League of Legends has a lot of lore thanks to its cast of over 160 champions, but some players have done the work to narrow down which have what they consider the worst backstory.
Lore in League is a complicated venture as Riot Games has adjusted the story of Runeterra in the past, abandoned inserting backstory for some of its newer characters, and is currently trying to tie everything together with its Netflix show Arcane.
So those champions with long stories or epic tales tied to events might be less important than initially thought. However, players have a few champs that they thought were given lackluster stories.
In a post on the game’s subreddit, a player asked which champion has the “overall worst lore,” with the caveat that characters that don’t have much of a back story, like Shaco, shouldn’t be considered.
“The main criteria for this is the quality of the writing itself as well as what said champion’s lore brings to the table,” the post said.
One player suggested Zyra, the support mage who lacks motivation in her backstory.
“I’m shocked Zyra hasn’t been mentioned. Her “lore” stinks. She woke up in a jungle, for no particular reason. She’s mad. Mad at the world. She kills whoever she comes across. In this jungle. She’s met nobody. Is known by nobody. If she suddenly died, not a single other champion would know or care,” the Reddit user said.
Another suggested Cho’Gath, who had its lore changed in one of the major reboots.
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“Cho’Gath. He’s got an absolute nothing burger of a backstory. The lore of the void itself is interesting, his isn’t however,” they said.
But the champion with the most compelling case for “worst lore” was Akshan.
Akshan debuted in 2021 and his backstory focused on avenging the death of his mentor using a mythical weapon called the Absolver which when used against a murder revived their victim. While compelling, players found his plotline lacking and short.
“Don’t get me wrong I enjoy Akshan as a character, but his role in the lore was effectively over in less than a year from his introduction. He spawned with a Mcguffin in hand, used the Mcguffin and that’s it,” one user said.
Another player pointed out that he quickly abandoned his quest for vengeance in a lore event and was seemingly only brought in to revive Gwen and Senna, who would later join the League cast.
“The mechanics of this Mcguffin make no sense and it was specifically written for this one and only use,” the player said.
Since the Sentinels of Light event, Akshan has not been seen much in the stories of Runeterra and has presumably returned to his original quest of vengeance. While having the “worst lore” might seem like a harsh accusation, it does seem apt in this instance.
