"Lucian looked up into Thresh's ravaged features. His eyes were voids, dark holes into emptiness. Whatever Thresh had been in life, nothing now remained. No compassion, no mercy and no humanity."
—On Thresh, "Shadow & Fortune
" (Chapter 4)
" (Chapter 4)In the Fantasy Kitchen Sink world of Runeterra, among the various competing factions, these stand as the evilest.
All spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned!
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Champions
- Evelynn, Agony's Embrace, is an exceptionally sadistic demon who takes the form of a succubus and has existed since the Rune Wars, glutting herself on the agony of millions. When the Rune Wars ended and Evelynn was forced to start working for her food, Evelynn fashioned herself a form pleasing to mortal eyes, tempting lustful mortals into her clutches. All the countless dozens who fall into her clutches are tortured to death, with Evelynn particularly preferring to flay her prey alive. Evelynn is so sadistic that she'll torture a loving husband to death while making his wife watch, and she eventually desires to plunge all of Runeterra into chaos to feed on a steady supply of easy agony once again.
- Fiddlesticks, the Ancient Fear, is a malevolent demon and being as old as the world itself who delights in stalking its prey, repeating the final words of its many victims to new ones. Fiddlesticks gleefully attempts to mentally torture any victim it finds and is known to agonizingly slaughter its prey, even children. In "Voices", Fiddlesticks spends its time haunting a small village, eventually killing everyone within until coming at last for the one remaining inhabitant.
- Hecarim, the Shadow of War, was once an ambitious lieutenant who set his commander up to die for not naming him his successor, going on to happily raze villages and slaughter innocents for his paranoid king and, after the death of the queen, talked the king into allowing him to attack neighboring nations. Convincing the imprisoned Kalista, his fiancée, to reveal the location of the Blessed Isles to the king, Hecarim pretends to take her side only to stab her in the back and order the villages ransacked. Eventually dying, Hecarim lives on as an evil spectre, killing any who happen upon the Shadow Isles.
- Khada Jhin, the Virtuoso, is a crazed Serial Killer-turned-assassin who reveals a hidden dark side to the once-pure Ionian council. Originally convicted for mass murder in the province of Zhyun, Jhin was set free by shady elements in the council, and hired to serve as their "secret weapon." "Mind of the Virtuoso" shows his crimes through his own eyes, as he casually murders four different people, seeing all of their deaths as a painting created by his gun. Jhin lives to kill, and as long as the Ionian elders have a grip on him, the law cannot touch him. His in-game dialogue also details an old plan of his to assassinate Shen's father, the master of the Kinkou Order, before Zed beat him to the punch. Now he wants to kill both of them, Zed as revenge for stealing his spotlight, and Shen to serve as his father's "stand-in". In the Zed comic, Jhin's vile acts culminate when he gleefully bombs the settlement of Nanthee, causing massive destruction and countless deaths.
- LeBlanc, the Deceiver, is the secret master of the land of Noxus. Having once helped to overthrow Mordekaiser by having the lands bloodily invaded, LeBlanc took up the reigns as the secret master of the Black Rose cabal, where she conducts a number of wars and campaigns, manipulating the fortunes of the empire. Having also destroyed numerous minds for her schemes, LeBlanc has a deep enmity for General Jericho Swain despite her lust for him, using and abandoning pawns to be destroyed in either testing him or seeking his downfall. LeBlanc is also closely allied to the monstrous Elise, the Spider Queen, for centuries supplying a regular stream of acolytes for Elise to sacrifice to the spider god Vilemaw.
- Mordekaiser, the Iron Revenant, was once a mortal man by the name of Sahn-Uzal. Believing that conquest would give him a glorious afterlife in the Hall of Bones, he set about destroying every village and tribe he could to build his glorious empire of death. When he died and realized his fate was false, a wave of anger grew in him. He communicated to the living realm, promising great power to anyone who brings him back. When he was resurrected by a group of sorcerers, he repaid them by brutally murdering all of them and using their souls to make his mighty mace, Nightfall. He then began his second conquest where he continued slaughtering more innocents for his plan. During this time he kidnapped a Yordle sorcerer named Veigar for his own twisted needs, brutally torturing him, an act that Mordekaiser has fond memories of. When he was eventually killed and returned to the land of the dead, Mordekaiser used the enslaved souls of all the people he killed during his second conquest, using the souls of the weak as building blocks for his new undead empire, their screams sounding like music to him. Now he waits to rise again and bring more death and destruction upon the world of the living.
- Tahm Kench, the River King, is an obese water demon with an insatiable hunger who lurks in Bilgewater's rivers and seas, seeking the desperate so he can entice his victims into accepting his bargains. Tahm Kench lavishes unimaginable fame and fortune upon his marks, allowing his victims enough time to truly cherish their wealth, before eventually coming back and taking everything they hold dear. In his teaser trailer, Tahm Kench recounts a time where he tempted a gambler who eventually struck rich and was to be married to a princess, only for Tahm to return years later and snap up everything, from the wedding gifts, to the buffet, to the bride herself. Living only to satisfy his bottomless stomach, Tahm Kench has terrorized Runeterra since ancient times, pulling the same trick over and over again, and his silver tongue conceals a pitch-black heart.
- Thresh, the Chain Warden, the secret architect of the Ruination, began life as Brother Grael, a simple custodian of ancient secrets who had always had dark leanings. When Viego came upon the Blessed Isles, Thresh capitalized on the slaughter and manipulated Viego into abusing the Waters of Life, resulting in not only the death of Thresh's entire order, but the corruption of all life on the Blessed Isles. Thresh came to embrace his transformation into a wraith, and set about capturing the souls of countless people to keep them in constant agony within his lantern; among his endless victims is Senna, the wife of Lucian, resulting in Lucian and Thresh becoming steadfast enemies. Later in the Ruined King Saga, Thresh resurrected Viego and manipulated him onto another path of carnage, hoping to cause a second Ruination large enough to swallow all of Runeterra and plunge every living soul into his grasp. Unbound from the Shadow Isles since then, Thresh continues to reap the souls of any unlucky innocents who cross his path.
- Urgot, the Dreadnought, was once a proud Sociopathic Soldier in the service of Noxus before being betrayed to the depths of Zaun by the usurper Swain. Hardening himself in the cruel depths of a chemtech mine called the Dredge, Urgot founded himself a new philosophy: pain is strength, and only the strong survive. Urgot took over the Dredge, butchered anyone who failed to meet the standards of his excruciating trials, then incited a riot that threw all of Zaun into chaos and death. Urgot now stakes out an ever-growing following in Zaun, making his mark by violently massacring chem-barons, everyone associated with them, and random witnesses, in one case leaving only one young would-be gangster alive to spread the word of his carnage. In "Child of Zaun", Urgot rewards a young cultist who survived an earlier massacre with painful death for his loyalty, twisting his followers into fodder with which he attempts to wage slaughter on both Zaun and Piltover. With a wrath that doesn't even preclude children, Urgot's final vision for the world is a grand and bloody war that he hopes to eventually steer to Noxus, so he can consume both Swain and the nation that betrayed him.
Others
- Zed comic: Master Kusho of Ionia was once a noble warrior who mentored the hero Zed. Succumbing to a dark lust for power in the wake of the war with Noxus, Kusho fakes his death and unleashes the monstrous Khada Jhin on the populace to slaughter numerous civilians, while preparing for a war with Noxus. With his forces killing many Ionians to stoke nationalist fervor, Kusho intends to rule Ionia and annihilate other nations, so one by one they fall to his new rule.
- The Mageseeker: Dr. Hesbeth is the head scientist of the Mageseekers, and the most evil of their number. Experimenting on countless mages and forcibly turning them into mage-beast hybrids to supply foot soldiers and suit his sick fascination, Hesbeth draws no lines against experimenting on the eternally kindly yordles or children, having helped shape Wisteria into the vicious, mage-hating monster that she is in the present through his manipulation and experiments as well as experimenting on Wisteria's young protege Rayn. When confronted by Sylas, Hesbeth deliberately turns Sylas' mentor Killain into a monster via Painful Transformation both to spite the rebel and make his escape, and his claims of loyalty to Demacia are ultimately undercut when he claims he loves mages and begs to join the rebellion when Sylas finally corners him.
Examples
- PROJECT: Jhin from the PROJECT-verse is as evil as the Khada Jhin of the main continuity. A murderer who kills numerous innocents to take pieces of them and improve himself, Jhin has left behind a legacy of death, having murdered companions and allies of those who hunt him along the way. When cornered, Jhin has no compunction trying to destroy the entire district as long as he is able to escape.
- Star Nemesis Morgana, from the Star Guardian universe—primarily Another Sky—lacks any of the goodness of her prime version. Star Nemesis Morgana made a deal with the Dark Star singularity to gain power in exchange for destabilizing the Star Guardian universe. With those powers, Morgana waged war against the Star Guardians for centuries, killing them and wearing their souls on a belt. Morgana unleashes giant eldritch monsters on Valoran City with the purpose of causing chaos and despair, killing thousands of people. Morgana also enjoys personally toying with her victims, finding the Star Guardians' high school teacher and murdering him to replace him and torment the Star Guardians in a public setting. Morgana unleashes Fiddlesticks on Akali while simultaneously pretending to care about her, encouraging her to succumb and turn evil. Star Nemesis Morgana is ultimately gleeful and unrepentant of her crimes, stating that she enjoys killing and Akali will one day as well.
- The original version of Singed, the Mad Chemist, started off as the deranged Bastard Understudy to Warwick, using innocent people—or himself, whenever he was in short supply of victims—as subjects for his agonizing experiments. After Warwick was transformed into a beast by Soraka, Singed eagerly stepped into his erstwhile master's role as Noxus' chief Mad Scientist. Singed used the invasion of Ionia as the chance to perfect his chemical weapons, which horrifically killed countless people, Ionian and Noxian alike. Among these casualties were Riven's old unit and Master Yi's entire village. After the League forces Runeterra into an uneasy truce, Singed spends his time dabbling in things like "pest control", where his street-melting pesticides invariably prove worse than the initial infestations.
- Thresh:
- Dark Star Thresh is the epitome of an Omnicidal Maniac, eschewing his OG's tendency for And I Must Scream in favor of pure, cosmic death. Dark Star Thresh has slaughtered champions and fed entire star systems to the Dark Star out of nothing but a pure lust for destruction, and wherever he goes planets are left as desolate, spinning husks of themselves.
- High Noon Thresh is far more timeless than his OG counterpart, but is just as malign. An ancient demon that has roamed the West since time immemorial, sustained by a "bottomless, ravenous thirst for destruction", Thresh wipes out entire settlements when he passes them by, their souls for his lantern and their skins left flayed to bake in the sun. Thresh is no less cruel to Lucian, either, taking the soul of his beloved Senna and attempting to cajole him into a dark Deal with the Devil in "The Man with the Grinning Shadow."
- Dark Star Thresh is the epitome of an Omnicidal Maniac, eschewing his OG's tendency for And I Must Scream in favor of pure, cosmic death. Dark Star Thresh has slaughtered champions and fed entire star systems to the Dark Star
- Creator Viktor, from the Battlecast universe, lacks his main continuity incarnation's positive traits. A Control Freak who wants all life on Runeterra to be under his thumb, Viktor has forcibly transformed countless champions and citizens into enslaved robots by placing their brains in monstrous cyborg bodies. Viktor uses his powerful slaves to round up more organic life for him to roboticize, as well as simply massacre any pockets of resistance to his rule. His actions having killed Miss Fortune's parents and reduced many champions to traumatized resistance fighters, Viktor's reign is so horrible that even the souls of his many victims are kept in constant torment inside their machine bodies, only able to be freed and find peace through the work of Yorick.
- Warwick, the Blood Hunter: Despite his current status as a Tragic Monster, two of Warwick's past reworks were wholly evil:
- Second rework: Warwick was once the alchemist mentor of Singed himself, who used his scientific knowledge to supply Noxus with a vast array of chemical weapons that were used to devastate Ionia and kill countless innocent men, women, and children. Running heinous experiments on human subjects with Singed in the meantime, Warwick was cursed by the Starchild Soraka to become as monstrous in appearance as he was in heart after she witnessed the results of his weapons; Warwick quickly embraced his newfound wolf-like physiology and continued slaughtering Ionians, but now with his bare hands.
- Third rework: Warwick was a hunter and alchemist who specialized in "procuring" human subjects for himself and other scientists to use as disposable guinea pigs and mutation fodder. Using a variety of cruel methods to round up his targets, Warwick singled out Soraka, Ionia's Starchild, as his latest victim. He murdered a woman and claimed she was his wife to generate sympathy from Soraka, and grew close to her as a friend to lure her into a trap and try to carve out her heart. When Soraka escaped and humiliated hm, Warwick drank a half-completed potion that transformed him into a monstrous beast so that he could better hunt her down and eat her heart out of her chest. In the meantime, Warwick began indulging in his bloodlust and, rather than experiment on victims, he would instead just kill them by the score.
