League of Legends Lore: My Top 4 Picks

League of Legends is loved and played by millions (well to be honest, it is actually a love and hate kind of relationship). The game exists in the fictional world of Runeterra, where the champions and villains belong to far-off regions, each mystical in its own. These characters have their own stories of struggle, vengeance and redemption.

As a regular League of Legends player, I have played various roles and champions and I love how Riot has put so much detail and life into their storylines. The first champion I started playing was Kayn, and his character made me dig into his life story, I got introduced to the League of Legends lore. While reading about the Darkins, I realized that Runeterra is no less than Westeros from Game of Thrones. Each continent has champions with unique powers and abilities to fight the evil, or be one. The universe also has interdimensional doors, mist covered islands, buried cities under the sand and everything that will make you fall in love with fiction.

League of Legends cinematics are another reason why I was drawn to explore more about the League characters. Watching these animated short videos was like watching an amazing animated movie, whose characters you instantly fall in love with. And that is when I decided to dig deeper into their backgrounds and finally read League of Legends lore. However, I was confused about how or where to start, as I was not sure about the chronological order of the events happening in these lores. So I decided to start with the champions I main (I would also recommend you to first read about the champions you main).

The first complete League of Legends lore that I read was about Warwick. And it became one of my top favorites in League of Legends. I also got introduced to Singed’s background while reading about Warwick, so of course I had to explore more about what’s happening there. Immersing myself into their fictional world was an euphoric feeling, so I continued reading about all the other characters that I main, and eventually started reading about the champions, region wise.

I have not gone through ALL of them yet (I have a life, believe me!) but from the ones I have read, I picked a few that I liked the most. I’m sure once you have devoured through them, you will see what I’m talking about!

So here are my top 4 League of Legends lores.

Best League of Legends Lore

Warwick – The Uncaged Wrath of Zaun

If you don’t know this already, let me surprise you. Warwick was actually a man once. A real bummer, right? That’s what I felt after reading the tragic story of Warwick. So without further ado, let’s begin.

Once a gangster, Warwick used to be a part of Zaun’s underworld. With blades in his hands and sins on his shoulders, Warwick used to roam the streets of Zaun hunting for human specimens for the undercity’s evil experiments. But there is a time when every gangster looks for redemption, and so did Warwick. He gave up his life of sins in the dream of living a better life. But our dark pasts never really leave us, do they?

Even though he left his sins, they never really left him, reminding him of his evil past and how he could never be a good man. The memories came back to him in bits and pieces, until everything was a blur. The only vague memory he had left now was of him tied up in Singed’s lab, being experimented on.

The mad scientist performed some evil experiments on him, in order to turn him into a chimera. He attached chemical infused pipes to his nervous system that carried liquid fury whenever he felt afraid and furious, giving life to a bloodthirsty beast that haunts the undercity of Zaun now.

You must still be thinking that Warwick is a killing machine? Well, let me surprise you again! He is what you call, an anti-villain, or the Punisher of Zaun, if you will. Here’s why (the story isn’t finished yet).

After Warwick was reborn, he hunted the gangsters of Zaun, ripping them off. Riot revealed a story where he follows a girl who leads him to the gangster’s den, in the pipe ways under Zaun. While he’s hiding outside the alley where the others are, the gangsters draw their blades and attack the girl, who starts bleeding. The scent of blood drives Warwick into a killing spree. He shreds them into pieces, unaware of who he is killing. He does try to save the girl but clouded by the chemicals in his brain, he is not sure if he actually saved her or ended up killing her too.

Not being able to forgive himself, Warwick now continues hunting the bad guys. He understands why Singed did that to him. He believes that Singed just unleashed the beast that was hiding in him all along. A killer.

Nope… I’m not crying, you’re crying.

Warwick’s lore made me realize how everyone thinks of him as a killing beast, when in actual, he himself is the victim of mankind’s sins, a poor chimera still looking for redemption.

Kai’sa – Daughter of The Void

Kai’sa also has a tragic lore in League of Legends. Outcasted by her own society, Kai’sa is torn between the two worlds of Shurima and Void.

Here’s how her story goes.

Kai’sa was a young girl born to a loving family in a village of Shurima, a merciless sandy desert and an ill-fated interdimensional portal, providing a gateway to the outer dimension of Void – a mysterious and scary world that exists beneath the Southeast Shurima.

When Kai’sa turned 10 years old, the people of her village were often visited by agents of the dark powers beneath them, demanding a sacrifice to be made, in order to fulfill the insatiable hunger of the Void. Kai’sa’s parents used to warn her against going out in the dark, but she was oblivious to such stories.

One evening, when she was playing with her friends, she came across a herd of goats that were bought for the ‘great sacrifice’. She freed them into the canyon, that awakened the Void beneath it, devouring the herd of goats, and the entire village with everyone in it.  

When Kai’sa woke up, she found herself all alone in a strange world where everything seemed dead, just like the Upside Down from Stranger Things. There were strange creatures crawling everywhere. One of those Voidlings attacked Kai’sa and while defending herself, she realized that the creature had started annihilating her. Unable to get rid of it, Kai’sa believed that this ‘shell’ was a part of her now, an outgrowth.

As she grew older in the Void as half human, half Voidling, she was determined to stay alive, fight against the Void creatures and somehow, find her way back to the human world. She was a survivor of the Void, looking for her home.

In another short story uploaded on League of Legend’s lore page, it is revealed that Kai’sa now fights the Void creatures to save her villagers. But instead of considering her their hero, they think of her as one of the Voidlings. Even though Kai’sa made it back, her people never accepted her. Thinking of her as a monster returned from the Void. She never found what she was looking for; her home, her people.

Kai’sa’s story is a tale of a little girl, rejected by her own people.

Nautilus – The Titan of The Depths

Nautilus’s lore is also one of my favorite League of Legends lores. This poor guy, who once was a simple man, now walks the ocean floor to drag down the greedy sailors of Bilgewater.

Nautilus was once a salvage diver, the best of them all. He used to dive the dark waters off the coast of Blue Flame Isles, in search of the buried treasures in a graveyard of ships. These lost ships were loaded with wealth, in their search for immortality. Now buried deep in the ocean, their treasures shine, often visible from the surface, mirrored by the sun.

In search of these treasures, the ships used to send their divers deep into the ocean. But none could dive longer enough to get the treasures out. There was one remarkable diver though, Nautilus, known to endure all the difficulties of the ocean. He was a free-diver with strong lungs, who brought his ship plenty of jewels and treasures. Nautilus wanted nothing in return, just that they honor the sea by dropping a coin every time they sail off on their treasure hunts. This was just a superstition among the sailors to ensure the safe return of the crew.

After years of collecting treasures, there was no more left to collect. Even the biggest treasures run out one day!

One morning, the crew found out that their ship, along with them was sold to a foreigner who had brought with himself an iron suit to help Nautilus stay longer on the ocean floor, in search of a special treasure that was hidden deep in the dark mist.

Nautilus wore the heavy suit and was just ready to be lowered down when he reminded the captain to drop a coin in the ocean and pay tribute. The captain laughed it off by saying that they will have plenty of jewels to pay to the ocean, once he was back. Nautilus was then lowered down into the sea until everything was dark and quiet.

Suddenly, he felt something dragging him down into the ocean. Nautilus grabbed the chain, his only link to the world above, and started pulling himself up. Just as he was about to reach the surface, the chain could not bear the heavy weight of his metal suit and it broke. Nobody could hear his screams. He fell down and felt dark tentacles of mist wrapping around him, until he became unconscious.

When Nautilus woke up on the ocean floor, he did not seem bothered by the sea anymore. Everything became clearer to him and the dark did not feel strange. He felt comfortable in his iron suit. The only thing he could remember was his captain, who did not pay sacrifice to the sea. In his pursuit of revenge, he walked on the ocean floor till years, until he reached Bilgewater, but he could not find anyone.

He returned to the sea, with a resolve to sink all the greedy sailors who do not honor the sea.

Just a lonely guy walking the ocean floor. Be right back, I’m gonna cry.

Diana – Scorn of The Moon

Diana was found by the Solari when she was a child. She grew up as one of them and became friends with Leona. She often wondered why nobody in the Solari would talk about the Moon, while she was in love with it. Something deep inside her always pulled her towards the Moon.

One day, Diana went to the library to read about it and her ancestors. But she found out that all the pages about the Moon in the books were missing. She inquired Leona about it, who was a true devotee to the Solari. She ignored Diana’s questions as she didn’t even like hearing anything about the Lunari.

So one night, Diana, in search of her answers, got out and climbed the Mount Targon to watch the Moon. She was convinced that the Lunari and Solari cannot be foes, and that they are meant to be together. As soon as she climbed the mountain, a beam of moonlight captured her. When she woke up, she was covered in an armor, holding a blade and her hair turned all silver.

She had finally found her true self! Something she felt was inside her ever since she was a child. When she turned back, she found that Leona was there all along. She was happy to have shared the revelation with her. But Leona, despite being her bestfriend was a true Solari, with hatred in her heart for the Lunari. She went back to the Solari and told them everything.

Diana followed, expecting that she would convince the Solari about the truth. But they didn’t believe her, and called her a blasphemer. Enraged, Diana killed everyone and left.