Everything we know about new champion Briar

One of the next champions added to League of Legends will be new bloodthirsty champion Briar, and we’ve collected all the hints about her.

In the first Champion Roadmap of 2023, a new gothic jungler was teased with art of a Castlevania-esque castle straight out of a gothic horror story. The building was clearly Noxian and the story talked about a “hangry” new jungler who would be added after Darkin assassin Naafiri.

The newest Roadmap has pulled back the curtain a bit further, and we’ve learned more about the upcoming Champion Briar.

New champion Briar likely a vampire

The start for this new bloodthirsty jungler actually comes from the development of Naafiri. Riot Games designers were looking for mechanics that expressed her “fervent hunger.” It didn’t make the final cut for Naafiri but lead champion designer Riot August saw the abandoned mechanic and knew he had to use it. August has apparently always been very enthusiastic about a particular mythic creature, and this hunger mechanic worked perfectly.

It seems near-certain that Briar is a Noxian vampire of some kind. Riot Games describes her as a Diver/Skirmisher class champion. With references to frenzies, bloodlust, and an uncontrollable hunger, it’s not subtle. A semi-feral vampire hiding in Noxus seems well within the realm of the possible.

It seems like there will be windows where Briar loses control of her hunger and goes into a frenzied state. This is likely the new mechanic that didn’t make it onto Naafiri that August helped translate to the Noxian blood-sucker. The champion even refers to her as ‘the creature’, so it seems likely that she’ll be some kind of vampiric skirmisher with high-impact moments of blood-frenzied rage.

Specific details won’t begin to emerge until Naafiri is published and the next Champion Roadmap releases. There’s still plenty to mull over in the meantime. League of Legends doesn’t have a proper vampire yet, and Vladimir’s Haemomancy doesn’t count.