There is a deeply woven lore among the legends available to play in League of Legends, citing various religions and supernatural realms. It only stands to reason that some of these legends are straight-up Gods.

Related: League of Legend Champions That Synergize WellTheir stories are often fraught with hardships and sacrifice, along with immense power for change. Unfortunately, playing a God won't give you an advantage over the enemy team.

15 Azir

Azir in their Splash Art from League of Legends

Azir is one of the newest God Warriors. After assassins attacked his carriage, Azir's father became paranoid and vicious, beginning an era of mistrust and spying. Xerath, Azir's slave-friend, helped fight off the ambush but was never recognized for his bravery.

Azir's Ascension was planned hundreds of years ago when he prematurely announced he would leave his empire to enter godhood with his mentors. Before his death, he decreed all enslaved people be freed, much to the dismay of his advisors. In the tombs, under the Shuriman desert, his body lay awaiting a blood sacrifice of his kin, and when Sivir was back-stabbed with her blade, it was her ancestor that saved her life.

14 Nasus

League of Legends - Nasus shows he's ready to fight

One of Azir's godly mentors was the tactician Nasus, an ascended warrior of his own time and now a peerless strategist in god form. During Azir's initial Ascension, Nasus and Renekton were sent away by Xerath to defend the city from supposed intruders. It was too late for them to help when the ritual went awry. Upon seeing the limitless power within the mad Xerath, Nasus and Renekton agreed it was necessary to seal him away with a guard until such a time that he could be stopped.

Related: League of LegendsL Every Bilgewater Champion, RankedWith the fall of Shurima and the loss of his brother, Nasus exiled himself and waited for the day someone like Sivir would appear to save his city.

13 Renekton

A once-loyal and revered captain, Renekton's mind was poisoned through centuries of Xerath's vicious whispers in the depths of the Tomb of Emperors. When Nasus was taken terminally ill, the empire agreed he was too valuable to be lost to death, and the Ascension ceremony was set up. Renekton carried his ailing brother to the dais, fully expecting to be eviscerated during the ritual as only the worthy survive.

As we know, Renekton survived and sacrificed himself again later to guard Xerath under the fallen city. When Sivir and Cassiopeia unwittingly released them, the only thing on the old god's mind was paying Nasus back.

12 Xerath

Xerath in their Splash Art from League of Legends

The antagonist of the Shuriman legends, Xerath, was born into poverty and adopted as a slave by the child Azir, who caught him learning in the sacred libraries. He was permitted to study and become a magus, serving as an advisor to the young emperor despite his low standing.

When Azir declared all slaves freed before his Ascension, jealousy bubbled up within Xerath. He shot Azir from the podium, burning him up in the sun's fury, and took his place to absorb the endless power. It was not meant for a lowly mortal, though, and drove Xerath mad. The city disintegrated, and Xerath was imprisoned beneath it, slowly goading Renekton to insanity over the centuries.

11 Kindred

Kindred in Arcane

In legends across all planes, death is often personified. Some grant it a warm aura, releasing mortals from suffering, whereas others fear a cruel and bloodthirsty being. Kindred represents both myths and allows those that believe in them the choice between a swift end or an adrenaline-fueled hunt.

It is not clear how Kindred came to be. Some venture that death, known as the Gray Man, became lonely and split himself down the middle. However, Kindred refers to the Mask Mother as their creator, and it would certainly fit the theme. It's said that spiritual gods only continue to exist as long as they're believed in, and once forgotten, they will be taken by the Etherfiend to die their final death.

10 Janna

League of Legends Janna Star Guardian Skin

Janna, or Jan'ahrem in Ancient Shuriman, has been around for all of mortal memory. She was once the god of sea-faring ships. Those on board would pray to her for favorable winds and safe seas. Her most fervent believers were those in Oshra Va'Zaun, a port city south of Shurima. When Shurima fell and the lands surrounding turned to desert, it was Janna that protected the small city from the ensuing violence.

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But Oshra Va'Zaun was greedy for more and opted to create a canal with a weir from the River Pilt by detonating large areas of land. The controlled demolition got out of control and sank whole neighborhoods beneath the waves, releasing noxious gas into what remained. It was Janna who arrived to clear the smog and save the drowning denizens.

9 Bard

League of Legends Bard Cafe Cutie

Before creation, there was Bard. Floating through the Celestial Realm, he heard rather than saw the first stars explode into being. The motes of inspiration and life drifted towards him and have become known as Meeps. The harmony of the universe intrigued Bard until a discordant note caught his attention. Appearing on Runeterra, he took on a physical form resembling the shawn-player's wagon he arrived in front of. So much was happening in this world that he decided he should help maintain the balance.

He isn't a benevolent god but rather a universal caretaker with a bad feeling about a future involving the dissonant Void.

8 Soraka

League of Legends Soraka Star Guardian Prestige

Another being from the Celestial Realm watched the birth of worlds and helped weave the tapestry of the night sky for those living beneath it. The celestials' idea was that destiny and fate could be inferred from the stars and their patterns, but the simple-minded mortals never seemed to understand them. Soraka fell from Targon Prime to guide mortals on Runeterra toward their preapproved goals but quickly learned that what she had perceived as chaos was something much more beautiful and complex. Mortals were using free will to blaze new roads, and despite their unbridled potential for cruelty, there was also infinite potential for kindness.

7 Aurelion Sol

LOR Aurelion Sol

Aurelion once wandered the empty universe creating colorful constellations and brilliant suns. The Aspects that existed then, too, were less interested in creating anything. When a little planet popped up circling one of Aurelion's suns, the Aspects encouraged him to visit it and claim a gift from the primitive mortals living there. The crown they perched on his head tapped him of his power and flung him deep into space.

Related: League of Legends: Things You Didn't Know About IoniaThe Aspects used his magic to create the Sun Disc and Ascend mortals to godly status as the stars in the universe slowly fade out of existence without Aurelion's care. Once mortal God Warriors are used as weapons against the Void now, and the stars' caretaker watches as his creations gently die.

6 Anivia, Ornn and Volibear

League of Legends Anivia Volibear Ornn

The sibling demi-gods of Frejlord have existed since before mortals and now lead scattered tribes that inhabit the frigid wastes. These demi-gods were originally spirits born of the wild elements; Volibear's storm, Anivia's frost, and Ornn's rock and lava. They shaped the lands of the north are fiercely protective of them, even with mortal struggles arising and bringing in beings like the Watchers.

Anivia represents the cycle of death and rebirth, with a faction named after Ashe's ancestor, Avarosa. Ornn was supposedly the first of these spirits to exist and had a following named Hearthblood, who were murdered by Volibear's tribe known as the violent Ursine. Supposedly this is because Ornn refused to supply his brother with weapons for a war that never ended up happening. He did, however, craft Braum's shield.

5 Zoe

League of Legends Zoe Arcanist

The Aspect of Twilight currently inhabits the body of teenage Zoe, who caught the eye of the god while running from her responsibilities. Her carefree nature and disregard for rules give the Targon mystics pause, her unpredictability causing concern among religious scholars. With her portals, Zoe acts as a messenger between the Celestial Realm of Aspects and Runeterra, heralding huge change and chaos.

She seems to be the only Aspect that feels sorry for Aurelion and has sworn to help him.

4 Pantheon

This champion is a little tricky to categorize. As a mortal, Atreus had his body taken over by the Aspect of War, Pantheon, to hunt down Darkin. Aatrox tore the Aspect from Atreus's body, killing it and removing its constellation from the sky. However, Atreus retained the celestial powers and survived the fight. Since then, Viego has resurrected the Aspect Pantheon to use against the Sentinels of Light, and then when Viego was defeated, the Aspect died again.

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Feeling weak and powerless, Atreus traveled to Mount Targon's, where Leona and the Solari knocked him into a ravine. At that point, Atreus just decided he was a god and flew away.

3 Leona

Leona standing by Locket of the Iron Solari in League of Legends

Leona is a beacon of devotion and belief when it comes to faith. Whether it was because of her unwavering dedication to the Solarin Rakkor or it was written in the stars, when Leona chased Diana to the top of Mount Targon, she was chosen to host the Aspect of the Sun.

She'd spent years trying to convince Diana to submit to her own faith and was devastated when instead she chose to run from it.

2 Diana

League of Legends Diana Blood Moon

The answers provided to her by her Rakkor mentors never filled the Void within Diana. When studying in the library, Diana found chapters concerning the moon were ripped out, and her teachers punished any questions. When one night, she found a cavern bathed in the moon's glow and depicting a united army of the sun and moon, Diana was thrilled to have her answer. Rakkor had once also worshiped the Lunari, but something mysterious had occurred.

At Mount Targon's peak, she was consumed by the moonlight and became host to the Aspect of the Moon, much to her friend's dismay.

1 Taric

League of Legends Taric Luminshield Twitch Shadowfoot Talon Blackwood

Taric's involvement with the Aspect of the Protector took a strange path. He was once a nobleman, fighting high in the ranks of the Demacian army, becoming admitted to the Dauntless Vanguard thanks to his friendship with Garen. But when Taric became bored while on duty and wandered into the woods, his entire battalion was slain, and Garen could excuse him no longer.

As punishment for not protecting his men, Taric was sent to climb Mount Targon, a task that usually killed anyone who attempted it. His grief and shame spurred him to the peak, where he was met with visions of daunting situations. In each, he showed unwavering bravery and love for all living things, and as such, he hosted the Aspect of the Protector.

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