Footage appearing to show Locke, the next champion set to join League of Legends, has leaked online just as Riot’s plans for the year come into focus. The video, released by well-known leaker Big Bad Bear, is being described as an early look at a champion Riot has already identified as 2026’s only new addition.
Locke was confirmed as LoL’s next champion in an April Fools’ tweet from a Rioter that bluntly said, “Locke is the ONLY new champion of 2026 and will be released in Season 2 ‼️” Riot now expects the champion to arrive sometime in Season 2, 2026, a window that runs from April 29 through August 12.
The leak has drawn attention because Locke’s in-game look does not seem to match the cloaked figure shown in the champion’s earlier motion comic, which was his only public appearance until now. Rumours before the footage surfaced said Locke would be an fighter for the jungle or mid lane and would hurl giant ghostly nails, drawing comparisons to Nobara from the Jujutsu Kaisen anime. The video seems to back at least part of that chatter, showing Locke throwing a giant nail in what is claimed to be his Q.
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The footage also appears to show a second, even more ghostly form, along with an area-of-effect attack that triggers in a circle around Locke. Another oddity in the clip is the appearance of spooky sealed artefacts around the map for Locke to pick up, though their function is not yet known. That kind of mechanic could fit Riot’s habit of building champions around a clear fantasy, but the leaked material stops short of explaining how Locke actually plays once the match gets going.
The timing matters because Riot’s senior vice president Andrei “Meddler” van Roon has said the company will release only one new champion in 2026 while it pours effort into LoL Next, the game’s large-scale revamp. He also said work is under way on one other Demacian champion rework following the Shyvana VGU, a detail that has prompted community speculation about whether Quinn or Nocturne is next in line. That leaves Locke not just as a new face, but as Riot’s lone fresh champion for the year.
The leak does not settle every question around Locke, but it does sharpen the one that matters most: Riot has made the champion real, and the only remaining uncertainty is whether the version in the footage is the final one players will get when Season 2 begins.
