‘Arcane’: Vi’s ‘League of Legends’ Lore Explained
Arcane is the highly-popular animated Netflix television show based on League of Legends. Vi is also known as the “Piltover enforcer.” She serves as one of the main perspective characters in Arcane. Her video game lore digs a bit deeper than her younger sister, Jinx’s. However, the Netflix show certainly adds a whole lot more depth to her backstory.
[Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers from Arcane Season 1.]
Vi’s ‘League of Legends’ lore
Vi’s League of Legends lore starts by explaining that she doesn’t remember much about her childhood. An orphanage took her in after finding her in a bassinet large enough for two. Similar to Jinx’s League of Legends lore, Vi’s sibling connection with the blue-haired tinkerer is strongly hinted at, but not directly stated.
Vi grew up in Zaun and stole from those who she deemed deserved it, but never took from someone who couldn’t cover the cost. She started a gang, but a bar owner guided her toward morals and taught her to control her temper. Vi became famous for accomplishing missions without any questions asked. She was once assigned a mission that required her to team up with a rival gang. As a result, the miners were trapped and nearly killed. Vi stayed behind and put on a pair of gauntlets to save them.
The pink-haired gang leader left Zaun during an upheaval against Piltover after defeating the entire rival gang single-handedly. She ultimately becomes sheriff Caitlyn’s ally, but no one knows how or why. Vi replaces her basic gauntlets with hextech prototype versions that she uses in League of Legends.
How Vi’s lore fits into ‘Arcane’
Arcane digs much deeper into Vi’s backstory. Her plot is innately connected with Jinx’s. A bar owner acts as their father after they lose their parents, who teach them everything that they know. However, Vi is ultimately put in a Piltover prison after enforcers catch her in the aftermath of Jinx’s destruction.
Caitlyn breaks Vi out of prison to help on a case long before she’s Piltover’s sheriff. The two explore Zaun together as the pink-haired fighter wants to reconnect with her sister, but doesn’t realize how far gone she is. Vi doesn’t initially trust Caitlyn, although a potential LGBTQ connection between the two establishes a fascinating dynamic that isn’t in the League of Legends lore.
Vi attempts to help Piltover understand the undercity that they have misread for so long. The mission doesn’t go as planned. However, she gets her hands on the hextech gauntlets in a different way. Jayce creates them as a way to make hard labor more efficient, but Vi turns them into weapons.
Where is Vi’s story headed in ‘Arcane’ Season 2?
Netflix announced that Arcane Season 2 is officially in the works. Vi’s story ended in a climactic sequence as she failed to get her sister to return to the person that she once knew. Her dynamic with Jinx will continue as the blue-haired tinkerer is proving why she’s called the “loose cannon.”
Vi and Caitlyn’s relationship is sure to continue in season 2. Arcane might finally address how she becomes Piltover’s enforcer alongside Caitlyn once she earns the sheriff title. The show will also need to address how their relationship will evolve moving from potential love interests to a boss/employee relationship. Stay tuned for more information as the next season’s release date approaches.
