Character · Shadow Isles

Karthus

A wraith who sees death as a beginning and not an end.

Who they are

Karthus was a Noxian fascinated by death from childhood. After plague killed his sisters he became a grave digger and corpse collector for Kindred's tally-men.

He later travelled to the Shadow Isles, where the Black Mist turned him into a spirit between life and death. He now preaches that death is only the start of the journey, and he treats mortality as freedom.

Their story belongs to Shadow Isles and also touches Noxus. Once the Blessed Isles; now a land of mist, wraiths and the ruined.

Their story, step by step

  1. Step 1

    A Child Fascinated by Death

    Karthus grew up poor in an almshouse outside Noxus Prime. He would sneak into rooms of the dying to watch them and see the moment of death.

  2. Step 2

    Losing His Sisters

    When plague took his three sisters he cared for them as they died. The loss made him want to learn what lay beyond death.

  3. Step 3

    A Tally-Man

    He followed their bodies into the service of Kindred's tally-men, rising from grave digger through pyre builder to corpse collector. He questioned the dying in the temple, found no real answers, and decided the living had nothing more to teach him.

  4. Step 4

    The Shadow Isles

    Learning of the Shadow Isles from the dying, he went there. The Black Mist tore at him, but his desire to transcend death kept him from dying, and he became a wraith between life and death.

  5. Step 5

    Apostle of Death

    He still wears tally-man vestments and carries their staff, marking each soul he releases. He vows to bring death to all and preaches it as a beginning.

Turning points

  • Losing his sisters to plague
  • Leaving the tally-men for the Shadow Isles
  • Surviving the Black Mist as a wraith

Where their story stands now

Karthus lives in the Shadow Isles as an undying preacher of death. The sources do not say what he ultimately aims for.

Where this fits in the story

  1. Shadow Isles · step 1

    The Blessed Isles

    Before the Ruination the Blessed Isles were a center of learning and magic, with a city called Helia and the sacred Waters of Life.

  2. Shadow Isles · step 2

    Viego and Isolde

    Viego took his dead wife's body to the Waters of Life. She came back as a wraith of shadow and rage, and her anguished magic clashed with his enchanted blade, causing the blast that destroyed the kingdom.

  3. Shadow Isles · step 3

    The Black Mist and the ruined

    The Mist turned the islands into a cursed place. Thresh embraced undeath, Hecarim was fused with his steed and enslaved to the Mist, and Kalista, his betrayed general, became a spirit of vengeance.

  4. Shadow Isles · step 4

    The Harrowing

    Every so often the Black Mist spreads beyond the isles, letting weakened spirits manifest and hunt the living. Bilgewater is a frequent target.

Read the full story of Shadow Isles