Ascended/Darkin

"We had another name once... Now, we are Darkin." The Darkin are stated to be a collection of sentient weapons by Eduard Santangelo and, of which only three have been revealed in modern times so far.

In truth, the Darkin are corrupt Ascended who were imprisoned within their own weapons in an act that ultimately ended The Darkin War. The nature of their corruption is implied to be self-inflicted after the mental scar left from the horrors of countless wars and those witnessed in the Void War, finally taking its toll on them centuries later with death during his Ascension and the subsequent fall of Shurima, leaving them feeling purposeless, betrayed and forgotten by the world they once swore to protect to which they gave their mortal lives to fight for.

In the centuries since, a handful of these weapons have been rediscovered by the ignorant and the ambitious alike.

Other Related Champions

 * was previously the ruler of above all Ascended, some of which later became Darkin.
 * wields.
 * and are part of the body known as.
 * gave the Runeterrans the knowledge to seal away the Darkin during The Great Darkin War.
 * fought along side Ascended that later became the Darkin, before Shurimas fall.
 * fought against the Darkin during The Great Darkin War.
 * fought along side Ascended that later became the Darkin, before Shurimas fall.
 * is the sole survivor of massacre in Freljord.

Visions of The Darkin
The Great Darkin War= God-Warriors, Unbound= To Slay Legends= Darkin Corruption= A Legacy of Pain=

The Legend of the Darkin
The darkin are thrice-cursed - once by the ancient enemy they faced, again by the fall of their glorious empire, and finally by the betrayal that has damned them for all eternity.

When the rebels of Icathia foolishly unleashed the Void in battle, Shurima’s defense was led, as ever, by the legendary Ascended. Imbued with the power of the Sun Disc, these “god-warriors” towered over mortal soldiers, wielding magic and blade with equal ease, and eventually they were victorious. Even so, the horrors of the war took a heavy toll, and those who lived to remember it were perhaps never quite as they once were.

Centuries later, with the loss of mighty at the very moment of his own Ascension, Shurima fell. Although apparently immortal, the god-warriors had been born human; gradually, with no emperor to lead them, many of the surviving Ascended began to falter in purpose as their older, petty ambitions resurfaced. They taught themselves forbidden sorceries, and came to view themselves as the rightful inheritors of the world. The scattered mortal populace named these new tyrants darkin, a whispered curse translating roughly in the old tongue as “the fallen.”

But even the darkin could not escape the sickness of soul that had come from fighting against the Void for so long. After centuries of uneasy alliance, they inevitably turned against one another, and so began the Great Darkin War.

This conflict spread from Shurima to Valoran, and beyond. The renegade god-warriors and the armies they raised were unstoppable, and entire nations were crushed between them. It seemed as though this would be the end of all things… until,, the mages of Runeterra learned how to contain the remaining darkin. Through secrecy and cunning artifice, the physical forms of the Ascended could be merged with the celestial power in their hearts, and all of it bound within the weapons they bore. With their leaders imprisoned forever, the rampaging hordes were broken and slain.

These darkin weapons were hidden, many of them carefully guarded by the mortal civilizations that grew in the aftermath—for it was clear that such power could be locked away, but never destroyed.

And, should such power fall into the wrong hands, the darkin will surely rise once more.

Physiology
The Darkin began their story as revered human warriors of Ancient Shurima, Ascended into serving against the threat from the threshold. After finally halting the Void's perverse incursion, the surviving Ascended entitled themselves as "Sunborn" as first witnesses of a dawn of peace they brough to a now safe world.

Centuries after an age of war with the Void, despite their divine makeup, their minds remained as frail as the mortals they once were. The ceaseless warring and the horrors they witnessed slowly took their toll, leading them to fight over who was worthy of taking over the world that forgot them. This started the War of the Sunborn, known better to the world as the Darkin War.

Artwork of the Darkin War depicts the self-corrupted Sunborn, now known as Darkin, as already having a demonic appearance—the result of using blood magic, fueled with each mortal and Darkin life they took, to reshape their own bodies and armor and meld them as one.

Toward the end of the Darkin War, the Darkin were imprisoned within their own weapons and wielded against their brethren until all who remained were likewise trapped. Those who held a Darkin would gain a portion of their power, but through a host was also the only avenue through which a Darkin to gain a mockery of freedom. Even when able to wrest absolute control of a body, the power of a Darkin is too much for any mortal body to contain - condemning the Darkin to a fate of constantly harvesting life force, eventually completely depleting the mortal's energy and being forced to seek another host, lest they be rendered inanimate once more.

To date, a golden-armored warrior queen is the only being known to have held a Darkin and not succumbed to its will. That said, her final act after dispatching all other Darkin was to trap herself and the Darkin Bow within a well in Pallas, condemning herself but denying the Darkin freedom as well.

Known Traits
The weapon's wielder and any Darkin trapped within seem to enter a symbiotic relationship, the wielder gaining a portion of the Darkin's power and the Darkin in turn gain some agency and a venue of freedom. However, the Darkin can parasitically dominate their wielder, thereby annihilating the wielder's personality while in turn freely affirming their agency; similarly, the wielder can extirpate the Darkin's persona to gain full access to the weapon's power. In both cases, the dominated other is described as "dying".

usurped his wielder long ago. actively seeks to gain control over body. has yet to fully take control of both and  in their tri-symbiotic existence.

asserts that will die if Kayn "lets go" of the scythe, while it is implied the Darkin's power is lost if they are killed in this fashion. However, Kayn's statement may simply imply that Rhaast will suffer, much like other known Darkin, complete immobility and sensory deprivation until another takes up the scythe. According to Aatrox, this is a fate far worse than death, for the Darkin remains conscious for the full length of their imprisonment.

Trivia

 * The two factions within Aatrox's old lore, the Protectorate and the Magelords, were highly likely to be the two factions represented on Summoner's Rift.
 * A stone mural can be seen along the north edge of the map that depicts two factions surrounding a crystal, with a small carving of visible to the left.
 * The entity known as was an elite warrior of Shurima and confidant of Queen Setaka. He fought in the Void War and was traumatized, which led to his self-corruption after  death and the fall of Shurima. Freed after millenia imprisoned, he now seeks the destruction of Runeterra - if only to end his own suffering.
 * With release, it was believed that the Darkin were a race of otherworldly demon-like beings. However, in  and  teaser it was stated that the Darkin were a collection of sentient weapons. With  release, a Rioter stated that the Darkin are powerful beings and that only the known Darkin were imprisoned within their weapons. He later emphasised known to players. After Aatrox update, it's revealed that they were corrupted Ascended before their imprisonment.
 * Based on the original premise, it was speculated that and  might be the two known-to-history Darkin that are yet not identified to players. This was supported by their winged-humanoid appearance in conjunction with the common Angels and Demons trope, as well as the promise that their out-dated and non-canonical lore would be updated in the future to something more in-universe. However, the other known Darkin were revealed to be  and.
 * was sealed away inside the Pit of Pallas in Ionia by a golden-armored warrior queen, before he was released by Valmar and Kai during the Noxian Invasion.
 * It is speculated that might also be a Darkin infused weapon, in observance that melee based Darkin tend to have life stealing properties in their kit and lore.
 * The fate of varies from game-to-game: either killing  to become dominant over his body, or being destroyed by, based on the outcome of  Quest.
 * Despite it seems that the Darkin's corruption is the result of Void-corruption contracted from exposure during the Void War, commonly those psychologically affected by it (e.g.: and Rasho from Into the Abyss) disregard themselves and give in mind and soul to the Void, opposite to the Darkin's intentions of conquering the world for themselves. Rather, their corruption originates as the result of an extreme form of - for what they witnessed in that war, and what can do to them and the world.
 * Other notable Ascended who were referred to as Darkin were: Ta’anari (Panther), Enakai (Tiger), Syphax (Chameleon), Zigantus (Bull), Xuuyan (Turtle), Shabaka and Shabake (Raven twins), Valeeva (Unknown), Cebotaru (Wolf), and Naganeka (Snake).
 * Before their imprisonment, several Darkin were turned back to humans by the power of the Moon, as demonstrated by Ta’anari in the story, Twilight of the Gods.
 * Darkin hearts were used by, the Aspect of Twilight of the time, as the key to seal away the Darkin inside their weapon prisons.

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