League of Legends' Saddest Death Animation Belongs to Nunu & Willump

Riot Games' rework for Nunu updated the League of Legends champion to modern standards while still keeping the parts of him that made the champion what it was, but it also gave the Yeti and his boy the saddest death animation in the game.

Renamed Nunu & Willump to highlight the fact that they're a two-part character and not just a big Yeti, the two are goofier than ever with the boy, Nunu, riding atop Willump and throwing snowballs at their enemies. Their interactions with each other and solidify them as the best friends League's ever seen, but Riot Games had another goal for the rework: To make a gut-wrenching death animation.

"One of the (unofficial) goals of Nunu & Willump's rework was to give them the saddest death animation in the game," Riot Bananabandit said in a post that shared nine "fun" facts about Nunu's rework, this fact actually not being too fun at all.

The video above was shared within the post to show what the death animation looks like for those who haven't seen it. As Nunu & Willump take a Sejuani ultimate to the face, the pair collapses on the ground with Willump not moving at all. Nunu pushes Willump a few times to try and get some response, but the mystical monster doesn't move at all. Nunu sits down disheartened until they respawn back in their base.

Justin "Riot Xenogenic" Hanson weighed in on the pitiful death animation to say that it's a way of keeping Nunu & Willump's mostly cheerful moments what they should be by showing a low, low point at times.

"Playing new Nunu has a lot of fun moments," said Riot Xenogenic. "The really low note of their death helps ensure players don't become numb to the constant stream of highs—that way those high notes keep feeling fun."

On a much, much lighter note, Riot Games also shared some information on a part of Nunu & Willump that finds itself on the opposite end of the emotional spectrum. Nunu Bot, one of the more infamous skins in League, is here and is just as trolly as he was before. He even has his iconic laugh, something that Riot Games said couldn't be removed.

"We used text-to-speech to record his lines again, and the new laugh just didn't feel right," said Riot Interlocutioner. "We wanted to do good by players with this skin, which is why we also kept most of his original voice lines."

Nunu & Willump is now on the PBE for testing and will go live for everyone in a later patch.