Like sure, he's Shuriman now but essentially everything is the same
He was a warden of a temple Invaded by a warring faction Decided to fulfill his duties instead of protecting his family Eventually and willingly undertake a power that turns him into a monster.
Lol why are people even mad at this?
Originally that part of the lore was written out and it was added back in later as it was kind of weird the champ of 'Varus' had an origin story in the form of 2 soldiers from Icathia. Many might not realise it was removed.
There are also a few changes to how the old lore lines up with the new. Varus protected the Pit over his family in old and in revenge took the power for himself, a sense of irony. In new, he protected a random temple over his family and was rewarded with godhood and it wasn't him taking the power to get revenge, it was 2 soldiers who took Varus, as he was the corruption.
But hey, I don't like the Darkin retcon so...
No one is mad now.
They were mad because they removed it entirely. The outrage is why it got added back.
People were upset that Riot removed Angry Vengeful Ionian #5 from the roster, and they were somehow more attached to a dude with a paragraph's worth of info that read as boring and stale as most other old-lore bits. Also because Kai and Valmar are gay.
Even though Riot brough some of Varus' old lore back, it still feels stiff and half-assed because the new Varus is still more like a sociopath than a grieving husband and father. In the old lore, he was vengeful but solemn, more focused on the people he lost and how methodical, swift he was when he killed Noxians who were complacent in the massacre of his village. In his new lore, he random kills animals out of spite. Also, the entire duality - a guardian who lost everything because of his duty, succumbed to the corruption he was supposed to contain - has been forever lost. The new Varus is just not wholesome. and none of his parts have the same tragic feeling.
Because rainbows I guess. But this should've gotten old by now. Are writing from the past or something?
People were mad because he is no longer a father that lost his family , however , that changed a while after his lore update , and the hate already stopped , you just start this now lol
Because it was a completely half-assed attempt at tokenization that did service to no one. Two humans have literally no personality or character development aside from "they are gay". The part where Darkin is similar to old Varus was added after people massively complained, before which it was essentially "he's an evil demon that likes killing people". Taking a generic but sympathetic character and turning him into a token minority with no substance at all is that kind of forced diversity people usually bad mouth while also doing zero service to people it's supposed to represent as it feels like "here, now you have a character like you, now shut up". Add to it the fact that Riot's writers are capable of delivering damn good stories and this was so much below the standards it was almost insulting.
That Darkin were still fully ambiguous when Varus was rewritten, but yeah, this way of writing it was a neat compromise from Riot.
His lore feels too half assed too me now. Old lore was generic but it had a certain appeal. It also had a league judgement which was kinda cool.
But this new lore... first it got retconned making his comics pretty much irrelevant and his personality non-existent. Also his model and voice lines have yet to be updated which adds more to how half-assed his lore is.
The reason no one is angry is not because people are happy with Varus story, but because no one takes him seriously anymore. He is no longer worthy or attractive to us. I think so too. 6~9 months ago, I would have passionately posted the best parts of each of his old and new stories and my desire for future retake based on them...
When people are betrayed by something they really like, negative emotions grow. I want to quickly lose interest in this very attractive game.
Lol why are people even mad at this?
I'm sure the gay elephant in the corner can tell you
But you're okay with the previous lore which was practically the same thing only he touched the nuke for revenge?
If in his previous lore, Varus just YEETed into the pool to protect his family and the substance took over, leaving him a helpless observer, then yes, it would have been the same. However, that’s not what happened.
He remembered his duty and stood his ground even though everything he knew and loved was in his village. He wanted to go there and help them more than anything but he did what he was chosen to do. He kept the Pit of Pallas out of the hands of Noxus but he paid a terrible price.
Also, Varus’ judgement demonstrated that he spent some time around corruption and it reached out to him on many occasions. The dark entity in the pit wasn’t cartoonishly evil. It was otherworldly, with a mind of its own and an objective that people couldn’t grasp. It didn’t make it less dangerous and it certainly was creepier since it didn’t go “IMMA KILL SOME SHIT AS SOON AS I GET OUT” and used mostly Evangelion-level mindfuckery to communicate with Varus.
When it spoke next, he ceased to exist in the present altogether. Instead he waded through ankle-high blood, the ripples he made growing and rising until they roared and crashed. He heard a voice, then, or the idea of a voice, which said, pleadingly, "Now?"
There is a history between Varus and the dark entity. In a paradoxical way, the dark entity, his prisoner to guard, was the only thing that remained of his former routine and village. There was a connection between them, shaped by the time of Varus’ vigil.
It peeled his hand, digesting it, consuming the bow. It ate both arms, and both legs, stopping out of... respect, if respect it may be called, for the Owl; it would not surpass the markings. In a moment of detached madness, Varus wondered how long that would last.
In the new lore, both boys still have their families and households. Valmar was called the Arrow of Protection, a title he supposedly deserved. He gave an oath that he claimed he remembered. He was told that the ancient power of the temple was focused on keeping the Big Bad chained. Yet he still dragged Kai into the pit, and slammed the door shut in the face of a dying priestess as she was pleading him to stop.
So,
A man who was familiar with the weapon he guarded, was fully aware of the consequences of using it, carries his guilt for fulfilling his duty and his curse with him - and still has enough willpower to go after Noxians only. It’s a sad tale of a broken man. Nobody knows how this tale will end, this is why there is so much tragedy and darkness to the Varus’ character.
VS
A guy who had no clue about what he was getting himself and his lover into, basically stepped over the person who tried to warn him, released the outright murderous and sadistic Big Bad upon his and his lover’s families, is terrified by the outcome because, once again, he had no idea what he was doing but hopes to fix everything with the Power of Love.
The hosts of 
probably had lovers and families too but somehow it didn't do shit for them.
Like sure, he's Shuriman now but essentially everything is the same
He was a warden of a temple Invaded by a warring faction Decided to fulfill his duties instead of protecting his family Eventually and willingly undertake a power that turns him into a monster.
Lol why are people even mad at this?
I could tell you why.
I was pissed, and quite frankly, am still pissed because our glorious lore creators at Riot Games decided to remove my favorite champion (lore wise) from the game.
Little did many know, but Varus actually had a cult fan base of many passionate players who loved his old lore. Something about a badass anti-hero filled with sorrow, anger, sadness, and most importantly... vengeance is always a great combination. His lore was written pretty damn well, and I'll even remind you all of it.
"The life of an arrow is fleeting, built of nothing but direction and intent." - Varus
For his incomparable skill with the bow and his unquestioned sense of honor, Varus was chosen to be the warden of a sacred Ionian temple. The temple was built to contain an ancient pit of corruption so vile that Ionian Elders feared it could envelop the island in darkness. Varus prided himself on his position, as only the most exceptional Ionian warriors were selected for the role. He lived with his family in a nearby village and led a quiet life of disciplined routine until the day the forces of Noxus invaded Ionia. Their shock troops left nothing but death and desolation in their wake, and the temple lay in their path. Varus was forced to make a decision. He was bound by honor to stay and defend the temple, but without him the village's few inhabitants could offer little resistance against the oncoming war machine. Gravely, he chose to fulfill his duty as a warden. The corruption could not be allowed to escape.
His arrows sundered the troops who tried to wrest the temple from him that day. However, when he returned to the village, he found that it had been reduced to a smoldering graveyard. Remorse at the sight of his slain family gave way to overwhelming regret, and then to seething hatred. He swore to slaughter every Noxian invader, but first he needed to become stronger. He turned to that which he had sacrificed everything to protect. The pit of corruption would consume him wholly, as a flame devours a wick, but its abominable power would burn within him until he was lost. This was a path from which there could be no return. With grim resolve, he condemned himself to the black flames, feeling malevolent energy bond to his skin...and with it, the promise of ruin. He left, seeking the blood of all Noxians involved with the invasion, a grisly task that eventually led him to the invasion's most infamous perpetrators.
Did you read that? Solemn, beautiful writing right there. Keep in mind, this was like one of their first, detailed lore for a champion. When he was released (Season 3), most champions just had one measly paragraph, but Varus had double that. I like many other people really took a liking to his lore, and it also helped that he was badass in-game too with sweet abilities.
Sadly though, Riot Games will not undo this change at all. I can only hope they get around to his VO update soon so he can stop sounding like a babbling idiot in game, haha. I mean seriously, it's been what, two or three years since Varus' lore update? Yet Lucian just got a VO update with Senna's release... it wasn't even a major lore changing update for Lucian like it was for Varus.
Maybe whenever they get around to the VO update they can also toss in a visual update for Blight Crystal Varus, hell why not an entire visual update? It's the least Riot Games can do to compensate us Varus mains for this, pardon me, bullshit we've had to deal with these past three years.
