The 102nd new champion, Diana, the scorn of
the moon, has been released. There will be some news patch about her in the
future, such as v144. Today, we share you the creation of Diana. We got the news
from the official forums.
Where did Diana begin?
IronStylus: We wanted to design a champion
that was a foil for Leona, but we couldn’t really pin down what that character
would look like. So, we tried a bunch of iterations and we couldn’t get away
from creating a character that looked like Riven or a chick in armor. She was
in development in that way for about a year. Then one day I was watching an
anime and saw a character that seemed like the right archetype: an Eastern,
svelte girl in super heavy armor that kicked a lot of ass. It’s a popular trope
in the East and it’s something we don’t have in our game. She should be a very
vicious character without showing much emotion. We had a very clear idea what
she was from the beginning and that gave us the chance to focus more on fun and
translation.
How did the lore and Diana’s relationship
with Leona and the Solari affect the art?
IronStylus: I think we have been putting
more and more into champions to add more flavor. With the teaser and the splash
we showed two parts of her lore and her backstory. We essentially made a two
page comic of her origin and the aftermath of her ascendance. We used
everything in our arsenal to tell a story. She’s a character that’s connected
to another character, but she also stands on her own. If there could be two
characters that would have a movie, it would be Leona and Diana. They are so
ideologically opposed. Leona and Diana are mortal enemies. We used Leona to
create a lot of Diana since they are diametrically opposed characters. They are
similar in some ways, but Diana stands on her own. Both are more modest
characters. They are more covered up, but still alluring and sexy in a
different way. Diana’s intentionally as covered up as possible, but still sexy
and strong. She has a different silhouette than other champions and moves
differently with motions somewhere between Tryndamere and Akali. She’s got an
assassin feel, but the sword gives her more weight. She’s interesting from
every game angle.
--The sun is to protect the faith and the
moon is to embrace the heresy.
Harrow: It’s such a subtle conflict. They
didn’t really always hate each other.
IronStylus: We couldn’t nail down what she
was and Colt “Ezreal” Hallam said, “She’s a heretic”. She’s exiled from the
Solari. That turned her symbology, emotions, lack of emotions into something.
Wow. Yes. That nails it. It was an internal challenge and after that
revelation, the floodgates were opened. We were passionate about this character
and that spread to a lot of other people. She’s an awesome lore-based champion.
What was the biggest challenge in creating
Diana?
IronStylus: She is cold and emotionless,
but she has a cleanliness and preciseness with minimal facial expressions that
is present in anime. She can’t look bored. How do you sell detached without
being bored? How do you make tragic not too sad? The answer is that complex
characters gain something back, even through tragedy.
CaptainLx: So, I had to make her kick ass,
but not move her too much. I came off Draven, who is so expressive and big. And
she is the exact opposite. Maybe she’s adjusting her armor – no that’s too
extroverted. I had huge issues trying to find the right balance of her not
doing too much, but still being very much alive.
BelligerentSwan: I had the same issue with
sounds. Going from Draven and Jayce with over-the-top big sounds to a more
emotional character, trying to sell that power without being over-the-top, was
a challenge. Finding the right tones to play off the muted personality was
definitely a challenge.
NinjaChewyKun: For me the frustration was
trying to make you think of Leona, but not making them the same. The moon can
be yellow, but so can the sun. It was hard to find a unique particle look for
her.
Harrow: Working with the VO was difficult
with her because she doesn’t really say anything half the time. She’s not
extravagant, but has subdued emotion. We didn’t want her to sound dead inside.
She’s tragic, but still powerful.
How did you end up conveying Diana’s
preciseness and cold, reserved personality through the art?
CaptainLx: We wanted her to be tragic
without being angry or totally eaten up inside. We introduced slow and chase
animations. If you are chasing and being slowed, she reaches out as if she’s
trying to grab an enemy and pull them back in. We looked at things like the
laugh – it’s more of a scoff. That’s the character.
Knockmaw: She is different. She has all
this power within her, but she doesn’t show it on the outside. In the splash
art we had her down on the ground with action happening around her, but she is
calm, cool and collected. At the same time, she also has to have her own pretty
look.
shadowMacuahuitl: I transferred her
precision into the structured facial expressions and model. I started off with
the shape of her hair and that really defined the character’s personality for
me. I was thinking about this a lot and had a dream about her hair. I got up
one morning and I sketched what I had seen in my dream, the precise curves and
how to stylize it. I brought the sketch into the office that’s how it came to
be.
How did Diana’s relationship with the moon
affect the art?
IronStylus: We knew we wanted to do an
anti-Leona, but we wanted her to be more than a chick that had moon theme
stuff. To be a fundamental character she has to stand on her own. It was almost
harder because she was based on another character. We were more concerned about
the character than working within the iconography. We used the moon for spells,
particles and weaponry. The moon’s an iconic, graphic disc. Every phase of the
moon is graphic. The moon doesn’t really do anything on its own, so we assigned
powers of the moon: a shattering plate, cutting, cold, barren. We used the
motif to make her a counter to Leona. We adapted the moon to our purposes
rather than making the moon an embodied object. We put moon crescents
everywhere: hair, weapon, armor, death animation – everything down to swipes,
particles and her death animation.
NinjaChewyKun: The moon helps to emphasize
her personality: distant and cold. Of course, it makes sense that she worships
the moon.
CaptainLx: The shape of the animations help
facilitate the moon feeling throughout the kit. It’s an expression of her
personality that she chose to worship the moon. When she is recalling she goes
on her knees and prays to the moon goddess. We were more concerned about the
personality of the character than with the moon iconography, but with the moon,
we had more visuals to dip into.
What was your favorite part of Diana’s
creative process?
NinjaChewyKun: Everybody was so excited and
passionate about her. There was a very clear direction about what kind of
person she is. The concepts were so inspiring. For me the best champions to
work on are the ones who have the most direction. Everyone had an idea of what
her particles should look like. It was a fun collaboration.
CaptainLx: I think collaboration is a great
way to describe her process. We worked a lot together and early on and had a
lot of fun discussions. I threw away the most animations I’ve ever thrown away
because we were just playing around with a lot of ideas. What if she’s jumping?
What if she’s twirling? Finding the right balance – she’s snappy, but also
natural. People cared and asked advice from each other, so this character went
really well.
IronStylus: No one was afraid of getting
feedback or challenging something. Everyone wanted feedback. No one was too
heavily invested. It was a trusting collaboration.
Knockmaw: Diana was so . . . internally
funded, everyone had so much passion and couldn’t wait to get their hands on
her. There’s something to be said about an idea that surfaces within and
everyone feels it.
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