Nilah, The Joy Unbound | Champion Theme - League of Legends
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- Опубліковано 6 лют 2025
- Listen to the official theme for Nilah, the Joy Unbound.
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PRODUCTION CREDITS:
“Nilah, the Joy Unbound | Champion Theme - League of Legends”
Music by/Composer: Ben Hicks
Musicians:
Vocals: Gaayatri Kaundinya
Bansuri: Chris Bleth
Violin: Mark Robertson, Luanne Homzy, Benjamin Jacobson, Ashoka Thiagarajan
Percussion: Satnam Ramgotra
Executive Producer and Supervision by: Riot Music Team
Conductor: Noah Gladstone
Orchestrator: Nolan Markey
Copyist: Thanh Tran
Contractor: Noah Gladstone
Recorded at: Hollywood Scoring
Recording Engineer: Adam Michalak
Ben Hicks: www.benhicksmu...
Nilah - Ability Rundown Page
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Champion Insights: Nilah Article
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Nilah - Champion Spotlight
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Nilah - Champion Trailer
• Nilah: The Joy Unbound...
Nilah - Universe Page
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Nilah - Short Story
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![Woodkid - “To Ashes and Blood” (from Arcane Season 2) [Official Visualizer]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Gj-jmBi0aK8/mqdefault.jpg)
For anyone wondering or don't know, the music is based off of South Indian Hindu style of music. And the Vocals are a Hindu Southern Indian Style of singing. It's basically like the western "Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do", but in India, we have our own version of it, in which we instead say "Sa Ri Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni Sa". And in the Indian style of singing, we sing it fast and with "trippy" rhythm. And as for Nilah herself, her whip seems inspired by a real-life southern Indian blade called an "Urumi", in which it's basically a giant blade, but acts like a killer whip, making it very difficult to master and is taught last, since it can chop multiple heads at once, as well as your own. And it can come with multiple blades in one handle even. Nilah's design even seems to be based off a female South Indian Warrior.
Great to see cultures being cultivated into the many masterpieces of Riot.
I was looking for this comment
Very nice and cool facts
Thank you for sharing
OHMYGOD, I HAD NO IDEA
Thank you so much for sharing
I will never not interested reading comment like this, it is always so fascinated to read. like before, there is someone (he is likely Indian) who make good analysis on the comment section of MonsterVerse King Ghidorah theme music (reveal the bone-chilling Hindu chants on the background of it is actually about the emptiness or the void and how fitting it was to King Ghidorah nature) and I read it from the opening until the closing of his analysis with extraordinary fascination
someone help me with that part of the lyrics. all I could make out was "sa ga ma sa"
At first I thought the vocals say "Sumimasen" which didn't made sense.
I wish I was Nilah, so I can still be happy as I play League of Legends.
Lol
Me too, kid. Me too
to be happy while playing league, u need a contract with a demon apparently
Depression Unbound
Well, Nilah doesn't log onto her computer and play league, thus she is very joyful.
Also please ignore Vex for my example.
I appreciate the fact that themes are still being made for the champions, even if we don't have the login screens anymore.
theres a animation at the and but yeah
The animation is in client now. Riot found a way to put em in and Renata, Nilah and K'Sante have had animated splashs.... briefly
cuz they use it for other stuff eventually
example: her LoR reaveal
The concepts are are always so much more interesting then the final designs to me. But I guess there are many things to work around in a 3d environment with an offset camera
I think you also have to take into account that alot of concepts tend to be overloaded. A simple silhouette is usually most appealing when it comes to a dynamic character. Like you said with the amount that Nilah moves having too much on her would seem to heavy and hard to work around.
@@Kingdomsleeper especially with a top down view. These concepts might look good with a first person or third person view, but looking at them from above would not be as great.
Ikr?! All of those concepts would've been better :')
@@vpekachu9232 better looking but theyre too much for the actual game
Pantheon and Gwen were one of the few champions who actually looked worse in concept than what we got and as a Pantheon main I’m grateful to have been blessed with such beauty in a 3d video game.
As an Indian, this soundtrack gave me genuine goosebumps on how well it was able to capture my country’s music and fell.. and those vocal’s holy cow.. this is probably one of my favourite new themes they made..
yea i feel her character design is based on Southern region of Indian
i liked the soundtrack too
Dingiringiringringin Dingiringindingiringing
Im so sorry but when u say holy cow... Is that really holy?
@@Abertier the steak is holy my dude
A champion theme can never be bad if there is "AaaaaahhhhhhhAAAAHHH" in it.
everybody is gonna gush over her design but nobody is gonna talk about the animated splash at the end???? it looks GORGEOUS
Shame they dont use those for anything anymore
Agreed like i would say everything about league universe is good apart the actual game and compagny who own it x') and this splash art jeez it gives me chills when i saw that i litterally want that in game and in it's own good game apart a game that could express is freedom of gameplay and graphics too.
@@nicolassantacruz1453 As much as people hate Wild Rift it seems, those animated splash arts are used there.
Since they decided to stop making login screens a long time ago I don’t see the point
Honestly she has one of the best base splashes in the game
Man, concept arts aside, I just really wish they incorporate more of hand designs to her character, considering how much they teased her using hands.
I agree so much! Thought it got lost in the concept arts but even on those there weren't hands
As she is related to demons she is very related to fiddle
@@chamhullo2878 The hands are part of whatshisface, the demon that Nilah is using. They could have used them in some abilities, but I guess they decided not to, to show Nilah is in charge.
I'm also sad we didn't get anything multi-armed after the teaser, but I can see why they went that route.
I forgot that she was supposed to be about hands ._.
she has 7 hands hidden in her design if you look around you can spot them, two holding orb, two in her hair loop one near her shoulder and i think the last 2 are on her knees
Official animated Nilah "login screen" at the end, love to see it. I realize it's not gonna go on client but at least they recognize how much some of us enjoyed those
The animated splashes do appear on the client now and have been since Renata’s release
@@oka6968 Just logged in... enjoyed it thoroughly
@@oka6968 wow I haven't played league for a long time, how do they appear in the client now??
@@oka6968I don't see them
People really forget that the model has to be readable from a top down view perspective
Some concept designs may look cooler but it has been proven time and time again in every medium that simple designs just work better
People in League ALWAYS complain xD they don't realise the amount of work behind.
I do love her half face covered design, but ye I agree esp with how mobile she is requiring her model to be able to distort without looking stupid (which if its too intricate would not work)
Hope we see some of them in LoR as follower designs down the line though.
my man wants to make the game look like a Lego set, pretty simple and readable from above
@@sowatome849 its already like wdym
This might be my favorite theme of the recent champs. I love the energy!
Me too! The other latest favorite of mine is Akshan's.
i love how the music is complementing her lore, where ashlash the lord of joy (most likely the demon of bliss) took all her emotions apart from joy, and the music sounds joyful just like nilah
Her theme is also sound like when you are witnessing a walking legend too!
Just like how she wants too be remember.
As a concept artist i love seeing the concept art ! but i ask myself why go with this one, some others are really cool too !!
@Don't read profile photo ok i wont, good day
look at all those concepts now imagine them with the camera angle league has. not so great anymore
Another point not mentioned by the replies, as I write this at least, is that league characters, to some extent, need a wide appeal for everybody that plays the game including the likes of europeans americans chinese koreans as large demographiques and if the design is *too* culturally alien to them, they might not be interested in the champ which drives down profits which is not something you'd want with the amount of ressources poured into making the character in the first place
@@apple8580 but you did, like everyone
You also need to take into considerate how well their kit and intended game play will work on those models.
Nilah is such a dynamic and always moving champion.
The Feels of Indian Classical Music with a soulful modern-ish touch is simply perfect! Just feeling the Joy as Nilah does😌
@Don't read profile photo raimu cok
😐😐😐😐 oh wao Indian 😐😐😐😐😐😐😐😐😐😐😐😐😐😐😐😐😐
It's pakistani music not Indian
@@LesserLordKusanali Indian and Pakistan music share similar origins, so you can say that both are quite similar.
@@cosmicpulse3311 This theme along with Nilah are still a lot more based on Pakistan than India
istg why are all the concept arts better than the finished design 😩
This. Thank you. I feel like they sacrifice creative liberty and expression for ease of character animation.
This describes basically any modern champ.
in my opinion concept B was the best.
@@MafuyuuChan I thought it was good too^^ and I like your name/pfp!
I think to basically capture her as a more of a Bilgewater/where she came from (idk) instead of being another Anime+Disney character. Of course, some designs would look better but if it doesn't capture her personality, her as a person and her as an individual who lives in Bilgewater, then it's not worth it.
1:00 This part of the song where the singing is so rapidly fast but it's make sense for Nilah's strong spirited actions
does anyone know what genre those vocals originate from ? Or what they are inspired by?
The Vocals are a Hindu Indian style of singing. It's basically like the western "Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do", but in India, we have our own version of it, in which we instead say "Sa Ri Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni Sa".
@@24adithyanonline tysm!!
This part is my favorite. So much energy.
The vocals at 1:13 will never fail to give me chills
i’m in love with the south asian representation omg. just wish she had more cultural clothing like the concepts , but either way she’s GORGEOUS!!
Yes exactly they chose the worst concept
Her upper is draped in the pre colonial sari style way better than the concept art were she just wears a crop top and hood
I personally love her hair how it is now
Akshan:am i joke to you?
@@theasiangamer2962 her current design looks like the dress of fisherwoman. And on top of that the bridal nosering xd
Whyyyy, literally all the concept design looked better than the final one 😭😭
@makooverthose her design is mid
@@lessersphinx3971 you are mid
yes
@@lessersphinx3971 She's designed for the bot lane dummy
Probably because they have to take into account other things like her in-game silhouette, this design is more simple and dynamic than the others. still the final design is pretty good
I didn’t knew where to post this but ok:
So I was playing Pantheon and I fight and manage to defeat Nilah and then the 2 following voice lines fit so perfectly it kinda became my own little head cannon if Pantheon and Nilah went for a fight in lore
Nilah: Remember… my name…
Pantheon: I will remember your name! And shout it to the heavens!
The facial designs in the concepts were kinda a bit better than the final one. As an aspiring artist, I love seeing the concepts slowly evolving into the final product.
Also, as an Indian, this music especially the percussion session in the end and the vocals... It's just fire. One of the best out the recent ones from Riot.
It's actually Gaayatri Kaundinya who sang for the vocals you can see it in the credits, I really love authenticity when it comes to riot music!
Do not conflate a more detailed design with it being better.
A lot of Nilah’s original concepts are visually noisy. A lot of LoL’s champion designs are delightfully simple. Remember when Caitlyn had many belts for no reason at all?
Nilah’s design focuses on her head (large unusual hair, neckpiece, earrings) because of her beaming smile and the lore behind it. It also focuses on her hip, where the demon itself is actually located.
(I do wish they made her smile more uncanny and not adorable.)
All of the best designs are very “keep it simple, stupid”. Not to mention League’s top down view would not support that level of detail on her torso well.
Remember, if they immediately went for the original concepts, we wouldn’t have iconic champs like Jhin or Aurelion Sol.
it makes sense why her smile is adorable, she might be feeling joy forever but the joy she gets out of defeating monsters and beasts is genuine and honest, her joyous smile does not come out of trying to be malicious and powerful, her smile comes from making something out of her new strength and making her name something special in the world.
@@PlushP01 Keep in mind she cannot stop smiling, even when angry or sad. In stories her smiles have been occasionally described as ear-to-ear, twitchy and constant.
Not to say she can't smile calmly and friendly, she can. However, I think her having an uncanny smile is an example of lost potential for the concept of a literal demon of joy.
The fact that Nilah doesn't have any interactions in-game to champions laughing/laughter but does towards jokes is a huge example of an unfulfilled thematic.
The music team claps cheeks yet again! 😍 I wish we had more music like this in video games!!
Its funny because this theme is not ig
1:00 is probably the best part of this theme
The irony here is: Nilah means the colour "Blue" in Hindi which is the main and official language of India and this legend is also coming from Indian background, you know the theme and concept is derived from India yet till this date India does not have an official server.
There are only fraction of people playing League from India compared to other regions. Even if you get the server, queue times will be in hours, which you will hate.
@@AI-37 this explain a lot
Nilah means blue also in telugu tamil mlayalam and kannada. Languages of the 4 southern states.
Hindi is not the official language of India
Not the official language. There is no official language for India. There are 22 major recognised languages which are also printed on the currency (INR) if you notice.
Oh my this is one of the best themes riot has ever done
Why did they decide to get rid of that hood/robe 😫
Amazing lore, music and splash art nonetheless. Congrats!
Cause then how could we ever see her perfect human face 😒
impractical ? like try fighting with one eye and see
@@delightful209 >Lee Sin literally blind
@@delightful209 because half of female champs fighting in heels are SO practical. I'm legit laughing so hard, the funnies thing I heard all day. Thank you. xDDD
@@delightful209 how you gonna bring up the "impractical" point when this game has characters like draven where he yeets his weapons at the enemy and then has to go pick it up again. Don't bring common sense and real world logic into a game with fantasy characters bro
1:00 I wish this vocal was more persistent, it sounds really magical.
duuude the vocals on this theme are insane
Nilah's theme is sooooo underrated.
It sounds so good
Amazing! So many details you couldn’t appreciate in her champion spotlight!
0:52 is like her star guardian splash, now that i noticed
Finally, another primordial demon like Fiddlesticks! Great to have more super powerful lore characters coming in
0:39 THIS SHOT IS LEGENDARY!
I do like them trying to make a southeast asian character from the beginning, the designs were all pretty good tbh
There is already Lee sin and Karma.
@@ravishbhasin7041 Lee Sin is technically Chinese and Karma is Indian, only Zeri is SEA representative in LoL so far, would love to see Thailand and Malaysia representative next
@@KENSHIROez3260 Finally, someone who mentions Zeri being a Filipino. It's still a shame that she followed the same facial structure as Gwen. Would liked it if she was a bit more brown.
@@nikolaivladski9905 Are you talking about Zeri's portrait or in-game model
@@ravishbhasin7041 and? Theres still a lot more of different asian ethnicities than Chinese and Indian
0:11 holymoly the B concept is sooo good
Nahhh we need to appreciate the vocals🙏🏽
7 months later and i still want to know what type of singing this is called
If you're referring to the part starting around 1:00, Gaayatri is singing "swaras" or "svaras", which is essentially the equivalent of solfege in western music. For instance, in solfege, the major scale is sung "do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti", but in South Indian carnatic music, that identical major scale would be sung ""sa-ri-ga-ma-pa-da-ni". There are other svaras on top of the ones I listed above which correspond to different intervals in different ragas, but that should give you a general idea. The addition of her singing the svaras during that section wasn't originally planned and was kind of a last-minute "can we try something" kind of situation during the recording session. Needless to say, she absolutely knocked it out of the park.
I also wonder if the name Nilah was chosen because it means "sapphire blue" in Sanskrit and is a common name for girls around in India. It's related to Nila, a geographical name based on the river Nile. Or idk, maybe I am just reading way too much into it.
Those are definitely the main influences for the name
It also means Moon in tamil!
everyone is talking about the concepts arts but can we appreciate the fact that they brought back login screens animation at the end
Riot's music team never disappointed us...
That Indian classical music is a touch too..
good guy rito, thanks for updating your small game to go along with your new musical release
Vocalist made great work here
Nilah and akshan are purely indian culture champs..!
That 1:30 image should have been the final product lol like honestly it fits the theme 100% more and she looks better.
Animation splasharts coming back is just a glimmer of hope that some of the great things are coming back.
Wow the nostalgia! The classical Indian music represents the pure soul of nilah! I really love this so much!One of the best themes I've heard!!!
Edit why did they not give her the jewelery!
Jewelry? They did give her a nose piercing and ear piercing.
@@AnimeWatcher107 as in the head piece, and those hoops in her ears! It looked good on her:F
Let’s take a moment to appreciate the music, shall we?
Love that art spotlights are alive through these champion theme videos
Listening to this music on speakers has accidentally woken up my cat. Judging by the look of his face, he'll demand compensation. Rito pls
the music is very nice
And I hope we get more login screen things at the end of new champs songs
All of her consept art is more interesting and prettier then her finished one.
Facts but they obviously wanted to stray away from pretty and focus on the ethnic diversity of the game. Cause literally all the HUMAN female characters are pretty in LOL
They are way to cluttered
@@rodjonajjaci6293 not as cluttered as her kit.
@@JulianiBrown my favourite design here is at 0:18. Not saying they should've given her the same face as most other lol champs have. But her loopy hair is actively strange in game and her outfit is just plain looking, it says nothing about her.
@@JulianiBrown wdym lol. The concept art gives more ethnic diversity
Welcome to Legends of Runeterra, Miss Nilah. 😃
This score is beautiful. What a beautiful way to showcase Indian culture. ❤️
Whnever there is a controversal champion release, I know that the music will always be perfect
why do so many people complain about new champs being hot but then when a champ with a covered belly button is released they say that the concept art (which left belly button uncovered) was better.
The concept art were better,the current one compared to the others is a bit plain
this is really sick bro, the concepts are crazyyy dude
Riot is pumping champions with Indian themes. First it seemed like it was only Karma, then there is Akshan and now Nilah. Fun fact Nilah means blue in Hindi, telugu, tamil, etc.
Karma was based on india? Didn’t know that
The last thing you hear before proceeding to be 3 level gapped by enemy botlane by 12mins despite being equal.
Pantheon's Theme makes you feel like a 🔥𝓜 𝓐 𝓝🔥, but Nilah's Theme makes you feel like a ✨𝒲 𝒪 𝑀 𝒜 𝒩✨
Seeing the sword concepts made me wish her base weapon was a sword and her ult unleashed her "Bankai" that changed the sword into its whip form.
2:31 set your soul ablaze
3:03 sounds like Akshan's theme and i love how riot music incorporates these lil things in similar music themes
That’s bc akshan is also inspired by south asian and specifically Indian culture.
@@AnimeWatcher107 And Persian one ! Even its name : Ashkan (Persian name) −−> Akshan (league name)
This theme is so lit
I love it when cultures and music come together
We all can agree that concept art just better then release one.
Except for fiddle rework
@@ericharrison4067 i said this about nilah only
Apologies
Definitely agree with you then
@@ericharrison4067 cool
Because Nilah have a demon inside, it's fine to said, she can use devil triggered, like Samira & Dante & Vergil
I felt like the half covered face design concept fits better than the final one since she steals power from a demon , giving her a bit more depth to her story and character
She steals power from the Demon of JOY, a half covered design might work if it's a demon of different emotion.
@@kinnngcruz884 but it’s still a Demon! That’s what would make it more ominous and interesting
She is south indian inspired, not that common for the head to be covered except for most muslims and older christians going to church
This theme🎶💙 It sounds so happy and beautiful
Woah, it's an Indian classical music.
I think her current design is way better than the concepts (bar the one at 0:23 ) in her current iteration, her upper looks like the pre colonial style sari draping. At 0.23 it's the more modern style but would not fit the fast action kit of the champion imo
Riot: "Yeah we had an Earthbender, and a Fire bender, Here's our Water bender, you know what's coming next..."
Also can we talk about how beautiful the music in this video is? Like Riot we know your doing the best but FFS do you have to give us chills even with the score played to champion art?
What about Janna?
@@ethanstyant9704 true true
beautiful voice
coming back here to say that riot should have given her a bindi
SO GOOOODDDD
The score is absolutely perfect
Omfgggg, the music from riot 😫😫😫😫♥️♥️♥️♥️
If only her abilities weren't overloaded af, I'd actually be watching this instead of typing.
Absolutely the best splash art in the game
severely underrated
The song is beautiful!
SHE IS OUR BOLLYWOOD QUEEN! LOVE THE SOUTH ASIAN REPRESENTATION!
We have Akshan too, that's so lit
@@ruinedking2893 nop akshan is arabic
@@yuskhodmers3257 Are you the dev on Akshan? If No, shut up man.
The Devs confirmed that he's from Bollywood, and he's voice actor is Indian.
( 1:37 goosebuuuuuuumps) Period Riot music, perioooood❤️🔥I don't know why everytime i listen to a champion's theme i cry 😭😩 riot music never misses 💓💓💓
The theme as always slaps. The only thing I have to say is that for the past couple of champions, their concepts are usually a lot more interesting their the final form.
Except belveth
Riot states that Nilah is come from the Kathkan (I may miss spell it)
Which is base on South and Southeast Asia, her whip is base on urumi originated in India and the music sounds like music from South Asia
I´m so obsessed.
Man this sounds so good, I love it
Praise Nika 🙏
Concepts are amazing, but I also love the final design. Simple, but satisfying.
I'm so happy that they'r back with the splash little animations, i miss the login screen with them
Indian music!!!????
Salute to you man
Love it they way she sad Sa ga ma sa
Amazing
😎😎😲😲😲💎💎💎💎
Really wish they kept the half masked style as I feel like it would give more to the hidden demon motif in her design. It seems like they just forgot there’s this killer god ending demon on the loose with Nilah which would seem a lot more important than they show us.
I feel the final one is better to emphasize that Nilah is the one in charge
may not be a fan of Riot's latest champs but the music will never fail to amaze me.
The best part
It’s actually not, Indian music theory uses different notes than western music theory, and vocalists will often say the note names themselves when doing faster segments.
@@lefloog they are not specially created for that song? Like Voli has its own freljordian language used in his theme based on Scandinavian languages?
200+ years of collective music design experience
That splash art got better and better 🔥🔥
The theme is amazing
im more excited for her to be in tft then normal games
Might be because TFT is a strictly better game. Everything Rito does is better than their main game, which has been said many times, especially since Arcane release.
I love the carnatic music influences, can't believe I'd get to hear the Indian solfege in a theme by Rito :')
overall awesome, concepts, artwork, music, final design
even gave me goosebumps lol
some concepts were even better tough