My one issue with Varus being a Darkin

Skorch·Jun 28, 2017·8 votes·5,145 views

Rhaast refers to Varus as Varus (well and Demon pants but that, probably, is not lore related) meaning that Varus would be the Darkin. However as far as we know Varus was the name of the soldier that threw himself into the corruption.

So: A. Is Rhaast confused, because he doesnt seem fully together? B. Was the corruption Varus and the lore just refers to the host as Varus? C. Is Varus in control of his Darkin, and if so why is Rhaast okay with it? D. Is it just a lore oversight?

Also the fact that Varus, while vengeful, isnt as bloodthirsty as Aatrox or Rhaast

BTW its not in a poll because the options dont have enough characters.

27 Comments

ZapMyHeartJun 28, 20179 votes

I think it's C. Why should Rhaast care? It's every (wo)man for themselves. Based on their need to bring chaos and ruin, I highly doubt they care if their comrades became casualties.

Imma copy-pasta what I wrote in another thread.

Mmm, based on the lore at the moment, Varus is/was the human Ionian warden prior to his corruption.

My theory is that Varus still retained his "human aspect" despite the corruption from the Darkin. Varus doesn't have any Darkin lines, which indicates that the Darkin itself may not be conscious or even in control. Which I believe that is why Rhaast refers to Varus only and not the Darkin counterpart, though he does acknowledge that Varus is now part Darkin by association due to the corruption. Whether Varus feels like he should be allied with Kayn/Rhaast remains to be seen. As the Darkin race only has 5 remaining members, I'm guessing a lot of the Darkins "lost" to their host or the host got killed before they could take control, meaning they got taken out as well.

Looking at Kayn's kit, if you chose the "Blue" form, he "wins" against Rhaast, getting corrupted in the process with his voice modified; kind of like Varus. I believe that when Varus took in the corruption, the pool was remnants of the Darkin's power meaning that the Darkin itself was already defeated and had no consciousness left, but the Ionian elders weren't able to get rid of that corruption. The corruption itself warped Varus, like how Rhaast warps "Blue Kayn" after Kayn wins, but both still are in control of their personality.

Varus' lines also show that he retains his vengeance for Noxian, whereas if he was taken over by the Darkin itself, his lines would be much different. Something similar to "Red Kayn" instead. Aatrox's lines are in line with Rhaast where he doesn't care about specifics; only to bring destruction and chaos to Runeterra.

Aatrox could be seen as the fully "Red Kayn", where the Darkin takes over its host completely, while Varus is the fully "Blue Kayn", where the host takes the Darkin's powers for their own purposes. If you look at "Blue Kayn" and Varus, they both retain their human features, whereas Aatrox and "Red Kayn" looks monstrous and nothing like humans at all.

SkorchJun 28, 20171 votes

This is actually a very valid point, and would also explain as to why Varus is only semi-Darkin.

Although i do think the Darkin PREFER to bring ruin together even though they dont really care, as my comment on Rhaast caring.

SC WorldEnderJun 29, 20171 votes

Actually, if you go to Varus' wikia page, specifically the background it does call him "The Darkin Bow" so his lore is already going through an update. Its just a matter of whether or not they completely change his lore or just small amounts of it.

GreenLoreJul 5, 20171 votes

The wikiisn#t official. Someone just thought "hey Varus is now a darkin user,so he must be called the darkin bow" and changed the title even if there is nothing official referring to him as the darkin bow.

KoKobotoJun 28, 20172 votes

I don't think Varus is a Darkin because of the way he looks and how his bow looks nothing like Rhaast or Aatrox. I think Rhaast doesn't really know what Varus is but knows that he is something similar to a Darkin. Maybe the Pit of Pallas was some other Darkin thingy or maybe Varus has fully controlled the Darkin but we don't know.

Just gotta wait and see I guess. I think one thing for certain is that Varus isn't fully Darkin.

Dark Sun EaterJul 5, 20171 votes

{quoted}

I don't think Varus is a Darkin because of the way he looks and how his bow looks nothing like Rhaast or Aatrox. I think Rhaast doesn't really know what Varus is but knows that he is something similar to a Darkin. Maybe the Pit of Pallas was some other Darkin thingy or maybe Varus has fully controlled the Darkin but we don't know.

Just gotta wait and see I guess. I think one thing for certain is that Varus isn't fully Darkin.

i thought the same, maybe his bow got the touch of an darkin, but it won be a fully,

Wrathof300Jun 28, 20172 votes

Right now, the assumption is that Varus' lore is outdated and will be changed, however nothing is set in stone. Though, Rhaast seems familiar with Varus, as though they have met b4 or know each other.

GULAG 4 UJun 28, 20171 votes

I think it's just not up to date lore. That's imo either way though.

AureumIgnisJun 28, 20171 votes

Rhaast refers to himself and Aatrox as War and Death, like the horseman of apocalypse. Aatrox would be war and Rhaast Death (just assuming because of aatrox lore) If varus is a Darkin or part Darkin i guess it would be pestilence. But that leaves the question why there are 5 Darkin.

I think it is also highly possible that the Darkin are/were weapons. Aatrox holder got consumed long ago. If Rhaast consumes kayn he looks like aatrox but if Kayn is stronger he looks more Humanlike. So maybe varus were Stronger then the Darkin and thats why he doesnt look like aatrox/rhaast.

But Kayn also says "Did such foolishness lead to your imprisonment?" maybe some Darkin got imprisonent like Kayns Scythe or the varus temple. but they are still conscious and can consume a human to regain their true form. (The lifesteal as core element in both aatrox and rhaast)

GreenLoreJun 28, 20171 votes

The 5th darkin would likely be conquest.

SharjoJun 28, 20171 votes

Then who would the fourth be?

GreenLoreJun 28, 20173 votes

Pestilence.

The first rider is sometimes said to be pestilence and sometimes said to be conquest. Since there are 5 darkin,it is likely that they'd split the first rider into pestilence and conquest. Even more fitting would be the fact that the first rider has 2 iconic items,the bow and the crown,so one of them could be a bow,the other could be a crown(imagine a darkin who is a crown that has eyes instead of jewels).

And Rhaasts VO implies that Varus is getting corrupted by a darkin,so that'd mean that Varus is likely the host of either pestilence or conquest.(Personally I'd say pestilence would make more sense,since his corruption spreads through his body like a disease).

This is of course assuming that all darkins will be based on the horsemen.

RalanrJun 28, 20171 votes

Honestly it's only pestilence to replace conquest.

Forgotten ReianOct 23, 20171 votes

Well based on what you say it's kinda implied by their forms. Horseman of War uses a flaming sword with "tooth-like" edges, Horseman of Death uses a Scythe, Horseman of Conquest/Pestilence has a crown uses a bow and his arrows spread disease ( like Varus's W), Horesman of Famine uses a scepter and since there are 5 darkin if they are based on the Horsemen of Apocalypse I think Conquer will be spread in 2 since when he is refered as Conquest he uses a bow to conquer and when he is refered as Pestilence he uses his bow to spread disease. So like this War ( Aatrox the Sword ) top laner, Death ( Rhaast the Scythe ) jungler, Famine ( unknown the Scepter ) Mid laner, Conquest ( Varus the Bow ) adc, Pestilence( Unknown the Crown ) support and I say like that because Pestilence helps War if you think about it properly ill soldiers can't fight.

Alex LuuNov 30, 20171 votes

dead soldiers can't fight either though :) only undead ones.

GreenLoreJun 28, 20171 votes

Uhm did I overlook something here? Because Rhaast never refers to Varus by name. He just says that they should bring Aatrox and then they'll have a murder party(and the one joke about demon pants).

It never says if he refers to Varus as the darkin or the bow.

Also it is possible that the darkin that corrupts Varus is in a rather dormant state,hence why he doesn't talk to Varus.

SkorchJun 28, 20171 votes

There is one quote especially: Varus, the three of us... umm five of us? Well... together we will lay waste to this realm.

As well as a couple other small quotes

GreenLoreJun 28, 20171 votes

Hmm thats indeed rather interesting. I guess we'll have to wait if we get some darkin lore to see if that is really true.

MeltedHillzJun 30, 20171 votes

I think Rhaast's quote, "Varus, the three of us... umm five of us? Well... together we will lay waste to this realm", is really referring to Varus, the corruption consuming Varus, Aatrox, Kayn, and Rhaast himself. If you count that all up, it IS 5 different entities. I feel like a lot of people are definitely looking too hard into it.

SkorchJun 30, 20171 votes

No there ARE 5 Darkin, it was stated in Aatroxs lore i beleive.

GreenLoreJul 5, 20171 votes

Thinking about it now. What if the darkin of Varus is dormant for some reason?

After all the darkin doesn't communicate with Varus,so it might not be alive.

Hence why Rhaast talks to Varus instead,since he knows that the darkin is asleep eitherway.

GapyboJun 28, 20171 votes

Darkins weren't a thing when Varus was released. His lore, VO and design are outdated and don't really reflect the Varus Rhaast is referring to.

Ebonmaw DragonJun 29, 20171 votes

Plottwist: The Darkin and the human are both called Varus.

SkorchJun 30, 20171 votes

And it is 100% coincidental, Varus is just a really popular name in runeterra.

Stars ShaperJul 5, 20171 votes

Unless we get any retcon I guess C is what is going on but Varus is still so much following his vengeful road that Rhaast wants him to bring it upon Noxus together with him and Aatrox.

It's also possible that the Darkin and Varus are actually fused into one and Varus is "just" the dominant personality.