Sometimes you have to go for the spiro and land on the boss baby. At least, that's how Riot arrived at the first design for Smolder, the new League of Legends champion. Unveiled last week, Smolder was a "bold dragon cutie" whose design was meant to evoke a mascot-like, Pixar/DreamWorks cuteness that fans and fan artists could go crazy over.

But it didn't work out; Riot announced a redesign of Smolder soon after its release because fans found the little guy's face uncomfortable: rather than an adorable dragon, it looked like someone had used LA Noire's facial technology to apply a human baby face to a hairless cat It was as if someone had used LA Noire's facial technology to apply a human baby face to a hairless cat. Comparisons between Sonic the Hedgehog's original movie design and its worryingly human teeth were immediately and freely made.

That's why, shortly after LoL's official Twitter account brought us to meet Smolder, the game's champion team leader, Lexie Gao, appeared on the platform and said that Riot "listened to feedback about Smolder's face and highlighted the dragon's features We're making some adjustments to it," she assured fans, and attached a gif showing the precious boy's draconian transition.

I must say that the new Smolder is unlikely to send me back to my dreams, but all that was needed was to add some dragon-like ridges and scales to that smooth, sleek face. Fans seem to agree, with many commenting through Gao's replies that Smolder "looks so much better" and that his new design represents the "absolute brilliance" of this little kid.

That said, some people still wish he had a more distinct nose, and I imagine the people drawing the original Smolder's disturbing fan art are probably pissed off, but you can't have it all.

"LoL" has a later, more up-to-date form of the problematic character design. That horrible splash art still occupies 10% of my brain.