"Never underestimate the power of the Scout's Code!" A quote we all know, a few words that either reassure you of your victory, or places the final nail in your coffin. Teemo may have once lived by a code, but not any more. More importantly, why does so much of Teemo remain an enigma? Why is this Yordle at the center of so many mysteries? Many claim he is satan made manifest, that he is the instrument of hell's will. Perhaps it is time to get to the bottom of things.

Omega Squad Teemo clearly reveals the true nature behind Teemo's smile.

First we must disect the Scout's Code. But what is the Scout's Code? Riot has never explained the Scout's Code, and there is no lore pertaining to it. However, knowing that much of League of Legends' lore and characters are based on other works of fiction and history, it's fair to say it is likely based on 'The Scout's Law' first published in 1908 by British General Baden-Powell. It entails:

-a scout's honor is to be trusted

-a scout is loyal

-a scout's duty is to be useful and to help others

-a scout is a friend to all, a brother to fellow scouts, regardless of class

-a scout is courteous

-a scout is a friend to animals

-a scout obeys orders

-a scout smiles and whistles

-a scout is thrifty

There are numerous other versions, but this is the original and most well known.
Now that we know what the code is, we must ask... does Teemo follow his own cherished code? Well the short answer would be an obvious no. But we'd be getting nowhere without figuring out what exactly he does that betrays his code.

A scout's honor is to be trusted? However Teemo is known as the unrepentant assassin of Bandle city. It is well known that assassins are perhaps the most unstrustworthy and dishonorable people imaginable. Teemo's loyalty is also as thin as his honor, for what is loyalty if one is so quick to abandon his people to serve in the League of Legends? If a scout's duty is to be useful and help others, why does he frequently request solo missions, rather than team missions? Why would he so quickly abandon his helpful post in bandle city?

In short, loyalty, honor, and duty mean little to Teemo. He is an unrepentant killer without a care for his own people he swore to defend.

A scout is to be a friend of all, despite class. However, Teemo's only known lover was also a member of special forces. He also repeatedly refuses to work with others. Soldiers, perhaps, he views beneath him. Teemo wrote a best selling autobiography: Accuracy by Volume. In his work, he explains his use of blow-dart carpet bombing, and filling trebuchets with poison-tipped sewing needles. A truly courteous scout would grant his enemies a quick, merciful, and painless death, not one intended to drag out their pain. Teemo can also be seen frequently attacking passive animals such as golems, wolves, frogs, lizard-tree-things, birds, dragons, and mega worms; isn't a scout a friend to animals?

Again it is easy to tell that Teemo has little regard for others, even if it means breaking his cherished code.

When faced with enemies such as Hecarim or Fiddlesticks, Teemo quakes with fear. Disobeying his summoner's direct orders, breaking his code directly. There is no doubt, that Teemo 'smiles and whistles'. But it is not genuine. Teemo frequently complains about his isolation and his borderline insanity. His happiness is only skin deep, a facade to perpetuate his murders. He is also less than thrifty, whenever he returns to base his immediate intentions are to spend his money without pause so that he can further his own bloody goals, no matter the damage to the economy.

Even Teemo's ability icons reveal a more deadly nature.

With damning evidence such as this, it isn't hard to understand why Teemo has built the reputation he has. His lack of honor, loyalty, friendship, mercy, and many other morals begs the question: why is he in the league at all? Why is he championed by Riot as one of the mascots of League of Legends? It would seem that answering the many questions of Teemo leads only to more. It was never a question of how, or what, regarding Teemo. It will always be a question of why. Why must such a diabolical creature exist, is he a punishment to the impious? Or is he simply the result of all the evil that men do, made manifest. Only one thing is for sure, that Teemo is an evil we will never completely understand.