Who they are
Warwick is a Zaunite.
Their story belongs to Zaun. The smoggy undercity where unregulated science pushes back.
Their story, step by step
- Step 1
A revolutionary in Zaun
Warwick began as Vander, born in Zaun and part of a violent push to free Zaun from Piltover, side by side with Silco. He was close to Felicia and her family. A failed uprising on the Bridge of Progress killed hundreds, including Felicia and her husband.
- Step 2
Giving up the fight
Vander found Felicia's daughter Vi and a little girl called Powder among the dead and came to regret the uprising. He gave up his gauntlets and adopted both girls, and later took in two more orphans. He ran a bar called The Last Drop and kept an uneasy peace with the Enforcers.
- Step 3
Betrayal and apparent death
After a heist went wrong, Vander gave himself up rather than betray his children. Silco offered him a place in a second uprising, he refused, and Silco locked him up. A rescue attempt turned violent, Vander fought Silco's forces and appeared to die.
- Step 4
Singed's experiments
Singed recovered his body and fused it with wolf genetics and chemicals. The experiments buried Vander's mind and left only the beast called Warwick, driven by blood and a few scraps of memory. He woke when Singed's blood drew him to Stillwater Prison, where he killed many guards.
- Step 5
Brief recognition
Seeing Powder's grenade design and hearing Vi say his name let him recognize his daughters for a time. Viktor tried to help him, but Singed's serum made him savage again and Singed took him back. At the Hexgates he attacked Vi until Jinx intervened, and a last memory of putting the girls to bed seemed to reach him before Jinx's bomb went off.
Turning points
- The failed uprising and the adoption of Vi and Powder
- Surrendering to Silco's side rather than betraying his children
- Singed turning him into Warwick
- Recognizing his daughters at the end
Where their story stands now
Warwick is presumed dead after the final explosion at the Hexgates, but Riot's lore treats his fate as uncertain. Whether any part of Vander survives remains open.
Who they are tied to
Where this fits in the story
- Zaun · step 1
From port city to undercity
Zaun began as an ancient seafaring port sacred to Janna. Around 772 AN the site was drowned in a catastrophic excavation, and it was rebuilt as the undercity below Piltover.
- Zaun · step 2
Chemtech and Shimmer
Without rules, Zaun's alchemists pushed science further. Singed's Shimmer serum can enhance soldiers and also became a major illegal drug that drives the underground economy.
- Zaun · step 3
The Day of Ash and Silco
Vander and Silco led a failed uprising on the Day of Ash, and hundreds died. Silco then built a criminal empire on Shimmer until his adopted daughter Jinx killed him.
- Zaun · step 4
A fractured city
After Silco the Chembarons split, Piltover occupied the undercity, Noxus intervened and Viktor rose to prominence. Zaun is now represented in Piltover's politics, but the peace is uneasy.