“ | My fingers are pebbled with a thousand scars, each a single tiny step on my path toward the Edge, that unattainable perfect state I strive for. I spin the knife in a quick, practiced orbit, then again. And again. | „ |
~ Talon in "The Name of the Blade". |
“ | The daggers are mine. Finally, I'll carry them for our family and replace you as father's heir, as he's always wanted. And I'll be by his side when we kill the tyrant, Swain. With the daggers of House Du Couteau. | „ |
~ Talon reveals his plan to Katarina in the "Katarina" comic. |
Talon Du Couteau, also known as The Blade's Shadow, is a villainous playable character in the multiplayer online battle arena game League of Legends.
One of the deadliest assassins in all of Noxus, Talon was adopted into House Du Couteau for his skill alone. A staunch loyalist of Marcus Du Couteau, Talon takes pride in his skill and will kill anyone who stands in his house's way.
The 82nd champion added to the game, Talon was released on August 24, 2011, and is usually played in the mid lane.
He is voiced by Travis Willingham, who also voiced Isaac Frost in Fight Night Champion, Black Zetsu and White Zetsu in Naruto, Zavok in Sonic: Lost World, Scabrous Scrotus in Mad Max, and Harvey Dent in Batman: A Telltale Series.
Biography[]
Lore[]
Deep in the underbelly of Noxus, a nameless orphan began his life as a lowly thief and freelance assassin. This assassin was deft and precise, and soon became renowned as one of the most dangerous people in the Noxian underground. He became known as "Talon" by those that feared him, and the Noxian guilds soon felt threatened by the assassin's growing reputation.
To nullify this new threat to the empire, Noxian agents were sent to kill Talon, but these assassins never returned alive. Eventually, Talon was defeated at the hands of the renowned general Marcus Du Couteau, a powerful leader in the assassins guild. Marcus offered Talon a place as his apprentice, and seeing no other option, the young Talon pledged his life to House Du Couteau and the only man who could defeat him.
One of Talon's early missions was to assassinate Marcus' eldest daughter, Katarina, who had recently disappointed the general. Talon gave Katarina a scar over her left eye but failed to deliver a killing blow, an event which humbled both young assassins. Over time, Talon came to view House Du Couteau as his real family. He and Katarina developed a sibling bond and would often turn to one another for advice. However, they remained rivals for their father's affection, and Talon always envied that his sister would inherit the family daggers and titles despite Marcus considering him to be the superior assassin.
Things changed following Jericho Swain's coup and the execution of Boram Darkwill. The new government began purges of Darkwill loyalists and Black Rose agents, which included House Du Couteau. Publicly, Talon joined Katarina in siding with Swain, but secretly helped his father fake his death in an plot to sabotage the new regime from within.
Talon attempted to persuade Katarina to distrust Swain over the next few years, but was annoyed to learn she supported Swain over her own family. Thus, after Katarina uncovered their father's plot to assassinate Swain, Talon deemed her a traitor and decided she had to be killed for the good of House Du Couteau. Katarina defeated him, giving him a scar over his eye to match hers, but spared his life. Talon was later retrieved by Black Rose Agent Jaredan and returned to the rest of his family in Shurima, where he mourned his father's death at Swain's hands.
Gameplay[]
In game, Talon is an assassin-type character, using Noxian Diplomacy to leap to and strike enemies, Rake to throw daggers at them, Assassin's Path to leap over walls, and his ultimate Shadow Assault to utilize his stealth and a circle of spinning blades to finish enemies off. Talon's passive, Blade's End, makes his abilities wound enemies, stacking up to three times to deal damage over time.
Personality[]
Talon is portrayed as a cold and deadly perfectionist, valuing swift and clean kills above all else. He is obedient and efficient in his tasks, but despite his generally merciless approach, Talon believes his methodology is the best for all parties involved. In Talon's words, it's more merciful to give targets a quick, painless death than to draw it out, and it is both safer and more efficient for an assassin to avoid combat when possible. If a clean kill is not delivered immediately, Talon already considers that to be failure. This is evident from when Marcus sent Talon to assassinate Katarina, and Talon spared her life when she dodged his attack and earned his respect.
Talon is shown to deeply value his family, taking on their name and greatly respecting Marcus and House Du Couteau. However, Talon's admiration and obedience to his father ultimately leads him down the path of resentment, as Talon desperately works to maintain Marcus' approval and comes to view himself as the rightful heir. Because of this, Katarina sees Talon as a younger version of herself - someone who has lost his independence to become Marcus' pawn - and pities him for it.
Gallery[]
Images[]
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- Talon is the adoptive brother of Katarina and Cassiopeia, and is the one who gave Katarina her signature scar.
- Because of his inability to defeat her in combat, he named his knife "Katarina" after her.
- The name "Talon" was not Talon's original name and is simply what people called him, as his cloak and blade vaguely resembles a bird.
- As far was we know, he had no actual name before being adopted into House Du Couteau.