Did this short make Unbound Thresh good? Well, almost! || "A Night at the Inn" animation breakdown

[@thechainwarden]

I got a feeling the artist at that worked on this animation hate Unbound Thresh just as much as we do and tried to do everything they can to change it without pissing off their client.

[@itayker22]

I completely agree. Amazing work there

[@henriqueazank5254]

I agree as well

[@neubaufahrzeug9339]

A comment I saw on someone else's video put it perfectly. "Cinematic unbound thresh is the result of the artist having control and splash art unbound thresh is the result of the marketing team have control."

[@gaminglqm2319]

@@neubaufahrzeug9339 and tbh its not even their fault cuz sex sale while in cinematic character design sale story sale animation sale and almost never sex

[@vex080]

That's not even true lol. League partnered with Axis Studios to make this and they stated it was a great project to work on. They worked on plenty of Animations for League before as well. Kinda weird to assume that..

[@checkpointstudios6419]

This cinematic shows something I love about Thresh’s character. He definitely has a moral compass. He knows right from wrong. He just doesn’t fucking care.

[@quillharper2070]

This is part of why Thresh is one of my favourite characters in League. He's not a villain because he has this tragic backstory or he's been wronged. He's a villain because he enjoys being one. And that, in my opinion, is one of the best kinds of villains.

[@rustkarl]

Indeed. I like that idea that his understanding of morality is a compass, a compass is a guide to show you the orientation, not to show you the right way. (Otherwise we’d always be walking North. Barring some electromagnetic interference)

[@megaurpo282]

geneva convention? more like geneva to-do list

[@thechrysis5359]

Since thresh has a mask when he's harvesting the Inn. It implies the only reason he uses a human face is to blend in when he's scoping out a place and so he can more intimately mock certain victims by making faces. Like a smug smile or a mocking pout which a skull face couldn't do.

[@andreamarques8328]

Using facial expression as a tool for creating misery too people is actually something that would give human thresh extra points since it would be in character, there would tho be a debate of if the monster skull or a face that can mock and berathe people more acurattely, which one cause more misery

[@certifiedbruhmoment2173]

@@andreamarques8328 I mean the monster skull would just cause fear, the human face can cause fear, and misery, is my take on it.

[@njrk97]

@@andreamarques8328 Using a Human face to enact misery could be a point and a alright design direction, but that still doesn't require his face to be a handsome fuckboi one. This has always been the problem, and was shown in the building a better Thresh, you CAN do a human or human facsimile thresh, the problem is they didn't do a human Thresh, they did a generic Pretty boy face bolted onto Thresh because between artistic interest and Lowest common denominator marketing, they chose the later.

[@lemonlupinreuben5362]

literally evelynn's motif of adopting human features to maximize their preferred flavor of misery

[@ThatsPrettyFunnyMan]

He's reusing his human face because he knows it'll make the pain more personal. These people may or may not recognize Thresh if he were to wear his face, it's still hard - people will have to dig deep into their brains since its a tavern and you meet a lot of people. But it's definitely way easier than to recognize the bone and skull face of a Wraith and goes "Oh I've met you before!". It is definitely the case with Bort, when Thresh first walks in wearing his Wraith looks , what Bort sees is "Oh just another demon thing walked into our tavern" but when he sees Thresh dons his human face, Bort stumbles back with a look that says, "Oh it's that guy! The one who gave me the gold coin!.. Why is he lookin like that tho?" As with the other patrons and the tavern owner, it's debatable whether they recognises Thresh or not because they didnt have enough time before being sucked in. Although the tavern owner have a little more personal time but none of his expressions screams "It's you!" kinda realization.

[@Glacier_Prince]

Oddly enough, I found that Bort's crab hand can be seen as a direct view at what Bort is actually thinking. (Or like his psychological trauma) During the day, the arm is flailing, a defiant act at the situation that he finds himself in, for which he's angry at himself for the situation that he put himself in. (At one point, the arm tries to kill Bort...can't believe Riot got away with the suicidal hint) But at night, the claw doesn't really do much because Bort isn't really thinking. To the point that the claw isn't even in a few scenes. And then the claw is gone, along with all of Bort's psychological turmoil.

[@nalufodase9498]

Damn I hadn't noticed that , it makes bort's curse way cooler and well thought by the mage and riot.

[@CrimsonHybrid]

Oh damn, that is a good one.

[@Ginn31]

Well now that you said it. It does makes sense. The crab hand only reflects his deep psyche. I did wonder why it stopped flailing manically when Unbound Thresh turns up.

[@andreb.5603]

I had a similar idea, that the arm wasn't quite separate from Bort, just tapping into a more subconscious part of the poor guy

[@EclipticChaos.]

@@Ginn31 my take on it is that he was contemplating thresh's offer, all the way down to his core. If the crab is a reflection of his deep psyche then that would be thinking about it as well.

[@SpaceDragon14]

It's so funny, he actually looks more attractive in this short than in any other form of media that he has been shown before.

[@alittledeath2817]

Yeah he's dilf like Swain

[@belphegren2062]

Agreed

[@peaceomolola9230]

Super subjective bcs one of the most common words used to describe the skin (not my opinion) was "Sexy"

[@SpaceDragon14]

@@peaceomolola9230 attractive doesnt mean sexy per se but i mean, subjective indeed. What i meant is that it's more handsome in a special way, not in the obvious sexy pretty face male champs we've been dealing with for years already

[@alittledeath2817]

@@peaceomolola9230 By calling him sexy people mean smooth, symmetrical face and abs

[@cyberrb25]

For Thresh is more like: "What's better - a lot of people making one miserable, or one people making a lot of people miserable?"

[@tiredwithpeoplesshxt1284]

one person***

[@Jaaaa315]

That's a cop out. They just wanted to make thresh relatable, the excuse of "well he makes the others more miserable by proxy" was just thought of later.

[@XTeam49]

@@Jaaaa315 You gotta understand that Bort will be misserable soon as well; he will be stuck whipping people. Thresh loves irony over all, and with it missery. This is COMPLETELY according to his character and it will stay like that.

[@kitnal4143]

@@Jaaaa315 exactly, it is almost a Tahm idea, you can get even more sadistic mystery by people inflicting on themselves. It is what he tried to do to Lucian so he could get Senna back etc.

[@jamesscott7215]

Stonks

[@MiNUS-ax]

I think we also misinterpreted what "Unbound Thresh" means, we thought that it meant his power was unbound. When in reality he was unbound in the context as he himself says, no longer "chained to the Shadow Isles". And being outside of the Shadow Isles as a monster, wouldn't give him too much opportunity to get close to people to give them the utmost misery. Which gives him an excuse to have a more human form.

[@Rhmrd]

Thank you man, i needed this

[@pauloazuela8488]

I do think initially that he lost much so he had human traits in that form

[@kamikazelemming1552]

So glad that someone else gets it.

[@diidimeh]

Great take on this! I agree.

[@bobbygeorge9181]

Yeah I think of it as thresh disguised, it’s not his real form but you can’t convince go around looking like a monster from ghost hell without attracting negative attention. He has to switch back to human thresh when he sees Bort because if he doesn’t Bort wouldn’t trust or listen to him.

[@livvyheartex]

Bort clearly was only kept that position as a waiter to be the tavern's laughing stock, which only makes his reasoning at the end more understandable

[@Doublejho]

i'd actually say it ISN'T the only reason; he has a debt that the owner mentions, and it's likely because his claw keeps breaking things if the owner keeps him around, bort keeps breaking things and in turn has to pay for them, and depending on the wage he'll essentially just get deeper and deeper into debt until the owner basically owns him not like he can run either, is it? he has a murderous crab hand designed to make his life miserable, that's not something you can conceal, especially from bounty hunters

[@chrs-wltrs]

Definitely seems to be the case: Bort's disability means he's never really going to generate capital for the owner as a waiter; he's too inefficient, and he breaks materials that need to be replaced. However the specifics of Bort's handicap can be exploited for entertainment. The only pretense of making Bort act like a waiter is to give him tasks that the claw can disrupt, and the owner would of course know that it would do this.

[@ButterflyScarlet]

​@@Doublejho except it may be that the owner is deliberately jacking up his debt in order to gain more money. Sure a couple of broken plates adds up, but it's not exactly fine china and it's implied that guests show up to gawk and laugh at him, so he brings in more money as a freakshow

[@amoghgokhale2366]

Other than his abs, I do kind of like his "villian" type design, where being conventially attractive isnt the worst. I still prefer his monster form, but the form used in his cinematic isnt necesarily destroying the character like his splash art does.

[@skylarrosewite80]

In fist place tho, it‘s the abs xD

[@amoghgokhale2366]

@@skylarrosewite80 i guess that is true for the splash art and in game model, which i know wont be changing, i just vastly prefer this version to what we had before

[@teotlcipactli7530]

It does, he shouldn’t had helped the crab hand or use humans as horses, he and only he should torture others, unless he will torture crab hand back

[@VirtusTenebrae]

If you watch his shadow, Thresh's skeletal form can be seen.

[@MagicIsNotRealWhoops]

@@teotlcipactli7530 It actually does have some logic. Thresh delights misery and suffering of others. He made a deal with Bort, and he kept it. Instead, all "privileged" visitors are being tortured and belittled by Bort, essentially a low life and "scum". Which adds another layer of misery for victims - to be laughed at by some "low life pig" that they made fun of themselves. I think Thresh loves low life, useless humans. Because they are the easiest to exploit. They will always have a grudge against someone, and Thresh can use this for his pleasure. Besides, Bort is slowly becoming like Thresh himself, which also might bring pleasure to Thresh because he likes "corrupting" good people.

[@Draedaja]

I really liked how Thresh stopped the cursed claw (in the coin scene) with just a thumb and two fingers, in a perceptively soft grasp - when before, we saw what Bort needed to do to contain its movements, using his entire body, almost. Chefs kisses all around, for this short! Also: monstrous serial killer Thresh is hotter than fuckboy Thresh. Fite me.

[@chesscake7362]

Your not wrong.

[@lordtallon5610]

Cursed opinion at the end. But at the same time totally agree

[@afatneckbeard5272]

Since reading your comment about Thresh's soft grasp, I've gained the cursed perception that the claw fears him, also necro

[@baitposter]

​@@afatneckbeard5272 You can even see the claw arm struggle when it's grabbed by Thresh, then it calms down and becomes docile

[@RTYR]

So fucking real he's so attractive in this short I can't stand it

[@iatemyshoe.617]

According to this animation, "The Unbound Thresh" in-game skin is ironically a bound form of an actual Unbound Thresh, which he uses as a disguise

[@dearickangelonej.legaspi6686]

Yup we can see his Skull Form in the shadows

[@davute9546]

Thresh looking like an older guy is just amazing.

[@volisardba6060]

you about thr cameo of twisted fate?

[@adcavenger1980]

Ur into older guys?

[@davute9546]

@@adcavenger1980 no

[@mr.bluefox3511]

I like Thresh having his old mustard too, but aging him up against the in-game art is good enough for me.

[@meltingmoon4286]

Like a fine wine 🍷

[@cosmichaze1482]

Unbound Tresh being Literally a Skin even in lore at least gives me some confort, thank you for this, always love your amazing animation breakdowns!

[@jairuz3876]

*Cries in wild rift*

[@humayranasita7953]

@@jairuz3876 well the skin thresh came out with, it’s the monster version so like maybe it’ll be fine?

[@primaloftheabyss3139]

@@humayranasita7953 the original thresh is no where to be found

[@MunchBunch0101]

@@primaloftheabyss3139 in the animation, you can see the original thresh in the shadows and i love that detail. or maybe you are talking abt the og skin in wild rift

[@primaloftheabyss3139]

@@MunchBunch0101 of skin in wild rift

[@krazanas]

One thing I really liked about the lighting was the usage of colors to separate main characters from background ones. Notice how Bort's highlights are yellow/orage-ish while the clients and the boss have a red lining. Thresh on the other hand has that ghostly green/white lighting which makes him stand out, makes it feel like he's a bit out of place, like he doesn't belong there.The table at which he decided to sit illuminated by the tavern's red, warm light, but his "corner" still remains green. Even during the scene where Thresh shows what he really is and the scene is overflowed by the light emanated bu him, you still get a clean split of the scenery, with Bort having that kinda neutral highlight and the guests being highlighted red

[@neraldberald927]

That "costume" idea with unbound Thresh sorta reminds me of Evelynn a little bit, façade to cover the monster to deal better with mortals, reel them in and get what they want. Neat little parallel I noticed I think.....

[@colboy1fish]

Your joker faced evelyn pfp is amazing

[@greezmonke3904]

Actually in a voiceline ingame Evelynn praisesand idolizes Thresh kn how he killed his victims slowly.

[@THEATOMBOMB035]

Okay NOW I can be okay with Unbound now. The human form is just a costume so he can finally leave the isles and hunt down souls. He is unbound, he is free, he is now unleashed to do whatever he wants

[@noname-do5wo]

"there are no CHAINS on me, now I'm free"

[@techknight3753]

@@noname-do5wo He now controls the chains that restrained him

[@krzysztofkuzniacki6416]

Soup: *exists* Crab Arm: and I took that personally

[@enewynning]

This short made me genuinely feel bad for Bort and emphasize with him on a level that I rarely do with fictional characters, especially with this little screentime. And if that isn't the highest praise I can give, then I don't knoe what is

[@zulqernein]

empathize*

[@scettico...]

@@zulqernein maybe he just really highlighted Bort 😳

[@zulqernein]

@@scettico... no she's just stupit i assure you

[@Boricosa]

@@zulqernein ironic.

[@stefanadler7015]

The funny thing is that I understood "Unbound Thresh" more like.. unbound from the Shadow Isles. He was always bound to that place and now after absorbing so much power he is unbound, free to roam Runeterra and spread misery and terror wherever he pleases.

[@eternal7912]

One little thing that made me like Unbound Thresh more in this cinematic, was the shadow of OG Thresh you can see cast on the wall. It shows what we're seeing is merely a mask, a disguise to let him blend in with the living.

[@dannypestolesi712]

I actually really liked the short and how they portrayed unbound thresh. Imo, i never saw threshes story as him actively shunning his humanity and being digusted with looking as such. He just loved being a metaphorical monster. He is horrid as a person. And delights in the torture and anguish he can cause. If he can best create such fear and anguish looking like a normal person. Then okay he is gonna do that. I also really did enjoy how him in human form looked like just some dude. Not sexy boy or some distinguished old man, just a dude. Like the universe story and art of him before the Vieganing. He is visually just a guy. It didnt seem like he cared about Bort and was doing this for him out of some kindness deep in his heart. But because of the anguish that Bort being the decider would cause. The guy bound and chained saying we are friends and it was all in good fun. To see that who he was has condemned him. That pain and anguish of their final moments of realization. Absolutely delectable to Thresh. Hell he still even killed and claimed Bort. But Bort got a good position being the one running the carriage.

[@FlutterSwag]

Yea its like an evelynn scenario, get close to terrorize them more

[@chrs-wltrs]

One thing that I noticed after a few re-watches is the incredible way that the animators demonstrated *both* Thresh's strength and that of the claw. When the claw grabs the coin, Thresh grasps it between forefinger and thumb. His fingers are shaking, which suggests that the claw is exerting incredible force to try and escape. However, *only* Thresh's fingers are shaking, the rest of his hand is completely still, and his facial expressions don't show any kind of strain or effort. Combined with his rapid reaction, these signify Thresh's supernatural physical ability, *without* detracting from the implied strength present in the claw. And they're able to signify all of this information to the viewer in a shot that lasts just over a second. It's a tricky needle to thread, but Axis did so expertly.

[@Cymb3lin3]

I adore that shot of Thresh sitting in front of the window with the lightning that simultaneously show up in his eyes. On first watch, it immediately seemed to me that Thresh's human form was little more than a spectre, a lazy disguise he throws on to scope out victims. He seems almost translucent in that shot. Brilliant work.

[@tehawsumninja]

I JUST saw the video itself and i was wondering when you would make a breakdown of it. Goddamn Skyen, you madman. Also, I'll definitely comment "what studio animated this?" on the original vid. Thanks as always for putting these out and so fast, no less. They are always so entertaining and helpful for me, personally, so i get some good pointers on how to animate and what is effective cinematography

[@TBSkyen]

They've fixed the description on the video now, after I pointed it out to them, but if you can do it in the future, that'd be great :)

[@Tomameeify]

There are a couple of extra little things I really like about this recontextualised design of Thresh I just want to call attention to. - When he first pushes the coin towards Bort, it looks like Thresh's knuckles are really defined, almost like he has skeletal hands under the glamour of the gloves. - When Thresh catches the claw with just the ends of his fingers and holds it there firmly, he really shows his quiet confident power in comparison to the exaggerated movements of the other characters. You mentioned this in a lot of places, but that part, in particular, is a favourite of mine. I actually really love this version of Thresh. This feels like a real villain that can last. He's threatening, he goes from charm and charisma to pure evil in the blink of an eye between expressions, and he isn't being undercut by his Saturday morning cartoon aesthetic. Hate the League Skin, of course. But I love this. I fully understand your own qualms with the design, and I bow to your expertise. But hot damn this does it for me. This is my favourite kind of villain and I'm finding it hard to feel anything but joy and relief that Riot (or possibly even Axis) decided to go this way. I'm sure you noticed all of this, and certainly don't need me pointing it out, but I just had to gush just a little more about this. Love the content, but seriously look after yourself! We can wait a damn minute even if Riot can't. Thanks!

[@FlutterSwag]

Then Mordekaiser just bonks him

[@cocotte9104]

I feel that Unbound Thresh is supposed to be way more than just a "anti-censorship design". The fact that he has a human face instead of a skeleton face makes it easier to give him facial expressions and thus to use him more in cinematics like this one and make him more complex as a character with a larger variety of emotions displayed, which is handy when you want to make him one of the main villains.

[@FaptaA]

disagreed

[@nnivi2]

@@FaptaA instead of just saying disagreed, can you perhaps give a reason why you disagree?

[@FaptaA]

@@nnivi2 I don't have much reason to why, my main reason is that china doesn't like skelly, so Riot had to change it to not be skelly. I don't think riot would change him to give more expression.

[@tdpro3607]

i could live with that but its honestly hard to think its otherwise than pleasing chairman xi's skele-phobia tbh, but having thresh in many forms is sure great for character development

[@magniwalterbutnotwaltermag1479]

Skeletor

[@randomperson3450]

The arm thing i feel like wasnt *too* hard to do - at least i think so. Because honestly you can do the arm's motion with the inverse kinematics and set it as the root for that animation sequence. And from there you just kinda clean up the animation. It wasn't easy - but there are tools to make it simpler! Also in theese cinematics youre not constrained to a single rig. You can rig the same character differently for spesific shots, since you can just cut it later in editing!

[@supermutantsam1160]

See, this is why I blame Unbound Thresh significantly more on Riot’s design philosophy than I do China’s censorship laws. Yes, redesigning Thresh likely never would have been on the table had it not been for said laws. But Riot had all the power in the world to make a non-Skeletor Thresh that lived up to the original in every way, and yet, they gave us an incredibly generic hot boy design. This animation shows that you can absolutely make Thresh work under the constraints of censorship laws. The design still isn’t perfect, but this is a direction for the character that I really like.

[@amoghgokhale2366]

Exactly, they saw how people tend to react more to champs that look like viego and seraphine, so when they have the chance, they were of course gonna make another sellable character. The cinematic does help, make him more of a evil, diginified villian, rather than a hot e boy

[@blipe992]

THANKS. You get what I've been saying so much, there were so many designs available. Not only Thresh has a canon human form, but he have people on the Shadow Isles to model a new Thresh after. He could look more like Yorick or Kalista if he absolutely has to be human, but to keep him monstrous, we have Karthus and Hecarim, even Vilemaw. Also between the other undead in the game, we have Pyke, Morderkaiser, Nautilus and Sion which still have a undead/zombie look. BESIDES, Thresh is a tank support, he shouldn't be slender and agile like Pyke, he has much more in common with Nautilus than just the hook.

[@pedro_mab]

Exactly! My biggest issue wasn't even the design, it was the fact that Riot didn't even TRY to tie the redesign to his character at all.

[@katelynkaboom]

"CAN I HAVE 5 MINUTES TO RECOVER?" me being selfishly happy i am graced with two long videos in two days lol

[@dorians2138]

I really like unbound Thresh as he is in this cinematic... I really love the fact that with all the power he has been gathering he can disguise himself as a human for purposes shown in this cinematic, but his true form still is a monster This really makes unbound Thresh make sence, and is completely in character for him As this cinematic puts it, I have absolutely nothing against unbound Thresh... I actually really like everything about it But the splash art and model still suck

[@FlutterSwag]

Itll hit harder when he gets angry because hell likely go skeleton when he uses more power

[@alphamewtowx4606]

I just suscribed to your channel like a month ago and you make the best lol content regarding design analysis and I love it!

[@TBSkyen]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@reborn4055]

As a viewer for awhile now I gotta say your in for a treat! His stuff is always this kinda quality on top of that if you want somthing a little less lecturely he also does playthroughs that are fun to watch!

[@morningtide7956]

You could see the human thresh thing as a second skin to move around the world collecting souls without drawing too much attention. At least that’s how I like to think about it

[@fernandossmm]

If you don't want attention you don't go around as a very attractive and rich young man

[@josephzabriskie6308]

Actually I believe it is a full on illusion! As you can see when he was walking through the hallway once transformed his shadow shows his original form. And like you said he uses the second skin/illusion to not cast suspicion on him but also to make it easier to make deals when he does transform. Would you rather take a deal from what seems like a super powerful man or a super powerful monster. Sure unbound looks monstrous but he also looks human.

[@THEATOMBOMB035]

It makes sense. In Noxus he looks like a noblemen. So NO ONE is going to mess with him or else. Now he is the worst kind of monster, the kind no one expects

[@KohlKovet]

I agree with this, made sense to me

[@3van660]

Hell yeah. I can get on board with that, and the default monster thresh sort of at his climax of torturing people

[@tiredtortoise3396]

It bothered me at the time, but I could not quite remember until now - Unbound Thresh reminded me of New 52 Lobo. A less interesting redesign deliberately created to spit in the face of the old one (the new Lobo designer said that they wanted no humour or hypermasculine satire, only dread) while proudly proclaiming itself the 'real' version. I am glad they changed that, and I am glad this cinematic goes some way towards changing this.

[@nem3732]

I like that how they resolved the issue is them literally putting him in the shelf never to be seen again.

[@broskydoodle6697]

Dude yes, now that I think of it, it is such a similar situation and it's kinda funny

[@tyrellhayward95]

I remember that, even had the gaul to have him kill old Lobo.

[@ciriez3816]

I really like Thresh in this cinematic Just giving him some personality and a better looking face made the character really nice

[@gabrieldossantos1116]

Thresh is now suffering the same as Viego for me. The versions used in the animations are so much better then their splash art and in-game models that I really don't know why they did it in the game

[@stranger_one]

I feel fresh when seeing thresh disguise as a normal human with that clothes, he look cunning and badass and creepy at the same time

[@leroybrown96]

You talking about Thresh's face and his eye brow movement made me feel like I'm not crazy lmao when I saw that I was just replaying it over and over, I loved that little added detail in there. The animation is beautifully done.

[@dorians2138]

36:20 and i love how he makes that creepy crazy smile as he throws his hook

[@CrystalHedgehog1]

I find Unbound Thresh rather handsome in a way, you can feel how scary he is but he has a charm to him

[@ghostbonepunk1683]

I like this version of thresh instead of that 'handsome guy version'. It brings a smile on my face.

[@Ω3103ζ]

He looks a bit like vlad though now lol

[@ghostbonepunk1683]

@@Ω3103ζ bit like Vladimir and a bit like swain. But I still think it is an update

[@Greenwren]

This version of human Thresh checks all the boxes I like in a villain. A manipulative, smarmy, a$$hole and my stupid ace brain is telling me "that's hot". 😍

[@francodegasperi3814]

I hadn't noticed at the end that Bort wawes his uncursed arm like is the first time in forever he can move his fingers and proced to switch the whip to that hand. Also i worked as a waiter with tourette's syndrome and it was by far the hardest job i've ever had, not even close.

[@rotomfan63]

In hindsight i think Thresh having a more expressive face does work in the way that Thresh knows people being able to see his facial expression as he does the torture could very easily increase the suffering they feel, thus he grows one so he can do that

[@skrilllfury2120]

The arm thing with Bort is actually a real condition. Not the arm’s appearance, but it moving around on it’s own. It’s called Alien Hand Syndrome and your hand will just quite literally moves on its own. It’s fascinating to learn about, but also bloody terrifying.

[@UncreativeTuna]

My favorite detail in the animation is the momentum that is followed through thresh’s hook then into his first victim’s hand outreaches at Bort. Then it quickly reversed and is whipped away. Such a great use of motion

[@anobuthix5977]

Honestly, when a guy that is capable of murdering the entire inn and sucking them into his weird lantern offers me a deal, I’d take it immediately.

[@pedromurata2523]

I really like the color as well, the way they make the really earie unnatural green light look "normal" by introduncing it slightly in the two prior scenes. And thresh's eyes when he's first introduced light up too when lightning strikes as if they are tranparent

[@4EverSmiles]

I love the cool and warm contrast, but in a way that makes it eerie! The warm colors of the mortals but also shows the heated abuse Bort’s been suffering at vs. the cool colors of Thresh’s ordeal and how it creates a calm yet ghoulish environment around him.

[@4CCR37]

I really liked Thresh back when I played league about 10 years ago lmao, and his unbound skin was like... okay. But this short made him only x100 sexier because he's not trying to be sexy, he's being an absolute deranged serial killer and power hungry monster, and damn that's hot.

[@tiarasundaes3904]

seriously, i'm the kind of person that finds generic anime guys sexy (like almost the exact type in unbound thresh's splash art) but this...this is so much better.

[@KevinSilva-xu7mw]

I like the way this guy laughs when he says Thresh is a serial killer, like he really likes this crazy character.

[@suspiciousperson1533]

I honestly find this more aged version much more attractive. A part of me wish he had some facial hair

[@DarkklawX]

One fun little detail I noticed, is that - after admiring his now normal (yet ghostly) right arm - he switches the whip over to it and uses the arm he has not had control over in ages to... basically be in control of the carriage and the unfortunate souls pulling it.

[@sebastiantirado3675]

Thresh having a human form specifically for schemes like this I think does add something to his character honestly

[@jeremytewari3346]

My thoughts on this take on Thresh: Good - Thresh doesn’t actually care about looking human, it is nothing more than a means to an end. To that end, it even makes sense that he’s trying to look prettier than his actual human self, because Tom Hiddleston will have an easier time tricking people than his original boring priest look. Bad - While this new take is interesting, it kinda completely invalidates Tahm Kench’s whole gimmick, that being someone who could slowly corrupt good people into evil actions only to finally kill them (in Thresh’s case he’ll more than likely turn on Bort and torture him like the rest, while TK just eats you). Still overall much better, but I’m sad to see a more popular champ take over the plot line of another.

[@liv9520]

It's different kind of temptation to be fair. Tahms slow temptations are more grandiose and makes people give in to ambition rather than their base nasty instincts.

[@itjustworks2993]

i don't really think he took over tahm's plot in the cinematic he's in noxus and at the end we get a shot at the immortal bastion, this makes me think that thresh wants to do something in noxus and he just kills people on his way there

[@ImmortalityExist]

@@itjustworks2993 Maybe he knows about Mordekaiser?

[@Wolfeur]

Tahm Kench is quite different. He's a demon that feeds off of the misery induced by a type of temptation, namely greed and gambling, or metaphorical gluttony.

[@luisfrank2734]

@@Wolfeur when Fiddlesticks kills Tahm Kench in game, he says “addiction”. Probably, Kench just wants to create or feed addiction as much as possible. The more pleasurable the experience (more money to bet, more excitement in love-life, the more you yearn and give in to), the best it will be for Kench.

[@FlutterSwag]

If only swain got an animation like this 😔

[@loganfrandrup6590]

Wait, does that mean that the slightly seductive side works because he wants to talk people into doing what he wants, kind of like in a Dracula kind of way?

[@kibathelilboy3946]

I don't know why but I love the design of unbound Thresh in this short, I really do like it! He looks older, creepier, scarier. I wish the in-game model or splash art were based in this concept.

[@CathakLinari]

I also love how Thresh only ever has a hard outline/edges when he's in the warm light of the tavern. His blue green glow is always used to make him just a little fuzzy around the edge, like it's a mirage

[@lucbergeron5478]

I only just noticed that in the wide angle scene of the balcony when thresh is walking towards Bordt, they used his base concept as what how shadow looks like.

[@Honeypie675]

I know this is an older video but I just happened to watch it again at work and I noticed something; look at the color relationships. Isn't it interesting how Thresh has this blue/green glow about him through the entire animation even before going all ghost like, and then you have Bort's claw also being blue green? The scene where Thresh grabs the arm after Bort takes the coin really solidifies this color relationship between the two, further linking them together as kindred spirits or having some kind of connection. Everyone else is bathed in red as Thresh captures them and puts them in the lantern, but Bort is then cloaked in blue/green, separating him from his peers as something special, something that shares power with Thresh in a way. You can see this when the boss of the tavern opens the door. The boss has a red light/glow in his room while Bort reflects the blue/green color. Just something I found interesting! The artist in me noticed it and I had to share!

[@sphinxwidget]

TB: 'That's not anything that's seductive, that's not anything thats even dignified..' Me *rapidly eating my Mac and Cheese*: Oh, bet? He does really look like Loki lol, on another note, when he's sitting at the window isn't the first proof it's a disguise the fact that his eyes are backlit by the storm flashing outside?

[@benistcreative]

Can't say I care about animation but I do like hearing people "fanboy" over something they are passionate about. Glad that I found your channel and I've already watched a lot of hours of you just sobbing at things you like, which excites me greatly

[@chrs-wltrs]

Rick Wasserman fucking *killed* it here

[@kaiseayaandruis1597]

A little detail I adore is that Bort's freshly declawed hand is the one to use the whip, just this final little bit of satisfaction before the short ends

[@moonsalibi]

Watching these videos is like having a friend that is really interested in one thing and you just listen to them ramble for so long and they are just really happy to talk about it

[@ReineGalena]

Honestly this the best Bort was going to get. There's no winning when dealing with Thresh.

[@danielsantos-wh2op]

Hey skyen I started to animate and draw because of you, and now I finally can express my characters in a way that feels like real work(I’m a professional writer and I can’t see my work as real work, even wen I pass out for over working), and you help a lot with that.

[@victorialindenstrm9322]

I was waiting for this breakdown! I love listening to your nuanced opinions and perspectives on things while I'm doing other things (like a podcast XD). Keep on the good work!

[@rotomfan63]

I can agree that having Thresh a face purely to pet him make cheeky looks like that would make it feel a bit more Understandable

[@SrKN-rw5lr]

Man Bort's needs a hug , I want give him a hug, the guy must have suffered hell in life

[@AnimeSunglasses]

25:14 I realized here that the light in Thresh's eyes is not some Internal Light Of Eeevil... it's just the lightning behind him. There's NOTHING there. His eyes are as hollow as his offers... artistic perfection, 10/10, the creepiest possible choice, A+ animating. Brrrrrr!

[@BBSKStudio]

Some time ago, someone from Riot told that there will be more lore of LeBlanc (it was when she was released in LoR), now Thresh is in Noxus. Maybe there will be Mordekaiser Event with Thresh involved.

[@BBSKStudio]

@@h3nder i was thinking that he could manipulate Mordekaiser and use him

[@TOON__Official]

Tbf the way thresh looks in the cinematic is a lot closer to how it looks in game... The splash art is meant to look pretty so the skins have as broad an appeal as they can. In-game Unbound Thresh looks fine.

[@Pteriidae]

Man, whenever I see animation from this studio, I always look for the smoke effects, for light effects, anything that could be animated on 2's (or just a lower frame rate in general), it is such a pleasure every single time, and so recognisable as well

[@devoncoffman2984]

With Unbound Thresh, Something that made me feel a lot better about his design is that you can tell that the human form is mainly just a disguise for Thresh instead of the form he thinks is the best. Since when he is not in the light and his shadow both show him as the same monster he always has been.

[@GrzLucifer]

In this short Unbound Thresh feels like he is broken free from the Shadow Isles with the powerup. Not a hot fkboi who isn't a monster anymore.

[@ozzy9628]

subbing just for the passion you showed when describing the animation alone. animation is awesome i love when people enjoy it like i do. everything else in your analysis was great too :D

[@quickredf0x143]

This animation finally brought Thresh into Disney Renaissance villain territory for me and just made me love the champion more. He's just larger than life and you can TELL he is enjoying every second of it.

[@samikaislasalo3947]

IT was suorisingly good.

[@shnobz1333]

This Tresh looks like Handsome Jack from Borderlands.

[@NekoElla]

great in depth look into the animated short; your videos always comfort me- thank you!!

[@g.sahkai8338]

God, I wish we had this version of Unbound Thresh from the start but what can you do. At least we got this lovely short to give us a new perspective on the skin and Thresh's character as a whole moving forward. Side note: Can Riot make like a mini-series of Thresh going on a road trip across Runeterra, causing chaos and misery in every new location while meeting different types of people and collecting their souls? Maybe give him a travel-companion who is just as big of an asshole and sadist as himself. Just two torturers traveling across the country while arguing, bickering and ruining as many lives as possible with a side of slapstick and grade A dark humour.

[@haruhiko2648]

One small thing I noticed. Is how Bort used his new arm to do the whipping. Like it was once a violent claw but it was also that arm that inflicted torture towards those who made him miserable

[@MrWillPhill]

To be fair... He did kind of bring that claw upon himself by pickpocketing in the first place. Remember kids: Always kill your victims before trying to take their things, otherwise this could happen to you!

[@OranjMoose]

Unbound Thresh looks like dark Matt Mercer

[@twistedpivoter2695]

Guys i can tell yall... Every single expression they gave thresh here is absolutely spot on. I share those feelings and expressions of thresh in my own life (not saying i'm a sociopath, but maybe i'm kinda fucked up) and every single time thresh has a facial expression, it fits EXACTLY with the feeling he has at that moment

[@sykurru]

I think everyone really misunderstood what "Unbound" meant ,it isn't that unbound thresh is his true form. It means that thresh is no longer bounded to Shadow Isles ,hence Unbound.

[@danilogiorgio1999]

IMO this Unbound Thresh design reminds A LOT of Swain: his voice, his hair, his face, his "monstruous" side, even the "deal with the devil" part, somewhat at least. They're both hot dads who are actually monsters

[@lordindulgence]

DILFS

[@bacongoddess529]

WAIT THERES AN ANIMATION??? I WATCHED IT IM SO HAPPY. I was so sad he wasn't in the ruination event as much as i wanted him to be so this is great!

[@shisokuseku8634]

39:15 man i love when animators have fun. Even you just watching this scene shows the love for the craft. Its so infectious. Please keep doing what you do, your videos are incredibly insightful for me as an aspiring artist! Stopped playing league and stuff like this makes me remember why i once loved the game sooo much and to some degree still do! :D

[@asparwild8154]

I just watched the coin toss scene from No Country for Old Men and the immediate thought was - that utterly chilling scene by Anton Chigurh reminded me of something . i am now convinced to watch that movie completely after my mind gives me weird parallels between that scene and the scene of Ruined Thresh in this cinematic , of which i begin to suspect has taken some inspiration from Chigurh's ...act.

[@flickchick710]

Yes thank you!! You're the first youtuber I've seen that has brought up the huge Loki vibes that Thresh has in this. All I could think of when watching this for the first time was that Riot and the animation studio were using Loki as a huge inspiration for Unbound Thresh. The way he looks, speaks, the confidence in which he does horrible things is soooo Loki.

[@altarofshadows]

That thresh looks like Lucius Malfoy

[@capooka]

ur reaction is better and more understanding than Tenebrix, it makes me feels good. I know Riot games failed it and they thought it will be successful but sadly, it wasn't. I was a bit disappointed and annoyed. I really looove The void and shadow isles, they're my favourite regions and always will be.

[@porosnax2269]

ikr tenebrix is kinda too much (but hey it's her opinion) , riot ruined the lor for tresh because of the pretty unbound guy skin but come let's also appreciate riot is trying to mend their mistake.

[@XIIthehangedmanXII]

36:27 He looks like the "Some of you may się" guy from Shrek xD

[@rociopaoloni5080]

From the beginning when you emphized how Thresh is doing this out of cold bloodness and devoid of sentimentality I was expecting the moment you clarify that a character doesn't need to be exactly an empath to see themselves in someone and experience that identification and that's very coherent in this case since it hints a narcissitic personality. Let alone having comtempt towards someone that reminds him of Viego or his relationship with him. Great video as it's usual, I'm glad that I found your channels. It's nice to hear someone rambling all over storytelling and character design like I do in my own head, it feels so "omg same!".

[@deepsoft7829]

39:37 - That "BONK" was the best bonk I've ever heard

[@lubue5795]

One question: how did Bort even get dressed? No way his shirt would ever fit over the crab arm.

[@38crippler]

Just the clothes he was wearing at the time I bet.

[@lubue5795]

@@38crippler He wore a waiter's uniform when he robbed a mage? At least, what he wears strongly looks like a waiter's uniform.

[@skylordcc5882]

Some forms of fiction require a slight tweak in your perception of believability, but yes it wouldn't work in reality.

[@Greenwren]

Ah yes, the magic of buttons confuses me too every day.

[@luckyphoenix7908]

When I first saw Thresh as a human in the beginning of the cinematic I thought it was swain for a second lol

[@catwithaknife7836]

45:00 I love that the line "There aren't that many lantern weilding lunatics and maniacs walking around out there, stealing people's souls" implies that, while "there aren't many" there are some just chilling out there within the context of our world and treating others with empathy