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		This article contains information that conflicts with the current narrative and may be changed in the near future. For further information on these ongoing changes, see the community article on Canonical inconsistencies.

Warwick is a monster who hunts the gray alleys of Zaun. Transformed by agonizing experiments, his body is fused with an intricate system of chambers and pumps, machinery filling his veins with alchemical rage. He bursts from the shadows to prey upon those criminals who terrorize the city’s depths. Warwick is drawn to blood, driven mad by its scent… and none who spill it can escape him.

	"Spill blood... draw the beast!" — Warwick
	Read Biography • Go to Universe

Background

Early Life

Hound of the Underground

Before his transformation into the Wrath of Zaun, Warwick was a man named Vander: A bartender, a revolutionary, a prodigious boxer, and a good-hearted man. Vander was widely respected by the people of the undercity and was willing to die for his own ideals, especially if it meant saving those that he cared about. And to this end, Vander always sought to protect his people from the enforcement of Piltover, with a vision to improve the lives of the miners of the fissures and create a flourishing, underground society: the nation of Zaun.

Vander shared his dreams of revolution with another man named Silco. They were like brothers in their youth, and the two of them originally shared the same dream of liberating their people from Piltover’s oppressive control and gaining the undercity's independence.^[5] They were also close friends with Felicia, Violet and Powder's mother, with Vander having been the one to suggest the name “Violet” to Felicia when he learned that she was pregnant with her first child.^[6]

Uprising on the Bridge of Progress

However, everything changed when Vander and Silco launched an uprising against Piltover, during which Silco threw a molotov cocktail at the Enforcers and set one of them on fire.^[6] After the Enforcers retaliated, the uprising ultimately failed and resulted in the deaths of hundreds of their own people, including Felicia and her husband Connol, in a tragic event that became known in Zaun as "the Day of Ash".^[7] When the dust settled and the fighting was over, Vander stumbled upon Vi and Powder crying at the sight of their dead parents. Overcome with regret and sorrow, he then discarded his gauntlets, carried the girls off the bridge, and adopted them as his daughters.^[8]

Felicia’s death drove a wedge between Vander and Silco, with Vander blaming Silco for her murder. In his rage and grief, he attempted to drown Silco in Zaun's polluted rivers, but Silco managed to steal Vander's knife from his belt and slash his arm before escaping back into the underground.^[5] The event left them both scarred — Silco in his eye and Vander in his arm — and in time, Vander came to greatly regret his decision to turn on Silco and attempted to reach out to his old friend to no avail. When it became clear to Vander that Silco didn’t want to be found, he decided to leave a letter for him at their old workshop, stating that he was wrong to blame him for Felicia’s death and offering to make amends. Unfortunately, Silco never found his letter and as a result, they never got a chance to reconcile.^[6]

After the failed uprising and his falling-out with Silco, Vander took control of the Lanes and became the owner of a bar called the Last Drop, which became the main meeting ground of the undercity. He also adopted two orphaned boys, Mylo and Claggor, as his sons, abandoned the fight for Zaun's freedom, and vowed to live a peaceful life from that point on for the sake of his new family. As a result, despite his distaste for them, Vander later brokered an uneasy agreement with the Enforcers, which brought relative peace to the Lanes.^[8]

The Robbery

“	"You've got a good heart. Don't ever lose it, no matter how the world tries to break you."
“	— Vander to Vi, The Base Violence Necessary For Change

After a daring heist in Piltover that was orchestrated by Vi went awry, the peace in the undercity was at risk. Since the workshop they burglarized exploded and belonged to the Kiramman Clan, the Enforcers were tasked by Piltover's ruling council with apprehending the perpetrators by any means necessary.^[8] Not wanting to betray his own children, Vander refused to hand anyone over to Piltover. This decision caused the Enforcers to violently interrogate any Zaunites they encountered in the undercity for the identities of the culprits, which angered many of the people in the underground.

Knowing that fighting back against the Enforcers would only escalate the situation and ultimately lead to further casualties, Vander attempted to council his people into remaining calm so that they could keep the peace. Unfortunately, not everyone listened to him and even Vi was angry with him for preventing her from using her fighting skills to defend their home against the Topsiders. However, Vander ultimately convinced her to stand down by explaining that violence would never solve her problems and it was better for her to protect what she still had instead of risking it all out of anger and hatred.^[9]

Vi took this lesson to heart and attempted to turn herself in to the Enforcers to prevent a potential uprising and further violence.^[9] However, before she could make her move, Vander swapped places with her and surrendered himself to the Enforcers instead. Unfortunately, before they could take him to the upper city, Silco appeared out of the blue and had Deckard, his shimmer-enhanced henchman, kill Grayson and Benzo, knock Vander out cold, and then drag him back to his hideout.^[5]

Kidnapping and Rescue

Upon arriving at his hideout, Silco told Vander that he was gearing up for a second uprising with a chemical serum called shimmer and offered his old friend the chance to join forces again. However, knowing how ruthless Silco had become ever since they broke off their partnership, Vander rejected his offer and claimed that he was no longer the same man that he used to be. Enraged that Vander was willing to die for the cause but not willing to fight for it, Silco berated him for his lack of spirit and had him chained up.

Vi, Mylo, and Claggor eventually arrived to save Vander, but failed to notice that Silco had deliberately left him unguarded in order to trap them in. Realizing that they'd have to fight their way out, Vi put on Vander's old gauntlets and used them to fend off Silco's henchmen while Mylo and Claggor got to work on releasing Vander from his shackles and finding a way out. Unfortunately, before they could all flee to safety, the hideout was destroyed by Powder's makeshift monkey bomb, killing Mylo and Claggor, and injuring Vander and Vi.

With Vi partially trapped under a chunk of fallen rubble, Vander put on some makeshift knuckles and fought against Silco's surviving henchmen in order to protect her. Although he put up a good fight, he was ultimately overpowered by Deckard, who had mutated himself again with shimmer, and stabbed in the stomach by Silco, who then tossed him down into a pile of shimmer vials. Determined to protect Vi, Vander injected himself with a vial, drastically mutating his body and making him strong enough to easily strangle Deckard before he could get to Vi. He then attempted to kill Silco as well, but upon realizing that Vi was in danger of being crushed by falling rubble, he decided against it to save her life and got her out of the building before Silco could move to stop him.

Grievously injured from the two-story fall that he took to get her to safety and the severe wounds that he suffered from Silco, Vander only had enough strength left to tell Vi to take care of Powder before losing consciousness and seemingly dying.^[5]

The Wrath of Zaun

Becoming Warwick

Following his confrontation with Silco, Vander was presumed dead. However, even after his supposed death and Silco's takeover of the undercity, Vander was well-respected by the people of Zaun and remembered in a positive light by many. A statue of him was also built in the Lanes, where Silco later went to confide in after Jayce offered him Zaun's independence in exchange for Jinx.^[10]

However, unbeknownst to anyone, Vander actually survived his battle with Silco and was taken captive by Singed after his defeat, who kept his body preserved and hidden away in his lab. Shortly after Silco's death, Singed started conducting experiments on Vander in hopes of using his biology to find a cure to death for his daughter. Singed pumped Vander full of chemicals containing spliced monster DNA, and as these experiments progressed, Vander forgot his past, his family, and even his own name, with his only memory being that of a little girl screaming something that sounded like a name. Finally, Vander was transformed into Warwick, a savage, mutated beast with his human self buried deep below his primal instincts, along with an insatiable thirst for blood.^[6]

Reuniting His Family

Several months after Silco's death, Singed was arrested by Enforcers during a rebel rally held in Zaun by Sevika. However, right before they captured him, he intentionally cut his hand with a scalpel to create a trail of blood. This act awakened Warwick, who then escaped from Singed's lab and relentlessly hunted him down by the scent of his blood.

Warwick's rampage eventually led him to Stillwater Hold. After arriving at the prison, he easily overwhelmed Ambessa and her Noxian battalion, and brutally slaughtered all the Enforcers who were guarding the place. Upon descending further into the prison in his hunt for Singed, he encountered Jinx and Sevika, who had arrived at the prison earlier to rescue Isha, and clashed with Jinx when she used herself as a distraction so that Sevika could take Isha to safety. Although Jinx shot at Warwick numerous times with her Zapper and dodged many of his attacks due to having been physically enhanced with shimmer, none of her shots were able to deal any lasting damage to him and Warwick finally cornered her just when she was about to try to kill him with one of her Chompers.

However, just as Warwick was about to finish Jinx off, he caught sight of her grenade and its unique design, triggering his memories of her and causing him to halt his assault against Jinx, with his eyes changing color from red to green. At that moment, he recognized Jinx as his adoptive daughter Powder and even spoke her name, leading her to recognize him as Vander and realize that he'd somehow been alive this whole time.^[11]

Following his confrontation with Jinx, Warwick retreated back to Zaun and went into hiding in a remote mine shaft. Determined to help the man they once knew, Jinx convinced Vi to help her track him down and brought Isha along to accompany them. While searching for Warwick in the mines, Vi accidentally gave Isha a nosebleed and the scent of her blood came to Warwick's attention. Overwhelmed by his innate bloodlust, Warwick hunted them down soon enough and attempted to kill Isha, but was interpreted by Vi, who stepped in to protect her.

Due to Vi’s altered appearance, with her dyed black hair and punk makeup, Warwick failed to recognize her and viciously attacked her without hesitation. Although Vi fared better against Warwick than Jinx did due to her Atlas Gauntlets, he still easily shrugged off most of her attacks due to his regenerative blood and eventually overpowered her. He then turned towards Jinx, who was shielding Isha behind her, and momentarily recognized her as Powder, causing his eyes to flicker back to green, but then went berserk again when Vi spit out a wad of blood onto the floor.

Now in a savage rage, Warwick moved to attack Vi again, only for Vi to call out his name as “Vander.” This sparked a memory of a conversation he had decades ago with Silco and Felicia about the future of Zaun and the revelation that Felicia was pregnant with her first child, which was enough for Warwick to finally recognize Vi and for his humanity to completely resurface. Vander’s consciousness then fully emerged, allowing him to embrace Vi, Jinx, and Isha in a heartfelt family reunion.^[6]

Capture

“	"Don't... touch... my daughter."
“	— Warwick to Rictus, The Message Hidden Within the Pattern

With Vander now in control of himself, the girls took him to Viktor's sanctuary, hoping that he could use his powers to reverse Warwick's transformation and turn him back into a human. Despite his advanced hextech powers, Viktor quickly realized that Singed’s experiments had buried Vander’s consciousness deep inside Warwick’s mind, making the process of curing him far more complex than he’d initially anticipated. Nevertheless, due to his earnest desire to help Vander, Viktor committed himself to the challenge on the condition that Warwick was to be restrained at night and spent the next few days working tirelessly to restore his humanity.

Singed later came to visit Viktor and proposed the idea of using Warwick’s regenerative blood to enhance Viktor’s own evolution. However, as Viktor was unwilling to sacrifice Vander for his own gain, he firmly rejected Singed’s offer, prompting the latter to leave. Viktor’s efforts later appeared to be working when Vander protected Jinx from Rictus, snarled at him to “stay away from his daughter,” and then threw Rictus out of a nearby window with tremendous force, severely wounding him.

However, this victory proved to be short-lived when Jayce suddenly arrived at the sanctuary and seemingly killed Viktor, causing the residents of the settlement to collapse and perish. As the girls inspected the chaos around them, Singed took the opportunity to inject Warwick with another serum, which caused his blood to turn into a lava-like fluid and turned him uncontrollably savage. Stripped of all reason, Warwick then brutally eviscerated Rictus and turned his attention towards his daughters, Isha, and Caitlyn, whom he no longer recognized.

Before Warwick could move to attack them, Ambessa and her soldiers launched an assault on the sanctuary in hopes of capturing him to use as a weapon under their command. Although Warwick easily slaughtered many of the soldiers who attempted to take him down, he was severely wounded in the process, leaving his daughters, Isha, and Caitlyn with seemingly no viable means of escape. In a desperate bid to protect her new family, Isha grabbed Jinx’s Zapper before the latter could stop her and overloaded it with three hextech gemstones. Much to Jinx’s despair, Isha then sacrificed herself by taking a point-blank shot at Warwick, creating an explosion of arcane energy that engulfed the entire area and seemingly killed them both. Unfortunately, her sacrifice turned out to be partially in vain, as Warwick survived the explosion and was recaptured by Singed in the aftermath of her death.^[12]

Evolution

With Viktor having barely survived the chest wound that he took from Jayce, Singed chose to heal him with Warwick’s blood, even though Viktor had previously been against sacrificing Warwick for his own evolution. Although the blood infusion process didn’t kill Warwick, it wiped most of his remaining memories and caused him to forget his past life as a human. Viktor then took the situation with Warwick a step further by possessing him through his powers and turning him into one of his mindless slaves as part of his so-called “Glorious Evolution.”^[13]

During Viktor’s battle with Jayce inside the Hexgate, Warwick ambushed Vi and Jinx, and succeeded in forcing the latter's hot air balloon to crash through the side of a nearby tower. Due to the fact that neither Vi and Jinx had the proper weapons to kill Warwick or the will to fight against their own father, he easily overpowered them both and attempted to have Viktor use his powers on them to complete his evolution. Fortunately, it was at that point that Ekko and Jayce successfully broke through Viktor’s defenses, which caused Warwick to release his daughters and the three of them to fall down onto various iron platforms around the tower.^[14]

Death

Although Jinx insisted that Vander was unreachable inside Warwick’s mind, Vi refused to give up on their father and remained determined to save him. Unfortunately, it was at that moment that Warwick woke up and immediately attacked her, having reverted back to his mindlessly savage state now that Viktor was no longer controlling him. Realizing that Warwick would get both Vi and himself killed if he kept attacking her, as the platform they were standing on was wobbly and unstable, Jinx body-slammed him off of her, causing the two of them to fall over the edge of the platform towards the core below. While Vi managed to grab onto Jinx’s right arm in the nick of time to prevent her from falling to her death, Warwick managed to grab onto one of Jinx’s legs at the same time and started using her to slowly climb back up onto the platform.

Knowing that all three of them would die if Vi didn’t let go of her hand, Jinx realized that it was time for her to do for Vi what Isha had done for her and forced Vi to release her by disabling her right gauntlet. As Jinx fell with Warwick towards the core, she turned back towards him and cupped his face in her hands, sparking a memory of him tucking her and Vi into bed when they were kids. With a sad and faint smile, Jinx then sacrificed herself by activating her monkey bomb before Warwick could move to stop her, creating an explosion of arcane energy that presumably killed them both and destroyed the Wrath of Zaun once and for all.^[14]

Appearance

Warwick is a large werewolf-like creature, having a mix of human and canine anatomy. He is covered in bluish-gray fur, though his lower face and the front of his torso are paler. He has a canine muzzle full of massive fangs. His eyes are yellow-green by default but can turn a ferocious red in heated moments. His long, pointed ears have pink skin on the inside. He has a hulking, muscular upper body with slimmer legs and a fluffy tail. As a werewolf, he can move on two legs or get down on all fours. He also has numerous scars all over his body due to lacerations.

Warwick's body is augmented by asymmetrical chemtech machinery composed of brass-colored metal connected by tubes that house glowing green liquid. When Warwick is stressed, this liquid may turn yellow. Most notably, he has a clawed gauntlet on his right forearm and a large cylindrical chamber protruding from his back. This chamber features a single spike, almost giving it the appearance of a syringe. He also wears a pair of brown patchwork pants that are torn and faded.

As a human, Vander was a large and muscular middle-aged man with grey eyes, dark hair, and a neatly trimmed greying beard. He was generally seen wearing blue trousers, leather boots, a brown leather jacket over a white undershirt, and a leather pauldron on his upper right arm to cover up the scar that he got from Silco when he was young.

When Vander used shimmer as a last resort to save Vi from Deckard, it drastically increased his muscle mass, made him grow several feet in height, and made his veins purple and pop out all over his body.

Personality

“	"He isn't a monster. He was once a man. Well respected, at that. Victim of great tragedy. He had a ferocious will to live. An incredible tolerance for pain. With him, I was able to make strides impossible with any other specimen. But the mind... The mind I could not recover. The man forever lost in the bowels of the beast, compelled only by the scent of blood. Or so I thought. It now seems I had yet to uncover the right catalyst."
“	— Singed on Vander's transformation into Warwick, Blisters and Bedrock

In his younger years, Vander was implied to have been a brutal and violent man, with Silco openly describing him as a "beast" when they fought on the same side in the past. However, after leading a failed uprising against Piltover that resulted in a tremendous loss of life, Vander began to question the morality of his actions and after seeing Vi and Powder overcome with grief at the sight of their parents' corpses, he gave up on his dream of freeing the undercity from Piltover's control and turned pacifist, discarding his gauntlets and carrying the two girls away to raise them as their father.

As the leader of the Lanes, Vander was a selfless and compassionate man who was always willing to protect those who needed his help. He was seen as a protector by many and was well-respected by his fellow Zaunites. He primarily governed the Lanes through a paternal authority, and relied on people's gratitude and genuine respect for him to maintain order. Although he turned pacifist after the failed uprising he led against Piltover, he defied his dogma during his final confrontation with Silco, viciously strangling Deckard with one hand and sacrificing himself to ensure that Vi would survive.

After being transformed into Warwick through Singed’s experiments, the violent tendencies that Vander demonstrated during his youth were revived and brought to the forefront of his personality. He also became extremely brutal, aggressive, animalistic, and bloodthirsty, to the point where he would go berserk every time he smelled blood. However, despite appearing to be mindlessly feral, he still possessed a sense of intelligence, as shown when he grabbed Jinx’s hand before she could use one of her Chompers against him and spared the Zaunite prisoners that he encountered during his rampage through Stillwater.

Due to his extraordinary will to live, Warwick managed to retain the most significant memories of his human life, which enabled him to recognize Vi and Jinx, and remember his role as their father. With Viktor’s help, his buried humanity also eventually started to return, as shown when he protected Jinx from Rictus and violently chucked him out of a nearby window as retaliation for trying to kill her. Unfortunately, all of Viktor’s efforts were ultimately undone when Singed injected Warwick with another serum, causing him to give into his primal instincts, lose his ability to recognize his daughters, and become uncontrollably savage. The blood infusion process that Singed later conducted between Warwick and Viktor to heal the latter's wounds also wiped Warwick's mind, causing him to completely forget his past and become an empty shell to be used by Viktor as part of his Glorious Evolution.

However, after Viktor gave up on his evolution and released the people that he had enslaved with his powers, Warwick reverted back to his mindlessly savage state, causing him to ferociously attack Vi upon waking up. It wasn’t until Jinx knocked him out of the way and the two of them started to fall was when Warwick’s humanity seemed to resurface and he started to recall his memories of his daughters. This presumably gave Warwick a sense of peace and solace when Jinx activated her monkey bomb while he was holding her in his arms, with the two of them seemingly perishing together in the ensuing explosion.

Abilities

Chemically Enhanced Physiology: After being subjected by Singed to a series of brutal experiments that pumped his body full of chemicals and fused his DNA with that of a wolf, Vander acquired a unique beast physiology that made him extremely deadly in battle, with even Ambessa admitting that she had never encountered an opponent of such savagery before in all of her years of combat.
- Enhanced Senses: Vander's senses are far more potent than that of a normal human. This applies to his sense of smell in particular, as he can smell blood from miles away and easily trace it back to its original source.
- Enhanced Strength: Vander possesses monstrous strength, as shown by how he was able to effortlessly tear through solid steel and viciously slaughter both Enforcers and Noxian soldiers with ease. He was also able to grievously injure Rictus, Ambessa's right-hand man, with a single blow and eviscerate him with his claws, with the latter incapable of properly defending himself against Vander's onslaught. After being "evolved" by Viktor, Vander's strength was further enhanced to the point that Vi, who was previously able to counter some of his attacks with her Atlas Gauntlets, was almost helpless against him in battle.
- Enhanced Durability: Vander is shown to be tremendously durable, as shown by how conventional weaponry proved to be virtually useless against him and hextech weaponry only temporarily slowed him down at best. After being "evolved" by Viktor, Vander's durability was further enhanced to the point that his skin became almost impossible to penetrate.
- Enhanced Endurance: Vander has an immense tolerance to pain, which enabled him to survive the agony he suffered from Singed's experiments.
- Enhanced Speed: Vander is extremely fast, enabling him to massacre entire mobs of people within the span of several seconds. After being "evolved" by Viktor, Vander's speed was further enhanced to the point that he could move so fast that he appeared to be teleporting.
- Regenerative Blood: Vander possesses blood with special healing properties that enables him to quickly regenerate from any injuries that he suffers in battle, as shown when he instantaneously regenerated his jaw after Vi broke his face with one punch from her Atlas Gauntlets. It is also for this reason that Singed considers Vander to be his masterpiece and believes that his unique biology is the key to curing death and enabling Viktor to achieve his Glorious Evolution.
Indomitable Willpower: Vander has immense willpower, which allowed him to survive his presumed death at Silco's hands and retain his sanity through the extreme pain of Singed's experiments.
Brawler: Vander had a gift for hand-to-hand combat and was shown to dominate most fights he ever got involved in, even against opponents who'd enhanced themselves with shimmer. He was also the one who taught Vi how to punch, a notable feat considering how skilled Vi became at boxing in her late teens.
Barkeep: As the owner of The Last Drop, Vander was a competent bartender and could make various kinds of drinks.
Leader: Vander was a competent and honorable leader, despite his past failings, and many Zaunites respected him for his leadership skills even after he supposedly died.
Teacher: As the adoptive father of four children, Vander would be their primary teacher in life and instruct them just about every skill they needed to survive in Zaun. Even after his assumed death, his lessons would still resonate with them, as displayed when Vi had a hallucination of him encouraging her to work on her guard and get back up on her feet during her second fight with Sevika.

Relations

Silco

Vander considered Silco to be his brother in their youth, and the two of them once had the same dream of freeing Zaun from Piltovan rule. However, their relationship fell apart when Vander, in a fit of grief towards Felicia's death, turned on Silco and nearly killed him. Despite this, Vander never truly hated Silco and eventually felt guilty about what he did to his former friend; Silco in turn still respected Vander until he chose to cooperate with Piltover to preserve peace between their two cities.

Silco plotted a second uprising against Piltover and kidnapped Vander to recruit him for his plans. Silco revealed that he plans to weaponize shimmer against Piltover and thus coerce the Piltovans to recognize Zaun as an independent nation. He offers Vander to join him, despite his betrayal. However, Vander pointed out that Silco had already killed Benzo and turned several undercity kids into shimmer-addicted monsters. To Vander, Silco's war against Piltover isn't worth the cost. He tells Silco to kill him and get his revenge, but begs Silco to not exploit the undercity to facilitate his war. Silco is angered that Vander would die for a cause but not fight for one. Vander responds that he isn't that man anymore, but Silco is determined to show Vander that deep down, he's still a bellicose, violent man.

Silco holds Vander prisoner in an attempt to goad his kids to attempt to save him. Once Silco trapped Vander's kids in a warehouse, he sends his goons to kill them, forcing Vander to fight off his goons. The fight was chaotic, as Powder threw a bomb that took out her family and Silco's forces alike, and also left Vi trapped under a pile of rubble. Vander pushed himself to recover, takes out a majority of Silco's men, and manages to strangle Silco. However, he was stabbed by Silco, thrown over the bridge, and lands on crates of shimmer. Vander injects shimmer into himself in order to defend Vi as a rage-filled shimmer monster. At the end though, rather than pursue Silco, he dies saving Vi from the collapsing building.

Silco continued to hold his old friend in high regard in the years after his death, even having a statue of Vander in the undercity to memorialize him.

Felicia

Felicia was a close friend of both Vander and Silco. After witnessing her death in the hands of the Enforcers, Vander was emotionally devastated to the point of trying to drown Silco in a fit of grief and rage. After the altercation, he adopted Felicia's daughters Violet and Powder.

As Warwick, he still held fond memories towards Felicia and the good experiences he had with her and Silco, which was enough for him to briefly snap out of his feral state.

Benzo

Benzo and Vander were old friends and remained close after Vander became the de facto leader of the undercity. Vander would frequently meet with Benzo in his shop, where they'd tease and joke with one another while discussing business. Vander trusted Benzo as a confidante and came to him sometimes for advice on a number of topics, including parenting. Benzo was aware of Vander's secret deal with Grayson and was present at their meeting. Their shared past with Silco led them to worry about his possible reemergence; a fear that would later come true.

Vander was particularly devasatated by Benzo's death and did everything in his power to prevent it, even begging Benzo to leave him and run away. Benzo did not listen to Vander and went to fight Silco, which cost him his life.

Vi

After his failed uprising, Vander adopted Vi as his own daughter and taught her to both live a better life and be a better person than himself. He was also the one who taught her how to punch and expressed pride in her skills whenever she clobbered someone in a fight.

When Vi was a child, she could not understand why Vander prohibited the undercity from burglarizing Piltover; especially since Piltover was a city of abundance and would send Enforcers to intrude in the undercity's affairs. Meanwhile, Vi was made to feel less than the topsiders and wanted more for Powder as well. Vi disobeyed Vander's rules and led her gang of undercity children to burglarize a Piltover workshop. The burglary was botched however, leading to the workshop's explosion and consequently the Enforcers aggressively searching the undercity for the perpetrators. Vander gave Vi a talk and taught her that since she's a leader that people looked up to, she must be considerate to where she leads her followers since their fates are her responsibility. Vi became frustrated when Vander tolerated the Enforcers' aggressive manhunt and fearing they may take Powder, wanted to fight back. Vander took Vi to the Bridge of Progress and explained to her that violence will only beget more problems and losses. He tells Vi that like her, he thought he could change things through a violent uprising, but all he accomplished was get her parents killed. Although Vi intended to surrender herself to protect the undercity, Vander interceded and arranged for himself to be the scapegoat for the botched burglary. Before his arrest, he told Vi that she has a good heart and to never lose it. He also urges her to persevere in spite of the harsh world that they live in and to protect their family. Even when Vander was kidnapped by Silco and he ultimately died rescuing Vi, his dying words to Vi was "Take care of Powder."

Vander would have a large impact on Vi, as his teachings continued to influence her long after everyone believed he was dead. Vi eventually came to accept Vander's death as an undeniable truth; however, Vander had in actuality been brought back as Warwick, and when Jinx informed Vi of this, she became angry, believing that Jinx was delusional for believing the horrifying beast could be their father. Vi initially attacked Warwick, but eventually relented to Jinx's pleas to trust her, letting go of her gauntlets and embracing him while calling out his name. Her voice caused Vander's old memories to resurface, and their family was finally reunited.

Vi was willing to risk everything to save Vander and remained unwilling to let him go even at the very end. However, Vi's efforts to restore his mind were undone by Viktor, Ambessa, and Singed, who once again reverted Warwick to his savage state and later used him to attack her and Jinx. After Viktor's defeat, Warwick was freed from his control and seemingly perished, and Vi once again wept beside his limp, lifeless body, as she had all those years ago. However, Warwick suddenly reawakened and attacked Vi, not seeming to recognize her anymore. Vi had to be saved by her sister, and she ended up losing them both.

Jinx

After his failing uprising, Vander adopted Powder as his own daughter and taught her to both live a better life and be a better person than himself. Vander seemed especially fond of Powder, always making her favorite drinks in her favorite cup at the bar and dancing to their favorite song together at the jukebox.^[15] Although Powder had a good relationship with Vander, the intense guilt and trauma that she suffered from accidentally killing him with one of her makeshift grenades would haunt her for years after his death and cause her great pain and hallucinations whenever she thought of him.

Years later, after Powder had become Jinx and Vander had become Warwick, the two would unexpectedly reunite at Stillwater Hold after the "beast" had been summoned by his creator, his mind twisted and driven only by the scent of blood. Jinx was nearly killed in Warwick's rampage, but he suddenly recognized her as his daughter, Powder, and fled the scene after the recollection. Jinx, realizing Warwick's true identity was Vander, chased him to the mines to try and bring him back, but eventually lost track of him, leading her to seek out Vi for help. The sisters were able to get Vander to recognize them, reuniting the family once again.

This happy reunion was short-lived, however, as their continued efforts to save Vander's mind led him to Viktor, who would eventually betray their trust and sacrifice Vander's humanity for the sake of his Glorious Evolution, even forcing him to attack his own daughters. Jinx appeared reluctant to fight Warwick, but was able to recognize that her father was gone within the evolved husk, telling Vi that he could no longer be saved. After Viktor's defeat, Vander reverted to his savage, mindless state, where he was defeated for good by Jinx, as the two of them seemingly perished in an explosion together.

Mylo and Claggor

At some point after his failed uprising, Vander adopted Mylo and Claggor and cared for them both. Vander was very critical of Mylo's incompetence, often blaming him for Powder's mistakes while going easier on her, much to Mylo's annoyance. However, Vander was also shown to encourage Mylo and believed in his strengths when it came to lockpicking. As for Claggor, Vander would rely on him for help with errands, since he was the biggest and strongest of the kids. The two of them would regularly visit Benzo's shop, and Claggor would help him carry things and stand watch outside.

Mylo and Claggor's deaths in Silco's factory both saddened and angered Vander to such an extent that it led him to take up arms against Silco's henchmen, despite vowing never to do so again.

Isha

While Warwick initially attacked the young girl in his savage, mindless state at Stillwater Hold, Isha showed no signs of hating Warwick and was simply concerned with helping Jinx and Vi get their father back. Warwick attacked Isha once again after she got a nosebleed in the minds, driven mad by the scent of her blood. This time, however, both of Vander's daughters were present, which allowed his mind to reemerge from the bowels of the beast. After this, Warwick became docile around Isha and she formed a friendly relationship with him. She would try her best to take care of him at Viktor's commune, filling her helmet with water for him to drink and showing concern for his safety.

After Jayce's attack at Viktor's commune, Warwick would revert to his savage state, and Isha heroically sacrificed herself to end his rampage and allow Jinx and Vi to escape safely from him.

Singed

After his last stand in Silco's factory, Vander had fallen in the battle and seemingly succumbed to his injuries in the wreckage. Despite this, his shimmer-twisted body was collected and brought to Singed's laboratory, where the doctor was able to revive him through a series of long and gruesome experiments, as part of his longtime development of a cure for death. Vander's ferocious will to live and incredible tolerance for pain allowed his body to survive Singed's treatments, which combined the man with murk wolf blood and chemtech augments, transforming him into a hulking, werewolf-like mutant with an insatiable thirst for blood and unprecedented regenerative capabilities, known as Warwick. Vander's mind was lost as a result of the transformation, but the doctor still considered to be a staggering success, naming his specimen the "apex form of shimmer", whose blood could hold the final key to reviving his daughter.

Singed was able to summon Warwick by taking advantage of his blood hunt ability. Warwick was able to recognize Singed's scent when he left a trail of his own blood to Stillwater Hold, and went on a rampage trying to chase down and kill him, indicating a unique and vicious hatred Warwick felt for the doctor who had tortured him, twisted his mind and body, and stripped him of his old life. Singed was able to avoid Warwick by locking up his own cell, and later recaptured him for Ambessa Medarda. The doctor would eventually erase Vander's memories using a special serum, which occurred during a blood transfusion that transformed Viktor, as well as Warwick himself, into their evolved forms. Later, Singed successfully completed his cure for death, presumably using a combination of Warwick's blood with Viktor's hexcore, with no repercussions for his crimes.

Ambessa Medarda

Warwick attacked the Noxian warlord shortly before his rampage through Stillwater Hold, where he left a massive claw mark over her mask. Ambessa survived the encounter and was impressed by the beast's "savagery". She recruited Singed with the intention of capturing Warwick and using him as a weapon of war, as well as a scientific specimen to complete Singed's coveted "cure to death", presumably to use on herself and her own soldiers. Once Ambessa located Warwick at Viktor's commune, she and Singed made plans to erase Vander's mind so he would remain useful to her in his savage state. The plan would initially fail, but Warwick would become enraged anyway as Viktor's followers collapsed, and Warwick ferociously murdered Ambessa's second-in-command Rictus right in front of her. Ambessa, furious at the loss of her friend, sent her entire army to attack Warwick and burned Viktor's entire commune to the ground.

After the battle, Ambessa and Singed had recaptured Warwick, who was heavily-wounded and unconscious. Since Warwick was now useless to her in this state, she struck a deal with Viktor and had Singed transform the Herald using Warwick's blood, erasing Vander's mind completely.

Viktor

With Vander's mind twisted by Singed's experiments, his daughters took him to Viktor's commune, having heard that he was a magic healer who could perform miracles. Though Viktor's powers were becoming limited from overuse, the Herald could see Vander's memories and believed he was a man worth saving, no matter the cost to himself. This in mind, he agreed to save Vander, with his only condition being the beast remain restrained at night to ensure the safety of his community. Viktor tried his best to restore Vander's mind for a long period of time and eventually made progress. When Singed offered Viktor a permanent solution to his waning abilities using Vander's blood, Viktor initially refused, as the process would mean sacrificing Vander's humanity to save himself.

However, Viktor would soon change his mind about saving Vander, as Jayce's attack and the destruction of his commune convinced the Herald that humanity had to be done away with, permanently. To enact his Glorious Evolution, Viktor exhausted his options before eventually deciding to go ahead with the transfusion, erasing Vander's memories and evolving him into a metal puppet. During the final assault on Piltover, Viktor controlled Vander's body directly against his daughters, seemingly unbothered that he was forcing them to fight each other. Viktor's defeat freed Vander from his control, reverting him to his savage, mindless state as Warwick.

Arcane Show Appearances

Season One appearances: 4/9
Welcome to the Playground: Appears	Some Mysteries Are Better Left Unsolved: Appears	The Base Violence Necessary for Change: Appears and flashback
Happy Progress Day!: Absent	Everybody Wants to Be My Enemy: Mentioned only	When These Walls Come Tumbling Down: Mentioned only
The Boy Savior: Mentioned only	Oil and Water: Absent	The Monster You Created: Appears

Season Two appearances: 7/9
Heavy Is The Crown: Absent	Watch It All Burn: Absent	Finally Got the Name Right: Appears
Paint The Town Blue: Appears	Blisters And Bedrock: Appears and flashback	The Message Hidden Within The Pattern: Appears and flashback
Pretend Like It's First Time: Appears	Killing Is A Cycle: Appears	The Dirt Under Your Nails: Appears and flashback

Trivia

Warwick, the Uncaged Wrath of Zaun

With the release of Arcane, many fans speculated that Vander was Warwick before he was transformed into a lycanthrope by Singed's experiments. Although this theory was not officially confirmed until the Blisters and Bedrock|5th episode of the second season, there were already several clues in both the animated series and the video game that hinted towards this before the reveal finally happened:
- Vander's alias, "The Hound of the Underground", is similar to Warwick's alias, "The Uncaged Wrath of Zaun".
- Vander is called a lapdog by Silco.
- Both Warwick and Vander were once criminals who discarded their weapons to live better lives.
- Vander is the man who taught Vi how to punch, and one of Warwick's lines towards her is "Who taught you how to punch?".
- Another one of Warwick's lines, "You were there...", is addressed towards Jinx and is a possible reference to her being present next to Vander's body after her monkey bomb destroyed Silco's hideout.
- Warwick's theme is heard during Vander's capture and shortly before his death.
- After he ingested shimmer, Vander's physique, voice, and growl became similar to Warwick's.
- During her mental breakdown in the final episode of Arcane's first season, Jinx pictures Vander with a wolf-like outline around him.
Vander's official height is 202 cm (6'7.5).^[16]
In an alternate universe where hextech was never invented and Vi was killed during the apartment robbery, Vander was never overthrown by Silco and was never transformed into Warwick. Instead, he managed to later reconcile with Silco, due to the latter having presumably read the letter that Vander left for him in their old hideout, and worked with him to successfully achieve their dream of freeing their people from Piltover's oppressive control, allowing Zaun to thrive and prosper for the first time in centuries. Vander also remained in charge of the Last Drop and continued to work there by the time Powder was in her late teens.

Warwick, the Blood Hunter

In the old lore, Warwick and Singed were long-time friends. Warwick also likely supplied Singed with a myriad of test subjects over the years.
- The potion Singed concocted for Warwick that transformed him into a werewolf might be derived from his own Insanity Potion.
In his post-potion thirst, Warwick killed and flayed Urf. He occasionally wears the Manatee's carcass as a sort of morbid trophy.
After his mutation into a beast, Warwick began to hunt down Soraka, hoping to steal her heart and stabilize his transformation.
- Warwick's lore connection with Soraka was removed following his champion update.

Change log

The following change log is for the Character blurb found at the top of the article:

Character blurb
November 2024	Tweaked with the release of the second season of Arcane.
January 2017 (V7.2)	Re-written to accompany his champion update. "Spill blood... draw the beast!" - Warwick Warwick is a monster who hunts the gray alleys of Zaun. Transformed by agonizing experiments, his body is fused with an intricate system of chambers and pumps, machinery filling his veins with alchemical rage. Bursting out of the shadows, he preys upon those criminals who terrorize the city's depths. Warwick is drawn to blood, and driven mad by its scent. None who spill it can escape him.
MISSING	Added. "Eventually the beast catches up with all of us." - Warwick Warwick was once a man revered for his ability to track down human specimens for the darkest types of scientific research. When his ambitions exceeded his physical limits, he drank a dangerous elixir to transform himself into an unstoppable manhunter. His newfound strength bore a heavy price.

For historical versions of other stories, please see each story's respective change log.

References

↑ Warwick's name
↑ Warwick "TFT - Into of Arcane" Teaser Promo - @TFT on X.com
↑ Post from @arcaneshow - Twitter
↑ Vander "TFT - Into of Arcane" Teaser Promo - @TFT on X.com
↑ ^{Jump up to: 5.0} ^5.1 ^5.2 ^5.3 Arcane: Season 1, Episode 3: The Base Violence Necessary for Change
↑ ^{Jump up to: 6.0} ^6.1 ^6.2 ^6.3 ^6.4 Arcane: Season 2, Episode 5: Blisters And Bedrock
↑ Firelights Reignite
↑ ^{Jump up to: 8.0} ^8.1 ^8.2 Arcane: Season 1, Episode 1: Welcome to the Playground
↑ ^{Jump up to: 9.0} ^9.1 Arcane: Season 1, Episode 2: Some Mysteries Are Better Left Unsolved
↑ Arcane: Season 1, Episode 9: The Monster You Created
↑ Arcane: Season 2, Episode 4: Paint The Town Blue
↑ Arcane: Season 2, Episode 6: The Message Hidden Within The Pattern
↑ Arcane: Season 2, Episode 8: Killing Is A Cycle
↑ ^{Jump up to: 14.0} ^14.1 Arcane: Season 2, Episode 9: The Dirt Under Your Nails
↑ Jinx Fixes Everything
↑ Arcane characters height chart

Characters	Amara Ambessa Bolbok Caitlyn Cassandra Chross Claggor Ekko Elora Finn Heimerdinger Isha Jayce Jinx LeBlanc Maddie Marcus Margot Mel Mylo Orianna Renni Rictus Salo Sevika Silco Singed Smeech Tobias Vander Vi Viktor Warwick and more...
Places	Noxus Piltover Zaun Runeterra
Season 1 Episodes	Welcome to the Playground Some Mysteries Are Better Left Unsolved The Base Violence Necessary for Change Happy Progress Day! Everybody Wants to Be My Enemy When These Walls Come Tumbling Down The Boy Savior Oil and Water The Monster You Created
Season 2 Episodes	Heavy Is The Crown Watch It All Burn Finally Got the Name Right Paint the Town Blue Blisters and Bedrock The Message Hidden Within the Pattern Pretend Like It's First Time Killing Is A Cycle The Dirt Under Your Nails
The Council Archives	Jayce's Journal The Warden's Write-Ups The Grand Conspiracy The Adventures of Jinx
Other Lore and Media	Enemy (Music Video) Blood Sweat & Tears (Music Video) Firelights Reignite (Visual Novel) Need to live (Short) Jinx Fixes Everything (Minigame) Arcane (Soundtrack) Arcane (Universe) The Art and Making of Arcane (Art Book)

LoL Characters
Universe Characters	Alune Ashlesh Atakhan Baron Nashor Boram Darkwill Cithria Doran Elder Dragon Eldred Isolde Iula Jack Jarvan III Kobuko Kusho Ledros Mihira Nagakabouros Necrit Norra Rafen Rhaast Rift Herald Tamara Tianna Tyari Tybaulk Vilemaw Vrynna Willump Xolaani An icon representing Universe:Yunara Yunara and more...
Arcane Characters	Amara Ambessa Bolbok Caitlyn Cassandra Chross Claggor Ekko Elora Finn Heimerdinger Isha Jayce Jinx LeBlanc Maddie Marcus Margot Mel Mylo Orianna Renni Rictus Salo Sevika Silco Singed Smeech Tobias Vander Vi Viktor Warwick and more...