Why Are There so Few Creature Champions in League?

So, the last few years have been pretty sparse for any monster champion fans. Sure, we got Lillia back in 2020, in 2021 Vex was released, who might I add is the first female Yordle since 2012, but there is something else missing out there and that's darker creature champions. 

So, what has changed in the design philosophy over the years? How come the last 'real' creature champion that didn't have humanoid features was a god damn floating cat? 

Why Are There So Few Creature Champions? 

In mid-2021, Riot Reav3 uploaded a blog post explaining the reasoning behind the design choices for champions in League of Legends. how come there were more humans being made all the time, while Void creatures, Yordles and other creatures were forgotten? 

Well, he stated in the blog post that after doing extensive research Riot found that the community held greater affinity towards human champions, which was why the champions team began to focus on creating more human champions. 

In 2018 the champions team began to make more 'broadly appealing champions' while 30% of champions (this includes VGU's) would be niche champions. Niche champions would be more likely to include monster champions since the broader public enjoys human champions. 

By changing their strategy, Riot implemented a rule, create one creature champion a year, but by doing so they also included humanoid champions into the creature category, which was the mistake that led to there being a vast hole for monster champions out there. Lillia, Vex and other humanoid champions were counted as creatures. 

Will There Be More Creature Champions Added? 

Yes, there will be more creature champions added into League of Legends. In the same blog post, Reav3 also explained that instead of having two categories, humans and creatures, the champions team now works with three categories, humans, humanoid and creatures. 

Though, creatures do not just include monsters. Creatures like Yuumi will fall into that category as well. She was basically a product of there not being enough 'cute' creature champions... but honestly, who doesn't think Kog'Maw is adorable? 

So, let's get prepared and wait for some more creature champions in 2022!