League of Legends Named a Champion After Former Professional Gamer

A recent interview with Duncan "Thorin" Shields revealed that League of Legends developer Riot Games actually decided to name a champion after former professional gamer Dennis "Thresh" Fong.

Who is Thresh? According to the Guinness World Record, he's the world's first professional gamer. He's known for his feats in games like Quake, one of the earliest FPS games. He's innovated different play styles, and he's crushed his opponents with an iron fist.

He's known as an incredibly intuitive player, his game knowledge allowing him to figure out his opponents' strategy without breaking a sweat. He wouldn't just defeat them--his goal was to destroy them. Fong initially wanted his gaming pseudonym to be "Threshold of Pain." But because of character restrictions, he decided to go with "Thresh" instead.

Thresh also happens to be a champion in League of Legends.

For those who might not be familiar with the game, the champion Thresh's abilities are all very support oriented. That means his job is to initiate fights and protect his carries.

He's been one of the most popular supports in League of Legends competitive play since his release in 2013 because of the nature of his kit, and his ability to fit into any team composition.

"That was their homage," explains Thresh, "and they were nice enough to give me the summoner name, Thresh."

He goes on to say that he wishes the champions' kit was a little different. In fact, he admits he doesn't even play the champion much.

Thresh points out with a laugh, "An FPS guy isn't going to be playing support."