While some champions choose to battle out in the daylight, others lurk in the shadows; this is a list dedicated to the champions steeped in this disposition. Without these cloaked figures, the field of battle would be a much less skill-oriented place.
Transcriptions of champion background story based off of content gathered from the League of Legends Learning Center.
5. Xin Zhao – The Seneschal of Demacia
The Seneschal of Demacia, Xin Zhao knows no fear. This is due in part to his past as a gladitorial combatant in a challenge known as the 'The Fleshing'. This was an event in which fighters were destined for doom; as they progressed they would have to fight more and more enemies per round. One day was one person, the next: ten. If not for a twist of fate, the skilled Xin Zhao would not have made it out alive.
After fighting his way so high up in the rankings, Xin Zhao was about to face his supposed 'final challenge'. Everyone in the stadium knew that this would spell death for the warrior, as he was slated to face three-hundred enemies at one time in this spectacle. However, the King of Demacia – Jarvan lll – intervened, freeing Xin Zhao and all three-hundred men from their captors. In the escape, Xin took a poisoned dart for the Demacian King.
Now Zhao fights on the Fields of Justice for Demacia, slaying enemies with this unique toolset designed not only for fighting enemies head on, but surprising and tearing unsuspecting victims to shreds. His abilities are built around stat improvement and maiming of the enemy so they lose their chance to escape. In addition to this, Zhao is also a very mobile champion; he can jump into combat from a distance, make him a very hard opponent to predict.
4. Pantheon – The Artisan of War
Far above the clouds atop Mount Targon resides a warrior race. They are known as the Rakkor, and even after all the years of cultural development they still reside in seclusion regarding the way of war as an art form. Rather than yearn for combat, these people wish only to be the very best at it; they are known to battle the armies of Noxia and Demacia ten to one just to make the battle(s) a challenge.
This is where Pantheon hails from. He is the vanguard of this people, stalwart and strong. Pantheon's reasoning behind joining the League of Legends is one of inclusion; the Rakkor, because of their isolation, were not invited. He descended Mount Targon with the shield and spear of his ancestors and joined the League only for the glory of battle and a chance to show the world a true warrior.
His skillset comprises of deadly speed and power, an extremely devastating combination. He is able to use attacks that repeatedly barrage the enemy, and his passive ability rewards him for staying in combat longer – for every four abilities he uses, he blocks an enemy attack. Perhaps the scariest move of Pantheon's arsenal is that of his ultimate attack: Grand Skyfall. This allows him to jump anywhere on the map and hit the ground in meteoric fashion, smashing anything underneath him.
3. Shaco – The Demon Jester
Shaco is an interesting 'champion'. He jokes about killing, and then after killing he laughs. Your stereotypical maniac, nobody knows why Shaco joined the League of Legends, or why the higher-ups allowed him in. Some would say it was to keep an eye on the insane man, others would tell you it was because Shaco has a never-ending thirst for blood and death – which the League can sadly provide.
Furthermore, nobody knows where Shaco hails from. There are those who say he is a demon, and others who say is he a manifestation of pure evil. He is more often than not shunned by his fellow combatants, but loved by the public-at-large; namely of the Noxian and Runeterran cultures. These people are power-hungry summoners and love to watch Shaco's antics within the League.
Shaco's abilities are perhaps some of the most devious and hard-to-counter of them all. He can poison enemies, teleport to target locations, and leave jack-in-the-boxes for wayward victims. These aren't just normal jack-in-the-boxes though, these when stepped on scare enemy champions allowing Shaco to have his way with the intimidated combatant. Shaco's most contriving ability is his talent to create hallucinations of himself, fooling enemy champions and damaging anybody who comes near them.
2. Kassadin – The Void Walker
Once a man with a lust for forbidden knowledge, Kassadin was forced to look upon what is known as 'The Void'. Rather than a place that exists but does not exist as the name implies, The Void is actually a home to alien and forboding creatures. During his journey into the void, he saw and did things that mangled both him and his destiny forever. The Void Changed him intoo something completely different.
The power of The Void threatened to destroy him, but rather than be destroyed he let the dark energies of it inside of him. He came out of this transformation not as a human, but as a creature. Maintaining his free will, Kassadin has joined the League to use his new skills in higher capacity; his one and only goal now is to protect the world from beings such as Cho'Gath, who would see the destruction of the world if they had it their way.
The powers that manifested themselves after Kassadin's mutation are extremely unique in that he can use the power of The Void in battle. Kassadin can gather energy from spells cast around him, as well limiting the enemies' abilities by silencing them and their spells. His ultimate ability, Riftwalk, gives predence to his stature as the second best assassin-type character in the League of Legends. He can disappear for a few short seconds, walk through The Void, and appear at a different location; this makes him nearly impossible to chase down or run away from.
1. Nocturne – The Eternal Nightmare
The backstory of Nocturne is a gruesome one. No one thought they could be hurt by a dream until his arrival in the world. After killing countless summoners in their sleep, Nocturne was finally drug out into the world by the energy of a nexus after killing a victim who had laid down to sleep next to it. He did not come into the world as a peaceful manifestation either – he slaughtered everything in sight until a group of summoners bound him to a nexus fragment, suppressing his powers.
After this happened he was forced to fight in the League of Legends, commanded by those which he hated – summoners; this was his eternal nightmare. Nobody knows whether or not he actually came from the plane of dreams or not, but there are those who have a hypothesis – and it’s quite a scary one. If Nocturne is truly a dream come to life, then who is the dreamer?
Nocturne’s physical obviously vary quite differently from his skills in the plane of dreams, but are amazing nonetheless. His tools are built mainly around damage-over-time effects and stat empowerment; however, his ultimate ability is the icing on the cake – and a true finishing move. He reduces all vision for the enemy team, shrouding teammates from one another, and if that wasn’t bad enough – he then charges at his opponents with blinding speed while dealing enormous damage. Nocturne is the epitome of ‘assassin’.
