Soraka and Warwick Lore Updates

Posted on at 12:15 PM by Moobeat
RiotRuaan is currently hosting an AMA style thread talking about lore changes coming to Soraka and Warwick, two champions with intertwining stories.
Continue reading for the preface to the changes and both Soraka and Warwick's new lore entries!

Let's start off with RiotRuaan's introduction to the changes and brief rundown on the old lore vs the new lore:
"Welcome to the Creative Design AMA for Soraka and Warwick! This will be a typical lore AMA: ask me questions about the characters' stories, personalities, and roles in the world, and I'll answer them!

Because details from the original story have changed let's first talk about the lore behind these characters, both old and new.

Old Lore

As some of the oldest and most loved characters in League of Legends, we knew that we had to approach changes to Soraka and Warwick's lore carefully. However, we felt that there were some opportunities for improvement in their original story.

In Soraka's original bio, she attempts to curse Warwick as a punishment for his heinous crimes against the Ionian people, but instead grants him incredible power. This should be a moment of triumph for Soraka, but instead Warwick embraces his transformation into a feral beast, and Soraka loses much of her own power. She is forced to seek atonement for her transgression while her vicious enemy is still free to harm her people. Double fail.

As for Warwick, we believe his original lore focused too much on Soraka—so much, in fact, that it wasn't really Warwick's story at all. After he becomes a werewolf, Warwick's goals are unclear, and his role in the world is ill-defined as well (he's from Zaun, but he fights for Noxus—why?). Warwick is a two-dimensional monster from beginning to end: his story focuses on Soraka's moment of decision rather than Warwick's own desires.

New Lore

In these updated bios, we've heightened the emotional conflict between Soraka and Warwick, and provided both characters with stronger motivations after their encounter.

First, we've focused the story on Soraka and Warwick as individuals. This is a highly personal story for both of them—it is the tale of how Soraka's pure, trusting nature led to her fall from grace, and it is the tale of Warwick's decision to transform himself into a literal monster. We've also moved the stage for their conflict away from the Noxian/Ionian war. We wanted this story to be about Soraka and Warwick, not their role in the war.

Next, we wanted to tell a story in which they both come away as equals. While Warwick lures Soraka out of her grove and into a mortal body, she is still able to defeat him in his weaker human form. Warwick then bets everything on Singed's unstable potion – and while he's much, much stronger now, he’s left with the absolute need to hunt down Soraka before he loses his identity and his mind. This sets the stage for future conflict between them in a way the original lore did not.

Where Soraka's original lore left her seeking atonement, she now comes away from her encounter with Warwick driven to make a difference in the realm of mortals. She seeks to heal the wounded and protect the weak – an opportunity that was more limited when she was bound to her celestial grove. She's had a taste of mortal pain and has seen the harm just one cruel man can do. Like the original lore, she has still lost her immortality and the guidance of the stars, but now she can use her power to do what she believes is right.

Finally, Warwick is still as much a monster as he was before, but we've fleshed out his role in Zaun society by revealing him to be a twisted, manipulative manhunter. The cruel nature he's always had is still evident in the way he plots to trap Soraka, but we've also given him an ongoing struggle: a battle between his ruthless intelligence and slow descent into feral rage.

As someone who loves both of these characters, I was really excited to work personally on the updated story for Soraka and Warwick.

FINAL NOTE: We're aware that Singed's bio will also need to be updated to match the story here. We will try and get that to you as soon as possible"
Now on to the new, separate lore entries!

Here is Warwick:
"Warwick, the Blood Hunter

Warwick was once a man revered for his ability to track down human specimens for the darkest types of scientific research. When his ambitions exceeded his physical limits, he drank a dangerous elixir to transform himself into an unstoppable manhunter. His newfound strength bore a heavy price.

Before his transformation, Warwick found his calling in Zaun as a “procurer” of human test subjects. Known for his crafty methods and ruthless determination, people regarded him with a cautious mixture of fear and respect. As his reputation grew, so did the demands placed upon him. His clients wanted more rare and dangerous specimens, and they wanted them sooner. To meet their demands, Warwick needed strength that transcended his limited human form. His longtime friend, Singed, devised a powerful formula. The recipe called for three critical components: silver from the Shadow Isles, the fang of a Balefire dire wolf, and the blood of a celestial being. Warwick tracked down the first two in short order, but the third proved a much greater challenge. He traveled to Ionia to trap Soraka, a creature believed to be a child of the stars, but she discovered his ploy and drove him away with powerful magic. Unable to tolerate his failure, Warwick returned to Singed disfigured and furious. He demanded the chemist’s incomplete potion, but Singed warned him that the results would be unpredictable. Ignoring his friend's warning, Warwick drank the concoction. The brew transformed him into a creature both man and wolf, infusing him with raw strength and heightened senses. Exhilarated, he immediately began testing his newfound power. Each day his instincts became sharper, but his human half slipped further away. He could feel himself losing control: though he always got his prey, he often failed to bring them back alive. Now he seeks the blood of Soraka to stabilize his transformation before his mind gives way to the feral urges of the beast.

“Eventually the beast catches up with all of us.” - Warwick"

...and here is Soraka:
"Soraka, the Starchild

A healer gifted with the magic of the stars, Soraka holds all living creatures close to her heart. She was once a celestial being, but she sacrificed her immortality and entered the world of mortals. So long as evil threatens life in Valoran, Soraka will not allow herself peace.

Soraka lived for centuries in an enchanted grove. A being of the stars, she healed the wounded and sick that sought her out. One man called Warwick came to her grove and begged her to heal his wife, who lay lifeless in his arms. His despair touched Soraka's heart. Though it was too late to save his wife, she offered to help heal the pain of his loss. Unwilling to let go of his grief Warwick ran from the grove, but returned over the following days to hear Soraka's guidance. She began to grow attached to the grieving man. One day Warwick told her he had found the men who killed his wife. He believed revenge would heal his pain - and if he died fighting, he would at least find peace. Though she pleaded with him, Warwick ignored her and left the grove. The voices of the stars warned her not to follow him, but Soraka had to intervene.

She stepped into the mortal world for the first time, and soon found Warwick desperately fighting a group of men. She tried to heal him, but for every wound she closed, the men inflicted two more. Soraka realized that she would have to fight to save her friend. The stars screamed in her mind, telling her not to use her powers for harm. Ignoring their warning, she struck the attackers with a flash of brilliant light. Crying out in terror and shielding their eyes from her divine radiance, they fled. Soraka’s celestial form faded and the stars fell silent – for her transgression, she became mortal. She still felt the power of the stars within her, but they no longer offered her guidance. She took comfort in Warwick's safety, gently healing his wounds, but the man she had called her friend slipped a dagger between her ribs. As her blood spilled, Soraka realized he had fooled her, and everything he had done was a complicated ruse. Feeling humiliated and betrayed she called once more on the power of the stars, searing his flesh and cursing his cruelty. He retreated with an agonized howl, leaving Soraka to reflect upon her fate. Though her life had changed, she felt empowered and renewed with a singular purpose. No longer bound to the grove, Soraka set out into the mortal world, vowing to heal the wounded and protect the helpless.

"The cruelty of one will not blind me to the suffering of many." – Soraka"

57 comments

  1. Does not explain why her art is so ugly... or why she loves Bananas so much.

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    1. They changed it to fit new mosel and splash!

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    2. Yeah her model rework is long overdue. Anxious to see it

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    3. Can not wait to see the skin they ship next to the Rework.

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    4. Hope they keep the bananas

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  2. Ok so Riot is changing Soraka lore? Snif Snif i can smell a rework incoming...

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  3. To be honest - their new lore sucks. And the writing style sound much more like that of a fantasy novel. I hope that the Soraka rework comes soon though.

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    1. And what about it sucks, hm?

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    2. Warwick's entire character has been changed to give him a new dimension to his character (a dimension that is pretty old and busted if you ask me) and Soraka actually lost depth with this change. All she is now is heal, heal, heal, think of the children. What happened to that strong emotion of anger and disgust that compelled her to strike down the vile Warwick?

      My favorite part of Warwick's lore is that he came out on top, or rather, that Soraka lost. Soraka succumbed to emotion that is beneath that of a goddess and was punished. Good guys don't win if they use dirty tactics. It was a great show of "stoop to their level and you become no better than them."

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    3. I think after jayce, katarina, ect, most everyone lost hope in lore dept. :\

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    4. Too much unnecessary shit going on. The lore is supposed to be a short biography and not a fucking excerpt from a fantasy novel. They could have left out the boring stuff with how exactly he cons her.
      Also the idea of a potion going wrong sucks. I liked that Soraka cursed his appeareance to reflect his inner self.

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    5. I totally agree with that. A botched potion? Really?

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    6. You would think that being divine she would know intentions of warwick.. the potion idea kinda sucks. Would have made more sence if the potion didn't happen but he was contracted to hunt soraka they fell for each other but his bloodlust was too powerful. The gods banished soraka for her foolish endeavour of love and cursed both warwick (to walk the realm never to find love again) similar to soraka taking the form of a hideous champ that likes bananas.... something something about feeling bad etc u get the drift. Hahaha

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    7. I think the worst part of this 15-year-old's-D&D-character-backstory trash is the ingredients for Singed's potion. It's alchemy, not fairy tale witchcraft. Did they just watch Into the Woods? How would Singed know he needed the blood of a god? He makes his potions with science. Tests and all that. He didn't find some ancient tome with the recipe.

      "You got your high fantasy in my steampunk!" I guess.

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  4. So update Soraka's lore, but not her model? Geez u_u

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  5. Update her lore as much as you want, but Soraka still looks awful and I won't play her.

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  6. I want a Soraka and Warwick remake.. Warwicks fine but, some mechanic changes would be cool..

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  7. Updated Soraka model > updated lore
    Riot pls.

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  8. I wonder how this will affect Karma's Judgement lore...

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    1. Riot forsaken the judgements. Write history make champions harder to release every 3 weeks.

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    2. Sniff..... and I loved the lore of the game so much.... one of the reasons I kept playing.... still do, but I miss the newspaper and the judgements. . .

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  9. really? they make update her story but no the her model in game?

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    1. Hopefully the model update will follow or be in the same patch with the lore update.

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    2. Lore is a hell of alot easier to update than the models

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  10. yo did you guys point out that they needed to redo her model first? like before the lore right? lets complain about it

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  11. So basically either way, Warwick wins? He won in his original story as well. "Hello, I'm a celestial being! Let's turn a violent and bloodthirsty man into what he is on the inside on the outside as well! This can't go bad, turning a normal human being into something that will obviously be weak, because there's a TON of violent, bloodthirsty, but weak beings!

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  12. Old lore was fine. They changed it because the new players didnt even realize there was ever a conflict between Noxus and Ionia, so they felt dumb as shit. Which they are.

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    Replies
    1. back in the day noxus vs ionia was a huge event.... the good ol days

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  13. So, Warwick hates Soraka because she isn't God?

    Seems legit.

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    Replies
    1. That's what the lore is implying.

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    2. Warwick doesn't "hate" her at all... He just needs her blood. Nothing personal.

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    3. yea, if there was another god-like figure, ww would probably want to go for them too.

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  14. I love Warwick's new lore!

    Soraka's new lore? Not so much...

    Also, I think her visual update was needed much more than her lore update, is it not?
    I mean, its nice and all, but I would've liked to see the visuals updated, get rid of her goat feet and polka-dot hair!

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  15. I don't agree with this. Because if they redo her in the more recent style, I think we would have to rename her "Nippalee."

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  16. So how does Karma's judgement stand?
    In her judgement, Warwick's transformation was when he was about to kill her.

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  17. Great, more lore nerfs.

    Wait, warwick... got her blood? But that happened after he took crazy pills. So did Singed's potion not physically change warwick until he had the blood? He was crazywolf but he was able to use his +20 bluff skill to trick her? Does he still need the blood as his lore implies? It makes it sound like "and now he join legol to get soraka blood cuz she there" except HE HAS IT? He didn't fail he got it. ...right???

    Why are they ruining their game with this trash? This is seriously amateur shit. Each one worse than the last. Sure it could have been cleaned up a tiny bit but why the huge retcons to classic characters? The ionian/noxian war was important, and what happened to these characters was so important they showed us the scene in Karma's judgement- which was amazing btw. Now not only do we get no JoJ, no Judgements, and shit-tier lore but we get the old lore rewritten to be worse on a regular basis.

    1/10 would not read, shit legol fanfics gg..

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    Replies
    1. No one understands how many plotholes are in Soraka's lore alone.

      But you know.. the average anon age here is 12.. so they are immune to it.

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  18. Riot removing ribcages one female champ at a time. Morgana, MF, Lux...

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  19. I don't really like Warwick's lore. :(

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  20. Someone said it before, but this is utter shit. The characters are in fact more bland than they used to be.

    Also, batman's parents did not die, he became Batman because he saw Soraka being betrayed by her gay-friend WW 100% canon.

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  21. To be honest, the very first thing I read about LoL was Soraka's lore, and I got hooked on the game by the lore.... Why, why, why did they change the lore to such ridiculousness??? Soraka is not just an overly-dumb healer unaware of the pains of others.... Seriously, in the Ionia-Noxus description, it is said that she was the MAIN healer, leading all other healers to save her people. She has seen suffering and in the older lore she actually seemed more willful.... Also, why would attacking stupid people make her immportal? Seriously, I thought that cursing Warwick, which is more of a personal/emotional downfall, rather than actualy "hurting" somebody is much more dramatic/effective. Wow, Riot, why did you have to do this..... You could have just made a small overhaul, not a stupid change...

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  22. I am very tempted to suggest a player-run version of the lore (with the JoJ). If it gained enough support Riot would have to acknowledge it.

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  23. Wouldn't these change in Lore effect Singed's Lore as well? There seems to be no longer a master-student relationship and replaced with as accomplice ship.

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  24. So in the rework of Singed's lore the terminated potion would be his Ulti?

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  25. Both reworks of the lore are quite decent and it gives more humanity to Warwick than just being a ruthless hunter and a madman. Though, Soraka's does need a little cleaning up, but it's fine. Celestial beings who meddle in the affairs of mortals are banished to the mortal plane. It's in quite a few stories. Disney's Hercules? He was to become a god, but because he wanted to marry Meg, he became a demi-god. That's technically what Soraka is now, a demi-being. She may not have the full power, the immortality, etc, but she has the powers granted upon her before and being mortal, she now feels that she can actually act and help people in a greater sense. An opposite sense of the story, the dragon aspects of WoW. I won't list spoilers, but read about the Dragon Soul raid, it's about the same area.

    And no, just because you stab someone, doesn't mean you get their blood.

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  26. 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it.'

    -A phrase Riot disregards as frequently as their own lore.

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