Ascended/Darkin

The Darkin are stated to be a collection of sentient weapons by Eduard Santangelo and, of which only three have been revealed so far.

In truth, Darkins are corrupted Ascended who were trapped in their weapons long ago. Only the known ones were imprisoned within weapons long ago, and that only among those imprisoned has escaped confinement. The other known Darkin are and. The remaining two Darkin are stated to be unknown even in-universe.

Other Related Champions

 * wields.
 * and are part of the body known as.
 * 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 started out as Ascended. It's assumed that they were regular animal-related golden armored giant humanoids like the rest of them. After being freed from the imprisonment, they took a giant demon-like appearence.

The Darkin needs new human hosts from time to time. Apparentely, their divine essence deteriorates their hosts aftr long use.

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".

has usurped his wielder long ago and it is known that actively seeks to gain control over  body, where as  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, although the implication is that the Darkin's power is lost if a Darkin is killed in this fashion.

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 confident of Queen Setaka. He fought in the Void War but became corrupted after the fall of Shurima. Free after millenia impresioned, now he seeks the destruction of Runeterra. This Darkin personifies War.
 * With release, it was believed that the Darkin were a race of 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 an unknown golden-armored warrior queen, before he was released by Valmar and Kai during the Noxian Invasion of Ionia. This Darkin personifies Vengeance.
 * In the short story Dark Kin, clearly despised the "bestial and primitive" human languages, due to the human vocal tract's limitations; so likely,  &  are merely approximate human renditions of the aliens' true names.
 * It is stated by that most Darkin have double "A" in their names, a fact that Darkin like  are a special exception.
 * Due to this naming customs of the Darkin and the visual appearance of their weapon bodies, it is speculated that and  might also be Darkin infused weapons.
 * The Darkin are inspired by the manga and anime series.
 * The method in which Darkin possess human bodies is similar to how Demons possess humans in Devilman. Humans in both instances can also overpower the demon/darkin and use their power as their own.
 * has spent the most time imprisoned, and- since his was the first, it was also an imperfect one that likely damaged him in the process.
 * Because the Darkin-infused weapons were to be used against the Darkin armies, having a 'damaged' Darkin wouldn't have been as powerful a tool compared to a 'undamaged' weapon. By the time the mages had imprisoned, they'd perfected the process a little more.
 * 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.

Media
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 * Related Music