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For other uses see Poro (disambiguation).

"Born out of love, blinded by glee,
Innocent, pure, magic and free,
Faithful, trusting; often naïve,
Soft, furry; their hearts hold a key."
— The Origins of Poros, Riot Development Article
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Poros are the mysterious, magical, and much-loved creatures seemingly originating from the Freljord Crest icon Freljord.[1] They have since spread across all of Runeterra Crest icon Runeterra, being present on every known continent, in every region and nation.

Lore[]

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A LoR Non-Champion Non-Spell Indicator6 Fluft of Poros.

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A LoR Non-Champion Non-Spell Indicator2 Poro Herder.

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LoR Champion Indicator4Braum, LoR Non-Champion Non-Spell Indicator3 'Ol Longhorn, and friends.

"When you wish upon a poro,
An' look at da night sky,
You'll see da snax among da stars,
All sparkly in our eyes."
— Ingvar the Younger, LoR Spell Non-Slow Indicator5 Aurora Porealis flavor text
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Poros are equal parts truth, valor, and innocence. The first design had a color described as “very light blue, like Freljordian snow” (Pantone P 121-3 U), later revisions show off-white or white fur.[1] They have a heart-shaped underbelly because they're made of love. A poro's horns perk up when it's excited and droop down when it's scared. Poros paddle through deep snow with their front paws. Some believe that poros are indestructible. Poros stick their tongue out because they are incredibly warm. This is why they can survive the harsh cold environment of the Howling Abyss.[2]


「 "They gobble LoR Spell Non-Slow Indicator3 'em up, then look at you, tongues out, happy as sheared 'nuks in the thaw askin' for more! You try sayin' no." - Avarosan Treatmaker 」「 This savory blend blend of free-range, grass-fed Avarosan game hens and organic, non-ZMO Freljordian herbs contains the essential nutrients necessary to keep your Poro purring with pleasure.

All proceeds will be donated towards fighting Noxian animal cruelty.
 」
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  • Poro-Snax Poro-Snax (LoR Spell Non-Slow Indicator3 LoR) are frosted with Freljordian ice crystals and are a favourite treat of this creature.[2] They've been shown iced and plain, it's somewhat unclear whether these treats are savoury or sweet, or could be both, with the conflicting interpretations.
  • Due to recent heroic deeds, Braum Braum is a friend to the poros.
  • Vel'Koz Vel'Koz claims that the intelligence of people drops in the presence of these creatures. However, it's a historical quote.[1]
  • For many weary inhabitants of the Freljord, their biggest desire is to retire to greener pastures and become a LoR Non-Champion Non-Spell Indicator2 Poro herder.[3]


Notable Poros[]

Poro King[]

Icon of the Poro King profileicon

The Poro King is the leader of the Poros, who exists in the Universe Default icon Winter Wonder universe as a major character, while being a minor character in the Runeterra Map profileicon Runeterra Prime universe. Little is known about Poro politics.[5]


LoR Non-Champion Non-Spell Indicator3 'Ol Longhorn[]

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'Ol Longhorn and admirers

▶️  "Haha, a good moustache on this one!"
LoR Champion Indicator4Braum
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'Ol Longhorn, or the Mighty Poro, is a large, bemustached Poro who lost his eye defending the Poro King. Braum is seen with him and has the ability to Keyword Summon Summon him in Legends of Runeterra icon Legends of Runeterra, suggesting some relation between these two. Him, and the LoR Non-Champion Non-Spell Indicator6 Heart of the Fluft and followers, are some of the only poros seen using tools.

LoR Non-Champion Non-Spell Indicator6 Heart of the Fluft[]

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The LoR Non-Champion Non-Spell Indicator6 Heart of the Fluft and followers, including 'Ol Longhorn.

▶️  "Gather friends, we go together!"
LoR Champion Indicator4Braum
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There are stories of a Poro that appeared to help Avarosa when her village was overwhelmed by raiders. When they first appeared, Avarosa had no idea what they were capable of. Gradually, Poros appeared, one by one, until the hall was full of them.

LoR Non-Champion Non-Spell Indicator1 Plucky Poro[]

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"New recruit has the kind of endurance and courage shown by our finest soldiers. Will he make it to the Vanguard someday? He's... smaller than the rest, but we'll see."
LoR Non-Champion Non-Spell Indicator3 Vanguard Sergeant, Plucky Poro flavor text
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LoR Non-Champion Non-Spell Indicator1 Plunder Poro[]

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The Plunder Poro sat atop of a pile of plundered treasure in front of the Bounty Board.

"His picture's been on the Bounty Board longer'n most, for he's a greedy, ruthless devil that won't let anyone or anything stand in his way. Worst of all? He's… He's cute, damn it."
LoR Champion Indicator5Gangplank, Plunder Poro flavor text
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LoR Non-Champion Non-Spell Indicator1 Porofly[]

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The Porofly being let free by Zoe out of one of her portals.

In space, no one can hear you squee.
— Porofly flavor text
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Little is known about this being. It appears to be a Poro, but with insect-like characteristics such as wings and antennae. This is quite likely a result of Zoe's Zoe's meddlings with magic.

Debatable Canon[]

Many unique Poros have been shown in various Riot Games media, especially cosmetics or jokes, dances, etc in League of Legends icon League of Legends, with unique shapes, colours, etcetera, and these are all things that are not considered automatically canon.

Some of these are themed after Runeterran regions, others after other alternate universes. Some have been somewhat 'replaced', for example there has been a Shadow Isles Crest icon Shadow Isles-themed wraith-like Poro shown in Mordekaiser's Mordekaiser's joke (See Model Viewer), along with in a Ward Skin Ward Skin and Shadow Isles Poro profileicon Summoner icon. In Legends of Runeterra icon Legends of Runeterra, in which all card art is stated to be largely canonical[6], a particularly LoR Non-Champion Non-Spell Indicator1 sinister Poro has been seen surviving the Shadow Isles without becoming a specter.

Examples of Poros fashioned outside of the Runeterra Map profileicon Prime Universe are:

Additional Lore
Braum Promo 01
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Freljord Crest icon

Video

Trial of the Poro

With the Freljord's winter closing in and an almighty battle raging around him, one brave PoroSquare Poro bounds on in his eternal search for snacks.

Nunu It's Me and You 01
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Freljord Crest icon

Music Video

It's Me and You

By Hozure, TJ Brown

Snowdown Showdown 2016 Concept 01
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Runeterra Crest icon

Video

A Snowdown Snowtale

The Poro King sends a young poro on an urgent mission: find the one with the magnificent mustache to save Snowdown!

Snowdown 2017 Promo
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Runeterra Crest icon

Video

Be Your Best Santa

Santa Draven, Ambitious Elf Jinx, and Snow Fawn Poppy step up to help Santa Braum with this year’s Snowdown festivities. But with Jinx and Draven at the frontlines, the celebrations could easily snowball into shenanigans!

Snowdown 2018 Promo Concept 03
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Runeterra Crest icon

Video

The Day Before Snowdown

Gather ‘round and hear the story of how Winter Wonder Neeko, Snow Man Yi, Winter Wonder Soraka, and Ice King Mundo saved Snowdown from Ice King Twitch in the Snowdown 2018 event in League of Legends.


Gameplay[]

Poros were first introduced in League of Legends icon League of Legends with the 2012 release of the official Howling Abyss icon Howling Abyss ARAM map.[2] Ever since then, they have become 'mascots' of sorts, making regular and varied appearances particularly during the Snowdown Showdown seasonal event. Legends of Runeterra icon Legends of Runeterra introduced many more unique Poros, with them being a group in the game.


Trivia[]

  • The Poro was designed by RiotOtown, Riot Earp, and RiotCaptainLx.
  • At one point in development, the Poro was animated to keel up and twitch if it ran into the Abyss' Fountain.
  • Poro is derived verbatim from the Finnish word, meaning reindeer, possibly from Proto-Uralic *poča(w);[7]
    • The Uralic noun itself is borrowed from PIr *patsu < PIIr páću[8] < PIE *pek- "livestock, wealth" (> Sanskrit पशु páśu, Latin pecus, & English fee).
  • There are other poro skin concepts that was not executed for Legend of the Poro King mode. Some that didn't make it include Bilgewater, Arcade, Patchwerk and Bittersweet.[9]
  • When feeding a Poro with a Poro-Snax Poro-Snax while playing Braum Braum, it will sprout a mustache in color based on the Braum skin.
  • Previously, they could be herded into the spawn where it is treated as a 1 HP minion and basic attacking it, rewarding 4 Gold 4.[10] Now they get fired on by the Nexus Obelisk and run away.[11]
  • The Poro received two Visual Updates before Snowdown Showdown 2016 on 11/23[14] and 11/30[15].
  • Poros celebrate the Masquerade and Snowdown Showdown.
  • Poros allegedly enjoy mocking and toying with the people that enter the bridge.[16]
  • Poros are tasty but ingesting them results in a poro bursting out of the body Alien-style, "Or so the story goes".[17]
  • Feeding Poros will make them grow up to 2.35 times their size, before reaching the Porosplosion.
  • During League of Legends 10th year Anniversary, Poros on ARAM wore party hats for the celebration.
  • Poro appears in Legends of Runeterra icon Legends of Runeterra as a type of cards and as a Guardian.
    • The poro card flavor texts used to be parts of a ballad poem. [19]
  • Poro Love profileicon Blitzcrank's Poro Roundup is a game centered around rescuing Poros.

The Origins of Poros[]

Poro creature

A Poro

By Riot Preeti

"While wrapping up the Howling Abyss, the entire team was on the lookout for something to balance out the Abyss' cold, serious atmosphere. Unlike our other maps, the Howling Abyss had a very structural, linear cadence--it was literally a bridge without any fantasy elements, which didn't feel very League. To counter this, the whole team brainstormed about cute and fun things we could add that would remain true to League and not take away from the map's epicness. It was sort of tricky because whatever we added had to be noticeable without being too distracting--we didn't want players confusing our little critter for a minion or monster they should kill! We wanted to create something furry that looked like it could survive through harsh weather, so RiotEarp looked to mountain goats, reindeer, and polar bears for inspiration. He sketched the initial poro concept art based on a cuter version of all of those things and we ran with it! Howling Abyss is the coldest and harshest place in all of Runeterra, so you can think of poros as the manifestation of whatever warmth, happiness, and love that still exists.

After RiotOtown modeled and textured the very first poro, he and RiotCaptainLx decided to add a super huge tongue because the little guy reminded them of a puppy. Then, during the animation phase, RiotCaptainLx took it a step further and had the poro lick its whole face in one shot! With the tongue mechanic in place, he also animated the poro to run around panting with its tongue hanging out. We totally agreed that poros should pant just like that--they radiate with love, so they're extremely hot despite the Abyss' bone-chilling temperatures"!

In-game skins

The following Summoner Icons will modify your Poro's appearance during selected events, such as Legend of the Poro King.

Skin Appearances
Porofolia

These splashes and icons were made specifically to celebrate the 2015 and 2016 Masquerade events celebrated on the Latin American and Brazilian servers. The link to the Porofolia sites can be accessed from here and here.

These Icons were made specifically to celebrate the Masquerade event of 2015, an event celebrated on the Latin American and Brazilian servers. These Icons are available to download via this link.

Media[]

Snowdown_2018_-_Login_Screen

Snowdown 2018 - Login Screen

Related Music

Heart_of_the_Fluft_New_Cosmetic_Trailer_Legends_of_Runeterra

Heart of the Fluft New Cosmetic Trailer Legends of Runeterra

Related Videos

Stickers

Poro Sticker emotes were released officially by Riot games for use in social media sites as well as templates for physical stickers.

References

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