Does the summoner control the champion like a puppet?

Or do they simply do what the summoner asks?

When you are "summoned", does it simply bring the person to the location (as in teleportation) OR......are they "not actually there" as in the case with summoning in say Dungeons & Dragons*.



(* In that case "summoned" creatures are never really harmed, albeit they must obey the summoner they cannot actually be killed. This is in contrast to "called" creatures which really are present and die when sufficiently injured. Unlike summoned creatures they are not necessarily automatically under the summoners control)

You could assume that if it were just your team of five and another team of five than it would be puppet like. You can have the same champion on different teams. Which leads us to the question "why would they join the league if they were going to be controlled?" Perhaps it's their essence that is there not themselves, like a way to live on forever and fight for what you look for. Also if they were conscious how would summoners control them?

Remember Ezreal's lore,

Some very good questions. It's been a while, but I believe I remember a few old details.

First, no the champion isn't quite a puppet. However, they are very quick to respond to a summoner because their minds are linked as one. When a summoner summons, they form a temporary mental bond with that champion. Their thoughts, their pain, and their emotions are sent to the summoner, who feels them also in turn.

However, the summoner is ultimately the one in charge. When he sends a command, that idea is sent immediately to he champion who reacts in turn. They do not question it, as that is the laws of the Field.

To the third question, the answer is sometimes. For more important conflicts, the champion is almost definitely the genuine article. For practice matches however, the champions might not be real. It sort of depends on the situation I suppose.


Make no mistake though, when a champion dies on the Field, they really are dying. Immense pain comes with that death. It's never a permanant death of course, but a few fan fictions have gone into the concept.

There's a lot to speculate when it comes to the specific act of summoning, but referring to the Season 1 trailer, the specific tidbits revealed by champion bios (as Sir Regendorf stated with Ezreal), and champion in-game quotes, you can piece together the process.

Summoners call the champions to the fields of justice (definitely physically, imo) from a location in the League, and use their magic to communicate with them. They are not necessarily in control of them, as this might reduce the champion's expertise, but it is simply said that their 'minds are linked'. This could vary from complete control to nearly nothing (as I'm sure would be the case when it comes to someone like Swain, who would likely refuse any entrance to his mind). I also imagine they would need greater control over a champion like Cho'Gath or Renekton, simply to ensure they continue to fight for the summoners' objectives.

While the game itself doesn't leave any room for champions to disobey summoners' requests, I imagine if it were a real-life situation you'd have it happen every now and then. For instance, "I'm not going to fight all five of them under their tower, you dumbass!"

From there on, including all the details of fighting, dying, items, well... it's up to your imagination. :P

This question has been haunting me for weeks...

I like to think of it as the summoners having a view of the battlefield similar to our camera perspective, (this would explain why you can see an enemy due purely to ward vision) and the summoners tell the champion what they see, and where to move.

When it comes to fighting, the summoner/champion relationship is somewhat situational. On the one hand, you have moves that the champion can perform by themselves, (I'm pretty sure Graves doesn't need assistance to fire his gun) and then you have some abilities that are not natural to the champion, like Poppy's Diplomatic Immunity which may be triggered by the summoner.

Summoners would have SOME power though, so I imagine that they control what items the champion uses.

So yeah, there's my lousy explanation. Probably incorrect in so many ways, but hey.

1. Watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFy7ocHocd4

2. Champions are actually present at the scene when they fight.

3. In the JoJ, it states that when a champion does, the summoner faints or something like that, and cannot return to battle until a short time has passed (AKA respawn)