Rise of the Thorns: Inside the Art of Zyra

The road to create a champion occasionally has some bumps along the way. Zyra, Rise of the Thorns, is no exception. Originally, the concept of a plant-based champion was in our designer’s heads for over a year. Try after try, it just never felt perfect. Different concept art, multiple kits, loads of designers – Zyra saw it all. Finally, the brush parted to reveal the final concept that just kicked ass and worked on all levels.

But don’t take our word for it: Katie "RiotTeaTime" De Sousa, Sam King, and Marco "OCRAM818" Bustos are here to dish out the inside dirt on Zyra, from the style of her splash art and abilities to the challenge of creating the soundscape for a plant person.

Riot: What aspects of her character had to come out in the splash? Zyra’s splash art feels a bit different than others.

Katie: She’s feral, she’s vicious and she hurts a lot. Zyra is also beautiful, but at the same time, you know just by looking at her that she’s going to hurt. You want to look but not touch – every plant mage has her thorns, you could say.

Drawing Zyra in the middle of the plants, in the middle of the thicket, lends itself to her predatory nature. She’s lurking and waiting in the trees.

Riot: Were there any unique challenges associated with her being a plant?

Katie: Rendering her materials. You know, what she’s built out of? I didn’t want it to be human skin, since she isn’t human, so I made it more of a speckly, iridescent material. She has sparkles and speckles that glint. Subsurface scattering was really important for her plant-like characteristics, giving her that translucency that plants have.

Riot: For the sake of our readers, can you explain what subsurface scattering is?

Katie: You know how you put a flashlight behind your hand and you can see some of the light pass through, and it spreads through the skin? Try it! That’s subsurface scattering – the way the light scatters as it passes through her body.

Riot: How does a champion’s role factor into her presentation in the splash art?

Katie: For a damage dealer, like an AD or AP carry, we make them look dangerous. For a support champ, for instance, we wouldn’t have that character punching a dude in the face. We have to make Zyra menacing, while still adhering to the established personality. We make the damage dealers look like they can do damage.

(read more on LoL forum)