Swain/SkinsTrivia

Champion	Ability Details	Background	Strategy	Skins & Trivia

Skins

Swain was designed by Coronach.
Swain was the first champion to be announced and then reworked before he went live. As shown in his Champion Spotlight, Torment's damage over time was increased by the amount of damage taken in its duration.
Nevermove is a reference to the narrative poem, The Raven, by Edgar Allan Poe.
- According to Phreak, Swain's Nevermove ability was originally supposed to be called Nevermore and was called Nevermove as a pun. When the ability was implemented in the game the name was just never changed back.
Swain's raven is named Beatrice.^[1]
- When Swain dies, Beatrice flies off the screen.
- Beatrice can be seen on the Crystal Scar. She will land on the barrier near the Boneyard control point for a short time and then fly off.
- Bird in his Tyrant Swain skin is named Chance'Rowe, a demon bird.^[2]
Swain's Ravenous Flock transformation has a similar appearance to Tzeentch's daemon servants, the Lords of Change, from the Warhammer franchise.
The ending quote to Swain's background is based on Joseph Heller's novel Catch-22.
Based on the lore, Swain was unable to compete in the Ionia Versus Noxus Grudge Match due to recently becoming a member of the Noxian High Command, thus needing to take time away from the League to put all his affairs in order.

Swain's quote, "The early bird guts the worm," is based off of a famous quote, "The early bird gets the worm."
While Ravenous Flock is active, Swain has three separate /jokes and an additional /taunt, unlike other champions with "true forms".
Swain shares a quote with Garen: "Victory awaits!"
Swain shares two quotes with Katarina: "If you insist." and "My pleasure".
In polish client, selection quote is "Rozdziobią was kruki, wrony" (You gonna be pecked out by crows and ravens), which is reference to Stefan Żeromski's novel from 1895 of the same title.

The color of Swain's form in Ravenous Flock changes with different skins. Classic Swain is black, Northern Front Swain turns white, and Bilgewater Swain turns red, and Tyrant Swain is blue, with clothes and a staff. In addition, Beatrice's form is either a snowy owl or a parrot in Swain's respective skins.
Northern Front Swain is a reference to the Soviet Northern Front, a major military organization created during the Second World War.
Bilgewater Swain is likely a reference to Long John Silver, the antagonist of the novel Treasure Island.
Tyrant Swain can be seen in the left of Battle Bunny Riven's Splash Art.

Swain is the Grand General and leader of Noxus, one of Valoran's most powerful city-states.
Swain was a member of the Black Rose, a dark and mysterious group that controlled Noxus before the rise of the military government. They were thought to no longer exist. However, with the reemergence of their leader Leblanc, the Deceiver, the Black Rose are working towards getting the organization back into power.
Swain and Jarvan IV, the Exemplar of Demacia, have a deep, hate-filled rivalry. He has attempted to kill Jarvan IV on several occasions.
After attending one of Sona's concerts, he states: "Her melody moves the soul, her silence sunders the body."
During the War of Kalamanda, Garen and his Dauntless Vanguard hindered the progress of Swain and his armies' advancement at every turn.
Swain has formed an alliance with Darius, the Hand of Noxus, and they worked together to unite the nation behind a vision of true Noxian strength.
Swain possibly knows the reason for the mysterious disappearance of Katarina's father.