Lore: The Locations of Runeterra Champions

Runeterra champions are those champions that aren't represented by any one of LoR's 10 standard regions, and instead represent their own regions because of their Origin effects.

These champions aren't tied to a specific region, or aren't from a specific region in the game - or are even from multiple regions at the same time.

In any case, as each of them belongs to the Runeterra universe, they need to be somewhere in their cards. In this article, I decided to play a game and I listed all 11 Runeterra champions, pointing out where they are supposedly located in Runeterra's universe through their cards.

I used information their Legends of Runeterra cards give us, and facts I found in wiki pages about League of Legends and Legends of Runeterra to see where they are depicted in their artwork. It was more complicated than I thought it would be, so let's see what I found out!

In these two illustrations, we see Jax in the middle of a battlefield after a battle that probably took place in Icathia. We see creatures of the Void and purple banners, the same colors in Jax's and Icathian Mirage's clothes, which leads me to believe they are Icathian banners. After some quick research, I found out Icathia is also represented by yellow in LoR itself on Shard of Violence.

Icathia, according to the League of Legends wiki, was a vassal-state in a peninsula south of Shurima. That means we can assume Jax is, actually, in Shuriman territory.

However, as Icathia was destroyed by the Void, currently this region isn't controlled by anyone, and it is just a vast land of nothing. For this reason, I'd rather say Jax is in Icathia instead of Shurima because this place is no longer under Shuriman control. In the image below, the red circle indicates approximately where Jax is in his illustrations.

The flavor texts in the cards depicting Jax's followers clarifies that this champion has also wandered through Runeterra for a long time to recruit them to his band of warriors. But Jax doesn't show up in the background of these Weaponmasters illustrations.

Level 1 Neeko shows her in a Ferocious Fluffs nest in Ixtal. Ferocious Fluffs is a card that creates a lot of confusion because it is a Bandle City card, even though it clearly depicts an Ixtal jungle. Throughout this article, I'll explain what happens to Bandle City a bit more in-depth.

We can say they are in Ixtal because in this card's artwork we can see them facing Piltovan explorers that are the same as the ones depicted in Nidalee's cards, who also is from Ixtal.

In Legends of Runeterra, Ixtal isn't a region of its own, and is part of Shurima. But we all know this is different in League of Legends, and we have champions that are from this region specifically, such as Qiyana, Rengar, Zyra and Nidalee. However, in LoR, as we have a 10-region limit, some champions from this region were relocated to other places, and their stories were slightly altered to fit into their new regions. The most extreme case regarding this was Malphite, which is an Ixtal champion in the official League of Legends wiki page, but is from Targon in LoR.

Neeko continues in Ixtal in her level 2 artwork, facing the Piltovan explorers. In the red circle below, I circled an estimate of where Neeko can be in her cards.

Evelynn, in her level 1 artwork, is in Targon, seducing Lunari Priestess.

However, this champion really tours Runeterra during her animation when she levels up, and goes to some alley in Piltover or Zaun. I say that because Piltover and Zaun are the only places that have electricity in Runeterra's universe - and, consequently, are the only places with neon lights.

However, her level 2 location was a bit harder to understand, and I'm still not 100% sure of it. My guess, after studying her support cards a bit, is that Evelynn, in her level 2 artwork, is in Shadow Isles. Or at least an island nearby.

I say that because, in her artwork, we see a purple or pink table with candles, which is the same theme we see in Vora and Sultur's artworks, which means that they, possibly, are in the same place. Additionally, Sultur's flavor text states: "Beware those who smile on these haunted isles...".

We can associate Shadow Isles with the place where Evelynn is because Sultur and Vora's region is also Shadow Isles.

In any case, it is a bit weird to say she is indeed in this region because Shadow Isles' visual identity doesn't look similar to what we see in Evelynn's card, not one bit. This is why it is possible that, actually, she is on a Bilgewater island, and the "haunted isles" described in Sultur's flavor text are, actually, some island in Bilgewater's archipelago.

Leave your guesses about where Evelynn is in her level 2 in our comment section!

I circled in the map below the places where Evelynn goes through while she is in her level 1 artwork and when she is levelling up, and I circled a place in green where she might be in her level 2 artwork.

Another factor that can make us believe she is really in Shadow Isles is that her spell, Hate Spike, is also from there. And in this card we see her entering a slightly purple place, just like her level 2 artwork.

We can also say that this purple light comes from the demons themselves and Evelynn herself, and like so shrouds any place they are in purple, and like so, actually, the place's original color wouldn't be anything close to purple - which may reinforce the idea that she is in Shadow Isles, even though her artwork doesn't show any visual signs that she is really there.

And, lastly, to reinforce the idea that she is in a Bilgewater archipelago, we have Steem's artwork, which shows a place in Bilgewater that can be the place where Evelynn and her demons go to in her level 2 artwork. There's not much to say about Steem's artwork, besides the fact he holds a glass of wine that looks like the ones we see in level 2 Evelynn's artwork.

Besides all these theories, we have a third theory. But it is a bit weaker than the other ones because it assumes the place where she is in her level 2 illustration is Demacia, because of Allure. We also have some stories apart from LoR that mention Evelynn killed Vayne's parents, and there are some interactions between these two champions in LoR that confirm Evelynn has probably been on Demacian soil before.

In Bard's level 1 artwork, we see him surrounded by portals which show several places across Runeterra at once. Behind this champion, we see a tree with pink leaves which can be from Ionia or Bandle City, and it is very similar to the tree in Maduli, the Gatekeeper's artwork.

Bandle City, in Runeterra, appears to be a reality that is parallel to the regions in the game itself. This means, if you go through a portal to Bandle City in Ionia, you'll end up in Ionia, but in its parallel version in Bandle City. This seems to happen with all champions in this region in their artwork. This is even apparent in Fizz's classic artwork if we compare it to his standard, Bandle City skin.

As a result, Bard might be in Bandle City, but in its Ionian version, coming from the same place as Maduli, the Gatekeeper, a card from Bandle City, is. Complicated, isn't it? That's why we'll mention Ferocious Fluffs again; it is a Bandle City card that doesn't depict its region in its artwork.

This card is quite confusing because they can even be magical Bandle City creatures, but they indeed aren't in Bandle City, according to their artwork and the Piltovan explorers at the bottom of the card. So, we can say that this card represents only Ferocious Fluffs' original region, and not necessarily the region they are in at that exact moment.

In any case, Bard, in his level 2 artwork, is clearly in Targon because of the strong similarities between his artwork and Mystic Vortex's artwork, which is one of its support cards.

Circled in the map below, we have an estimate of where Bard is in his artworks. I used yellow to show where this champion is in Runeterra, but in its Bandle City version.

Jhin is clearly in Ionia in his level 1 and 2 illustrations. We even know the name of the Ionian city he is in because of his flavor text: - "Overture: We open on the city of Qayanvi...".

Qayanvi is an Ionian port city dominated by Noxians. In Jhin's support cards, we see him telling the story of how he recovered 4 stolen artifacts: Legion Deserter's stolen Kashuri artifact, Lord Broadmane's Kashuri weapon, a mind-control device from Captive Greyback, and a gilded gift from The Stagehand, all in Qayanvi.

We don't know for sure where Qayanvi is on the map, but we can circle in red an area in Ionia controlled by Noxus which surely includes this town.

Ryze is in Shurima in his level 1 and 2. However, it is harder to tell where in Shurima he is exactly.

In this champion's flavor text, it is clear that the Darkin that wrecked the place Ryze is are Aatrox and Xolaani the Bloodweaver, considering we see Ryze at the bottom of level 2 Aatrox's artwork. This means they are in the same place.

As we'll see soon, the Darkin saga told in LoR isn't exactly canon, and it is more a "what if" of what would happen if some events actually happened in the game's universe. So, not necessarily what happened in these two champions' artwork really did happen.

We can assume both these champions are in any place in Shurima because the battle between Aatrox and Xolaani wrecks this region almost entirely. We can also assume that these Darkin probably started fighting some place near Icathia, considering we see Void creatures stuck to a wall that is falling apart behind Aatrox in his level 1 artwork. And they also end their battle most likely near Targon, considering this is the region Xolaani, Aspect's Bane is from.

Ryze most likely found these two Darkin somewhere in Shurima in the middle of their battle, but it is really impossible to tell exactly where because Aatrox and Xolaani almost cross the entire continent while they fight.

We marked, on the map below, the path Ryze, Aatrox and Xolaani probably went through in their artworks.

Varus, in his level 1 artwork, is in Piltover or Zaun, because the background is almost identical to Ambitious Cultist's background, which is from Piltover & Zaun.

In the illustrations depicting Varus followers, we see this champion recruiting Cultists to help him fight Xolaani. Icevale Cultist, Buhru Cultist, Lunari Cultist and Ambitious Cultist are Varus' band of archers. We see all these followers in Varus' level 2 artwork ambushing Xolaani probably in Shurima close to Icathia again because we see come elements in the left-bottom corner of this champion's artwork that resemble the Void.

Kayn is in Ionia in Master Yi's Wuju temple in both of his artworks, level 1 and level 2, both in his Rhaast Final Level form and in his The Shadow Assassin final level form, and even in his 0-cost version form before transforming. Kayn is the best example of a champion that shows us, through his illustrations, events that aren't canonical. I say this because we have the universe in which Kayn becomes a Darkin, and the universe in which he becomes the Shadow Assassin, which can't exist at the same time.

If Kayn becomes Rhaast Final Level, he'll defeat all Master Yi's pupils and take over The Darkin Bloodletters, putting an end to Runeterra's ruin accidentally. This means anything that happens in Aatrox, Ryze, Xolaani and Kayle illustrations couldn't happen because Xolaani needs to dominate Rhaast Final Level for that to happen.

However, if Kayn defeats Rhaast Final Level and becomes The Shadow Assassin Final Level, this would force Jun, the Prodigy, during the battle, to get The Darkin Bloodletters for herself and become Xolaani - and, consequently, trigger everything presented to us in Aatrox, Kayle and Ryze's artworks.

So, practically, Runeterra's entire fate lies in Kayn and Rhaast Final Level's hands, and this Darkin needs to win and kill Jun to save the world.

I spoke with a lot of community members who believe that this story's canon is Kayn becoming The Shadow Assassin. If not, we wouldn't have so many cards and champions that mention Xolaani. What do you think? What happened at the Wuju temple was true or not?

In any case, the Wuju temple is extremely easy to find on the map. I marked it in red in the image below.

The Poro King is nothing more than a toy owned by Ingvar the Younger which becomes alive when he levels up. Or, at least, that's what Ingvar thinks happened because we have no confirmation that The Poro King actually exists and is not just her imagination.

In Chemtech Catermobile's artwork, we see Ingvar trying to get to an imaginary castle. To achieve that, she decides to draw a horse with several legs, that comes out a bit green, and like so creates Chemtech Catermobile. In this same card, we see all the plush toys this girl owns - between them, we have The Poro King, Warden of the Tribes, Dragon Prince Grinzo and a mysterious Yeti, which leads me to believe that all these cards are a fruit of Ingvar's imagination.

In Tall Tales's flavor text, a card from Runeterra's Foundations set, we have Ingvar mentioning Babbling Bjerg is her uncle, and Bjerg probably tells her several, and several stories about Yetis.

Yetis have always been a mystery in LoR's universe, and for a long time we weren't sure they actually existed, because it could all be Bjerg's imagination. But, in the Worldwalker set, they released Captive Yeti, from Noxus, which proved to us that these beings actually existed.

Could it be that all the beings that Ingvar imagines are true? Or maybe everything she draws becomes a reality, and this girl is a mage that can create constructs from her imagination? We have no way to know.

But we know where Bjerg lives in Freljord. Let's assume he lives in northern Freljord, close to the Avarosan villages, considering they seem close to the Yetis as well, according to Avarosan Trapper. As Ingvar is Bjerg's niece, they likely live close by.

I marked in red down below approximately where Ingvar can be on the map.

In Elder Dragon's cards, we see Demacian soldiers setting up a campaign to defeat this beast. Volix, Dragon Allegiant, alongside Alatis the Gallant, lead a group of Demacian soldiers to try and defeat the Elder Dragon.

Let's assume this campaign happened in the Elder Dragon's lair, and that this place is in Demacia, considering the Elder Dragon's support cards are also from Demacia. But, after some careful research, I concluded that, actually, the Elder Dragon's lair is probably in Freljord.

We can reach this conclusion because of many factors. The first is that Uwendale is described on the map as a town frequently invaded by Wyverns. In Runeterra's mythology, Dragons and Wyverns get mixed up and end being, most times, the same thing.

Considering that, next to Uwendale we have a valley that is shaped like a crater on the map. We see something similar to this crater formation on the map that Volix himself, in Dragon Allegiant, seems to be using. Considering this territory is Freljordian, we can conclude the Elder Dragon is in Freljord, close to Uwendale, the Demacian town.

I marked an X in light blue where Uwendale is, and I circled in red where the Elder Dragon's lair is.

If you read this far, I hope you have enjoyed this game of trying to guess where are Runeterra champions, just like I did.

Don't forget to share this article on social media. See you next time!