With the undeniable success that is Riot and Netflix’s Arcane, so many people have been coming back to League of Legends or even the auto-battler spin-off Teamfight Tactics as of late, since the games are so easily playable on just about any device.
But, a surprising byproduct of this is that players are also paying more attention to the actual “lore” of these champions, especially the more fleshed out stories of the (typically) evil Champions.
So, with all the genius inventors and scientists seen in Arcane, let’s take a look at how their backstories differ in the canonical lore of League of Legends, as well as what other characters can even compare in pure intelligence.
10 Heimerdinger
People might be surprised to find out that a lot of the Champions in League don’t have one-to-one translations into Arcane. Heimerdinger, for example, has some key differences.
For one, Arcane makes it clear that Heimerdinger was one of the founding members of Piltover, and while that may be true in that canon, it’s not confirmed or even hinted at in the official LoL biography. He’s contributed massively to Piltover’s success and is well-respected, yes, but that’s as far as it goes.
Additionally, Arcane’s version of this fluffy little Yordle acts more like a comfy college Professor with tenure than a dedicated researcher. Either way, Heimerdinger is quite clearly one of the greatest scholars of the age.
9 Jayce & Viktor
While on the topic of Piltover, let's move on to the stories of both Jayce Talis and Viktor the Machine Herald, who have wildly different backstories compared to their loveable Arcane depictions. In LoL lore, Jayce is a pompous jerk, so much so that no one else can stand to work with him because he acts so superior and flamboyant.
Viktor was the only one who could even attempt to keep up with them, and he’s even the one who initially designed Blitzcrank. The two had a long but tenuous relationship working together on many different projects until a heated disagreement led to Jayce reporting Viktor to the Council and getting him expelled from Piltover.
There’s a lot of similarities between Viktor and Jayce and Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison, which is likely an intentional choice on Riot’s part. Viktor is a cold but highly efficient genius, while Jayce is a lot more “sociable” but not nearly as adaptable.
8 Ekko
The untapped potential of Ekko, the Boy Who Shattered Time, is pretty much unparalleled by any other “human” Champion in LoL currently. Born with genius-level intellect, Ekko is a child of Zaun who actually appreciates the city for what it “could” be, not what it is.
There are numerous cinematics that hint at Heimerdinger acknowledging Ekko’s intellect, yet they’ve only ever actually “connected” in Arcane. If Ekko was able to get some formal education, perhaps in season two of Arcane, he might even surpass people like Singed, Viktor, and Jayce someday in terms of achievements.
But, for now, Ekko is just a passionate Zaunite who can mess with time thanks to his Z-Drive invention and is also quite the beginner-friendly Champion in-game.
7 Singed
Singed, in the official LoL lore, actually has a lot in common with Ekko in regards to his innate intellect and curiosity about the world. But, unlike Ekko, Singed was blessed enough to be born in Piltover, and he attended the University of Piltover early in life.
Unlike his peers who were constantly devoted to deepening their understanding of Hextech, Singed believed in the natural sciences. He saw magic as a crutch, and his dedicated viewpoint on the issue and lackluster research results were what eventually led to him being outed from the Academy and Piltover altogether.
From there, Singed immediately found work in Zaun, a city that has quite a few openings for an intelligent scientist. Since then, Singed has become an inhumanely deranged scientist, performing all sorts of twisted experiments, one of which eventually led to the creation of Warwick.
6 Swain
Next up is the leader of an entire nation, Jericho Swain, the ruler of Noxus. Swain has a long and bloody history filled with death, failure, rebirth, and redemption. But, one aspect of his story that sticks out more than any other is his unbending dedication to Noxus as a whole. Swain killed his own parents for the sake of Noxus, overthrew the previous ruler Boram Darkwill for the sake of Noxus, and even made a pact with a Demon all for the betterment of the Noxus people.
Swain has shown that his strategic mind in all things military is unparalleled, something that isn’t the same as scholarly knowledge but is equally as important.
5 LeBlanc
Then there’s LeBlanc, the leader of the shadowy cabal, the Black Rose, who dwells underneath Noxus’ Immortal Bastion. Swain’s parents were originally part of her “cult”, and LeBlanc herself was originally part of Mordekaiser’s entourage during his second reign. But, she eventually betrayed him and vowed to keep the source of his power sealed deep within the Immortal Bastion.
For all intents and purposes, LeBlanc is every bit the scheming mastermind that Swain is, considering the two of them constantly dance around each other with their plans. It’s still unknown what the entire scope of her plans are, but one thing is for sure, only someone truly genius-level could have a hand in every pie as she does.
4 Ryze
Ryze is one of the seventeen Champions who were part of League’s starting roster, but he’s also one of the only Champions with such a deeply tragic backstory. To make a long story short, Ryze is over a thousand years old, has seen the full destructive might of the Rune Wars, learned sorcery from the great minds of sorcerers in Helia, and even has some of the magic from the World Runes embedded into his body.
Ryze has debated with world leaders, traveled the globe, and studied a variety of cultures, so his worldly knowledge is almost unparalleled. And it’s all for the sake of keeping the World Runes out of anyone’s hands.
3 Nasus
League players always forget that Nasus, one of the most hated Champs gameplay-wise and the giant Anubis-inspired Ascended of Shurima, was actually best known for his intelligence. Yet, after his honored Ascension at the Sun Disc, Nasus is now seemingly immortal, as he’s lived for over 3700 years. Combine his lifespan with his Ascended status and his military mind, and it’s no wonder that Nasus is one of the most legendary warriors in Shuriman history. But, even when he was human, Nasus’ true skill was in his learning ability.
When the Shurima Empire was at its peak and Nasus was planning out all their battles, he would always make sure that the libraries of the places they conquered were left standing so that he could read their texts and add them to his ever-expanding collection.
2 Mordekaiser
This list of Champions has gone from humans to superhumans to god-like beings and, now, it’s moved on to undead Warlords. Mordekaiser, or as he was known in life, Sahn-Uzal, is likely the worst thing to happen to Runeterra, other than possibly the Rune Wars themselves.
He was a merciless killer who took over most of Valoran with the belief that all of his conquering would one day land him in the “Hall of Bones”, a fictional afterlife similar to Valhalla. There’s a lot more to his story, but so much of it has been shrouded in mystery to this day. Regardless, it’s pretty clear that someone able to do all those things is incredibly intelligent in the art of war at the very least, though he’s absolutely psychopathic.
1 Aurelion Sol
And finally, it all ends with the Celestial, Aurelion Sol. This galaxy-patterned space dragon quite literally created both the sun and the world of Runeterra, making him the most tangible example of “god” in the LoL universe.
Yet, this god was tricked by Ancient Targon into accidentally sealing his own power within his golden crown. But, the mere fact that they did this to gain a glimmer of his vast knowledge on Celestial Magic and the sun itself proves how much Aurelion knows.
Aurelion Sol is intelligent in such an incomprehensible way that no one on Runeterra, save for maybe other Celestials, can even compare. But, according to Zoe, he’s still a bit of a grump.
League of Legends can be played on PC. Arcane can be streamed on Netflix.