Leakers claim to discover new League of Legends champion
Darragh Harbinson, Senior Editor
Last Updated: 28/01/2026
Leakers ‘League of Legends Leaks & News’ and ‘Big Bad Bear’ have claimed to have spotted a new champion coming to League of Legends.
The champion, purportedly called ‘Locke’, appears in seemingly unreleased imagery, with Big Bad Bear sharing some alleged characteristics of the champion.
The new champion would be the first new champion of 2026, following the release of Zaahen in Patch 25.23 in November 2025.
Is Locke’s dagger Petricite?
The blonde male character is shown crying while holding a large dagger, with a hand on his shoulder.
Big Bad Bear theorists that the dagger is made of Petricite, a petrified wooden material native to Demacia, matching the For Demacia season theme.
The material has special properties allowing it to become a defensive surface used to dispel magic.
Galio is made from Petricite, with heroes like Garen, Jarvan IV, and Sylas all featuring weapons infused with Petricite.
Following the reveal of the image, the community instantly began to post jokes about Locke’s visual similarity to Vinland Saga protagonist Thorfinn Karlsefni.
But come on. Surely there’s room for two blonde, medium-length hair, cloak-wearing, dagger-wielding guys in popular culture.
Big Bad Bear claims that Locke will be introduced in the League of Legends Motion Comic next week.
Locke is the new champion coming in the For Demacia season ‼️ pic.twitter.com/q7SEA9nmAl
— League of Legends Leaks & News (@LeagueOfLeaks) January 27, 2026
What type of champion is the rumoured League of Legends new champion?
Big Bad Bear describes the champion as potentially being a Bruiser/Assassin, with League of Legends Leaks claiming the champ will be an AP (Ability Point) Fighter.
The leaker claims that “He has a lot of relations to Rituals, seals, bindings, artefacts, and sins,” something which seems likely considering his robes evoke religious garments.
Big Bad Bear also notes that “His name has also appeared in a leak update / apparently his release skin is Faerie Court Locke.”
The skin would follow several other Faerie Court-themed skins, beginning with Faerie Court Ezreal in March 2023.
But before we get ahead of ourselves, the champion is still an unconfirmed rumour, with little public information to draw from.
League of Legends fans may have to be patient before they begin theory-crafting about what they’re going to counter-pick against Locke.
Darragh Harbinson, Senior Editor
Darragh Harbinson is an esports writer specialising in Counter-Strike. He has written for Esports News UK, Esports Insider, UKCSGO, Dexerto, and Rush B Media.
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