We compare the doomed machine herald’s in-game version to Arcane in our Viktor League of Legends lore guide.
Viktor is a ‘techmaturgist’ cyborg who believes that fully embracing technology is the next step in our “glorious evolution”. Before Arcane was released in 2021, LoL fans knew the champion for his burst damage as a hard-hitting control mage. Since then, characters like Viktor have become more fleshed-out thanks to Netflix’s hit show.
Arcane’s canon status is long-confirmed, but how does Viktor’s old lore compare to his persona’s journey in the animated series?
Learn the full Viktor League of Legends lore in our LoL vs Arcane comparison guide below.
Viktor League of Legends Lore
As a young boy raised in Zaun, Viktor possessed great intelligence and even greater talent for invention. Spurred on by his artisan parents, the young engineer focused on eliminating workplace incidents within the undercity, to great success.
By the age of 19, Viktor’s efforts were eventually recognized by Piltover Professor Stanwick, who offered the inventor a chance to develop his skills in the upper city’s academy. The brilliant pioneer accepted.
In his years in Piltover, Viktor honed his prowess in techmaturgy and met the stubbornly arrogant Jayce who — despite matching his natural genius — would butt heads with the Zaunite over methodology and ideas. Respect would stay between the two students, but not for long.
While he was still attending Piltover’s academy, disaster struck his home as a major chem spill wrecked Zaun’s water supply. Fearing for his people, Viktor built a Hextech automaton named “Blitzcrank” to help with the recovery efforts. After much work, they eventually parted ways. But his creation didn’t go unnoticed.
Returning to Piltover, Viktor is shocked to discover that Professor Stanwick claimed credit for Blitzcrank’s creation. After pleas for justice are ignored by academy higher-ups, Viktor and Jayce have a major fallout before Viktor is expelled.
Defeated, Viktor begrudgingly returned to his old study in Zaun with a new idea — something no one could take away from him.
Viktor’s desire to remove humanity’s weaknesses all came to a head when he underwent surgery to augment his body with Hextech. With each improvement deepening his obsession even further and almost none of his original body left, Viktor now seeks ‘glorious evolution’ where humanity trades in the weakness of flesh for the certainty of hextech.
Viktor: LoL vs Arcane
In League of Legends, Viktor is a vindictive genius who seeks to eliminate humanity’s flaws at any cost, a stark contrast to what we see in Arcane.
Following an incident involving blue Shuriman crystals, Jayce’s life work is about to be discontinued before Viktor steps in and helps him vindicate himself. Compared to the original, the roles here are switched, with the Zaunite taking Jayce to new heights.
This eventually led to giant leaps in science, invention and trade (which is another can of worms) all over Runeterra. Viktor believes that they can achieve more to save more lives in Piltover and the Undercity, but Professor Heimerdinger impedes any further research for fear of disaster.
A series of events makes Jayce the face of their discovery, taking Viktor out of the picture.
With his condition worsening, Viktor secretly works with Singed to survive using the Hexcore — an arcane rune matrix that holds unimaginable potential — in a desperate bid to save himself despite its human toll.
Here we see big parallels with Viktor’s old backstory: he makes a groundbreaking invention, doesn’t get any credit, drifts away from Jayce and goes his own way, giving a very nuanced retelling that highlights the tragedy twofold.
Arcane will introduce far-reaching consequences in its upcoming acts. But while sisters Jinx and Vi remain the epicenter for Season 2’s conflicts, a far more sinister force was teased in Jayce and Viktor’s storyline when the former pushed the boundaries of Hextech to save his own life.
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