Runeterra artwork from Riot Games
League of Legends cover
Universe

League of Legends

Runeterra explained: the regions, the wars and who is who, without playing a single match.

14 regions174 characters5 reading paths10 turning points

What is Runeterra?

League of Legends is a competitive game, but its champions come from a shared fictional world called Runeterra. Every champion belongs to a place, a faction or a conflict, so the story of the world is told through those pieces rather than through one campaign.

Runeterra has a physical realm and a spirit realm, a few continents and island chains, and a Void beyond both. Its nations range from a feudal monarchy (Demacia) and an expansionist empire (Noxus) to twin cities (Piltover and Zaun), a pirate port (Bilgewater) and a mountain of celestial hosts (Targon).

This page is a map. Pick a quick path below, or open any region to read what it is, how it got here and which other regions its story touches.

Quick paths

Short routes through the regions, in the order that makes the most sense.

  • The big pictureabout 8 min

    Start with the powers that drive most of the story: the kingdom, the empire, the twin cities, the cursed islands and the Void.

    Demacia → Noxus → Piltover → Shadow Isles → The Void

  • If you came from Arcaneabout 5 min

    Piltover and Zaun first, then the empire that reaches for them.

    Piltover → Zaun → Noxus

  • The war between Demacia and Noxusabout 6 min

    Two opposite ideas of how to run a nation, and the islands caught between them.

    Demacia → Noxus → Ionia

  • Old wounds: Shurima, the Void and the Ruinationabout 10 min

    The ancient history that still shapes everything: a fallen empire, a realm of nothing and a kingdom that drowned in mist.

    Shurima → The Void → Ixtal → Targon → Shadow Isles

  • Old powersabout 6 min

    The demons, spirits and survivors that predate the nations, and the places their stories lead to.

    Wanderers → Shurima → The Void

Pick a region

Each page tells that place's story in four steps and says where to go next.

  1. Kingdom · western ValoranDemaciaA feudal monarchy that values justice, honor and duty, and that has long denied magic.4 steps
  2. Empire · eastern ValoranNoxusAn expansionist empire ruled by a three-person council that says anyone strong enough can rise.4 steps
  3. Archipelago · east of ValoranIoniaA magical archipelago of spirits and monastic orders, split by the Noxian invasion.4 steps
  4. Frozen tundra · northern ValoranThe FreljordA frozen land of three rival tribes, demigods and a prison for cosmic horrors.4 steps
  5. City · ValoranPiltoverA wealthy city of craft and trade, home of hextech and tied to Zaun below it.4 steps
  6. Undercity · beneath PiltoverZaunA smog-filled undercity of chemtech and crime lords, bound to the city above.4 steps
  7. Desert empire · southern continentShurimaA desert empire of Ascended warriors that collapsed and is now being reborn.4 steps
  8. Mountain · west of ShurimaTargonA mountain of celestial Aspects whose rival sun and moon cults are at odds again.4 steps
  9. Port city · Serpent IslesBilgewaterA pirate port in the Serpent Isles ruled by rivals and haunted by the Harrowing.4 steps
  10. Cursed islands · across the seaShadow IslesIslands drowned in Black Mist after the Ruination, haunted by spirits and the Harrowing.4 steps
  11. Yordle city · spirit realmBandle CityA bright, mysterious yordle city that sits in the spirit realm and has no real government.4 steps
  12. Hidden nation · Shuriman jungleIxtalAn isolated jungle nation of elemental mages that hid from the world after the Void and the Darkin.4 steps
  13. Realm beyond RuneterraThe VoidThe realm of nothingness beyond creation, home of the Watchers and the Voidborn.4 steps
  14. Beyond the mapsWanderersNot a country: the champions whose pages say they belong to Runeterra as a whole.4 steps

Who is who

Every character has a short profile and links to the people they are tied to, so you can follow one story into the next.

Browse all 174 characters

Every game in this guide

Main games, narrative side games, mobile and archived titles, plus announced chapters. Remasters appear only when they have a distinct release status.

  1. Ruined King: A League of Legends Story2021Bilgewater and the Shadow IslesMiss Fortune, Illaoi, Braum, Yasuo, Ahri and Pyke form an unstable party when Viego's Black Mist threatens Bilgewater.
  2. The Mageseeker: A League of Legends Story2023Demacia's mage rebellionSylas escapes imprisonment and turns his anger at Demacia's Mageseekers into an organized rebellion.
  3. Song of Nunu: A League of Legends Story2023A journey through the FreljordNunu and Willump travel across the Freljord searching for Nunu's mother and the truth behind the songs that guide him.
  4. CONVERGENCE: A League of Legends Story2023Zaun across competing timelinesEkko meets a future version of himself and confronts a plan that treats the suffering of Zaun as something one perfect timeline can erase.