Theory why Darius is Vladimir's rival

Maple Crusader··8 votes·4,548 views

I'll state right now that I will ignore the IOW retcon for this thread. I have thought about the rivalries in the game and here's my theories about why would Darius have a rivalry with Vladimir.

Darius hates Vladimir probably because of three reasons: the hemomancer is a pompous aristocrat, a draft dodger and a criminal. In Vladimir's judgement, he mentioned that he wanted to bring "honor to his noble house," which could mean that Vlad had an aristocratic background before he left Noxus in his youth. He also said that he spilled blood from his first victims on his "fine clothes" which supports this idea.

I have observed that military service is compulsory in Noxus for at least six years and its citizens are expected to be ready to be drafted asap. When Vladimir killed for the first time, he was fifteen years old. Unless Vladimir already went into military service for six years, he avoided being drafted into the Noxian military, in addition to avoiding punishment for committing two homicides.

With this evidence in mind, Darius would be Vladimir's antithesis. Darius is from a humble background; he's a self made man and a patriotic soldier. It's explicit that Darius envisions his city-state being purged of its weaknesses through personally killing the corrupt and opulent nobility, which Vladimir is a part of.

So what you think? Do you guys want to share your theories about unexplained rivalries?

12 Comments

The Red Warden18 votes

Vladimir Hey Darius want to hear a joke? Darius Vlad, I swear one more blood pun and I will personally guillotine you Vladimir Darius do you really believe me to be so vein that I would tell you another blood pun?

Darius then smashed his axe through 2 feet of solid marble as Vlad troll pooled away

GreenLore5 votes

I made my own thread about my theory and I think that Darius might blame Vladimir for Sions current condition. Sion was a noxian hero and I think that Darius probably respects sion for what he has done in life. However he returned as a mad beast and got imprisoned and if you look at the sion-launch-site you'll notice that the black rose released sion with the help of vladimir(who also altered a part of sions mind so that he would obey swain) and Darius sees this probably as a disgrace for the noxian hero and thinks it is vlads fault,that sion is the way he is.

Ark Angel HFB2 votes

As an aside... do you think maybe this could drive a wadge between Darius and Swain?

Like Darius could maybe begin to see that maybe Swain's goals and values are not really in line with his own?

nosafterburn1 votes

meh. a good soldier doesn't disrespect his superiors (no matter the soldiers opinions).

doubleguac6 votes

meh. a good soldier doesn't disrespect his superiors (no matter the soldiers opinions).

Darius decapitated his commanding officer after said officer called for a retreat. It's pretty clear he's ok with disobeying orders when they don't line up with his own ideas/values.

nosafterburn2 votes

Darius decapitated his commanding officer after said officer called for a retreat. It's pretty clear he's ok with disobeying orders when they don't line up with his own ideas/values.

Maybe he thought that guy shouldn't have been the head of his squad.

doubleguac1 votes

Darius decapitated his commanding officer after said officer called for a retreat. It's pretty clear he's ok with disobeying orders when they don't line up with his own ideas/values.

Maybe he thought that guy shouldn't have been the head of his squad.

Well, the same logic could lead him to clash with Swain.

Maple Crusader1 votes

As an aside... do you think maybe this could drive a wadge between Darius and Swain?

Like Darius could maybe begin to see that maybe Swain's goals and values are not really in line with his own?

It could be possible that there could be political friction between Swain and Darius due to Sion's rebirth.

GreenLore1 votes

I think he might get a bit more suspicious,but in the end he might consider it a necessary thing to do even if he doesn't like it.

Narasimha3 votes

Pretty sure its because Darius has a set goal for Noxus, to purge it of its weakness and make it into the great place it once was. Vladmir, while still Noxian, has decidedly more..ambiguous goals, especially considering his works with Leblanc. While not outright enemies, it means Darius doesn't really trust Vladmir too much.

Diahane2 votes

It makes a pretty solid theory. To this I'd add Vladimir's role in rekindling Sion's purpose and I'd say we've got enough material for them to be in bad terms.

l AM SCRIPTING2 votes

Gee all this lore sure is interesting, it's almost like you could make another game in the league universe or something with it. There's so much potential here I just---oh wait, what's that? It all got retconned for virtually no reason? #lcsbigplays? Oh, o-o-okay... item 2043 item 3070 item 2043 item 3070

To be more on topic, I'd always found it funny that two blood themed champions rivalled each other. Before I was thoroughly versed in the (now defunct) lore, I had assumed it was an ego thing, I.e. "I'm the better blood spiller!".

More from Story, Art, & Sound

More by Maple Crusader