#xolaani

[aurelion-solar]

Spotlight: Graham McNeill

Role: Principal Narrative Writer

Twitter - Full List of Writing Credits

In light of Riot Games laying off 11% of their staff globally, I want to make a series of posts highlighting the portfolios of those affected, so that we can appreciate their contributions to the world of Runeterra and continue to support them. You can find a full list of those known to be affected here.

"Where Icathia Once Stood" (source)

"Monstrous" (source)

"Shadow and Fortune" (source)

"City of Iron and Glass" (source)

"The Whispering Doodad" (source)

"The Faceless God" (source)

"Dead of Winter" (source)

Champion Biographies for Azir, Elise, Fiora, Garen, Hecarim, Jinx, Karthus, Lux, Miss Fortune, Quinn, Twisted Fate, Varus, Vi, Viktor, Xerath & Zac, and many more colour stories (source)

#graham mcneill #artist spotlight #league of legends #jax #icathia #void #kai'sa #lucian #miss fortune #thresh #bilgewater #zaun #tristana #lulu #xolaani #shurima #sejuani #olaf #freljord #league of legends lore #lore #universe

[league-of-blorbos]

My Theories for what each Darkin was as an Ascended

(to preserve my sanity, i'm only gonna talk about the main 5 darkin, which are all the darkin champions and xolaani, and i'll put them in order starting with the one with the most supporting evidence and the going down to the ones that i purely made up)

Xolaani: Bird

We already know this one, we can see her statue in The Call cinematic and you can see feathers on her chest and a bird-like head shape. We can't tell what exact kind of bird she was, but she was definitely avian.

Aatrox: Angel

First off, it's never said that Ascended have to be based on animals. Every fan interpretation I see of Valeeva, a Darkin described in Twilight of the Gods, looks like a humanoid with venomous spines, so Ascended beings could theoretically also be humanoids with extra apendages (like Valeeva's spines or Aatrox's wings) but are just more commonly animals.

Second, we know Aatrox is trying to morph his vessel into looking as close to his former appearance as possible and it's implied he envies Kayle since she resembles himself as an Ascended. Kayle is an angelic human with wings, plus I feel Aatrox would try to reform himself with animal traits if he had them, but instead he looks, again, like a human with wings. Also there's the metaphors with Darkin being fallen gods, and the Darkin (mostly Aatrox and Rhaast) looking like demons, and that fits the trope of the fallen angel, you get the point, Aatrox is basically meant to be Satan so it works for him to be a corrupted angel.

Rhaast: Goat

This is one I've seen a few other people headcanon, and it comes from one of Kayn's taunts as the Shadow Assassin where he calls the enemy a "two-legged goat" which is so oddly specific and I can't find anything it could be referencing, so the theory is he's taunting his opponent by comparing them to Rhaast, who as SA, Kayn has already defeated. I would also like to mention that Kayn's baggy pants paired with Rhaast's hooved feet and horns give him a satyr-like silhouette.

On the more symbolic side, goats are often associated with the devil (again, Darkin are based off demons) and to death and the occult in a similar way a scythe is despite both being common things found on a farm; they both seem innocent until put in the right contexts, which is perfectly ironic for a violent being like Rhaast.

Varus: Lizard

In his short comic, we see a vague fanged head that wasn't shown when just Kai and Valmar walked these same stairs, so some theorized that this is what Varus looked like before being trapped. To me, the head looks most like it's reptilian. He could also be a snake or even a dragon, but in Runeterra we already have a snake Ascended with Naganeka and a humanoid dragon with Shyvana so I went with a lizard since it felt the most unique.

Naafiri: Feline

I remember seeing some people guess she used to be a cat when one of her teasers said that her becoming a hound was "ironic", and felines are seen as the opposite of canines. That's pretty much where the evidence ends, I'm just going based off vibes that maybe she was a big cat like a panther or a tiger.

#can you tell i've been rereading darkin lore lately? #mostly cuz i wonder if we'll see more than just aatrox in the cinematic tomorrow #oh and im flexible on some of these #but you can rip goat rhaast out of my cold dead hands #league of legends #lol #leagueoflegends #riot games #legends of runeterra #darkin #xolaani #aatrox #rhaast #varus #naafiri #shurima

[lywell]

dead end

Rhaast x Kayn

rated T, 1,1k words

Kayn wins. What happens next?

read on Ao3 : https://archiveofourown.org/works/51176548

#I love the tragedy of their relationship #I love character study #and angst #so #let's go!! #I've been wanting to write about it for SO LONG and I finally did #rhaayn #shieda kayn #kayn #rhaast #xolaani #shadow assassin #fanfiction

[krishmiisa]

#artists on tumblr #art #digital art #digital #league of legends fanart #arcane #traditional drawing #art of legends #legends of runeterra #league of art #lol fanart #xolaani #aatrox #darkin #shurima #darkin wars #ascended #crack ship #xolaatrox #aatraani #??? #love hate sillies

[skymagpie]

LoR released the Darkin all wrong, now they are fighting again, you gotta let them sniff each other over a comically large door

#darkin #league of legends #legends of runeterra #aatrox #rhaast #varus #xolaani #horazi #naganeka #rip to the others this was drawn before their time

[soraka-in-warhammer40k]

Chaos Champions and Greater Demons on the tabletop:

Spiky brightly colored person with questionable fashion doing "EVIL" things (like fashionably standing on a tactical rock made of corpses).

How Chaos SHOULD look like:

WE SHALL DEVOUR THE HEAVENS

#warhammer 40k #wh40k #legends of runeterra #xolaani #chaos demons #imagine getting schooled in demonic designs by*checks notes* League of Legends #imagine what sort of balller mini this would be

[nymbutnotnymble]

first proper post on here, have some league of legends darkin

#darkin #aatrox #rhaast #varus #xolaani #naafiri #league of legends #league of legends art #these are like #several months apart i’ll be honest #fanart

[thomas-jefferson-miku-binder]

9, 10, 11 Xolaani 💕

9. Could you be roommates with this character?

good god no

10. Could you be best friends with this character?

good god no

11. Would you date this character?

good god no

#league of legends #cali speaks #xolaani #legends of runeterra

[samd1o1]

Darkin from League Of Legends are like Vampires

Always homoerotic, no such thing as a straight vampire, no such thing as a straight darkin.

#Aatrox is a homophobic homo #Darkins gay #Varus #Valmar #Kai #Rhaast #Kayn #Xolaani #Jun #Aatrox #Rhaayn #Darkin #League Of Legends #Legends Of Runeterra #LOL #LOR

[jocelotknee]

These two are definitely giving off a ‘bitter ex married couple’ vibe... and honestly I’m all for it.

#aatrox #xolaani #darkin #legends of runeterra

[aurelion-solar]

The Darkin Saga: Awakening Concept Art by Áron Elekes Kayn - Taarosh - Xolaani - Horazi - Keeper of the Box - Noxian Defector - Naganeka of Zuretta

#kayn #taarosh #xolaani #horazi #keeper of the box #noxian defector #naganeka of zuretta #league of legends #league of legends champion #legends of runeterra #the darkin saga #concept art #darkin #official

[league-of-blorbos]

Been thinking about Kayn's story on LoR with Xolaani and the Wuju clan and wondering why did he even want Xolaani in the first place? We're told it's because he's power hungry and wants another darkin weapon, which that's in character for him, but why would he go so far as to attack innocent Ionians for this power? Did he need it that badly, was Rhaast not strong enough for Kayn in some way? And knowing how the darkin feel about Xolaani why would Rhaast just go along with this plan?

I'm also sad he had no voicelines with Zed cuz I can't imagine Zed approved of this attack either, did Kayn go against Zed in order to do this? Sad we probably won't get a follow up to this story since LoR is currently on life support, I'd be so curious to know more details leading up to this attack.

And where was Kayn and Rhaast in the rest of the saga, did they realize they just doomed the world by releasing Xolaani and went into hiding or something or did she just kill them both and we're never shown it?

#again Kayn is cocky so of course he'd believe he can fight two darkin at once #my biggest curiosity is Zed and how he would react to Kayn attacking other Ionians even if it's to make him stronger #league of legends #lol #leagueoflegends #legends of runeterra #shieda kayn #kayn #rhaast #zed #master yi #xolaani

[murderartistkr]

The Darkins

#league of legends #league of legends art #aatrox #lol aatrox #lol varus #varus #rhaast #lol rhaast #xolaani #taarosh #naganeka #horazi

[furtiveseal]

Playing with the World Ender set has been a blast so far, and seeing the finale of the Darkin Saga is one of my favourite things about it: it’s the climactic battle between Aatrox and Xolaani, it’s Ryze being forced to use the world runes once again, it’s Xolaani devouring all of the other Darkins to become a monstrosity I absolutely adore... And yet, amongst all the chaos and power, I think my favourites voice lines might be Aatrox’s. Not the ones where he’s an angry demon man, not the ones where he shows genuine joy as he finally achieves oblivion (though those are amazing as well), but the short remarks he has for his fellow darkin.

The fact that this man, whose mind has been stuck inside a living sword for millenia and whose only dream in life is to finally be given the release of oblivion, still has comforting words for Joraal, who seems to be the most broken of the darkin, or that he still recognizes Ibaaros’s power no matter how much time has passed, is worth so much to me.

We don’t know what Aatrox was like before Icathia broke him and his siblings-in-arms, and considering he was an Ascended working for Azir, he was probably not above criticism, but there’s nonetheless a kindness left in the World Ender for those who once fought alongside him and who came back to fight one last fight before they could finally get peace.

#im not saying the darkin were good people #they WERE sealed for a reason obviously #but bad guys are still allowed to have good relationships obviously #god i am so thankful for lor developing all of this #legends of runeterra #league of legends #aatrox #darkin #xolaani #seal talks

[gil-notskajla]

#my uglies <3 #darkin #ascended #baccai #lor #lol #varus #naganeka #xolaani #aatrox #rhaast #forsaken #witherclaw #snadspinner #rampaging #reaper #xerath #renekton #nasus #azir #shurima

[dire-straits-fn8ic]

The new Legends of Runeterra expansion comes out in 3 days and I'm so excited to play it, but since I can't play it yet I'll spend the time sharing some of my thoughts

The Darkin are so cool, so in the current point in time in lore they're god-warriors who are hellbent on destruction but are trapped inside their weapons. When someone grabs one of these weapons the Darkin inside takes over the wielder's body and warp their flesh into the Darkin's "true form". The more people the Darkin kills the larger its body can be.

So you've got this guy

Who becomes this guy

And he's in constant agony in sword form so he wants to bring the world to ruin so a higher power will intervene and destroy existence.

He used to be the General of these god-warriors, back when they looked more like Egyptian gods, but then they fought an eldritch horror for hundreds of years and they generally lost their minds and turned against the world, which led to them being imprisoned in their weapons.

_

And then here's his nemesis, Xolaani, the Darkin Bloodletters (the weapons in the foreground. The person in the background is not her, but a temple guard about to grab the weapons and take her over

And then she turns into this

And she and the sword guy hate each other and are getting their Darkin friends to have a showdown of his army vs her army

Oh and they're kinda cute together

_

And then most of the other Darkin are stashed away so nobody could pick them up and unleash them on the world

There's Anaacka, sealed in ice. You can see a person nearby and it's tiny compared to her

Here's The Darkin Staff. The staff was stored away in a magical forest because nobody goes there, but then a tree's roots grew around the staff and he took over the tree

Also his name is Baalkux

Here's Rhaast, the Darkin Scythe, the Blade of Millennia. He's got an eye on the weapon so he can see things, unlike some of the others

#league of legends #legends of runeterra #darkin #aatrox #xolaani