Who will League of Legends' next villain be?

Nicholas James Published 30/11/2022

Ever since the defeat of Viego, the Ruined King, League of Legends’ storyline has been in a rut. So who will League of Legends’ villain be for the next world event?

For the longest time, the League of Legends lore and story was stuck in a state of limbo, with new lore being added for newly-released champions but no actual movement in the overall world. This all changed with the Ruination event, which unfortunately was met with mixed responses from fans, where players saw the Sentinels of Light rise up to stop Viego, the Ruined King.

Will the next World Event bring a new League of Legends villain?

League of Legends is like many MOBA games in that its gameplay doesn’t serve large-scale storytelling for its world at all. Riot Games has been trying to move away from the previously static state of League’s storytelling by creating more short stories, canonical cinematics, and projects like Arcane.

However, when it comes to the game itself, nothing much has progressed since the Ruination event. Bel’Veth’s arrival at the start of the year had some fans speculating that a Void invasion event was on the horizon for 2022, but it never manifested. Now clues are beginning to emerge about Season 13’s cinematic and the possible introduction of a new League of Legend villain, but who might it be?

The most likely answer, given the appearance of a Darkin Aatrox ward on the PBE during the Preseason 2023 switch, is one of the Darkin.

The Darkin are fallen Ascended, god-warriors like Nasus and Renekton, who were corrupted during the fall of the Shuriman empire. Last year, an Ornn ward was found during the Preaseason on PBE and then the Season 2022 Cinematic “The Call” featured Ornn heavily.

If the same pattern is true here, then the 2023 season storyline will likely focus on the Darkin, especially given the upcoming Darkin dagger champion revealed in the roadmap alongside K’Sante, The Pride of Nazumah. Given that the Void invasion event never materialized, fans shouldn’t expect a World Event in 2023. But if there is one, the Darkin are the best candidates we have right now.

Nicholas James

About Nicholas James

Nicholas James is a gaming writer with a passion for all things geekdom, as well as live theater. Nicholas is best known for covering League of Legends and other top MOBA titles, but his expertise covers numerous games across multiple genres. When not watching the LCS or playing the latest new release, Nicholas can be found doing some tabletop gaming and painting his favorite miniatures. Nicholas has also published with Hotspawn, TheGamer, Dexerto, Esports.gg and other industry outlets.

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