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Kalista
Kalista (Universe)Kalista (Universe)
Kalista (League of Legends)Kalista (League of Legends)
Kalista (Esports)Kalista (Esports)
Kalista (Teamfight Tactics)Kalista (Teamfight Tactics)
Kalista (Legends of Runeterra)Kalista (Legends of Runeterra)
Kalista (Development)Kalista (Development)
Kalista (Trivia)Kalista (Trivia)

An undying specter of wrath and retribution, Kalista Kalista is an armored nightmare summoned from the Shadow Isles Crest icon Shadow Isles to hunt deceivers and traitors. The betrayed may cry out in blood to be avenged, but Kalista only answers those willing to pay with their very souls. Those who become the focus of Kalista's wrath should make their final peace, for any pact pact sealed with this grim hunter can only be ended by the cold, piercing fire of her soul-spears soul-spears.

KalistaSquare"Turncoats, oath breakers and betrayers… we hate them all."  Kalista
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Background[]

Early Life[]

Kalista was born in the long-forgotten kingdom of Camavor Crest icon Camavor, as the daughter of the heir to the Argent Throne and the niece of Viego Viego. Despite being his niece, Kalista and Viego were close in age and was one of his closest friends, acting as a big sister towards him. Eventually her father passed and when her grandfather was on his deathbed, he tasked her with monitoring Viego's reign, due to him being unprepared to rule. Kalista served him with utmost loyalty as the general of Camavor. Viego would fall in love with Isolde Isolde and two would soon wed. Kalista saw Isolde as a sister and enjoyed the positive influence she had on his uncle.

When Viego was targeted by an assassin sent to kill him with a poisoned blade, Kalista deflected the blade in time but accidentally caused it to graze Isolde instead. With the best medics and priests in Camavor unable to save her, a grief-stricken Viego sent Kalista, along with the captain of the Iron Order, Hecarim Hecarim, to find a cure. While most nations were unable to give her the results she wanted, she learned of the Blessed Isles Crest icon Blessed Isles and was able to get the Waters of Life that could cure even the direst of ailments. But when she got back, Isolde had already succumbed to the poison. Viego, maddened by grief, saw Kalista as a traitor to the crown and got her imprisoned.

Invasion of the Blessed Isles[]

In the dungeons, Kalista was visited by Hecarim, who manipulated her into revealing the location of the Blessed Isles all so he could reap glory for himself. Hecarim then told Viego about the information she gave him, which led to the fleets of Camavor sailing to the capital of the Blessed Isles, Helia.

However, the elders of the Blessed Isles refused to let the Camavorans pass, as they believed that death was final and to cheat it would break the natural order of the world. Viego ignored their warnings and ordered Kalista to kill them. She refused and tried to get Hecarim to stand with her, but he and his knights killed her by driving their spears into her back, before killing her lover Ledros Ledros and all the Camavoran soldiers loyal to her. Then, they began to raid the Blessed Isles, looting their treasures and killing all of the natives they could find. But thanks to Viego's failed attempt to revive his wife, the Blessed Isles' protective barrier was tainted by the magic of Viego's blade blade, causing a disaster which turned it into the ghostly realm now known as the Shadow Isles Crest icon Shadow Isles.

Spirit of Vengeance[]

Many of the people within the Isles at the time of the Ruination, both living and dead, were reborn as ghostly wraiths. Kalista was one such wraith, who remembered nothing but her feelings of vengeance toward Hecarim as she died. She became a spirit of vengeance, travelling all over Runeterra to appear before those who made pacts in her name, absorbing their souls to kill the ones whom had betrayed them. But with each soul she absorbed, her humanity disappeared as she became a hive mind of vengeful souls who avenged the wronged across Runeterra.

Appearance[]

In life, Kalista was a woman with an athletic physique, brown skin, brown eyes, and long, flowing black hair. Her regal Camavoran armor was blue plate with a gold trim. She wore a cloth around the back of her legs and an open-faced helmet with a long, dark plume. She wielded a spear.

In death, Kalista is a translucent, teal spirit. She appears emaciated and hunched, with several spectral spears protruding from her torso. While her armor remains opaque, it is now black and dark brown with tattered cloth portions. Her spears, which now materialize in her hands, are jagged and spectral.

Personality[]

While being of royal blood, Kalista was surprisingly down to earth in life and had a strong sense of justice. She got along far better with the common footsoldiers in the military than the nobles trying to curry favour with her. She was also depicted as caring sister figure to a young Viego Viego when he suddenly was to be crowned as king of Camavor Crest icon Camavor and tried to be his emotional and moral support during his reign, with some help from Isolde Isolde.

Abilities[]

  • Wraith: Kalista is one of the Shadow Isles's wraiths, created when the Ruination came to be. The Black Mist consumes ones original personality, leaving only a specter consumed by negative emotions and obsessions. In Kalista's case, she became an spirit of vengeance after being betrayed in life.
    • Immortality: Being already dead, Kalista can't die again. She can only be banished and loose her material form for a while.
    • Spiritual Construction: Wraiths can create solid constructs from spectral energy, such as bodies and physical objects. These constructs mainly base themselves around how they looked in life.
    • Transitory State: Being ethereal beings, Wraiths can shift from the physical world and spiritual one at will. This means they can become intangible and invisible, and teleport from one place to another.
    • Spirit of Vengeance: After dying, Kalista became a vengeful spirit that hunts down others that have betrayed their oaths. This grants her many terrible powers.
      • Pacts of Vengeance: If someone craving vengeance call upon Kalista, she will come to their aid and grant them their vengeance, stalking her mark until they die by her spears.
      • Soul Absorption: When the pact is done, the dying will be absorbed inside Kalista and became part of an endless vortex of souls inside of her.
  • Trained Warrior: Kalista is a incredible warrior that can easly defeat many foes in battle.

Relations[]

Viego Viego[]

Kalista is the Ruined King's Ruined King's niece and was one of his generals in life. Kalista's father was the previous king of Camavor Crest icon Camavor. Viego became the king after his brother died in battle. Despite being her uncle, Kalista and Viego were around the same age and friends for a long time since he was largely ignored in favor of Kalista's father. When her father died and Viego became king, his negative traits were worsened and they began to drift apart, however she was still loyal to him. Kalista managed to protect Viego from an assassin, but resulted in Isolde getting poisoned instead. She would set sail in order to find a cure, but found it too late and was imprisoned as a traitor for her failure.She was eventually convinced by Hecarim Hecarim to lead Viego Viego and their army to the Blessed Isles for the Waters of Life. When the masters of the island refused to let them use the water, Viego ordered her to kill anyone who opposed them. Kalista refused and was stabbed by Hecarim before her forces clashed with the Iron Order.

Commander Ledros Commander Ledros[]

Commander Ledros Commander Ledros was her lover in life and is trying to free her soul. Thresh Thresh tried to persuade him to give up trying to free Kalista Kalista and so far has succeeded at obtaining his silver pendant which Ledros may use to remind Kalista of her humanity, but Ledros instead has tried to end the curse of the Ruination himself.

Hecarim Hecarim[]

Hecarim Hecarim and his Iron Order are now restlessly hunted and "killed" by her, but they always come back due to the Black Mist.

Vladimir Vladimir[]

Vladimir Vladimir was soul-marked by Kalista but he was able to banish her with the help of a magical artifact. He was a prince of Camavor, and Viego and Kalista's distant relative who was centuries old by the time they were born.

Tahm Kench Tahm Kench[]

Kalista occasionally comes after Tahm Kench Tahm Kench; however, he is safe from her due to his contracts with the victims.

Read More

Biography

Kalista OriginalCentered
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Shadow Isles Crest icon

Biography

The Spear of Vengeance

By Anthony Reynolds Lenné

Starring Champion

01SI030T2-hd-full
EditImageReference

Shadow Isles Crest icon

Short Story

In Sight of Land

By Ian St. Martin

The waters were eerily still at night. Their surface was so undisturbed, one might mistake it for dark glass mirroring the starlit skies above. Moonlight bathed everything in cold, silver light, though its radiance was slowly dying.

Shadow Isles The Sundered Vaults Of Arcana
EditImageReference

Shadow Isles Crest icon

Short Story • 4 Minute Read

Invocation

By Graham McNeill

The sword-wife stood amid the burnt out ruin of her home. Everything and everyone that mattered to her was gone, and she was filled with fathomless grief... and hate. Hate was now all that compelled her.

Roots of Ruin
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Shadow Isles Crest icon

Short Story

Roots of Ruin

By Numerous creators

The end began with one man.

Ruination Novel Cover 02
EditImageReference

Shadow Isles Crest icon

Short Story

Ruination (Novel)

By Anthony Reynolds Lenné

Camavor is a brutal land with a bloody legacy. Where the empire’s knights go, slaughter follows. Kalista seeks to change that. When her young and narcissistic uncle, Viego, becomes king she vows to temper his destructive instincts as his loyal confidant, advisor, and military general. But her plans are thwarted when an assassin’s poisoned blade strikes Viego’s wife, Isolde, afflicting her with a malady for which there is no cure. As Isolde’s condition worsens, Viego descends into madness and grief, threatening to drag Camavor down with him. Kalisa makes a desperate gambit to save the kingdom: She searches for the long-lost Blessed Isles, rumored to hold the queen’s salvation if only Kalista can find them. But corruption grows in the Blessed Isle’s capital, where a vengeful warden seeks to ensnare Kalista in his cruel machinations. She will be forced to choose between her loyalty to Viego and doing what she knows is right–for even in the face of utter darkness, one noble act can shine a light that saves the world.

Shadow Isles The Daring Darling 01
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Shadow Isles Crest icon

Short Story

The Daring Darling

By Laura Michet

Fayette always warned her guests that the journey from the Shadow Isles back to the Daring Darling's dock would take a whole watch.

Shadow Isles Ruins
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Shadow Isles Crest icon

Short Story

The Echoes Left Behind

By Anthony Reynolds Lenné

Blood pooled beneath him, bright crimson against pristine white stone. His sword lay nearby, its blade broken. His killers stood around him, shadows on the periphery, but he saw nothing except her.

Kalista The Pledge
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Shadow Isles Crest icon

Video

The Pledge

A pledge and a soul Escape his final breath, His offer accepted And her spirit summoned, A soul for a soul-- His betrayer's life, Rent.

Mentioned Champion

Ruined King Promo 01
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Runeterra Crest icon

Game

Ruined King

By Airship Syndicate

Rise Against Ruin - Unite a party of League of Legends Champions, explore Bilgewater and set sail for the Shadow Isles to uncover the secrets of the deadly Black Mist in this immersive turn-based RPG.

Shadow Isles The Sundered Vaults Of Arcana
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Shadow Isles Crest icon

Narration

The Princeling's Lament

By Graham McNeill

Scrape the bench of sunless moss.

Hecarim OriginalCentered
EditImageReference

Shadow Isles Crest icon

Biography

The Shadow of War

By Graham McNeill

Alternate Universes

Worlds RISE
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Runeterra Crest icon

Music Video

RISE

By Numerous creators

Reaching the peak takes more than skill. Only those with the ambition to RISE above all others will know its height.

Worlds Worlds Collide
EditImageReference

Runeterra Crest icon

Music Video

Worlds Collide

By Numerous creators

Two teams have risen above their peers. Ten warriors have laid claim to the Summoner’s Cup. Five champions will etch their names in history.

Trivia[]

  • Kalista is between 1050 years old, born at some point before the Ruination of the Blessed Isles Crest icon Blessed Isles.
    • She was in her 20s, roughly the same age as Viego Viego during the first Ruination.
    • She's old enough for legends to spread about her across the world. Every place has a different, but similar story about summoning her.
  • According to Viego's Viego's biography, her kingdom was from an unknown continent outside of the known map.
  • 'The Spear of Vengeance' (the specter Kalista became after the Ruination Ruination) is a hivemind of betrayed souls (hence she referring to herself as 'we') while Kalista herself is buried deep beneath them all, with every new soul burying her ever-deeper within the entity she has become. Very little of who she once was remains, but it surfaces occasionally. Ledros Ledros almost managed to free her from her curse.
    • Kalista is one of the strongest characters from Runeterra, being basically the Avatar of Vengeance at this point.
    • She would feel all sorts of things in the moments when she is more lucid; remorse, anger, regret, sadness, grief, rage...
  • Her spears are the spectral remnants of the way she was originally murdered.
    • She would have used a spear in life. She was a heroic leader - think of her as having been kind of female (and honorable) Achilles.
  • Kalista is a lawful neutral character who acts according to both her drive to enact vengeance on betrayers and her own law.
    • Her 'alignment' depends on one's perspective - it's all in the eye of the beholder. To some, she would be seen as evil because she is an undying spirit, full stop. However, she was a hero in life, and very much an honorable one at that. She didn't ask to become what she is, and is now consumed with enacting vengeance. So, to some, she might be seen as an avenger, a spirit of justice. To those she is pursuing? They'd probably think she is evil - she certainly couldn't be bargained or argued with, and she'd see things very much in black and white. What if someone did do a horrible betrayal, but has atoned for it? She'd not be bothered with those kind of details...
      • She'd be very black and white, it is possible even if someone may have a very good reason for betraying someone, in her eyes just the fact that there is betrayal may damn them in her eyes.
      • She is also very focused. She's not an indiscriminate killer, and would not destroy everything in her path to get to her target. She's got all the time in the world (she'd not exactly got to worry about ageing any more...), so she can be patient in order to get her target without involving unnecessary deaths.
  • Kalista can travel mystically across Valoran, and there's no escaping her once she's got her target without using powerful spirit magic, as Vladimir Vladimir did in the story The Daring Darling.

Change log[]

Character blurb
2 April 2019 (During V9.7) Updated to current version.
Original version.
A specter of wrath and retribution, Kalista is the undying spirit of vengeance, an armored nightmare summoned from the Shadow Isles to hunt deceivers and traitors. The betrayed may cry out in blood to be avenged, but Kalista only answers those whose cause she deems worthy of her skills. Woe betide those who become the focus of Kalista's wrath, for any pact pact sealed with this grim hunter can only end on the cold fire of her soul-spears soul-spears.

References[]

See also[]

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