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Honor Of Kings And Arena Of Valor Mage Heroes
(aka: HOK And AOV Mage Heroes)

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This is a page to list Mage-classed heroes in Honor of Kings and Arena of Valor, as there are some overlaps.

A character whose name is italicized in the folder means that they're exclusive to the Chinese server of Honor of Kings, thus there may be some inconsistencies in their lore or skill names. They will be updated accordingly once the character is released in the global version. Bolded character names signify characters exclusive to the Global server of Honor of Kings. An italicized title for Honor of Kings characters are titles listed in the Honors section after acquiring the hero, while bolded titles are titled listed when the setting is set to display title. Both can overlap.

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Present in both games

    Heino 

Heino

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/17028838886327.jpg
"Fate is devoid of reason. The final choice lies with me."
Title: The Untangler of Fate, Fateturner
Voiced by: Nicholas Leung (English)
Debut game: Honor of Kings
Original Name: Hai Nuo (海诺)
Faction: Fate clan (Stationed in Navenia)

Original Information: Heino is an original character to Honor of Kings

Honor of Kings bio: Heino comes from the Fate clan, one of Navenia's leading clans, but it has been away from its council for so long that the people forgot about them. The last great leader of the Fate clan was met with misfortune and was lost in the Deep Sea. Heino, the current head of the clan, knows this information since his childhood through the Scepter of Fate, and thus his ascension was met with suspicion that he would lead the clan to ruin with bad luck. Despite that, Heino shoulders on and relocates the clan to live with the commonfolk, giving up every one of its assets except a well-run restaurant and an opera house. This gives the clan hope, and they welcome Heino once more. For one, Heino doesn't believe that fate is set in stone, but instead the path is forged through one's life. He'll continue to fight to ensure that the light of fate shines once again... although there's this mermaid insisting that they're friends, and he still has to act skeptical around him as he rebuilds his connections for the Fate clan.

Arena of Valor bio:

Heino is a Mage/Fighter hero who dishes out damage from close or far range while storing memories of his previous position so he can come back to that spot in case things go wrong for him.

  • His passive is Fate's Guidance. Heino's normal attack can vary between ranged or melee (he starts out as a ranged character); this can change depending on how he uses his second skill. Skills and melee basic attacks will mark enemies on hit, and his melee attack has a rather wide range.
  • His first skill is Scepter of Fate. Passively, Heino reduces the cooldown of his skills depending on how many marked enemies he hits. This skill will depend on which mode Heino is in:
    • In ranged mode, Heino turns his scepter into energy and throws it in a direction. It hits the first enemy it crashes into, and if there is a marked enemy somewhere behind the target, more scepters materialize and home in on those marked targets, dealing 75% damage.
    • In melee mode, Heino swings and spins his scepter upwards, creating a wheel slash. This slash will deal damage to enemies caught in the area while slowing them and healing him.
  • His second skill is Leap of Fate. Heino dashes forward. If there are no enemies nearby, he changes into Ranged mode and gains movement speed. If there are enemies nearby, Heino gains substantial bonuses to his defensive stats and recovers health while temporarily increasing his maximum HP.
  • His ultimate is Fate Rewind. When Heino changes into Ranged mode (via the second skill), he leaves behind a memory in that spot. When he uses the ultimate, Heino channels to create a field that grants damage reduction to himself and recovers his HP. Heino himself becomes immune to crowd control in this state, but he cannot move. After a delay, the field blows up, dealing damage to those in the area, and Heino returns to the memory he left behind, which includes the state of HP he's in at that time. Additionally, if Heino leaves behind a memory near a tower, the tower will return to its state 5 seconds ago (which may include recovering some lost HP).

  • Magic Knight: He's a mage/fighter type, wielding magic and slashing people with his scepter alike.
  • Official Couple: With Dolia. Heino has no memory that he and Dolia used to work together to prevent a catastrophe, and time gets rewound after this. All he knows is that Dolia looks familiar, but he treats her with some skepticism. Still, this means that from the conception phase, Heino is fated to get a lot of couple skins with Dolia. Even if he's late to jump into Athanor, Heino makes the jump eventually, so Dolia won't be alone.
  • Screw Destiny: For someone being the leader of a 'Fate' clan, Heino's way to do things is to screw up the traditional definition of fate: Nothing is set in stone; 'fate' is what one forges in their path of living. Because of this screwing, he ends up ensuring the existence of his clan.
  • Time Master: Although he doesn't have too many time imageries, Heino's Fate Rewind is rewinding fate and time so he can go back to a memory of the past that he leaves behind.

Counterpart Heroes

To be considered counterparts, both heroes must have a skillset that mirror to each other and has the same function, even if sometimes the execution may differ

    Angela & Natalya 

Angela (安琪拉)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hok_angela_350x441.png
"Knowledge equals power!"
Title: The Pyromancer, Scorchette, The Little Girl of the Dark Night (暗夜萝莉)
Voiced by: Kirsten Day (EN), Kana Ueda (JP)
Faction: Holy Knights of the Round Table

Original Information: Angela is an original character to Honor of Kings. However, the spirit residing within her book is this universe's Merlin.

In-game Bio: She's a little girl who's lived in the area amongst the Holy Knights where King Arthur reigned. Angela was smitten with him but didn't make any moves. At least until she accidentally opened a grimoire and from it came the soul of Merlin the Wizard, who proceeded to hijack her body and pushed her forward to enlist as an ally/subordinate of Arthur himself to help him. The combination of Angela's crush and her own intelligence, combined with Merlin's advice, eventually enabled her to become one of Arthur's top assistants.


Natalya

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aov_natalya_350x441.jpg
"Never turn your back on a demon."Click for her old design
Title: The Nether Queen
Voiced by: Kirsten Day (EN), Yōko Hikasa (JP)
Faction: Lokheim

Natalya descended from a sect of Veda that used the parasite Poison Fang to defend themselves against corruptors, who bore them a wicked curse that could devour them at any time or drive them insane. To preserve them, Veda held the tribe in captivity. Natalya was the best of her tribe at the time, so she often got appeased with gifts. However, she grew tired of seeing her tribe being treated as humiliating captives and going insane one by one. Thus she decided to bear all the sins and betray Veda, retreating to the Abyss and forming a pact with Veera. With her help, she tamed and controlled the Poison Fang within her, and now rains destruction on the land as the Nether Queen of Lokheim.

Kit

Angela & Natalya are Mage heroes who use their magic power for sheer magical burst power that can end their foes in mere seconds.

  • Their passives are:
    • Flame Incarnation for Angela
    • Arcane Fire for Natalya
      • Angela & Natalya add a stack to an enemy that has been hit with their skills. Each stack will increase the damage of the next skill hit for 3 seconds. Exclusively to Angela, she also gains movement speed increase per stack.
  • Their first skills are:
    • Scorching Barrage for Angela
    • Arcane Spirits for Natalya
      • Angela & Natalya summon five smaller fireballs (red/green colored depending on the game) that fly to a concentrated area where they converge and go through it. If all fireballs hit, they deal massive damage. However, only the first ball deals full damage, the rest deal smaller damage. Exclusively for Natalya, her cooldown is refunded if she can hit an enemy hero with it; being able to get all fireballs to hit will fully reset the skill.
  • Their second skills are:
    • Chaos Cinder for Angela
    • Arcane Nova for Natalya
      • Angela & Natalya launch one medium-sized fireball to a direction. If it hits an enemy or reaches the end of the direction, it transforms into a big fireball that travels forward and doing damage over time while slowing the enemies caught in it. The first impact, however, will deal a greater burst damage and stuns the target.
  • Their ultimates are:
    • Blazing Brilliance for Angela
    • Lethal Rays for Natalya
      • Angela & Natalya start channeling in place and utilizing their signature weapon (Merlin's tome or the Poison Fang) to launch a continuous fire laser to a direction that can be rotated around and deal damage over time. To facilitate their immobility, they gain a chunk of shield and crowd control immunity while channeling.


Tropes applying to both

  • Adaptational Villainy: While Natalya is a servant of Lokheim, Angela is a servant/sidekick of King Arthur's court.
  • Anti-Frustration Features: Their shield and crowd-control immunity during their ultimates are meant to address several issues about how other heroes from the same genre are rendered defenseless if they use a similar skill.
  • Combo: Their stacking system demands them to chain their skills together for maximum damage to ensure that their spell castings will hurt a lot more in prolonged battles.
  • Playing with Fire: Their signature magic is fire magic. Angela has the traditional red fire while Natalya has a corrupted, green version. Although Natalya refers to her version as 'poison', it works like fire and she sometimes calls out "Fireball!" instead.
  • Skill Gate Characters: They both serve as the earlier easy-to-use mages for the players to use, as they are dealing incredible burst damage from afar or even as a close-range emergency defense, the burst is enough to kill those caught in the wrong time without proper defenses. Their usefulness falters a bit against experienced players that can predict where their spells are going, but given enough cover and defenses with friends, they still work well as an artillery hero from afar. Angela is even Honor of Kings' Starter Mons; Natalya has to be bought with a medium amount of gold.

Tropes applying exclusively to Angela

  • Age Lift: She has a slightly more mature body in the international version, likely to avoid implications that Arthur has a 'relationship' with an underaged girl.
  • Color Motif: In her default outfit, red.
  • Genki Girl: Downplayed. While she's not hyperactive, Angela nevertheless is a peppy and cheery sidekick girl for Arthur.
  • Official Couple: With Arthur.
  • Shout-Out: Her introduction animation is prancing around with Caramelldansen. She doesn't do this in the international version.
  • Spell Book: Carries one around from which she casts her ultimate. Lore-wise, her whole life changed the moment she opened that spellbook, when Merlin popped up to hijack her body.

Tropes applying exclusively to Natalya

    Catboom & Iggy 

Catboom

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hok_shenmengxi_350x441.png
Title: The Bomber Cat (爆弹怪猫)
Original Name: Shen Mengxi (沈梦溪)
Original Information: A semi-original character. Based on his original name, he is loosely based on the scholar from the Song Dynasty, Shen Kuo, whose courtesy name is Mengxi, thus, Shen Mengxi. He was known as a master of many fields, from anatomy, geology, mathematics, and many more, all which would shape the learning fields for future scholars in China. He also held many positions in his career as a civil servant, from a finance minister, governmental state inspector, head official of the Song court's Bureau of Astronomy, Assistant Minister of Imperial Hospitality and academic chancellor.

In-game bio: A half-ferali whose family has history in building up the Great Wall. Nicknamed 'Catboom' based on his profession of making explosives and his cat-like appearance, he always dreamed of becoming one of the Great Wall Guardians. One day, an alchemist with peony motifs (Ming) says that his dream will come true if he concoct a special bomb with materials given by him and let it explode for one night, for it will catch a bunch of gangsters that will make him a hero.

In that night, Catboom proceeds as planned. But the explosion instead attracted demonic feralis to assault the city. Realizing his mistake, he fights using his explosives to drive away the demonic invasion, assisted by a certain prince from Jade City. Somehow, he succeeds and wins the trust of the current Great Wall Guardian to finally fulfill his lifelong dream.

Iggy

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aov_iggy_350x441.jpg
"Just you? You dare to challenge me, the genius black mage!?"
Title: Ember's Gaze
Voiced by:
Faction: Dark Den

Iggy was born into a family of black mages in the Norman Kingdom. Ever since childhood, he displayed an extraordinary talent for the dark arts. On his 6th birthday, his parents turned their backs against the black magic, revealing themselves to the crowd of Veda followers. They naively thought they would be accepted into society, but they were instead shunned and cast out of it. Iggy had his privileges and pampered life taken away from him, and he hated his parents' foolishness for it. Against his will, the parents decided to take away something that meant everything to him: his ability to cast black magic. They succeeded, but this left Iggy absolutely bitter. He killed his parents in an event that would be known as the "Casanova Massacre". After some time of becoming a fugitive, Iggy is arrested at Carano while trying to undo the seal his parents put on him to prevent him from using black magic. In that time, Lorion personally interferes, taking an interest in Iggy, destroying the seal, and leaving his captors to rot. Lorion has found a worthy apprentice for his black magic. After several years of training, Iggy masters the black magic and inherits the leadership of Dark Den while Lorion is away. He is prepared to burn everything in Athanor to ashes in retaliation for the humiliations he has suffered.

Kit

Catboom & Iggy are rapid-fire Mage heroes throwing a barrage of explosions via bombs or purple flames to decimate their foes.

  • Their passives are:
    • Violent Rhythm for Catboom
    • Gaze for Iggy
      • Catboom & Iggy has a chance to reveal their enemy's location when they hit the enemy with their skills, although Iggy is limited with his second ability during Ember state. If they hit an enemy during this state, Iggy can restore his Energy, which he can stack up to 5 times and use for his first skill, while Catboom instead deals extra spell damage. When he respawns, Catboom will also store 3 bombs.
  • Their first skills are:
    • Cat Bomb for Catboom
    • Explosive Fireball for Iggy
      • Catboom & Iggy will continuously launch bombs/exploding fireballs to a direction, dealing damage to enemies in the area of explosion. Those caught in the center of the bomb/fireball will take extra damage.
      • Catboom can charge this skill to continue launching bombs, while Iggy can repeatedly tap the button to launch more fireballs to use his Energy to continuously throw fireballs rather than having it enter cooldown.
      • While Iggy uses his Energy stocks to launch his fireballs, Catboom uses a bomb meter, which he can store up to 10 bombs, but only 5 can be continuously thrown before he has to pull out a new batch.
      • If Catboom is in the 'Self-Igniting' state from his second skill, the bomb will instead accurately hit an enemy, deal damage and knock the target back, and then explodes, dealing the same damage again in an area. The cooldown for 'Self-Igniting' bomb skill is 5 seconds.
  • Their second skills are:
    • Normal Operation for Catboom
    • Fire Shadow for Iggy
      • Catboom & Iggy enter a buffed state, referred to as 'Self-Ignition' stance for Catboom, or 'Ember' stance for Iggy. This grants them extra movement speed bonus that decays over time (Catboom has bigger flat amount of speed bonus).
      • After a few seconds, they can recast the skill for different effect as long as the state hasn't ended: Catboom can dash to a direction (because his bomb explodes prematurely and throws him off), dealing damage and stunning enemies in his path, while Iggy throws a homing fireball which works similarly as Catboom's enhanced Cat Bomb (see above).
      • If somehow Catboom does not do anything after his 'Self-Ignited' stance ends, the bomb does not explode and he gets an additional bomb charge for his Cat Bomb.
  • Their ultimates are:
    • Comprehensive Hot Stuffs for Catboom
    • Ember's Gaze for Iggy
      • After a very short delay, Catboom & Iggy throw a massive bomb/fireball to the sky at a great range, hovering over an area for awhile before dropping down and dealing massive damage to everyone in the area below. The two can store up to 2 massive bomb/fireball before launching them. Catboom's bomb, however, has an additional effect: Once it drops down and explodes, it spits out three additional, smaller bombs to different directions, exploding and dealing smaller (but still big) damage).

Tropes applying to both

  • Adaptational Villainy: Catboom is squarely a comic relief character. Iggy is a black-hearted fiend.
  • Playing with Fire: Regardless of the methods used, they do deal fire damage with their skills.
    • Catboom is throwing explosive bombs that generate fires everywhere.
    • Iggy's black magic manifests in fire manipulation. His fire is purple-colored due to the nature of black magic.

Tropes applying exclusively to Catboom

  • Cartoon Bomb: Most of the bombs he creates take shape in the typical "spherical black object about the size of a bowling ball with a fuse sticking out of it".
  • Little Bit Beastly: As a half-ferali, he has beastly features on him. Considering his name, he obviously gets cat ears and tails.
  • Plucky Comic Relief: Catboom can be described as a hyperactive and eager bomber, with equal chances to get panicked that his bomb is about to explode on him, which may leave him with Ash Face.
  • Stuff Blowing Up: Specializes in blowing things up with self-made bombs.
  • Unwitting Pawn: The 'peony alchemist' (heavily suspected to be Ming) manipulates him to let the demonic ferali enter his city and try to ravage it under the pretense that he could get rid of gangsters and protect the city. While Catboom ends up becoming a hero thanks to fixing it, he still got suckered by the alchemist's plan.

Tropes applying exclusively to Iggy

  • Attention Whore: Even in the present day, Iggy always wants to be the center of attention. When his parents tried to deny that by trying to seal his black magic talent, he threw a temper tantrum and eventually murdered them to reclaim what could make him to the center of attention. Even some of his quotes demand attention to how grand he is.
    "Look at me! The black magic genius!!"
  • Dude Looks Like a Lady: He's petite, long-haired, and voiced by a woman (in all languages). Iggy is easily mistaken for a petite young girl.
  • Enfant Terrible: One of the youngest heroes in the game. And yet, Iggy is a murderous young boy and a willing practitioner of the corruptive black magic.
  • Evil Counterpart: Of his fellow black magic student, Keera, whom Iggy comes to blows with at times. Keera rejects her black magic teaching (though not fully), still dearly loves her deceased parents, and despite her flaws, still tries to socialize with others. Iggy, on the other hand, wholly embraces the corruption of black magic, kills his own parents out of spite, and is so self-absorbed that he sees everyone else as beneath him; he clearly doesn’t value socialization.
  • Foil: For fellow fire magic user, Ignis (coincidentally, their names start with ‘Ig’). Ignis commands a sacred, normal-colored flame, fires it in rapid succession due to his low cooldown, and is a good person among the heroes of Veda. Iggy controls a dark, purple-colored flame, fires it in rapid succession by holding the ability button down (as long as he has enough charges), and is proudly evil, leading the Dark Den in Lorion’s stead.
  • Insufferable Genius: He'll never stop reminding you that he is the genius black mage and everyone else is just an idiot, only existing to be burnt. Deconstructed in a way that he values his genius above all else and that he'll murder his parents the moment they try to take away his gift that only his genius mind can use.
  • It's All About Me: He wants the world to revolve around him and his genius. Back in his days as a rich boy, he got all the attention he ever wanted. He was furious when his life was turned upside down and he was no longer being praised or the center of the universe.
  • Self-Made Orphan: He killed his own parents for causing him to lose all his riches and privileges and then trying to seal his black magic. While in his eyes, his parents were terribly naive, they were actually aware of the dangers of black magic, so they were normally good people... and tragic victims of Iggy's murderous rampage.
  • Spoiled Brat: Iggy enjoyed all his riches when he was a kid and got mightily pissed that he lost all of them because of his parents' actions. He ignored everything about the dangers of black magic and its history. He just got pissed that he lost all his riches and everything that made him respected. His murderous rampage and willing apprenticeship with Lorion can be seen as Iggy throwing a temper tantrum because he didn't get what he wanted in life.

    Daji & Veera 

Daji (妲己)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hok_daji_350x441.png
"Why did you create me? Is there something you need help with?"
Title: The Beguiling Fox, Heartseeker, The Charming Fox (魅力之狐)
Faction: Celestials

Original Information: Su Daji was a favored consort of King Zhou of Shang, with a sadistic penchant for torture and delighting in the suffering of others. King Zhou, however, was so in love with her that he catered to all her sadistic favors and neglected the state of affairs. This led people to rebel and overthrew the Shang dynasty, and Daji was executed on the advice of Jiang Ziya. Her tale was notorious enough that she was featured in the epic Fengshen Yanyi where she was made out to be a Nine-Tailed Fox in disguise sent by Nü Wa to punish King Zhou for lusting after the goddess, but became too intoxicated in her lust for power. Regardless, her sadism, lust for torture, and eventual fate remained intact.

In-game Bio: With a body created from mechanisms and a soul gained from magic, the living puppet was gifted to King Zhou by its creator, Ziya. The king noticed that the puppet resembled his recently deceased lover, and could not resist accepting the gift. The puppet was named Daji by her new owner, but without a heart, she lacked feelings. Even though King Zhou treated her well and poured out all his hopes and grief to her, Daji was never sure if she even loved King Zhou. One day when King Zhou was out on a campaign, a mysterious voice guided her to the mausoleum of the king’s deceased lover. Upon opening it, she was possessed by the spirit of the lover, who, convinced that the king had replaced her, enacted a brutal revenge. The quarrels between the two souls eventually ended in the body falling into a long sleep. It wasn’t until much later, due to a passing summoner, that the naive Daji awoke again, determined to find herself a heart.

Veera

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aov_veera_350x441.jpg
"Hereafter, your heart only beats for me."Click for her old design Click for her old design before that one
Title: The Soul Harvester
Voiced by: Ryōko Shiraishi (JP)
Faction: Lokheim

A former demigod of Veda. Veera was one of Edras' brightest students and became best friends with Maloch despite his frightening appearance. She later gained another best friend, Volkath, and together, they discovered the forbidden secrets of the World Tree's Power of Genesis to increase their power, something that she became curious about yet was banned by Edras. With Volkath being at odds with Edras a lot of times, Veera took Volkath's side and encouraged him to give in to the curiosity of that power, causing him to leave Mt. Orphean and gain several dark powers from the Abyss. Volkath was imprisoned as a result, but he used a dark shard to crack open a gate to the Abyss, and Veera followed her friend. Her appearance was twisted into that of a dark succubus. Veera was quite surprised at her new power at first; it terrified her, but she swore to master it. Now, she is one of the leaders of Lokheim, snatching the souls of the unwary and commanding many followers of Lokheim, from fellow corrupter Mganga to the corrupted Mina.

Kit

Daji & Veera are charming Mage heroes specializing in a boatload of burst magic damage after they stun their target with their charms

  • Their passives are the only things that wildly differ between the two heroes. They are:
    • Captivate for Daji. Daji places a stack of 'Captivated' up to 3 times every time her skills deal damage. Each stack will reduce her target's Magic Defense.
    • Come Hither for Veera. Veera gains a boost of speed after some time of not engaging in combat, allowing her to roam faster.
  • Their first skills are:
    • Soul Impact for Daji
    • Hell Bat for Veera
      • Daji & Veera launch a wide magic projectile (Crescent wave for Daji, a massive dark bat for Veera) forward, dealing big damage to everyone in their path.
  • Their second skills are:
    • Strike a Pose for Daji
    • Mesmerize for Veera
      • Daji & Veera launch a heart-shaped projectile (either by striking a cute pose (Daji) or blowing a kiss (Veera)) that homes to one enemy. Once the projectile hits, it stuns the target and decreases their magic defense. Veera has the perk of refreshing her Hell Bat if she manages to kill a hero while mesmerized or if she somehow kills a non-hero with her kiss.
  • Their ultimates are:
    • Heartbreaker for Daji
    • Inferno Bats for Veera
      • Daji & Veera summon five smaller projectiles (small hearts for Daji, small bats for Veera), all of which home to nearby enemies, but they have a preference on those who have been stunned by their second skills. If all projectiles hit the same target, their first skill is refreshed.

Tropes applying to both

  • Adaptational Villainy: Daji is hit with Adaptational Heroism compared to her original self. Veera is an outright evil, manipulative, power-hungry succubus, closer to said original self of Daji.
  • Heart Beat-Down: Their second skills rely on creating a huge heart-shaped projectile to stun their enemy. Daji has smaller hearts prepared for her ultimate, while Veera does not.
  • Simple, yet Awesome: They have a pretty simple skillset: a nuke, a stun, and yet another nuke. That still makes them extremely dangerous mid laners.

Tropes applying exclusively to Daji

  • Adaptational Heroism: Daji in the original myth was one of the most maliciously evil creatures in Chinese mythology. She's far less evil in this incarnation.
  • Little Bit Beastly: Possesses fox ears and a tail as she was created to resemble King Zhou's deceased half-demon lover.
  • Foxy Vixen: She's not foul this time... we think.
  • Magikarp Power: Most of Daji's abilities are auto-targeting, but she really doesn't deal enough damage early game to be a serious threat. By end game, however, Daji gains the ability to deal high burst damage, insta-killing enemy heroes without even having to aim. In fact, Daji's mere presence can force the enemy team to trade damage and defensive items for magic resistance due to her deadly potential, if she's allowed to be well-fed. Otherwise she's the one who just ends up tickling her targets.
  • Only One Name: As a living puppet, Daji has no family name and received her given name from her former owner, King Zhou.
  • Robot Girl: Created by Ziya, and gained a soul through magic.
  • Sharing a Body: Daji after absorbing the soul of King Zhou's dead wife. The two souls continuously fought for control over the body until the wife finally killed her former husband.
  • Unwitting Pawn: In the end, the naive Daji ended up accidentally causing the death of King Zhou, which turned out to be her creator's plan all along.

Tropes applying exclusively to Veera

  • Crutch Character: As a reverse from Daji, Veera's different passive makes her a terrifying bully at mid-game, roaming quicker to terrorize other lanes without even buying the shoes for it. However, she scales worse than Daji come endgame, so she is expected to capitalize her early game spike more.
  • Expy:
    • She most likely embodies the spirit of the original Daji more than her Honor of Kings predecessor, who received some Adaptational Heroism from the original. Veera is a devilish seductress with a bid for power that encourages her male friends further down the evil path, and as a resident of the Abyss, she also enjoys some screaming of humans.
    • Veera's old models are most likely based on the Hellbound hero Succubus from Heroes of Newerth.
  • Hero Killer: Not in the traditional sense, but she is the first to permanently kill someone in Athanor. She kills off Afata's Peura/Payna, necessitating Helen's replacement.
  • Kiss of Death: Mesmerize is a long range kiss that not only deals damage and stuns enemies with accuracy, it leaves them open for her other nukes.
  • Lady Macbeth: She encouraged Volkath to do more about his dark side, which led him to the fallout with Edras and their exodus to the Abyss.
  • Naughty Nurse Outfit: Her Nurse skin has Veera wear a short skirt and crop-top that bares her midriff and barely contains her large breasts.
  • Squishy Wizard: Veera specializes so much in massive nuke damage, so if there's a leftover from her nukes, she's extremely vulnerable.
  • Succubi and Incubi: She is a succubus who corrupts and devours people's souls. She also comes in with a stunning kiss.
  • Unholy Matrimony: She still loves Maloch, and now they're both set on wrecking humanity together.
  • Villainous Friendship: Outside her relationship with other Lokheim Lords (and love with Maloch), Veera is genuine in her friendship with Natalya; she helped to stave off the latter's curse.
  • Younger and Hipper: While her age doesn't change, her remake considerably makes her look younger and more like an anime succubus than the usual Darker and Edgier succubus. This is to match her appearance in the manga.

    Diaochan & Lauriel 

Diaochan (Honor of Kings) (貂蝉)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hok_diaochan_350x441.png
"Would you like to see me dance?"
Title: The Peerless Dancer (绝世舞姬), Lotusdancer
Other Names: Lethal Lotus
Faction: Independent (slightly aligned with the Three Kingdoms - Wei)

Original Information: A fictional creation for Romance of the Three Kingdoms, based on the nameless handmaiden that caused the rift between Lu Bu and Dong Zhuo. Diaochan was the daughter of the minister Wang Yun with a beauty that was said to be able to eclipse the moon itself. She was sent to seduce both Lu Bu and Dong Zhuo, causing a rift between the two and hopefully ridding China of the tyrannical Dong Zhuo. The plan worked, and Diaochan also fell in love with Lu Bu for real. She traveled and stayed by the side of Lu Bu until his demise against Cao Cao, whereupon her fate became unclear, but she most likely perished. Despite being a fictional identity, she was considered so beautiful that she joined the ranks of the Four Beauties of Ancient China, alongside Xi Shi, Wang Zhaojun, and later Yang Yuhuan (otherwise known as Yang Guifei).

In-game bio: A female spy/mercenary for the "Dragon" mercenary group (the same one with Zilong). Diaochan is a peerless dancer who can mesmerize her target while absorbing all the information she wants from them. At one point, she is assigned to spy and mesmerize the warlord Lu Bu as part of the deal with the ruler of Wei, Cao Cao. Surprisingly, Diaochan becomes enamored with Lu Bu for real. But on the next day, Lu Bu perished in battle and the mercenary leader bowed to the victor: Cao Cao. Her love brought anguish to her, and at this point, the only choice for Diaochan is to serve Cao Cao while waiting for the day that Lu Bu would return. Still, at that point, she comes to believe that her beauty is a curse instead of blessing and becomes wary of people trying to woo her.

Lauriel

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aov_lauriel_350x441.jpg
"The wicked shall face Heaven's wrath."
Title: The Archangel
Voiced by: Marieve Herington (EN), Reina Ueda (JP), Mamiko Noto (Dimension Breaker skin, EN)
Faction: Veda

Archangel Lauriel is one of the earliest demigods of Veda who resided on Mt. Orphean and studied under Edras until his murder by Volkath. After Ilumia rose to replace him, Lauriel was assigned not only as the head of Veda's Hall of Gospel, where she managed the prayers and requests of the believers of Veda, but also as a possible successor of Ilumia in case something happened to her. Unlike the aloof Ilumia, Lauriel is sincere and compassionate; she sees the potential of mankind and tries her best to nurture and protect them. She's more of a complete opposite of Ilumia. The only opinion they share in common is how they recognize the threat of Lokheim. As the head angel of Veda, Lauriel commands the legion of angels to face the dark legion of Lokheim and possesses the power of reincarnation with the flap of her wings and an unrivaled power of light.

Kit

Honor of Kings' Diaochan & Lauriel are mobile Mage/Assassin heroes, dancing/dashing through the battlefield while spreading beautiful flowers/light while building up power to be an unstoppable force of magic in late game.

  • Their passives are:
    • Explosion of Fragrance for Diaochan
    • Divine Punishment for Lauriel
      • Whenever Diaochan & Lauriel deal damage with a skill, they place a mark on their targets. Once an enemy has 4 marks, the marks explode, dealing true damage and temporarily slowing the target. In the same time, Diaochan & Lauriel recover a flat HP amount.
  • Their first skills are:
    • Returning Lotus for Diaochan
    • The Wheel for Lauriel
      • Diaochan & Lauriel launch an attack in a wave in front of them, dealing damage twice. However, the method of their attack differs: Diaochan's attack is a 'Lotus Orb' (a big lotus flower) that acts like a boomerang, returning to her once it reaches the end of its attack range, and both away/return journey will deal the same damage. Lauriel's attack is a beam of light that damages everyone on its journey forward, and then the area it previously covered flashes again, damaging everyone in it for the same damage.
  • Their second skills are:
    • Petals in the Wind for Diaochan
    • Blink for Lauriel
      • Diaochan & Lauriel dashes to a direction. If there are enemies near the end of their dash, they launch three smaller projectiles (Lotus Orb petals or small lights) to nearby enemies, dealing damage. As long as one projectile hits an enemy, the skill cooldown will be heavily reduced.
  • Their ultimates are:
    • Flowery Potential for Diaochan
    • Smite for Lauriel
      • Diaochan & Lauriel set up a magical circle in their location for a considerable time. It immediately deals damage during its creation and when the duration ends. As long as they stand on the circle, the cooldowns of their 1st & 2nd skills are reduced. Diaochan has the exclusive ability to end the duration of her ultimate early, allowing her to deal instantaneous damage to those still in the circle, as well as putting her skill in cooldown timer earlier.

Tropes applying to both

  • Adaptational Heroism: Lauriel is one of the kindest and most compassionate heroes in Athanor, whereas while Diaochan isn't evil, she dabbles in a morally gray area and not a paragon of kindness.
  • Artwork and Game Graphics Segregation: Both have this kind of segregation for some reason.
    • Diaochan is brown-haired in her artwork or 'hero select' model, but in an actual match, she has black hair.
    • Lauriel's splash art has two strips of cloth covering her belly, while her in-game model leaves it completely exposed.
  • Dance Battler: Diaochan is well known as a famed dancer; she deals damage by gracefully dancing around her enemies. While Lauriel doesn't fit traditionally, when she wears crossover skins lifted from Diaochan (such as the Twirling Dancer/Dunhuang skin), she becomes a (mortal) dancer herself.
  • Divergent Character Evolution: Lauriel's main difference with Diaochan lies in their first skills: Instead of acting like a boomerang projectile, Lauriel's skill's second hit will immediately damage everyone in the area previously covered, the area of effect stays static no matter where Lauriel moves.
  • Magikarp Power: They are considered the best examples of the trope for their respective games. Early game, both Diaochan and Lauriel have very meh damage output and they couldn't do much, save of helping in ganking, but letting either the jungler, support or marksman do most of the heavylifting. Given time, money, and items (preferably with cooldown reduction) and by the end of the game, Diaochan and Lauriel can obliterate everything on their paths by either repeatedly dancing or zipping while shooting holy light, while being untouchable and recovering the damage they receive with sheer spell vamp.
  • Ms. Fanservice: Both are considered the top providers of fanservice in their respective games, as they are considered really sexy.
    • Diaochan lives up to her original self being considered one of the Four Beauties of Ancient China, but here, she also brings in elegant, yet provocative clothing that sports Impossibly Low Neckline to show her big boobs. After all, she still is a seductress in this continuity.
    • Lauriel is an Angelic Beauty par excellence: She is blonde, long haired, only wears a metal bra and is barefoot. Some of her skins continue this theme, with Divine Grace (both) emphasizing her long legs while still showing cleavage and belly, and Summer Bash putting her in a seashell bra, bikini bottoms, and see through skirt.
  • No-Sell: For a brief moment of using their second skills, they are completely invulnerable from anything. This is what makes them very slippery in a fight: With a generally low cooldown, enemies only have a few seconds to catch a zipping Diaochan/Lauriel with crowd control (or, failing that, unloading damage on them)... assuming they aren't using the Cleanse spell.
  • Spam Attack: They have generally low cooldown timer, and it gets further reduced with cooldown reduction items and their ultimates, allowing them to blink around, dealing damage to others or shooting out petals/light blasts repeatedly.

Tropes applying exclusively to Honor of Kings' Diaochan

Tropes applying exclusively to Lauriel

  • Adaptational Villainy: Her default self is one of the kindest angels you'll ever meet. Her Dimension Breaker skin depicts her as a sweet (and very attractive) School Nurse in public while secretly plotting to bring abominable creatures to wreck the world in the name of her master, referred as "Akira".
  • Angelic Beauty: She's an angel and also an extremely attractive lady, taking on the classical "beautiful blonde female with wings" trope and running with it with a Stripperiffic outfit.
  • Angels Earn Their Wings: In the Divine Grace skin lore, Lauriel starts out as a weak angel with minimum power, with only the encouragement of her familiar to keep her afloat. By that time, she just has two small wings. But when the familiar falls into danger, the desire to save the familiar drives Lauriel to unleash a sudden outburst of power, unleashing her fullest potential. And with that, she grows four extra wings and earns her place as the top angel.note 
  • Badass in Distress: At one point, Lauriel (who's basically one of the higher ups of Veda) got ambushed and driven away from her domain by Aleister, who sought her Fountain of Light. This forced Lauriel to escape and take shelter in Afata, where she was helped by Peura who ended up drinking her Fountain of Light to safeguard it, then using it to heal Lauriel back to the point that she could also drive Aleister away for good.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: Just because she's one of the nicest ladies in the game doesn't mean you should try her patience; she's capable of single-handedly multi-killing a group of heroes when properly equipped. Generally, Lauriel is very kind, but she acknowledges that she's not handing down forgiveness for free; there will be some people that eventually push her patience, and she won't be as merciful to those wicked ones.
    Mercy is only for the deserving.
    The wicked shall face Heaven’s wrath.
    My patience runs thin with you.
  • Blue Is Heroic: The kindest and most compassionate character in Veda also has a prominent blue color scheme on whatever she's wearing.
  • Captain Ersatz: Her initial model is based on the Kindness skin of the hero Torturer from Heroes of Newerth. Lauriel later gets a minor model update that grants her visible legs, something that Kindness doesn't have.
  • Celestial Paragons and Archangels: She is without a doubt Veda's highest ranking angel, with the title "The Archangel." She's also second to only Ilumia in terms of having the highest authority in Veda (and she displays the personality of a paragon more than Ilumia).
  • The Fettered: Her power comes from her sincere attitude towards doing good things and not abusing her power and position.
  • Good Is Not Soft: She's one of the Veda's nicest, kindest characters, exemplifying Light Is Good by protecting the faithful. How does she protect the faithful? Unlike fellow angel Xeniel, she has no support capabilities; she prefers to concentrate her banishing light on the wicked until they drop dead.
  • Gratuitous Latin: One of her exclamation to her ultimate activation is "Fiat lux!", to emphasize that she's based on Western/Christianity-based angels.
  • Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: In the midst of several shady light-bearing deities, she's basically a shining example of Light Is Good. Her golden hair further hammers this fact home.
  • Heavenly Blue: She's the only member of Veda who has a prominent blue color scheme in her clothes (if it isn't white and gold), and she's an angel, evoking the image of heaven.
  • Light Is Good: Veda isn't exactly spotless, thanks to Ilumia and Tulen being such pricks to mortals and Gildur being a greedy asshole. But you can always trust Lauriel and her shining evil-exterminating light to be a good-hearted, nice angel.
  • Noble Top Enforcer: She's genuine in being a good lady and servant of light, even when her superior Ilumia is more selfish and uncaring.
  • Our Angels Are Different: She's a classical Angelic Beauty with white wings when compared to the more "mechanical with wings of light" kind of angel like Xeniel. Meanwhile, Divine Grace Lauriel is a slightly different kind of angel, for instance, she has six wings.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: She leads a big portion of Veda's Temple of Light (in particular the Hall of Gospels), and generally, she's a reasonable leader that listens to her followers well and kindly helps them when she can.
  • Seashell Bra: Summer Bash Lauriel's bikini top is made from seashells.
  • Significant Birth Date: Her birth date is listed to be at 7/7, coinciding with Tanabata and Qīxì. Rather than playing the Star Crossed Lover angle like most examples (since Lauriel is celibate), this touches with how she leads the Hall of Gospels/Prayers: During Tanabata or Qīxì festivals, people send their wishes and prayers to the heaven; in Athanor, Lauriel is the one in charge of managing prayers.
  • Stripperiffic: Basically, she wears a metal bra that bares her skin greatly. She covers up her legs with very long robes, but her Divine Grace skin shows her legs and... damn. And her latter model also reveals her legs, even her default model. Not even Diaochan goes this far despite her also highly revealing clothes.
  • Unwilling Roboticisation: The promotional video of her Apocalypse:War cosmetic skin shows Lauriel who seemingly has just been transformed into a cyborg slowly being injected with some sort of cybernetic fluid. Although she eventually wakes up in the midst of it all, the process has already been completed. Looking down, she discovers that most of her limbs are now metallic, attached to by various wires supplying the fluids to her body. Shocked by what she has become, she dismantles the wires connected to her body, murders the scientists who are responsible for her condition and escapes from the lab.

    Dr. Bian & Mganga 

Dr. Bian

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hok_bianque_350x441.png
"Don't forget to take your medicine."
Title: The Twisted Chemist, Curious Mixture
Original Name: Bian Que (扁鹊)
Other Names: Chemist
Faction: Yong

Original Information: Based on the divine healer Bian Que/Qin Yueren. He lived during the Qin Dynasty, and is said to have possessed powers ahead of his time, with legends attributing it to have come from a deity. He's able to execute pulse-taking operations, or diagnosis that would look like a modern-day X-Ray operation, while also a master of more mundane techniques like acupuncture.

In-game bio: A former student of Xu Fu of the Blood Clan. Dr. Bian built up his status as a divine doctor who was gentle and caring for his patients. That changed when Xu Fu left and they later reunite as Xu Fu introduced him to the Sovereign of Yong working under Yong's Queen Mi Yue. Dr. Bian cured the sovereign with sorcery as suggested by Xu Fu. It turned out to be a trap, as eventually the sovereign died despite the successful surgery and the doctor was framed for murder by none other than Xu Fu himself. Dr. Bian is jailed, escaped and then is captured by assassins that buried him alive.

A lucky rainstorm saves Dr. Bian's life by plunging him even deeper to the underground, where he discovered a forbidden knowledge. Dr. Bian returns to the living, but the kindly divine doctor image is dead. What remains is a cold, heartless doctor who demands a huge sum of money, ignores the law, and only dedicates himself for revenge against the one who set him up in the first place: His master, Xu Fu.

Mganga

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aov_mganga_350x441.jpg
"Don't perform human experiments, they said... It's crimes against humanity, they said..."Click for his old design
Title: The Unspeakable
Voiced by: Ryūsei Nakao (JP)
Faction: Lokheim

A devious mage of the Magister Council, Mganga has always sought great powers for his own. When he heard about the forbidden, dark voodoo magic that was banned by Veda and could cause persecution by the Magister Council, but possessed great power, Mganga instead jumped straight onto learning the magic, leading to an encounter with Veera and swearing loyalty to her to obtain more power from the Abyss. Mganga now serves as a liaison between the Abyss and Veera's commands, while also corrupting whatever he dabbles in, from Skud's creation to the death of Lindis' sister Luna, or anything else you can think of.

Kit

Dr. Bian & Mganga are poison-based Mage heroes. They throw around poison with their tools (medicine or magic), which can heal allies or condemn those caught with heavy doses of poison to die a slow death.

  • Their passives are:
    • Malicious Practice for Dr. Bian
    • Voodoo for Mganga
      • Any enemies hit by Dr. Bian & Mganga's normal attacks or skills are marked. Those marked receive damage over time and will have their magic defense reduced. The mark can stack up to 5 times.
  • Their first skills are:
    • Deadly Panacea for Dr. Bian
    • Toxic for Mganga
      • Dr. Bian & Mganga can store up to 3 poison bottles. They can throw them to an area, which stays for a few seconds and deal damage over time and slow their enemies, also giving marks from their passive.
  • Their second skills are:
    • Fatal Diagnosis for Dr. Bian
    • Fortunate Gift for Mganga
      • Dr. Bian & Mganga send a wave to a direction, dealing instantaneous damage and slowing down enemies. If the wave hits an ally, the inverse happens: The ally is then healed and receives a speed boost. They also mark the ally with the reverse of the passive, healing the ally over time.
  • Their ultimates are:
    • Master of Life for Dr. Bian
    • Detonation for Mganga
      • Dr. Bian & Mganga will do something about the marks they left behind near them: Mganga will summon a circular explosion to trigger it, while Dr. Bian simply detonates it automatically for the people around him. Regardless, they deal damage to all enemies while applying their passives to them. The amount of marks that the targets have during the ultimate will affect the ultimate's efficiency: The more marks they have, the more damage/healing they receive. Additionally, Dr. Bian recovers HP based on his Magic stat while Mganga gains shield based on how many allies he affected with his own 'healing' mark.

Tropes applying to both

  • Adaptational Villainy: At worst, Dr. Bian is just a Dr. Jerk, and he even has a tragic backstory and downfall to justify his transformation. Mganga is an evil, malicious bastard from day one and lacks any sad backstory to justify his evilness.
  • Pet the Dog: As jerk-ish as he has become, Dr. Bian can still administer proper medicine and save lives, warning others to take their medications properly. Mganga instead zig-zags this. He can heal allies if he wants, but his personality means that his underlying reason is that 'he enjoys prolonging their suffering'.
  • Poison Is Evil: Both are masters of poison and definitely not the model of a decent person (Dr. Bian is just a jerk, Mganga is evil).
  • The Red Mage: They're both capable of healing their allies and damaging their foes because when used in the right time, a poison can be used to heal.

Tropes applying exclusively to Dr. Bian

  • Above Good and Evil: Dr. Bian is supposed to be a doctor, but he puts himself above notions of morality about 'good' and 'evil'. All he cares about is to test his medicine and get his revenge against Xu Fu.
  • Adaptational Relationship Overhaul: Despite living in the same era, originally Bian Que and Xu Fu had no relations with each other (Xu Fu served as an alchemist for the Emperor). Here, they're master and student.
  • Dr. Jerk: He charges his clients with an enormously high sum of money, doesn't care about the law, dabbles in forbidden knowledge and research, and sometimes doesn't care if his patient dies in operation. He'll still save lives if he can, but he's much more cynical than before.
  • Revenge: He's obsessed with making Xu Fu pay for betraying him in the worst way possible.
  • Took a Level in Jerkass: He used to be a kindhearted doctor. But after the incident with Xu Fu, he's squarely a Dr. Jerk.

Tropes applying exclusively to Mganga

  • Ax-Crazy: An absolutely unhinged person who espouses dangerously unstable and evil things. His quotes and laughter makes him sound like someone just fresh entering the asylum.
  • The Corrupter: His job is to create a perversion out of anything that he touches. He's very delighted about it.
  • Expy: Of The Joker, as a monstrous, crazy jester with purple color motifs who's Laughably Evil and heinously evil in the same time, does things For the Evulz, had his part in trying to corrupt several people (Definitely on Mina, almost succeeded on Lindis), standing out as an evil non-demonic member of the resident hellish legion. He's close enough to if The Joker specializes more into dark science experiments on his Joker Toxin. And for a time, he can fight against or alongside The Joker himself. Even Joker's successor (Stuart) doesn't do as much clown antics as Mganga does.
  • For the Evulz: Apart from being power-hungry, he simply enjoys doing evil for the sake of doing evil.
  • Laughably Evil: He's extremely corruptive and evil, but he also indulges in some silly jester antics. In his intro animation, he stumbles around and accidentally gets his staff bashed on his head.
  • Monster Clown: Mganga is the native Monster Clown of Athanor, the other one (Joker) is plucked from another universe. It's downplayed that while he's dressed like a jester and does some silly antics, his profession is actually that of a morbid researcher, dark mage, and corruptor.
  • More Despicable Minion: While Lokheim is full of demonic leaders, a lot of them have their own visions of a better world that just clash with Veda's and are even capable of genuine love (the pairings of Volkath-Marja and Maloch-Veera come to mind). Mganga is only in it for his own morbid fascination with dark magic and fetish for torturing and corrupting people. He is just positioned as a liaison.
  • Nightmare Fetishist: He's into experiencing macabre things onto himself aside of doing it to others. One of his walking quotes has him relish in starting every days with a shot of viper venom. Either about injecting it to himself or to some poor sod he just caught.
  • Obviously Evil: A poison-spewing evil clown with a sinister voice and sinister giggling? Does he sound like someone you want to meet in a dark alley? Bonus points for how in Japan, he has the voice of Frieza.

    Gan & Mo & Yue 

Gan & Mo

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hok_ganjiangmoye_350x441.png
Gan: "Two souls, one body."
Mo: "One love, neverending."
Title: Smith and Blade
Original Name: Gan Jiang & Mo Ye (干将莫邪)
Other Names: Smith & Blade
Faction: Misty Marshes

Original Information: Gan Jiang & Mo Ye are known as the legendary blacksmith couple in China. As the legends go, they were ordered to create legendary twin swords in three months by King Helu of Wu. When normal methods proved to be insufficient, they cut their nails and hair to the furnace and 300 children helped blow air into the bellows (or in some versions, Mo Ye sacrificed her life). The resulting impressive swords were named after the couple, but knowing the king's wrathful personality, Gan Jiang instead kept one sword to himself while only presenting the other to the king. King Helu managed to hunt down Gan Jiang and killed him for his disobedience, but he left behind a message to Mo Ye and/or his son Chi on where he hid his sword. Chi laterbecame a vital figure to bring down King Helu while he still sought for Gan Jiang's sword.

In-game Bio: Gan Jiang & Mo Ye are a swordsmith couple in the Riverlands. Gan Jiang is obsessed with smithing swords, supported by his wife, to the point that in order to make a name for himself, he goes to vandalize any swordsmith he could find in the area. After he is later humiliated by a particularly cunning smith, he becomes more obsessed with creating swords and failed to notice that Mo Ye is getting ill.

It is at this point that Gan Jiang is approached by the being known as Donghuang. He offers a way to create a masterful sword that requires a soul: It must be created within a special furnace and a life is required to create it. And in exchange, he wants Gan Jiang's help in his quest to release the Tree of Reincarnation.

Gan Jiang's efforts to create anything from that furnace bears no fruit, and then he fails to realize that Mo Ye slowly walks to the furnace, apparently having been tipped about how to create this particular sword, and throws herself into the furnace, enabling Gan Jiang to complete his work. After fulfilling his deal with Donghuang, becoming a monstrosity out of sorcery in process, and enacting his revenge for his humiliations, Gan Jiang falls into despair, realizing that there's nothing more he can look forward to. While hugging his legendary sword, it starts taking form of Mo Ye in human form, giving Gan Jiang a reassurement that at least he would not be separated with his love ever again.

Yue

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aov_yue_350x441.jpg
"The way of a ruler is a lonely one."
Title: Jade Fan Beauty
Voiced by: Ai Kakuma (JP)
Faction: Dragon Kingdom

10th Princess of the Dragon Kingdom. Yue possesses both exceptional talent and beauty, which made her father favor her more than her other siblings. They didn't like that, so they plotted against her to overthrow her. Unfortunately for them, Yue's "talents" are majorly her extreme cunning and strategy, so she would look like a demure, sweet princess on one day and a cold, manipulative person on another when the situation called. During one of her escapes, Yue met the martial artist Qi and decided to pose as a helpless princess in need of training, immediately capturing Qi's attention and providing her with refuge from her pursuers... as well as serving as a potential pawn for her future ambitions.

Kit

Gan & Mo & Yue are positioning-heavy artillery Mage hero, capable of raining down streams of burst for those caught in their most wanted. Gan & Mo is also one of the few Honor of Kings heroes that use a 4 skill layout.

  • Their passives function differently despite sharing a similar moveset. They are:
    • Forever Entwined for Gan & Mo. Gan & Mo's projectiles (Flying Swords) will mark their targets. If the marked target is hit with another of their projectiles, the target takes extra damage. This passive also gives Gan & Mo a huge boost in normal attack power, but unlike Yue, their normal attack range is melee.
    • Borrowed Might for Yue. Whenever Yue shoots out a projectile (fan ribs), she gains a mark for herself. Once she gets two marks, the projectiles get enhanced, and for a short time period, she gets to use one of her projectile skills once for free.
  • Gan & Mo's first skill and Yue's ultimate share the same function. They are:
    • Guard Her Grave for Gan & Mo
    • Rising Wind for Yue
      • Gan & Mo & Yue back-dashes, unleashing either sword spikes (Gan & Mo) or a gust of wind (Yue). This will also knock the enemies back. Exclusively for Gan & Mo, the affected enemies will suffer a magic resistance penalty and they also gain a new 'stack farming' feature: Each of their kill/assist scores will increase their magic power for up to 20 times. As this is her ultimate, Yue will also gain the benefit of widening her own vision.
  • Their projectile skills are mapped for Gan & Mo's second and third slot while Yue's is mapped on her first and second slot. Gan & Mo's skills will be leveled together, while Yue will have to level them separately. They are:
    • Coupled Blades - Short and Coupled Blades - Long for Gan & Mo.
    • Aqua Force & Mountain Crusher for Yue.
      • Gan & Mo & Yue will shoot out two of their projectiles (Flying Swords and fan ribs) in curved directions that converge. All enemies caught in the path will be damaged, and if they get hit at the convergent point, they get double damage. If Gan & Mo has activated their ultimate or Yue has maxed out her passive, they will instead shoot out four projectiles.
  • Gan & Mo's exclusive ultimate is Freshly Forged. Aside of giving the vision bonus like Yue's, Gan & Mo will reset their Coupled Blades skill cooldowns and enhance their next skill usage (as described above). The cooldown of this skill will be reduced if they manage to hit an enemy with their flying swords.

Tropes applying to both

  • Adaptational Jerkass: Gan & Mo are lovers separated and reunited through tragic circumstances. On the other hand, Yue is an aloof, two-faced manipulator.
  • Difficult, but Awesome: They are very reliant on positioning to maximize their damage while they have little to no gap closer, and if they're caught in close range, they're pretty much dead. However, if they can catch enemies in the position they want, they can easily take out more than half of the enemy's HP in one go.
  • Long-Range Fighter: Best known as long range artillery mage heroes. As long as they can keep their distance and aim well, they can shoot out twin magic blasts (or more than two) from far away and deal deadly burst damage, especially when the enemies are hit on the converging point. Their only defense from enemies that get too close is a mere back-dash. Gan & Mo at least has powerful normal attacks delivered at close range, but that's not what one would look for in a mage.
  • Squishy Wizard: If you somehow survive their extreme burst while they have run out of escape options, then they are pretty much helpless up close. Not even Gan & Mo's enhanced normal attack can help much.
  • Unwitting Pawn: On both sides.
    • Gan & Mo are the pawns of Donghuang, giving their lives and spiraling down into despair while furthering Donghuang's quest for immortality and discovering new magic.
    • Yue, on the other hand, is the one making a pawn out of Qi, by pretending to be a harmless damsel while preparing to toss her out when she runs out of uses.

Tropes applying exclusively to Gan & Mo

  • Adaptational Ugliness: In this continuity, Gan is turned into monstrosity via sorcery due to the deal with Donghuang. Mo looks human only because the blade named after her just takes that form after her death. Because of this, their alternate skins gave Gan Jiang a more attractive human body.
  • Barely Changed Dub Name: Their dub names are formed by simply removing their given names (Jiang & Ye). However, their lores still refer to them as their full name. Most likely because writing their names as is would take up too much space.
  • The Dividual: Two living beings at the same cost of one hero unit. If Gan dies, so does Mo.
  • Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: This is why Gan always carries Mo on his shoulder everywhere; he positively towers over her.
  • Magikarp Power: The more they kill/assist, the more powerful they become. Unlike the original iteration of Dian Wei/Zanis, Gan & Mo are already decent at their job without the stacks (just as long as they mind their distance). With the stacks, however, they become even more dangerous.
  • Official Couple: With each other, and additionally fulfills the quota of Ugly Guy, Hot Wife, seeing that Gan has gotten a case of Adaptational Ugliness.
  • Took a Level in Kindness: In the earlier builds, Gan's idea for 'Flying Swords' is literally throwing Mo to his enemies. It doesn't come to pass, so afterwards, they opt to just shoot out projectiles, Mo is always safe and they can afford to look like a good Official Couple.

Tropes applying exclusively to Yue

  • Combat Hand Fan: Her traditional fan is more of a conduit for her magic. Additionally, her magical knives take the form of a fan behind her back.
  • Deceptive Disciple: She's Qi's student, but that's just a cover to hide from her siblings. As far as Yue is concerned, Qi is just another Unwitting Pawn.
  • Dub Name Change: Her name is rendered as "Reigetsu" (Zero Moon) on the Japanese server.
  • Manipulative Bitch: She has a keen sense of manipulating people as a part of her strategy in order to survive the harsh succession crisis she's facing.
  • Pretty Princess Powerhouse: She's the Princess of the Dragon Kingdom, and not only is she pretty, she's one of the more powerful mages.
  • A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: Yue presents herself as a demure damsel in front of innocent people or those she wishes to manipulate. But she's plotting their demise behind their backs, especially against those she wants to eliminate or those she would like to drop off for no longer having any uses.

    Gao & Jinna 

Gao

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hok_gaojianli_350x441.png
"If the music's too loud, then you're too old! Nananananananananaaa~!"
Title: The Rocking Bard, Fatal Lyrist
Original Name: Gao Jianli (高渐离)
Other Names: Guitarist
Faction: Neutral/Anti-Yong

Original Information: Based on Gao Jianli. He was a musician living in the State of Qi during the Warring States period and expert of the instrument zhu. Gao Jianli was friends with the crown prince/assassin Jing Ke, who tried to assassinate Ying Zheng/Qin Shi Huangdi and yet failed and was executed. For this, Gao Jianli decided to hide his identity and retreated. Unfortunately, Ying Zheng managed to locate him, and based on his talents in music, he was summoned to play for the emperor, which blew his cover. And yet, Ying Zheng spared him and still allowed him to play, only punishing him with blindness because he was a fan of music, which somehow relaxed him. Gao Jianli saw this as a chance and secretly prepared the tools to assassinate the emperor and avenge Jing Ke. Unfortunately, Ying Zheng saw through this too and executed him as a result.

In-game bio: Gao is a wild, talented musician who could gather a massive party from his music alone. But his life of debauchery leads him to an empty feeling, so he decides to leave behind his life and his name fades from the mind of the people.

While wandering and mastering his musical skills from revving up the people's hearts or even causing harm to his foes, Gao ends up witnessing the Yong army participating in a war. Amongst them is a terrifying reaper monster slaughtering a huge number of soldiers. This is the famed 'ultimate weapon' of the Yong army: Bai Qi. From that point on, Gao decides to answer to a higher calling: Gather people to stop wars and ensure this would never happen again.

During one of his gatherings, he comes across a female assassin who collapsed in front of him. Gao heals her and brings her to his cause. The assassin then attempts to assassinate the sovereign of Yong, Zheng. She comes back covered with scars, having failed her mission. Gao then feels guilty and stops with his gatherings for war. He and the female assassin, who changed her name into Arke, then wander together; they haven't given up the cause to oppose Yong, but they will only fight for themselves without involving others anymore.

Jinna

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aov_jinna_350x441.jpg
"Face the seven incarnations!"Click for his old design
Title: The Incorruptible
Voiced by: Satoshi Tsuruoka (JP)
Faction: Veda

Jinna was born with the power to predict the future. At first, people around him paid him no heed. But soon, his prophecies started to come true, and people became fearful of him. They attempted to exorcise whatever demons they thought to be inhabiting him, but everything came from Jinna himself. Then, they incarcerated him in prison. In despair over the treatment given to him, Jinna received a vision that he had been elevated to a greater position with his powers. Shortly after, he was visited by Ilumia, who took interest in his power. She gave him a choice: He could rot in the prison and die ignobly, or he could follow her to Mt. Orphean and receive training to use his power better and serve the Veda. Jinna chose the latter. That night, the prison was engulfed in light, and Jinna received what was promised to him: training to control his prophetic powers and use them for the good of Veda and mankind. He used an artifact to seal his voice while still allowing him to communicate via telepathy. In truth, the artifact acts as a limiter to his overwhelming power until Jinna can master it fully.

Kit

Gao & Jinna are Mage heroes who prefer staying close to their enemies, as that's where they can deliver untold magical destruction (via deadly music or clairvoyance power) to their targets.

  • Their passives are:
    • Guitar Solo for Gao
    • Comet for Jinna
      • Gao & Jinna's fourth attack in a row will always be enhanced to deal extra damage and piercing through multiple targets in a line.
  • Their first skills are:
    • Wild Chord for Gao
    • Force Orbs for Jinna
      • Gao & Jinna launch two projectiles that home on two nearby enemies and they bounce off to nearby targets multiple times. If the same target is hit with the same projectile, the damage is reduced. If the orb hits a hero, Gao & Jinna recover a small portion of their HP.
  • Their second skills are:
    • String Bender for Gao
    • Resonance for Jinna
      • Gao & Jinna unleash a close-range wave, dealing damage and slowing nearby enemies. Gao also dashes to a direction at the same time, and if he can somehow cast Wild Chord during the dash, he can recast the skill again for free for a short time.
  • Their ultimates are:
    • Rock Out! for Gao
    • Exuberance for Jinna
      • Gao plays hard rock music with devastating tunes while Jinna surrounds himself with a circling force of magic. During this period, they receive decaying speed bonus while damage over time to whoever gets near them. They also receive innate damage reduction which increases as more enemy heroes get near them.

Tropes applying to both

  • Adaptational Seriousness: Downplayed. Barring a few in-lore moments where he jokes about his genuine fanboying of Tel'Annas, Jinna is mostly presented as a serious, contemplating character, as opposed to the music-crazed, bombastic rockstar Gao. However, even Gao has times of serious contemplation, but that's not on display very often.
  • Close-Range Combatant: Despite being mage heroes, they don't have much range, being susceptible to kiting. Even their first skills are not skillshots that can be aimed in a direction with no enemies; it only works if someone gets close enough to them. Up close, however, they are walking bombs, dealing high, continuous damage and being a little harder to kill together with their damage reduction.

Tropes applying exclusively to Gao

  • Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: He hides his actual competence in managing people and his introspective nature by being a bombastic showman/guitarist.
  • Instrument of Murder: Channels his magic through an electric guitar.
  • Musical Assassin: The historical Gao Jianli was a musician that attempted assassination which has nothing to do with music. Gao combines both aspects: He's killing his opposition with music.
  • Official Couple: With Arke, in touch with how Gao Jianli is a close friend with Arke's original identity, Jing Ke.
  • Rebel Leader: He's the leader of anti-Yong rebels, though he never shows himself in public, thanks to witnessing the horrors of war. However, he stops gathering rebels for his cause after seeing how much it threatens Arke's life.
  • Shout-Out: In the global version, as part of his rockstar persona, his kill-quotes references two European music bands in The '80s who had rock songs in their resume:
  • War Is Hell: This is the conclusion he comes to after seeing Bai Qi's rampage, and knows just how hellish war is. Thus, he forms his rebel faction to ensure that this particular hell never comes again.

Tropes applying exclusively to Jinna

    Kongming & Tulen 

Kongming

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hok_zhugeliang_350x441.png
"The world is like a game of Go. You must think ahead!"
Title: The Ace Strategist, Mastermind, The Peerless Ingenuity (绝代智谋)
Original Name: Zhuge Liang (诸葛亮)
Voiced by: Yuichi Nakamura (JP)
Faction: Three Kingdoms - Shu (formerly Jixia Academy)

Original Information: Kongming is the courtesy name of Zhuge Liang, the genius statesman/strategist of the Three Kingdoms nicknamed 'Sleeping Dragon'. After learning strategy from Sima Hui, Zhuge Liang lived a life as a hermit until he was recruited by Liu Bei who was in need of a strategist against Cao Cao. After a few strategic successes, Zhuge Liang oversaw the administration of the Shu Kingdom, a job that he excelled at, and Liu Bei trusted him enough to manage Shu after he passed away. Zhuge Liang then launched multiple campaigns to expand the territory of Shu but found rivalry with Sima Yi and he overworked himself to death in an effort to unify the land under Shu. The novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms exaggerated his otherwise-mediocre military strategy skills into a supreme genius master strategist with varying devices to help Shu and strong prediction skills, as well as giving him his trademark feather fan.

In-game Bio: An alumnus of the Jixia Academy, particularly the one who scored the highest in every subjects. Every teachers praised him and believed that he'd be the successor of Fuzi to run the Academy. Yet, Kongming focused more on uncovering the secrets within the world. Within his research, he discovered various secrets, in particular about the super beings who created civilization and came in contact with the "origin of knowledge". Eventually he settled in the Shu Kingdom, generally being distant but enjoying visits from a certain Liu Bei.

Kongming never cared for war and politics, not even Liu Bei could sway him to join his cause, but eventually he discovered that the knowledge of the Superbeings can be used for both good and evil and in case of the latter, it would bring disaster, and he detects that someone is using that knowledge to influence the course of history. Shortly after, he heard more and more disastrous news: The return of the dark alchemist Xu Fu within the Qin palace, and then the sudden slaughter of archaeologist Cai Yong and his entourage by his beastly bodyguard (Dian Wei).

At this point, Kongming knows that he cannot just sit idly and let things flow to a dark turn; he has to take action. Leaving his seclusion and finally agreeing to serve as the chief strategist of Liu Bei in his campaign against Cao Cao, Zhuge Liang prepares to bring his genius intellect to turn the tide of history.

Tulen

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aov_tulen_new_350x441.png
"Witness my brilliance!"Click for his old design
Title: The Pure
Voiced by: Tomokazu Sugita (JP)
Faction: Veda

After the death of Edras, Ilumia sought of a way to create a life form that possessed his immense power. The result was the demigod of thunder and lightning, Tulen. Ilumia then sent him to the tutelage of Aleister, not just for Tulen to hone his power, but also to investigate any nefarious plots Aleister may be brewing. Tulen has always wanted the approval of Aleister, but he instead received neglect based on his jealousy. Yet, his own talent in magic and the emulated of power of Edras within him help him to become better and even surpassing Aleister.

Eventually, as expected, Aleister defected to Lokheim. Ilumia has forbidden Tulen to dig deeper into the problem, but Tulen has always wanted to settle the score against Aleister, if only for him to finally acknowledge his immense magic power. And so, Tulen takes it upon himself to seek out and bring down Aleister.

Kit

Kongming & Tulen are slippery and burst-focused Mage heroes, outmaneuvering their enemies in a flash while launching barrages of magical fire until they set up the finishing shot.

  • Their passives are:
    • Time for Tactics for Kongming
    • Thunderclap for Tulen
      • Both Kongming & Tulen can gather up to 5 stacks of marks as they hit enemies with his skills. When they have gathered 5 stacks, they summon 5 orbiting prisms of energy/thunder for 10 seconds. The prims automatically attack enemy units and prioritize hero units, dealing magic damage. Jungle monsters take less damage, but minions take more damage.
  • Their first skills are:
    • Arcane Assault for Kongming
    • Ion Blasts for Tulen
      • Kongming & Tulen launch three elemental orbs (energy/thunder) to a direction of their choosing, dealing damages to the enemies in the path. Multiple projectiles hitting the same target will reduce subsequent hits' damages.
  • Their second skills are:
    • Time Shift for Kongming
    • Lightning Strike for Tulen
      • Kongming & Tulen blinks to a short distance. Their departure and target location will cause a shock, damaging nearby enemies. If both departure and arrival points deal damage to the same enemy, the second one deals less damage. This skill can be stored to up to 3 charges.
  • Their ultimates are:
    • Winning Strategy for Kongming
    • Thunderbird for Tulen
      • Kongming & Tulen selects a target and charges up. After a few seconds, they launch either a spirit bomb (Kongming) or lightning strike (Tulen) to the target. It deals massive damage with additional damage based on the target's lost HP. If this projectile hits a non-hero unit that's not the target, they get damaged and temporarily knocked aside. But if it hits a hero unit that's not the target, the target is saved and the covering hero is damaged instead. If this skill kills a target, they immediately gain 5 stacks of their passives and the cooldown is massively reduced. If their target dies before the projectile hits, then they only reduce the cooldown.

Tropes applying to both

  • The Ace: Generally considered the best of their fields.
    • Kongming graduates the Jixia Academy with basically a summa cum laude score in everything that doesn't involve physical activities.
    • Tulen is one of the best generals of Veda, having learned a lot of his skills in a short time despite being handicapped by Aleister's mismanagement.
  • Adaptational Jerkass: Kongming is arrogant, but he's overall just supremely confident. Tulen, on top of being arrogant and confident, is a Narcissist who can't stop talking about how radiant and shiny he is.
  • Smug Super: They can afford to be smug as hell because they're just that good. In fact, Tulen's on par with, if not stronger than, Ilumia and Lauriel, the two most powerful beings in Veda at the moment.
  • Teleportation: They come with three charges of short teleportation. Perfect for quickly stepping away from an unfavorable fight or juking his enemies.

Tropes applying exclusively to Kongming

  • Adaptational Early Appearance: According to the Liu Bei origin manga, he visits Kongming first before eventually swearing brotherhood oath with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. In the original novel, Liu Bei visits Zhuge Liang after quite some chapters after he made the oath.
  • Badass Boast: A lot of his quotes revolve around making sure the enemy knows that he's a genius and he's already got plans to win his battles a thousand miles away.
  • Calling Your Attacks: Subverted. Using Arcane Assault may make him shout out attack names... that aren't accurate to the skill he's using.
    "Red Cliff Storm!"
    "Eastern Winds!"
  • Casting Gag: The choice for Yuichi Nakamura as his Japanese voice actor has two factors:
    • Kongming is the hero who gets the collaboration skin of Satoru Gojo, who is voiced by Nakamura.
    • In the Arena of Valor Japanese dub, Kongming's counterpart, Tulen, is voiced by Nakamura's close friend, Tomokazu Sugita. And so, both of them play as counterparts of each other.
  • Child Prodigy: A young graduate of the Jixia Academy and the best there is, and by the time he graduated, he's already decrypting various ancient knowledges that dates back to the beginning of time, relating to the "origin of knowledge", before finally agreeing to become The Strategist for Liu Bei before he even grows a facial hair (he has none).
  • Combat Hand Fan: In a way that he doesn't throw it, but it acts as his conduit for magic. It's unique in a way that aside of being shaped like his historical/novel self's signature feather fan, it's made by technological construct and only appears when he feels like it rather than having to carry it and letting others see all the time.
  • Neutral No Longer: At first, Kongming prefers to be just alone, further researching about the origin of knowledge rather than picking a side in the war. However, he then decides to join Liu Bei in his campaign against Cao Cao because Cao Cao's ambition ends up being a visible threat for what Kongming fears about the misuse of knowledge.
  • The Smart Guy: One of the smartest heroes in the game's whole roster. Naturally, because he's based on one of the best strategist in Chinese history/fiction.
  • Techno Wizard: He summons computer interfaces out of thin air to type things and prepare for his magic, and using it to materialize his fan.

Tropes applying exclusively to Tulen

  • The Fighting Narcissist: He thinks of himself as the most brilliant, magnificent man ever and has low opinions of those below him.
  • Jerkass: He looks down on anyone that's less skilled than him, and he's extremely proud of his "brilliance." Even if he's not being actively malicious and shrewd as well as fighting against Lokheim, he's purely a jerk.
  • Light Is Not Good: Downplayed in comparison with Ilumia and Gildur. Tulen is not that malicious compared to the shits they could pull, but he's still a gigantic, narcissistic Jerkass for a representative of the Light.
  • Meaningful Name: Tulen, when spoken in Malay or Bahasa Indonesia, means "pure." It fits his title, The Pure... That's not to say he's good or compassionate.
  • Pure Is Not Good: His title is, after all, "The Pure," and he's gotten through all his tribulations through sheer, pure talent and power. However, it also doesn't stop him from being a jerk and sometimes giving a bad rap to his faction.
  • Shock and Awe: His domain is lightning, and he brings shocking thunder with his skills.
  • "Well Done, Son" Guy: Zig-zagged. While Aleister is not at all his father, Tulen still seeks approval from his supposed master. The approval most likely takes form of Aleister finally acknowledging that Tulen is far better than him in magic, even when he's neglected in tutelage.

    Lady Zhen & Azzen'Ka 

Lady Zhen

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hok_zhenji_350x441.png
"Please. Leave me to my sorrow…"
Title: The Water Elementalist, Cascader, The Descent of the Goddess of Luo River (洛神降临)
Voiced by: Cristina Valenzuela (EN)
Original Name: Zhen Ji (甄姬)
Faction: Three Kingdoms - Wei

Original Information: Lady Zhen, often referred as Zhen Ji, is officially the wife of Yuan Xi, son of Yuan Shao, a warlord in the Three Kingdoms era. Unfortunately, Yuan Shao and her husband would perish in the Battle of Guan Du. When the Wei army raided her home, Cao Cao's son, Cao Pi had a glimpse at Lady Zhen and took a liking to her. Lady Zhen was taken to the Wei kingdom and became Cao Pi's wife, effectively making her Cao Cao's daughter-in-law. However, Cao Pi's poet brother, Cao Zhi, also took a liking to her, making a poem to praise Lady Zhen to be equal to the Goddess of Luo River. The two brothers argued about her ownership, and after Cao Pi declared himself Emperor, Lady Zhen lost favor from him despite bearing his first son Cao Rui, and tragically was ordered to commit suicide. Her son, however, managed to make Cao Pi regret his actions and posthumously made Lady Zhen the Empress, while Cao Zhi's poem spread from word to mouth and she truly became linked with the identity of the Goddess of the Luo River.

In-game Bio: Lady Zhen is a member of a clan who specialized in a magic that controls the flow of water, with her being the clan's prodigy. All her life, she was taught to never step out of her village. However, one day, she met a charming man from the Cao clan. She was enraptured with the feeling of love, and because of it, she broke the clan's rules and eloped with him to experience the world outside. Unfortunately, this man turned out to be an abusive Manipulative Bastard and only in the marriage because it was the will of his father, Cao Cao, to gain someone from her clan to his services. This shattered Lady Zhen's outlook in life, all she could do was just to go with the flow, but her heart remained in sorrow and despair.

Azzen'Ka

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aov_azzenka_new.png
"When the twin suns meet above the desert sands, Solaranote  shall welcome its new God!"Click for her old design
Title: Sun Shrouder (new), The Forgotten (old)
Voiced by: ????, Yoshihisa Kawahara (JP, old)
Faction: Helios Empire/Lokheim

Azzen'Ka was once the High Priest of the desert Helios Empire. However, they ended up being exiled and banished to the desert due to their own ambition, doomed to be forgotten. Being a High Priest had its perk as it gave Azzen'Ka enormous magic power to control the desert sand, and after honing it for hundreds of years, Azzen'Ka ascended into godhood, but they haven't forgotten the slight of the Helios Empire. As retaliation, they buried the kingdom in sand and murdered every member of the royal family, re-establishing themselves as ruler of the Helios Empire. However, the Crown Prince Murad survived, and Azzen'Ka couldn't afford to let him live. Azzen'Ka eventually devises a plan to send a mercenary, Yena, to retrieve the Gem of Time and eventually kill Murad, with the help of Lokheim via Mganga, because they know she despises the royal bloodline as well. Still, they don't trust her beyond his hatred for the royal bloodline, expecting betrayal at any time.

Azzen'Ka's collaboration with the Lokheim under Volkath continues, and with the aid of Aleister, they prepare to open a portal to attack either Veda or even cross other regions. Bright attempts to stop them, but the ensuing ceremony reveals one thing: Beneath the mysterious black hood, Azzen'Ka is a woman. As it turned out, in the past, she was the high priestess that offered her soul to the Time God to create the Time Gem that Murad used all this time and helped form what would be known as the Helios Empire. However, she was repaid with treachery and was actually killed and sacrificed due to the greed of the warlords forming the Empire. Regardless, what transpired afterwards remains the same: Azzen'Ka took her revenge by taking on the power of the sands and buried the Helios Empire, ruling what remained with an iron fist and colluding with Lokheim to ascend as a true god.

Kit

Lady Zhen & Azzen'Ka are Mage heroes specializing in manipulating their Elemental Powers of choice (Water or Sand) and putting their enemies in place. At times, they will stun their targets while they're at it (via either freezing or petrification).

  • Their passives are:
    • Frozen Touch for Lady Zhen
    • Nemesisnote  for Azzen'Ka
      • A hit from Lady Zhen's or Azzen'Ka's skills will mark an enemy up to three times, at which point they're either frozen or petrified and take bonus magic damage.
  • Their first skills are:
    • Ocean of Tears for Lady Zhen
    • Sand Burialnote  for Azzen'Ka
      • After marking a spot and having a delay, Lady Zhen summons a water geyser, while Azzen'Ka instead summons a sand hourglas. In both cases, the enemies are knocked upwards while they receive damage. These objects stay in place for a time (Lady Zhen's geyser instantly freezes). They can use the object as a target to bounce off their second skill. If they cast the geyser on their own positions, they're temporarily frozen and becomes invulnerable to any damage or crowd control and cannot be targeted. Once they exit this state (it can be cancelled), they deal damage and slow nearby enemies.
  • Their second skills are:
    • Flowing Sigh for Lady Zhen
    • Rampant Calamitynote  for Azzen'Ka
      • Lady Zhen & Azzen'Ka throw a water/sand orb at a target enemy. The orb then bounces and ricochets around the enemy, dealing damage. The orb can use the objects created by the first skill as a place to bounce off. If there is no enemy to bounce off, the orb then stays for a duration, waiting for an enemy to approach and then it will start bouncing to the approaching enemy.
  • Their ultimates are:
    • Destructive Deluge for Lady Zhen
    • Baleful Retribution note  for Azzen'Ka
      • Lady Zhen & Azzen'Ka shoot out a projectile to a line, either a consecutive, smaller water geysers for Lady Zhen, or a sand wraith shaped like a huge hand for Azzen'Ka. Once the projectile reaches its end of path, it creates a bigger circle of whirlpool/sandstorm that stays for a duration of time. Enemies in the area take damage per second, and it also slows enemies.
      • If Lady Zhen's geysers stumble on a target, it will stop and create the whirlpool right there. However, Azzen'Ka's sand wraith will push everyone in its path to the end of its destination.

Tropes applying to both

  • Adaptational Ugliness: Subverted. For the longest time, Lady Zhen was definitely a huge improvement in looks because she's a refined lady compared to the mysterious, creepy hooded creature like Azzen'Ka. Once the latter's gender is actually revealed, Azzen'Ka could give Lady Zhen a serious competition in the looks department.
  • Adaptational Villainy: Lady Zhen is a tragic lady who's Trapped in Villainy. Azzen'Ka is a tyrannical being who would bury a whole empire as a way to get back at them banishing her. That role still remains even after she has been revamped.

Tropes applying exclusively to Lady Zhen

  • Broken Bird: Lady Zhen is not a happy woman. Her life was shattered the moment she realized her fiancee was pretty much a manipulative Overlord Jr. and the Overlord Sr. (Cao Cao) actually arranged the marriage just so he could take advantage of her own water magic.
  • Color Motif: In her default costume, dark blue.
  • Love Hurts: Does it ever. Lady Zhen's horrible life started because she fell in genuine love and realizing too late about the two-faced fiancee of hers.
  • Making a Splash: Uses water magic due to her historical counterpart's association with the Luo River.
  • Ice Magic Is Water: Her passive allows her to temporarily freeze enemy heroes.
  • Shout-Out: One of her quotes in the globalized version is "Whoever falls in love first is the one who loses." Of course, in case of Lady Zhen, the premise is Played for Drama at her expense.
  • Tragic Ice Character: While her primary element is water, she still counts because Ice Magic Is Water in her case. She's a tragic lady trapped in a loveless marriage that she realized too late.

Tropes applying exclusively to Azzen'Ka

  • Deity of Human Origin: She was once a very human high priest of the Helios Empire. After getting backstabbed, betrayed and having to spend a hundred years of exile, she awakens as a sand deity determined to exact revenge on the humans who exiled her.
  • Expy: Her old wraith design and affiliation with sand are heavily inspired from the sand hero from Heroes of Newerth, Sand Wraith. It was also the name of her ultimate before her revamp.
  • God Save Us from the Queen!: She's practically the iron-fisted Queen-God of Helios Empire and drives the people into suffering as part of her revenge.
  • Insistent Terminology: She never called the Helios Empire by its name but instead calls it 'Solara'. Whether it's an ancient name predating Helios or it's something she made up out of spite remains unknown.
  • Samus Is a Girl: For many years, Azzen'Ka was believed to be a male being due to the deep voice coming from the wraith form. But then, at the tail end of 2025, a model revamp came, and Azzen'Ka is revealed to be a woman beneath the black hood.
  • Sand Blaster: Azzen'Ka specializes in manipulating sands with her magic. In addition, the sands he controls also have petrification power.
  • Un-person: Azzen'Ka became forgotten (hence her old title) for 100 years. After her reveal, it turns out that the Helios Empire buried records about her to cover up how they backstabbed her and threw her away when she ran out of uses, while painting her as a traitorous advisor who got what's coming to her.
  • Tyrant Takes the Helm: Azzen'Ka ruled what remained of the Helios Empire with iron fist as her revenge for her unjust exile.

    Liang & Aleister 

Liang

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hok_zhangliang_350x441.png
"Words are the most powerful magic of all."
Title: Tomemaster
Original Name: Zhang Liang (张良)
Other Names: Tomemaster
Faction: Riverlands, Han
Original Information: Based on Zhang Liang, a legendary strategist born in the Qin Dynasty era and one of the few people to survive being hunted down by Emperor Qin Shi Huang after attempting to assassinate him (as opposed to Jing Ke and Gao Jianli). Afterwards, he learned about strategy from the Six Secret Teachings authored by Ziya.

After the Qin Dynasty changed its emperor and fell in favor of the people, Zhang Liang became acquainted with Liu Bang and agreed to help him rebel. Afterwards, he became one of the "Three Heroes of Early Han Dynasty" as Liu Bang's main strategist and brought him victory against not only the Qin Dynasty, but also in the Chu-Han Contention against Xiang Yu.

As Liu Bang started his reign, Zhang Liang then realized that Liu Bang was the type to backstab even his allies, and his fellow hero, Han Xin, paid the price with his life. Afterwards, Zhang Liang feigned illness and retired, dying in anonymity so Liu Bang couldn't track him down.

In-game Bio: Liang is a gifted scholar who learned under the sage Ziya. But rather than learning pure sorcery, he modified Ziya's teaching into his own branch of magic called Power Word. Impressed and seeing potential with this, Ziya sends him to a mission to take down the Dark Master lurking in the Riverlands.

Liang sees two potentials of the Dark Master: The two rising warlords Liu Bang and Xiang Yu. However, due to him being out of touch in the world, Liang ends up being so hungry he can't even move. Liu Bang is the first to reach out to him and gives him food and shelter, so Liang decides to join him. However, he will soon find out that this supposed 'ally' is much more unscrupulous than the sweet words he offered...

Aleister

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aov_aleister_350x441.jpg
"We shall disrupt the wheel of fate together." Click for his old design
Title: The Lord of Mischief
Voiced by: Jack Dillon (EN), Maximillian Reid (EN, old), Yutaka Aoyama (JP)
Faction: Lokheim

Former member of Veda, possibly a close friend of Yorn, and Tulen's teacher. Aleister was a genius, but he lacked the strong will and good heart that Veera, Volkath, and the Lokheim demonstrated for more power, so Aleister quickly betrayed Veda and willingly joined Lokheim. He used his brilliance, accompanied with extreme smugness, to wreak havoc upon the members of Veda. He nearly trapped Yorn in the Abyss forever and also attacked Lauriel's domain for his own experiments, temporarily driving her away until she had unexpected help from Afata. Even if he is aligned with Volkath, Aleister is keenly watching the flow until their goals no longer align, and he'll side with whatever side can offer him more.

Kit

Liang & Aleister are Mage heroes excelling in setting up traps to their enemies with both words and trickery.

  • Their passives are:
    • Power Word: Trance for Liang
    • Wicked Plot for Aleister
      • The passives are meant to eventually grant Liang & Aleister the chance to deal true damage. However, the applications are different: Aleister simply needs to place Curse marks by hitting his enemies with his skills. After placing three marks, they all explode to deal true damage. Liang needs to hit his enemies twice in a span of 1.5 seconds. The period between is called 'Continuous Attack' state, and for every 1.2 seconds of this state, he deals an additional true damage.
  • Their first skills are:
    • Power Word: Barrier for Liang
    • Magic Barrier for Aleister
      • Liang & Aleister set up a line of barriers on a line in front of them; those who pass the line will be damaged and stunned, and afterwards slow down the victim walking away from it. Aleister's barrier is a ground lightning and stays there, and only hits once per hero. Liang's barrier is four square walls lined together. One wall will vanish if it comes into contact with an enemy hero, but if the hero hits another wall, they will only be slowed and take half damage.
  • Their second skills are:
    • Power Word: Fate for Liang
    • Matrix of Woe for Aleister
      • Liang & Aleister create a circle that continuously deals magic damage to those who come into that area. Aleister generates lightning within the circle, while Liang sets up a magical book stand that continuously fires bullets to those who come near it, and he can set up two stands at once. He also gains movement speed when he comes within his circle.
  • Their ultimates are:
    • Power Word: Control for Liang
    • Magic Prison for Aleister
      • Liang & Aleister channels and instantly traps a single enemy within a magical prison, continuously dealing damage while suppressing them, which means they cannot be cleansed by any other means, except interrupting Liang & Aleister's channeling. Liang leaves behind a magical circle that deals damage to anyone who comes to it once he's done with his spell. Aleister has a chance to gain CC-Immunity and damage reduction when using the spell, but only if he traps Tulen in the spell.

Tropes applying to both

  • Adaptational Jerkass: And Adaptational Villainy as well. Aleister not only is more self-serving and willingly goes along to Lokheim, he's also much more of a smug prick compared to the calm and not-too-villainous Liang.
  • No Saving Throw: Once caught in their ultimate, there's absolutely no escape unless Liang & Aleister stop their chanting. They can be forced to, at least.
  • Trap Master: Their traps are not exactly visible. However, their magic specializes in turning an area to a danger zone that can deal damage and stun enemies for a good time. Additionally, their ultimates are the ultimate inescapable trap magic where nothing breaks their ultimate except direct interruption.

Tropes applying exclusively to Liang

  • Barely Changed Dub Name: His surname of Zhang is omitted, so he just goes by Liang in the global version.
  • Horrible Judge of Character: He decides to ally with Liu Bang because he gives him food when he's very hungry. Enhanced with how Liang is very gullible about the way the world works due to being so engrossed with his studies, he does not realize that Liu Bang is actually a duplicitous asshole.
  • The Smart Guy: One of the smartest men in the setting. He's not only Ziya's student who devises his own magic, but he's also the main strategist of Liu Bang.
  • Words Can Break My Bones: Liang's branch of magic is about turning words into a potent magic force.

Tropes applying exclusively to Aleister

  • Ambiguous Gender: Aleister was originally conceived as 100% male, but after his own art and model update, he's got a more feminine model and then a female-ish voice (still provided by a male actor). This makes you question whether he is still a man or actually transgender. It's still unclear in general.
  • Cross-Dressing Voice: Subverted. His new voice makes him sound like an old woman, but is actually provided by the male Jack Dillon. Regardless, it makes him even creepier.
  • Evil Laugh: He has a lot of it. Just so you know that he's a prick.
  • Evil Teacher: He used to be Tulen's teacher. Not only does he mistreat Tulen out of fear of surpassing him, Aleister turns out to be without any moral compass.
  • Expy: With penchant of trickery and considering his old design, you might not be quite surprised that he could be inspired by the Trickster God Loki (both the original myth and Marvel interpretation)
  • Face–Heel Turn: He used to be a member of Veda, but he's easily tempted by Lokheim's power and betrays them just as easily. While Veda actually has a seedier, hypocritical side, that has nothing to do with Aleister's reasons for defecting. He's just power-hungry.
  • Insufferable Genius: He's got a brilliant mind, sure. He'll never stop yapping about it and how everyone else is stupider than him. His voice update makes him more subdued about it.
  • It's All About Me: He is completely self-absorbed and acts only for his own benefit. Loyalty with Veda or Lokheim? Pfft. Whoever can give the greatest power to him will get his services.
  • Named After Somebody Famous: Aleister, a powerful mage character, was named after the famous English occultist Aleister Crowley. It's a common practice to name a powerful magic-based character after the latter.
  • Shock and Awe: He used to be Veda's go-to person to manage thunder and lightning, before Tulen replaced him. As such, most of his skills utilize lightning.
  • Smug Snake: He is extremely smug and likes to draw out just how screwed up his targets are. His successes, however, tend to be temporary: Yorn got out of his trap that was designed to trap him forever, and Lauriel managed to get help from Peura/Payna to drive him away.
  • Vocal Evolution: He used to have a smug-as-hell and punchable voice, but after his rework, he suddenly sounds more subdued in how he's going to screw you over... and also sounds like a woman (despite being voiced by a new male actor), giving him a creepier feel. His Japanese voice stayed the same smug, punchable one, however.

    Mi Yue & Marja 

Mi Yue (芈月)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hok_miyue_350x441.png
"To capture youth, is to touch eternity."
Title: Raveness, The Eternal Moon (永恒之月)
Faction: Yong

Original Information: Based on Queen Dowager Xuan of Qin Dynasty, sometimes known as either Mi Bazi or Mi Yue. She reigned as a regent for her son and practically held the de facto power of her State of Chu for 35 years. This made her one of the earliest women to become a regent and to hold massive political influence in China.

In-game bio: For years, Mi Yue has desired power within the court of Yong. After spending years surviving the strife of being a harem lady, she finally reached her goals, becoming the Queen Mother of Yong. However, the time spent did a number to her looks.

Knowing that her power and looks would fade away in an instant, Mi Yue becomes desperate to keep her youthful look. Thankfully, she receives a tribute with the member of the Blood Clan, Xu Fu, in the form of a potion of eternal youth. One sip, and Mi Yue returns to her prime age. For that, Mi Yue grants Xu Fu an asylum that protects him from whatever atrocities he's committing, under the guise that he's experimenting with how to keep Mi Yue's look.

Over time, however, Xu Fu's latter elixirs end up having shorter durations. After showing an impressive experiment where he transforms Bai Qi from a normal young man into a powerful warrior, he just vanishes while mysterious people assault the palace. Mi Yue is having none of it; there's no way she'll let go of her dreams of keeping her power in the palace with her youth...

Marja

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aov_marja_350x441.jpg
"Grovel before your queen!"
Title: Ash Weaver
Voiced by:
Faction: Lokheim

Marja was once one of Edras' brightest pupils in Veda. However, her life was set on a tragic course when she fell in love with Volkath. Volkath experimented with the power of the Abyss and eventually rebelled and killed Edras. Marja, torn between duty and love, ended up doing nothing and letting Volkath do whatever he wanted. Acknowledging this, Volkath granted her a piece of his soul to remember him by as he departed to the Abyss and formed Lokheim. The Veda does not take such inaction kindly, treating it as a betrayal, and the new leader that succeeded Edras was Ilumia, once her love rival for Volkath. Abusing her position and driven by her own envy that Marja was the most favored by Volkath, Ilumia sentenced her to an eternal imprisonment surrounded by Shadow Worms that devoured her. However, Volkath's soul instead bent the Shadow Worms to Marja's own will, turning them into her own weapons. Marja then used her newfound power to follow Volkath into Lokheim, becoming one of the Lords there, and resurrect Volkath after he was killed by Tel'Annas.

Kit

Mi Yue & Marja are sustain-based Mage heroes, capable of draining enemies' health away while slinking away to safety. For this, they can duke it out with fighters in the Clash/Slayer lane.

  • Their passives are:
    • Eternal Youth for Mi Yue
    • Abyssal Might for Marja
      • When Mi Yue & Marja cast a skill, they summons a Shadow Servant (basically dark magical crows/ravens, and that's what Marja calls her Shadow Worms as). The Shadow Servant sticks around them and will attack nearby enemies over time, dealing damage to enemies, more damage for minions, less damage to jungle monsters, and heals Mi Yue & Marja. Summoning a Shadow Servant fills their Shadow Power bar, which increases their movement speed and healing effect. They can have up to 6 Shadow Servants. The Shadow Power diminishes over time, and once the Shadow Power is depleted, all Shadow Servants vanish one by one.
  • Their first skills are:
    • Dark Transfer for Mi Yue
    • Dark Pulse for Marja
      • Mi Yue & Marja shoot out a dark energy in the shape of a crow, which deals damage to enemies that get hit with it. They can recast the skill to teleport to the crow's location, deal additional damage and summon one Shadow Servant.
  • Their second skills are:
    • Ravenous Tether for Mi Yue
    • Soul Devourer for Marja
      • Mi Yue & Marja send out a dark line that links itself to the first enemy it hits for 4 seconds. For every half a second, the link will stack increasing debuffs of lowering the target's speed, physical and magical power, draining the target's HP for her. If the enemies walk too far from them, the link is broken. If Mi Yue & Marja can maintain the link until the end of its natural duration, they summon a Shadow Servant. Passively, Mi Yue & Marja's basic attacks are strengthened, causing extra magic damage and slowing down enemies while gaining 10 points of their Shadow Power bar.
  • Their ultimates are:
    • Umbral Moon for Mi Yue
    • Ghostwalk for Marja
      • Mi Yue & Marja turn into a phantom, gaining complete immunity (and being untargetable) while increasing their movement speed. After awhile, they exit their phantom state and deal damage to their surrounding enemies. Once they exit the phantom state, they summon a Shadow Servant.

Tropes applying to both

  • Achilles' Heel: As sustain mages, they have one thing they excel at, allowing them to tank: self-healing. If they're hit with multiple antiheals, then not even Mi Yue's passive or Marja's ultimate can sustain them for long.
  • Adaptational Heroism: Surprisingly, Marja actually looks tamer than Mi Yue. She is at least a Tragic Villain who only becomes evil because she was screwed hard with Ilumia. Mi Yue never goes through such a tragedy, and yet she's already obsessed with keeping her power and youth, while enabling other atrocities that Xu Fu did. Just as long as she gets to enjoy her eternal youth...
  • Casting a Shadow: Their specialty is dark shadow magic: Mi Yue from her natural spellcasting, Marja from her Shadow Worms.
  • Dark Is Evil: They are both evil ladies who practice dark magic. Mi Yue has been like that since day one, but Marja used to be a devout student of light magic, but after much more betrayal, she decided not to just use Dark Is Not Evil; she'll use those new Shadow Worms as a tool of destruction and revenge.
  • Mechanically Unusual Class: They are supposed to be mages, but they are so tanky that they're actually encouraged to go up front and drain the front line heroes out of their health. Just be careful of anti-heals...
  • No-Sell: During their ultimates, they become invulnerable against anything. The damage is dealt in activation and ending phases.

Tropes applying exclusively to Mi Yue

  • Animal Motifs: Crows and ravens are the shape of her Shadow Servant, her official title in the Global version is also 'The Raveness' (Female raven), and her garb looks like it has a lot of crow/raven feathers adorned on it. Her Mythic skin replaces the crows and ravens with the Divine Phoenix.
  • Art Evolution: One of the heroines to get visual overhauls, she goes from a stereotypical succubus, but toned down to a Chinese-styled goth with a more (or less) refined outfit.
  • Color Motif: In her default costume, purple with accents of black and crimson. It's also to show that she's at best neglectful, at worst malicious.
  • Composite Character: The original Queen Dowager Xuan never had stories about her trying to look for some sort of elixir of youth or immortality. Such stories are usually attributed to Qin Shi Huangdi. In Honor of Kings, however, Mi Yue is the one who's obsessed with staying young like an immortal, while Zheng (fellow ruler of Yong, and the one based on Qin Shi Huangdi) never put any priorities about becoming immortal.
  • Crutch Character: Mi Yue's overwhelming sustain makes her a terror in the early game, but she falls off quite hard when late game starts.
  • Dragon Lady: The cast of Honor of Kings are majorly Chinese, but by far, Mi Yue is the most malicious female ruler amongst the Chinese heroes in the game. She even makes the ruthless and ambitious Wu Zetian look like a saint, as she is completely selfish without any ulterior motives. In fact, Wu Zetian got imprisoned in a temple because the Chang'an court heard about Mi Yue and thought it'd be bad news to emulate Mi Yue.
  • Femme Fatale: She possesses quite the sex appeal and allure, but is more likely to plot for her target's downfall.
  • God Save Us from the Queen!: While not actively malicious, Mi Yue can be very ignorant for a queen, turning a blind eye to the atrocities Xu Fu does because she just wants to stay forever young.
  • It's All About Me: Despite being a ruler of her own right, Mi Yue is very self-absorbed, only wanting to stay young and keeping the power of the ruling court to herself.
  • Lady of Black Magic: She is a powerful sorceress in addition to being a ruling queen. She also specializes in dark shadow magic, just to show that she's bad news.
  • Ms. Fanservice: It's worth noting that she was previously designed as a succubus. After her Art Evolution, she's now wearing an elegant courtesan dress that shows off her bare, impressive thighs.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: It's implied that she is at least a bit remorseful with how her actions damaged the palace of Yong. She can only look at the coronation of her successor after she's deposed, Zheng, from far away with a longing, slightly regretful look. Instead of wrestling for power once again, she slinks into the shadows, leaving Yong with its successor while she hunts down Xu Fu for retribution.
  • Never Mess with Granny: While she looks like a mommy, she is actually a GRANDMOTHER. She only looks young because of drinking the elixir of youth.
  • Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Because of her obsession with eternal youth, Xu Fu gets a lot of leeways to wreak havoc in Primaela, and the first victims of Bai Qi's transformation and rampage are her own men in Yong palace.
  • Vain Sorceress: A late middle-aged Empress Dowager that still has a strong hand in ruling the kingdom with powerful magic. But because she is obsessed with keeping her power by keeping herself youthful, she commissions the elixir of youth by Xu Fu, de-aging her to her prime, and then she becomes addicted.

Tropes applying exclusively to Marja

  • Artwork and Game Graphics Segregation: After Marja is revamped to match with Mi Yue, she switches from using her grotesque Shadow Worms into ravens to match with Mi Yue. The official artwork and lore still show her using the Shadow Worms. With magic involved, it can be implied that Marja simply makes her Shadow Worms disguise themselves as ravens.
  • Betrayal by Inaction: Marja did nothing to stop Volkath from killing Edras because of her love. This marks her as an accomplice and then gets her punished.
  • Fallen Angel: Downplayed. Marja's story is a classic tale of how a beautiful angel fell from grace. But once she became a Lokheim Lord, none of her angel features remained. Then again, so did Maloch and Veera.
  • Love Hurts: It's been stated repeatedly that Marja's fate is sealed the moment she falls in love with Volkath, but she doesn't regret it.
  • Love Triangle: More than a triangle, she used to compete for Volkath's attention with three ladies, against Ilumia and Kahlii. Marja is the clear winner.
  • Navel-Deep Neckline: Her Divine Fire Crystal skin, whose dress's neckline plunges to her navel.
  • Tragic Villain: She became a willing Lokheim Lord because she was torn between love and duty, and then Ilumia decided to show why she's a bitchy goddess.
  • Unholy Matrimony: She and Volkath genuinely love each other, and they set out to wreak havoc in the world that rejected them and considered their passion forbidden.

    Milady & Goverra 

Milady (米莱狄)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hok_milady_350x441.png
"The pinnacle of progress is to command both the natural and the artificial, in harmony."
Title: The Governess, Mechaboss
Faction: Navenia

Original Information: Milady is an original character to Honor of Kings

In-game Bio: The consul and de facto leader of Navenia. On the outside, Milady looks like a refined, if a bit stern and cold, noblewoman. However, she hides the fact that she has been afflicted with a curse of crystalization that not only affects her, but will also affect the whole region of Navenia, her domain. She is desperate to lift the curse for her and her people, and will take any action, no matter how cruel it makes her, to break the curse. She commands mechanical constructs controlled with her own magic, all to strike her enemies or observe the movements of anyone she suspects to be a threat.

Goverra

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aov_goverra_r.png
"From now on, I will control the situation."
Title: Mecha Commander
Faction: Free Federation

Goverra is the eldest daughter of the Videl family of the Free Federation, but she is excluded from family matters and has to witness her incompetent younger brothers ruin the image of the family's military industry. She joins the Federal Guards to prove her worth, but it turns out to be staged by Shadow Hand's Veres, whom her brothers have connections with, resulting in a fatal ambush that severely injured Goverra. She is taken to Cassel to recover via surgery and modification. Her efforts to prove her worth have a good side effect: she ends up being recognized as the would-be savior of the Free Federation and Videl Industry. With her back in action, she establishes the Videl Arsenal on her own and secures many projects and government trusts. After realizing that somehow the press media took her death as something minor and focused more on orders, projects, and the 'mysterious organization' that funds the Videl Industry, Goverra decides to take back the industry and rule it on her own terms.

Kit

Milady & Goverra are tower-wrecking Mage heroes who summon mechanical minions to swarm their enemies (especially towers) while providing long-range support.

  • Their passives are:
    • Mechanical Minions for Milady
    • Mechanoid Legion for Goverra
      • If a unit dies near Milady/Goverra, they instantly summon their own mechanical minions that can attack nearby enemies. These mechanical minions will expire after a set amount of time, at which point the expired minion will merge with a nearby minion with the same level and upgrade up to three levels, increasing their attack power and health. Otherwise, the minion will explode and deal damage to nearby enemies.
  • Their first skills are:
    • Air Superiority for Milady
    • Strafe for Goverra
      • Milady & Goverra summon a small aircraft to fly and bombard enemies on a line, dealing damage over time to those standing below it. If they recast this skill (as long as the aircraft hasn't reached the end of its range), the aircraft splits in two and flies in a different direction, covering more range, until they reunite and resume their unified path.
  • Their second skills are:
    • Forced Invasion for Milady
    • Air Assault for Goverra.
      • Milady & Goverra manually summon their mechanical minions (from their passive) from the sky to an area. Enemies in the drop area receive damage. However, the mechanical minions dropped this way are only activated after a short delay. Milady & Goverra can store up to 3 stacks of this skill.
  • Their ultimates are:
    • Chaos Field for Milady
    • Deadly Payload for Goverra
      • Milady & Goverra target an enemy or structure with a marker. Non-structure units get briefly stunned first, and after a few seconds, the enemies take a number of damage proportional to the damage taken while they're marked. If there's a mechanical minion near the target, it gets briefly enhanced with extra attack power, movement speed, and HP. If the marked target dies, 3 minions will be summoned immediately.

Tropes applying to both

  • The Baroness: Both of them come close enough as a Sexpot type: Certainly not old enough to be called unattractive, and they also dabble in a more gray area than completely dark. To further this, they walk in a classy, noble baroness manner with their canes.
  • Eyepatch of Power: Their eyepatches showcase how they're the boss of their own factions (Navenia and Free Federation). Milady has an additional reason for hiding certain parts of her curse.
  • The Minion Master: Their mechanical constructs can be summoned en masse and easily swarm their targets without them having to directly attack their enemies. They're known as a great tower demolisher for this.

Tropes applying exclusively to Milady

  • Foil: In a crossover manner, thanks to Allain crossing over, Milady serves as this to Quillen. Both put Allain under their services when he's without memories, but...
    • Milady looks cold, domineering, and stern but is at least fair and treats Allain well and like a human being. Generally, Allain has a good time when serving under Milady.
    • Quillen looks affable as a politician, but underneath that, he's utterly ruthless and racist. He treats Allain like just a pawn for his goals and encourages actions that will make him lose his humanity. Tellingly, it doesn't take a memory recovery for Allain to desert Quillen.

Tropes applying exclusively to Goverra

  • Revenge: Goverra has a special enmity against Veres, who manipulates her to enter that ambush that nearly costs her life.

    Mozi & Gildur 

Mozi (墨子)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hok_mozi_350x441.png
"Survival is the greatest challenge!"
Title: The Sage of Peace, Peacekeeper, The Observer of Peace (和平守望)
Other name: Peacekeeper
Faction: Jixia Academy

Original Information: Mozi is one of the premiere scholars in Ancient China. He founded the school of Mohism, which serves as a counterpoint against Confucianism and Daoism. While his teachings gained popularity during the Warring States period, it fell out of favor during the Qin Dynasty thanks to Qin Shi Huang's book-burning activity, and Confucianism being the main teaching in the Han Dynasty.

In-game bio: When Fuzi set up the Jixia Academy, there's a youth named Mo Di who expresses the desire to revive the ancient arts of machinery from the past. His intelligence shines with the assistance of Fuzi, where he successfully revives the ancient arts of machinery and mecha-building. For that, he is honored as one of the three sages of Jixia Academy and is christened with a new name: Mozi.

Mozi doesn't stop there, though. His next project is the construction of the massive city known as Chang'an, which becomes one of the biggest, most popular cities in the world. However, the city often finds themselves under siege, ruining his work. Unable to stand for this, Mozi disregards his age and mounts a mecha he created, acting as the guardian of Chang'an while also finding time to teach more in Jixia Academy.

Gildur

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aov_gildur_new_350x441.png
"I can bench-press 40 gold bars!"Click for his old design
Title: The Golden King
Voiced by: Fumihiko Tachiki (JP)
Faction: Veda

Formerly a man of wealth via his own knowledge and hard work, Gildur lived in the Norman Kingdom under the Dukedom of Bach. But for some reason, the duke banished him and stripped him from his wealth. From that point on, Gildur worked even harder, but with a dash of extra ruthlessness like his business rivals, dreaming to one day retake his land and wealth. He then discovered a loophole that enabled him to get the backing of the Norman Kingdom to eventually have him take over the Dukedom of Bach and reduced the duke into a figurehead ruler. All because he earned so much gold and influence.

Eventually Gildur grows old and realizes that eventually death would claim him and separate him from his wealth. So, he seek a way to become immortal. It just happens that he has contacts with Veda and learns about being an Archon and the benefits of immortality with it. Therefore, Gildur applies to become an Archon of Veda, being tasked to manage the Hall of Wealth, and he gets to keep his wealth... no matter the cost.

Kit

Mozi & Gildur are Mage/Tank heroes (Gildur has his main/sub designation reversed) who are able to dish out damage and keep their enemies stuck in place at the same time, all while being able to take more hits than any other mages.

  • Their passives are:
    • Fight for Peace for Mozi
    • Midas Touch for Gildur
      • Every time they use an ability, Mozi & Gildur gain a shield. In every of their fourth attacks, they deal bonus magical damage and cause knockback in a wide area in front of them.
  • Their first skills are:
    • Peacebringer for Mozi
    • Siege for Gildur
      • Mozi & Gildur dash forward and damage everyone in their paths. After this, their very next attack activates their passives.
  • Their second skills are:
    • Cannon Blast for Mozi
    • Extravagant for Gildur
      • Mozi fires a blast from his cannon while Gildur launches a molten golden ball. They explode on impact with an enemy, causing area damage and stunning everyone caught in this path. Mozi's cannon leaves behind an electric field in the place his bullet exploded, damaging enemies that stay there over time.
  • Their ultimates are:
    • Think Inside the Box for Mozi
    • Indulgence for Gildur
      • Mozi & Gildur channel and summon a box-shaped energy field for Mozi or multiple golden shards that fly around him for Gildur. Gildur's activation is instantaneous and he cannot be interrupted until after 1 second of channeling, while Mozi's box is interruptible at any time, and he needs half a second to set up his box.

Tropes applying to both

  • Adaptational Villainy: Mozi certainly isn't a greedy asshole or a Token Evil Teammate to the Jixia Academy like Gildur. In fact, he's a stalwart guardian of peace, no strings attached.
  • Genius Bruiser: Both of them are towering beings that can definitely take several hits. However, they depend on magic power to lay destruction. Lore-wise, Gildur's a towering, yet crafty man who used his wits to win back his wealth after being stripped from it, and then for good measure, make those responsible (the Dukedom of Bach) pay non-violently (by turning them into his puppet rulers and ruling them from the shadows) for striking against him first. At the same time, Mozi rises up the ranks because of his intelligence and contribution to bring mecha-building to the mainstream.
  • Kamehame Hadoken: Their second skills are delivered by them putting their palms together and launching an explosive projectile.

Tropes applying exclusively to Mozi

  • Humongous Mecha: He's supposed to be riding a big-ass mecha that's about as tall as buildings or even taller. But you'll have a hard time recognizing it because its model is not of the same size.
  • Necessary Fail: Mozi does not eschew fear because it's important for what comes next.
    "Without fear, you'll never have bravery!"
  • Not Drawn to Scale: He's supposed to ride a Humongous Mecha, but since it'll be a hassle to model him to be so toweringly huge compared to the rest of the cast, his model makes the mecha looks like it shrunk to around 1/50 size.

Tropes applying exclusively to Gildur

  • Expy: Of the mythological King Midas, while his old model is based on the hero Midas from Heroes of Newerth'.
  • Greed: Defines Gildur, pretty much. He's the type that after being offered a taste of power, feels like he wants more. And then he realized the potential of the religious life of Veda.
  • Immortality Seeker: After being aware of how he's going to die as a mortal and lose his wealth afterwards, Gildur searches for a way to be immortal and not lose the wealth. He finds his solution in becoming an Archon of Veda.
  • Light Is Not Good: He is an Archon of Veda. He commands the bright power of gold. He is also a greedy asshole and shows why Veda isn't as squeaky clean as they presented themselves. For example, Gildur specifically screws over Taara's tribe in order to keep his domain and forces her to succumb to Lokheim's temptations.
  • Pet the Dog: The only good thing he has done is to generously recruit Laville and pay his monthly wages after the latter practically wrecked one of his sources of profits, his casino, allowing Laville to pay the debt of his friend. He could have just condemned Laville into his slave, but Gildur instead prioritizes his potential to be a member of Veda. Though the minor tradeoff is that while Laville shows that he's as talented as Gildur foresaw, he's often considered 'annoying' by a lot of Veda members.
  • Screw the Rules, I Have Money!:
    • King having authorities? Veda having bureaucracy and a rank-climbing system for more influence? Screw those. Gildur flashes his massive gold collection, and then he gets all of them at once.
    • In his newer lore, this is actually a plot point: Gildur got the backing of the Norman Kingdom for his revenge against the Dukedom of Bach because he promised that he'll pay the Norman Kingdom an extremely high amount of tax via his own hard work. It worked.
  • Slouch of Villainy: In his opening animation, he used his own gold power to create a throne for him to sit on while putting his cheek on his fist, similar to most "villains on a throne". Take note that he's doing this while among the ranks of Veda.

    Shangguan & Zata 

Shangguan

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hok_shangguanwaner_350x441.png
"True calligraphers are inspired by the world around them!"
Title: The Calligrapher
Original Name: Shangguan Wan'er (上官婉儿)
Faction: Chang'an

Original Information: Based on the real life adjutant of Wu Zetian, Shangguan Wan'er. She was the granddaughter of Shangguan Li, an official of the Tang dynasty. Her family was abruptly put to death when her grandfather was framed for planning to depose Empress Wu Zetian. Shangguan Wan'er and her mother were spared, but in exchange became slaves to the palace, and yet Shangguan Wan'er never stopped studying. This eventually piqued Wu Zetian's interest who acknowledged her talent. The empress promoted her as her personal secretary and continued to value her talents and advice and tended to avoid executing her. Even after Wu Zetian's deposition, Shangguan Wan'er continued to hold influence within the court of her successor Emperor Zhongzhong, serving as the Imperial Consort that completed most of the administrative tasks. However, after Emperor Zhongzhong's death, Shangguan Wan'er was caught in a succession crisis coup and then was executed by one of its members.

In-game Bio: The granddaughter of a famed calligrapher who used to work as one of Chang'an's officials. However, he was slandered for 'trying to pull a coup' by a part of the royal family who wanted to rebel and was executed, and the surviving family was punished to become palace slaves. Shangguan was 4 years old at the time, and yet she never stopped studying and wishing to exact vengeance and justice against those who wronged her grandfather. Growing up, she continued to have nightmares about murderous flowers, yet she persevered.

With the help of her painter teacher, she earns her place as a right-hand woman and spy for Empress Wu Zetian who's also investigating this supposed 'coup'. As Shangguan travels undercover, she finally uncovered the corrupt officials that caused the disgrace and death of her grandfather and exposed them by giving the proofs to Detective Di Renjie. However, one figure eludes punishment due to lack of concussive proofs even beyond what Shangguan collected: The 'Peony Diviner' Ming. Realizing that she once showed her writing to Ming shortly before her grandfather's execution, Shangguan digs deeper into the case and departs to the Great Wall...

Zata

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aov_zata_350x441.jpg
"My soul is soaring. It cannot be shackled!"
Title: The Shackled Wings
Voiced by: Joe Hernandez (EN)
Faction: Light-Chasers

A member of the Darkwings, Winged Humanoid with black and white wings that was somehow expelled by the World Tree for making a contract with the Abyss. After spending his childhood wandering in constant hunger, Zata's father was able to push through Mt. Orphean and come into contact with the Veda. They didn't trust the Darkwings either, and they placed shackles on Zata's wings to prevent the power of the Abyss from seeping out of him, but they're willing to compromise: If Zata can complete the tasks required to be permitted as a Templar Knight in the holy city, his people can remain. For his people, Zata completed the tasks and was permitted after showing his own pride towards Tulen. As a member of the Light Chasers, Zata now undertakes any tasks assigned to him by the Veda while keeping the corruptive power of the Abyss at bay in order to protect his people.

Kit

Shangguan & Zata are combo-based Mage/Assassin heroes that link their magic with dashes, enabling them to soar and deal massive damage while staying untouched from harm.

  • Their passives are:
    • Piercing Brush for Shangguan
    • Windstorm for Zata
      • Shangguan & Zata's third attacks will always have increased range and damage while also piercing through all targets in line. They can re-trigger this by colliding with her projectile skills while dashing for their ultimates. This action will also reduce the cooldown of their ultimate.
  • Their first skills are:
    • Ink Burst for Shangguan
    • Eagle Screech for Zata
      • Shangguan & Zata launches a projectile (a ball of ink for Shangguan, a wind-powered orb for Zata) that travels in a direction, dealing damage to everyone hit with it. Once it reaches the end of the skill's range, the projectile explodes, dealing damage to those in the area.
  • Their second skills are:
    • Seething Script for Shangguan
    • Twister for Zata
      • Shangguan & Zata summons a magical object (magical paint brush for Shangguan, a tornado for Zata) on a location and they travel back to their casting position, dealing damage to anyone in the travel line. Shangguan's paint brush travels in a zig-zagged motion while Zata's tornado travels in a straight line. These skills can be stored up to two times.
  • Their ultimates are:
    • Finishing Stroke for Shangguan
    • Ascend for Zata
      • When activating this ultimate, Shangguan & Zata's movement is temporarily replaced with a dash. If they collide with an enemy or their own projectile, they can dash again (they also deal damage to the enemies colliding with them). This can happen up to 5 times. After they dashed at least 3-5 times, they will leap to the air for several seconds and become untargetable as they rain down multiple small projectiles (ink drops for Shangguan, dark feathers for Zata) to everyone in the area. They can still move while still in the air. Shangguan can jump any time after she has dashed three times, but the less she has dashed, the less leap duration she will have. Zata initially can only dash three times at maximum, but he can increase the amount of dashes he can execute if he stops and launches his passive's special piercing attack. He stays in the air for the same time regardless of how many dashes he has executed, but he deals more damage if he has dashed more.

Tropes applying to both

  • Boring, but Practical:
    • Ending their ultimates in three dashes is less flashy, but if executing a full combo will instead put them into a risky position, then it is better to just stick with the flight after three dashes.
    • If their ultimate is not connecting, it's just a simple dash. However, it can be used to enhance their escape ability, as the cooldown timer significantly decreases if they don't collide with anything.
    • Their skills, when used as long range magic attacks, can be surprisingly damaging, so they can just opt for a safe 'nuker' option in a team fight rather than jumping into danger for a flashy kill.
  • Combo: This is their bread and butter, as they're basically required to chain his skills together for maximum effect.
  • Damn You, Muscle Memory!: Instead of skill taps like dashes, their ultimate travels with movement controls. So their efficiency is equal to how much you manage your left thumb to execute dashes instead of merely walking.
  • Difficult, but Awesome: In order to get their full damage, they are required to dash and connect to the enemies five times, and if able, stop for a second because every dash-connect will reset their damaging passive. Once that's done, they fly and deal massive damage which can be a death sentence when there's only one target in the area. To get there, serious finger movement practice is required.
  • Gender Flip: They share the S-Dreamer skin, where the skin becomes kind of androgynous. Zata got it first, so when Shangguan got hers, little modification was made and the model was androgynous enough to implement a Gender Flip easily.

Tropes applying exclusively to Shangguan

  • Adaptational Hairstyle Change: Downplayed. While she always ties her hair in a ponytail, her in-game model and splash art depict her as splitting that ponytail in two and putting them on her shoulders. Other side-adaptations, some of them officially endorsed (such as the web animation Is this Honor of Kings?), depict her as keeping her ponytail intact without any splitting.
  • Art Attacker: She wrote a lot of edicts in her time. Therefore, she's using her magical paint to attack you with magical ink and writing strokes.
  • Badass Bookworm: She's equally a studious lady and a devastating mage. Being a bookworm is what elevated her from a slave girl to Wu Zetian's Number Two.
  • Barely Changed Dub Name: The global version removes the 'Wan'er' part of her name, rendering her just 'Shangguan'. This is more likely to avoid her actual name being misused.
  • Color Motifs: In her default costume, the combo of black and white. Also pretty symbolic to her as a secretary that uses black ink on white paper a lot.
  • Lady of Black Magic: Shangguan's paint and ink are imbued with magic, hence her designation as a mage. Additionally, she's a classy lady who always retains an air of grace and elegance while painting magical words of destruction in the battlefield.
  • Last-Name Basis: Shangguan is actually her family name, as that's how her grandfather is referred as. Her given name remains obscured, as the game refuses to call her 'Wan'er'.
  • Revenge: Aside from serving Wu Zetian, Shangguan is driven with how she wants those causing her grandfather to be unjustly executed (Wu Zetian wasn't involved this time) to pay for their crimes. In her written story, she managed to present the case to Di Renjie (the resident judge/detective) to be a mostly successful one, and she intends to expose the one that eludes her: Ming.
  • Warrior Poet: There's a considerable, yet set, delay in her quotes (at least in the Chinese version), meaning that her quotes are mostly poems. In real life, Shangguan Wan'er was also a poet in addition to a secretary.

Tropes applying exclusively to Zata

  • Blow You Away: A lot of wind imagery comes within his skill set, in addition to summoning a literal tornado.
  • Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: Forms this dynamic with Teeri, as they teamed up in Teeri's intro story and they have a dialogue together as allies or friends (moreso than fellow Light Chaser members). Zata is something of an 'edgelord', while Teeri is a cheery, kindhearted girl.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: Despite the dark power from the Abyss and generally being a semi-edgelord, Zata is a servant of Light that fights for the protection of his clan.
  • Winged Humanoid: He is a Darkwing, so he has one blue and one dark wing.

    Wang Zhaojun & Diao Chan 

Wang Zhaojun (王昭君)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hok_wangzhaojun_350x441.png
"Have the plum trees in my hometown bloomed?"
Title: The Frozen Beauty, Princess Frost, The Frost and the Snow (冰雪之华)
Other Names: (Princess) Frost, Zhaojun
Faction: Chonokh (Northern Realm)

Original Information: A legendary beauty that was said to have the looks to distract birds to forget flapping their wings and dropping them from flying. Born as a beautiful and yet intelligent girl, Wang Zhaojun was handpicked as a harem candidate for Emperor Yuan of Han. Confident in her own beauty, she refused to bribe the artist Mao Yanshou to enhance her picture with even greater beauty, and feeling insulted, Mao instead added a mole to Wang Zhaojun's picture, making her look uglier and dismissed by the Emperor, reducing her to a lady-in-waiting. Later on, the Xiongnu tribe prince Huhanye requested to be an imperial son-in-law, but the Emperor refused to give up his own concubine and instead asked the plainest girl to be given over and Wang Zhaojun accepted. Finally revealing herself to the Emperor, he finally realized Zhaojun's true beauty and was too late to prevent her departure to Xiongnu, only able to retaliate by executing Mao Yanshou for tricking him. Regardless, Wang Zhaojun lived a content life within Xiongnu, being involved with its politics briefly while marrying Huhanye until he died, and was told to stay in Xiongnu instead of returning home to China, a proposal she accepted. Her tale was picked up in many Peking operas and she stands as the second of the Four Beauties of Ancient China, along with Xi Shi, Diaochan, and Yang Yuhuan (also known as Yang Guifei).

In-game Bio: The Central Plains have been on a constant siege against the northern warrior tribe of Chonokh. To appease that with a treaty, they sent a beautiful princess: Wang Zhaojun. Taken to their home at the Winter Ocean, Wang Zhaojun was offered as a bride to their tribal deity in hopes that the deity would come down to protect them. With that, her life force was taken and she was put in deep sleep, encased in a coffin of ice.

The Chonokh ended up not enjoying their peace for long as other tribes, including the Central Plains themselves, broke their treaty and slaughtered the people of Chonokh especially during their sacred wedding day, and then they planned to raid the burial grounds. In that very time, Wang Zhaojun awakened. Imbued with the power of ice, she laid waste to the raiders and was greeted back by the people of Chonokh as their official guardian.

Henceforth, she claims her title: Princess Frost. Despite the sorrow in her eyes, she has taken it upon herself to protect the people of Chonokh, but still hopes to go home and revisit her homeland one day.

Diao Chan (Arena of Valor)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aov_diao_chan_350x441.jpg
"I harness the frosty winds!"Click for her old design
Title: The Crystal Lotus
Voiced by: Satomi Sato (JP)
Faction: N/A (Wandering from Dragon Kingdom)

Diao Chan is a daughter of a mage/pulse master in feudal Dragon Kingdom, mastering the ice-based pulse magic granted by the Andura Stone. She grew up in a time of chaos where the princes of the kingdoms fought against each other and embroiling the land with war, and the people suffered because of it. Her father sheltered many victims of war and taught them pulse magic, with Diao Chan mastering the ice-based one. However, the princes found out about this and had her father killed.

Afterwards, Diao Chan continued her father's legacy in secret, teaching pulse magic to the people, while offering her services as a mediator for the princes as her cover. Her breakout chance arrived in form of the adopted son of Prince Fa Niu, the strongest of the princes. The son's name is Lu Bu. Diao Chan told him the truth about the ruthless princes and enabled him to rebel and kill Fa Niu, triggering a big revolution which left the Dragon Kingdom freed from the grip of the princes, ushering a new age of freedom. Fa Niu's death also let out the power of dragon within him, showered to both Diao Chan and Lu Bu, turning them immortal.

As the Dragon Kingdom enjoyed its newfound freedom, Diao Chan and Lu Bu secluded themselves in a secret area, working behind the scenes to protect and influence the Kingdom's course, while becoming soulmates.

Kit

Wang Zhaojun & Diao Chan (Arena of Valor) are mage heroes specializing in ice magic, stopping or slowing down enemies while delivering icy death on them, completely controlling the battlefield.

  • Their passives are:
    • Frozen Heart for Wang Zhaojun
    • Ice Queen for Diao Chan
      • Wang Zhaojun & Diao Chan automatically conjure a Frost Shield for themselves which can cancel out one attack. If they haven't taken any damage or crowd control effects in a while, it also gives them a second of damage and crowd control resistance. Their third normal attack also will send out three small icicles to their target for additional damages.
  • Their first skills are:
    • Shattered Ice for Wang Zhaojun
    • Chilling Frost for Diao Chan
      • Wang Zhaojun & Diao Chan create an icy explosion to an area, dealing damage and slowing everyone around it.
  • Their second skills are:
    • Frigid Prison for Wang Zhaojun
    • Diamond Dust for Diao Chan
      • Wang Zhaojun & Diao Chan mark a circular area with magic. After a delay, everyone in the area is frozen and takes damage.
  • Their ultimates are:
    • Winter Is Here for Wang Zhaojun
    • Blizzard for Diao Chan
      • Wang Zhaojun & Diao Chan summon an ice storm to cover a large area of their choice, dealing continuous damage and slowing every enemy within.

Tropes applying to both

  • An Ice Person: They are considered the chief 'ice mage' hero archetype of their games, following the example of Crystal Maiden. As such their job is to freeze and slow enemies with ice magic.
  • Divergent Character Evolution: Originally, their moveset is a bit too close to Crystal Maiden, including having to channel for their ultimate and having the ice storm happen around them. Since this becomes a hassle, they undergo a revamp where their ult can be cast somewhere else outside the center of themselves and no longer needing to channel. Wang Zhaojun's divergence came first before Diao Chan's.
  • Expy: Their set is a lot more based on Crystal Maiden, since they have the area freeze blast as well as a disabler-damage skill and their ultimate rains down a blizzard in an area. They diverge a bit later, but the element is still there.

Tropes applying exclusively to Wang Zhaojun

  • Blue Means Cold, Color Motif: Is dressed in blue and white to reflect her ice powers. This contrasts with most available paintings of Wang Zhaojun, which depict her in red clothing.note 
  • Deep Sleep: For a very long time after being taken to the Winter Ocean, Wang Zhaojun is put in deep slumber and never to wake up... until her burial grounds were about to get desecrated and her new people being threatened. Afterwards, she stays awake all the time instead of sleeping again until the next threat comes knocking.
  • Exposed to the Elements: Despite all of her ice-conjuring and generally hailing from a snowy area, Wang Zhaojun has no problems and makes no comment on how her outfit bares her shoulders and back. Looks like the cold never bothered her anyway.
    • Exaggerated in her old design, with her wearing a two-piece.
  • Guardian Entity: The ritual of Winter Ocean turns Wang Zhaojun into a ice-powered guardian entity who protects the Chonokh in time of need.
  • Human Sacrifice: She got her life sacrificed for the deity of Chonokh, but in return, she can come Back from the Dead with deadly ice magic whenever the Chonokh tribe is in peril.
  • Tragic Ice Character: Aside of being part of the Four Beauties of Ancient China, where having a tragic life is practically the second primary requirement after being drop dead gorgeous, Wang Zhaojun's ice powers also signify that she still had it rough in this verse: Taken away from her original homeland, getting sacrificed and put into a deep sleep, not being able to go home often, and having absolutely no significant person to converse and relate with. She really leads a lonely life being an ice maiden.
  • World's Most Beautiful Woman: As she is based on Wang Zhaojun, she is one of the Four Beauties of Ancient China along with Xi Shi, Yang Yuhuan (Yang Guifei), and Diaochan.

Tropes applying exclusively to Diao Chan (Arena of Valor)

  • Adaptational Jerkass: In her original voice set, she's much more confident, ruthless, and haughty, a Proud Beauty who expects others to bow to her beauty. After she gets a voice set update, she tones down her haughtiness and becomes more secluded and mythical, closer to her original self.
  • Adaptational Job Change: Diao Chan in the novels is a dancer. Diao Chan in Arena of Valor is instead a seer-like mage with an interest in reading. While there's no indication that the novel version is Book Dumb, she certainly does not dabble in reading too many books.
  • Badass Bookworm: She’s an avid reader and offers to read her favorite book. Well, that is, if one can survive her barrage of ice magic...
  • Buxom Beauty Standard: Diao Chan is a voluptuous beauty worthy of being one of China's great beauties. One of her old 'selected' quotes was reminding the player My Eyes Are Up Here, and for a good reason as all her outfits expose a lot of cleavage.
  • Calling Your Attacks: She occasionally calls out the names of her skills, and for the most part, she can be accurate in calling the proper skill names, although she has alternate attack calls for Chilling Frost and Blizzard: Icy Radiance and Absolute Zero respectiely.
  • Cleavage Window: Her dress has a chest opening that displays her cleavage.
  • Lady of Black Magic: She is an elegant lady who uses ice magic to control the battlefield. Lore-wise, she has learned more magic, but she prefers ice magic in combat.
  • Ms. Fanservice: She's an attractive lady that shows off some of her breasts, and they're quite huge. Not to mention that the Summer Goddess skin has her in nothing but a bikini. Considering that she is based on one of China's great beauties, it comes as no surprise.
  • My Eyes Are Up Here: One of her old 'selected' quotes, and for a good reason: She's got a pair of nice racks that are rather visible thanks to her clothes.
  • Official Couple: With Lu Bu, just like the original source, even if there were story changes.
  • Pink Means Feminine: After her lore and art update, she gets pinkier clothes and pink hair. In the same time, her light femininity is put on greater emphasis rather than being a proud and haughty beauty.

    Wu Zetian & Ilumia 

Wu Zetian (武则天)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hok_wuzetian_350x441.png
"You shall refer to me as Her Majesty, the Empress!"
Title: The Empress
Faction: Chang'an

Original Information: The only empress in the history of Imperial China. Wu Zetian began as a young concubine of the revered Emperor Tang Taizong, before eventually betrothed to the next emperor, Gaozhong. Due to his sickly stature despite his sagely rule, Wu Zetian showed her savvy and ruthless side, gaining power on her own until she effectively became the person with most power in the ruling court. She deposed her own son Zhongzhong and temporarily replaced the Tang Dynasty with her own Zhou Dynasty. She's known for her extremely ruthless method for dealing with her oppositions, but it was known that she secured an age of peace and stability while promoting both meritocracy, women emancipation and gender equality. After she made a mistake of bringing the Zhang brothers into her court during her old age, a coup was staged and Wu Zetian handed over her rulership to Zhongzhong, bringing the Tang Dynasty back while she passed away in retirement.

In-game bio: At the age of 14, Wu Zetian grows into a talented mage and makes it to the court of Chang'an by flattering the officials. But due to their previous experience with Mi Yue, they become suspicious of her and instead imprisons Wu Zetian inside a temple.

While cursing at the unfair treatment, Wu Zetian is approached by an old sage, Ziya. He tells her about her grand fate in the future and offers to teach her further magic in order to prevent the arrival of the Dark Master and destroy the ferali.

In accordance to Ziya's plan, the emperor of Chang'an pays a visit to the temple, falls in love with Wu Zetian, and she worms her way to the palace by influencing the emperor to create useful edicts like protection against the Blood Clan while also recruiting capable talents like Di Renjie to bolster the quality of Chang'an officials. Thanks to this, when the emperor passes away, Wu Zetian rises as the Empress of Chang'an.

However, Wu Zetian is actually nursing her own ambition to rule, and she does not want to stay as Ziya's puppet forever. After gaining a help from a certain soothsayer, she ends up confronting Ziya and calling out his overly rigid anti-ferali stance. Wu Zetian then casts a spell in a similar manner to the Dark Master, surprising Ziya, and this ends with him being sealed.

Wu Zetian then proceeds with her plan to conquer the world, even the demons and feralis will bow down to her.

Ilumia

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aov_ilumia_350x441.jpg
"Mortals better know their place!"
Title: The Seer
Voiced by: Shino Shimoji (JP)
Faction: Veda

An ancient being and the current leader of the Order of Veda, the order that kept darkness at bay and where the Temple of Light was located, with Ilumia styling herself as the Goddess of Light and yet rarely making appearances outside of Mt. Orphean. She inherited this position after Edras, the original founder of Veda and her master, was murdered by Volkath. She's also a consummate politician. With her shrewd mind, she forged an alliance between all the nations of Athanor (Norman, Afata, and Okka) to stand against the darkness brought by Lokheim and the Abyss. However, she's not a benevolent Goddess. She sees humans as pawns to be manipulated. She instills rigid orders, yet never presents herself as a tyrannical ruler. Regardless, the faith towards Veda has been waning since Ilumia took over the leadership of Veda. She's dedicated to restoring the people's faith in Veda, no matter the cost.

Kit

Wu Zetian & Ilumia are Mage heroes who bombard their enemies with supreme magic from any range, even from places where they're not present.

  • Their passives are:
    • Daughter of Destiny for Wu Zetian
    • Goddess for Ilumia
      • After leaving combat for several seconds, Wu Zetian & Ilumia passively gain extra mana regeneration and increase their movement speed. This bonus is annulled whenever they start fighting again.
  • Their first skills are:
    • Empress' Glory for Wu Zetian
    • Divine Light for Ilumia
      • Wu Zetian & Ilumia shoot a ball of energy, damaging enemies hit with it, but it explodes the moment it comes into contact with any enemies, including minions. However, they can store up to 2 marks. Once they reach two marks, the cooldown of the skill is reset and they can shoot out an enhanced version: A bigger ball of energy that passes through every enemies it crashes to, dealing bigger damage while knocking them to the air, and only fizzles out when it reaches the end of the skill range.
  • Their second skills are:
    • Empress' Majesty for Wu Zetian
    • Banish for Ilumia
      • Wu Zetian & Ilumia spin around, swirling magical energy around them, damaging enemies around them and pushing them back. Hitting an enemy hero with this skill will immediately grant them 2 marks of their first skills.
  • Their ultimates are:
    • Life & Death for Wu Zetian
    • Cataclysm for Ilumia
      • Wu Zetian & Ilumia summon radiant light from the sky, firing down towards sacred marks put on every enemy hero in the map after a few delays. Those who still stay in place will receive significant damage, enough to kill those with low enough HP. Using this skill also reveals the location of the enemy heroes for a few seconds.

Tropes applying to both

  • The Chains of Commanding: Becoming the leader of grand factions really stresses them out and makes them do questionable things. Wu Zetian doesn't show it for the sake of her ambition, but Ilumia really looks like a complete bitch for it.
  • Hope Spot: Oof, escaped with a sliver of my health and I'm hiding in a bush! Now I can recall back to base... Huh? What's this sign on the ground that suddenly appea—"BOOM".
  • The Leader: Both lead their respective factions (Chang'an and Veda respectively), and give the vibes of regal leader ladies.
  • Light Is Not Good: Both are associated with light, but not exactly the nicest people like what the element represents.
    • Wu Zetian's magic is based on light mixed with pure magic. However, she's greatly ambitious and wouldn't think twice to backstab someone if she doesn't see any more uses of them for her. You can see how it turns out for Ziya.
    • Ilumia represents the light in Athanor. She is, however, a ruthless, uncaring bitch that looks down on mortals and does not bother to spare them some time.
  • Noble Top Enforcer: A thing they share is that they have a much more moral second-in-commands. Wu Zetian has Di Renjie, while Ilumia has Lauriel.
  • Pet the Dog: Despite their ruthless attitude, they do have a few soft spots to prevent them from being considered completely evil:
    • Wu Zetian treats her subordinates well and generously rewards them. Di Renjie and Fang have a good time serving her. Additionally, she lifts Shangguan from the life of a slave to become her trusted aide.
    • Ilumia adopts Rouie and lets her learn from the best from Veda despite many other archons objecting to the idea. And she covers her from any protests, no strings attached.
  • You Can Run, but You Can't Hide: Following in the footsteps of other heroes with global ultimates (such as Zeus or Karthus, their ultimate are global skills. They're dodgeable, yes, but that doesn't mean that hiding from their sight means they can attempt to strike you. And it will no doubt reveal all enemies' locations, alerting allies of possible ganks.

Tropes applying exclusively to Wu Zetian

  • A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: Wu Zetian certainly looks like the regal, affable lady who believes in equality for the ferali. However, she also has a huge ambition to rule the world and will stomp and backstab anyone to get to the point.
  • Ambition Is Evil: One of the ambitious conqueror heroes in the game, alongside Cao Cao, Liu Bang and Zheng. Downplayed that Wu Zetian is more of a dark gray morality-wise.
  • Deceptive Disciple: Learns magic further from Ziya. But the moment their interests do not align, Wu Zetian is quick to backstab and seal him.
  • The Emperor: She is officially the Empress of Chang'an, not just the queen.
  • Sorcerous Overlord: She's a mage ruler who's not really as benevolent as she likes to present herself to her people. She's instead an ambitious lady set to take the world for herself.

Tropes applying exclusively to Ilumia

  • Aloof Big Sister: Her relationship with Rouie appears to indicate that Ilumia was regarded as a respected big sister figure, but Ilumia herself is extremely aloof and egotistical, not presenting the image of a "cool" sister.
  • Ambiguously Evil: Despite her tons and tons of petty, bitchy, and uncaring sides, Ilumia also has no desire to be tyrannical at all towards the humans she looks down upon. She's still a shrewd politician and has formed alliances with other factions to ensure the survivability of Veda (although everyone else still looks at her with suspicion). She's also surprisingly not a Bad Boss; she handsomely rewarded Xeniel for his efforts, and she took on Rouie when she had nowhere else to go.
  • Create Your Own Villain: Ilumia used Shadow Worms to punish Marja, thinking it would be painful for Marja and cathartic for Ilumia after beating her in the Love Triangle. Little did she know about Volkath already putting part of his soul on Marja to manipulate the Shadow Worms, and so... Nice job making a Lokheim Lord, Ilumia!
  • Driven by Envy: She was on the losing end of the Love Triangle involving her, Volkath, and Marja (and Kahlii, but she simply escaped her notice). Therefore, after she ascended as the successor of Edras, she decided to be extra petty in handling the punishment of Marja, whom she was jealous of, for making her lose in the Love Triangle. (Probably less because of love, but her pure ego that rejects any notions of her losing)
  • Eye-Obscuring Hat: Her headdress completely obscures her eyes, and no one has ever seen them.
  • Foil: For Lauriel, her designated successor in case something happens to her. Both agree that Lokheim must be opposed, but they have completely different ways of thinking about humans. Ilumia, for the most part, looks down on them, while Lauriel believes in their potential. Additionally, as opposed to Lauriel's compassionate personality, Ilumia is bitchier, yet she's more accomplished and has been chosen as the first successor to Edras.
  • Long-Lived: She's about 10000 years old or so, making her one of the oldest beings in Athanor. Edras is still older than her, though.
  • Jerkass Gods: She's one of the realm's less friendly deities. She also happens to be the representative goddess of light.
  • Jerkass Has a Point: Ilumia isn't completely wrong when she looks down on humans. Because for every good human like Yorn and Thane, there are also really evil humans like Lorion and Mganga.
  • Sucksessor: While Ilumia still manages to keep some followers in Veda, many have since shown distaste towards her more aggressive, aloof style of ruling, thus leaving Veda altogether, believing that Veda was much better when Edras was at the helm. Ilumia wants to reclaim the belief of everyone, just like in the past.
  • Tough Leader Façade: Ilumia didn't have the time to be taught by Edras about what it means to rule with compassion. Since she's the next best candidate for leadership after Edras' murder, she had to adapt what she thinks is best for leadership: By being an aloof, tough, politically-savvy leader who'd look like a complete Jerkass for the greater good. This has an effect on people believing that she is Edras' Sucksessor, but Ilumia sees no other way to act to maintain order, and she secretly knows that she's severely lacking compared to Edras. In the manga, when she's alone, looking at her picture with Edras, Ilumia's tough facade cracks and she's left as a confused lady who wonders what her teacher would do if he was thrusted into this chaos. Most of her in-game lines tend to be her exaggerated 'tough leader' personality.
  • Unreliable Narrator: From her point of view or the loading tips surrounding her, it seems that Ilumia actually was hesitant in condemning Marja, but she had to make a scapegoat to appease the will of the people of Veda who demanded retribution on Edras' death. However, considering her personality, it's easier to think that she's just trying to cover up her envy and power-hungry attitude; many would rather believe the POV of the victim (Marja) more.
  • Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Ilumia when she studied under Edras was much more pleasant and prone to smiling, as her picture with Edras showed her forming a genuine smile. Then Edras died, and she really had to step up being a leader before she was completely prepared for the job (the better candidates instead rebelled), and she became known as the bitch goddess everyone recognizes.

    Xiao Qiao & Krixi 

Xiao Qiao (小乔)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hok_xiaoqiao_350x441.png
"Love and war both require bravery!"
Title: The Cheery Breeze, Breezeheart
Other Names: Breezy
Voiced by: Yui Ogura (JP)
Faction: Three Kingdoms - Wu
Original Information: Xiao Qiao is the second half of the Two Qiaos, one of the great beauties of the Three Kingdoms period, along with her big sister Da Qiao. She's betrothed to Wu advisor Zhou Yu. It was said that Zhou Yu was provoked into declaring war against Wei when he heard rumors that Cao Cao was lusting for Xiao Qiao, although the war would end up being known as the Battle of Red Cliffs, where Wu emerged victorious against Wei.

In-game bio: She is the younger twin sister of Da Qiao, born from a family of anomalics. Since twins are seen as an omen, she ends up being sent to Jixia and grows up there as a carefree girl, until she comes of age and returns to Jiang. Despite her compassion and mastery of sorcery, people start fearing her power and she ends up being relocated to a distant village near the sea.

There, she ends up meeting with Zhou Yu when a strange sickness ravages the village. Working together to solve this mystery, which results in the discovery that somehow the Blood Clan is involved, they end up falling in love and Zhou Yu returns to Jiang with Xiao Qiao as she's now accepted for her deeds.

Krixi

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aov_krixi_350x441.jpg
"I'm Krixi! I speak for the trees!"
Title: The Pixie
Voiced by: Haruka Terui (JP)
Faction: Afata

A fairy who dwells in the forests of Afata. Krixi was once a playful pixie that liked to just relax and play some pranks, while also being friends with the forest's very queen, Tel'Annas. That changed when the Lokheim invaded and ravaged the forest that was her home. Krixi felt obligated to protect her home, so she gathered all the forest creatures she could muster and, using her natural pixie magic, rallied the forest creatures to drive away the creature of Abyss, successfully completing the task.The experience changed Krixi, while she was formerly a lackadaisical fairy, she has now matured and held the responsibility of one of Afata's forest guardians, in addition to teaching one of its junior members, Aya.

Kit

Xiao Qiao & Krixi are Mage Heroes who may be small, but pack a destructive power. They possess long-range magic which can be used to harass enemies from afar until the harassment becomes a threat with sheer magical power.

  • Their passives are:
    • Encouraging Thoughts for Xiao Qiao
    • Flutter for Krixi
      • Every time Xiao Qiao & Krixi hit an enemy with their skills, they get a temporary movement speed boost.
  • Their first skills are:
    • Blossoming Fan for Xiao Qiao
    • Mischief for Krixi
      • Xiao Qiao throws her gigantic fan while Krixi summons an illusionary fairy. Both fly over a wide area and a long distance, damaging everything in its path. Then the projectiles come back to them like a boomerang, once again damaging everything in the return path, but with reduced damage if it hits the same target.
  • Their second skills are:
    • Honeysweet Breeze for Xiao Qiao
    • Nature's Wrath for Krixi
      • Xiao Qiao & Krixi summon an explosion (from a pink gust of wind (Xiao Qiao) or the power of nature (Krixi)), knocking the enemy into the air for an extended period of time.
  • Their ultimates are:
    • Meteor Storm for Xiao Qiao
    • Moonfall for Krixi
      • Xiao Qiao & Krixi gain a speed boost while continuously summoning beams from the sky to hit enemies around them for a period of time. A target can only be hit four times at most.

Tropes applying to both

  • Adaptational Jerkass: Downplayed. Krixi is now a good and responsible fairy, but in the past, she used to be a chaotic and sometimes sadistic faerie, with a penchant for psychopathic Disproportionate Retribution. Meanwhile, Xiao Qiao has always been a good girl since day one.
  • Skill Gate Characters: They are simple mages to play, yet can get really annoying and potent their harassment magic. Krixi is unlocked as you play, while Xiao Qiao can be purchased with the cheapest price for heroes.
  • Squishy Wizard: They have a tremendous range with their skills, and their ultimate is just plain destructive. They may end up killing many when they unload their spells at once, but if there are survivors, they're more likely to be toasted in short order.

Tropes applying exclusively to Xiao Qiao

  • Age Lift: Like Angela, she gets an older body (while still younger than Da Qiao) in the international version to avoid implications of 'Zhou Yu's wife is an underaged girl'.
  • Blow You Away: While most of her attacks takes imageries of a flower petal storm, it's implied from her quotes that she has control over winds. She just chooses to put up flowers around it for reasons.
  • Non-Indicative Name: Xiao Qiao's English name, Breezy, refer to a state of a calm, soothing wind. While Xiao Qiao isn't too hyperactive, her play style involve dealing huge burst damages (unless someone gets to her first) and generally creating destruction like a storm would... and 'Stormy' is the English name of the even calmer, more supportive Da Qiao, her sister.
  • Color Motif: In her default costume, pink.
  • Combat Hand Fan: Carries around a large one that she throws at enemy heroes.
  • Odango Hair: Oddly, in a series chock full of Chinese characters, Xiao Qiao is the only one who has double hair buns like the most common portrayals of Chinese girls.
  • Official Couple: Xiao Qiao is once again Zhou Yu's official wife. In this case, it creates a meta-tragedy, as both are mid-laners, so they are most likely not going to appear in the same side without angering the other teammates of messing up the team composition. (Xiao Qiao can sometimes be a roamer, but it's very rare)
  • Totally Radical: In the global version, she's shown using a slang to refer to Zhou Yu, to show that despite the Age Lift, Xiao Qiao is still kinda childish.
    "Hurry up and win! I wanna get back to my boonote !"

Tropes applying exclusively to Krixi

  • Cool Big Sis: Her student, Aya, clearly looked up to her like a big sister, and Krixi tries her best to rein in her chaotic, rebellious nature.
  • Disproportionate Retribution: It's said that she can get over the top in terms of punishing humans that tried to harm the forest, including ripping them to shreds messily using her forest magic. Even after the invasion happened and she became more responsible, she seems to be still doing it in case there are still some humans foolish enough to not learn their lessons.
  • The Fair Folk: Krixi is a faerie/pixie. She was on the way to becoming just a mere chaotic, playful faerie, but the Lokheim invasion changed her to be a more responsible faerie, unlike other chaotic faeries. Additionally, she has a more teenage/young adult body, fitting right between the more mature faerie-like hero originally from Honor of Kings (Erin) and her own young student-faerie Aya. That said, her tendency for Disproportionate Retribution still stays intact, she just used it more responsibly.
  • Fairy Sexy: Despite being more designed as a 'cute fairy' with high pitched and adorable voice, Krixi is actually the elder and sexier fairy (compared to Aya), as there are several gaps in her outfit to show that she is definitely not flat-chested. While Erin is even more mature-looking, Krixi is the only Arena of Valor originals who has this status.
  • Forest Ranger: Technically, she didn't live in a hut and is a forest creature on her own. But, Krixi is a well-known guardian of the forest that rallies its creatures to drive away invaders.
  • Hopeless Suitor: She held a fire in her heart towards Eland'orr, but he somehow didn't notice that, in addition to his own guilt over a past sin that he never told Krixi about. They still remain as friends, though. At least she has a Valentine skin with Eland'orr to make up for it.
  • Shout-Out: Despite having several more interactive quotes later on, some of Krixi's old quotes remain and it was filled with references to other series as a remnant of archaic MOBA design. It can be interpreted as her past pre-Character Development self, though. As seen in her opening quotes.

    Yuhuan & Sephera 

Yuhuan

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hok_yangyuhuan_350x441.png
"Listen to your dreams, cherish your beliefs, and indulge in your passions."
Title: The Detached Beauty, Tunecaster, The Graceful Cloth of the Rainbow (霓裳风华)
Original Name: Yang Yuhuan (杨玉环)
Other Names: Yang Guifei
Faction: Chang'an

Original Information: Yang Yuhuan, otherwise known as Yang Guifei, lived through the Tang Dynasty, a few generations after Wu Zetian. She was born a princess, but then became a Taoist nun named Taizhen, until she ended up being hand picked as a concubine of Emperor Xuanzong, who showered her with a lot of love thanks to her great beauty that was said to put flowers in shame, despite being apparently chubby. However, the political drama of the court around her eventually erupted into the An Lushan Rebellion, and Yang Yuhuan was accused to be one of the chief causes due to the overly disproportionate affection she received everywhere and how An Lushan was able to rise to power and initiate his rebellion because of Yang Yuhuan being favored. Advisors claim that her execution would hopefully stabilize the situation. The Emperor reluctantly ordered so and after her death, he retrieved her body and granted her a lot of posthumous honors. Yang Yuhuan's legacy was secured in that she's not only the last of the Four Beauties of Ancient China (joining Xi Shi, Wang Zhaojun, and Diao Chan) but her life story was immortalized in the poem "Chang hen ge/Song of Everlasting Sorrow", which somehow also gained popularity in Japan and became the basis of another epic: The Tale of Genji.

In-game bio: A renowned musician from Chang'an who masterfully uses her pipa to create enchanting music that soothes the hearts of many. However, nobody knows where she comes from.

During a festival in Chang'an, she holds a concert which moves the hearts of many due to how magnificent it is. And yet something is missing... She cannot feel a thing. She cannot help but feel envious of those who feel so happy with her music. In fact, the reason why she comes to Chang'an is because she wants to find out what it means to feel something and to experience happiness. In truth, she's actually a man-made artificial being, but nobody knows the identity of who created her and why they would create her.

Sephera

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aov_sephera_350x441.jpg
"Water is the source of life!"
Title:: The Water Ascendant
Voiced by: Kikuko Inoue (JP)
Faction: Carano City/Magic Academy

One of Athanor's most prominent mages and a close friend of D'Arcy and Dirak. Sephera is a genius mage specializing in water magic. She used to be a Veda worshiper but grew disillusioned with the sect. After black magic became persecuted, Sephera sheltered a lot of mages and, together with D'Arcy and Dirak, fled to the city of Carano, where she founded the Magister Council, teaching new generations of mages and defending them from harm.

Kit

Yuhuan & Sephera are Mage/Support heroes utilizing their respective power (Magic Music and water magic) to control the flow of battle by protecting and healing their allies while devastating their enemies. Yuhuan is also one of the heroes who uses a 4 skill layout.

  • Yuhuan's passive is linked with her actual fourth skill, while Sephera combines both of them. They are :
    • Poignant Melodies for Yuhuan (Melody of Peace or Melody of War for her fourth skill)
    • Living Water for Sephera.
      • Whenever they cast a spell, Yuhuan and Sephera will damage a nearby enemy hero with the lowest HP while healing the ally with the lowest HP. Sephera will do this automatically to both allies and enemies, while Yuhuan will depend on the stance she's in: She starts the game with War music stance, but by using Melody of Peace, she can switch into Peace music stance. The skill then becomes Melody of War, and Yuhuan can use that to switch back to War music stance. In War stance, she will only do the 'damage nearby enemy hero with lowest HP' while in Peace music stance, she will only do the 'heal nearby allied hero with lowest HP'.
  • Their first skills are:
    • Tragic Beauty for Yuhuan
    • Water Spirits for Sephera
      • Yuhuan & Sephera send up to three melody notes/water spirits to home on different enemies, prioritizing heroes and damaging and slowing them. They do not stack if there's less than 3 targets in their range. After doing this, they will enhance their next normal attack to do more damage.
  • Their second skills are:
    • Mournful Tempo for Yuhuan
    • Wall of Water for Sephera
      • Yuhuan & Sephera increase their movement speed and, after a few seconds, summon walls of melodies/water in a circle quite far from them that stun enemies who are hit with the walls.
  • Their ultimates are:
    • Unending Sorrow for Yuhuan
    • Tide of Life for Sephera
      • Yuhuan & Sephera become untargetable for a time while being able to move. Once they end their untargetable period, they deal big damage to nearby enemies and heal a massive amount of HP to their nearby allies.

Tropes applying to both

  • Combat Medic: They can perform healing just as well as they dish out damage to their enemies.
  • Death of a Thousand Cuts: Their Spam Attack method means that they don't do a big burst damage, but they whittle down your HP slowly but surely with their skills and passives that just happen to have a long range.
  • The Red Mage: With their kits of combining offense and healing, they are capable of being put in the Mid-Lane or roam as a Support.
  • Spam Attack: Their skill cooldowns are quite short, so they can spam their attack or healing at will as long as they have the mana to back it up.

Tropes applying exclusively to Yuhuan

  • Adaptational Curves: Despite the beauty standard of her time (that she set herself) was more of a Big Beautiful Woman, Yang Yuhuan here possesses a slimmer build, more befitting as a normal adult lady.
  • Brown Note: Her abilities, along with healing allies, hurt enemies as well.
  • Emotionless Girl: She absolutely cannot experience happiness, one of the most vital emotions of humans, and she wants to find out why.
  • Flower Motifs: The peony flower, shows up many times on her clothes and hair, especially in her lobby animations where a petal falls on to her shoulder to awaken her.
  • Hidden Depths: Yixing is her disciple, he calls her Master.
  • Instrument of Murder: Channels her magic through a Chinese lute.
  • Kicking Ass in All Her Finery: All her skins puts her in beautiful dresses, this does not stop her from walloping the enemy with her Magic Music.
  • Magikarp Power: Weak early, will spam every heal ever by late game. This is because Yuhuan goes to the extreme at each side (offense and healing), helped with her Stance System, so she can pump up considerable damage/healing as the game goes on.
  • Not the Intended Use: To the point of being memed upon, she can play as a tank, earning an interesting nickname for being Chunky.
  • Power Floats: She hovers on the ground in every appearance.
  • Ridiculously Human Robots: She is ‘man-made’, but she looks incredibly lifelike, and she can in-fact; on-screen, eats a bit of Gongsun Li’s nasty food and visually tried not to gag.
  • Robot Girl: Like Daji, Yang Yuhuan is 'man-made', although her origins are much more mysterious, with her creators currently unknown.
  • Stance System: This is her exclusive trait that doesn't carry over to Sephera due to Arena of Valor not allowing 4 skill layouts. Yuhuan's gameplay depends on her stance in Melody of War (dealing more damage) and Melody of Peace (sustaining her team). This actually makes her more similar to Sona.
  • World's Most Beautiful Woman: She is not just based on one of the Four Beauties of Ancient China, but she's considered by far as the most beautiful adult lady in-universe. This is because her other competitions have other obstacles: (Xi) Shi is a teenager too young to be put in the same competition, Wang Zhaojun has been 'sacrificed' in order to become the guardian of the Northlands (thus becoming its deity's 'wife'), and Diaochan has been used as a Honey Trap to entice Lu Bu into a deadly trap. Compared to them, Yuhuan remains unsullied and pure (there is no Xuanzong to make her a concubine), fitting the ideal of beauty in the land.

Tropes applying exclusively to Sephera

  • Brilliant, but Lazy: She's a brilliant mage, but the laziest of the Trinity of Mages (her, Dirak, and D'Arcy).
  • Feminine Women Can Cook: She's a feminine lady that can cook really well, with her foods becoming favorites for her students, especially Keera's.
  • Harp of Femininity: Her conduit for water magic is a magical harp; but she is not using it to send deadly melodies. It also enhances her elegant look.
  • Hot Teacher: She teaches in the Magister Council's magic academy, and she's extremely attractive, not to mention nurturing and protective of her students. Two of them include playable heroes, Ishar and Keera, and they argue over who deserves Sephera's attention more (one-sided on Keera, though).
  • Jack of All Stats: To her advantage and disadvantage. Sephera's skillset is simplified that she can heal and attack in the same time, unlike Yuhuan who needs to change in the proper stance for it. However, this means that she has a lower number of damage/heal, disabling her Magikarp Power potentials but not enough to make her a Crutch Character.
  • Making a Splash: She specializes in water magic and is able to heal and damage at the same time.
  • Nay-Theist: She used to be a believer in Veda, but the sect's less than kind actions as they preached disillusioned her enough that she just stopped believing in the Light's way. She acknowledges and believes in its existence—just not those who claim to represent it. She kind of had a point considering some of the less savory members of Veda, especially its leader. On the other hand, she does acknowledge a genuine lightbringer who's as kind as she preaches, Lauriel, and makes her an exception as the Veda member to be trusted.
  • Parental Substitute: She possesses sharp similarities with Keera's deceased parents, and she certainly acts like a mother figure to her after her parents' passing. Unfortunately for Sephera, she has no idea on just how possessive Keera is...
  • Teen Genius: She became an archmage at the age of 13 simply by being that good at water magic.
  • Two Guys and a Girl: The three archmages consist of her being the girl, and D'Arcy and Dirak being the two guys.
  • Water Is Womanly: She exudes femininity and motherhood while gracefully controlling water.

    Zheng & Garuda & Kahlii 

Zheng

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hok_yingzheng_350x441.png
"Only what is revealed to all can be called justice."
Title: The One and Only King (王者独尊)
Original Name: Ying Zheng (嬴政)
Other Names: Qin Shi Huangdi
Faction: Yong

Original Information: Born during the state of war, Ying Zheng became the head of the Qin state and eventually embarked on a great campaign that ended with him uniting China under his own rule, with him as its first Emperor. And thus, he started bearing the name he's most known as: Qin Shi Huangdi. Depending on who you ask, Ying Zheng would be either a cruel despot or a just, yet extravagant ruler who nonetheless also worked hard to improve his Empire. From his orders, the Great Wall of China was constructed, and he immortalized his loyal soldiers in the form of the Terracotta Army statues located in a museum within his Empire. Some other things he's known for were his paranoia with death causing him to research immortality to no avail; as well as how he hated scholars that he persecuted Confucians and initiated many book burnings to erase history before him, for he's the only Emperor China needed at his time.

In-game bio: Ever since his youth, Zheng is taught to learn, for he will become the one and only Sovereign of Yong. While at first he grows up haughty, his outlook in life changes when he meets Bai Qi, freed him from imprisonment and somehow became Fire-Forged Friends. When Bai Qi is cursed by the Blood Clan, Zheng calls forth every doctors and healers available and vows that with his hand and teaching, he will break the barrier between humans and ferali so they can live in co-existence. And from his journey in trying to save Bai Qi, he learns the secret technique of summoning blades out of nowhere to be launched at his command.

Being the Sovereign of Yong, however, means that there have been so many attempts on his life, such as literal assassins with daggers, framed doctors trying to poison him to death, and a lot more. Zheng, however, survives all of them, still holding to his one goal to create a world of peace. And he is not alone, as aside from Bai Qi, he still has the backing of powerful generals like Meng Tian or mercenaries that share his vision.

Garuda

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hok_garuda_img.png
"Where wills converge, life begins. Where justice wanes, judgment descends."
Title: Majestic Guardian
Other names: Garuda Khageswara
Faction: Sandpura, Azuria

Original Information: Garuda is a semi-original character. Based on the Hindu deity who took the appearance of a humanoid eagle and an incarnation of Vishnu (or sometimes the steed of Vishnu). A powerful creature whose wing flaps could stop the spinning of heaven, hell, and earth. He is associated with the royal symbol and the duty of royals to protect and serve, as well as destroy evil and injustice. The eagle Garuda is based on became the national emblem of Indonesia; thus, the hero is also considered a representative of Indonesia.

In-game bio: In the southern seas of Primaela, there is a set of islands that would be known as the Azuria. Due to its lack of deity, the island is helpless against storms and natural disasters, especially on the island of Sandpura. The people of Sandpura beg for a protector deity to come and save them. The miracle occurs in the form of a magical egg suddenly appearing, and from there, a majestic bird-like creature named Garuda Khageswara emerges. The people of Sandpura start swarming Garuda with their wishes and desires, but for each wish fulfilled, another disaster occurs, and there is no end to the number of the wishes. Disappointed, Garuda just vanishes one day, leaving Sandpura to eventually face the consequence of their desire.

Sandpura's fall became a cautionary tale of greed, but this doesn't deter a certain outlander from envisioning that if he can awaken Garuda, he can become the King of Azuria. However, the outlander was a distant cousin of a set of Awakened people, and these people end up losing their humanity as they consume a meal that turns them into plant-like monsters and decide to use Garuda's power to complete the set. His son ends up writing a papyrus letter to express his horrified mind and wishes for the legend of Garuda to save his people and the people of the first target: Sandpura.

The outlander's army arrives to commit sacrifices to the sea creatures and experiment upon the people of Sandpura. However, the outlander is killed by a stray arrow shortly before he could complete the ritual. However, the son's papyrus letter flies to Garuda, becoming the catalyst of his awakening. Moved by his desperate plea, which isn't motivated by greed, Garuda fulfills his wish to deliver judgment to the invaders and restores Sandpura, whose people are now appreciative of his role. Now, Garuda resides within a shrine on Sandpura Island, acting as the guardian of mankind to protect those in need and repel those who dare endanger them.

Kahlii

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aov_kahlii_350x441.jpg
"This is a game you can't afford to lose."
Title: The Ghost Guardian
Voiced by: Kei Shindō (JP)
Faction: Lokheim

Formerly a prominent maiden of Veda and student of Edras, Kahlii was known as one of the most prominent female Archons of Veda, alongside Marja and Ilumia. She remained humble and resolute to listen to the human prayers of the Hall of Gospels in Mt. Orphean. Yet, one question continued to nag her due to her own compassion to these humans with great burden: How does one relieve the tormented souls from grief? Edras answered with how it was fated by the creator of Athanor, to suffer in exchange for achieving innovation to change the world. This did not satisfy Kahlii.

Sensing an opportunity within Kahlii's confusion, Volkath invited her to join Lokheim as one of its lords, to learn black magic and augment it with light magic for benevolent means, including protecting humans. Kahlii already knew that Volkath was a traitor and rebel, but she had no other choice if she wanted to find the ultimate answer she sought. Therefore, after warning Volkath that she'd kill him if he turned out to be lying, Kahlii defected from Veda and joined the Lokheim as one of its Lords.

In Lokheim, Kahlii builds the Tower of Souls where she continues her more benevolent ways of trying to soothe grief of the spirits of the dead. She still keeps her ways of peace despite Lokheim's demonic, increasingly violent and invasive nature.

Kit

Zheng/Garuda & Kahlii are Mage heroes specializing in sustained area damage, making certain areas more dangerous for enemies to traverse.

  • Their passives are:
    • Sovereign's Judgment for Zheng
    • Keen Feathers for Garuda
    • Powerful Hymns for Kahlii
      • Zheng/Garuda & Kahlii's normal attacks always pierce through their targets and damage those behind the target. They deal extra damage scaling with MP. The damage is reduced when they attack buildings.
  • Their first skills are:
    • Sovereign's Punishment for Zheng
    • Arrows of Gold for Garuda
    • Soul Summoning for Kahlii
      • Zheng/Garuda & Kahlii create a circle in an area that lasts for 2.5 seconds. In that circle, Zheng/Garuda summons raining swords/arrows from the sky while Kahlii summons souls from the ground. They deal damage over time and slow enemies that stand in the circle.
  • Their second skills are:
    • Sovereign's Guard for Zheng
    • Golden Winged Blessing for Garuda
    • Spiritual Blessing for Kahlii
      • Zheng/Garuda & Kahlii create a shield for themselves. The shield scales with MP. They also gain a temporary movement speed bonus that decays over 3 seconds. Passively, they receive a permanent flat movement speed bonus once they get this skill. Exclusively for Zheng & Garuda, when they cast their skill, they also deal damage to nearby enemies.
  • Their ultimates are:
    • Supreme Sovereignity for Zheng
    • Wings of Judgment for Garuda
    • Ethereal Pulse for Kahlii
      • After a delay, Zheng/Garuda & Kahlii will continuously summon their respective projectiles (Storm of Blades for Zheng, storm of sharp feathers for Garuda, storm of wraiths for Kahlii) to strike enemies in front of them, dealing more damage to non-heroes, but they cannot pierce unlike their normal attacks. Additionally, they are stuck to their facing direction until the ultimate is finished, but they can still move. Zheng/Garuda can still cast other spells during the delay preparing this ultimate.

Tropes applying to all three

  • Death by a Thousand Cuts: Burst damage isn't their specialty. However, being damaged by multiple ticks of their spells will be the death of their foes.
  • Fragile Speedster: Downplayed. They specialize in tick damages, not burst ones, so they cannot be a Glass Cannon. However, they have several movement speed boosts that can make them more agile and position themselves better than other mages. However, they still don't have instantaneous dashes, which is largely believed to be the better positioning tool.
  • Not the Intended Use: They are supposed to be mid-lane mages, but their normal attacks are deceptively powerful and grant them free piercing effect, and their skills don't have any crowd control effects either. This makes them occasionally get placed in Farm/Dragon Lane instead of Mid Lane.
  • Power Floats: Due to their immense power, they don't need to walk. They just float with sheer power. Double-subverted with Garuda; he doesn't float. He flies with his wings, but it's still counted as 'floating' because he cannot fly over terrains with it (unlike Cirrus).

Tropes applying exclusively to Zheng

  • Adaptational Heroism: Honor of Kings is a charitable portrayal of Qin Shi Huang, as Zheng may be arrogant, but he's also charitable at the same time.
  • The Emperor: Between the ruler-type heroes (such as Liu Bei, Cao Cao, Sun Ce, Wu Zetian), Zheng holds the greatest intimidation factor and influence. Even if he's supposed to be just a Sovereign, the Yong is an empire in practice. Finally, he's based on the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huangdi.
  • Demoted to Extra: Like Cao Cao to Fatih, Zheng's moveset is adapted to Garuda in the global version. However, according to the devs themselves, Zheng, much like Cao Cao, still exists within the lore and can one day return, even as a skin for Garuda.
  • Expy: Zheng still carries the arrogant air of being the first Emperor. Combined with his tendency to spam a Storm of Blades, he looks like he's based on Type-Moon's rendition of Gilgamesh. Based on his more Jerk with a Heart of Gold personality, it also draws similarities with Caster Gilgamesh.
  • Storm of Blades: A lot of his skills revolve around opening a portal and many swords get thrown from that.

Tropes applying exclusively to Garuda

  • Bird People: Head and wings of an eagle, body of a human with ripped muscles.
  • Feather Flechettes: His ultimate trades Zheng's magical swords with heaven-powered feathers coming right from his wings, and he sends a lot of them.
  • First-Name Basis: His full name as shown in much of his trailers is 'Garuda Khageswara'. But because it's a bit too long (longer than 'Gao Changgong'), he's usually referred to as just Garuda.
  • Guardian Entity: He exists to protect Sandpura and Azuria overall and has tasted what happens when his people didn't appreciate his guardianship and blessings.
  • Physical God: He's the physical manifestation of the wills of the people of Sandpura, which makes him on par with the likes of Nuwa. But Garuda is still contained within Azuria instead of joining the main pantheon in Primaela.

Tropes applying exclusively to Kahlii

  • Anti-Villain: She's a Lokheim lord, but she still carries her old genuinely compassionate personality and trying to soothe the pain of the people she comes across, while keeping a vigilant eye for Volkath in case he crosses the line. She also prefers being holed up in her own Tower of Souls rather than actively going to the surface and wreak havoc with her fellow Lokheim lords.
  • Breaking the Fourth Wall: Some of her lines directly address the players, if it's not spouting some memes.
  • Fan Disservice: Corpse Bride Kahlii. Large breasts, shapely body covered only in a white bikini and open skirt... as well as creepy face and eyes and decayed black skin. Yikes.
  • Gameplay and Story Segregation: Despite her story updates into a sympathetic Anti-Villain, Kahlii's lines never got updated, thus creating a dissonance between a sympathetic Lokheim lord and a meme-spouting, 4th wall-breaking character.
  • Multi-Armed and Dangerous: Kahlii has four arms, and she's not only one of the top students of Edras, she's also one of the more powerful Lokheim lords.
  • Shout-Out: She's based on the Hindu Goddess of destruction, the multi-armed Kali. She is, however, more attuned to magic.
  • Token Good Teammate: The only member of Lokheim, and a high-ranking one at that, who's not at all malevolent.

Semi-Counterpart Heroes

Semi-Counterpart Heroes are heroes from both games who had almost similar skillset, with one (or more) wildly different skill to set them apart.

    Nuwa & Dirak 

Nuwa (女娲)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hok_nuwa_350x441.png
"When history has nothing left but sin, it must be erased and started over."
Title: The Prime Mover, Celestial, The Supreme Creator (高创世)
Faction: Celestials/Superbeings

Original Information: Nuwa is the goddess that created humanity. Along with her husband Fuxi, she fixed the pillars of heaven after the wars between deities ruined them, and eventually took on several muds and molded them into what would become humans.

In-game bio: Nuwa is one of the earliest beings to ever grace the world/area known as Primaela, to be known as the first of the 'superbeings'. Before arriving, she has endured eons of catastrophe unknown to history.

When she arrives at the barren lands of Primaela, she decides to make it her new home to preserve her memories. Harnessing the power of earth, she creates humankind and creates a new civilization. As the humans develop their own civilization, they sing praises of Nuwa, grateful for her guidance. Nuwa is content that the humans she created will no doubt flourish.

However, even as she gathers successors to pass down her knowledge, the next generations of both humans and superbeings start showing their flaws that may result in disaster. Despite her content, Nuwa keeps a watchful eye in Primaela. In case a fatal threshold is passed, she will have to resort to drastic measures...

Dirak

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aov_dirak_350x441.jpg
"I rule over all the magic there is"
Title: Supreme Mage
Voiced by: Kellen Goff (EN)
Faction: Carano City/Magic Academy

One of the "Three Sages" along with D'Arcy and Sephera. Dirak is actually their leader. When the usage of black magic was announced to be forbidden and most of the users were detained, Dirak led the charge to rescue most of them and lead them to Carano, where he formed the Magister's Council, although he would temporarily lose D'Arcy due to the latter's confrontation with Lorion. Dirak's mastery of magic is unquestioned, and he would call upon that magic to protect those under his care.

Kit

Nuwa & Dirak are Mage heroes with the capabilities of harnessing the purest forms of magic, using them to displace and lay waste to their enemies. While they have a similar theme, they have different ways of using their pure magic, with the exception of one of their skills. Nuwa also comes with 4 skills (Dirak technically also has 4 skills, but one of his skills is linked with his ultimate).

  • Their passives are vastly different:
    • Nuwa's passive is Guiding Light. If Nuwa levels up, she increases the range of her normal attacks and skills and vision. Enemies hit with her skills will be marked. Allies that attack the marked enemies will enjoy temporary increased damage and movement speed.
    • Dirak's passive is Magic Body. Dirak doesn't die when his HP reaches 0, any damages he receives afterwards would drain his mana, only expiring when both mana and HP are depleted. However, his mana is drained from attacks faster than his HP
  • Their first skills are similar, but have a different execution. They are:
    • Incantation - Resplendence for Nuwa
    • Astrolobe for Dirak
      • Nuwa & Dirak launch a projectile that goes through their enemies and damages them. They also knock the enemy back. After hitting an enemy, their speed will slow down considerably.
      • In the case of Nuwa, at the end of the projectile's range, it transforms into a cross-shaped magic blast, damaging enemies further. If there's a matrix she created from her second skill, the matrix explodes, dealing extra damage.
      • In the case of Dirak, if his projectile hits an enemy or reaches halfway of the firing range, it transforms into a bigger ball that travels slower but gives out ticking damage, with those closer to the center getting bigger damage. If it hits an enemy before reaching halfway of the skill range, then it will be treated as if the projectile has traveled halfway, so it may end up shortening the overall range.
  • Their second skills are quite similar, but has different execution. They are:
    • Incantation - Creation for Nuwa
    • Fallen Star for Dirak
      • Nuwa and Dirak mark a small area with a shape of magic (square matrix for Nuwa, circle for Dirak). What happens afterwards are where things get rather different:
      • For Nuwa, her square matrix is created almost instantaneously and lasts in the area for 3 seconds before it disappears, dealing damage to nearby enemies. This matrix counts as a terrain that can block off enemies' movement. The matrix can be exploded via her first skill or ultimate. She can store up to 4 charges of the skill. If the enemy is in an area involving two or more matrices exploding/disappearing, the second damage is lowered.
      • For Dirak, his magic circle stays and does nothing for 3 seconds or the ability is recast (before 3 seconds). At that point, three falling stars are summoned, dealing damage and knocking enemies back, stunning them if they hit an obstacle. If the ability is recast, Dirak can choose where the stars fall off. Those hit with this skill will be marked with Genesis Mark. If those with the Genesis Mark are hit with Astrolobe, then Dirak immediately refreshes Astrolobe's cooldown. He cannot store charges, unlike Nuwa.
  • Nuwa's exclusive 3rd skill is Incantation - Emergence. Nuwa creates a spatial rift in an area that could be far away from her. After a delay, she teleports to that area, dealing damage on the landing point. Passively, for every second she will slow down enemy heroes that attack her and gain movement speed and shield for every few seconds.
  • Their ultimates are where their main similarity is found, but even they have a different execution:
    • Nuwa's ultimate is Incantation - Ruin. Nuwa fires off a destructive energy beam that travels throughout the map in a direction and deals massive damage to those that stay in the path. If her beam touches a matrix created by her second skill, the matrix explodes.
    • Dirak's ultimate has two stages:
      • The initial form is Genesis Barrier. When Dirak casts the skill, he creates a barrier that blocks all projectiles for a short period of time, and his normal attack is enhanced, dealing damage in an area-of-effect and increasing attack speed.
      • After a while casting Genesis Barrier, Dirak can cast the second stage of the skill: Genesis Blast. It works similarly with Nuwa's Incantation - Ruin, but Dirak's beam only travels halfway through the map, and since he has no matrices to lay down, his skill is meant purely to damage his enemies.

Tropes applying to both

  • Gold-Colored Superiority: Their Color Motif is gold in their magic color and separate places in their body (steel parts for Nuwa, hair and some parts of clothes for Dirak), and it's to show their superior status: Dirak for being the supreme mage and Nuwa being the creator.
  • Kamehame Hadoken: Incantation - Ruin and Genesis Blast are powerful waves that damage everything in sight, and both also activate it by putting both of their palms forward. If you played League of Legends, then they may remind you of Lux's Final Spark.
  • Non-Elemental: Nobody has an idea what kind of element they control. It's just pure magic, it's not even called 'arcane' (Dirak sometimes calls his version as 'Arcane' for convenience's sake).

Tropes applying exclusively to Nuwa

  • Gameplay and Story Segregation: Her lore states that she's very proud and benevolent to her creations, acting as their guardian. However, her lines make her look like she's getting tired of her creations causing problems and is several inches close to hitting the Reset Button.
  • The Maker: Just like in the myth, she's the one who created the world where the lore of Honor of Kings takes place, named Primaela. Even after the retcon that Primaela is becoming just another continent, it still holds weight.
  • Physical God: She's the Top God of the Honor of Kings pantheon of deities, but she takes form in a tangible material that can be touched or hit.

Tropes applying exclusively to Dirak

  • The Archmage: He's one of the greatest mages of Athanor, along with D'Arcy. With D'Arcy stuck in another dimension for a while, most people will recognize Dirak more.
  • Badass Arm-Fold: He always travels with his arms folded. It's a good showcase of why he's the 'badass mage'.
  • Smug Super: He's overconfident in his magical abilities and comes with a slew of badass boasts about his prowess. Think he's a Smug Snake? He'll show you that he's not all talk.
  • Two Guys and a Girl: The 'Three Sages' contains him, D'Arcy (two guys), and Sephera (a girl).
  • Why Won't You Die?: It may surprise players as to why, after he has been brought down in HP, Dirak's still standing there, blasting people off. That's because his passive just won't let him die unless you deplete his mana too. For fair play, his mana will get depleted faster when he's attacked in that state.

    Zhou Yu & Ignis 

Zhou Yu (周瑜)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hok_zhouyu_350x441.png
"We can't achieve anything, without desire."
Title: The Ironwilled, Inferno
Other Names: Fireraiser
Faction: Three Kingdoms - Wu

Original Information: One of the chief strategists of the Wu Kingdom in the Three Kingdoms era. Zhou Yu is the best friend of Sun Ce and he showed his intellect by helping Sun Ce claim the land of Wu. When Sun Ce passed away, Zhou Yu was entrusted with advising his brother Sun Quan, and eventually led Wu to a victory against the massive army of Wei in the Battle of the Red Cliffs, by aligning with the visiting Liu Bei and his entourage and taking advantage of the wind's blowing direction. He acknowledged the talents of Zhuge Liang, but historically, he wasn't as venomously jealous as Romance of the Three Kingdoms made him out to be. He died from the wounds procured from battle but has set up a line of successor strategists that would help out Wu in time of need, such as Lu Meng and later Lu Xun.

In-game bio: Zhou Yu is born as one of the leading families to eventually lead the kingdom of Wu. To find a way to bring prosperity and peace to his nation and eventually the world, he studies in Jixia Academy, forming a 'rivalry' with its ace student Kongming. He comes to the conclusion that peace can be brought via actions.

When he is contacted by his childhood friend Sun Ce to help him bring peace to Wu by eliminating its corrupt parts, Zhou Yu departs from the Academy and proceeds to bring Sun Ce's ideals into fruition with what he learned. He also meets the love of his life, Xiao Qiao, during this journey. Finally, after years of fighting, Zhou Yu achieves his ideals and the Kingdom of Wu stands as a result.

However, his ideal state is on the brink of crumbling away. The corrupt aristocrats he squashed before plot behind the scenes and Sun Ce is apparently killed in action. While Zhou Yu manages to keep order with Sun Ce's sister, Lady Sun, he realizes that one of the culprits of this disaster are part of the Qiao family, his parents-in-law, and they already attempted to sacrifice Xiao Qiao's sister, Da Qiao, to defeat Sun Ce (but that plot was thwarted by Zhou Yu). Facing such a dilemma that may crush his faith, Zhou Yu reaffirms his confidence and promises that he will stand strong as always to preserve his country and ideals.

Ignis

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aov_ignis_350x441.jpg
"Ground control! We have ignition!"
Title: The Anointed One
Voiced by:
Faction: Veda

Ignis is the guardian of the Holy Flame, the symbol of light and truth in Veda. Taught by Lauriel, Ignis dedicated his life and time to discover the "Kingdom of Truth" located within the Tower of Contemplation. There, he instead discovered a way to manipulate the Holy Flame. Although it has long since burned away, Ignis considered it another step towards his goal. The discovery, however, attracted the attention of Volkath, who decided that such a discovery could tilt the balance of light and darkness against him. Volkath then led a group of demons to attack the Tower of Contemplation. Ignis stood resolute in the face of death and recited his prayer. In an instant, the Holy Flame ignited around him once more, and Ignis used his knowledge to manipulate the flame to wipe out the demons. Realizing the return of the Holy Flame, Volkath commanded his troops to retreat. But for Ignis, the battle was just another step closer to discovering the "Kingdom of Truth."

Kit

Zhou Yu & Ignis are fire-based Mage heroes that spread fire throughout the battlefield to slowly burn away their enemies (although Zhou Yu has the power of winds by his side). While they have similar thematics (damage over time with fire), a lot of their skills work differently.

  • Their passives are:
    • Blaze for Zhou Yu
    • Sacred Flame for Ignis
      • Zhou Yu & Ignis can mark enemies with their skills, although Zhou Yu can also mark enemies with normal attacks.
      • Zhou Yu can store up to 4 stacks. After reaching that number, the mark will explode, dealing magical damage over time and reducing their movement speed. Zhou Yu cannot put a mark on enemies who are already burning from this.
      • Ignis can store up to 5 stacks, but the mark will vanish after 3 seconds if not refreshed. Merely putting a mark will increase Ignis' attack and movement speeds. Hitting an enemy that’s already marked reduces the cooldown of Ignis’ first skill and enhances the effects of all of his skills (including the first), while also restoring his HP, giving him bonus damage in normal attacks, and refreshing the mark duration.
  • Their first skills are vastly different:
    • Zhou Yu's first skill is Wildfire. Zhou Yu summons a wind domain around him for a few seconds. Allies around him gain movement speed while enemies around him lose movement speed. When casting a skill, the enemies are knocked back to a direction of his choosing and are damaged. If the wind domain overlaps with fire domain created by his other skills, the fire then spreads further, creating new fire domains in the direction of the knockback direction.
    • Ignis' first skill is Fire Crash. Ignis launches a fireball in a direction. If it hits an enemy, it will create another flame stream in a cone behind the target, hitting those caught in it. If the enemy who is hit has a Flame Mark on them, Ignis gains a temporary shield.
  • Their second skills are visually similar, but has slightly different functions:
    • Zhou Yu's second skill is Scorching Bolt. Zhou Yu summons a volley of fire arrows to a location from the sku. The bolts deal burst damage and leave behind a fire domain that lasts for a time, deals damage over time to those standing on it, while also healing himself if he steps into the domain. Zhou Yu can stock this skill up to 3 charges, but he can only have up to 6 fire domains at any time; launching another set of arrows afterwards will delete the first fire domain created.
    • Ignis' second skill is Rain of Fire. Ignis summons a rain of fire in a circular area, damaging enemies over time and slowing them. Those who have the Flame Mark on them are temporarily stunned if this skill hits them. This skill can only give one Flame Mark to one enemy per cast.
  • Their ultimates are also different in practice, but overall serve as their burst damage provider:
    • Zhou Yu's ultimate is Flames of War. Zhou Yu summons a burst of flame to a conical area, dealing damage. If he casts this spell to an area with a fire domain, the domain creates a firestorm, dealing extra damage and stunning those caught in it.
    • Ignis' ultimate is Holy Embers Ignis marks a huge circular area on the ground. After a delay, the Holy Flame bursts in the area, dealing huge damage to those caught in the area. The damage is even greater for those who have the Flame Mark on them.

Tropes applying to both

  • Playing with Fire: They are the token 'fire mages' of their respective games. Ignis specializes in pure fire magic and while Zhou Yu learns about magic in his time in Jixia Academy, he can also use it to imbue multiple arrows with fire so they can be launched and make fire.

Tropes applying exclusively to Zhou Yu

  • Blow You Away: Unlike in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zhou Yu doesn't need prayers from Zhuge Liang to summon winds, he'll summon them himself! Not only do the winds blow enemy positions away, but it also spreads the burning ground he sets up.
  • Long-Haired Pretty Boy: As usual, Zhou Yu is a Pretty Boy with long hair, even if he still loses out in handsomeness to Lanling Wang or the other three handsome men (competition was pretty tight).
  • Official Couple: Just like in history, he's married with Xiao Qiao and certainly doesn't want to lose her from the chaos that erupted in the land. Unfortunately, as both are designated as mid-laners, it's likely that they wouldn't be seen under the same team during gameplay.
  • The Rival: Just like in the novel, Zhou Yu is also at odds with Kongming during his days at the academy. Fortunately, it's not as severe as Kongming's rivalry with Sima Yi.
  • The Strategist: Zhou Yu is not just the Wu strategist, but his playstyle really encourages you to strategize in setting up fire domains, knowing when to spread the fire away with winds and knowing when to blow the domains up like a bomb with his ultimate.

Tropes applying exclusively to Ignis

  • Cool Old Guy: He’s the game's "token old man hero." He also happens to be one of the good representatives of Veda, rather than the shady ones. Despite his aging appearance, he’s also cool enough to let Lauriel mentor him.
  • MacGuffin: The Holy Flame, which he guards and studies, is a significant artifact. Its presence can lead to the discovery of the Kingdom of Truth, and the mere knowledge of that shocks Volkath so much that he orders an invasion of Veda to eliminate its threat.
  • Meaningful Name: His name is Ignis. Sounds like someone who’ll ignite you to ashes with the sacred flames, right?
  • Seeker Archetype: He’s driven by his personal mission to discover the Kingdom of Truth. As a bonus, it may also benefit Veda.
  • Wizard Classic: He has the classic wizard hat, robe, and beard. He replaces the classic long staff with a shorter wand (still long by wand standards) to contain the Holy Flame.
  • Younger Than They Look: Despite appearing to be quite old by human standards due to his Wizard Classic appearance, Ignis is not the oldest within Veda. Archons like Ilumia, Lauriel, and Tulen far surpass him in age.

    Ziya & Preyta 

Ziya

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hok_jiangziya_new_350x441.png
"Those who shoulder the burden of fate, carry the responsibility that they must prevail... Even when alone."Click for his old design
Title: The Sanctifier, Divine Enforcer
Original Name: Jiang Ziya (姜子牙)
Faction: Celestials

Original Information: His other name is Taigong Wang. He served as an advisor of the Shang Dynasty until he was unable to stomach the tyranny of King Zhou and his consort Daji. He feigned madness to retire from ministry affairs where he spent his time fishing and awaiting people that would seek him to overthrow Zhou. That person was King Wen, and Jiang Ziya helped him overthrow Zhou and foresaw the execution of Daji. His appearance in Fengshen Yanyi codified his portrayal as China's arch-wizard character.

In-game bio: Ziya is one of the great sages who traveled in a world full of feralis along with his best friend Fuzi. Along the way, they become two Enforcers of the Goddess Nuwa for the safety of their people and to guide them as time moves forward. They participate in the final battle of the superbeings to defend the superbeings' successor, the humans, and succeed in sealing the Dark Master Diqun.

However, the two friends' paths eventually diverge when it comes to guiding humanity that they part ways. While Fuzi concentrates on guiding mankind, Ziya takes it upon himself to eliminate every other threat to humanity. After he sacrifices his divinity during the war to eliminate King Zhou, he hears that Diqun is set to return.

For that, he sends out many of his apprentices, such as Liang and Consort Yu, to seek out ways to defeat Diqun for good. However, Ziya ends up being tricked by one of his apprentices, Wu Zetian, and sealed for getting in her way. Ziya turns this to his advantage by meditating and restoring his lost divinity. He eventually breaks free of his imprisonment, ready to resume the job he's taken to protect humanity by eliminating all that threaten it.

Preyta

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aov_preyta_350x441.jpg
"Life... such a precious, delicate little thing..."
Title: The Illest
Voiced by: Koichi Tochika (JP)
Faction: Lokheim

Preyta was formerly a mere soldier from an unknown kingdom who was assigned to guard a ravine where humans tossed those who were killed in war without proper burial procedures. Over time, the corpses began to rot, transform into something twisted, and eventually start affecting Preyta's soul. He eventually transforms into a creature that spreads viruses wherever he goes, atop his trusty wyvern. Naturally, during this conflict in Athanor, he joins up with Lokheim, where his plague-spreading is much more appreciated.


Kit

Ziya & Preyta are Mage heroes who possess considerable charged magic blasts that control the battlefield by showing where they're going to fire, and there will be a heavy price to pay for those who don't get out of the way. Preyta's kit is a partial port of Ziya's old skillset until the latter was revamped into something brand new, but retaining some of the kit's old elements.

  • Their passives revolve around giving them innate bonuses:
    • Ziya's passive is Sanctification. Ziya can gather extra EXP for himself whenever he hits an enemy and said enemy dies after up to 3 seconds. Once he reaches Level 15...
      • He increases his level cap, thus being able to reach Level 25. Each level reached after 15 will simply give him extra magic damage.
      • He gains a special one-use skill called Sanctify. The skill immediately gives a teammate 1200 EXP points and allows them to break their level limit to reach Level 25 like Ziya.
    • Preyta's passive is Flying Dragon. Since he rides a wyvern, Preyta gets a flat, permanent bonus to movement speed that doesn't scale with level.
  • Their first skills are different, although some of their elements are mixed in their other skills:
    • Ziya's first skill is Divine Seal. Ziya throws a divine orb that immediately forms a half-sphere seal, dealing initial damage and followed by 7 hits of more damage. Enemies hit with the skill will lose movement speed and physical and magic defenses. If Ziya can hit an enemy with this skill, he gains movement speed boost.
    • Preyta's first skill is Plague Scepter. Preyta channels great magic power with his scepter. Once he's done channeling, he unleashes a phantom of his wyvern that deals massive damage to a wide area. The longer he charges, the greater the range and damage. If he cancels the channeling, the phantom is released earlier.
  • Their second skills are different, although some of their elements are mixed in their other skills:
    • Ziya's first skill is Divine Punishment. Ziya conjures a magic circle that deals 3 strikes of damage to nearby enemies. After a short delay, the circle explodes, dealing bigger damage and knocking the enemies upwards.
    • Preyta's second skill is Poison Gas Bomb. Preyta conjures a bomb explosion in an area, knocking all enemies back and decreasing their movement speed massively.
  • Their ultimates are where they retain the similarities of their skills:
    • Ziya's ultimate is Universal Law. Similarly to Preyta's first skill, Ziya channels divine energy and displays his range of firing that increases in length over time. If he stops or interrupts his channeling, he fires 3 shockwaves, with the last shockwave dealing more damage. Once Ziya reaches level 15, he increases the charging speed, and gains a 20% chance to instead enter the Sanctifier stance, allowing him to move again after initiating the channeling. The flat percentage of chance is added after he gains another level beyond level 15.
    • Preyta's ultimate is Disciple of the Plague. Preyta immediately enters a powered up state similar to Ziya's Sanctifier stance, with different effects:
      • He gets flat stat increases in movement speed, attack speed, attack range and damage.
      • He resets the cooldown of his other skills and their next usages will be enhanced: He can move after casting Plague Scepter with a mirror image doing the channeling in his place (similar to Ziya's Sanctifier bonus, except that Preyta always has 100% chance), and he turns his Poison Gas Bomb into nether spikes, stunning his targets rather than knocking them back, serving as a more similar function with Ziya's Divine Punishment (minus the delay).

Tropes applying to both

  • Adaptational Villainy: Ziya is straddling around the gray morality line thanks to his extremism. On the other hand, Preyta is a straight up villain who brings deadly plagues everywhere on his own accord.
  • Charged Attack: Both share the ability to charge a massive attack, with the longer charge yielding greater damage potential. Preyta's charge is in his first skill, whereas Ziya's in his ultimate (with quite the low cooldown). Naturally, no sane enemy would be dumb enough to stay in place and take the full damage, so they usually have to cancel earlier or use it in the middle of friends causing chaos.
  • Super Mode: Downplayed and played straight, depending on the user. Their ultimates contain a chance to become more powerful and lets them move again after charging. Ziya only has the chance to move again (downplaying), whereas Preyta also gets stat bonuses and skill enhancement to go (playing straight).

Tropes applying exclusively to Ziya

  • Light 'em Up: He uses divine light magic. However, he's also a gray character whose usage of light can be good or bad depending on the POV.
  • We Used to Be Friends: Ziya and Fuzi used to be best friends, but they drift apart once they realize they have starkly different methods in protecting humanity. Both no longer have good things to say to each other after that incident.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: He only wants to secure a good future for humankind. However, he's an extremist whose solution is 'wipe out all ferali from the world, regardless of their alignment'. He's also not above manipulation if it serves his goal well.
  • Wizard Classic: If there's anyone from China who can substitute as a bearded wizard from a medieval fantasy setting, Ziya is your old man. He just lacks the wizard hat, but that's what an additional skin is for.

Tropes applying exclusively to Preyta

  • Dragon Rider: He rides an eerie wyvern for a mage. It increases his movement speed.
  • Plaguemaster: His specialty is spreading plagues wherever he goes.

Arena of Valor Former Counterpart Heroes

Former Counterpart Heroes are Arena of Valor heroes who used to be a full-blown counterpart of their Honor of Kings version, until the latter gets a revamp and gains a proper counterpart on their own, leaving the former without any counterparts. This also works vice-versa.

    Ishar 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aov_ishar_350x441.jpg
"Come here, Furball!"
Title: The Summoner's Apprentice
Voiced by: Mai Kadowaki (JP)
Faction: Carano City/Magic Academy
Previous Counterpart: Angela

Ishar lost her mother due to an accident, and her father was constantly away from her as a senator of the City of Free. She came across a magical pink fluffy creature with whom she formed a telepathic link at one point. Naming the creature "Furball," she adopted it as her pet and best friend. She was sent to Carano Magic Academy to better harness her magic talent after surviving a kidnapping event and with the help of both Quillen and Veres. Despite stumbling in the beginning, Ishar eventually found her place in the Academy, not to mention her teacher Sephera was a gentle lady similar to her missing mother. On the other hand, another student named Keera doesn't seem very fond of the attention Ishar got...

Ishar is a Mage/Support hero who may look docile and harmless alone, but her enemies will learn to fear her pet Furball that she masterfully controls with telepathic link and friendship.

  • Her passive is her pet, Furball. It acts like a separate creature that always follows Ishar, sticks close with her, and attacks enemies that approach her. Its stats have parallels with Ishar's magic power. If it dies, it will respawn in 15 seconds; however, if it sees Ishar die, it will go berserk for a few seconds, attacking all enemies in sight before dying (though it can be killed before it expires).
  • Her first skill is Somnial Fungus. Ishar throws a small magical ball that damages enemies in sight, despite it looking too puny. If it hits two times, it enhances the ability's size until it creates a fungus on the hit enemy that acts as an obstacle and explodes after a few seconds. Furball will also prioritize attacking whoever gets hit with this skill, with an added bonus of a slow effect.
  • Her second skill is Somnial Shield. Ishar gains a shield and movement speed boost, while Furball immediately runs towards her. When they touch each other, they generate a small shockwave that knocks up enemies near them and then slows them.
  • Her ultimate is Dreamy Circle. Ishar conjures a circle on the ground that creates a barrier so that the enemies cannot walk away outside of it (unless they have a dash skill). Furball then leaps to the center of the circle, dealing damage and gaining multiple stat bonuses, and starts beating up the enemy caught inside.

  • The Beastmaster: Ishar alone looks harmless, but if you mess with her, her pet Furball is going to rip you apart.
  • Dub Name Change: Furball is named "Momo" in the Japanese version. Because it has pink furs?
  • Girls Love Stuffed Animals: In addition to Furball, a stuffy pink animal, Ishar has a collection of stuffed animal plushies.
  • Killer Rabbit: Aww, what a cute, fluffy, huggable fluffball that Furball is! It tempts you to hug it, and then, on Ishar's command, it starts mauling and beating the crap out of you. And you better not attempt to do so in the radius of a dead Ishar.
  • Little Miss Badass: It's worth noting that Ishar is only 13 years old. She's still a hero to be reckoned with.
  • Psychic Link: Ishar and Furball can communicate via a telepathic link.
  • Ridiculously Cute Critter: When not in battle mode, Furball takes the form of a really small, huggable critter.
  • Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Kill Ishar while Furball is alive, and it will go completely insane, attempting to take down as many as it can in revenge of its master before dying.
  • Unknown Rival: Ishar treats Keera just fine, but she doesn't quite understand why Keera just wants her to drop dead...

Exclusive to Honor of Kings

    Chang'e 

Chang'e (嫦娥)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hok_change_350x441.png
"The sun of the night, protecting those who belong to it..."
Title: The Princess of the Cold Moon (寒月公主)
Faction: Celestials

Original Information: Chang'e is the deity of the moon and betrothed to Hou Yi. After Hou Yi completed his mission to shoot down nine suns, those suns turned out to be the children of Di Jun, so the couple was punished by being stripped of their immortality. Hou Yi, however, managed to secure a potion that would grant immortality to both of them. However, out of curiosity or cornered by bandits trying to steal the potion, Chang'e instead drank the potion for herself, and she was sent straight to the moon, forever separated from Hou Yi and only having the company of a bunch of lunar rabbits.

  • Age Lift: Specifically mentioned to be 14 in the game. She is older physically in myths.
  • Combo: Use her first ability to root and mark an enemy, and basic attack them, the explosion from the mark will serve as a nice poke.
  • Death of a Thousand Cuts: Her core gameplay, you are to use your second ability on an area (which is also around yourself), drain the enemy of their mana around you and that area, when their mana is zero, you will deal MUCH more damage, in-short you cast your second ability and be The Gadfly around the enemy.
  • Difficult, but Awesome: She has several factors that makes her very hard to play, from positioning well to managing her mana pool. Along with a very multi-layered kit
  • Flight: Has a unique recall out of all the characters. She can recall and Fly back to the spot she recalled at. However, this will disable her recall until the cooldown is refreshed (as of now it is 40 seconds).
  • Goddess of the Moon: One of the most famous ones. In-game lore her ascendance is through coincidence. Coincidentally, she is not the only Moon Goddess; newcomer Hai Yue also share the spot.
  • Lunacy: Fights with moonlight and moon dust.
  • Magic Missile Storm: Her Ultimate to a T, she will expend a LOT of her mana in a cone formation to annihilate targets one by one with a speed buff while casting it.
  • Mana Meter: Heavily relies on this for her Super-Toughness passive, as she is a categorized tank. Once the mana bar runs out, she will be squishier than an assassin.
  • Official Couple: With Hou Yi.
  • Regenerating Mana: Her kit has multiple ways to replenish her mana, such as basic attacking often, or use her second ability nearby enemy units, by Draining them.

    Hai Yue 

Hai Yue (海月)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hok_haiyue_350x441.png
Title: Heart of Eternal Night (永夜之心)
Faction: Celestials/Dark Master (Diqun)
Arena of Valor counterpart: N/A

Original Information: Hai Yue is an original character to Honor of Kings

  • Accidental Murder: As Guo Ye, Garo, Feyd, Prince of Lanling, and Sakeer tries to stop her self-sacrificial rampage; Wei Ye tries to stop her magic and was grabbed by her, she stops once he mentions his wish but the damage was too great, she seals him into a jewel and “Not allowing him [sic] to die”.
  • Bedlah Babe: Her first skin is this.
  • Berserk Button: Call her master Diqun the Dark Master, she DARES you.
  • Butterfly of Death and Rebirth: She has a secondary motif of ghostly green butterflies, that she protects as it is a remnant of the land where her master; Diqun, came from. In cutscenes, she summons a Swarm of these to attack the heroes above.
  • Combo: Her passive as a whole, you can string around 6 differences of combos using her two non-ultimate abilities.
  • Glass Slipper: Wears a pair, but they strangely covers about from her toes to half of her feet, the heels are completely exposed.
  • Goddess of the Moon: The second goddess of the moon after Chang’e, she clarifies within the lore that Chang’e is an Outworld Goddess.
  • Hated by All: Downplayed. Hai Yue is the only hero whose relationship web with the other heroes contains only enemies, but her character trailer reveals a non-playable character, Wei Ye, as her one and only friend. Although she did have it coming, being a servant of the true Dark Master and all.
  • Lunacy: She fights using moonlight that is crystalized.
  • Master of Illusion: She has a knack of this within her cutscenes, by casting illusions to cloud the heroes’ judgement. However she tend to project her past memories within these illusions as well.
  • The Mourning After: She constantly finds away to get her master, Diqun to be resurrected after he sacrificed himself protecting the Cloudlands from the goddess Nuwa.
  • Pocket Dimension: Her ultimate allows her to pull one enemy player into her pocket dimension for a short period of time. This dimension also shortens her abilities’ cooldown by half, allowing her to cast her non-ultimate abilities more often.
  • Power Crystal: Her motif,The three crystalline discs behind her, using an indicator of her passive in-game, they will replenish after three seconds of usage.
  • Power Floats: Always seen floating.
  • Quest for a Wish: As she was unsealed by Wei Ye, who is aware she is Divine, he wishes for Hai Yue to just Shines with her own light, she thinks that it is silly for a mortal like him to wish a Divine Being so, she later promise to fulfill this wish after killing Wei Ye and putting him in a jewel.
  • Sickly Child Grew Up Strong: Hai Yue was a weak and sickly child who was considered useless by her village. After being abandoned in the wilderness and almost died of exhaustion and is about to be attacked by a pack of horned wolf-like beasts, she was rescued by Diqun, and granted immense power and godhood.
  • Tranquil Fury: So much that it clouded her judgement, it even manifested Physically along with her memories for the team of heroes to fight her in the story.
  • Undying Loyalty: To the god that saved her, Diqun, She swears complete loyalty to him from beginning of her godhood to the present time still. She also will resurrect him by ANY means necessary. The same way Wei Ye swears to her as he unsealed her and she saving him from the brink of death.
  • Unknown Rival: Her feelings towards Nuwa, as she is “the Outworld God that buried the Cloudlands in sands”, killing her master Diqun.
  • Villain: Exit, Stage Left: After Wei Ye was killed, lightning and thunder appears within Hai Yue’s dimension, she suspects the “Outworld Gods” have caught wind she is here, and makes a hasty exit while silently berating the team of heroes who fought her as “trash”.

    Jinchan 

Jinchan

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hok_jinchan_350x441.png
"The heart has a purpose, have no fear in seeking it."
Title: The World Walker (渡世行者)
Other Names: Jin Chan (金蝉), [Tang Sanzang]
Faction: Chang'an (Pilgrimage to the West)

Original Information: Jinchan is a semi-original character to Honor of Kings. He is a Captain Ersatz of Tang Sanzang/Xuanzang, the man who retrieved scriptures from the West area and brought it back to China during the Tang Dynasty. While his journey was certainly perilous, they would be retold with fantastic elements such as demons, magic, and mysticism in the classic novel Journey to the West, which also saw the debut of Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie. Unlike Arke and Yango, the decision for Jinchan's name has been there since the character introduction.


  • Adaptational Badass: He's based on one of the most premiere Distressed Dudes of Chinese literature. In here, he's a powerful mage ready to deliver some serious vanquishing.
  • Badass Pacifist: Jinchan doesn't like killing, being a monk and all. But he's a Mage with a deadly kit. So he'll be doing a lot of 'vanquishing' of enemy heroes.
  • Meaningful Name: Jinchan is named after 'Jin Chan Zi' (金蟬子), the Golden Cicada that questioned the Buddha that he's punished to reincarnate as the monk Xuanzang. Therefore, he's not renamed at random.
  • Thou Shalt Not Kill: He doesn't kill people as a monk. Therefore, whenever he does something that equates to killing, the announcer modifies their announcement to make it look like he just 'eliminated' his targets.

    Shi 

Shi

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hok_xishi_350x441.png
"The most valuable thing, for the most precious person~"
Title: The Silky Beauty, Silkweaver, The Spirit of the Magical Silk (幻纱之灵)
Original Name: Xi Shi (西施)
Other Names: Shi Yiguang
Faction: Jixia Academy

Original Information: Based on Xi Shi, the first of the Four Beauties of Ancient China. She was a natural beauty, going from a non-assuming village girl to a girl good at sexpionage. Her beauty was said to make fish forget how to swim and drown if her reflection was to appear on the water. She was approached by King Goujian of Yue, who was bitter that his state was subjugated and made into a tributary state for King Fuchai of Wu. On the recommendation of minister Fan Li, Xi Shi and her best friend Zheng Dan were handpicked to seduce King Fuchai, who couldn't resist beautiful women, in order to weaken him. The plan worked, with King Fuchai becoming more neglectful of his own states, which weakened his nation and gave King Goujian the chance to rebel and completely destroyed the State of Wu. Xi Shi retired afterward, some said that she married Fan Li, having fallen in love during their journey to King Fuchai and swore to reunite once her mission was done, and roamed together in the misty wilderness of Taihu Lake with no one ever seeing them again, but some (like Mozi) said that Goujian executed Xi Shi by drowning her in a river, fearing that she'd mesmerize him the same way she did to Fuchai. Her tale was inspiring enough for people to refer to her as the first of the Four Beauties of Ancient China (together with Wang Zhaojun, Diaochan, and Yang Yuhuan (also known as Yang Guifei) later down the line) and some saying that she reincarnated into China's beautiful West Lake. Yet, nothing was heard of her best friend that helped her complete her task, Zheng Dan.

In-game Bio: Growing up in the Southlands, which is hardly a paradise for children growing up, Shi Yiguang already has to make a living by hunting for treasures. However, one treasure she traded instead incurs a huge debt, resulting her to be constantly on the run from debt collectors. She flees to a shrine, finding a magical silk ribbon. The ribbon ends up choosing her as its owner, and she uses it to trick the debt collectors to move somewhere else. After awhile still having to avoid relentless debt collectors and falling to one trap, Yiguang is saved by Zhuangzi, and she follows him to Jixia Academy, becoming a student there. To ensure that the debt collectors lose track of her completely, she shortens her name into 'Shi'.

At first, her aim is simply the treasures by winning various competitions, without understanding what 'treasure' really means. But she is eventually drafted to Team Stars, with its captain Yao, to participate in the Dream Trial. It's at this time that Shi starts understanding the true value of treasure, based on the camaraderie she experiences with her team.

Shi is a control-based Mage hero who aims to control the enemies directly, telling them where to go and the enemy will obey if they have been affected by her silky spells.

  • Her passive is Maiden's Trick. Shi's spells deal more damage the farther she is with her target.
  • Her first skill is Silk Imprint. Shi throws an artifact to a location. The artifact explodes, deals damage, and pulls any enemies to the center of explosion. The affected enemy will be wrapped with invisible silk. Shi can recast this skill to force the wrapped enemy to move to a direction (as long as they're not too far away from her), which will interrupt any skills that moves the enemy with it, as long as they're not having crowd control immunity during the move. The skill also deals double damage to non-hero units.
  • Her second skill is The Silky Beauty. Shi launches an energy orb that stops when it hits an enemy. It deals damage over time to nearby enemies before exploding for burst damage. The first hit also slows the enemies and the one with the biggest damage for the same hero hit (except with the big explosion in the end). During the big explosion in the end, the enemies at the center of the explosion takes double damage. The orb will also follow targets marked with Silk Imprint.
  • Her ultimate is Sole Focus. Shi enters an enhanced state. During this state...
    • She gets a greater field of vision and resets the cooldown of The Silky Beauty.
    • Silk Imprint can control the enemy's movement twice.
    • The Silky Beauty's cooldown is halved.
    • She gains a movement speed boost.


  • Badass Adorable: Shi is The Cutie Girl Next Door with a mind sharp enough to outwit her foes and lead them to their deaths with her magic.
  • Color Motif: In her default costume, blue.
  • Dub Name Change: In the global version, Tencent removed the 'Xi' in her name, rendering her into just 'Shi'. This is because when read as-is in Portuguese, her name can be misread as an equal to 'piss/pee'.
  • Had to Be Sharp: She's always looking for a treasure since childhood and had to be wary about those who may trick her. Because the one time she lets her guard down, she gets saddled with massive debts and ends up running for her life.
  • Girl Next Door: As opposed to her fellow Four Beauties' design that could get a bit extravagant, Shi's clothing style is relatively simpler and evokes the image of an approachable girl next door or a classmate if the setting is in a school (and she is a student of the Jixia Academy). Most likely because Xi Shi was the only one who had complete peasant origins, others had more privileged childhood (Wang Zhaojun was handpicked as a harem lady in the age of 13, Diao Chan was the daughter of a Han minister, Yang Yuhuan was born princess).
  • In Name Only: Shi has none of Xi Shi's original history tidbits (as a female spy of Goujian) and relations remain. This is most likely because Shi was introduced after Tencent became more wary about including historical/mythological characters after many Chinese parents complained about their designs misinforming youths, but they still feel obligated to complete the quartet of Four Beauties of Ancient China. However, there are several subtle hints to show that she really is based on Xi Shi:
    • Her full name is Shi Yiguang, one of the alternate names of Xi Shi (which could have been her original name).
    • She starts out as a poor girl, much like how Xi Shi is the only one of the Four Beauties of Ancient China with commoner origin.
    • After acquiring her silk, she dreams of a happy time where she's playing in an area with a pond containing fishes, and the sight of her makes some fish jump up and some sinking. This is a reference to Xi Shi's quality of 'making fishes in the pond sink.'note 
  • Noodle Incident: In one of her days in treasure hunting, Shi picks up a lost Luban no. 7 and tries to sell him as a doll, only for Luban no. 7 to malfunction and shoots fire around him, damaging various properties and the people getting mad at Shi that she has to hide (but ends up finding her magic silk). If Shi encounters Luban no. 7 as an enemy in a game, she'll make a mention of this incident.
    "Watch where you point that thing! Remember 'the incident'?"
  • People Puppets: If someone is hit with her first skill, then Shi temporarily gains a skill to force them to move somewhere else on her own bidding. An enemy hero just runs off from a team fight or a delayed AOE skill? Not if Shi forces them to walk back to the team fight and get further pounded or to the AOE area and get caught in the blast. Lore-wise, this ability helped her escape creditors throughout her childhood.
  • Ship Tease: Her relations with Yao is played like two high school best friends or pseudo-dating. This is mostly to downplay their former Official Couple status where it might misinform the youth about the historical Xi Shi, since the game doesn't have the other figures in Xi Shi's life (Fan Li, Goujian, Fuchai, Zheng Dan), as well as to avoid portraying "early teenager romance", which does not go well with the parents of the playerbase in China.
  • Spared by the Adaptation: Due to her story changes, Shi doesn't have to worry about any liege backstabbing her and ordering her to drown and die. The worst she's ever faced was debt collectors, but she eluded them fine.
  • Tomboy and Girly Girl: There are only two women amongst the Jixia Academy faction, and Shi fills in as the girly mage as opposed to the tomboyish bruiser Wuyan. Even compared with Mayene, who is of similar age, Shi also fulfills the 'girly girl' mage to Mayene's bruiser.
  • Weak, but Skilled: Shi is not the mage you'll ask for a gigantic burst damage; her skills deal miniscule and often inaccurate tick damages, including her crowd control. Skillfully predicting where her enemy may move even without turning them into People Puppets is vital to her gameplay, and once she builds up enough items, Shi turns into an extremely skilled utility mage, where even getting to those tick damages will be dangerous (due to multiple on-hit effects), let alone getting controlled.
  • World's Most Beautiful Woman: Downplayed. Shi is based on Xi Shi, one of the Four Beauties of Ancient China alongside Wang Zhaojun, Diaochan and (Yang) Yuhuan. But she is made to be less of a mature woman, but a 'schoolgirl'-type Girl Next Door. However... she also happens to be very beautiful for girls of her age, as she's often considered by the fandom as 'the most waifu-able girl hero in the game'.

    Yixing 

Yixing (弈星)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hok_yixing_350x441.png
"Black stones represent the unpredictable nights, white stones represent the eternal stars."
Title: The Weiqi Master, Boardmaster
Faction: Yaotian Society, Chang'an

Original Information: Yixing is an original character to Honor of Kings

In-game bio: Ever since he was of child age, Yixing has been abandoned by his family. There are rumors that he was a descendant of the Duke of Ying, an affluent family in Chang'an responsible for forming the Great Wall and its guardians. However, his descendants later fell out of favor and became commoners. At this lowest point in his life, Yixing is picked up by the Peony Diviner, Ming, and he teaches him not only sorcery but also how to play the board game Weiqi. Eventually Yixing starts experimenting with combining both sorcery and the Weiqi game, creating his own style of magic, but he never forgets his roots and using the game of Weiqi as a method to relax.

Ming then brings him to the court of Chang'an, where Yixing is pitted against emissaries from Kyokutou. He swiftly defeats all the emissaries, impressing Wu Zetian and making a name for himself. Ming also eventually drafts him to his 'Yaotian Society'. However, Ming later reveals that there's another universe inside and beyond the Weiqi game, and Yixing needs to find his own way in the world of Weiqi. Ming later leaves, and a dark cloud starts gathering. It's in here that Yixing must find his way through.

Exclusive to Arena of Valor

    Bonnie 

Bonnie

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aov_bonnie_350x441.png
"Say hello to my little friends!"
Title: Madcaps Missy
Voiced by:
Faction: Ramboat Mercenaries

An orphan from Free Federation's Ramboat Orphanage, who gathered fellow orphans as her friends and followers due to her ability to create special toys. Unfortunately, the orphanage is run by a corrupt dean who used it only to cover for his swindling operations, so they were always short on cash. Eventually, the orphanage fell onto hard times when the Ramboat's main industry and factory, Videl Arsenal, was bombed by someone and the dean was on the run. Bonnie and her friends became homeless and taken in to the Videl Arsenal, where they're forced to become illegal workers, slaves to their factory.

Bonnie and friends plot to escape, and fortunately, bounty hunter Valhein just happens to be passing by at Ramboat on a mission while disguising as one of their men. Looking at Bonnie's poor situation and reminded of how his friends died on duty while he was the only survivor, Valhein lends his hand to help Bonnie escape with none of her friends dead. Afterwards, Bonnie joins up with Valhein as a junior mercenary to earn her own money and hopefully be able to restore the damages done to her home.

Bonnie is a Mage hero who utilizes her varying dolls to control the battlefield to her favor.
  • Her passive is Don't Test Me. In any time her first skill triggers an Electromagnetic Blast, she gets a decaying boost of speed.
  • Her first skill is Bonnie Attack. Bonnie throws her yellow rabbit doll to the ground. It deals damage on nearby enemy and stays in the landing point, revealing enemies nearby. This skill can have two charges at most. If she throws another of the rabbit doll near an existing one, they explode, triggering Electromagnetic Blast which deals damage to surrounding enemies.
  • Her second skill is Mesmerize. Bonnie throws her red rabbit doll to home into a target. It deals damage to the target three times while immobilizing them for awhile (They can act, but cannot move even with a skill)
  • Her ultimate is Allan's Roar. Bonnie throws her purple rabbit doll to the ground. It then creates a large circle that pulls every enemies nearby to it 2 seconds and dealing damage. After that, the doll explodes, stunning those in the area and dealing even greater damage.

  • Fire-Forged Friends: Due to being mistreated by adults, Bonnie did not trust Valhein at first. Fortunately, Valhein persisted and continued helping Bonnie anyway, so in the end, Bonnie developed her trust on her.
  • Inconsistent Spelling: The announcer somehow spells her as 'Bunny', which may be coincidental on why most of her dolls take the form of rabbits.
  • Little Miss Badass: She's an orphan kid who's already leading the pack, and utilizing her dolls to screw around with her enemies by blowing them up.
  • Magnetism Manipulation: Her purple doll has the power of magnet and for gameplay purposes, even woodland creatures that has no steel items in them (like Lumburr) can get pulled in too.
  • Marionette Master: Bonnie gets three dolls to use in battle. All of them have varying effects.
  • Slave Liberation: She's been essentially enslaved along with her friends by the Videl Arsenal, so she plots their escape. Luckily for them, Valhein is nearby to smooth out their liberation.
  • Unrealistic Black Hole: Downplayed. Visually, Allan's Roar does not resemble any black holes. However, it functions like one: a large circular area where every enemies are being slowly sucked into the center until the doll explodes and deals massive damage to those still in the area. It helps that the dark purple color kind of emulates the most common color of a black hole.

    D'Arcy 

D'Arcy

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aov_darcy_350x441.jpg
"Athanor, I have returned."
Title: The Archmagus
Voiced by: Hikaru Midorikawa (JP)
Faction: Carano City/Magic Academy

One of the "Three Sages," along with Dirak and Sephera. D'Arcy is known as one of the greatest mages of Athanor. Formerly an orphan living in the streets of Norman, D'Arcy showed promise in magic studies and was picked up by Lorion to further harness his magic. After meeting his two friends and later forming the Magister Council at Carano, D'Arcy came to learn how dangerous and corrupting black magic was and swore to oppose it, but Lorion was instead committed and consumed by the corrupting effect of black magic. The two battled against each other; D'Arcy was beaten at first and afterwards went on a journey, discovering the dimensional magic, and fought Lorion the second time, successfully banishing him, but he was trapped in a dimensional rift as a result. He only escaped due to a fragment of Volkath's soul somewhat helping him escape. When he returned, decades had passed. He quickly reconnects with his old friends, but he prefers to live in Norman, where he observes the construction of the Great Wall of Norman to repel Lokheim's forces.

D'Arcy is a Mage hero with tremendous area-of-effect magic and control, manipulating dimensional magic to deliver great damage.
  • His passive is Dimensional Force. D'Arcy gathers Dimensional Energy every time he attacks or hits enemies with his spells. When the Dimensional Energy is maxed out, D'Arcy becomes enhanced, having his normal skills' cooldown reset for one use and gaining additional effects.
  • His first skill is Dimensional Walk. D'Arcy enters another dimension, gaining movement speed and damage reduction while also gaining significant damage reduction. When he attacks, his attack will have its damage enhanced and slow down his target, but he will immediately lose all those other bonuses if he attacks or casts another spell.
  • His second skill is Dimensional Cube. D'Arcy summons a cube that, after a small delay, explodes in an area, causing massive damage to all caught in the area.
  • His ultimate is Dimensional Portal. D'Arcy refreshes his Dimensional Cube cooldown and plants a portal to another dimension, damaging enemies caught in it and also marking their location, after two seconds passed, those marked will be teleported back to the place they were marked and stunned. D'Arcy can re-activate the spell to teleport to the portal himself, dealing damage in his entrance.

  • The Archmage: He's one of Athanor's greatest mages, and it's a good thing he's on the side of good.
  • Difficult, but Awesome: D'Arcy's spells are easily projected and dodged, necessitating a lot of aiming. And he needs a lot of setup to deal a lot of damage in a small area. If he ever has his way, then he can instantly take a chunk of enemy group HP during team fights in one fell swoop.
  • Lead the Target: You should learn this if you want to land the massive damage from Dimensional Cube without relying on other crowd-controllers on your team.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: He was the one who proposed the rule that those who wants to join the Norman Demon Hunters needed to infuse themselves with black magic (since that's what his teacher, Lorion, taught him). With how many horrific deaths it has caused, with only two survivors carrying their trauma (Richter and his white hair, Errol and his grotesque body and further shattered psyche), D'Arcy then realized that he's dabbling with something truly evil that should not be used at all.
    "Black magic holds nothing but evil..."
  • Not the Intended Use: He's a mage, and the game will default him to the mid-lane, but Dimensional Walk, combined with his difficulty hitting a moving hero solo, makes him feel more at home in the jungle, where he can quickly clear the stationary Sage Golems and other jungle minions while also providing surprise attacks via bushes.
  • Space Master: He specializes in dimensional magic, and while most of his normal abilities deal damage, his ultimate can manipulate his enemies' or his own positions.
  • Squishy Wizard: Despite his great power, D'Arcy is quite fragile, and Dimensional Walk's damage reduction can only help him so much if he's focused on attacks.
  • Surpassed the Teacher: He used to learn with Lorion until they had a disagreement over how to treat black magic. Lorion whooped him, but after he learned Dimension Magic, he pretty much surpassed Lorion and banished him for good.
  • Two Guys and a Girl: He, Dirak, and Sephera form this dynamic as the three primary mages of Norman and Athanor.
  • Year Outside, Hour Inside: D'Arcy didn't spend time in the other dimension for too long, but when he managed to find a way back to Athanor, decades had passed. He adapted just fine thanks to Dirak and Sephera.

    Liliana 

Liliana

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aov_liliana_350x441.jpg
"Don't worry. I won't bite."
Title: The Elegant
Voiced by: Mara Junot (EN), Kiyono Yasuno (JP)
Faction: Carano City/Magic Academy

An ancient being who has existed since the beginning of Athanor, traveling throughout it to learn about the world. After meeting an ancient nine-tailed fox, Liliana treated it like her master and eventually took the form of a human with the fox's nine tails in its honor. She began observing humans who inhabited Athanor and became fascinated with how, despite their weaknesses, they continued to endure and survive even the worst situations, so Liliana secretly aided them during one of the earlier Lokheim invasions, and when she later returned, humanity had advanced so greatly that it impressed her. So, she decided to live amongst them and was offered a position as a faculty member at the Carano Magic Academy. Since it would let her gather even more knowledge, Liliana happily accepted.

Liliana is a transforming Mage/Assassin hero who switches form between a human mage from afar and a foxy assassin on all four up close.

  • Her passive is Fox Form. Liliana has two forms: Human form or Fox form. Human form makes her normal attack ranged, while Fox form increases both her defenses (physical and magical), increases her speed, and makes her attack power equal to her mana. The active forms will change her skills.
  • Her first skill:
    • In Human form, it's Shining Light. Liliana creates a circular explosion in an area, dealing damage. If it hits more than two heroes, then normal attacks temporarily deal extra damage based on the enemy's HP.
    • In Fox form, it's Foxtrot. Liliana spins in an arc, attacking enemies with her tail and dealing damage to all caught in the area. Her next normal attack will hit three times in quick succession and home on the nearest enemy.
  • Her second skill:
    • In Human form, it's Blinding Light. Liliana shoots out a magic missile that explodes and deals damage to nearby enemies, stunning them.
    • In Fox form, it's Leap of the Fox. Liliana dashes forward and deals damage to everyone in her path. If she hits a hero, then she can recast the skill for the second phase: Liliana conjures a slow-moving magic orb from her mouth that homes slowly to the target enemy and creates an explosion, heavily damaging everyone caught in the blast.
  • Her ultimate skill is Unpredictable, which changes her form:
    • In Human form, Liliana turns into a fox as she dashes forward, dealing damage to everyone in her path and slowing them. She's untargetable while charging, and once done, she gains magic defense.
    • In Fox form, Liliana teleports forward and transforms into a human. At her jumping point and destination, she leaves behind circles that slow enemies inside. The circles explode after a second. She is untargetable while teleporting, and once done, she gains temporary extra magic damage.

  • Asian Fox Spirit: Her exact species is not detailed, but she's really based on the mythical nine-tailed fox/kitsune.
  • Expy: Tencent looked at their acquired Riot Games and champion Ahri and decided to give her their own spin, and thus Liliana was created. She even has a Gumiho skin in honor of Ahri.
  • Foxy Vixen: She's a gorgeous fox girl. What else needs to be said? She doesn't even reveal a lot of skin for that, hence why she's also titled "The Elegant'."
  • Glass Cannon: She's not exactly defenseless up close, despite not being able to use magic because her fox form is for that. But while she can deliver an untold amount of damage, she dies just as fast if she's even concentrated on. There's not a lot of extra protection that comes with her fox form.
  • Lady of Black Magic: She is a lady with great magical power who can transform into a fox at times.
  • Parasol of Prettiness: She's a lovely lady who is usually seen with her parasol, which she uses to conjure magic rather than bash people around.
  • Really 700 Years Old: It's noted that she's basically one of the most ancient beings in Athanor, having been there since its inception.
  • Shapeshifter: As an ancient being, she can shapeshift into many forms. But she'd rather simplify with just a nine-tailed fox transformation, out of respect for her nine-tailed fox master.
  • Stance System: Liliana precedes Yena as the hero with two stances that change her moveset. She can switch between a ranged mage and a close-ranged fox.
  • The Tease: Her lines play up with how she likes to tease the player, since she knows that the flustered reaction of her talk-mate would most likely amuse her.

    Lorion 

Lorion

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aov_lorion_350x441.jpg
"I am darkness! With black magic, this world will be mine!"
Title: The Nightmare Incarnate
Voiced by:
Faction: Dark Den
Honor of Kings counterpart: N/A

Lorion was once a great mage who taught black magic to D'Arcy. Eventually, they had a disagreement about how to deal with black magic; in Lorion's case, he wanted to use its power to bring the world to his knees. D'Arcy disagreed with this, and after several duels, Lorion was defeated and killed with D'Arcy's dimension magic. However, little did D'Arcy know that he didn't completely kill his teacher. Several shards filled with dark magic scattered around their battlefield eventually re-formed into an entity of black magic and possessed the memory and knowledge of the dark mage; Lorion was reborn in a younger body. And now, he resumed his megalomaniacal quest to Take Over the World with dark magic at hand and the Dark Den group of dark mages that he founded in spite of the persecutions of the dark mages.

Lorion is a devilish Mage hero who uses his Dark Orb to deal damage, control enemies from afar, and teleport to get close to them.

  • His passive is Eternal. If his Dark Orb is deployed and Lorion manages to hit the enemy with his second skill or ultimate, the Dark Orb will also deal damage to nearby enemies.
  • His first skill is Here's What I Think. Lorion launches his Dark Orb, it deals damage to those caught in its path, and it stays in place. Lorion can re-cast this skill again, and when it reaches the second endpoint, it will deal a burst of damage with a slow effect at the end of its travel.
  • His second skill is Darkness Falls. Lorion unleashes an area wave around him, dealing damage. The skill can be saved a maximum of two times. If his Dark Orb has been deployed, then Lorion flies to the orb before unleashing the wave.
  • His ultimate is Starry Night. After a delay, the Dark Orb that Lorion deployed will cause a massive explosion and levitate enemies caught in the blast for a considerable time.

  • Card-Carrying Villain: He is very proud of and embraces his dark power, and he is very vocal in stating that the world will belong to him. And unlike the denizens/leaders of the Abyss (Volkath, Maloch, and Veera), Lorion has no sad backstory or fall from grace; the best he could come up with was 'he got drunk with the corrupting nature of black magic'.
  • The Corrupter: If Lokheim has Mganga, then Lorion fills this role for his own Dark Den. He has corrupted Iggy's soul (though since Iggy was already a vicious brat, Lorion didn't need to do much) and partially Mina's (until she proved too strong for him and he had to hand her over to Veera and Mganga).
  • Dark Is Evil: A user of black magic who enjoys the darkness and corruption it brings.
  • Evil Gloating: A majority of his quotes are about him gloating at how hopeless his enemies are and they just better surrender and bow down to him and the power of black magic. Even when he's beaten, he still has time for a form of gloating. He tries to make sure to click the subtropes within the trope as many as he can, and further in a disgusting manner in the manga towards Violet when he's about to sacrifice her.
  • Evil Laugh: Befitting of a supreme Card-Carrying Villain like him, Lorion can belt out an impressive laughter of evil whenever he executes his ultimate. Moreso in the Japanese language, although the English language lets him use a lower, but equally sinister chuckle.
  • Evil Teacher: He taught D'Arcy about magic, but his student refuses to follow in his footsteps. He has much better success with Iggy because the kid's also equally evil. His teachings towards Keera also leaves the poor girl mentally screwed up.
  • Expy - Lorion shares a lot with Jaquio as both are purely Evil Sorcerers who embrace the corruption of dark magic, wanting to Take Over the World while proudly addressing themselves with any evil/dark sounding monikers.
    • Both of them lead a group of elite servants who are dedicated in evil (The Dark Den for Lorion and the Malice Four for Jaquio), and there is an implication that these people may be shaped from neutral into evil.
    • They depend on another greater source that they wish to summon to wreak havoc to the world (The Miracle for Lorion, and the Demon for Jaquio). They don't even care if the world is destroyed when they take over it, they're content with ruling the remains with terror.
    • In order to initiate the summoning, they attempt to sacrifice a woman; coincidentally both women are usually attuned with firearms (Violet and Irene Lew)
    • Even as they die, their lingering dark powers end up being used by others to fulfill their own dark desires (Iggy and H.P Clancy).
    • And finally, both of them have experienced resurrection; Lorion is resurrected from the 'old wizard' form into his energy being form via the Dark Andura Stone, while Jaquio is resurrected by the lingering spirit of the demon he tried to summon. The difference is that Lorion is revived earlier and has a chance to be revived again, while Jaquio is revived late, just once, and is eventually Killed Off for Real.
  • Hate Sink: Everything surrounding Lorion, from his lore to his personality to his quotations, is meant to invoke repulsion from both players and in-universe characters alike. He is a smug, evil bastard with the plan to Take Over the World, forms a cabal that only accepts horrible people, torturing innocent people to please him, and is also an Omnicidal Maniac who's content with ruling a ruined world if that's how it is. And he absolutely has no excuses; he's just plain evil from the start.
  • Humans Are the Real Monsters: His usage of the human version of the Ancient Veda language is an indicator that Lorion is (or was) a human. Despite so, he's one of the vilest beings in Athanor, surpassing even the demons of Lokheim.
  • Hypocrite: He calls people idiots to be worshipping Veda, because they're also Hypocrites, and to a certain extent, he may be right. To an extent, he's also very honest about his evilness. However, he's so Obviously Evil with terrifying rap sheets to go, that picking the hypocritical Veda is the sane option.
  • Omnicidal Maniac: His plan in the manga is to raise 3 Soul Pillars (which happens after a lot of deaths), on which it will cause untold destruction throughout Athanor just for the sake of a 'miracle'. Lorion doesn't care about what happens after, he just wants to delight on the destruction and suffering caused by it.
  • Reincarnation: Lorion, in the time of teaching D'Arcy, was an old man. His reincarnation from a dark shard has given him the appearance of a younger man.
  • Residual Evil Entity: The final battle between Lorion and D'Arcy caused various Dark Andura Shards to be scattered around the area. After D'Arcy killed Lorion, the Dark Andura Shards react, acknowledging the immense evil within Lorion, they began transferring his evil heart, memories and knowledge to it, and then created a new form. Lorion is then reborn, still as evil as ever.
  • Sadist: He enjoys the suffering and sorrow of others, finding those to be delightful.
  • Slouch of Villainy: In his opening animation, he sits down on a massive throne. Just so you know that this guy is a villain.
  • Take Over the World: Of course, as someone who considers himself to be an evil dark mage user, taking over the world is one of his goals. In the manga, this is further shown that he doesn't even care about the state of the world when he takes over, he can just simply destroy it, and then rule the remains.

Alternative Title(s): HOK And AOV Mage Heroes

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