What is the story of League of Legends? LoL lore explained

Whether you're a veteran or a new player to League of Legends, playing the game doesn't tell you an awful lot about the lore of the world it's set in. Unless you spend time diving into wikis, short stories, and more, it's hard to get a complete sense of the League of Legends story. Here's a quick and easy breakdown of the lore of League of Legends so you can easily understand it.

The first thing to know is that the gameplay of League of Legends has almost nothing to do with the lore. Your matches aren't canonical, and the only thing that holds any bearing on lore is often your character's voice lines. Matches of League of Legends are essentially "what if" battles between an assortment of some of the world's most powerful individuals. Champions in League of Legends are just that — a selection of powerful characters in the lore that have been brought to life in the game.

This article won't cover every character, or even every happening in the world, but it'll get you up to speed as quickly as possible. There's no single central story to LoL, and the lore often moves very slowly, so we'll be giving you as quick of a recap as possible to get you up to speed. After this, you should have a loose idea of the state of the world so you can dive further in without feeling lost. With that said, let's get to the story.

League of Legends takes place on a fictional planet called Runeterra. Most of the events happen in or around the main continent of Valoran. If you want to see Valoran in more detail, Riot Games has a gorgeous map including tons of little details.

Here, magic is nearly omnipresent and well-known demons, monsters, celestial gods, and more await. This continent and its surrounding environs are divided into several regions, each of which has its own theme, history, and characters. The whole world is filled with ancient magic, powerful beings, and all sorts of traditional fantasy goodness. It was created long ago by beings known as the Celestials, but by the time most modern events transpire, the creation myth of the world plays a minimal role. We'll walk you through each of Valoran's regions so that by the end, you've got a solid grasp on what's going on in each area of the world.

In the midwestern portions of Valoran lies Demacia. Demacia is a sprawling kingdom built around the enormous city-state of Demacia. Rolling hills, picturesque cliffs, and alabaster fortifications dot the countryside of this seemingly utopian society, but not is all as it seems.

Demacia was founded long before current canon in the wake of the Rune Wars, a cataclysmic war in which humans fought for control over incredibly powerful magic sealed within objects known as the World Runes.

Citizens fleeing the widespread destruction caused by these World Runes settled in the valleys and fields of Demacia, finding that a naturally occurring stone in the region, dubbed Petricite, appeared to dampen and contain magic of all kinds.

The anti-magic of Petricite became the foundation of Demacia, with many of its buildings made of pure petricite, as the city-state grew into a burgeoning kingdom. Demacia has faced many threats to its existence since its founding and has become a militaristic and honor-bound society in the centuries since.

Demacia is now a staunchly anti-magical society, with its Mageseekers persecuting and hunting down citizens who display magical abilities and imprisoning them, or worse. Demacia is ruled by the newly-crowned King Jarvan IV, the champion from LoL, after his fathers' death.

In current lore, Demacia is being thrown into upheaval after an uprising among the mages in the region, led by a once-mageseeker, and another LoL champion, Sylas of Dregbourne. Demacia is a kingdom that has fallen short of the lofty ideals it portrays for itself, but it's slowly making steps towards justice under the new King Jarvan's rule.

Demacia's classic enemy, found in the mid-eastern portions of Valoran, is Noxus. Noxus is an expansionist empire founded out of The Immortal Bastion, an ancient and enormous fortress in the east of Valoran, that once belonged to an ancient magical warlord of enormous power named Sahn-Uzal. Since Sahn-Uzal's fall, the nation of Noxus has sprung up in its place, initially from the alliances of local warlords and faction leaders.

The Immortal Bastion holds a secret, though Sahn-Uzal is not truly dead, and instead has become a being beyond humanity, the master of the realm of death, dubbed Mordekaiser. Mordekaiser is likely one of the most cataclysmically evil forces on Runeterra, and he lies sealed within the bowels of the location, longing to return and reclaim his once-empire.

The Immortal Bastion and much of Noxus is founded on dry, arid land unable to support crops or life. As a result, the empire requires constant conquest to bring in new land, resources, and citizens to the Noxian war machine.

Where Demacia seems like an idyllic society with a dark side, Noxus is a region that seems cartoonishly evil on the face, but has much more depth than one might expect. Noxus is expansionist for reasons of practicality and can be a surprisingly egalitarian society behind its many wars. Noxus is ruled by a three-pronged council known as the Trifarix, named after the three most important traits and doctrines of Noxian society: Vision, Might, and Guile. Each trait is represented by one of three members who run Noxian society.

The Trifarix is composed of Jericho Swain, Darius, and Evaine LeBlanc. Jericho Swain is the political leader of Noxus and the Trifarix of Vision. He's also a once-general who was gravely wounded in Noxus' war with Ionia and signed a pact with Raum, the Demon of Secrets, for power. He oversees the expansion of Noxus, trying to gather forces and power for an apocalyptic inevitability — Sahn-Uzal returning from the realm of death as the being known as Mordekaiser to reclaim his throne.

Next is Darius, the Hand of Noxus. Darius is a seasoned leader of Noxus' war efforts, and one of the most skilled and brutal warriors on Runeterra. Darius is the Trifarix of Might, representing Noxus' military might on the ruling council.

The final member, Evaine LeBlanc, is the Trifarix of Guile. LeBlanc is a mastermind of manipulation, disguise, and magic. She is the leader of the Black Rose, a secretive cult that spreads LeBlanc's shadowy influence throughout Runeterra and sees to the continued containment of Sahn-Uzal or Mordekaiser, sealed deep beneath The Immortal Bastion. Noxus can be a brutal, uncaring, nation of great violence and endless armies, but all of it secretively in the name of defeating perhaps the greatest evil on the continent.

From Demacia and Noxus, we head to the frigid and frozen wastes of Valoran's northern reaches. The Freljord is the name for Valoran's furthest reaches, and the freezing tundras and mountains of its northern extremities. The Freljord is a yet-unconquered land of nomadic tribes, powerful gods, and ancient magic. While the vast majority of the Freljord is unsettled wilderness, it has an ancient history that divides its people to this day. The Freljordian humans are divided, generally, into three factions: The Avarosans, The Winter's Claw, and the Frostguard. These factions are based on the three magical sisters whose internal conflict founded the Freljord, Avarosa, Serylda, and Lissandra.

The Avarosans are the largest of the three, a hodge-podge alliance of many of the Freljord's native tribes and inhabitants. They are led by Ashe, a direct descendant of Avarosa, and her husband of political convenience, the barbarian lord Tryndamere. The Avarosans goal is to unite the Freljord under one banner to better be able to create a more permanent and interconnected society.

The Winter's Claw is a group of warriors, barbarians, and nomads who reject the Avarosans' views of the Freljord needing to move away from its traditions and ways of life. They are led by Sejuani, Ashe's once-friend and rival, and stick to the nomadic ways of their ancestors rather than trying to set up a more static society.

Finally, the Frostguard is a secretive order founded by the only still-living of the three sisters who founded the Freljord, Lissandra. Lissandra was an ice witch who made a pact with otherworldly beings known as the Watchers in her pursuit of great power. Lissandra realized at the last moment that the Watchers had fooled her, and invoked a powerful spell that froze the Watchers in magical ice in the far northern reaches just as they tried to invade Runeterra from beyond this realm. Lissandra and her Frostguard stockpile secrets and wait for a chance to solve the threat of the Watchers permanently.

The Freljord also has some of the few gods that exist on Runeterra. The still-living Freljordian gods are Volibear, the Great Bear, Ornn, the Great Ram, Anivia, the Undying Eagle, and Ildhaurg, the Iron Boar. These are eldritch spirit gods that have a physical manifestation, and everybody except Ildhaurg is actually a champion in LoL.

Piltover and Zaun are a set of twin cities near the southern borders of Noxus. Piltover is built on the cliffs above the river Pilt, whereas Zaun is sunk into the cavern and its caves that lie below. They are the home of the most technologically advanced societies in the continent and offer the steampunk/magicpunk aesthetic for Runeterra. In short, Piltover is the rich, privileged, and well-to-do city, while Zaun the chemical-ridden, dark, and poor slum. Piltover and Zaun are a region with deep economic inequality built into its theme. The utopian spires of Piltover and its technology literally look down on the mines, fumes, and struggle of Zaun's caverns.

Perhaps most importantly, they are the setting for Arcane, the hit animated adaptation of League of Legends. If you want a fantastic way to dive into the story of Piltover and Zaun and its characters, check out the show!

Piltover and Zaun have a bit less going on in current-day canon than some other regions, as the twin cities are somewhat stable. However, the constant conflict between the rich neighborhoods of PIltover and their Enforcers that protect their property and interests and the downtrodden people of Zaun and its mines is a never-ending aspect of the region.

Piltover and Zaun bring the two main types of magical technology used in League of Legends: Hextech and Chemtech. Chemtech is a dangerous, unstable liquid or gas used to fuel much of Zaun's technology where Hextech is a sleek, safe technology using Hextech crystals to power much of Piltover's advanced magical aspects. Even the magical technology of Piltover and Zaun have a clear class divide: Chemtech below, Hextech above.

Ionia isn't technically part of the Valoran continent, but it's very close by. Off to the east is an island nation of great natural magic and time-honored traditions. Ionia is very special: the entire island is alive and living, filled with ancient natural magics. The rocks, the trees, the animals: all of Ionia is connected in a magical ecosystem. Ionia's aesthetic and mythology take great inspiration from Asian cultures, serving as the game's main eastern-inspired region.

Ionia has a native population of anthropomorphic animals of all sorts of types: birds, cats, dogs, lizards, rabbits, etc. These human/animal-appearing beings are called Vastayans, and are divided by animal resemblance into clans and groups. Ionia is a land that lives in constant wariness and respect of the powerful magics that fill every hill, river, and tree.

The biggest event in Ionia's recent history is the Ionian war, where Noxus tried to invade the island nation in order to annex it and add it to its ever-expanding empire. This did not go to plan, as both the Ionians themselves and the magic of their land fought back against the Noxian invaders. In current-day, the Noxian invasion is well over, but it has left scars on the people and the land of Ionia that last to this day.

Yarr, me hearty! Bilgewater is exactly what it sounds like on the tin. It's a reclusive and well-hidden city of pirates, privateers, big game fishers, and all sorts looking to take to the seas of Runeterra. Bilgewater is less of a traditional city and more of an enormous web of docks, walkways, and buildings built into the cliffs of Bilgewater Bay. Bilgewater is where you'll get all of your piratical fixes when it comes to League of Legends lore, and it's pretty easy to understand the vibe Riot is going for with this region.

Tucked to the east of Valoran, the island of Bilgewater is a haven for pirates, thieves, smugglers, and just about anybody looking to avoid the prying eyes of the mainland. From crime to monster-hunting, if it involves the bring depths, you'll find it in Bilgewater.

Once ruled by the tyrannical Tobias Gangplank, the pirate king, Bilgewater has recently come under new management after Gangplank's apparent demise. Now privateer and bounty hunter Sarah Fortune (Miss Fortune) is the law of the land in Bilgewater, trying to give some sense of societal legitimacy to the rough-and-tumble brawl for survival that the city saw under Gangplank. From undead drowned revenants to titanic half-giants in diving suits, Bilgewater has it all.

Shurima is the desert area of Valoran's main continent, once home to an incredibly magically powerful empire that saw god-warriors and god-kings stalk the desert sands. However, the Shuriman empire has fallen into distant myth and shattered stone for the most part, a faint memory of the past, but not for long.

At its height, Shurima spanned most of the southern landmass of Valoran. It was a vastly magically powerful society whose greatest tool was its ability to use the magic of the sun, via its enormous Sun Disc, to ascend its greatest minds and warriors into Ascended, god-warriors that took the form of enormous anthropomorphic animal-esque figures. Ancient Shurima was very expansionist, and some of the nations around it, terrified of the power of the Ascended, began to take precautions.

One such nation was the nation of Icathia, whose scholars found ways to reach beyond the veil of the physical realm and make contact with an otherworldly plane filled with unknown intelligence, referred to as "the Void." What the Icathaian's didn't know is that the Void houses a whole species of life-hating, planar horror-esque alien predators from beyond this realm. Icathia's experimentation led to extensive Void corruption and when Shurima finally came to annex their territory, both Icathia and its new Voidborn masters fought back.

Icathia and its Void allies were driven back, but at great cost. Where Icathia once lay a huge interplanar hole in the ground through which the Void's influence could seep. As well, the horrors of the Void had traumatized many of the Ascended, who would return to Shurima and begin to experiment with forbidden blood magics.

After the death of the Shuriman Ascended King, Azir, these infected Ascended began to war with one another and became cruel, vile, and selfish. Their once-noble forms twisted and corrupted into horrifying monsters known as Darkin. As this happened, the Shuriman empire splintered and collapsed. With no king, no god-warriors, nothing to keep it together, it faded into memory as the Darkin began terrorizing Runeterra. The Darkin were eventually sealed away in demonic weapons by the Targonians and the Celestials (more on them later on in the article)!

In modern canon, Shurima is on the rise once more. Its ancient god-king, Azir, has been resurrected, and now he seeks to raise his former empire from its resting place among the sand dunes of Valoran. To this end, Azir must both unite the few of his remaining Ascended that yet live uncorrupted, as well as begin to win the trust of the Shuriman people.

Ixtal is the most recently fleshed-out of League of Legends' regions. Ixtal has been missing from the face of Runeterra for a long time. The kingdom has always specialized in elemental magic, using the natural magics of the elements to craft its towering sanctuaries and monuments. The reason for its notable absence is that when Icathia invoked the Void and went to war with Shurima, the Ixtali rulers understandably thought the world was ending. As a response, Ixtal's powerful magical council sealed it away behind a magical enchantment that hid it from prying eyes and wandering feet.

Now, centuries later, Ixtal's enchantments have begun to waver and the nation is reemerging. Ixtal focuses on the natural magics, particularly that of earth, water, fire, and air. Ixtal is a kingdom rooted in a fear of, and wish for control over, the powerful magics of Runeterra. While Ixtal is deeply rooted in magic, it has a xenophobic culture founded in the fear of its long-lasting seclusion after the Icathian war.

Ixtal is ruled by the Yun Tal, a council of mages, who keep strict control over what types of magic are and aren't allowed within Ixtali society. They convene in Ixaocan, the capital of Ixtal and an enormous central arcology filled with the Ixtali's wisdom and magical knowledge.

Mount Targon is the highest peak in all of Runeterra, an impossibly huge mountain that seems to reach to the very stars. At the peak is Targon Prime, a settlement devoted to the worship of the Celestial Aspects, essentially constellation or star gods that watch over Runeterra and pick champions to wield their power. The Celestial Aspects' champions, also referred to as Aspects, are mortals that have been chosen to wield the god-like power of a certain Celestial. Some of these Aspects are the champions Taric, the Aspect of Protection, Kayle, Aspect of Justice, Atreus or Pantheon, Aspect of War, Leona, Aspect of the Sun, Diana, Aspect of the Moon, and Zoe, Aspect of Trickery.

The Celestials have helped guard Runeterra for a long time, they were the ones who taught the mortals how to seal the Darkin warriors inside of weapons to stop their blood-fueled rampages across the continent in the ancient past. They also helped the people of Targon Prime enslave the Celestial Dragon Aurelion Sol when he threatened Runeterra, through a magical crown that keeps him under their sway.

Targon tends to stay far removed from most of Runeterra's modern inter-regional conflicts, but is slowly beginning to take a more active role in the universe as the Aspects' influence spreads beyond Mount Targon.

The Shadow Isles were once known as the Blessed Isles, and were a secluded beacon of progress, magical advancement, and knowledge. For centuries, the Blessed Isles kept themselves removed from Runeterra's problems, until King Viego of Camavor came, and cataclysm mutated them into a wasteland of death and undeath.

Camavor is a continent off of the map to the east of Valoran, one of a few continents mentioned that has never been fully fleshed out with a map. Viego was the young king of Camavon, and had a wife named Isolde. A failed assassination on Viego saw Isolde begin rapidly dying to an unknown illness. A grief-ridden Viego heard tell of the Waters of Life on the Blessed Isles, a mythical pool of water that could cure all disease. He and some of his forces set sail and landed on the Blessed Isles, demanding their help in curing Isolde. However, by the time the Blessed Isles' leadership was willing to hear Viego's pleas, Isolde had died.

Viego, unable to cope with his wife's loss, turned his army on the Blessed Isles, sacking the capital, killing indiscriminately, and forcing his way to the Waters of Life. However, when Viego lay Isolde in the waters, everything went wrong. Isolde came back, and she was furious at the carnage that Viego had sown in his selfish obsession with having her. The ritual was ruined, and the power of the Waters of the Life led to cataclysm, an apocalyptic wave of black magical mist swept across the Isles, killing nearly everyone in its path and shrouding the island in choking, necromantic fog. Viego became known as a horrifying figure to be feared in Runeterran myth, called the Ruined King.

In modern day, the Shadow Isles remain under the curse brought upon it. Twisted undead stalk the ruined lands and horrifying specters lie in every shadow. Many of the Shadow Isles champions are beings who were there when Viego accidentally unleashed the Black Mist, including Viego himself. LoL even had a lore event called The Ruination in which Viego returned to Runeterra and attempted to reunite the pieces of his wife's soul that had been scattered across Runeterra. Even after Viego's temporary death, the Black Mist hangs over the islands, twisting all life within its clouds.

The Void isn't on the Runeterra map, because it's not on Runeterra. It's a purple alien dimension, sometimes called the Lavender Sea, that overlays with reality, and houses eldritch and Lovecraftian beings beyond mortal comprehension. The Void is also where the Watchers, the beings that the Freljord's Lissandra made a pact with, come from. The void is a purple sea of alien life and twisted landscapes, warped reflections of cities, civilizations, and shards of reality that have been consumed by the Void.

The Void is the realm of the Watchers, primordial beings who were awoken from a limbo-like state by the creation of reality. The Watchers were essentially rudely awoken by reality being created, and would like to go back to sleep. In order to achieve this goal, it assaults Runeterra with horrifying creatures from beyond this realm.

Not every Void-affiliated character is a full monster, father and daughter champions Kassadin and Kai'sa both wield the Void's power in order to fight it. Kassadin has a custom Void-resistant suit, while Kai'Sa has a suit that is a skin-grafting Void symbiote that grants her alien powers. The Void's influence is the reason that the kingdom of Icathia fell, with Void monsters laying waste to it when Icathia tried to harness its power to fight Shurima.

There are two notable regions that connect to the story of League of Legends that haven't fully been explored yet. One is Camavor, the kingdom from which Viego, and characters like Kalista and Hecarim, came. Camavor has been explored in the Ruination novel, and is a war-like nation with a strict code of honor. It is most notable for its Camavoran dragons, who helped the Camavoran ruling class establish their rule.

The other is an unnamed continent to the east, near Camavor, that the champion Nilah comes from. This continent is Indian/East-Asian inspired, but hasn't had much canonized about its culture or history.

That's your quick catch-up guide to the basics of the League of Legends world. Now you should have all the information you need to start looking at specific stories and champion lore without being totally lost. This is just scratching the surface, check out LoL's universe page for art, stories, and more, or tune in to some of League's cinematics to get more of your lore fix.