Sure, there's recently been an influx of brand new champions in the game. Sometimes, they get disabled because of in-game bugs. But never before in the history of League of Legends has a character ever died. And if you're wondering--yes, it's official.

League of Legends has done the unthinkable. They've killed off the pirate captain, Gangplank.

In an effort to rewrite the League of Legends lore, Riot released the Bilgewater event, a promotional feature that tells the story of Gangplank's demise at the hand of his in-game arch nemesis, Miss Fortune, the latter still playable in-game.

But the thing is, he's not just dead in the story. He's dead in-game too--since his departure from the lore, he's been completely disabled from being played in the gaming client.

What makes this so perplexing is the fact that the lore has rarely, if ever, affected how the game is played. In fact, the lore has often been sneered at by fans as some shoddy attempt at stringing together a narrative around the wide expanse that is the League of Legends universe. Well, who's sneering now?

And if you're still wondering if he's really, truly dead from the game, Riot has since released a snarky response to fans who might be thinking the exact same thing:

Champion death is unprecedented in League of Legends, and we do not take it lightly. We encourage all Gangplank fans to remain calm for a few days until we can fully assess the situation. At this time, we are not addressing refund requests for him or his skins but please know that over the next several days we’ll do our best to make things right for everyone.

Even Riot employees have gotten in on the festivities, honoring the late captain in their own, um--unique ways:

Yes, it might seem like overkill, but one thing is for certain. Even if the pirate captain is dead, he probably won't stay dead. After all, Riot just spent an enormous amount of time and effort overhauling his kit. If anything, he'll probably see a resurrection of some sort. Riot's response seems to suggest something of the nature, since they've made it clear they're not addressing any refund requests for players who have bought his character or his skins.

It might be fitting, since he already has a skin that fits into that narrative. Meet Spooky Gangplank. But will we actually see him resurrected in his ghostly form? An excerpt from the Bilgewater event seems to suggest so:

“He’s gone,” he said. “It’s over.”

“No,” replied Miss Fortune. “Not yet.”

She turned from the harbor, casting her gaze across Bilgewater. Sarah had hoped that killing him would kill her hate. But all she had done was unleash it. For the first time since that day, she felt truly powerful.

“This is just the beginning,” she said.

So rest in peace, Gangplank--for now. Until we meet again.

Images from Riot Games.