation.
• Poppy is the first champion to receive splash updates to all skins.
• The splash art features the titular flower.
• Poppy’s theme resembles (instruments used include a low brass and a flute).
• Poppy’s dance references the Grunka Lunka’s dance from Futurama.

  A side-by-side comparison can be seen here.

• Poppy was initially going to wear a red scarf as a ‘heroic thing’, it competed heavily with her pigtails and was deemed way too busy on her model, the scarf was trimmed down to a muffler.
• Poppy’s favorite food / candy is the lollipop.
• Poppy finds Yordles ‘too fluffy’ and disorganized, herself preferring the orderliness found in Demacia.
• Poppy is the first champion to have a form of crowd control in all of her abilities.
• Poppy is the first and only champion to have two skins released for the Snowdown Showdown event.

Culture

“	«Yordles are the reason no-one takes us Vastaya seriously.»
— Xayah

The Yordle race have innate magic within them which helps them achieve extraordinary things usually impossible for someone of their stature. Also, they require far more social interaction with their own kind than humans do. They generally are a peaceful and amicable race, often marked with streaks of joviality and light prankishness; their moral compass is most often pointed toward goodness and benevolence. Their desire for social interaction drives them toward this ethos, as the mental health of a yordle is very much dependent on the positive company he or she keeps. This does not mean, however, that they are incapable of cruelty and evil. In fact, a yordle who is kept in isolation for too long – especially from contact with other yordles – runs the risk of becoming withdrawn and sullen. Some who already are centered more toward malevolence will become exceedingly so in due course. These yordles will often twist their desire for social interaction into a desire to seek out others to inflict pain and suffering upon them, one extreme example being Veigar, the Tiny Master of Evil. Yordles are attracted to Runeterra cultures and enjoy manifesting around certain human ideals.

Relations

• Poppy’s belonged to Demacia’s founder and weaponsmith Orlon, who passed it on to her on his deathbed. She is searching for the ‘Hero of Demacia’ meant to wield the hammer (without realizing she is the one).
  • When Orlon passed the hammer to Poppy, he did not specifically identify her as the Hero (or meant to, but died before he could), leading to Poppy’s misunderstanding.
  • Poppy and Kled are notable for being Yordles responsible for helping in building the human civilizations they align themselves with (Demacia and Noxus, respectively).
• Poppy knows about the existence of Lulu and Tristana

  Lulu states that Poppy and Tristana has «a little furrow just above her nose when she gets mad».

  , though it is uncertain what she thinks about them.

• During a Black Mist attack by Viego on a Demacian city, Vayne and Poppy fought side by side against the undead army.

Dev Blog: The Animation of Poppy

By Paul ‘PartiestCat’ Jarvis

Hey everyone! Paul ‘PartiestCat’ Jarvis here. I was in charge of driving the style and direction for how Poppy moves and wanted to give you all a little behind-the-scenes look on how we approached the animation for Demacia’s tiniest delivery service.

SQUASH, STRETCH, AND SMEAR

Okay, quick animation history lesson. There’s a set of animation principles that most animators follow that dictate and drive the choices we make when building out the motion for characters and they cover topics like posing, exaggeration, and visual/emotional appeal. One principle in particular — squash and stretch — is something we’ve adapted as a fundamental aspect to League’s in-house animation style. Broadly speaking, squash and stretch helps a character feel organic and alive. It’s used to emphasize weight, momentum, and speed of objects by warping and distorting their shape. When we use more extreme versions of these distortions to connect our most important ‘key’ poses, we call them smears or ‘smear frames’; single distorted frames between broad actions. Using smears helps to sell impacts on spells, attacks, or any super-quick motion. A champion’s animation needs to feel awesome in fractions of seconds, and smears help by adding texture and flavor between exaggerated motions.

Back to Poppy.

Yordles are squishy. I don’t mean that literally, but their short stature gives them lots of wiggle room for us to exaggerate how they move. Poppy has a tiny frame, so it’s also important that we can make her motion broad enough to not be hidden under her big Yordle head. Ideally, she should never look like she’s made of rubber, but her motions should have a certain extra snap to them to keep her feeling energetic and punchy.

We kept the same mindset with the motion of her hammer, but I’ll get to that below.

EXPRESSIVE

Historically, League isn’t the kind of game that normally needs facial animation. The camera angle and distance from your champion normally means a character’s face only takes up a handful of pixels on-screen at any moment and extra detail actually makes it harder to understand what is happening. As animators, we wanted to challenge that idea, and our early tests actually showed us that her expression changes were fully readable and felt like they added a lot to her personality.

In terms of her character rig (the set of bones that allow us to move our characters around) Poppy is the first champion in League to be built from the ground up to support such a wide range of facial expressions. Every champion has a budget in terms of rig complexity, so we had to be smart about how we fine-tuned her model and facial setup. Many high-end character rigs in modern games have more bones in the face alone than all of Poppy combined, so the challenge was to give us the widest control with the least amount of resources.

Poppy’s facial rig

Just to get technical stuff out of the way, Poppy’s face is only 11 joints in all:

• 3 per eye (pupil, upper eyelid/eyebrow, and eye shape)
• 3 to shape the mouth
• 1 for the upper bridge of teeth
• 1 for the jaw

After working closely with our tech artist (and waves and waves of iteration) we landed on what you see above. We were able to get a surprising amount of flexibility out of such a simple setup!

The first thing I did with Poppy was to carve out a set of base expressions to feel out her emotional range, and then develop them until that we all felt confident about the direction. Once we had a solid foundation, we were able to focus on the expressive timing — finding punctuated moments during and after her abilities and attacks where the expressions could be clearly seen. When you only have a fraction of a second to sell an attack, communicating a clear change in mood is really important.

…Fool me twice… HAMMER!

Poppy’s hammer is just as important as she is and we really wanted to reflect that in her animations. Why not give her hammer the same degree of personality that we give to the Yordle that wields it? We spent some time going back and forth about what kind of shapes we needed the hammer to make, which parts we wanted to push and pull, and which parts needed to twist, distort, or grow and shrink.

Squashing, stretching, and smearing is just as important for the hammer as it is for Poppy, so we needed to crank it up to 11. The head of the hammer scales to cartoonish sizes for single frames so you can really feel the force behind the swing, and the neck of the hammer bends to compensate. With a little sorcery and a lot of clever rigging we were able to build really clean smear trails for the hammer that gave us a nice, stylized alternative to motion blur. It’s a more traditional animation method that meshed really well with how we normally animate our champions.