Bard/Trivia

General

• Bard was the first champion released in 2015.
• Curiously enough, The Wonder Above is the antithesis of The Terror Beneath, going so far as to both having a portal-opening ability ( Magical Journey and Tunnel) as well as an enemy-destructible object-placing one ( Caretaker's Shrine and Tunnel)
• Traveler's Call,  Feast,  Mark of the Kindred, Siphoning Strike, Soul Furnace, and Phenomenal Evil Power are the only in-game abilities that can theoretically increase a stat infinitely.
  • He is the first champion to be able to disable both Baron Nashor and Dragon (thanks to Tempered Fate's stasis) as well as the second to have only one damaging ability ( Cosmic Binding) the first being Master Yi ( Alpha Strike).
• 'Bard: Mountain' was animated in Korea by StudioMIR (responsible for The Legend of Korra, The Boondocks, and even the Season 3 World Championship video Road to the Cup) and directed by Seung Eun Kim, as well as written and artistically guided by Riot employees (with Riot Jino as the visual effects consultant)
• In the Brazilian server, he is called Bardo.
• The Meeps will occasionally whisper upon spawning beside Bard.

Development

• Bard is Luke 'Rabid Llama' Rinard's first champion. He used to be part of Riot's Engineering team but later switched over to Design.
• Bard was first extracted from the filenames of in-game icons and subsequently from promotional images.
  • Bard comes from Proto-Celtic *bardos, from PIE *gʷr̩H-dʰh₁os "praise-maker".
  • Celtic bards are poets or musicians dedicated to storytelling who either travel on their own or are hired by patrons and are dedicated to singing heroic tales or events past. This is why they often dress mostly in cloth or light leather and have a musical instrument handy for storytelling/singing in a light-hearted fashion.
    • Despite the name, Bard's theme was changed halfway from 'musical bard' (he even had an instrument) to 'cosmic being'.
      • The remnants of his musical theme can be seen on his flute-like weapon.
      • The way bards record history through songs and storytelling can be reflected in the way Bard aims to preserve the history of Runeterra. Additionally, both Bard and real-world bards are commonly depicted as nomads and pacifists.
• In V5.3 five copies of Bard's mask were hidden across Summoner's Rift but have since been removed.
  • The first time they were encountered by a champion, they would glow and make a sound.
    • In Spectator Mode, they would light up when the camera focused on them.
• Early in development Bard could decide what colour of the Meeps he got once he had gathered enough chimes. Each colour of the Meeps buffed Bard's spells instead of modifying autoattacks and they followed him around to show enemies which of Bard's skills Bard had upgraded. This was scrapped in favour of buffing autoattacks to increase clarity.
• At one point in development Bard's ult used to fire a global range wave that silenced enemies it hit.
  • At another point of development, Bard appeared to be able to evolve his abilities while Meeps were multi-colored Totemic Maokai Saplings.
    • Changing a single line of code in this stage of development created a seemingly infinite line of Meeps. This can be viewed here.

Lore

• Bard is an ethereal Celestial being who created a corporeal form in order to traverse and interact with the physical world.
  • This is obvious when looking at his wooden-peg legs, mask-face, and stitched arms. Not to mention that, when he dies, Bard's true form can be seen abandoning his body while it 'deflates'
    • Despite the lack of a physical form, Bard is not omnipotent. He can be banished and/or imprisoned by powerful magics, even so far as a force equally or more powerful possibly spelling his ultimate end.
• Bard influences Runeterran history in a very different way compared to the Darkin. Where they seek to influence key events in history through conflict and bloodshed, Bard passively restores balance in Runeterra when its continued survival is about to reach critical levels.
  • Unlike Soraka caring for living beings and their peaceful coexistence, Bard focuses more on the bigger picture by attending to matters of cosmic significance and assessing their threat levels for Runeterra. As such petty mortals are not important, unless they threaten existence and reality themselves.
    • For example, Bard would save you not because you yourself are in danger but rather because your descendants will have a hand in keeping cosmic balance in the future.
  • Bard will not intervene in battles unless the combatants themselves are the ones that could change the world for the worse. In 'Bard: Mountain' his focus was not the Noxian assault but rather the artifact being misused, which is why he didn't help the villagers.
• The green ball that sits in Bard's weapon is a harmonic key that splits layers of reality and taps directly into the magical friction that all worlds emit.
  • Meeps are drawn to him. Even though they are capable of surviving on their own, they've traveled with Bard for so long they've formed a symbiotic bond.
• Bard's manner of speech is a way to keep the information he gives a secret.
  • For example, if he were speaking to you you would think he speaks your language just fine, but in reality that is the case for you alone because you are meant to receive the message. If someone were to eavesdrop on the conversation they'd hear something akin to his in-game voiceover, an intentional move on Bard's part.

Quotes

• Bard is the second champion to have both a voiceover with no actual spoken words as well as a music-themed one, the first for each being Rek'Sai and Sona, respectively.
  • He communicates by melody (akin to The Traveler from Journey) with some of them resembling Whale calls.
• Bard's voiceover is based on a system that plays certain lines depending on the number of Meeps currently traveling with him, with specific lines for 0/1/2/3/4.
  • His early voiceover prototypes used Bassoon, Contrabassoon, and Bass clarinet. The final version has 4 parts.
    1. Alpenhorn
    2. Egyptian flutes
    3. Verbed out Piano tone clusters and strings
    4. A Synthesizer called Zebra and programmed to cycle through the harmonic and/or overtone series.
    • This mixture is meant to give Bard a sense of other-worldliness.
      • Other instruments recorded were:
        1. Tibetan Singing bowls (various shapes and sizes)
        2. Tibetan chimes (various shapes and sizes)
        3. Tibetan Gong
        4. Tibetan Cymbal
        5. Trombone (performed)
        6. Trombone mouth piece
        7. Trombone mouth piece buzzed through a garden hose
        8. Bowed Cymbals
        9. Various ethnic flutes and reed instruments
• Although Bard himself does not have a voice actor, his Meeps do.
  • Reflecting this, when a Meep spawns, they will occasionally whisper "Utora", who is one of Bard's audio designer, Riot Utora.

Skins

Original Bard
Chromas: Ivy, Marigold, Sage

• Several of his Meeps can be seen in the background.
• He is heavily inspired by Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke.
  • Bard's mask and the Meeps take after the tree spirits called 木霊 (Kodama).
• Another inspiration was Uatu from Marvel Comics.

Elderwood Bard

• He was slightly inspired by The Beast from Over the Garden Wall.
• He references the Elder Mother.
• He shares this theme with:
  • Elderwood Hecarim
  • Elderwood LeBlanc

Snow Day Bard

• He was released in celebration of Snowdown Showdown 2015 along with:
  • Snow Day Gnar
  • Snow Day Syndra
• His Meeps become penguins.
• He shares this theme with
  • Snow Day Gnar
  • Snow Day Graves
  • Snow Day Malzahar
  • Snow Day Singed
  • Snow Day Syndra
  • Snow Day Ziggs

Bard Bard

• Both his name & title reference Medieval Celtic bards, who transmitted oral history through verses and music.
• He references a traditional tabletop role-playing game.
• His splash art is part of a larger picture in which he is fighting alongside Jayce Brighthammer and Sejuani Dawnchaser.
• He shares this theme with
  • Braum Lionheart
  • Rugged Garen
  • Gragas Caskbreaker
  • Jayce Brighthammer
  • Karthus Lightsbane
  • Ryze Whitebeard
  • Sejuani Dawnchaser
  • Varus Swiftbolt
  • Veigar Greybeard.
  • He also shares the double name theme with:
    • Draven Draven
    • Mundo Mundo.

Relations

• Despite both being Celestial beings, Bard is not restricted to Soraka's plane of origin but rather exists and journeys across many.
• Bard might have taken notice of Ekko and Zilean altering the timeline.
• Bard has no ties to either the Frozen Watchers' return, the Fall of Shurima, nor the Shadow Isles' Ruination. While all these events involved powerful forces, they had no larger cosmic ramifications, though Bard might have witnessed and even indirectly intervened in them.
• In 'Bard: Mountain' the village sage implies his people will 'die without' the artifact Bard snatched from him. This was not the case, for one of the children residing in the Noxian-assaulted village grew up to become the elderly storyteller from 'The Wonder Above'.