What about religions in Runeterra?

Illâoi Evê Siôn·Jan 4, 2015·6 votes·1,880 views

I think the only religion/god we know of in Runeterra is the Spider God Elise worships. And that isn't even an actual god, it's a physical being that is simply being worshiped.
So, are there any other religions or gods/ ancient forces in Runeterra? Maybe Anivia is one of them?

9 Comments

PyroJan 4, 20156 votes

Demacia is modeled after medieval European fantasy, so some sort of Catholicism-like religion is probably existing. Kayle is listed as affiliated with Demacia, so she can be some sort of divine messenger there, she keeps mentioning "afterlife". Noxus probably falls within the same cultural circle - Morgana is a "fallen angel" after all. They are most likely two sides of the same coin, although Noxus is leaning a bit too much towards "Camp Evil" stereotype, so if we were to take things realistically, religion either isn't a big thing there or doesn't have any influence on Noxian politics and experiments with black magic. I think the Orthodox church would be a possible parallel here - it was never as dominating in Russia as Catholicism was in Italy.

Freljord is obviously Norse fantasy, so Nordic-esque pantheon is a given. People of Freljord surely share common beliefs with the Vikings (glory in death in battle).

Ionia is very loosely based on East Asia, with heavy Japanese and Chinese influence (architecture, island country, yin/yang design of old Karma). Since it's designed from a Western perspective, it's gonna be a mixture of Buddhism and Shintoism (much like the cartoon "Avatar").

Mt. Targon is a peculiar one - it's a monotheistic religion with an opposing sub-group. Solari is dominating but Lunari used to be a thing. I'd actually say it has very little parallel to our world, since for the Solari the Moon is not evil, but worshipping it over the Sun is heresy. Best example I can come up with would be Islam - they believe that Jesus was a prophet, and worshipping him as a god is blashpemy.

Shurimian lore doesn't mention any religions, but since it's based on stereotypical "desert lands" theme, one of two main themes is possible: politeism (Mesopotamia, Egypt) or monotheism (Zoroastrianism). The commonly found Egyptian tropes (Nasus, Renekton, Azir) confirm the Egyptian influence.

Shadow Isles are easy - a death cult. These are commonly found in RPG settings.

Bilgewater is leaning towards "ghost stories", "sailor tales" and possibly even "voodoo" with Shadow Isles as an important factor, full blown Pirates of the Caribbean. That means no organized religions, but some sort of shamanism.

As for Piltover and Zaun, they're enlightened secular societies where religion isn't probably a major factor.

A much better question than "Are there any religions in Runeterra?" would be "What is religion in a world where magic exists?". It's a very good theological question present in various fantasy settings, especially if in many cases religion transponds to magic. What is particularly interesting is that word magic derives from Persian magi ("priest"), and up until the 20th century pretty much all supernatural powers in literature were connected to religion (in Western literature, either divine blessing or demonic curse).

Main approaches to this topic in fantasy are:

Religion is Magic - Gods are the source of all magical power.
Example: Gothic - Fire Mages are the priests of Innos (god of fire and light), Druids and Water Mages are priests of Adanos (god of balance) and Shamans/Dark Mages/Necromancers are priests of Beliar (the god of death)
Religion is Also Magic - Faith grants magical powers.
Example: Skyrim - there are the nine gods and they provide you with magical blessings, but magic exists independently and there are beings more powerful than the Nine Divines (who weren't the creators of the TES universe).
Example: Warcraft - Priests and Paladins worship The Light and deal Holy damage that has no direct counter, Druids and Shamans worship nature and draw their powers from it.
Magic is Science - There is no proof that gods exist, but magic does. Mages are scholars studying the arcane arts.
Example: Witcher - Sorcerers and sorceresses are a product of rigorous academical and magical upbringing. Some of them approach magic in the same way a real-world scientist would.
Magic is Mysterious - Broader category than "Magic is Science". Gods do or do not exist. Magic is not scientifically measurable, it just is.
Example - Pretty much any game that does not fall within the first three categories. Connection between religion and magic is not disproven, but the very nature of magic eludes reasoning.

GreenLoreJan 5, 20151 votes

Well from Twitchs lore we have some Zaunite scientists saying "godsdammit" which means that there is some polythestic religion in zaun.

GreenLoreJan 4, 20152 votes

uhm there are the solari/lunari who worship the sun/moon respectively(ok the lunari are currently more like a cult) and there is also shurima that seemingly worhsipped the sun. and yes it has been confirmed that the sun/moon are supernatural beings in this setting as they were shown to bestow power upon people that worship them.

There is also Lissandra who worships the watchers and malzs cult that worships the void,not to mention Karthus who worships death.

Illâoi Evê SiônJan 4, 20151 votes

OK. I should've mentioned these as well :)
But I meant more as in deities that work from the background and have their own champions and stuff.
Sure, there are cults and worshipers, but we don't find anything out about the gods.
Leona was 'bestowed' with power. But what if the power was inside her all along? We don't know for sure if the sun gave her the power.

GreenLoreJan 5, 20151 votes

I really doubt that the power was inside leona all along considering that A: Diana also got a similar power up from the moon,what would be the odds of the 2 of them awakening such power B: The ascended in shurima are granted ascension by the sun as well C: There are records of others having the exactly same power(which is basically why the solari were even created)