Varus’ lore gets revamped as Riot releases new comic and music video

After making his in-game debut five years ago, Varus got a major update to his lore page earlier today.

In an effort to revamp the bow wielding AD carry’s backstory, Riot Games released a digital comic book, containing three acts. While the first and third acts are in the usual comic book style, act two is told through an animated music video. 

The comic tells the story of Valmar and Kai, the two Ionian Hunters who eventually become Varus. Kai, in an attempt to save Valmar (who was gravely injured during a battle against Noxus soldiers), takes his partner into the well where the Cursed bow of Varus, an old Darkin, lies. Varus saves Valmar’s life, but there is a catch—in return Varus fuses with Valmar and Kai and takes control of Valmar’s body, becoming the purple archer we are all familiar with.

This updated lore is quite different to Varus’ old backstory. Previously Varus was an honorable warden for a sacred Ionian temple, who sought vengeance after his village was massacred. While the character of Varus did change with this update, Riot did preserve the Noxian invasion that also occurred in the old lore.

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This updated lore comes on the heels of a surge in Varus’ popularity for competitive play. While the 2018 season hasn’t begun just yet, Varus has seen a lot of play in the Korean Kespa Cup tournament. With kleptomancy Ezreal now almost permanently banned, Korean teams attending the tournament have turned to AD carries Varus and Miss Fortune as go-to picks.