What’s up guys it’s me Jeremy!
The League community is full of talented artists and budding designers that want to try their
hand at designing their own skins or champions, and Riot actively encourages people getting
creative as you can see from their Art Contests.
Although it’s never been confirmed that a fan champion concept has been turned into
a reality, skin concepts have definitely influenced Riot in the past.
With that in mind, we wanted to share some of the awesome fan skin concepts that we’ve
come across, skins that we think Riot should definitely consider using as inspiration or
just straight up adding to the game!
And if you enjoy the video definitely hit that like button because if this video hits,
let’s say ratings, then I’m gonna .
Okay so our first skin for today is from Ivelin Trifonov, and it was designed for the 2014
content on Polycount.
It’s called Pirate Twitch, and as you would probably expect - it’s just Twitch dressed
up as a pirate.
The clothing is based on a kind of pirate deckhand, complete with the ragged shirt,
shorts and even a little sash and bandelier.
In his hands, or paws, he clutches a pair of flintlock pistols, which look just like
sleeker versions of Miss Fortune’s twin pistols.
The rest of the skin is pretty straight forward - he’s just a blue rat, although it does
look like he’s also wearing an eyepatch, which is pretty good attention to detail.
Twitch has actually been portrayed in a few different themes - as a thief, vandal and
even as a gangster, so it makes sense that a Twitch concept should explore a new fantasy
for him.
This skin makes it pretty high up on our list of skins that we think would make a good fit
for League of Legends, it’s not as complex as some of the other ones we’ve talked about
but the concept is still really strong and it’s a cool scenario to imagine Twitch in
- just trying his hand at a bit of plundering!
Coming in at Number 9 is Blood Raven Quinn by J Zhang, a professional concept artist
who has even worked for huge companies like LucasArts and Wizards of the Coast!
As far as concepts go it’s actually pretty basic - for the most part it’s just a color
swap to an awesome crimson red, but it still manages to be super badass even though it’s
pretty simple.
Most of the skin is the blood red clothing, which is offset by off-white armor pieces
and a pretty killer looking crossbow.
Honestly I think my favorite part of this skin concept is Valor - swapping from an eagle
to a Crow might conflict with the lore, but there’s actually something pretty cool about
it, and the fact that he’s wearing his own little armor pieces is pretty cute.
It’s kinda hard to tell whether the skin is meant to be actually evil or just badass,
but as always it’s cool to imagine champions in a different light so it’s a cool concept
for sure.
In the Number 8 spot we have a skin by alejowar called Zombie Teemo.
If Teemo wasn’t creepy enough already, this definitely takes him a step further.
I love the way alejowar has shown levels of decay as you move across his model.
You start with the left eye, which has been decayed to just bone, then as you move across
you find some tissue, then Teemo’s fur, and finally his relatively untouched bunny
suit - save for a couple of blood splats of course.
It would have made it higher on our list, but unfortunately it’s not something Riot
would make into a skin, they definitely like having horror elements around but they have
to be super careful with them because of the demographic of League and also some of the
countries the game is played in where rules are way more strict in terms of what kind
of visuals you can have in a game.
Zombie Teemo is an awesome concept though, and if League had a higher age rating this
would probably be an amazing skin for him - but unfortunately Riot need to keep it PG,
so I wouldn’t count on this skin showing up in the future.
At Number 7 is Halloween Lulu by NoraZhang, and it’s a pretty clever mix between horror
elements and the happy, quirky vibe Lulu is known for.
You’ve got all the staples of a true Halloween theme - skulls, scary pumpkins, eyeballs and
witch hats, but it’s offset by the color scheme that gives it a pretty playful feeling.
The claw hand staff is a pretty cool idea, and you gotta love the addition of Pix as
a little bat following Lulu around.
It looks like the polymorph creature would actually be a big eyeball with a hat on too
- it’s definitely on theme, but I can imagine that would actually be pretty creepy in game.
More complex concepts like this would have to be legendary if they were made into real
skins because they would need to be done using a new model rather than just a re-texture
or recolor, but it’d definitely work for Lulu who surprisingly doesn’t have anything
like this in game yet - kinda seems like a missed opportunity by Riot.
Witch Jinx is coming in at Number 6, with the concept by haryarti.
There’s actually a lot of witchy-stuff in today’s episode, it seems like it’s a
fantasy that concept artists in the community really like exploring.
Witch Jinx was completed for the Riot Games Art Contest, and in all honesty it doesn’t
look that Witch-like, it’s probably closer to something gothic.
That being said, the skin is still insanely cool, especially the weapons which just look
absolutely awesome.
They throw off serious steampunk vibes, especially Pow-Pow, and the blue and pink fluids or gases
mixing together actually do a lot of credit to the Witch theme - it’s like potions being
mixed and fired out of the minigun.
The only thing that seems like it could cause issues is the design of Fishbones looking
more like an explosive crossbow than a rocket launcher - having a big ass crossbow on your
back is Vayne’s territory, and it would cause some issues with Riot if it was a real
skin since iconic things like that can cause clarity issues.
Either way the design is solid and we could definitely imagine this being a real skin
in game, as long as Fishbones was made to stand out a bit more from Vayne.
Breaking into our Top 5 is Orianna SM by slowgun9, and the level of detail in this skin is amazing.
It stays true to the idea that Orianna was originally a human girl who enjoyed watching
the dancers from the theatre - so of course, as with her other skins, this concept shows
Orianna as a ballerina.
The theme is kind like what you’d expect to see at a masquerade ball, which makes sense
I guess since slowgun named it Orianna SM.
She’s covered in flowers and her clothing is ruffled, so it’s pretty distinct and
unlike the current Orianna skin offerings.
The real eye catching piece for this concept though is her ball, which is actually a pretty
grim looking skull, which is also adorned with flowers and makeup.
The really impressive part for me about this concept is how well it ties together Orianna’s
backstory as a young girl with a love of theatrics, who was turned into what is essentially a
clockwork killing machine.
You’ve gotta give credit to slowgun for an awesome concept and a seriously detailed
piece of design work.
Sea Witch Nami is coming in at Number 4, a concept by Thorsten Erdt, and it imagines
Nami as a way more sinister figure.
The color scheme is actually kinda similar to the Soulstealer skins, with the ominous
green glow and bits of purple, and it definitely puts a really interesting spin on how you’d
normally view Nami.
The splash art has a few really cool notable features - the tentacles, staff and her white
hair are all really sweet touches that set it the concept apart from the other Nami skins
in game.
There’s just something about painting a usually happy or friendly champion in a really
dark and evil light that is so awesome to me, and it’s been executed really well by
Thorsten - she does look pretty terrifying, for a mermaid at least.
It actually reminds me quite a lot of Syndra, not to the point where they would look too
similar to be in game together, but just in her face, hair and helmet.
There’s just something eerie about it, and you know she’s packing a ton of power.
This skin would probably have to be legendary to do it justice, it would be seriously awesome
to see Riot animate some tentacles to be whipping around inside her Ultimate as the tidal wave
surges forward for example!
Our Number 3 spot goes to Black & Gold Akali, a pretty shiny looking design by a Chinese
student known as Citemer.
As far as being a ninja is concerned, the skin is pretty bad - I mean, with all those
shiny gold bits people are going to see you coming from a mile away.
That’s probably not much of an issue for Akali who is happy to fight in a Nurse outfit
though, and it’s still a pretty cool looking design.
It doesn’t seem to have any particular theme in mind that we Can tell, it’s just made
to look really ornate, and the colors suit Akali pretty well.
Citemer even went to the trouble of adding in a bit more depth by designing a Black & Gold
Shen in the background, one of Akali’s allies and a fellow Ninja.
It’s simple, but well executed and it’d be really cool to see Shen’s Black & Gold
concept up close, maybe even with one done for their friend Kennen too!
Black & Gold is a really popular color scheme, it draws a lot of attention and offers a lot
of flair that really stand out, making it definitely worth of the spot on our list.
Black & Gold by itself probably isn’t enough of a theme to get Riot to start a new Ninja
skin line, but with some other elements it could probably be tied together, kinda like
how Cassiopeia and Wukong’s Jade skins work.
Our next concept is another one by J Zhang, and it’s taking the Number 2 spot.
The concept is known as Thunder God Pantheon, and it’s clearly modelled to take after
Zeus, the Thunder God of Greek Mythology.
It’s a pretty good fit for a concept since Pantheon is modelled after a Hoplite, who
were Greek foot soldiers armed with spears.
Instead of the usual armor and spear, Thunder God Pantheon has a lot more of a legendary
feel, and his Spear crackles with energy like a lightning bolt - which makes sense if it’s
based on Zeus.
He looks pretty elite compared to his base skin, so although being relatively similar
in terms of the styling, he’s just on another level entirely.
Take his helmet for example - instead of the usual basic Spartan-style helmet, it’s got
a full face guard with his eyes glowing through the gaps.
In game this skin would have so much more detail than the classic Pantheon skin, but
the highlight would definitely have to be his Lightning Spear, which would open up a
ton of awesome opportunities for Riot to go crazy with sound effects, animations and of
course particle effects.
It’s a really impressive piece of art, and a solid improvement to a lot of Pantheon’s
alternate skins - maybe with the exception of Dragonslayer and Baker, which take his
design in a really different direction.
And finally in the Number 1 spot, Space-Invader Nunu!
This concept was dreamt up by concept artists Michele Tanner for the 2014 Riot Art Contest,
and the attention to detail is just amazing.
The skin has futuristic design, like you’d expect for a Space-themed skin, so instead
of being a Yeti, Willump is instead a robot, or at least a yeti in a spacesuit that is
being controlled by two little joysticks.
The splash art has been done in the same style as other Riot splashes, and it’s super high
quality so it looks really convincing as if it was actually a genuine piece of work by
Riot.
The idea of Nunu controlling Willump with the little joysticks is really cool, it puts
a nice twist on the idea of him just pulling Willump’s hair to try direct him wherever
he wants him.
There’s also a nice light-hearted angle to the concept - he’s meant to be a big
space invader, but instead of crushing the snowy planet's habitants, they are just smashing
up a little snowman that looks like Lulu - although the kids in the background don’t look too
happy about it.
The skin reminds me a lot of Astronautilus - another fan concept that became a real skin
in the game, which shares the space suit concept, although the two are colored way differently,
and just look look different enough in general that it probably wouldn’t be a problem if
Riot decided to make Space Invader Nunu a reality.
We were super impressed with this piece, it’s a strong concept that really suits Nunu, and
the quality of the work is insane.
Anyway that just about wraps things up on our Top 10 Fan Skins - make sure you let us
know which was your favorite and you think would make the best skin in game, and check
out all the original posts in the description to support these awesome artists!
And it looks like that’s gonna be it from me, if you enjoyed the video drop a like,
subscribe if you want, thanks for watching, and I’ll see you guys next time.