Pantheon, the Unbreakable Spear

Real Name: Atreus

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/7b723253dd215833.jpg

"In battle, we are reborn."

^{Pantheon, the Artisan of War (Pre-VGU)}

Voiced by:
Gavin Hammon (English/Original)
George Georgiou (English/Current)
Eduardo del Hoyo (European Spanish)
Oliver Magaña (Mexican Spanish/Original)
Erick Selim (Mexican Spanish/Current)
Mário Tupinambá (Brazilian Portuguese/Original)
Marcelo Salsicha (Brazilian Portuguese/Current)
Kenta Miyake (Japanese)
Seong-Tae Park (Korean)
Vsevolod Kuznetsov (Russian)
Appears In: Legends of Runeterra

"Here is my eternity... a day the gods will remember!"

Once an unwilling host to the Aspect of War, Atreus survived when the celestial power within him was slain, refusing to succumb to a blow that tore stars from the heavens. In time, he learned to embrace the power of his own mortality, and the stubborn resilience that goes along with it. Atreus now opposes the divine as Pantheon reborn, his unbreakable will fueling the fallen Aspect’s weapons on the field of battle.
^{OLD BIO}

Pantheon is a Diver champion who can engage from terrifying distances, crashing down into battle and focusing his attacks on a single enemy while his shield blocks retaliation.

His passive, Mortal Will, gains a stack whenever Pantheon attacks or uses an ability, up to five. Upon reaching five stacks, his next basic ability gains an enhanced effect.

^{Original Version}

With his first ability, Comet Spear, Pantheon either quickly thrusts his spear forward, damaging enemies in front of him and refunding half the ability's cooldown, or winds-up for a few seconds, moving at reduced speed, before throwing the spear in a target direction, damaging enemies in its path, with the range increasing the longer he charges; the damage dealt increases against foes that are low on health, but also decreases for enemies hit beyond the first. Mortal Will causes Comet Spear to deal bonus damage.

^{Original Version}

His second ability, Shield Vault, makes Pantheon leap at a nearby enemy and bash them with his shield, damaging and stunning them. Mortal Will causes his next basic attack to strike thrice for bonus damage.

^{Original Version}

His third ability, Aegis Assault, has Pantheon brace his shield in a target direction for a few seconds, moving at reduced speed, blocking damage from enemies in that direction and repeatedly stabbing with his spear, damaging enemies in front of him. When the effect ends, he slams his shield forward, dealing bonus damage to enemies in front of him. Mortal Will briefly increases Pantheon's movement speed when the ability ends.

^{Original Version}

With his ultimate ability, Grand Starfall^noteoriginally called "Grand Skyfall", Pantheon briefly channels then leaps into the air out of sight, marking a location in a huge radius around him by throwing his spear there, which damages and slows nearby enemies. After a short delay, Pantheon crashes down at the chosen location, damaging enemies around him and instantly readying Mortal Will. This ability also passively increases Pantheon's armor penetration.

Pantheon's alternate skins include Myrmidon Pantheon, Ruthless Pantheon, Perseus Pantheon, Full Metal Pantheon, Glaive Warrior Pantheon, Dragonslayer Pantheon, Zombie Slayer Pantheon, Baker Pantheon, Pulsefire Pantheon, Ruined Pantheon, Prestige Ascended Pantheon, and Ashen Knight Pantheon. Legends of Runeterra exclusively includes Infernal Pantheon and Corrupted Pantheon.

In season 1 of Teamfight Tactics, Pantheon uses his Dragonslayer Pantheon skin and is a Tier 5 Dragon Guardian. His Grand Starfall ability causes him to leap into the air, briefly becoming untargetable, then fall towards the farthest enemy champion, stunning them and damaging everyone in his path. All enemies hit are also set ablaze, suffering reduced healing and extra damage over time for next few seconds. He was removed in season 2. He returns in season 5 using the same skin as a Tier 3 Dragonslayer Skirmisher. His ability was changed to Aegis Assault, which braces Pantheon's shield for a few seconds, greatly reducing all damage he takes. He also repeatedly stabs forward for the duration, rapidly dealing a percentage of his attack damage to enemies in a cone and reducing their incoming healing. He was removed along with the Dragonslayer origin in the Dawn of Heroes mid-set update, returning in season 7's Uncharted Realms mid-set update using his Ashen Knight Pantheon skin as a Tier 4 Whispers Warrior. His ability remains unchanged aside from dealing additional flat physical damage and the damage reduction component being converted into a passive that is instead doubled when casting. He was initially removed in season 8, but returns in the Glitched Out!! mid-set update using his Pulsefire Pantheon skin as a Tier 1 InfiniTeam Heart. His Time Out! ability has him leap to his target, dealing magic damage based on his magic resistance, briefly stunning his target, and gaining a flat health shield for a few seconds. He was removed in season 9, returning in season 10 using his Zombie Slayer Pantheon skin as a Tier 2 Punk Guardian. His Too Tough To Kill ability grants him percentage damage reduction for a few seconds, then deals physical damage to the three enemies that dealt the most damage to Pantheon for the duration.

In Legends of Runeterra, Pantheon is a 4-mana 4/2 Targon Champion with Overwhelm, Barrier and Fated. When you have targeted allies in 5 different rounds he levels up, gaining +1/+1 and a random keyword for each round you have targeted an ally in so far in the game (any other level 2 copy you summon later will gain different random keywords again). His signature spell is Pantheon's Shield Vault. Prior to his release, the Aspect of War, who previously possessed Atreus to make Pantheon before it was slain by Aatrox, existed in the game in the form of The Warrior, a 5-mana 5/5 Targon Celestial Follower with Challenger.

Note: Pantheon was subject to a Visual-Gameplay Update in 2019 that reworked his appearance and design. Unlike most examples though like Swain and Aatrox, his character and kit at their core are mostly one-to-one with before, barring slight retcons and balance tweaks.

open/close all folders

A-G

Always Accurate Attack: Pre-VGU; there are other abilities that are guaranteed to hit the target aimed at, but they tend to be magical in nature while Pantheon does this with a spear toss.
Ancestral Weapon: Pantheon's shield (and originally his spear too) used to belong to a Rakkor warrior named Zeonia. And post-rework, much of his arsenal comprises of items wielded by the Aspect of War's previous hosts: his spear came from a host named Areion, his shield still from Zeonia, and his cloak from yet another named Astraea.
And I Must Scream: While Pantheon was in control of his body, Atreus was pushed back into the furthest corner of his own mind, having only vague memories of the time and was unable to do anything.
Cast into the furthest corners of his own mind, Atreus endured only vague visions as the Aspect scoured the world for Darkin, living weapons created in a bygone age.
The Unbreakable Spear
Animal Motifs: Glaive Warrior has a very obvious wolf motif as seen in his armor and weapons. The skin's lore plays it up as well:
Born of a wolf, and bearing the wolf's standard into battle, this Dacian glaive warrior fights in the cold of the Carpathian Mountains—knowing that the blood of his enemies will keep him warm.
Arch-Enemy: Aatrox, who Atreus had gotten into two battles with — one where Aatrox won and killed the Aspect of War, and another where Atreus won, chopped off Aatrox's sword arm and regained the Pantheon's power.
Art Evolution: Received a full visual-gameplay update in 2019, rebuilding his base design and voiceover, along with updated abilities and lore.
Ascended Meme: In his original form, Pantheon's joke emote had him express his desire to become a baker, which was ascended twice over: once in the form of the Baker Pantheon skin, and once more with his new joke following his 2019 VGU, where he spontaneously creates a loaf of bread from the sky.
Attack! Attack! Attack!:
- Pantheon's kit comes with a very effective way to get to an enemy, but no way to get away from them. The closest thing he has to an escape tool is Aegis Assault which has a lengthy cooldown and only protects him from the front. A good Pantheon needs to wait and pick his targets carefully to make use of all that damage.
- Before he was Pantheon, Atreus considered a good offense the best defense and disliked Leona's preference for defending with minimal bloodshed.
Back from the Dead: Played With. Viego corrupting Atreus with the Mist led to Pantheon being resurrected and taking control of his body once again. Once Viego was defeated however, Pantheon was sent back to his celestial grave, presumably for good this time.
Back-to-Back Badasses: Atreus and Pylas fended off Rakkor invaders this way, a start of their friendship.
Badass Bandolier: Ruthless Pantheon has a belt of shotgun shells across his chest.
Badass Boast: Had a few pre-2019 VGU, but now his dialogue is absolutely packed with lines that, coupled with his new voice talent, absolutely brim with sheer badassery. Many of which revolve around his dedication to defy and fight gods as a man.
"They are called "gods", but when they die, you cannot hear their howls above the wind."
"I fight, until the blood takes the spear from my grasp, until I can only crawl. And even then, you will not defeat me. Even then, I will spit in your face."
Badass Cape: A staple of his design throughout his existence. It looks especially flashy as he comes crashing down from the sky.
Balance Buff: Pantheon received a VGU in 2019 largely to reimagine his visual design, but his gameplay was also given a direct modernization to improve his versatility while remaining true to his core as a strong, diving One-Man Army. As such, each of his current abilities are direct successors to one from pre-VGU:
- Mortal Will is an expansion of Aegis Protection, a passive ability that established a rhythm of AD-casting to work with, encouraging him to combo basic attacks and abilities together. However, while Aegis Protection merely rewarded this with a block of a single incoming attack, Mortal Will directly buffs Pantheon's next ability, giving him options to fight with that can be used in a more reliable, straightforward manner.
- Comet Spear reworked Spear Shot into a skillshot rather than a targeted ability, also integrating the passive bonus damage on vulnerable targets found on his former Heartseeker Strike. This gives the ability more wiggle room to be outplayed around by opponents, but also vastly more compacted in power than before, allowing it to feel more like an actual spear.
- Aegis Assault amalgamates his Heartseeker Strike alongside the invulnerability state of Aegis Protection, giving him a much more direct means of protecting himself while retaliating against foes.
- Grand Starfall is almost exactly the same as Grand Skyfall, except Starfall slides Pantheon onto the edge of the ring he lands on rather than the exact center with Skyfall, allowing him to more easier get the drop on enemies even if they realize he's about to come crashing in.
Beyond the Impossible: A mix of pure determination and anger was apparently enough to keep him from bleeding to death after being run through by a sword. And while still recovering from the brink of death, and the spirit of Pantheon killed, Atreus decided to fight Aatrox once more, and in doing so reawakened the powers of the Aspect of War...This is absolutely bonkers.
Blasphemous Boast: A good deal of his voicelines openly challenge or even mock the various gods, godlike beings or religious leaders of the cast.
Blood Knight: Even before he became the Aspect of War, Atreus was destined for battle, and the fact that he was very nearly cut in two has in no way diminished his love for a good fight.
Blue Is Heroic: Post-rework, his cape and garments are now a vibrant blue, fitting the champion of humanity that he is.
Brainwashed and Crazy. Viego's Ruination managed to somehow revive the spirit of Pantheon, who proceeded to take over Atreus once more with a Black Mist makeover.
Break the Badass: Beaten and being put under the thrall of Viego did a number on Atreus' confidence that he's teetering on the Despair Event Horizon that Iula, the wife of his dead friend Pylas, had to talk him out of his despair (with some physical threats, because that's just the Rakkor way) and then he tried to search for his resolve again by re-climbing the summit of Mt. Targon. After somehow fighting with Leona again which got interrupted by a comet strike (presumably by Aurelion Sol), Atreus regained his old Pantheon powers after lying down on the bottom of the cliff surrounded by the bodies of fallen warriors.
Carpet of Virility: If you look closely, his in-game model has chest hair which suits the hyper-masculine energy he's aimed to invoke.
The Cavalry: Grand Starfall/Skyfall can be used like this, although in a lesser fashion than some like Shen's Stand United due to not being a Global. An enemy is chasing an ally and is surely catching up to him. And suddenly, there's this huge circle appearing and the enemy will now have a choice: Retreat or pursuit anyway, and then get stomped with a Spartan of death for massive damage, and then said Spartan of Death proceeds to close the gap, stun, peel down the enemy's HP and possibly kill him, and the chased ally may just turn around and join in the fun, killing the enemy.
Chainsaw Good: In lieu of a traditional spear, Zombie Slayer Pantheon wields a chainsaw on a pole.
Character Development: Unlike with most champion relaunches (with the exception of Akali), Pantheon's rework is not a retconning of his prior self, but an advancement on it- his old lore as a Targonian warrior possessed by the Aspect of War is still canon, but now the Aspect has been slain, leaving a very much alive and angry Atreus in control of his body once again.
Chef of Iron: Baker Pantheon. He uses a massive knife with butter on it for his spear, and a very large loaf of bread for his shield (which he bakes himself in his recall animation). Amusingly this characterization is still canon to his base form, where he summons a loaf of bread as his joke animation.
Childhood Friends: The old lore has him being childhood friends with Leona. The updated lore downplays it, whereas Pantheon only saw her as someone who preaches a more passive means of protection, not exactly his style, and on witnessing her more compassionate side (before her being taken by the Solari), reported her actions to his parents/elders, causing her to be branded heretic, but they were really evenly matched.
Close-Range Combatant: While Comet Spear does make for a strong long range poke, the true bulk of Pantheon's pressure is his ability to lock down at close range; Shield Vault is an almost guaranteed hit due to being point-and-click, opening them up his target to wail on with the rest of his moves.
Combos: He's mainly an AD caster, so he relies a lot on his abilities for most of his damage and utility. Namely Shield Vault will be used as an opener, with his other abilities closing out for damage. His rework even encourages this now as his new passive stacks with both autos and abilities, letting him maximize the use of his enhanced abilities.
Conservation of Ninjutsu: Subverted due to Gameplay and Story Segregation. Most Rakkor warriors, especially Pantheon being their paragon, aspire to be this, preferring that they fight when they're outnumbered ten to one. However, Pantheon is a fighter-assassin (thus not quite tanky enough to absorb many damage) that is very susceptible to crowd control and has few escape methods or super quick burst, meaning that he will have to work mostly on a team, or be crowd-controlled and beat to death when the enemies outnumber him at even one to two.
Cosmic Motifs: He invokes comets/meteors in a lot of his visuals. His main damage ability is called "Comet Spear", he has celestial fire coming off of his helmet and spear-invoking a comet's trail, and his ultimate has him crash down from above like a literal comet.
Critical Hit: Comet Spear does critical damage on enemies below a certain HP threshold, making it perfect for executing them.
- Originally if a target is at 15% of their total health or less, Pantheon's basic attacks are guaranteed to Critical Hit against them.
Crutch Character: Like many AD casters (especially with bruiser-assassins), Pantheon has very punishing poke and rushdown potential in the early game, and can get devastating should he get fed. Also like many AD casters, his scaling and overall relevance falls off as the game goes on, meaning that Pantheon players should end their games as soon as possible.
- He used to have AP scaling on his Aegis of Zeonia and his Grand Skyfall, despite Pantheon usually benefitting more from an AD-based build as opposed to AP, but some difficult Hybrid builds are possible.
Death from Above: His ultimate sends him crashing down from the sky like a freaking comet, damaging anyone he lands on.
Death of a Thousand Cuts: His Heartseeker Strike active ability was much less precise than the name implies and mostly consisted of a bunch of strikes made very quickly over an area. On the other hand, it's the ability's passive effect that caused Pantheon's normal attacks to automatically do critical damage on any enemy with low HP, so it sort of fits.
Defiant to the End: After suffering a blow from Aatrox that killed the Aspect of War, the entirely human Atreus used the last of his strength to spit in the Darkin's face.
"I fight until the blood takes the spear from my grasp, until I can only crawl. And even then, you will not defeat me, even then, I will spit in your face!"
Determinator: His biggest strength; his pure determination meant he never resigned himself to defeat, continuing to fight even in the face of loss, and it was what allowed him to successfully climb Mount Targon and eventually become Pantheon.
Never the strongest or the most skilled warrior, Atreus somehow persevered, standing up, bloodied and bruised, after each bout.
The Unbreakable Spear
Difficult, but Awesome:
- Pantheon has a bit of a bad reputation amongst the fanbase because a lot of people assume his ult is like Twisted Fate's. If you use it to jump into a fight or to gank someone, most of the time it doesn't work due to the fact they get a pretty obvious warning. When used right, a good Pantheon can appear quickly and unexpectedly wherever needed and create gank opportunities for his teammates. As noted above, it's essentially a free teleport for when you need to get back into the lane quickly.
- His overall dynamic as an attack damage caster and the need to get him fed due to his lack of defense scaling can also fall into this, as Pantheon doesn't rely much on auto attacks and uses more of his abilities to land the damage he needs. This can especially be true since one of his abilities scales low on AD, while two of them scale with AP, a stat he normally won't build.
The Dreaded: Atreus as Pantheon is held in high regard, but the actual Aspect of War is looked upon with fear as by his very nature, he brings conflict and destruction wherever he goes. When Viego rewawakens him in Rise of the Sentinels, even Diana — the Aspect of the Moon — is very hesitant to challenge him, especially as he becomes emboldened by the Black Mist.
Dynamic Entry:
- Few champions can top leaping halfway across the map then explosively power-sliding your way in as an entrance. If at any point you notice a huge field marking around you with a spear falling in it, get out of it before a cosmically-empowered Spartan comes crashing down from the sky onto you.
- His levelled up version in Legends of Runeterra fits this trope as well; When a levelled up pantheon hits the board, he demands immediate attention as his smörgåsbord of keywords upon being summoned means he might just end the game there and then.
Empowered Badass Normal: Zigzagged. Atreus was the last man standing on top of Mt. Targon and became completely subsumed when the Aspect of War inhabited his body. After Pantheon was killed in battle with Aatrox, Atreus regained control, won a rematch with the Darkin, and then inherited the power of the dead Aspect of War to use as his own.
Empty Shell: What the Pantheon Aspect usually does to its hosts, unlike most Aspects which merely merge into and became one with their mortal hosts. Atreus managed to retain his sense of self while possessed by Pantheon, and when the Aspect was slain, he regained not only his own powers but Pantheon's as well.
The Faceless: His face is always shadowed by his helmet. The only instance of it being visible is in some of the old Chinese artwork, and even then it's still an example of Face Framed in Shadow. Subverted after his rework where he regularly takes off his helmet. Legends of Runeterra even has him helmetless by default.
Finishing Move: Comet Spear is intended to execute anyone below a certain HP amount, doing critical damage at that threshold.
- His original Heartseeker Strike passive makes his autoattack critically hit against opponents at 15% health or less and causes his Spear Shot to do extra damage ^note
Fire-Forged Friends: Atreus did not get along with Pylas in the beginning, but after saving each other's lives in battle, they forgave each other and became friends.
Gathering Steam: In Legends of Runeterra; Pantheon is decent unit at level 1, being useful as an early game offense unit with his barrier and stats. At level 2 though, he's possibly the most powerful unit on the board. Not only does he gain stats for every allied card that targets him (i.e. buffs, heals, etc.), but leveling up grants him a keyword for every round that you've targeted allies, potentially giving him an infinite amount of bonuses. This is one man you do not want to trifle with.

Leveling up: "We cry out, NO MORE GODS! NO MORE DEMONS!"

Glass Cannon: With his passive, he's a bit tougher than your average glass cannon, but Pantheon needs to win his fights fast since he has no defensive tools to aid him if a fight goes south.
Glowing Eyes of Doom: Pre-VGU, it was the only part of his face that can be seen. They look orange in his artwork, but appear red in-game.
Good Counterpart: To Aatrox; both champions were once mortal men granted divine power, only to be trapped in horrific circumstances by similarly divine forces, Aatrox being corrupted by the Void and sealed away in his weapon for millennia, and Atreus being possessed by the spirit of Pantheon and losing all control of his body. They both hate the gods but convey that through different ways; Aatrox has been consumed by murderous trauma and nihilism, and now only wishes to die bringing the gods with him; Pantheon meanwhile has taken the fight to the gods for the sake of the rest of humanity, reclaiming his mortality in the process.
Grand Theft Me: Like all Aspects, he is a supernatural being using a physical human as his vessel. Unlike most, however, Pantheon has erased his host's humanity so that it's closer to this trope. Atreus managed to escape this when Pantheon was killed.

H-Z

Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: Invoked by himself, but as an aversion of the trope. He does not wish to be seen as divine or anything more than human, and calls out for his fellow mortals to fight and prove how powerful humans can truly be. To that end, he wears his helmet in battle so that he is, in his words, "nothing more than a soldier, and nothing less."
Heroic Willpower: Even after Pantheon took over his body, Atreus' mind persevered, and he continued to survive after being hit with a sword so large he was nearly cut in half diagonally, an act that killed the literal god inhabiting his body.
Hidden Depths: When he meets Soraka, he treats her with great respect, no doubt having great admiration for her willingness to give up her immortality to help mortals, a goal he strives for now as well.
"If only your kind could see what you see, Soraka. They would weep for you, as you weep for us."
Humans Are Special: The only logical explanation for how Atreus managed to outlive a literal god and surpass another godlike being in battle. For as much as both the Aspect of War and Aatrox looked down on humanity, Atreus makes an excellent case for them.
"The heavens do not fear me because I am a god. They fear me because I am a man!"
Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: How Aatrox managed to kill the Pantheon Aspect, yet Atreus survived. He still has a massive scar that runs across his entire torso to show for it.
Improbable Aiming Skills: Pantheon's original spear throw was a point-and-click ability, which means it did not miss.
In a Single Bound: His ultimate has him reach absurd distances with a single super jump. LOR shows that he's strong enough to jump all the way past the stratosphere.
Intergenerational Rivalry: Between him and Aatrox. Aatrox is a centuries-old Darkin, while Pantheon is the (former) aspect of war, essentially making him part god. The two have canonically defeated the other in battle, the victor leaving their opponent for dead each time. Aatrox despises all forms of godhood, seeing it as the cause for his eternal suffering, and seeks to eliminate Pantheon in his quest to destroy the heavens. Pantheon wishes to end Aatrox once and for all, both for nearly dying to him the past, and in his quest to protect humanity from the toying of the gods, Darkin and aspects alike.
"Aatrox has slaughtered gods. But now, he faces a man."
Javelin Thrower: Pantheon is perfectly fine with using his spear as a melee weapon. However, he's more effective throwing it with Comet Spear, making his poke game very deadly.
Killed Off for Real: The Aspect of War met his end at the hands of Aatrox, releasing Atreus from his control when the Darkin absorbed his power. Atreus was eventually able to reclaim Pantheon's power after defeating Aatrox in a rematch, transforming into Pantheon's current version. He was briefly resurrected by Viego during the Ruination, only to be killed again when the Ruined King was sealed away.
Kindhearted Cat Lover: In LOR, he's very nice to Yuumi. even giving her an Affectionate Nickname.
Yuumi: "I'm gonna bop'em like this: Bop! Bop!"
Pantheon: "Strike true, little lioness."

Yuumi: "Today we are destroyers!" giggles
Pantheon: "Be bold and show no fear."
Legacy Character: In an interesting way. The original Pantheon is the celestial aspect of war, a being of godlike power that has had multiple hosts across the centuries, with Atreus originally just the latest one. However, during a fight with Aatrox, Pantheon was actually Killed Off for Real while Atreus survived and inherited the late Aspect's powers. He has since then took the name of Pantheon for himself, but as a mere mortal rather than a god.
Lightning Bruiser: Pre-rework? Oh yes. In addition to his to his passive, he could be a bit tanky AND deal lots of damage at the same time. In fact, he was a powerful threat by just building 1-2 defensive items. Not to mention, tied with Master Yi, he had the highest base movement speed in the game (355), so he could easily have an easier time running around for just a few extra units faster in comparison to most bruisers of his scheme, especially during early game.
Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Aegis Assault doesn't give him a typical life-bar shield, instead he gets a barrier that makes him outright invincible to all damage in a single direction, working in a similar manner to Braum's Unbreakable, its most significant distinction is that based on what "all damage in a single direction" means, he can also resist area-of-effect damage.
- His original passive fully blocks any attack that does more than 40 damage, including tower shots.
Mr. Fanservice: With his ripped Spartan physique, lack of a shirt, and beard, Pantheon is incredibly easy on the eyes.
Mundane Utility: He uses his divine powers to...bake a loaf of bread...
"I call upon the stars!...to bake my bountiful breads!"
Named Weapons: Several items in Pantheon's arsenal (most of which were passed down from previous hosts to the Aspect of War) carry names — his spear is named "Skyfall", his shield is named "Aegis", his cloak is named "Solstice", and his helmet is called "Nova".
Nay-Theist: Atreus detests all gods and godlike beings for the games they play on mortals. He thinks mortals must stop looking up to them and depending on them, and that true strength can be found inside themselves.
No One Could Survive That!: This man was literally too angry to die.
Atreus painfully stood back up, stumbling back to the Rakkor in a trail of blood. After a lifetime of defeat, his will to live, and his anger at betrayal, were enough to stave off the death that had claimed War itself.
The Unbreakable Spear
Not the Intended Use: Since his rework, Pantheon had seen a sizeable amount of play in the support position, taking advantage of his strong engage and surprisingly high utility through crowd control to combo alongside aggressive carries in a "kill lane," where the main goal is to keep killing the enemy laners. Riot eventually stepped in during preseason 11 as this playstyle ended up being at the expense of his toplane performance, giving him a minor rework to nudge him back to his home.
Playing with Fire: This is somewhat present in his base skin, invoking the flames you see as a comet breaks throug the atmosphere. Dragonslayer Pantheon wreathes his weapons in dragon flame as he attacks.
Primary-Color Champion: Pantheon is adorned in blue and bright gold, and accented in fiery reds. Before his VGU, he more primarily stuck with red, but was updated to better fit the celestial motifs of Mount Targon (as well as differentiate him from the primarily red and gold Leona).
Prongs of Poseidon: His Perseus skin replaces the spear with a trident, which his splash art shows manipulating the tides like that of Poseidon.
Proud Warrior Race Guy: They don't call him the Aspect of War for nothing, after all. He also considers mortals as a whole this, because if mortals lose a fight, they die. When fighting mortal warriors or when fellow mortals die alongside him, he will shout their name so that all will remember, treating them with the same reverence and respect one would normally reserve for gods; the very thing he fights against.
Rage Against the Heavens: Atreus has made it his mission to protect mortals from all gods and godlike beings that would mean them harm, no matter if they're Aspects, Ascended, Demigods, Darkin or Demons.
Real Men Can Cook: His interest in being a baker has been long-documented. In his new form, even Pantheon is not above using his power to materialize a freshly baked bread out of nowhere and proudly stating it to be 'his secret dream'. Riot even gave him a baker skin, complete with oven mitts, a pie for a shield, and buttered knife replacing his spear.
Resource Reimbursement: Comet Spear can be thrust in close range or thrown at enemies from afar — if he opts to just use it for the former and successfully hits someone with it, he instantly refunds over half of the ability's cooldown.
Retcon:
- When he was first launched, Pantheon was originally just a famed, but mortal warrior of the Rakkor tribe (formerly called the "Stanpar") in possession of ancient ancestral weapons. With the 2016 Mount Targon lore update, Pantheon is now the name of the Aspect of War who hijacked the body of a mortal soldier named Atreus.
- In 2019, he received another update, while retaining his 2016 lore; the Aspect of War has been slain by Aatrox, and Atreus has regained his body, now burning with a will to live and fight the gods to prove the strength of mortals.
Scars Are Forever: He has a massive scar on his chest from where Aatrox stabbed him, an immortal reminder of his own mortality.
Sculpted Physique: Just like the real ancient Spartans and Greeks, Old Pantheon's breastplate is shaped like a muscular man's torso.
"Shaggy Dog" Story: Zigzagged. Initially, Atreus was completely erased when the Aspect of War took over his body to create Pantheon, making his own history and struggles meaningless. After his rework, Atreus returned to the fore, having survived when the Aspect of War died, and his human strength and tenacity are now central to the character.
Shield Bash: Shield Vault has him do this while leaping onto his opponents, giving them a good second of being stunned on impact. He also finishes off his Aegis Assault with one of these for damage.
Shockwave Stomp: No, moving slightly away from his ultimate target of impact won't save you. Do yourself a favor and clear the area fully.
The Spartan Way: Played with; he hails from an obvious fictional counterpart of Sparta that selects its warriors through a ritualized fight to the death, but it's half because of this trope and half because their food stores are constantly strained.
Star Power: As of his 2019 VGU, Pantheon has a celestial motif containing this, similar to most other Aspects (to boot, he formerly had an ability called Grand Skyfall, since reworked and renamed into Grand Starfall). His bio reveals that the name Pantheon was less directly attributed to the Aspect of War, and more to the constellation of War that turned out to be one and the same with the deity.
Stripperiffic: Rare Male Example; the man's outfit is essentially a helmet, sandals, and loincloth, with everything else left bare to shows his ripped physique. You've also got Ruthless Pantheon, who wears nothing but a pair of belts that cross his chest and a very small and very tight pair of shorts.
Supreme Chef: After his pre-VGU joke gave popularity to Pantheon's interest in being a baker, Riot eventually released a "Baker Pantheon" skin. And he still wears his helmet, with the cook's hat sitting on top of it.
Sword and Fist: Downplayed as 99% of his attacks are done with his spear and shield, but his animation for dealing Critical Hits has him opt for a more classic Spartan option: a kick.
Trash Talk: He's not above getting a rise out of his opponent:
Vs. Kayn: "Kayn. Either the weapon is redundant, or you are."
Vs. Taric: "If it isn't the Aspect everyone used to like."
Vs. Freljordian Gods: "Is this a god, or a rug?"
Travel to Projectile: A cinematic variant occurs with Grand Starfall. After targeting an area of the map, he throws his spear onto the point - from thousands of feet in the air, mind you - and then comes crashing down like a comet onto everything in the spear's area. What downplays this trope is that the spear toss is purely for spectacle; Pantheon's player is simply just clicking somewhere and then teleporting the character.
Underwear of Power: Ruthless Pantheon who fights in what's essentially a helmet and briefs.
Unexplained Accent: Pantheon speaks with a distinctly Greek accent, which — while it does help sell the obviously Spartan-influenced design — is inexplicable in Runeterra as no other champion (Targonian or otherwise) shares it.
Vocal Evolution: As part of his overall 2019 VGU, Pantheon's new voiceover went in a sizably different direction, shifting from a standard, gruff Proud Warrior Race Guy affect with a general American accent to a much rougher, but poetic voice in a Greek-English accent.
Walking Shirtless Scene: Pantheon wears no shirt into battle, showing off his ripped physique, but also a huge scar across his chest as a reminder of his mortality.
- The original Ruthless Pantheon was literally him in He-Man's outfit. Post-VGU it was reworked into a post-apocalypse outfit akin to Mad Max.
War God: Pantheon was the Aspect of War, with Atreus originally being his latest incarnation. However, with Pantheon dead, Atreus inherited his powers, and has now become the mortal embodiment of war, and is waging war against the gods.
War Is Glorious: The spirit of Pantheon certainly seems to think so. However, he came into being by destroying the worthiest of the young warriors, suggesting that victory in war carries a terrible cost. Taric, the Aspect of Protection, suggests that no one is really happy to see the Aspect of War.
Taric: Ah, the Aspect that everyone hates.
Warrior Poet: Atreus is quite well-spoken and frequently muses about the nature of gods and mortals.
"Brother to warriors resting beneath wheat. Son of battles a thousand times lost. I know who I am, and I will show the gods what I can become!"
Was Once a Man: It was once thought that Pantheon obliterated Atreus when he took over, that the original Atreus was essentially dead, if not Deader than Dead, but was ultimately subverted when Aatrox killed Pantheon, which allowed him to regain his body.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: Pantheon, for all his new ruthless persona, is still committed to the defense of Valoran from creatures rumored to be from the Void. For that, he'd do anything in order to maintain its protection and keep the creatures at bay, including manipulating and enslaving Aurelion Sol.
The Worf Effect: Pantheon (or rather, Atreus taking on the Pantheon mantle) made a solid name for himself following his rebirth by slaying Aatrox, something his previous incarnation died failing to accomplish. Then came Rise of the Sentinels where Viego bested him in a straight-on duel, reviving the dormant Pantheon spirit.
Worthy Opponent: He considers his opponents this. As opposed to looking down on them, as most champions do, he treats mortal enemies with respect.
"I will remember your name and shout it to the heavens."
You Are Better Than You Think: For all his disdain for gods and religious leaders in general, he does have a few nicer things to say, particularly to Leona and Diana.
(First Encounter with Leona): "Beneath Aspect and armor, you are more resilient than you know."
(First Encounter with Diana): "The Lunari do not need a god. They need a leader."

Characters / League of Legends: Pantheon

Pantheon, the Unbreakable Spear

Real Name: Atreus

Note: Pantheon was subject to a Visual-Gameplay Update in 2019 that reworked his appearance and design. Unlike most examples though like Swain and Aatrox, his character and kit at their core are mostly one-to-one with before, barring slight retcons and balance tweaks.

Previous

Index

Next

Characters / League of Legends: Pantheon

Edit Locked

Pantheon, the Unbreakable Spear

Real Name: Atreus

Note: Pantheon was subject to a Visual-Gameplay Update in 2019 that reworked his appearance and design. Unlike most examples though like Swain and Aatrox, his character and kit at their core are mostly one-to-one with before, barring slight retcons and balance tweaks.

Previous

Index

Next