@Riot how will VGUs with canon lore be handled?
For those of you who don't know, a few years back now Riot basically said that everything to come out before that point was no longer canon and lots of champions still do not have canonized lore. When reworking champions Riot takes great lengths to keep their original theme and as much lore as possible, but will pretty much always change major things and give the champion a whole new look. We're seeing that with Swain right now, I think it's awesome but there's a few people unhappy with either appearance, how Beatrice works, etc.
With Reav3 announcing the next VGU(s?) sometime soon it got me thinking: what will Riot do with champions whose lore is canonized already? Surely you can't change their backstory as much even though their in game look could be a hundred times better, and lots of the abilities they have are in their short stories as well. In particular I'm thinking about Pantheon and Mordekaiser, both of which are super high on the rework list and both of whom are arguably the most important character in their respective regions. Pantheon is the Aspect of War who controls Aurelion Sol, the most powerful superweapon in the universe and is undoubtedly the strategist for the Targonians fending off the Void and other threats, whereas Mordekaiser is the defacto leader of the dead whose own personal ability to control souls is augmented greatly by the Black Mist's power to do so as well. I do not believe the Ruined King commands the dead because he regretted resurrecting his wife for a brief moment, but I do think since most of the souls damned to the Isles are there unwillingly that he is being kept and tortured by Mordekaiser and is likely extremely powerful just like other champions like Kalista and Hecarim who were there when the Ruination occurred.
From what we know of VGUs, Riot basically treats them as a blank slate which often happens to coincide with their original vision (although in the cases of Evelynn, Sion, and Warwick, basically everything lorewise changed.) Would the old lore be added to by new stories, would the old lore be erased and replaced with very similar lore? I'm pretty curious.
is a good example of where this has been done before, when he was reworked they updated his model to match his splash art, the only thing that was changed was the swords he used. They went off of previous visuals and gave him a new kit and lore, Panth and Morde will be the reverse, they will receive new kits and visuals based on pre-established lores.
When 
was updated in the tank update his ult was changed although he uses his old ult in the lore. I don't consider this a retcon of his powers, simply proves that there are more to the champions in the lore than what can be shown in the game. 
's part in the new cinematic is also an example of this.
's visuals described in lore:
's account: "Then, I see her. This world’s imbued warrior is alone at the peak of one of the smaller summits, brandishing a starstone spear. She watches me through a veil of annexed flesh, a mere spark masquerading as lightning. A thick braid of auburn hair is draped over her shoulder, falling over a golden breastplate that covers pale, freckled skin. Her eyes, the only bit of her face not shielded by a battle-worn helmet, flash a jarring shade of red."
has a lot more room for creativity:
