Update: We now have a video teaser on top of the recent lore story, which you can check out below. In it, Warwick hunts down two Zaunites with his new metallurgy upgrades.
Months ago, Riot revealed a peak at their plans for a comprehensive Warwick update. The classic jungler needed a more interesting kit, as well as tighter thematics and art. “We think violence is an important theme for Warwick,” Riot said in an update, “and we want to see how far we can push that thematic.”
After the release of the latest teaser, yeah, we’d say they pushed it.
The teaser appeared earlier this week on the League of Legends Universe site. Titled “Engineering the Nightmare,” the short story delves into Warwick’s disturbing origins as a torture subject. We’ve always known Singed had a hand in creating the wolf-man, but not that it was through anything so visceral. You can check out a quick rundown of the events below, in case you’re short on lore-reading time.
Singed Meets Warwick
Singed first discovers Warwick in Zaun, claiming that the human cutthroat was yearning to have the beast within him released. Like any decent mad scientist would in such a situation, Singed tranquilizes and kidnaps his subject.
Then There’s Torture
Singed drills into Warwick’s bones and installs a mechanism that will release transmutating chemicals. While his experiment wails in pain and pleads he is a good man, Singed goes right ahead and threads tubing into his veins. Warwick screams for 6 hours, remaining conscious the entire time. Singed thinks this resilience is “very encouraging.” Singed also goes to get a good night’s sleep, because he’s exhausted.
His Hand Comes Off
Pain is the transformation’s main catalyst, so as Warwick suffers, his skeleton breaks apart and takes new shape. His skin rips from stress. Eventually, he pulls against his restraints so hard that his hand pops off.
Another Hand Starts Regenerating
Singed returns to find Warwick’s severed hand unrotten, and his arm stump quickly growing new, embryonic flesh. So excited by this, Singed stays up all night making a steel claw scaffolding that he grafts onto the arm.
Escape
One day, Singed finds Warwick’s mechanical implants have caused infection. After tweaking his chemicals accordingly, Warwick wakes, contorting while his own skeleton takes a new shape. Singed doubles the formula dosage, and Warwick tears out of his bonds. The now “chimeric” beast rips Singed’s face open, then passes out. Without a heartbeat or any signs of life, Warwick is presumed dead, and Singed tosses him into the trash
Return
Returning to his laboratory later on, Singed finds it completely destroyed, torn apart by metallic slashes. Warwick is alive.
Singed recalls the monster saying a single word before he had gone unconscious — a name, he thinks. He sets off to build a new lab, find Warwick, and “start the next phase.”
Recap
Singed kidnapped Warwick, pumped him with painful chemicals, turned him into a wolf-man, gave him a metal claw, and then lost him.
