12 Most Intelligent Champions According To The Lore

Key Takeaways

• Xerath, one of the most intelligent characters in League of Legends, didn’t start that way and actually steadily rose through the ranks with his kindness, knowledge, and cunning.
• Aurora, born with incredible spiritual capabilities and intelligence, guides spirits to the afterlife in the Freljord.
• Heimerdinger, a revered inventor, has key differences in his lore between League of Legends and Arcane but is one of the most intelligent characters in and and all Riot-related universes.

With the undeniable success that is Riot and Netflix’s Arcane, so many people have been coming back to League of Legends or even the auto-battler spin-off Teamfight Tactics as of late, since the games are so easily playable on just about any device. But, a surprising byproduct of this is that players are also paying more attention to the actual “lore” of these champions, especially the more fleshed-out stories of the (typically) evil Champions.

So, with all the genius inventors and scientists seen in Arcane, both in season 1 and season 2, let’s take a look at how their backstories differ in the canonical lore of League of Legends, as well as what other characters can even compare in pure intelligence.

Updated November 30th, 2024 by Jacob Buchalter: The sheer number of playable Champions is, at the time of writing this, quickly approaching 200, which is just absurd to think about. Each of these characters is so expertly designed, so meticulously written, and so mechanically complex. They all come from different regions, have different backgrounds, strive for different goals, and have entirely unique personalities. However, while one could say that most of the League of Legends Champions are ‘smart’, there aren’t a ton of them that are known predominantly for their intelligence. Still, there are a handful that exceed all their peers in sheer intelligence, whether that’s in general or in a very specific field. So, with that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the most universally intelligent Champions in the entire LoL roster.

12 Xerath

The Magus Ascendant

First up is probably one of the most intelligent and dastardly characters in the entire League of Legends pantheon, Xerath. Xerath was born a slave in Shurima, but through tragedy, luck, and a whole lot of work on his part, he eventually rose to become the right-hand man of Azir, one of the Emperor’s sons. As Azir’s right-hand man, Xerath became incredibly powerful with magic, studied even more than he did previously, and was all around uncontested in both intelligence and tactics.

Azir, while intelligent and capable in his own right, was only able to do as much as he did as Emporer due to Xerath, and Xerath was even able to obtain Ascension through an evil (but incredibly smart) plan of taking Azir’s spot in the Ascension ceremony. And, once this was done, Xerath would’ve been an unparalleled being of pure arcane energy, if it wasn’t for the efforts of both Nasus and Renekton.

11 Aurora

The Witch Between Worlds

There’s academic intelligence, emotional intelligence, and spiritual intelligence, and Aurora seems to have all of this in spades. As one of the more ‘recent’ additions to the long list of League of Legends Champions, Aurora has a lot of lore tied to her. Born to the Bryni tribe of rabbit people in the secluded village of Aamu (deep in the Freljord), Aurora was always able to perceive and walk between both the material and spiritual realms. Due to her unique ability, Aurora was always isolated from the rest of her village, but this only caused her to commit more of herself and her time to her research of the spirits.

As an adult, Aurora spends most of her time guiding spirits ‘home’ by solving their core issues binding them to the material realm, an act which takes a lot of work, emotional intelligence, and general intelligence. She is by far one of the most intelligent characters in the Freljord, has already met with multiple guardian spirits of this Realm, and is only partially into her journey, meaning she still has so much more left to discover, learn, and unravel.

10 Heimerdinger

The Revered Inventor

People might be surprised to find out that a lot of the Champions in League don’t actually have one-to-one translations into Arcane. Heimerdinger, for example, has some key differences. For one, Arcane makes it clear that Heimerdinger was one of the founding members of Piltover, and while that may be true in that canon, it’s not confirmed or even hinted at in the official LoL biography. He’s contributed massively to Piltover’s success and is well-respected, yes, but that’s as far as it goes.

Additionally, Arcane’s version of this fluffy little Yordle acts more like a comfy college Professor with tenure than a dedicated researcher. In any case, in all universes in which Heimerdinger exists, he is one of the most intelligent beings alive, even if his Yordle nature makes him eternally naive.

9 Jayce & Viktor

The Machine Herald & The Defender of Tommorow

While on the topic of Piltover, let’s move on to the stories of both Jayce Talis and Viktor the Machine Herald, who have wildly different backstories compared to their loveable Arcane depictions. In LoL’s base game lore, Jayce is a pompous jerk, so much so that no one else can stand to work with him because he acts so superior and flamboyant. Viktor was the only one who could even attempt to keep up with them, and he’s even the one who initially designed Blitzcrank. The two had a long but tenuous relationship working together on many different projects until a heated disagreement led to Jayce reporting Viktor to the Council and getting him expelled from Piltover.

There are a lot of similarities between Viktor and Jayce and Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison, which is likely an intentional choice on Riot’s part. Viktor is a cold but highly efficient genius, while Jayce is a lot more ‘sociable’ but not nearly as adaptable. In Arcane, Jayce and Viktor are some of the most intelligent characters in the entirety of both Piltover and Zaun, but in terms of personality, and pretty noticeably different from their base-game canon counterparts, which is why this is worth mentioning.

8 Ekko

The Boy Who Shattered Time

The untapped potential of Ekko, the Boy Who Shattered Time, is pretty much unparalleled by any other ‘human’ Champion in LoL currently. Born with genius-level intellect, Ekko is a child of Zaun who actually appreciates the city for what it could be, not what it is. There are numerous cinematics that hint at Heimerdinger acknowledging Ekko’s intellect, yet they’ve only ever actually ‘connected’ in Arcane.

If Ekko was able to get some formal education, he might even quickly surpass other known intelligent legends such as Singed, Viktor, or Jayce. But, for now, Ekko is just a passionate Zaunite who can mess with time thanks to his Z-Drive invention and is also quite the beginner-friendly Champion in-game.

7 Singed

The Mad Chemist

Singed, in the official LoL lore, actually has a lot in common with Ekko in regard to his innate intellect and curiosity about the world. But, unlike Ekko, Singed was blessed enough to be born in Piltover, and he attended the University of Piltover early in life. Unlike his peers who were constantly devoted to deepening their understanding of Hextech, Singed believed in the natural sciences. He saw magic as a crutch, and his dedicated viewpoint on the issue and lackluster research results were what eventually led to him being outed from the Academy and Piltover altogether.

From there, Singed immediately found work in Zaun, a city that has quite a few openings for an intelligent scientist. Since then, Singed has become an inhumanely deranged scientist, performing all sorts of twisted experiments, one of which eventually led to the creation of Warwick. In LoL’s lore, it doesn’t work nearly the same way as it does in Arcane, but the overall concept is still these same, and both examples of Singed are incredibly intelligent scientists that end up going off the deep end entirely due to their academic pursuits.

6 Swain

The Noxian Grand General

Next up is the leader of an entire nation, Jericho Swain, the ruler of Noxus. Swain has a long and bloody history filled with death, failure, rebirth, and redemption. But, one aspect of his story that sticks out more than any other is his unbending dedication to Noxus as a whole. Swain killed his own parents for the sake of Noxus, overthrew the previous ruler Boram Darkwill for the sake of Noxus, and even made a pact with a Demon all for the betterment of the Noxus people.

Swain has shown that his strategic mind in all things military is unparalleled, something that isn’t the same as scholarly knowledge but is equally as important.

5 LeBlanc

The Deceiver

Then there’s LeBlanc, the leader of the shadowy cabal, the Black Rose, who dwells underneath Noxus’ Immortal Bastion. Swain’s parents were originally part of her ‘cult’, and LeBlanc herself was originally part of Mordekaiser’s entourage during his second reign. But, she eventually betrayed him and vowed to keep the source of his power sealed deep within the Immortal Bastion.

For all intents and purposes, LeBlanc is every bit the scheming mastermind that Swain is, considering the two of them constantly dance around each other with their plans. It’s still unknown what the entire scope of her plans are, but one thing is for sure, only someone truly genius-level could have a hand in every pie as she does. Her association, the Black Rose, does have some ties to the plot of Arcane’s second season, but we’re still far from seeing all the horrors LeBlanc or the Black Rose has to offer.

4 Ryze

The Rune Mage

Ryze is one of the seventeen Champions who were part of League’s starting roster, but he’s also one of the only Champions with such a deeply tragic backstory. To make a long story short, Ryze is over a thousand years old, has seen the full destructive might of the Rune Wars, learned sorcery from the great minds of sorcerers in Helia, and even has some of the magic from the World Runes embedded into his body.

Ryze has debated with world leaders, traveled the globe, and studied a variety of cultures, so his worldly knowledge is almost unparalleled. And it’s all for the sake of keeping the World Runes out of anyone’s hands.

3 Nasus

The Curator of the Sands

League players always forget that Nasus, one of the most hated Champs gameplay-wise and the giant Anubis-inspired Ascended of Shurima, was actually best known for his intelligence. Yet, after his honored Ascension at the Sun Disc, Nasus is now seemingly immortal, as he’s lived for over 3700 years. Combine his lifespan with his Ascended status and his military mind, and it’s no wonder that Nasus is one of the most legendary warriors in Shuriman history. But, even when he was human, Nasus’ true skill was in his learning ability.

When the Shurima Empire was at its peak and Nasus was planning out all their battles, he would always make sure that the libraries of the places they conquered were left standing so that he could read their texts and add them to his ever-expanding collection.

2 Mordekaiser

The Iron Revenant

This list of Champions has gone from humans to superhumans to god-like beings and, now, it’s moved on to undead Warlords. Mordekaiser, or as he was known in life, Sahn-Uzal, is likely the worst thing to happen to Runeterra, other than possibly the Rune Wars themselves.

He was a merciless killer who took over most of Valoran with the belief that all of his conquerings would one day land him in the “Hall of Bones”, a fictional afterlife similar to Valhalla. There’s a lot more to his story, but so much of it has been shrouded in mystery to this day. Regardless, it’s pretty clear that someone able to do all those things is incredibly intelligent in the art of war at the very least, though he’s absolutely psychopathic.

1 Aurelion Sol

The Star Forger

And finally, it all ends with the Celestial, Aurelion Sol. This galaxy-patterned space dragon quite literally created both the sun and the world of Runeterra, making him the most tangible example of “god” in the LoL universe.

Yet, this god was tricked by Ancient Targon into accidentally sealing his own power within his golden crown. But, the mere fact that they did this to gain a glimmer of his vast knowledge on Celestial Magic and the sun itself proves how much Aurelion knows.

Aurelion Sol is intelligent in such an incomprehensible way that no one on Runeterra, save for maybe other Celestials, can even compare. But, according to Zoe, he’s still a bit of a grump.