Karthus/Background

Lore
Lore= is a terrible creature who was once a mortal so obsessed with death that he eagerly embraced the gift of undeath. Now in his unlife as a lich, Karthus is closer to his beloved grave than he ever imagined. He commands magic with oblivion as its source, and seeks to bring his grim truth to the rest of the world: only in death does life gain clarity and purpose.

Even as a boy, Karthus was different. There was a darkness within him that could not be denied. The young child clung to the shadows and shunned the company of others. He snuck into the funerals of strangers, and spoke to their tombstones in the cemetery. He sought out corpses of animals to preserve and memorialize them, creating a grim collection of morbid art. Karthus volunteered to tend to the sick and dying, though his intentions were not to help, but to closely witness the passing of those who were beyond help. Ultimately, he went so far as to elaborately stage his death, and he secretly observed his own funeral with intense fascination. When others discovered what Karthus had done, they were so shocked and disturbed that, in a way, he became truly dead to them. Karthus found himself fully rejected by the living.

His isolation only served to fuel his obsession. Karthus delved further into his exploration of death, and became fascinated by the legends of the Shadow Isles. There, it was said, the specters of the deceased continued on in unlife everlasting. Possessed by these tales, he knew he had to discover for himself if they were true. Journeying to those dreaded isles, Karthus soon found himself wandering through the mist, overcome by the surreal beauty of the place. He felt as if he had finally come home. He had always chased the elusive purity of the moment of death, when life passed and in a single instant achieved meaning. Karthus saw that undeath was like that moment, preserved in dread stillness forever. He had discovered his destiny, to cross over the veil and leave the living behind for eternity. Something awoke in the Shadow Isles that day, when Karthus did something no other creature had ever done: he willingly gave his life over to undeath. When he reentered the world, Karthus had become the embodiment of his own obsession. An undying lich with the keys to life and death, he seeks to bring his dark requiem to the world.

""There is no sweeter song than the last breath of the dying.""

The vast quantities of physical magic that were consumed and destroyed during Valoran's numerous Rune Wars have scarred much of Valoran. Many locations far from civilization have been morphed into hazardous and dangerous locales. The Howling Marsh is one of these places, and the self-appointed overlord of this land is the lich known as. It is thought that Karthus was a mage who, in life, was foolish enough to enter the fetid waters seeking his fortune, and that he was forever transformed by whatever dark magic permeates the swamp. Karthus now rules over his swampy dominion with an iron (albeit skeletal) fist. Visitors are not welcome, and those who are not scared away by the lich's terrible power most likely end up as one of the undead themselves... skeletons and zombies in Karthus' growing army of eternal servants. On the darkest of nights, Karthus is said to sing the tales of those who have succumbed to the swamp, past and present.
 * -|Old Lore=

Karthus' tenure in the League of Legends is one of the more unusual ones in the history of the League. First, it is highly unusual that a lich who was known for isolation and hatred of life would even be a willing part of an organization which promoted the preservation of life. Next, Karthus specifically eschews the accrual of power and influence gained through service to the League; he is essentially an unpaid volunteer. This behavior is completely different than what his life outside of the League would have onlookers believe. Karthus has never spoken about his intentions in being a champion of the League, and in fact becomes quite agitated when asked about it. In the interests of not aggravating a lich, most sensible people subsequently drop the issue.

""Come visit my home, and I shall sing a dirge of your life as it once was.""

""Come closer, my children, let me look upon you. So many new faces, searching and uncertain. Many find their way to this consecrated land without knowing it to be their destination. But this pilgrimage was no accident; you have suffered, and you seek a convalescence of the spirit. Look around. You are not alone."

"We are gathered here this day to mourn those lost to us. To weep, to wail, and cry out for those souls whom we hold so dear, yet who remain out of reach. Speak now and let them hear us. Let them hear our pain! Let them hear our anguish! Let them know in their hearts that they are not forgotten!"

"These pitiable creatures are pale reflections of ourselves, shrouded in a haze of false light, groping blindly for some scrap of meaning. Shackled to a hollow existence, they languish, unaware of what they are or what they could be. Every second, secretly begging for release."

"My children, we are their shepherds. Only when they hear our voices do they stir. So call to them! Raise them up from their aimless stupor. Sing with all your longing, your hatred, your hunger! Fill their empty lives with dread; remind them of their inevitable mortality."

"Go forth, you faithful, and offer these wretches freedom from life’s prison. Deliver unto them the word of death, and bring their wayward spirits home."

"Death frees us all.""

Quotes
Live=


 * Upon selection


 * Attacking/Movement


 * Taunt


 * Joke


 * Laugh

PBE=


 * Upon selection


 * Upon beginning a match


 * Attacking
 * While using
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 * Movement
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 * Joke
 * While using
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 * Joking near an enemy


 * Taunt


 * Taunting an enemy


 * Taunting an enemy


 * Taunting an enemy


 * Taunting an enemy


 * Taunting an enemy


 * Taunting an enemy


 * Taunting an enemy


 * Taunting an enemy


 * Taunting an enemy


 * Laugh


 * Dance
 * While using
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 * Upon triggering
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 * Upon using


 * Upon using


 * Upon using
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 * Upon placing a or


 * Upon buying


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 * Upon casting

Co-op vs. AI Responses
Match start Player team victory Player team defeat Special
 * "Let me show you an alternative to life."
 * "GG!"
 * "You have earned a page in my book."
 * "My song is death."

Twisted Treeline Altar Responses
If captures the Altars on Twisted Treeline, the Altars may give the following unique responses:


 * West Altar


 * East Altar

Development

 * Karthus was designed by Guinsoo.

SERMON OF THE DEAD

 * "Come closer, my children, let me look upon you. So many new faces, searching and uncertain. Many find their way to this consecrated land without knowing it to be their destination. But this pilgrimage was no accident; you have suffered, and you seek a convalescence of the spirit. Look around. You are not alone." "We are gathered here this day to mourn those lost to us. To weep, to wail, and cry out for those souls whom we hold so dear, yet who remain out of reach. Speak now and let them hear us. Let them hear our pain! Let them hear our anguish! Let them know in their hearts that they are not forgotten!"  "These pitiable creatures are pale reflections of ourselves, shrouded in a haze of false light, groping blindly for some scrap of meaning. Shackled to a hollow existence, they languish, unaware of what they are or what they could be. Every second, secretly begging for release."  "My children, we are their shepherds. Only when they hear our voices do they stir. So call to them! Raise them up from their aimless stupor. Sing with all your longing, your hatred, your hunger! Fill their empty lives with dread; remind them of their inevitable mortality."  "Go forth, you faithful, and offer these wretches freedom from life’s prison. Deliver unto them the word of death, and bring their wayward spirits home."  "Death frees us all."

While others are bound by the shackles of death, one man embraced the yearning darkness stretching on beyond life’s boundaries. And though he chose to forgo mortality on the lost lands of the Shadow Isles, Karthus has yet been born anew, and drifts now towards the PBE bearing new-found morbid resplendence.

Champion Insights
Next in our sights for a champion update is the Deathsinger himself! Part of League’s launch back in 2009, Karthus has seen almost 80 champion releases since he first graced the Fields of Justice. Over the last five years, we’ve brought in a whole host of tech updates, design improvements, narrative world-building and art upgrades to champions and maps. It’s time to bring Karthus up to date, too.

But how? Well, just as with our previous updates, we had to first identify what the goals of Karthus’ update were. Here’s what we came up with:

A True Shadow Isles Champion
On his release, Karthus was a champion from the Shadow Isles, or at least created there. Awesome! What did that mean at the time? Very little, honestly. But since then, we’ve taken pretty extensive steps to really define the Shadow Isles. Twisted Treeline’s set there, for example, and we’ve created Shadow Isles champions like Elise, Hecarim and Thresh who each share the same thematic ties and cool blue-green color palettes. Updating Karthus means we can add his own spin on the place while aligning him to the world that we’ve since established.

A Unique Lich
We’ve also taken the chance to really cement who Karthus is with his update. In 2009, we had just 40 champions, and Karthus had the whole “evil and malicious undead baddie” archetype to himself. He had a whole nine lines of voice over to convey character, too. Now we have close to 120 champions, and old Karthus has had to cozy up with all the half-dead, dead, extra dead and spectral characters we’ve since created. Updating Karthus gives us a chance to expand his breadth of character so he again fills a unique niche. New Karthus has significantly expanded voice over (over 200 script lines, all voiced by a new actor!) and characterful animations that really nail his personality.

A 2014 Champion
Updating Karthus means we can apply all the tech and knowhow that we’ve picked up since launching the game. For example, we’re actually going to animate his robes so he doesn’t look like a jellyfish in his idle state, and we’re building a whole range of Lay Waste animations so he Qs with variety. On top of that, we’re greatly increasing the fidelity of his model. Karthus looks a little different – we’ve made him less bare-bones – because we now have the tech and expertise needed to display the level of detail that a withered necromancer visually demands. In addition, the change means players around the world can enjoy the same awesome Karthus without us having to switch things up for various cultural sensibilities.



Karthus will be on PBE soon. Before he brings death to the live servers, give him a spin and let us know your thoughts below!

Patch history
Karthus/Příběh Karthus/Background Karthus/Historique Karthus/historia Karthus/Background