Rammus

Nobody actually knows what Rammus is.

Some call him a demigod. Others insist he’s a sacred oracle, or dismiss him entirely as a beast twisted into its current shape by stray magic. Rammus has never bothered to settle the argument. Wrapped in a spiked shell and giving away nothing, he simply keeps moving across the dunes of Shurima — a once-glorious desert empire now buried in sand, its ascended god-warriors beginning to stir again — indifferent to whichever theory currently has the most believers.

Played as a tank almost exclusively in the top lane, and fueled by mana despite his beastly appearance, that indifference is armor in its own right. Spiked Shell, his passive, grants him bonus Attack Damage that scales directly with his Armor and Magic Resistance — the shell isn’t just protection, it’s the source of his strength. Powerball accelerates him into a rolling ball toward his enemies, damaging and slowing anyone caught in the impact, and doubles as a way to cover ground quickly or slip out of a losing fight. Defensive Ball Curl lets him hunker into a stance that vastly increases his Armor and Magic Resistance while returning damage to anyone who attacks him. Frenzying Taunt forces an enemy champion or monster into a reckless assault against him, and Soaring Slam, his ultimate, hops him into the air before slamming down at a target area, damaging and slowing enemies — with a knockup added if he lands while already rolling in Powerball. Taunting an enemy near a friendly tower turns the structure itself into an unwitting weapon against them, and late in a match Rammus can peel away from a losing fight entirely to tear down towers on his own. The moment Defensive Ball Curl drops, though, his stats fall well below those of a normal tank, and the high Armor he tends to stack does little against anyone dealing magic damage instead. Other Shuriman figures, from the buried god-warrior Azir to the scavenger Akshan, at least have origins people agree on. Rammus offers no such comfort, and shows no interest in providing one.