Karthus/History

Previous Lore
2nd= "There is no sweeter song than the last breath of the dying." -

Karthus 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 to the world.

"Come visit my home, and I shall sing a dirge of your life as it once was." -
 * -|1st=



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 Karthus. 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.

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.

Previous Quotes

 * Upon Selection


 * Attacking/Movement


 * Taunt


 * Joke


 * Laugh

Previous Splash Art
North America=

Patch History
V6.4:
 * General
 * The eagle screesh from the dancing animation of the being heard globally by allies.

V5.24:
 * The wall's reduces to % after 1 second.
 * The wall's reduces to % after 1 second.

V5.6:
 * General
 * Basic attack frame improved.

V5.5:
 * Fixed a bug where enemy champions could sometimes dash through Karthus' Wall of Pain without being slowed.
 * Fixed a bug where enemy champions could sometimes dash through Karthus' Wall of Pain without being slowed.

V4.11:
 * Fixed a bug where Requiem's team ult HUD indicator would display as available even when it wasn't.
 * Fixed a bug where Requiem's team ult HUD indicator would display as available even when it wasn't.

V4.10:
 * Skin
 * Added the screech of a certain bird of prey to ' dance.
 * Bugfix: Fixed a bug where Lay Waste appeared to give more vision than it actually did.
 * Bugfix: No longer be interrupted by movement commands.
 * Particle effect made more noticeable
 * Bugfix: No longer be interrupted by movement commands.
 * Particle effect made more noticeable
 * Particle effect made more noticeable

V4.9:
 * General
 * Visual upgrade across all skins
 * A new voice over (new voice actor)
 * received a large selection of skin-specific quotes.
 * New lore
 * New icons
 * New classic splash artwork
 * Added team-color indicators to basic abilities
 * Added a new indicator that shows the full area of effect
 * Added crit-style combat text and a unique sound effect for double-damage Qs
 * Added a visual debuff effect that marks affected enemy champions
 * Added a visual debuff effect that marks affected enemy champions
 * Added a visual debuff effect that marks affected enemy champions

V4.5:
 * Stats
 * Base armor increased to 15 from 11.

V4.4:
 * Fixed a bug where Karthus wasn't benefiting from damage modifiers, such as and, while in zombie-form.
 * Fixed a bug where Karthus wasn't benefiting from damage modifiers, such as and, while in zombie-form.

V3.12:
 * Warning buff on enemy champions now has a duration that matches the impact delay.
 * Warning buff on enemy champions now has a duration that matches the impact delay.

V3.10:
 * Now casts at max range when targeted beyond max range during Death Defied.
 * Ability power ratio reduced to 0.2 from 0.25.
 * Fixed a bug where cooldown reduction allowed Defile to be rapidly toggled, increasing its damage output.
 * Ability power ratio reduced to 0.2 from 0.25.
 * Fixed a bug where cooldown reduction allowed Defile to be rapidly toggled, increasing its damage output.

V3.7:
 * Should no longer have a major FPS performance hit across all maps.
 * Should no longer have a major FPS performance hit across all maps.

V1.0.0.152:
 * Stats
 * Base movement speed increased to 335 from 310.

V1.0.0.146:
 * No longer reduces armor.
 * Magic resist reduction changed to 15% from a flat.
 * Magic resist reduction changed to 15% from a flat.

V1.0.0.142:
 * Cooldown increased to seconds from.
 * Cooldown increased to seconds from.

V1.0.0.131:
 * On Dominion only, Karthus' respawn timer will now start when ends.

V1.0.0.130:
 * Wall duration reduced to 5 seconds from 7.
 * Now only affects a target once (instead of reapplying every pass through).
 * Fixed a bug where and the Dominion Storm Shield could cause an immediate double kill against Karthus.
 * Fixed a bug where and the Dominion Storm Shield could cause an immediate double kill against Karthus.

V1.0.0.126
 * Fixed a bug where would sometimes not finish channeling when cast during.

V1.0.0.118
 * Duration reduced to 7 seconds from 8.
 * No longer reduces respawn timer.
 * Ability power ratio reduced to from.
 * Ability power ratio reduced to from.
 * Ability power ratio reduced to from.

V1.0.0.105:
 * Clarified tooltip slightly to emphasize that target movement speeds are restored over time.
 * Clarified tooltip slightly to emphasize that target movement speeds are restored over time.

V1.0.0.103:
 * Now allows all spells to be free to cast while defying death.
 * Fixed several usability bugs.
 * Mana cost reduced to from.
 * Cooldown reduced to 18 seconds from 22.
 * Mana cost reduced to from.
 * Cooldown reduced to 18 seconds from 22.
 * Cooldown reduced to 18 seconds from 22.

V1.0.0.101:
 * Now also grants 20% death timer reduction to compensate for the 8 seconds Karthus is active after dying.
 * The code has been remade to fix some bugs and usability issues.
 * The code has been remade to fix some bugs and usability issues.

V1.0.0.100:
 * Level up tooltip now correctly states the increased slow amount.
 * Level up tooltip now correctly states the increased slow amount.

V1.0.0.99:
 * Mana cost reduced to from.
 * Mana cost reduced to from.

V1.0.0.86:
 * Fixed a bug with the tooltip to display the correct ability power ratio.
 * Fixed a bug with the tooltip to display the correct ability power ratio.

V1.0.0.75:
 * Updated the icon to be more reflective of the ability.
 * Updated the icon to be more reflective of the ability.

V1.0.0.70:
 * Stats
 * Armor per level increased to 3.5 from 3.0.
 * Range increased to 875 from 825.
 * Mana cost decreased to from.
 * Mana cost decreased to from.

V1.0.0.63:
 * Basic attack projectile speed increased to 1200 from 800.
 * Ability power ratio increased to from.
 * Damage increased to from.
 * Ability power ratio increased to from.
 * No longer reveals Karthus to enemies when cast.
 * Ability power ratio increased to from.
 * No longer reveals Karthus to enemies when cast.
 * No longer reveals Karthus to enemies when cast.

V1.0.0.61:
 * Ability power ratio increased to from.
 * Ability power ratio increased to from.

V1.0.0.52:
 * Corrected ability power ratio.
 * Fixed a bug where it was slowing units 2 seconds after the particle had faded.
 * Fixed a bug where it was slowing units 2 seconds after the particle had faded.
 * Fixed a bug where it was slowing units 2 seconds after the particle had faded.

V1.0.0.32:
 * Mana cost decreased to from.
 * Mana cost decreased to from.
 * Mana cost decreased to from.
 * Mana cost decreased to from.

V0.9.25.34:
 * Updated secondary/critical strike animations.

V0.9.25.24:
 * Karthus can no longer outrange.

V0.9.25.21:
 * Duration reduced to 8 seconds from 10.
 * Improved visibility and removed bugs causing it to not appear correctly.
 * Duration reduced to 7 second from 9.
 * Made it more difficult to move through without being slowed.
 * Mana cost increased to from.
 * Mana cost increased to from.
 * Mana cost increased to from.
 * Mana cost increased to from.
 * Mana cost increased to from.
 * Mana cost increased to from.

V0.9.22.16:
 * Mana cost increased to from.
 * Mana restored on kill modified to from.
 * Removed the kill a champion mana regen effect.
 * Increased mana cost to from.
 * Ability power ratio reduced to from.
 * will no longer stop the spell.
 * Ability power ratio reduced to from.
 * will no longer stop the spell.
 * will no longer stop the spell.

V0.9.22.15:
 * Stats
 * Base damage increased to 44 from 39.
 * Range reduced to 825 from 900.
 * Now shows a new wall targeting cursor.
 * No longer costs double mana upon casting.
 * Now shows a new wall targeting cursor.
 * No longer costs double mana upon casting.
 * No longer costs double mana upon casting.

V0.8.21.110:
 * AoE diameter increased to 200 from 185.
 * AoE diameter increased to 200 from 185.

July 10, 2009 Patch:
 * Damage increased to from.
 * Damage increased to from.

June 26, 2009 Patch:
 * Slow reduced to % from 80%.
 * Cooldown reduced to seconds from 1.
 * Now correctly shows buff tooltips.
 * Cooldown reduced to seconds from 1.
 * Now correctly shows buff tooltips.
 * Now correctly shows buff tooltips.

June 19, 2009 Patch:
 * Damage increased to from.
 * Corrected tool-tip to say that it deals double damage if it hits a single target (corrected numbers in tool-tip as well).
 * Cast range reduced to 1000 from 1200.
 * Magic resistance and armor reduction reduced to from.
 * Duration reduced to 9 seconds from (and it no longer lingers after the particle fades).
 * Cooldown reduced to 22 seconds from 25.
 * Damage increased to from.
 * Ability power ratio reduced to from.
 * Can no longer be cast while dead.
 * Damage increased to from.
 * Ability power ratio reduced to from.
 * Can no longer be cast while dead.
 * Can no longer be cast while dead.

June 12, 2009 Patch: Added
 * (Innate)
 * When Karthus dies, he can continue to cast spells for 10 seconds after death. If he kills a champion in this time he respawns instantly at base.
 * (Q)
 * A 1 second cooldown spell which leaves a time delayed mine that deals double damage if it only hits a single target.
 * (W)
 * Stretches a perpendicular wall through the target location, enemies who walk through it are slowed and take increased damage.
 * (E)
 * While toggled on, Defile continually damages nearby enemies. While off, Karthus regains mana whenever he kills a unit.
 * (Ultimate)
 * Channeled spell; upon successful cast, Karthus damages all enemy champions in the game.