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Twisted Fate CutpurseCentered
Twisted Fate
Twisted Fate (Universe)Twisted Fate (Universe)
Twisted Fate (League of Legends)Twisted Fate (League of Legends)
Twisted Fate (Esports)Twisted Fate (Esports)
Twisted Fate (Teamfight Tactics)Twisted Fate (Teamfight Tactics)
Twisted Fate (Legends of Runeterra)Twisted Fate (Legends of Runeterra)
Twisted Fate (Wild Rift)Twisted Fate (Wild Rift)
Twisted Fate (Development)Twisted Fate (Development)
Twisted Fate (Trivia)Twisted Fate (Trivia)

Twisted Fate Twisted Fate is an infamous cardshark and swindler who has gambled and charmed his way across much of the known world, earning the enmity and admiration of the rich and foolish alike. He rarely takes things seriously, greeting each day with a mocking smile and an insouciant swagger. In every possible way, Twisted Fate always has an ace up his sleeve.


Twisted FateSquare"It's not gambling if you can't lose... "  Twisted Fate
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Background[]

Early Life[]

Born to the nomadic river folk of the Serpentine Delta, Tobias Felix quickly learned what it was to be an outsider. Tolerated for the exotic goods they peddled, but shunned for their strange traditions, his people found only short welcomes wherever they berthed their colorful river barques. His elders would shrug, and say this was just the way of the world, but the obvious prejudice always stuck in Tobias' craw.

He found his true calling in the gambling tents, between games of chance and skill like Mortwheel and Stabberscotch, when he first picked up a deck of playing cards. Many years earlier, his superstitious grandfather had shown him how to read omens in the shuffle and cut, while his aunt had later taught him how to read all an opponent's tells. Between the two, Tobias took to the high-stakes game of Krakenhand like an old master. He could almost feel each card's place in the deck, and follow their movements through each successive hand. He was often accused of cheating, but it was difficult for anyone to explain exactly how.

Finally, one night, a group of men who'd lost their fortunes to young Tobias returned in the dead of night to settle the score. They came bearing cudgels and, emboldened by cheap rotgut, went from tent to tent in their search for him, beating down any of the river folk who got in their way. Fearing for his life, Tobias turned and fled into the darkness.

When dawn came, the lad sheepishly crept back to find his people breaking down the camp. No one would look him in the eye. He had thought only of himself and left others to face the consequences of his actions.

Though he begged and pleaded with them all, Tobias was exiled for what he had done. With his whole world falling apart around him, he watched helplessly as the barques left, leaving him alone on the riverbank with nothing but his grandfather's worn deck of cards clutched in his hands.

He grew to manhood as a drifter, trawling the gambling halls of every settlement he came to, using his preternatural skill to earn enough coin to survive. That Tobias was able to relieve the boastful, the arrogant, and the cruel of their cash was just an added bonus—though he was always careful to let his marks win at least a few hands, here and there.

Across one table, he met a deplorable fellow named Malcolm Graves.

Each recognizing a kindred soul, Tobias and Graves quickly joined forces. On the southern borderlands of Valoran, they set two renowned noble houses of Noxus at each other’s throats as cover for the rescue of a kidnapped heir. That they pocketed the reward money, only to ransom the vile young man to the highest bidder, should really have come as no surprise to their original employer. In Piltover, they still hold the distinction of being the only thieves ever to crack the supposedly impenetrable Clockwork Vault. Not only did the pair empty the vault of all its treasures, they also tricked the guards into loading the loot onto their hijacked schooner, for a quick getaway through the Sun Gates.

In almost every case, only once they and their accomplices were safely over the horizon were their crimes even discovered—usually along with one of Twisted Fate’s trademark calling cards left where it would be easily found.

With every con, swindle, and heist, Tobias felt the pull of the cards growing stronger, and he knew it was more than mere gambler's luck that guided him. His people had always waved away concerns over primitive magic and “cartomancy”, but now Tobias began to seek out ever more dangerous means to bend the cards to his will.

That search ended badly Graves was taken alive and sent into The Locker while Tobias and the rest of the crew ran free. Though he tried to break Graves out, he failed. Instead, seeking to begin again, he returned his birth name to the river's waters and took another: Twisted Fate.

Burning Tides[]

In the years after, Twisted Fate continued conning people solo, one-time evading capture by Miss Fortune. She would later hire him by proxy to sneak into Gangplank’s warehouse to steal and return a Crimson-Coil dagger, where he would reunite with Graves, who broke out from The Locker and was tipped off by the Bounty Hunter herself about Twisted Fate presence.

Flamed with rage at his partner's apparent betrayal, Graves started shooting at Tobias in an effort to settle the score with him. With Gangplank's warehouse burning and with the pirate captain's thugs swarming, the resolution of Graves' and Twisted Fate's long-simmering feud threatens to engulf the entire city in flames. Informed by the destruction of his warehouse, Gangplank set off the catch both of the perpetrators of this act.

Both Graves and Twisted Fate tried to flee from the wrath of the Pirate King but with no success. Gangplank tortured them until he tried to publicly execute them in front of the whole city for their misbehavior. Hearing the news of this event, Sarah Fortune's plans set in motion and along with her crew, started to make preparations to blow up Gangplank’s flagship so all Bilgewater could witness the death of their Reaver King.

Graves managed to hide one of Twisted Fate's cards, snatched during their previous fight around the city, from the pirate thugs, and so, Twisted Fate breaks free but Graves gets dragged to the bottom of the ocean. Twisted Fate then jumps after him and saves Graves from drowning but almost dies in the process. Graves manages to save Twisted Fate and after they successfully survive the explosion, both men settled their dispute and resolve to pick up their joint hustling.

As Graves had lost his shotgun Destiny, they head to Piltover so he can get a new one. Even though Graves and Twisted Fate are tempted to reconcile their relationship, both know it may take a while for Graves to completely trust Twisted Fate again, still, the latter is happy to have his old friend back.

Destiny and Fate[]

After running jobs in Piltover and Zaun for a while, they go back to Bilgewater in search of the Abyssal Crown. Along with the story, Twisted Fate actively tries to regain Graves' trust, staying despite the danger and giving the Crown to Graves since the latter still keeps some distance from him.

They end up angering a sea witch in the process. Later on Miss Fortune springs a trap for Twisted Fate and Graves. Despite the latter's success in cornering her, she manages to trap them and hand them to the sea witch in exchange for her quartermaster. In the end, she helps Twisted Fate and Graves escape as well.

Appearance[]

Twisted Fate is described as a tall, handsome male with tanned skin, trimmed beard and long dark hair. He's got sharp features and a strong jaw. He is usually depicted wearing a dandy wide-brimmed hat with golden ornaments along with a long black coat, a salmon vest, and a white button-up shirt with black tight pants and boots. Although he wears his hair loosely, in the Double-Double Cross cinematic he has shorter hair kept in a small ponytail and doesn’t wear his jacket.  

His eye color remains inconsistent, being blue in some depictions and brown in others. T.F. also has a Bilgewater-themed tattoo on his right arm seen on his lore-based skin Cutpurse Twisted Fate Cutpurse Twisted Fate.

Personality[]

Twisted Fate rarely takes things seriously, greeting each day with a mocking smile and an insouciant swagger. He’s prone to brag and has an overall smug yet charismatic personality. He's an opportunistic and hedonistic person that enjoys the thrill of danger and adventure. However, he does seem to have some roguish honor, since he tends to steal mostly from rich people and it is mentioned that he enjoyed conning arrogant and cruel people, as shown in his short story. Even though he usually appears laid-back and playful, he rarely shows genuine emotions and has tight control of his expressions.

Twisted Fate is analytical and a strategist, being the brains in his partnership with Graves, usually in charge of planning out heists. He’s also superstitious and theatrical, since it’s mentioned he enjoys putting on a show and communicates artistically at times.

He used to have a history of taking off when things started to get complicated but changed his ways after starting to work with Graves once again. Twisted Fate is also a stickler for appearance even having a “concerned face” he only uses when dealing with a really bad hand of cards or when he finds a new stain on his jacket. He’s very protective of his hat, to the point he checks the state of his hat first instead of his broken ribs after falling off a building. Twisted Fate is also plagued by the fact that he's a riverman that can't swim, drowning being his worst nightmare.

Abilities[]

  • Magical: Tobias was born with natural magical ability, which might grow the more he trains and expands his knowledge about magic.
    • Cartomancy: Twisted Fate uses magical cards for various effects. His cards are a family heirloom and are specifically described as old magic. Without him having one to focus on, he can't cast magic at all, though it's unclear if the cards are magic or if they are only magical for him. Yellow cards stun and deals some damage, since Bambolini got some heavy bruising when Twisted Fate hit him with a yellow card. Red cards are know to explode but the blue card ability is still unknown.
    • Teleportation: Twisted Fate is capable of teleportation from one place to another while gaining complete visual access while he casts the spell.
    • Divination: like other riverfolks, Twisted Fate is able to read cards and look for omens among them.

Relations[]

Malcolm Graves Malcolm Graves[]

Their partnership started when they recognized a kindred soul in one another across a table during a high-stakes game in Mudtown.

They both shared the same reckless passion for danger and adventure, which is what encouraged them to form their partnership. Graves being the brawn, and T.F. being the brains they were an unusually effective team from the outset. Their mutual sense of roguish honor grew into genuine trust, and together they hustled across Valoran.

They were forced apart when a heist went south, with Graves getting sent to The Locker despite Twisted Fate’s efforts to save him. Graves endured years of torture and solitary confinement, during which time he nursed his bitter anger toward his old partner, and, convinced T.F. had betrayed him, Graves was determined to have his revenge.

Graves reunited with T.F. again when Miss Fortune set them up, yet they were forced to put aside their differences in order to escape almost certain death in the ongoing conflict between her and Gangplank. Even though Graves and T.F. were tempted to reconcile their relationship, both knew it may take a while for Graves to completely trust T.F. again, still, the latter was happy to have his old friend back.

However, since Graves still kept some distance from T.F., in the short story Destiny and Fate, T.F. proactively tries to show Graves that he can trust him again. T.F. had a history of taking off when things got ugly and so, T.F. wanted to stay and retrieve the Abyssal Crown even if it meant risking his life so he could prove to Graves that he wouldn't leave him to pick up the pieces anymore. In the same story, when Graves shows up next to T.F. bleeding, the latter notices and expresses his concern, something that Graves actually appreciated even if he didn't say it out loud.

During the Burning Tides events, T.F. jumps after Graves to save him from drowning despite not knowing how to swim and being terrified of drowning himself.

Graves seems to like messing with T.F., particularly by calling him Tobias instead of Twisted Fate insisting the latter is a stupid name, or by splashing him with salt water just to mess with TF's carefully oiled and perfumed hair. Similarly, T.F. usually comes up with clever replies to annoy Graves. Their petty bickering is seen many times like at the end of Burning Tides, Double-double cross, and Destiny and Fate.

In the story "The Boys and Bombolini" it is revealed that both Graves and Twisted Fate have romantic feelings for each other.

Yordles[]

After some time, Graves captured Teemo Teemo for the bounty on yordles while Twisted Fate refuses because "messing with Yordles brings a whole heap of trouble." Graves then fought Corki Corki, Lulu Lulu and Tristana Tristana who came to save Teemo, which ended up in Graves being turned turned into a frog and the Yordles escaping.

Read More

Biography

Twisted Fate OriginalCentered
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Biography

The Card Master

By Graham McNeill

Starring Champion

Graves Twisted Fate The Burning Tides 01
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Bilgewater Crest icon

Short Story • 34 Minute Read

Burning Tides: Act 1

By Alison Hawkes, George Krstic, Anthony Reynolds Lenné, John O'Bryan

The Rat Town slaughter docks; they smell as bad as their name suggests.

Graves Destiny and Fate
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Bilgewater Crest icon

Short Story

Destiny and Fate

By Anthony Reynolds Lenné

Ah, Bilgewater.

Lulu Teemo Tristana Don't Mess With Yordles
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Video

Don't Mess With Yordles

Wanna go cause a ruckus? When Teemo goes missing, Tristana finds plenty of volunteers to help bring him home to Bandle City—in all the ways that only yordles can!

Bilgewater Ancient Architecture
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Bilgewater Crest icon

Short Story • 3 Minute Read

Double Down

By Graham McNeill

All eyes in Fortune's Glory were on Twisted Fate. He felt the gambling hall's many patrons regarding him with a mixture of envy, vicarious excitement, and spiteful longing for him to lose everything on the turn of the last card.

Graves Double-Double Cross
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Video

Double-Double Cross

Down on the slaughter docks, Miss Fortune springs a trap for wanted criminals Twisted Fate and Graves… but soon finds the tables turned against her.

Graves Twisted Fate The Boys and Bombolini 01
EditImageReference

Bilgewater Crest icon

Short Story

The Boys and Bombolini

By Jared Rosen

There existed, among the multitude of disgusting Bilgewater shipping warehouses filled with rusted knives and arms-length carnivorous rats, one Bilgewater shipping warehouse devoid of such things.

Mentioned Champion

Ruined King Promo 01
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Game

Ruined King

By Airship Syndicate

Rise Against Ruin - Unite a party of League of Legends Champions, explore Bilgewater and set sail for the Shadow Isles to uncover the secrets of the deadly Black Mist in this immersive turn-based RPG.

Bilgewater Bilgewater Bay 02
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Short Story • 8 Minute Read

The Burden

By Odin Austin Shafer

Truth Bearer, this is why we must retreat to Buhru. We cannot save the paylangi' the Hierophant said. The heavy-set woman grinned, obviously pleased by the prospect of leaving Bilgewater.

Graves OriginalCentered
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Biography

The Outlaw

By Anthony Reynolds Lenné

Alternate Universes

Runeterra Legacy A Twist of Fate
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Video

A Twist of Fate

The battle seems decided... until there is a Twist of Fate.

Worlds Ignite
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Music Video

IGNITE

By Numerous creators

Since its inception, Worlds has grown and evolved. Each unbelievable play and phenomenal match created moments and memories that will never be forgotten. In these iconic moments, players and teams reached for something incredible within themselves and brought it to life on the Summoner’s Rift...

Aatrox Promo 1
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Short Story

An ancient mystery in Runeterra

By Explorer Ezreal

Worlds Road to the Cup
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Video

Road to the Cup

As the 2013 League of Legends World Championship final draws near, we showcase the biggest heroes in esports from around the world. Many teams fell by the wayside in epic battles, and now only two remain: Korea's SK Telecom T1 and China's Royal Club. Who will rise?

Trivia[]

  • He was likely inspired by Gambit from X-Men by Marvel Comics.
    • In his old lore, Twisted Fate's powers came from an experiment conducted by Dr. Xavier Rath, a likely reference to the X-Men's Professor Xavier.
  • Twisted Fate named his hat "Envy".
  • Sentinel Graves death animation shows Graves taking out a blue card that gets him teleported to Twisted Fate's location before dying.
  • One of the scrapped narrative concepts for Graves was for him to be married or to be an ex-lover of Twisted Fate. The concept of having "palpable sexual tension" between the characters was preserved in their final lore.
  • However much his lore is retconned, Twisted Fate is invariably identified as a Serpentine River nomad.
    • In his second lore, he was a Demacian-born nomad who also operated in Noxus.
  • As seen in LoR Non-Champion Non-Spell Indicator1 Pool Shark card's artwork, his bounty in Bilgewater Crest icon Bilgewater is 10,000,000.
  • His first name Tobias was first revealed in Burning Tides. His full name was later revealed to be Tobias Felix with his biography update released in conjunction with the global mobile launch of Legends of Runeterra icon Legends of Runeterra.
    • Tobias Felix was originally specific to High Noon Gothic profileicon High Noon universe before his biography update.[1]
    • Tobias comes from Hebrew טוביה Ṭōḇîyāh "My Goodness [is] Yah".
  • His stories in chronological order are Double Down, Burning Tides, Destiny and Fate and Double-Double Cross.
  • In a Legends of Runeterra interaction, Vi refers to Graves as Twisted Fate's "better half".
  • Graves is the only person who still calls Twisted Fate by his birthname, Tobias.
  • Cutpurse Twisted Fate Cutpurse Twisted Fate and Cutthroat Graves Cutthroat Graves depict them in their younger years.
  • For the 2022 Pride Month Collection, RIOT decided to release two new emotes featuring Twisted Fate and Graves, consequently acknowledging their relationship, and thus becoming the first canon couple between two male champions.
    • One of the emotes is a reference to the classic scene in the romantic drama film "Brokeback Mountain".

Change log[]

Character blurb
29 April 2020 (During V10.9) Added.

References[]

See also[]

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