Anyone who ever watched a match with Edgar Davids knows he’s one of the most recognizable players to ever grace a pitch. With his magnificent dreadlocked mane and iconic goggles, Davids was steam punk before steam punk was cool. He was a pretty damn good footballer too, playing for clubs like Ajax, AC Milan, Juventus, Barcelona, Inter Milan and Tottenham while representing the Netherlands 74 times and making some kickass commercials. Paul Pogba’s got nothing on Davids.
So it’s no surprise when League of Legends introduced a skin for the champion Lucian entitled Striker Lucian in June 2014, people noticed the two’s striking similarities.
For all you wondering, Striker Lucian was inspired by soccer pro Edgar Davids~ pic.twitter.com/Jf6nlYVmKW
— Baconhawk (@missbaconhawk) June 5, 2014
Davids too took notice, having just resigned from his post as player-manager at English League Two side Barnet.
Thank youRT @GY4TSO @riotgames @LeagueOfLegends I think @esdavids noticed the resemblance!
— edgar davids (@esdavids) June 6, 2014
Soon Davids’ lawyers were involved because that commercial money just wasn’t cutting it anymore. On Friday, Davids won the lawsuit. A court ordered LoL developer Riot Games to compensate Davids based on sales of the Striker Lucian skin.
Davids just won’t stop winning. The question is, will he stop there? Overwatch character Lucio (no relation to Lucian) has a soccer skin of his own and, wouldn’t you know it, he looks awfully familiar.
Who can blame Riot Games and Blizzard for trying to capitalize on one of the coolest footballers to play the game? Where will Davids’ likeness pop up next? Perhaps he’ll be a villain in the next Call of Duty game or the protagonist in Grand Theft Auto VI. My money’s on him making an appearance as a new Pokemon.