5 Things To Know About New Champion Taliyah

Taliyah is Voice Acted By Erica Lindbeck

Good voice acting can really make a champion come to life. Especially when “maining” a champ through repeat plays, a character’s voice can be a huge asset (or, in less fortunate cases, a hindrance) to making gameplay feel fun and satisfying. Luckily, Riot seems to have found a voice actor capable of weaving Taliyah into a rock solid character.

Taliyah is voiced by Erica Lindbeck. This is Lindbeck’s first voice stint in the League, but she has previously worked on other videogames like The Division. Though fairly young, Lindbeck is already a veteran voice actor, having worked on English dubs of numerous animé series including Your Lie in April, Aldnoah.Zero, and Sword Art Online among others. League fans may be wary of her most infamous role: the official current voice of Barbie. However, beyond a solid opportunity for memes, this shouldn’t matter once you’re in game with Taliyah.

Taliyah’s voice has a stony serious and confident veneer, but with cracks that bely insecurities, deep-seated curiosity, and a goofy sense of humor. Many of Taliyah’s lines center around learning and lessons, as Taliyah wrangles with controlling her powers as she takes to the Rift. As can be heard in the video above, there’s a ton of contextual voice work that has been recorded to make the experience of playing Taliyah feel complete and natural. There are numerous responses to specific champions and item purchases (our favorite: “some hats speak louder than others”). There are also a bevy of fun references baked into her dialogue, ranging from cinematic classics (“Noxians. Why did it have to be Noxians?) to our favorite books and television (“stick them with the pointy end!”)

The swelling song from the background of Taliyah’s Homecoming video, sung by Lindbeck, is echoed in game, hummed in snippets as Taliyah surfs around the Rift. All in all it makes for a very compelling experience. In the words of Taliyah, she’s… kind of amazing!