Upcoming Lore Update Possibilities

Looking ahead to the next few major releases/updates, I'm excited to see what champions get their lore fitted to the new narrative league has been taking on. Given that each update typically only changes characters within their faction/area, with each upcoming one we have several areas we can anticipate.

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Pyke, obviously, will be bringing some lore updates and changes to bilgewater. We're all expecting the nautilus lore changes, though what they'll be is up in the air, as mentioned by WAAARGHbobo here that while

they were going to change Nautilus to... a person seeking redemption within the cult of Nagakabouros... that had agreed to have his soul placed in a sacred golem

they ran into the issue that

[The] pitch was then taken to players with a rather larger survey and... the players hated it. They wanted Nautilus to stay a revenant.

This means that whatever changes come to Naut's lore, it's going to be an interesting set of changes, especially given the rapid rate they've had to change what they were doing, as well as any attempts at preventing the change from causing yet more storytelling and design overlap with Pyke, who was

was well into production

by the time the focus group had gotten back with their opinions on the nautilus changes. So I think, if we see anything with Naut, it'll probably be a one of the stories to hold us over until riot sorts out where they are taking his lore.

With Pyke, we also have the possibilities of expanding upon Illaoi's lore. There are many theories going around as to the source of Pyke's revenant abilities, but it has been confirmed here by Reav3 that his powers don't come from the Shadow Isles and then here that we

must go deeper

than nagakaborous. Meaning we could both see an expansion of the monsters and horrors around Bilgewater, as well as some of the supernatural entities, but also an expansion of what is already there. In addition, there may have been things that were still usable from the original changes to Naut's lore that we'll see come through in Illaoi's.

Many people have also speculated that Pyke is the "Doxy-Ripper" mentioned in Miss Fortune's lore, as he was "dragged from the body of a half dismembered Leviathan," and also bears the title of "ripper." This means that we could see some furthering of MF's lore as well, though that is, in all honesty, unlikely due to the sheer amount of content regarding her currently.

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Aatrox is an interesting release regarding the champions he relates to. As far as his current "region" in lore, he's listed merely as "Runeterra." Because of this, the list of location based champions who might receive lore tidbits with his rework lite is basically nonexistent. In addition, there are relatively few champions related to him in general, though we may get more lore regarding Darkin in general, which is a topic Riot has been holding off on releasing for the most part.

The first and only champion who isn't a darkin who might see some lore releases with the update to Aatrox is Tryndamere. Currently, Aatrox is the champion who pushes Trynd into the raging monstrosity that he becomes when Aatrox leads raiders to Tryndamere's home and slaughters everyone in Trynd's clan, Tryndamere himself only surviving by giving into his rage so thoroughly that it makes him immortal. While we do have a decent sized backstory for him, with the Aatrox update we might get to see a Tryndamere color story, which he currently lacks. Such a story could cover many things, ranging from part of his hunt for revenge on Aatrox to his changing life with his growing companionship towards Ashe and her people that is reference in the lore blurb on his main page.

The first Darkin we could see getting a little extra lore is Varus, though that is likely to be indirect. Varus currently is rather fleshed out, having a fairly comprehensive backstory, a detailed and (in my opinion) fantastic color story, and a music video that summarizes his backstory. Any updates to Varus would likely be the result of his connections to Aatrox, as Varus "was cornered" "after Aatrox's fall" which hints at more to come with the Aatrox update.

The next is Rhaast, who bears a far larger chance of getting some lore, as we currently know relatively little about him. Beyond that he is a darkin trapped in a scythe, we've been given relatively little beyond that he yearns and plots to join with his Darkin brethren and that he values strength. As a result, there's plenty of room for the expansion of his half of the Kayn character, since we already have quite a lot on the Kayn half.

The final darkin is actually unnamed, and is only mentioned at the end of Varus' color story, wherein he slays the several people outside an "ancient reliquary" that emanates the same "ancient magics" that were used to imprison his kind. The story itself ends with Varus' line "Where are you, sister?"

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Next, as far as releases, we have the changes Akali will bring to discuss. I will say that I am not going to focus any speculation on what her updated lore will relate to, though such topics may be touched upon within. With that, we have some of the champions who we either know have had lore changes pending or who are closely related to Akali in the lore.

As far as pending lore changes, first up we have the long overdue Soraka, who Scathlocke has confirmed here is mostly just waiting for something that fits into their overall narrative progression and release schedule. The issue with any changes to her lore coming out any time soon is her current blurb, which states that she is "a wanderer from the celestial dimensions beyond Mount Targon," which does leave us with the possibility that we won't see anything with her until the next Targonian champion is released/changed. On the other hand, Soraka is still listed as Ionian, and with the progressive additions to the lore regarding the spirits in Ionia and the events surrounding Placidium, it's possible her lore may end up tying back to those events, with Soraka perhaps having been around during or after the events, horrified at the carnage and doing her best to heal wounded on both sides, an act which could have had interesting reactions from both sides as well.

We also have Kennen. Kennen's current lore is incredibly brief, taking up two paragraphs currently. With Akali's lore being expanded, it's very much likely we can expect to see a further look at the Kinkou order, so updates to Kennen should very much be expected. As a yordle, and especially as "the only yordle member of the Kinkou," we might expect to garner a slightly deeper understanding of Yordles and their spiritual nature in Runeterra, as his role alongside Shen in serving to balance the spirits of nature in Ionia. The only reason I can think of as to why we wouldn't be getting a kennen lore update would be that he's on the "tier one" list of champions in line for a VGU as given by Reav3 back in January and riot could be waiting until it's his rework to put out any lore for him, though I feel it would be frustratingly late by that point.

Along with Kennen, Shen is also someone to look at. However, while we may see him referenced or even directly appearing in Akali's color story, I find it unlikely we'll see any major changes or updates to him directly. Riot will likely release more of his life story and whatnot as it directly ties in with Akali and perhaps the political state of Ionia depending on how Akali ties with that, but beyond that it's difficult to see where he would be changed.

Karma is someone who Riot is hoping to and looking at fixing the lore of, as the karma lore changes that occurred with the Irelia rework were incredibly poorly received, and Scathlocke has discussed in numerous threads that the narrative team is looking to fix the issues that were created with said lore release.

Akali and the theories around her cannot be discussed without the mention of Zed. For years, there's been numerous theories regarding whether or not she was a former member of the Order of the Shadow. Zed's lore does currently lack a color story, and with Akali's rework, it would serve as an opportune time for the narrative team to release his story, if one does exist currently.

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Nunu's lore update puts us in an interesting position. Currently, his personal lore doesn't seem to connect to that of any other champions, really, so the most we have is the shared space that is the Freljord, but there are several champions overdue for some lore updates in that region, so this portion will mostly discuss those champions.

The first champion due for a lore update is Volibear. With the release of Ornn, Volibear's overall lore was changed from being an Ursine who was granted a vision of the future and was uniting his people into being a demigod brother of Ornn and Anivia. While his lore blurb was updated to fit this new narrative, his currently listed backstory has not been changed and he completely lacks a color story. He is, however, a champion on the previously linked "Tier 1 rework" list, reducing our chances of getting anything major, as much as I and I'm sure many others would love to see him get some form of lore update.

Anivia is in a similar boat, as she was, through Ornn's lore, changed to be a fellow Demigod. Unlike volibear, she hasn't even had her lore blurb changed, so it's very much possible that her lore is going to stay as it is, where even though we know a little more about her, her self-knowledge is actually less than our own. Whether or not this is the case, though, she does lack a story, so riot may release a color story for her at least. It's also possible that she would be on the backburner for such an update until the volibear release.

There is also reason to believe we should expect Trundle to get some lore. Given that we're likely to get more lore regarding Willump and yetis, it stands to reason that we may gain more information into the other non-humans in the Freljord, the trolls included. In addition, Bioluminescence, in a very recent thread asking about what we know regarding trolls, said he was

referencing only player facing stuff

which means there is more information that they have that we don't yet. While that isn't necessarily a strict indicator that there're things coming for trundle, it means that there are at least things in the works or that we don't know and may be revealed at a later time.

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I'd love to hear the thoughts of others on both these theories and people's own ideas as to where the VGUs and releases will take the lore.

Edit: added commentary regarding the possibility of trundle lore being added during the nunu update