 |
In Dev Update - Champs, Lore & More, Laura 'poisonpixxi' DeYoung, Head of IP Creative for Riot Games, elaborated on their new approach to narrative cohesiveness by ironing out any inconsistencies that have sprung up over the years. This article contains information that conflicts with this new narrative and will most likely be changed/moved in the following year(s). For further information on these changes, see Canonical inconsistencies |
|---|
Universe
The herald of a new age of technology, 
Viktor has devoted his life to the advancement of humankind. An idealist who seeks to lift the people of 
Zaun to a new level of understanding, he believes that only by embracing a glorious evolution of technology can humanity's full potential be realized. With a body augmented by steel and science, Viktor is zealous in his pursuit of this bright future.
 | "A mechanized heart never misses a beat, and never falters with emotion. So why would anyone trust their life to a fragile muscle of flesh and blood?" — Viktor |
 |
Background[]
Early life[]
Viktor was born in Zaun, on the borders of the Entresol level. Encouraged by his artisan parents, he discovered a passion for invention and building from a young age. He devoted his whole being to his studies, hating to interrupt his work even to eat or sleep. Abandoning his work, under any circumstances, was nearly impossible for him.
Viktor had conducted research on Zaun’s many accidents and came to the discovery that most of them were the result of human error, as opposed to being a result of mechanical failure. He offered his services to local businesses, developing inventions in the hopes of creating safer work environments. Most refused to work with him, but the Fredersen Chem-forge gave the young man a chance.
His inventions reduced the number of accidents in the forge to null within a month, and so other establishments began to seek out his work. His designs became common in Zaun, improving production with every innovation.
Soon enough, at the age of nineteen he was offered a place in Zaun’s prestigious Academy of Techmaturgy. Viktor’s work had attracted the eye of Professor Stanwick of Piltover, who convinced him to go to Piltover’s academy instead. There, he could work in the most advanced laboratories and have access to all the resources the City of Progress could offer him. Viktor accepted his offer, taking residence in Piltover, where he refined his craft and strived to perfect his theorems in ways that would benefit everyone.
University Education[]
In Piltover, Viktor worked frequently with the best and brightest the city had to offer, which included the insufferable Jayce. They worked together frequently, though in Viktor's words, he and the flamboyant and arrogant genius were intellectual equals, but clashed in personality. They would often argue over their perceptions of intuition vs. logic in the process of invention, never becoming friends but each able to mutually respect and recognise the flawed brilliance of the other.
In the middle of his studies, a major chem-spill devastated entire districts of Zaun, and Viktor returned home to help. These efforts included building an unintentionally sentient golem, whom Viktor named Blitzcrank, and together they saved many from the disaster. The two parted ways after failing to prevent more deaths resulting from the radioactive aftermath, and Viktor returned to Piltover. Though distraught at the loss of life, this experience enlightened Viktor to what could be done when fusing technology and human anatomy for the enhancement of the latter.
However, during Viktor's absence, Professor Stanwick had claimed Blitzcrank as his own invention. Viktor's pleas did nothing for him with the indifferent higher-ups. Pursuing the matter, he asked Jayce to help verify his case, but his schoolmate refused. With the odds stacked against him, Viktor was unable to bring the truth to light. Bitter but resigned, Viktor returned to his work, knowing that bettering lives and creating change was more important than credit and ego.
This matter, however, only served to push him to obsess over eradicating human error from innovation. His growing interest in improving human performance with technology and eliminating the "grossly inefficient abberation" of human involvement created tension between him and his fellow students and professors who saw the very things Viktor sought to remove as the source of human ingenuity and creativity.
This came to fruition during a collaboration with Jayce to improve diving suits used to keep Piltover’s docks clear of underwater debris and lingering chemical waste.
As a solution to the fear-resultant hallucinations experienced by the divers underwater, which were leading many to fatal watery ends, Viktor devised a helmet that would allow an operator on the surface to bypass the wearer's fear-response and effectively control the diver. A heated discussion between Viktor and Jayce on free will and mental enslavement turned bitter and the two vowed never to work together again. Jayce later reported the incident to the college masters, who then expelled Viktor for work that violated basic human dignity- work that, in Viktor's eyes, would have saved lives.
Evolution[]
Disgusted by the narrow-minded attitudes he encountered in Piltover, Viktor retreated to his old laboratory in Zaun. The combination of his failure to save lives in Zaun, failure to prove his creation of Blitzcrank, and expulsion from Piltover caused him to sink into a deep depression. Despite his professed revulsion for the human aspect negative impacting innovation, he had let his own emotions get the better of his efforts to help others and save lives. His naive belief that good intentions could overcome ingrained prejudice had blinded him to human failings.
To solve this, he operated on himself to remove those parts of his flesh and psyche that relied upon or were inhibited by emotion.
When the surgery was done, almost no trace of the young man who had traveled to Piltover remained. In supplanting the majority of his anatomy with mechanical improvements, his personality had also been modified. His idealistic hope to better society was refined into an obsession with what he called the Glorious Evolution. Viktor now saw himself as the pioneer of Valoran's future - an idealized dream where man would renounce flesh in favor of superior hextech augmentations. This would free humanity from fatal errors and suffering, though Viktor knew it was a task that would not be completed easily or quickly.
The Crystal[]
Another one of Zaun's common chemical disasters in the Sump turned hundreds in the Factorywood into rabid psychotics. Viktor brought the victims back to his lab, where he tried to undo the damage and slow the degenerative processes. However, what he had in his lab would not be enough to save these people. What he needed was more power - which he detected a surge of in Piltover, in Jayce's lab. The source was a Shuriman crystal, and it would solve everything.
He demanded that Jayce hand the crystal over, but the Piltovan refused, and so Viktor had to take it by force. Returning to his lab, he set to work, readying a new automaton body for the victims in case the damage on their bodies proved to be too much. However, in the middle of his attempt, Jayce burst in with an energized hammer and began destroying what he had worked for. Knowing Jayce would never listen to reason, he ordered the automatons to kill him. At the end of the fight, Jayce brought his hammer down on the crystal, causing the entire warehouse to collapse, taking the lives Viktor had been trying to save.
Aftermath[]
Viktor escaped the explosion, and returned to his mission of bettering humanity by ridding it of its destructive emotional impulses. In Viktor’s mind, Jayce’s impetuous attack only proved the truth of his cause and strengthened his desire to unburden humanity of the failings of flesh. He sent chem-augmented thugs to Jayce's lab afterwards, not for revenge, but to search for more of the crystal. The raid was unsuccessful, however, and Viktor thought no more of Jayce. Currently, he is still dedicatedly working on bringing the Glorious Evolution to the people, and saving them from themselves.
Appearance[]
Viktor's left arm is a 4-fingered mechanical prosthesis; his other limbs may be prosthetic as well or simply armored. He has a shoulder pauldron on his left, and a deep blue cloak that is red on the inside covering the other shoulder. His right hand wears a gauntlet, and around his waist is a turquoise covering. On his left leg he wears a brace for support. A third arm extends from his back, fitted with a high-precision high-power laser.
Personality[]
Pre-Augmentation[]
Viktor had an obsessive, idealistic personality, and was a workaholic. He was a self-described methodical, logical and thorough person, and is implied to previously have been emotional. He was interested in how techmaturgy could help society.
Post-Augmentation[]
Following his efforts to improve himself, his obsessive tendencies heightened, and reportedly is now less capable of emotion than before. His previous interest developed into a mission he has devoted his life to.
Viktor has shown little regard for free will and autonomy when dealing in matters of life and death. He believes he is doing what is right and is generally benevolent, but uses ethically dubious methods to achieve desired results.
Abilities[]
- Inventor: A brilliant mind, Viktor has a long list of achievements in the field of techmaturgy and engineering. Examples of the mechanical marvels credited to his ability include Blitzcrank and himself.
Augmented: Being mechanically augmented, Viktor is reportedly no longer vulnerable to most human emotions or weaknesses. The extent of this is unconfirmed, as he appears to still be susceptible to death.
Relations[]
Blitzcrank[]
Note: The following description will prioritise the facts as listed in Viktor's biography as opposed to Blitzcrank's, given that this is Viktor's wikipage. The only notable conflicts would be in Blitzcrank's origins and the reasons for their separation. Where Blitzcrank's biography states he was an abandoned golem given sentience through the means of a hextech crystal, Viktor's biography describes events differently. Blitzcrank also credits the parting of their ways to a chem-baron. In terms of matters omitted, Blitzcrank does not seem to be involved in the events in Piltover between Professor Stanwick and Viktor.
Blitzcrank was a custom-built golem, constructed by Viktor in order to help in the clean-up efforts following a devastating chem-spill in Zaun. He grafted a sophisticated series of cognitive loops onto existing automata-technology, which formed the basis of Blitzcrank's intelligence and later unintended sentience. The two worked together to better the lives of those affected by the spill. Unfortunately, their efforts failed to prevent more deaths, and so the two parted ways.
Later in Piltover, Professor Stanwick claimed Blitzcrank as his own invention. Viktor challenged him, but backed by no one, he lost the case.
The two currently have no reason to be unfriendly with each other.
Jayce[]
Jayce and Viktor are ex-colleagues and current enemies. They disagree over many topics relating to ethics in science, most pertaining to free will.
Read More
Biography
Starring Champion
Mentioned Champion
Alternate Universes
Trivia[]
- Viktor's lore resembles a lot that of a famous Serbian-American inventor, Nikola Tesla. Professor Stanwick stole credit for Viktor's creation, Blitzcrank. Similar to that was Tesla, where Thomas Edison stole credit for a lot of Tesla's work (such as the well known Edison lightbulb that Tesla made) during his time working for the famed American inventor and Guglielmo Marconi for stealing credit for the creation of the radio.
- Viktor's own abilities took inspiration from Tesla's work that were never truly realised like: The Death Ray, gravity device, magnetic shielding, and ionic storms.
- Viktor's own abilities took inspiration from Tesla's work that were never truly realised like:
- Orianna is listed as Viktor's rival. This could be due to her unique construction that equals Viktor's technology in power, or because people wrongly identify her as an example of what Viktor is striving for, when in fact Viktor is striving for living technology, which Orianna is not.
- Despite being heavily augmented, Viktor still enjoys drinking sweetmilk.
References[]
