Magical individuals, also commonly known as Mages, are beings that have either been born with magical properties or gain magical abilities through some form of training. There are a huge variety of different magical abilities that these indiviuals are capable of but almost all of them utilize magical energies pulled from the Material, Spiritual and Celestial realms. Some have been magically altered to become completely unique beings entirely.

Lore[]

Runeterra is an inherently magical world thanks to its creation being tied to the World Runes. Though all beings are capable of learning and practicing magic^[1], some are more talented in the magical arts or naturally born with magical abilities without any proper training.

Mages who are naturally born tend to have their abilities manifest at a young age without any prior training or indication of being magical. Because of this, naturally born mages tend to be much more powerful but require more care and control due to the risk of endangering themselves and those around them.^[2]

Those that aren't born with innate magical abilities can achieve some form of magic through rigorous training, study, and discipline. Typically, mages who end up learning a magical art tend to have some agenda or obsession attached to their intense skills in magic.^[2] While anyone can sharpen their magical skill through training, they usually only have a fraction of power compared to those with an innate magical aptitude.^[3]

Magical Champions[]

Not all magical champions are shown, see its variations/affected species

Former Magical Champions[]

Main article: Magical Alteration

• Brand was a human named Kegan Rodhe with some latent magical abilities^[4] prior to becoming magically altered by a World Rune.
• LeBlanc was a powerful sorceress in service to Sahn-Uzal and has extended her lifespan by unknown magical means.
• Malzahar was born with the magical ability to see into the future of everybody except for himself prior to being touched by the Void.
• Ryze was born with a latent affinity for Runic Magic, which he's used to magically extend his own lifespan.^[5]
• Viego was born with magical abilities prior to becoming a Wraith after the Ruination of Helia.^[5]
• Yorick was born with the ability to see and speak to the dead prior to the Ruination of Helia.

Related Champions to Magical Beings[]

• Galio was created to defend Demacia from enemy mages and grew sentient when his Petricite body absorbed enough magical energy. He also befriended the mage Lux after being drawn to her magic.
• Garen is Lux's brother and the nephew of Eldred, leader of the Mageseekers. While initially complacent with the Mageseekers, he later helped Lux protect the mages trying to flee Demacia.
• Jarvan IV became hateful towards mages after assuming they were responsible for his father Jarvan III's death, ordering the oppressive Mageseekers to persecute mages in Demacia without mercy. Jarvan IV later issued an order to abolish the Mageseekers and established Terbisia as a safe haven for Demacian mages.
• Shyvana observed the Mageseekers' persecution of mages in Demacia, driving her to temporarily defect.

History[]

Because Runeterra is an inherently magical planet, almost every culture has their own views and cultural significances surrounding magic.

Demacia has a particular history with mages, being founded by refugees that fled the cataclysmic Rune Wars and the destructive powers of mages. Though initially created as a safe haven away from the Rune Wars for all peoples, mage or otherwise, Demacia slowly harbored a deep sense fear of magic and prejudice against mages. This eventually lead to the rise of the Mageseekers, an oppressive order dedicated to hunting down and removing magic from all of Demacia by any means necessary. As the Mageseekers became more politically involved with Demacia over the years, a massive rebellion was sparked by Sylas, a former Mageseeker with the ability to absorb and replicate magical abilities. After the rebellion, Jarvan IV officially shut down all Mageseeker operations and disbanded the order, turning the city of Terbisia into a haven for mages of Demacia and appointing Luxanna Crownguard as its governor.

Ixtal is heavily tied to magic, having been founded by mages who mastered the use of Elemental Magic. Magic in Ixtal is governed by rules of the Axiomata, a unified theory of all elemental magic that teaches hundreds of different elemental magic forms called axioms. Elemental magic in Ixtal is viewed as a very strict science relating to physics and mathematics, with each axiom being widely taught in various arcology colleges across the nation. As a culture, mages are incredibly prevalent in Ixtal and governed by a caste system where the most talented mages join the highest caste known as the Yun Tal.

The lands of Ionia are naturally teeming with the magic thanks to the permeable borders between Ionia and the Spirit Realm. Because of this, magic is naturally embedded into the lives and environments of Ionians as a large majority of the population is born with some innate connection the spirit magic. Spirit magic in Ionia revolves around a delicate balance between both realms, as Ionians have to respect the boundaries and limits of using spirit magic as to not upset the balance and cause destructive effects on the land.

Magic[]

Magical beings are able to channel various different magical energies either through their bodies or through other means, such through an object. Magical beings have varying level of control and mastery between individuals depending on how much they've trained in the magical arts. Those born with innate magic tend to be more powerful but lack the control as the abilities manifest at a young age.

Primary Magic[]

The primary forms of magic are identified by what realm they draw their powers from and are as follow:

Elemental Magic[]

Magic that allows control of the elements by drawing on the energies of the Material Realm. Though a large amount of elemental mages are naturally-born, it is still a teachable art to just about any individual, which is evident in the population and culture of Ixtal.

Elemental magic can grant users the capability to manipulate all things in the physical realm ranging from basic raw elements such as fire or water to more theoretical ones such as time. By utilizing elemental magic, a mage can manipulate the physical and material properties of an object based on what element they are manipulating, possibly down to the sub-atomic level.

Tree Analogy Example: An elemental mage would grow a tree by changing the physical properties of said tree, either making it physically larger or manipulating the environment to be more suitable for the tree's growth.

Known Forms of Elemental Magic[]

• Air: Manipulates air and other forms of gaseous matter. Users are able to create large gusts of wind, summon tornadoes or enhance their own movement by manipulating the air surrounding them.

• Electricity: Manipulates lightning and other forms of electricity. Users can generate electricity within themselves and release it as bolts of lightning or smaller sparks.

• Fire: Manipulates fire and all forms of heat. Users have been shown to use this create concentrated masses and constructs made of fire, but most recently the Ixtali mage Milio has discovered a new form of fire magic that utilizes warmth and heat to heal instead of destroy.

• Ice: Manipulates water and low temperatures. Users can use this to create constructs made of ice, freeze objects and create intensely cold gusts of air. This magic is heavily tied to True Ice and found among the Iceborn.

• Water: Manipulates water and other forms of liquid matter. Users are able to manipulate bodies of liquid water and can even produce healing properties.

• Light: Manipulates visible light and potentially other parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. Users have been shown to generate constructs out of pure light, project it as powerful concentrated rays or even project light into the vision of the blind.^[6] It's possible that this magic is tied to Illusion magic utilized by LeBlanc, as one can possibly manipulate the visible light entering one's eyes to trick them into seeing certain images. ^[7]

• Rock: Manipulates stones, minerals and most other forms of solid matter. Users are capable of reshaping stone and earth materials into certain forms and move stones with ease. The thaumaturges of ancient Icathia were known adepts of this magic.

• Nature: Manipulates the physical properties of flora. Because the manipulation of nature is typically tied to Spirit Magic, its unclear what the extent of this type of Elemental magic is. Its inferred that this form of magic exclusively manipulates the flora in the Material Realm, allowing the manipulation of plant growth or the physical manipulation of plant matter into various forms.

• Magma: Manipulation of heated rock, magma and magnetism to an extent. Users can draw precious metals and molten material from the earth to reshape into various forms.

• Metal (Ferromancy): An extremely rare form of Elemental Magic characterized by a manipulation of all forms of metal and magnetism. Users have been shown to rip entire veins of ore from out of the ground, reshape metal objects at will, control magnetic waves and superheat metal to allow it to bend more easily.

• Sound: Manipulates sound waves and vibrations that move through the air. Users can use these abilities to produce sound waves strong enough to physically move objects, create noises for others to hear and potentially even deafen people. Users can enhance this magic by using some form of musical instrument or sound-amplifying devices. It's possible that this form of magic is related somewhat to Spirit Magic, as users have been shown to use the production of sound, primarily music, to tap into the emotions and souls of individuals.

• Time (Chronomancy): A form of magic that is so advanced that it's only considered theoretical at most. Zilean, a talented prodigy in elemental magic, made it his life's work to study and master Chronomancy. Users of Chronomancy are capable of manipulating the flow of time itself, slowing it down or speeding it up. With enough mastery, a user could even travel to different points of time or completely remove something from the flow of time, rendering it static and stagnant.

Spirit Magic[]

Magic that draws on the natural magical energies of the Spirit Realm. Some mages using spirit magic have these abilities manifest at birth, but a large population, particularly in Ionia, utilize spirit magic regularly. In order to utilize spirit magic, these mages must use some form of ritual or martial art to bring their souls closer to the spirit realm, allowing them to draw on its power and manifest it in the material realm. The Vastayashai'rei were initially mages before they completely altered their bodies, fusing themselves with the spirit realm entirely and becoming immensely powerful. The Vastayashai'rei's descendants are the Vastaya, who are inherently magical and tied heavily to the use of spirit magic.

By using spirit magic, mages can commune with certain Spirits or tap into the spiritual life essence of all things, living or otherwise, in nature. This allows mages to manipulate emotions tied to the spirit realm, use the abilities of powerful spirits they commune with or even manipulate the forces of life and death itself. Spirit magic is typically unpredictable and chaotic due to the nature of the spirit realm itself. Because of this, mages using spirit magic must be aware to not upset the delicate balance between the material and spirit realms, as doing so risks endangering themselves and heavily damaging the spirit realm itself.

Tree Analogy Example: A mage utilizing spirit magic would grow a tree by bringing themselves closer to the spirit realm, allowing them to commune with the tree's spirit and 'convincing' it to grow.

Known Forms of Spirit Magic[]

• Soul: Manipulation of the energy found within souls of living, dead and sometimes even inanimate objects that have a spiritual presence in the Spirit Realm. This is the most general form of Spirit Magic, allowing the user to manipulate the life force of others either to create concentrated masses of energy or tap into the memories, emotions and stored knowledge of a soul, as seen by the Vesani tribe of vastaya. This form of magic can also be used to claim and reshape the souls of the dead into other forms, which is expressed by the revenant Mordekaiser after he learned the ancient spirit language of Ochnun, allowing him to control and manipulate the souls of the dead in order to forge his own death realm Mitna Rachnun.

• Ruination: A form of magic originally created as a product of Viego's attempt to revive his wife Isolde, causing the Ruination of Helia. The combination of his sword's innate magical properties and the magical waters of Helia caused this new form of magic to be 'written' into the world^[8]. Ruination magic is characterized by its ability to create and empower undead wraiths via the the Black Mist of the Shadow Isles, which curses souls to be consumed by their worst emotions. Souls claimed by the Black Mist are incapable of passing onto the afterlife and are constrained by the mist. Some wraiths however become strong enough to both manipulate the mist and souls afflicted by it. Ruination magic has an adverse side effect of inducing so many negative emotions that it causes Demons to go 'berserk' and feral.

• Shadow: A forbidden offshoot of Spirit Magic that is largely derived from demons; predatory spirits that reside in the Spirit Realm and consume on emotions and other spirits. This magic was originally used towards the end of the Rune Wars, when warrior-mages would remove themselves from their bodies to enter the Spirit Realm and wage war with each other, conjuring etheric assassins and other nightmarish constructs. This magic is characterized by its empowerment by negative emotions and particular adverse effects it has on the Spirit Realm, such as the creation of demons like Nocturne and essentially sapping parts of the Spirit Realm of its natural magic. This magic is almost exclusively used by the Shadow Order of Ionia, lead by Zed, a master of shadow magic. Users can use this magic to conjure shapes out of shadows, manipulate negative emotions, leech magic out of the Spirit Realm and even construct entire beings out of shadows. The extent of this magic isn't entirely known, but it has been shown to be capable of rivalling that of the Darkin, as seen by Shieda Kayn.

• Fae: Chaotic and unpredictable magic deeply tied to the Yordles of Bandle City, some vastaya as well as the Faeries and other fae creatures. This magic has strange and wild properties and the extent of this magic isn't entirely known. Users are capable of creating illusions such as shapeshifting glamours, polymorphing or even turning inanimate objects alive.

• Dream: Manipulation and entering of others dreams by tapping into the Spirit Realm. Dreams in general are heavily tied to the Spirit Realm and thus spirit magic can allow a user to manipulate them if they are skilled and deep enough in the Spirit Realm. Users can manipulate the events of others' dreams to influence their thoughts, enter their dreams at will or induce a heavy sleep.

• Paint: Ability to create paintings capable of influencing the emotions, perceptions and body sensations of those that see it. This ability can essentially create visions and illusionary images that are so powerful and convincing that they can even affect the body as if they were real. For example, one could paint the image of an ocean and make others feel as if they are drowning or place strong visions into others' minds to overwhelm their emotions. This magic, though powerful, is extremely unstable and tied to the user's emotions and sense of imagination.^[9]

Celestial Magic:[]

Magic from the Celestial Realm, the vastly enigmatic realm where powerful Celestial entities dwell, such as the Aspects. Due to the incomprehensible nature of the celestial realm, the magic associated with it is not entirely understood. What is known is that celestial magic draws energy from entire concepts of the universe, ranging from celestial bodies such as the sun to intangible ideas like war. As of right now, there are no known instances of mortals being born with celestial magic aside from Kayle and Morgana, who are technically not mages due to inheriting their abilities from their Aspect mother Mihira.

Those utilizing celestial magic are granted many powers typically associated with the concept that their magic derives from. For instance, a mage utilizing celestial magic related to the sun would manifest solar-related abilities while a mage utilizing magic related to war would have some enhanced combat abilities. In general, celestial mages can utilize the energies of the cosmos to summon celestial bodies or create energies made of cosmic energy. Celestial magic is immensely powerful and difficult to fully grasp for mortals, as it practically allows a user to completely distort reality to an extent.

Tree Analogy Example: A powerful mage utilizing celestial magic could grow a tree by using cosmic energy to reach into the celestial realm and distort reality to make the tree grow larger. Another option would be to gain power from a celestial embodiment somewhat related to trees, usually in the form of an Aspect or some other Celestial.

Combined Magic[]

Primary forms of magic are capable of being combined or used in unison, creating a large array of different magical forms.

• Ascended: Combination of Celestial and Elemental magics; pivotal in the creation of the Ascended by fusing their mortal bodies with the energies of the Celestial Realm, allowing them to reshape their physical forms, prolong their lifespans, empower their base abilities as well as grant them access to certain celestial magics.

• Runic: Combination of Celestial and Elemental magics; characterized by the unique feature of having to be written with special symbols and words that grant power. It has been shown to be capable of granting the ability to fire out blasts of arcane energy along the runes, enchant objects with runic writing to empower them and can even prolong one's lifespan.

• Blood (Hemomancy): Combination of Elemental and Spiritual magics; characterized by the ability to manipulate the spiritual essence of living things through their physical bodies, being capable of reshaping flesh and blood. This was largely used by the Darkin and later taught to Vladimir, who would teach this magical art across the Crimson Circle. By manipulating flesh and blood of living beings, users can reshape the physical forms of themselves and others, absorb the life essence found in others' blood, prolong lifespans and control the bodies of others by puppeteering their flesh.

• Healing: All forms of primary magic have shown capabilities for healing, allowing users to recover injuries, regenerate, ease pain and even heal broken minds. In the case of Elemental magic, some elements can be used to heal, such as natural healing properties of water or warmth of fire to ease pain. In Spirit magic, a user can heal one's soul and use the natural, magical energies to regenerate injuries or heal their minds. Celestial magic has shown the most capabilities of healing, capable of bathing wounded individuals in celestial light and completely healing their injuries.

• Hextech: Combination of Elemental and Spiritual mixed with technology; though not necessarily a magical art, Hextech utilizes magical Brackern crystals to create technologies with magical effects. These crystals are magically rooted in the Material realm, but also tap into the Brackern's spiritual soul to produce magical effects. Hextech is mainly used in Piltover and has shown capabilities of various different technologies that can produce magical energies, act as a power source, prolong aging, manipulate time and even grant life to inanimate objects such as technological Golems

Other/Uncategorized Magic[]

These are some magical forms that are seen in Runeterra but are unclear as to how to categorize them.

• Cartomancy: A primitive and widely superstitious form of magic seen in the nomadic river people of the Serpentine River. This magic can allow users to divine with a deck of magical cards with complex rituals, allowing users to access information about the world by simply 'reading' the cards. In the process of divining the cards, new and unique cards could also be created seemingly out of nothing within the deck, acting as messages for whatever the user is searching for. Along with that, users can physically use these cards to cast spells with various effects such as massive explosions, generation of golden chains and even teleportation across far distances.

• Illusionism: Possibly a form of Elemental light magic, allowing users to manipulate peoples' visual perceptions of things and create illusionary images by manipulating light that is visible to them. This is primarily used by the sorceress LeBlanc, who is capable of creating numerous near-perfect clones of herself across far distances, shapeshift and even render herself completely invisible.

• Magic Absorption: An unknown form of magic only seen once in the mage Sylas, who was innately born with the ability. This ability allows a user to absorb the magical energies of other beings and even through objects that have inherent magical properties either enchanted or absorbed into them, such as Petricite. By absorbing these energies, the user can then perfectly replicate and utilize these same magical abilities for themselves. This ability has been shown to work for Elemental magics as well as Celestial magics, though it's unclear if this categorizes it as any of these primary magics.

• Magic Sense: An unknown form of magic that allows a user to visibly see magical energies emanating from other people in the form of colorful auras, making them capable of easily identifying who is and isn't a mage. This has only been seen in the mage Sylas, who was innately born with the ability, but its possible that the vastayan Oovi-Kat tribe also possess this ability by seeing the souls of others and being capable of sensing their magical auras.

Magic Through Objects[]

Though not necessarily considered mages, some individuals utilize magic through the use of external objects instead of channeling it through their bodies. This can be achieved by using inherently magical materials, technologies or even objects enchanted with magic such as Runic Magic or Hemomancy.

In Piltover and Zaun, many have begun using the revolutionary technologies of Hextech, a form of magic derived from creating magical technologies powered by hextech crystals, which generate powerful energies that can be utilized in a large variety of ways.

Petricite is a powerful substance found in Demacia; a stony mixture of lime, ash and the wood of mystical trees capable of absorbing and negating magical energies, rendering some magical abilities useless and nullified. If an object made of petricite absorbs enough magical energy however, it in turn cannot contain anymore and begins to emit the residual energy outward, technically becoming magical.

The mystical Sentinels of Light order wield weapons and tools forged from relic stones; a material capable of pulling magical energy into itself and firing it out as blasts capable of harming undead wraiths of the Shadow Isles.

These champions, despite not being mages or learning a form of magic, utilize magical objects:

Trivia[]

• Though the Void has strange and mysterious energies and is seemingly supernatural, it is actually the complete absence of magic^[10]

See also[]