With Arcane now finished airing its first season and a second one (as well as a fighting game, oddly enough) already confirmed, let's have a little fun and think about all the ways Riot could branch the next story from Piltover, Vi, and Jinx, to any variety of other continents and characters within Runeterra AKA League of Legends.
With 157 characters in League of Legends (the latest being Vex) currently, and an evergrowing player base, no matter the game, Riot has literally thousands of stories and all the interest they could ever want, so let's look at a few that would work best as a follow-up to the hit that was Arcane.
9 A Prequel Showing The Story Of Ancient Shurima & How Kha'zhun Became Zaun
With Piltover and Zaun now being fully realized in such a detailed manner, fans of the League of Legends IP are excited to see where Riot goes with this. Whether it's all the innovations that could happen in Piltover or all the heists that could happen in Zaun. Exciting characters like Ziggs, Camille, Ezreal, and even Teemo all have their origins in Piltover and/or Zaun, so any of their stories could be an easy branching-off point.
But, in particular, it would be incredible to see the origins of Zaun, when the city was still above ground as a well-known Shurima port city. Riot could explore the characters in this time period, such as Xerath or Azir, the chemtech mining tragedy that led to Zaun sinking below the sea, or even the legend of the Champion Janna who played a huge part in saving the people after this tragedy occurred.
8 The Story Of Warwick
Disclaimer: Spoilers for Arcane episode three and onward below.
So, anyone who is a big fan of the League lore has likely connected Warwick and Vander already, right? Whether it's the drums that play when Silco talks about unleashing Vander’s beast, the in-game quotes between Warwick, Vi, and Jink, or just the fact that Warwick is an amnesiac, it’s all too obvious. And, with Singed looking up at a hanging furry beast during the final moments of episode six, it's as good as confirmed.
So, in either season two or an entirely different season, Riot could tell the story of Warwick as the test subject of Singed, they could go into how he earns the name as the Uncaged Wrath of Zaun, or even mess around with the idea of him reclaiming his memories as Vander.
7 Noxus In General
Noxus, as it's been hinted at in Arcane, is a very interesting place. It’s a kingdom full of political intrigue, warmongers, and is also home to Jericho Swain. Swain’s story would be an absolutely amazing one to tell after Arcane, as it is such a fantastic branching-off point from Mel Medarda and her Mother who are originally from Noxus.
Even better, there are already a lot of implications in Arcane currently, whether it's the constant crows or the opposite power Mel's mom refers to, that Swain is already in power at this point. And, to be fair, Arcane has already branched away from a lot of established LoL canon at this point, so they could go anywhere with Swain's story. Either way, going back and seeing how he rises up through the ranks and becomes the leader of the nation would be a fantastic chance of pace tonally.
6 The Future Of Chemtech, Singed's Tech Which Births Many Champions
Shimmer, the chemical Silco and Singed have worked to create in Arcane, is only just the start of Zaun’s prosperity. While Piltover has all the Hextech advancements, Zaun is known for developing Chemtech in response, and Shimmer is just the first step. This Chemtech is what eventually breaks Zaun up into districts ruled by different Chem Barons (the basics of which are already seen in the last three episodes of Arcane) and also creates a variety of other well-known League Champions. Just to name a few, there’s:
- Warwick
- Singed
- Urgot
- Zac
- Dr. Mundo
- Twitch
Fans would likely love to see an entirely new animated series entirely dedicated to the origins of these Chemtech legends, and it could even eventually end in the announcement of a new female Chemtech character, as this subcategory of Champions have been primarily male and there hasn’t been a new one in quite some time.
5 More Yordle Stories
Let’s be real, people love Heimerdinger. What was originally just a nerdy scientist character with a fan-favorite nickname (AKA Donger) is now one of the more beloved characters in the franchise, thanks to his appearance in Arcane. And who can blame them, Heimer is just so cute in this show! Whether it's his little Poro companion, the way his ears move in response to his emotions, or just his genuine and unbiased compassion for anyone inventive.
And, since Yordles have now been established in Arcane, what if Riot took a larger and more overarching look at them? They could either tell a story entirely focused on Bandle City, the city of Yordles, or they could make some interconnected plot that involves all the main Yordles, whether it be Veigar, Tristana, Kled, Teemo, Corki, Gnar, Lulu, Fizz, Kennen, Poppy, Rumble, Ziggs, or possibly even Amumu.
4 Ekko Getting His Chronomancy Abilities
The story of Ekko is an incredibly interesting one, as his Zero Drive made from Hextech Energy makes him the second Champion ever out of the 150+ with time-altering powers (Zilean, of course, being the other). And, though Arcane has changed the canon of his origins a bit, Ekko has always been the plucky rebel who loves Zaun for the energetic and passionate city it is.
As was seen near the end of Arcane, there's so much left to tell in regards to Ekko, and it would be a blast to see how he figures out the Zero Drive and meets the alternate reality versions of himself.
3 The Rune Wars
The Rune Wars was an ancient event that was cataclysmic to Runeterra as a whole, as it was a time where humanity used Runes called "World Runes" to cause unimaginable destruction and sink entire countries. It’s also likely the event Heimerdinger is talking about in Arcane when he describes that Hextech should not be messed with.
Now that viewers have seen the highs and lows of messing with the depths of magic, an episode or two covering the raw unfiltered destruction of this event could really show why Heimerdinger has a point. Plus, this could also be where Ryze finally makes his appearance in a more modern adaptation, as he was one of the original batches of Champions to ever exist in LoL back in 2009.
2 The Void
Many eagle-eyed fans have been asking questions about Shimmer ever since it first appeared in Arcane. As far as they knew, Zaun used Chemtech, which was much more green in its appearance, and Shimmer seemed like something new. Now, after seeing all of Arcane, it's clear that Shimmer likely has some connection to the Void, a realm of pure nothingness and Chaos where a lot of villainous Champions have spawned from or interacted with.
In particular, the fact that the Hexcore that has so much to do with Viktors gradual change is getting more and more Void-like in appearance means a lot, as this changes a lot about Viktor's origin from the original canon. If Riot used Viktor to explore the Void in season two, they could introduce characters like Cho' Gath, Vel' Koz, or even Kassadin. And, while they're on that same dark path, they could also venture into the stories of the Black Mist and the Ruined King, though the recently released game is likely an equally good substitute.
1 Orianna's Creation
This is by far the latest little hint to have been found by fans, as it literally appears in the final seconds of the final episode of season one. Basically, when Singed is looking at a locket with what is assumed to be Warwick hanging above, fans saw that the image of his daughter in the locket looks a lot like Orianna.
Originally, Orianna's lore puts her as the daughter of a skilled artificer in Piltover, but this little hint may mean Riot is changing the canon into her being Singed's daughter. Perhaps this means that Singed was originally from Piltover, either way, it would be a fantastic way to introduce the Clockwork concept that a few of the existing Champions are a part of.