Malcolm Graves is a renowned mercenary, gambler, and thief—a wanted man in every city and empire he has visited. Even though he has an explosive temper, he possesses a sense of criminal honor, often enforced at the business end of his double-barreled shotgun 
Destiny. In recent years, he has reconciled a troubled partnership with 
Twisted Fate, and together they have prospered once more in the turmoil of 
Bilgewater’s criminal underbelly.
 | "We’re here for your gold, not your heads… so don’t nobody decide to be a hero." — Graves |
 |
Background[]
Early life[]
Raised in the wharf alleys of Bilgewater, Malcolm Graves quickly learned how to fight and how to steal. He could always find work hauling contraband up from the smugglers’ skiffs that came into the bay each night—with a tidy side-gig as hired muscle for various other unsavory local characters, as they went about their business in the port.
But the alleys were small-time, and he craved more excitement than they could offer. Still little more than a youth, Graves stole a blunderbuss and smuggled himself aboard a ship headed out of Bilgewater to the Shuriman mainland, where he stole, lied, and gambled his way from place to place along the coast.
Across the table of a high-stakes—and highly illegal—card game in Mudtown, Graves met Twisted Fate.
Each immediately saw in the other the same reckless passion for danger and adventure, and together they formed a most lucrative partnership. Between Graves’ raw brawn and Twisted Fate’s brains, they were an unusually effective team from the outset. Their mutual sense of roguish honor grew into genuine trust, and together they stole from the rich, swindled the foolish, handpicked skilled crews for specific jobs, and sold out their rivals whenever they could.
On the southern borderlands of Valoran, they set two renowned noble houses of Noxus at each other’s throats as cover for the rescue of a kidnapped heir. That they pocketed the reward money, only to ransom the vile young man to the highest bidder, should really have come as no surprise to their original employer. In Piltover, they still hold the distinction of being the only thieves ever to crack the supposedly impenetrable Clockwork Vault. Not only did the pair empty the vault of all its treasures, they also tricked the guards into loading the loot onto their hijacked schooner, for a quick getaway through the Sun Gates.
In almost every case, only once they and their accomplices were safely over the horizon were their crimes even discovered—usually along with one of Twisted Fate’s trademark calling cards left where it would be easily found.
During a heist that rapidly turned from complex to completely botched, Graves was taken by the local enforcers, while Twisted Fate merely turned tail and abandoned him.
Thrown into the infamous prison known as the Locker, Graves endured years of torture and solitary confinement, during which time he nursed his bitter anger toward his old partner, and, convinced that Twisted Fate had betrayed him, Graves was determined to have his revenge.
When he finally clawed his way to freedom, with the prison warden’s brand new shotgun slung over his shoulder, Graves began his long-overdue pursuit of Twisted Fate.
Burning Tides[]
- Main article: Burning Tides
In the years after, Twisted Fate continued conning people solo, one-time evading capture by Miss Fortune. She would later hire him by proxy to sneak into Gangplank’s warehouse to steal and return a Crimson-Coil dagger, where he would reunite with Graves, who broke out from The Locker and was tipped off by the Bounty Hunter herself about Twisted Fate presence.
Flamed with rage at his partner's apparent betrayal, Graves started shooting at Tobias in an effort to settle the score with him. With Gangplank's warehouse burning and with the pirate captain's thugs swarming, the resolution of Graves' and Twisted Fate's long-simmering feud threatens to engulf the entire city in flames. Informed by the destruction of his warehouse, Gangplank set off the catch both of the perpetrators of this act.
Both Graves and Twisted Fate tried to flee from the wrath of the Pirate King but with no success. Gangplank tortured them until he tried to publicly execute them in front of the whole city for their misbehavior. Hearing the news of this event, Sarah Fortune's plans set in motion and along with her crew, started to make preparations to blow up Gangplank’s flagship so all Bilgewater could witness the death of their Reaver King.
Graves managed to hide one of Twisted Fate's cards, snatched during their previous fight around the city, from the pirate thugs, and so, Twisted Fate teleports behind Gangplank and punches him, but Graves gets dragged to the bottom of the ocean. Twisted Fate then jumps after him and saves Graves from drowning but almost dies in the process. Graves manages to save Twisted Fate and after they successfully survive the explosion, both men settled their dispute and resolve to pick up their joint hustling.
As Graves had lost his shotgun Destiny, they head to Piltover so he can get a new one. Even though Graves and Twisted Fate are tempted to reconcile their relationship, both know it may take a while for Graves to completely trust Twisted Fate again, still, the latter is happy to have his old friend back.
Destiny and Fate[]
- Main article: Destiny and Fate
After running jobs in Piltover and Zaun for a while, they go back to Bilgewater in search of the Abyssal Crown. Along with the story, Twisted Fate actively tries to regain Graves' trust, staying despite the danger and giving the Crown to Graves since the latter still keeps some distance from him.
They end up angering a sea witch in the process. Later on Miss Fortune springs a trap for Twisted Fate and Graves. Despite the latter's success in cornering her, she manages to trap them and hand them to the sea witch in exchange for her quartermaster. In the end, she helps Twisted Fate and Graves escape as well.
Appearance[]
Graves is a gruff-looking, broad-shouldered, middle-aged man. He has fair skin, dark brown hair, and brown eyes. He typically wears his hair swept back and his beard in a mustache-and-mutton-chops combo with only his chin shaved, though he has also been seen with a full beard.
He generally wears simple, practical attire, such as a blue shirt and dark brown pants with leather boots and gloves. He wears a number of belts and pouches on his waist, visibly holding shotgun shells. He is also known to wear a blood-red cowl over his shoulders and back.
His signature weapon, Destiny, is an oversized double-barreled shotgun made of black, gold, and brown metal. It houses a glass chamber which glows with orange-yellow energy.
Personality[]
Graves has a free-spirited and hot-tempered personality. His incredibly reckless nature and tendency to commit acts such as stealing and gambling has led to him becoming a wanted criminal in almost every city in existence. More then anything Graves values loyalty and will do good by anyone who does good by him, especially his partner Twisted Fate.
Abilities[]
Expert Marksman: Developed through a life in the dangerous alleys of Bilgewater and honed during various criminal exploits, Graves possesses exceptional marksmanship skills. Whether wielding his stolen blunderbuss or any other firearm, he displays uncanny accuracy and efficiency with a shotgun.- Explosives Expert: Graves has become adept at handling explosives, gained from his experience with contraband, smuggling, and high-risk criminal activities. He is known to use explosives strategically to create chaos or gain an advantage in confrontations. This is most exemplified when running away from the Sentinels of Light in Zaun, where he uses explosives and smokescreens in order to escape his pursuers.
- Dumb Luck: Graves seems to possess an unusual degree of luck, often finding himself in perilous situations only to narrowly escape. This luck, whether a product of fate or his own instincts, has played a role in his survival and success as a rogue and adventurer. A notable example of this luck occurred when attempting to rescue his partner-in-crime, Twisted Fate, from Miss Fortune's clutches. Miss Fortune had cleverly set a rope trap, anticipating Graves' intervention. Despite the apparent danger, Graves impulsively charged through the hangar's front door, narrowly avoiding the trap.
Relations[]
Tobias Felix[]
Their partnership started when they recognized a kindred soul in one another across a table during a high-stakes game in Mudtown.
They both shared the same reckless passion for danger and adventure, which is what encouraged them to form their partnership. Graves being the brawn, and T.F. being the brains they were an unusually effective team from the outset. Their mutual sense of roguish honor grew into genuine trust, and together they hustled across Valoran.
They were forced apart when a heist went south, with Graves getting sent to The Locker despite Twisted Fate’s efforts to save him.
Graves endured years of torture and solitary confinement, during which time he nursed his bitter anger toward his old partner, and, convinced T.F. had betrayed him, Graves was determined to have his revenge.
Graves reunited with T.F. again when MIss Fortune set them up, yet they were forced to put aside their differences in order to escape almost certain death in the ongoing conflict between her and Gangplank.
Even though Graves and T.F. were tempted to reconcile their relationship, both knew it may take a while for Graves to completely trust T.F. again, still, the latter was happy to have his old friend back.
Still, since Graves still kept some distance from T.F., in the short story Destiny and Fate, T.F. proactively tries to show Graves that he can trust him again. T.F. had a history of taking off when things got ugly and so, T.F. wanted to stay and retrieve the Abyssal Crown even if it meant risking his life so he could prove to Graves that he wouldn't leave him to pick up the pieces anymore. In the same story, when Graves shows up next to T.F. bleeding, the latter notices and expresses his concern, something that Graves actually appreciated even if he didn't say it out loud.
During the Burning Tides events, T.F. jumps after Graves to save him from drowning despite not knowing how to swim and being terrified of drowning himself.
Graves seems to like messing with T.F., particularly by calling him Tobias instead of Twisted Fate insisting the latter is a stupid name, or by splashing him with salt water just to mess with TF's carefully oiled and perfumed hair. Similarly, T.F. usually comes up with clever replies to annoy Graves. Their petty bickering is seen many times like at the end of Burning Tides' Act 4, Double-double cross, and Destiny and Fate.
Yordles[]
After some time, Graves captured 
Teemo for the bounty on yordles while Twisted Fate refuses because "messing with Yordles brings a whole heap of trouble." He then fought 
Corki, 
Lulu and 
Tristana who came to save Teemo, which ended up in Graves being 
turned into a frog and the Yordles escaping.
Shauna Vayne[]
Graves respects 
Vayne for being the only person among the 
Sentinels of Light to stand up to him.
Read More
Biography
Starring Champion
Mentioned Champion
Alternate Universes
Trivia[]
- Cutpurse Twisted Fate and Cutthroat Graves depict them in their younger years.
- Graves' mother had been dead for five years before the events of Burning Tides.
- Graves and Twisted Fate used to have a crew when hustling all over the world, but they all died trying to get the Outlaw out of the Locker.
- Members include Kolt, Wallach, and The Brick.
- Graves and
- According to 4Twisted Fate, Graves had quit smoking. This likely happened after Burning Tides, when the two reunited.
- Graves originally wielded a gun named Destiny (sharing the name with his partner's ultimate). However after the events of Burning Tides it got destroyed and was replaced with New Destiny, an exact replica of the gun.
- Destiny is a double barrelled shotgun with a break action cylinder chamber, which seems to be a fantasy design.
- In game, Destiny has the power to launch smoke grenades.
- In universe, Graves has to still manually light and throw his smoke grenades.
- Graves was given a Blue Card by Twisted Fate during Rise of the Sentinels, it could instantly teleport him to Twisted Fate's location in case of an emergency.
- Graves is the only person who still calls Twisted Fate by his birthname, Tobias.
- One of the scrapped narrative concepts for Graves was for him to be married or to be an ex-lover of Twisted Fate. The concept of having "palpable sexual tension" between the characters was preserved in their final lore.
- For Pride 2022, it was revealed that Graves is Gay in The Boys and Bombolini.
- One of the emotes for Pride 2022 is a reference to the classic scene in the romantic drama film "Brokeback Mountain".
Change log[]
| Character blurb | |
|---|---|
| 29 April 2020 (During V10.9) | Added. |
References[]
