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Universe:Lissandra
- The Ice Witch
- The Lady of Ice and Darkness
- Keeper of Dreams
- The Blind
Seeker Lissandra
- Born: 9000 BN - 8500 BN
As the reclusive leader of the 
Frostguard, many believe 
Lissandra is a living saint whose followers bring healing and wisdom to the tribes of the 
Freljord. The truth is perhaps more sinister, as she uses her elemental magic to twist the power of True Ice into something dark and terrible, entombing or impaling any who would reveal her deepest secrets. Indeed, the legacy of her past may yet be the beginning of the end for Runeterra.
 | "So many secrets, buried in ice..." — Lissandra |
 |
Background[edit | edit source]
Early life[edit | edit source]
Lissandra came into existence millennia ago, a time when the barriers between the tangible, physical world and other realms were hotly contested and beings of old magic roamed freely.
In this chaotic epoch, Lissandra and her sisters, Avarosa and Serylda, sought to conquer whatever they could. Lissandra tried to control the mortal world, only to be attacked by the claws of 
Volibear, rendering her sightless.
War of the Three Sisters[edit | edit source]
Deprived of her sight, Lissandra walked in dreams instead. Using her magic, she established a connection with powerful extradimensional entities known as the Watchers. On behalf of herself and her sisters, she made a deal with them to prepare Runeterra for the impending arrival of the Void.
In exchange, Lissandra and her sisters would be granted near-immortality and the ability to withstand the worst of the numbing frost. Named Iceborn, they were promised to be spared until the very end. Lissandra herself became the Watchers' Seeker, mediating their will to the Iceborn.
However, Avarosa and Serylda grew weary of their subservient role and sought to free themselves from their constraints. Caught in the middle, Lissandra tried to soothe her sisters' concerns while appealing to the Watchers for more time, but the Watchers became increasingly impatient. At some point, Avarosa and Serylda beseeched the demi-god 
Ornn to construct an expansive chasm and bridge, where they would then lock away the Watchers.
The sisters' conflicts had escalated into a full-scale war. As the war drew to an end, Avarosa and Serylda led their armies up into the mountains to face Lissandra. Despite Lissandra's efforts to remind them of the conquests achieved through their allegiance to the Watchers, her sisters remained indifferent.
At last, the Watchers had arrived in Runeterra. Drawing upon all ancient magic, Lissandra sacrificed her sisters and their amassed armies, before sealing the Watchers underneath a barrier of magical ice at the depths of the Howling Abyss.
Founding of the Frostguard[edit | edit source]
Over the passing years, Lissandra slowly realized that the barrier containing the Watchers was insufficient. The monstrous beings she had entombed were merely slumbering, gradually corrupting the True Ice around them into a more sinister essence. Now, they roamed through Lissandra's dreams as easily as she had theirs, and always she would wake, terrified, professing her loyalty to the chilling eternity they promised.
Lissandra rallied her remaining devotees to venerate her departed sisters. Their objective: accumulate as much True Ice as possible to prolong the delay of the Watchers' return, scouring the frozen expanses to enlist those of Iceborn lineage who would join their cause.
Lissandra and the first of her Frostguard exhausted all means to rewrite the history of the Freljord, erasing all records of the true events. Yet, whispers of rumors and prophetic tales endured in folklore and songs, foretelling the return of Avarosa and Serylda. Lissandra would kill silently anyone who had been claimed their reincarnations.
The Dream Thief[edit | edit source]
In one instance, Lissandra senses a Watcher trying to wake up. Laying down on the Howlling Abyss, naked, she uses her psychic powers to feed the Watcher dreams of others. She traverses the entire Freljord in astral form looking checking on other's dreams and even remarks on a young girl who appears to be iceborn.
In the final moments of the ritual, Lissandra enters the Watcher own dream, where she sees herself being devoured by them. She awakens horrified and spilling bile out of her mouth. But the Watcher is finally sleeping again. For her, this is a small price to pay for to keep them at bay.
The Hero of the Frost Moon[edit | edit source]
On a night of frost moon, Lissandra walked through a sacred sanctum of hears, where she visited numerous ice coffins holding half-dead frozen people whom she uses to feed the Watchers. She visited their dreams as she passed between them.
She remarked two sisters who were frozen together and who were seemingly devoted to each other. She thought their devotion is foolish and mentioned she found it more convenient to lose her sisters.
Story Hunting[edit | edit source]
In recent events, Lissandra commanded the story hunters to attack the Notai tribe, for they may harbor ancient history through their culture of retelling myths and legends. They found 
Nunu and other Notai children and took them to the Foundling Village. There, he met Lissandra personally, who asked him countless questions about his mother’s stories, always seeking information about one particular song.
Lissandra also told him about one fierce monster that killed all who sought its power, thwarting the Frostguard who were sent each year, never to return. Actually, she was trying to discover the location of the Svellsongur artifact.
Song of Nunu[edit | edit source]
Lissandra searches for a relic called the Heart of Blue, a weapon capable of creating pure ice, which she needs to keep the void at bay from Runeterra.
Appearance[edit | edit source]
Lissandra is a towering blue pale-skinned woman with a semblance of a sculpture. She wears a gown that looks like is made of stone or ice. She wears her signature horned headpiece and is always being followed by a trail of Dark Ice. Her bluish silver hair is braided into a single pigtail that goes down to her waist. Without her helmet, Lissandra can be seen to have a majestic and expressionless face, with open eyelids showing her blind eyes.
Personality[edit | edit source]
Lissandra is a very imposing presence. She ports herself like a glorious monolith, always standing above everyone else. Lissandra is very manipulative, frigid, demanding, a perfectionist, and will do anything to achieve her goals. She is a very harsh leader and does not cope well with defeat or failure. She is also a very patient person, observing the Howling Abyss for almost ten millennia, waiting for the beings below to wake up.
Although she has this icy facade, Lissandra is a fearful person. She is in constant dread that her past will catch up to her and perpetually carries a heavy burden. She came to accept that she will find no peace in this life.
Abilities[edit | edit source]
- Iceborn Physiology: Lissandra is one of the original iceborn, being immortal and resistant to the worst of the numbing frost. She is also capable of wielding True Ice without getting hurt.
- Master Sorceress: Lissandra is a very old and knowledgeable sorceress, performing powerful magic even before becoming iceborn.
Dark Ice Magic: Lissandra's signature magic is manipulating dark ice, a corrupted form of True Ice. She is capable of 
freezing anyone who opposes her, conjuring ice in any shape she desires, such as 
spears of ice, walls or chain, and others.
Teleportation: Lissandra is able to reform herself wherever her dark ice is spread.- Enthralling: Lissandra can use her ice magic to enslave other beings to her will. She often does this to
Trundle's minions who fail to obey and fall in line. - Supernatural Awareness: It is hinted that Lissandra has some sort of magical awareness because, despite being blind, she is capable of sensing her surroundings to perfection. If it is related to her ability to control the temperatures or some sort of extension of her psychic abilities is not known.
- Psychic Abilities: Lissandra possesses telepathic abilities which allow her to mind-travel during her dreams to see things beyond her sight, enter others' dreams, and communicate with the Watchers.
- Dream Manipulation: Lissandra is capable of entering the dreams of other beings, manipulate those dreams and putting others back to sleep. She does it to the Watchers so they may not try to invade Runeterra again.
- Telekinesis:Lissandra can move and lift objects without even touching them.
Relations[edit | edit source]
Avarosa and Serylda[edit | edit source]
Lissandra and her two sisters, Avarosa and Serylda, were three Iceborn sisters who served the Frozen Watchers until the latter two decided to fight for independence. Lissandra is the youngest of the triplets.[1]At the final battle on the Bridge above the Howling Abyss, she sacrificed her two sisters. After the fall of the Watchers and the deaths of her two sisters, Lissandra tried to wipe out any historical records of them from the Freljord. She was unable to completely snuff out legends regarding Avarosa and Serylda which still lingered on to the modern day. Seeing a threat in the tales about her past, Lissandra secretly plots the kill any potential Avarosa and Serylda figureheads.
Deep down, Lissandra still loves her sisters and one of the main reasons she has to removed their names from history is because it hurts her to remember them.
Spirit Gods[edit | edit source]
She lost her sight to Volibear during one of their confrontations in the early days of the Freljord and along with her Frostguard has been actively containing his worship as well as other old demigods' in order to weaken them, though he refuses to vanish and continues to actively expand his influence.
Legend says the Three Sisters asked for Ornn's help to build the Howling Abyss, though the tale may not be true.
Lissandra is actively trying to contain the worship of 
Anivia, sending out allied raiding parties to attack Notai carravans. At some point Anivia herself would battle against the Frostguard army.
Watchers[edit | edit source]
The Watchers would give Lissandra and her sisters true Iceborn powers. Lissandra was the 'Seeker', the intermediary between the Iceborn and the Watchers. Eventually, after learning about the Watchers true intent, her sisters would openly rebel against them, with Lissandra seemingly still allied with them. During the final day of the rebellion, the Watchers broke out and threatened to consume the world, Lissandra betrayed the Watchers and sealed them away under the Howling Abyss. At that battle she sacrificed many, including both Avarosa and Serylda. Lissandra and her Frostguard keep watch over the Howling Abyss in an attempt to prevent the release of the Watchers.
Ivern[edit | edit source]
Before becoming the Green Father, Ivern the Cruel was opposed to the Three Sisters.
Yeti[edit | edit source]
Lissandra unleashed an icy cataclysm to seal the Watcher which also decimated the Yeti civilization and robbed the Yeti of their magic, resulting in most Yeti descending into 
savagery. The Frostguard keep some of the living savage Yetis as military animals.
Trolls[edit | edit source]
Lissandra has found an easy ally in Trundle and the Frost Trolls. She would 
1 freeze many Frost Trolls, eventually turning them into obedient 8 thralls.
Udyr[edit | edit source]
Lissandra tried to kill Udyr and other spirit walkers when he was a boy.
Ashe and 
Sejuani[edit | edit source]
Ashe and Sejuani are believed by Freljordians to be the reincarnations of Avarosa and Serylda, but are also possibly their direct descendants, making Lissandra their great-aunt-many-times-removed. Currently Lissandra is the leader of the Frostguard and openly hostile towards Ashe's and her 
Avarosan, and Sejuani and the 
Winter's Claw (as suggested by Legends of Runeterra official artworks, where 
Tryndamere is battling against the Frostguard forces, as well as the Frostguard openly raiding Avarosan settlements and attacking 
Braum when excaping Da'arvong in The Raid cinematic).
During her attempt to find Avarosa's grave, Ashe and her original Avarosans were attacked by Lissandra's followers who were trying to conceal the truth. It is unknown what Ashe thinks of the Frostguard at the moment. Lissandra appears to know about Ashe faking the origin of her bow, as stated by one of their 
Legends of Runeterra interactions.
Nunu and 
Willump[edit | edit source]
She met Nunu in the Foundling Village after his tribe was attacked by raiders. She told him about a beast that lived near by, which Nunu would later befriend and name Willump. Her intention was to gain a gem that swirled with the dreams of any mortal mind nearby that the Yeti Willump was keeping.
Read More
Biography
Starring Champion
Mentioned Champion
Alternate Universes
Trivia[edit | edit source]
- Lissandra, The Ice Witch
- Lissandra is among the very last living original Iceborn.
- Based on the timeline in Realms of Runeterra, Lissandra is between around 9000 and 10000 years old.
- Lissandra used to tell the story of the Howling Abyss if one waits 30 seconds after winning a game there. It was later removed due to having some details clashing with the current canon.
- "Before magic shattered the broken peaks" might be referencing
Aurelion Sol unleashing a 
newborn star into a mountain to seal a Void rift or the destruction made by the Rune Wars. - "Before the desert swallowed Shurima" implies she is as or even older than
Azir.
- Both of the previous statements are confirmed true based on the official timeline.
- "Before magic shattered the broken peaks" might be referencing
- Of the Three Sisters, Lissandra is possibly the most worshipped due to the Cult of the Three Sisters which she proliferated. The Ice Witch; however, is one of the most feared and hated figures in Freljord.
- Thematically, Lissandra lost her sight, Serylda lost her voice and Avarosa lost her hearing as Lissandra could see what needed to be done, but was blind to the cost, Avarosa could no longer ‘hear’ Lissandra’s explanations and Serylda’s voice in the matter has been lost to time.[2]
- Lissandra controls the narrative of what happened to make it easier to bend it to her will as well as to hide the failure of her family.[3]
- Lissandra might think she’s more clear headed than she actually is due to hearing the whispers of the Watchers over millenia.[4]
- Not all of the original followers of the Three Sisters were humans, which explains the existence of non-human Iceborn in the Freljord.
- Lissandra's eyes were mauled by Volibear himself before she became Iceborn. After she became one, she managed to overcome her blindness through ice manipulation.[5]
- Lissandra might use echolocation to guide herself (considering how she shouts after using any of her abilities).
- Her original eyes were crystal-blue in color.
- Lissandra possesses telepathic abilities which allow her to mind-travel during her dreams to see things beyond her sight, enter others' dreams and communicate with the Watchers.
- Lissandra uses this ability to feed the Watchers with those dreams.
- Lissandra seeks those who are Iceborn since they could prove useful or dangerous in the future.
- Lissandra uses dream manipulation to stop those seeking to destroy her and The Frostguard Citadel.
- Each time Lissandra dies in someone else's dream or tries to put a Watcher back to its sleep, she loses part of her spirit.
- The 5 characters appearing in her story The Dream Thief will potentially play an important role during the
11 return of the Watchers.
- Orginal Lissandra
- Lissandra and her two sisters, Avarosa and Serylda were three Iceborn sisters who served the Frozen Watchers until Avarosa decided to fight for independence despite Lissandra's objections. Her Iceborn army and Anivia eventually defeated the Watchers. It is implied Lissandra would later murder Avarosa for revenge.
- Lissandra is her original name, but later became similar to a title for the Frostguard leader. She murdered and stole the identity of a Frostguard leader, then she slowly began to warp the tribe's proud traditions. Whenever her human form grew old, she faked her own death and then murdered her successor to steal her identity.
- The
Seeker's Armguard used to be hers. The gauntlet is now in Sejuani's possession (how the Fury of the North got it is uncertain).[6] - The Frostguard appears to be an ally of Ashe's Avarosan but is actually preparing for the return of the Watchers, ready to strike both the Avarosan and the Winter's Claw in the process.
- Lissandra met with
Quinn and 
Valor in the Frostguard citadel when they journeyed to the Freljord on a scouting mission at 
Jarvan IV's behest.
- She later pursued them in her true form (the Ice Witch) after they sneaked out the citadel (neither knows both incarnations are the same person).
- It is implied Lissandra was behind the imprisonment of the fire spirit known as
Brand.
Change log[edit | edit source]
| Character blurb | |
|---|---|
| Updated to accompany the second version of her biography. | |
| Original version.
Lissandra's magic twists the pure power of ice into something dark and terrible. With the force of her
black ice, she does more than freeze - she  impales and crushes those who oppose her. To the terrified denizens of the north, she is known only as 'The Ice Witch'. The truth is much more sinister: Lissandra is a corrupter of nature who plots to unleash an ice age on the world. | |
References[edit | edit source]
See also[edit | edit source]
Legends of Runeterra
Riot Games (development name was Project Bacon).
- Platforms
- Microsoft Windows, Android, iOS
