Maokai/Background
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< Maokai | Redirected from Maokai the Twisted Treant/Background
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Lore 
Edit
The twisting magical energies unleashed by mages during the Rune Wars caused an incredible amount of devastation to the natural world. The League was established to control the use of this magic by confining it to the Fields of Justice. By limiting its use to there, they thought that they could prevent it from doing further harm to the environment. It seemed that they were successful until Maokai came into being. During a League match on The Twisted Treeline, Maokai, an ancient oak that stood above the upper jungle, spontaneously roared to life. Ripped from the natural balance by arcane forces, his sentience was forged in chaos. Before the Adjudicators of the League could step in and suppress him, he slew all six champions participating in the match. The scholars of the Arcanum Majoris took a keen interest in him, as they were eager to discover the secrets of his animation.
Maokai was furious, however. He abhorred the existence that was thrust upon him; he felt it was a corruption of nature. He learned to communicate with people in hopes of finding a way to be returned to his former, true state. Seizing the opportunity, the League offered a trade. They would research a way to revert him so long as he agreed to fight in the League of Legends. Maokai was indifferent to verdicts rendered by the League, but he was eager to punish summoners for their wanton use of magic. He agreed to the terms under one condition: once they learned how to turn him back, they would never animate another tree again. He wears a lantern on the Fields of Justice to set him apart from the other trees, and as a warning to the “animals” that would do him harm.
“I will use this power until I am free of it.”―Maokai
Quotes Edit
- Upon selection
- "I do your bidding... for now.."
- Attacking
- "Begone vile magics!"
- "I will punish their imprudence."
- "Reckless mages."
- "I will end this misuse of magic."
- "They will know my remorse."
- "Do you want to see twisted?"
- Movement
- "This power... I cannot control!"
- "Torment me no longer!"
- "To rest... if only I could."
- "This life was not meant to be."
- "You should not defy nature!"
- "There is no escape."
- "I once had peace."
- "Return me to the forest..."
- "I would end this burden, but it always returns."
- Joke
Maokai bounces a sapling on his foot, throws it in the air and eats it. The sapling the comes out of his arm and returns to his hand.
- "Nature is the truest form of balance. Eat and avoid being eaten."
- "Animals are lazy. We plants produce our own food."
- Taunt
Maokai throws a sapling on the ground and stomps it.
- "Is this what they call getting stomped? Hahaha!"
- "Nature can be a real mother. Hahaha!"
Co-op vs. AI ResponsesEdit
Match start
- "Do not defy nature!"
Player team victory
- "GG!"
Player team defeat
- "So this is what they call getting stumped."
League JudgementEdit
Candidate: Maokai
Date: 14 February, 21 CLE
- OBSERVATION
A frenzy erupts on the Twisted Treeline. Saplings scurry in every direction, detonating in multicolored explosions of arcane energy. League Champions and summoners alike rush onto the field to contain an uprooted tree that is not only moving, but also attacking everything in sight. The tree is visibly confused over his violent birth into awareness, and he involuntarily conjures an arcane storm of magic. The storm grows as it absorbs energy from the magical and physical attacks being directed at the verdant force, until suddenly the torrent explodes with enough power to kill everyone present.
A bright orange light falls over the scene as Kayle appears, shielding the group from death. As the dust clears, the tree is contained in an earthen dome by League representatives, and immediately whisked away to the Institute of War for further examination.
- REFLECTION
The room Maokai found himself in was cavernous, with a reflecting pool stretching across the entire expanse of the floor. A human adorned in flowing purple robes stood in the middle of the room, reflections of light from the pool dancing across her.
“An honor to make your acquaintance.” The woman bowed deeply, admiration glowing in her eyes as she beheld the treant. “I shall be administering your judgment for entry into the League.”
Maokai exploded into a rage. "Judgment? You humans woke me, and created this abomination of life, and now you stand and judge me?"
The summoner did not respond. She raised her arms and muttered an incantation under her breath. The floor swam beneath him, and suddenly the room dissolved away.
His roots tingled with familiarity as he found himself standing in a large expanse of trees. The forest around him stood tall, with strong trunks and leaves of every color - this was his home as it had existed eons ago. He ached for what was long passed.
Suddenly, the surrounding terrain exploded. The ground surrounding Maokai sunk and bubbled in grotesque ways. Vegetation as far as the eye could see began to melt with a sickening hissing sound. Humans were running panicked through the forest under a rain of bullets and chemicals. A boy fell to the ground, struck by a stray bullet. The summoner and Maokai were invisible to the chaos erupting around them, but somehow the boy looked straight at them, the life in his bright eyes quickly fading.
The ground below Maokai changed again, accelerating until it became a blur. Maokai stood, trembling, as the scenery assaulted all his new found senses. The acrid odor of trees melting in a pool of acid. A beautiful island the color of the sky splitting asunder into three. A beautiful, ancient city of white quartz twisting into itself in impossible ways, defying the laws of time and space.
Maokai closed his eyes, weary. The League must have assumed they were showing him something new, but it was nothing he hadn’t already known. He had stood for centuries, absorbing the pain and sorrow from the abuses wrought upon the land and the life in its soil.
The summoner spoke quietly, holding the scene that flashed before them in reverence. “We do not ask for any of this, yet it is brought upon us by those who would do evil. By joining the League, you can help us prevent these things from happening.”
Maokai’s disgust had not subsided. “You humans are the ones who are causing this. You ask me to feel for you when all I see is the hatred you bring onto yourselves. When you see your children being overrun with weapons, I see the fallen trees carved into your instruments of destruction. I see the land which has existed before you and which will continue to exist after you suffer for your petty squabbles.”
“Knowing all this, would you still choose to go back?" She asked.
The treant hesitated, surprising himself.
“Or will you continue to stand, impassively, believing that you can affect none of this?”
Her accusatory tone snapped him from his momentary hesitation. "Your wars are no concern of mine. You deign to awaken me to the pain you humans suffer, but before you gave me this curse I already knew your pain and suffering. When the earth absorbs the blood of your children, it cries. I have withstood this longer than you can even imagine. We of the earth do not feel, and thus I am not of the conviction to change how you humans live or die."
The summoner's eyes darkened. It was not the response the League wanted, but it was the only one they were going to get. “Then what will you do?”
“I will walk this path until you can turn me back, as promised.” He paused, and one could swear that something akin to a smile twisted the tree’s mouth. “Until then, I will punish you magic users with these hands you were kind enough to bestow upon me.”
Composing herself, the summoner expelled the illusion with a sweep of her hands. "Very well. That is your answer." She turned on her heel and walked away without another word.
Maokai watched her go, impassively. He noticed the young boy's blood from the illusion lingering in a puddle on the floor, though the body had been whisked away. The treant started to walk past it, but suddenly stopped and turned.
With slow, deliberate movements, he yanked off a chunk of his roots and laid them gingerly in the pool of blood. The roots began to absorb the blood, slowly at first, and then desperately, as if the blood could not be held back. The roots jumbled together into a mess of knots, and then a sapling emerged. It looked up at him with innocent eyes.
Another chance at life. Something inside the ancient tree moved, though what it was he had no idea.
He knew that someday he would return to stillness, but things would never be the same.
Development Edit
- Maokai has been designed by Volty.
Champion Revealed Edit
This champion image and release date were leaked from the March 2011 issue of PC Gamer.
Who: A tree hit with magic that became a hero.
He will: Plant acorn bombs, teleport on top of lightly armored enemies.
Release: February 15
Champion Sneak Peek Edit
Sometimes, when you look at the League of Legends champion lineup, it’s easy to feel like you’ve seen it all. You’ve seen light mages, thorn mages, mad scientists, illusionists, ninjas, and warriors with gigantic swords. But there’s something that this next champion has that none of them do: roots. That’s right, while you may have been engaged in epic, pitched battles with trolls, gargoyles, ogres, scarecrows, minotaurs, mummies, and mutant armadillos, I bet you’ve never had to fight a tree before! Introducing Maokai, the Twisted Treant; a groundbreaking new champion in the League of Legends whose bark may or may not be worse than his bite. You decide.
Patch history Edit
- Sapling Toss:
- Explosion particle can no longer be seen though fog of war.
V1.0.0.144 - August 7th Hotfix:
- Maokai will no longer become untargetable or dissapear after casting Twisted Advance.
- Vengeful Maelstrom's allied ultimate HUD indicator will now turn grey as soon as it is cast.
- Sap Magic now properly displays numbers in its tooltip as it updates.
- Maokai will now attempt to attack after using Twisted Advance if the target is a champion.
- Sap Magic can now be activated while silenced.
- Stats:
- Health per level increased to 90 from 82.
- Armor per level increased to 4.0 from 3.5.
- Movement speed increased to 310 from 305.
- Fixed a bug where Vengeful Maelstrom was reducing true damage.
- Arcane Smash: damage increased to 70/115/160/205/250 from 50/95/140/185/230.
- Twisted Advance: damage increased to 80/115/150/185/220 from 80/110/140/170/200.
- Sapling Toss: lifetime increased to 35 seconds from 25.
- Vengeful Maelstrom:
- Initial mana cost changed to 75 at all ranks from 75/125/175.
- Continual mana cost per second changed to 30 at all ranks per second from 30/35/40.
- Casting delay reduced by 50%.
- Twisted Advance:
- Fixed its level up tooltip to correctly display the increase in mana cost.
- Fixed a bug where Maokai's death animation would not play.
V1.0.0.111: Added. (Original Stats)
- Arcane Smash: Maokai slams the ground, the force of which knocks nearby enemies back and sends an arcane shockwave forward, damaging and slowing his enemies.
- Twisted Advance: Maokai dissolves into a cloud of arcane energies. He regrows near a target enemy, dealing damage and rooting it in place.
- Sapling Toss: Maokai hurls a sapling, dealing damage on impact. The sapling becomes implanted in the ground, warding a nearby area. When enemies approach, the sapling attacks, exploding in an arcane blast that damages enemies.
- Vengeful Maelstrom (Ultimate): Maokai shields his allies by drawing power from hostile spells and attacks, reducing non-tower damage done to allied champions in the area. Maokai can prolong the effect as long as he has mana to spend on it. When the effect ends, Maokai unleashes the absorbed energy to deal damage to enemies within the vortex.
- Sap Magic (Innate): Each time a champion near Maokai casts a spell, he gains a charge of Magical Sap. When he has 5 charges, Maokai's next melee attack drains energy from his target, healing him for a percentage of his maximum health.
