Champion Ages in League of Legends
Ok I've pottered at this for long enough and I think at I'm at the limit of my age figurings, aside from some maybes in the bottom. So here we go: League champions tier according to their (relative) age.
Before we go on though I need to talk about the actual timeline of League of Legends, in relation to both what is considered "The Present" and also historical events.
Most new story content for League has historically been set in what you can call the "Current Year", that being the in-universe year that is considered the present day. For ages (2017-early 2021) this was the year 996. However as of the Rise of the Sentinels event in mid 2021, we are officially in 997, which puts all of these guys, bar one, one year older.
There is also the official timeline of Runeterra, which is referenced as being from a Noxian perspective specifically. This demarkates the various epochs of history, but it is very basic and given it's from a Noxian perspective it misses specific details we otherwise know about Runeterra, which I'll get in to as we go. The basic timeline goes as follows:
10,000 Years Ago (-9,000): The Vastayashai'rei fend off invading titans from beyond the sky in the lands of Ionia
9,000 Years Ago (-8,000): The War of the Three Sisters comes to an end, bringing an end to the mythical era of the Vorrijaard, and beginning the current, more mortal era of the Freljord.
7,000 Years Ago (-6,000): A mass diaspora of people from the far east (outside the known world) leads to the creation of numerous civilizations across Shurima and various islands, including but not limited to - Buhru, Helia, Ixtal and Targon.
6,000 Years Ago (-5,000): The Shuriman Empire is founded and the first Ascended are made.
3,500 Years Ago (-2,500): Icathia unleashes the Void in an effort to rebel against Shuriman conquest, starting the war where the Ascended fight the Void, and completely destroying the Icathian civilization.
3,000 Years Ago (-2,000): Azir's Ascension is stolen by Xerath, and the City of Shurima is destroyed in the process, leading to the collapse of the Shuriman Empire.
1,550 Years Ago (-550): The Great Darkin War, which began not long after Shurima's fall, comes to an end, and atleast 14 Darkin are sealed in their weapons as a result.
1,400 Years Ago (-400): The reign of Mordekaiser begins, with his undead empire lasting for 3 centuries.
1,026 Years Ago (-25 BN): The Ruination engulfs Helia, transforming the Blessed Isles in to the Shadow Isles.
1,014 Years Ago (-13): The Runes Wars begin.
1,001 Years ago (0): Noxus is officially founded as a nation.
705 Years Ago (292): Demacia crowns its first king.
648 Years Ago (349): Noxus officially becomes an empire.
225 Years Ago (772): Zaun is partially destroyed in a freak accident, caused by the efforts to create the Sun Gates. Piltover as a nation is founded shortly there after.
210 Years Ago (787): Bilgewater is founded by those shipwrecked on the Serpent Isles, with the permission of the native Buhru civilization.
13 Years Ago (984): The Noxian Invasion of Ionia begins.
8 Years Ago (989): Swain leads a coup in Noxus that deposes Emperor Boram Darkwill. The Noxian Invasion of Ionia officially ends with Noxus retreating.
So first off to discuss are the champions with an age that can be determined entirely from in-universe sources, and with near complete accuracy (barring birthday timings, which will be accounted for here). These are the ages I consider the most reliable, as they are not reliant on out-of-universe sources such as Rioter comments to verify. They go as follows with the following logic:
Akali was stated to be 9 years old during Swain's failed attempt to claim the Placidium in Ionia (source: The Bow, and the Kunai), which happened 2 years in to the Noxian Invasion of Ionia. This event thus happened in 986; 11 years ago, meaning Akali is 19/20 years old.
Irelia was stated to be 14 during the same event as above (Source: Irelia's bio), and so the same logic applies; 14 years old 11 years ago means she's 24/25 years old.
Kai'Sa was stated to have fallen in to the Void-infested tunnels beneath Shurima at age 10, and states she had been in said tunnels for another 10 years (source: The Girl Who Came Back). Given Kai'Sa was released in 2018, the current year at the time in-universe was 996, meaning she was 20 at the time, and now that the current year is 997, she is as such 20/21 years old.
Milio states in his own VO that he is 12 years old. Given he is a 2023 champion and the current year is 997, there is no birthday ambiguity present; he is definitively 12 years old (until Riot puts us forward another year on the timeline lol)
Rell is stated in her biography to be 16 years old. As she was released in 2020, she could thus be 16 in the year 996. Given it is now 997, she is as such 16/17 years old.
Sylas states that he was 12 when he was incarcerated due to the accident seen in "Demacian Heart" (source: The Mageseeker). He also states he was incarcerated for 15 years (source: The Mageseeker), and his breakout was in the year 996. With it now being 997 he is as such 27/28 years old.
Next we move from the bottom to the top and discuss champs from oldest to youngest, before covering any cases of ambiguity.
"Pre-Time" is the space before the existence of Runeterra, as time is considered a form of Elemental Magic, and as such technically didn't exist before Runeterra did. These champions are those who predate Runeterra entirely, and as such are not only the oldest champions, but impossible to put any date to age wise.
Aurelion Sol is stated to have been born when the universe was (source: A Sol bio), along with several other entities like him.
Bard was present when the first stars were born, but existed beforehand, making him as old (potentially older) than Aurelion Sol (source: Bard's bio).
Soraka has no lore about her time in the Celestial Realm, but seems to have existed for a time before Runeterra, making her older than it, but likely younger than Bard and Aurelion Sol (source: Soraka's bio).
Next is the "Prehistoric" tier, reserved for champions that are Runeterran native, but existed before recorded history, a.k.a. 10,000 years ago according to the Noxian timeline.
Fiddlesticks is fear itself, and as such has existed for as long as the concept of fear has existed, making it an entity that predates sapient life (source: Fiddlesticks' bio).
Anivia, Volibear and Ornn are part of the pantheon of gods that existed in the Freljord before mortals arrived. Their exact age is unknown, but they were considered the beings that shaped the Freljord in to what it was when mortals did arrive (source: Anivia's, Volibear's and Ornn's bios, as well as The Lost Tales of Ornn).
Fizz is stated to have lived among a sea-based civilization that existed prior to any landbased civilizations (source Fizz's bio). This theoretically makes Fizz older than the almost every other Runeterra native champion.
Kindred is stated to have existed for as long as people in Runeterra have known of death and conceptualized it (source: Kindred's bio). As such they are similar to the Freljordian demi-gods in that they will predate all mortal civilizations.
Maokai is stated to have been born when the Blessed Isles were created in a volcanic eruption. The Isles existed long before they were inhabited by mortals 7,000 years ago, but it is possible they were born in the 3,000 years between then and pre-history, though I find this unlikely, hence his placement as a prehistoric champion.
Kennen is implied to have lived in a time when the Vastayashai'rei existed (source: Kennen's bio), and as such would predate their existence.
Willump and Gnar are both stated to have been part of the yeti civilization (sources: Willump and Gnar's bio's), which came to an end due to Lissandra's betrayal at the end of the War of the Three Sisters. This means that, while it is possible they are younger, it is more likely that they existed in pre-historic times, as this is where the bulk of the yeti civilization's history was.
Next is two categories: 10k - 9k years ago and 9k - 7k years ago.
Ivern and Lissandra were both mortals who existed during the latter days of the Vorrijaard era, when the War of the Three Sisters also occured (sources: Ivern and Lissandra's bios), and as such must have existed before 9,000 years ago. This makes both of them the oldest known humans in all of Runeterra.
Vel'Koz is the oldest living Voidborn, and has two factors determining his age. Firstly, Lissandra's betrayal of the Watchers is what caused the Voidborn to be first created, and Vel'Koz was already known to Shurimans before the Imperial era began (source: Vel'Koz's bio), placing him as having a maximum and minimum age bracket.
Next is the "Imperial Shurima" section, divided in to five parts.
Rammus is stated to have statues dedicated to him which themselves date back to the earliest Ascensions (source: Rammus's bio), which puts him back to existing during or before the founding of the Empire.
Amumu has multiple, conflicting origins, which put him as being mythical by the time Nasus and Renekton are born (source: Amumu's bio), however all of them are Imperial Shuriman in origin, putting him tentatively as being first born between 6,000 and 3,800 years old.
Aatrox is stated to be the "Blade of Icathia" (source: Legends of Runeterra), and thus was present during Shurima's initial conquest of Icathia. This puts his minimum age as being over 4,400 years old (source: Zilean and Jax's bios), however we don't know if he was an Ascended at the time or not. Given his title I find it more likely that he was, so he is probably far older than 4,400, however he can't be older than 6,000 as Ascension didn't exist before then, and the first Ascended was presumably Setaka, not Aatrox.
Nasus and Renekton were Ascended for 300 years before the fall of Icathia (source: Bloodline), and as such can be inferred to be around 3,840-3,850 years of age roughly speaking, as they were both middle aged at the time of their Ascension.
Jax's father is stated to have been witness to Shurima's conquest of Icathia, which was 900 years before it then collapsed from the Void. As such Jax was born at some point between 4,400 and 3,500 years ago, however with his race being "long lived" (source: Jax's bio), we don't know when specifically during this time period.
Zilean and Varus were both fully mortal during the time Icathia rebelled against Shurima and thus fell in to the Void. This puts them as being within 100 years of age relative to the actual war with the Void (sources: Varus and Zilean's bios)
Azir and Xerath were both fully mortal before Shurima's fall, putting them at being somewhere just above 3,000 years old (source: anything related to Shurima's fall)
Rek'Sai is implied to have been created during the conflict between the Ascended and the Void (source: Xerxa'reth the Undertitan), putting her at a maximum of 3,500 years old. It is highly unlikely she is younger than this, given how she has changed the natural ecology of Sai Kahleek since her creation.
Next up is the time period between the fall of Shurima and the Rune Wars, which is a long time but I wanna try and keep this tied in to specific epochs and such.
Vladimir was alive during the Great Darkin War, and was taken as a servant for an unnamed Darkin (source: Vladimir's bio), putting him between 3,000 and 1,550 years of age.
Veigar and LeBlanc were both aides to Mordekaiser when he returned to Valoran as an undead warlord, the former unwillingly. As such this puts their minimum ages as between 1,400 and 1,100 years of age, however both could be considerably older (sources: Veigar's and LeBlanc's bios).
Zoe can be determined based on her bio to have been born between 1,550 and 1,400 years ago, but she essentially skipped the time between as she was outside of the Material Realm where time exists. As such While Zoe was born over 1,400 years ago, she is still definitively a teenager.
Gwen, Hecarim, Kalista, Ryze, Thresh, Veigo and Yorick were all mortal (or in Gwen's case, an inanimate object) during the Ruination, which happened 1,026 years ago (source: their bios and the Ruination novel). Their exact ages vary (e.g. Ryze was much younger than the rest, Viego was in his early twenties), but they all existed prior to this specific point in time.
Ahri was orphaned as a baby, and it is stated that her tribe, the Vesani, were wiped out due to the Ruination (source: Ruined King). As such it is reasonable to assume that she must have been born before this time, putting her in a similar age bracket to the Camavoran and Helian champions above, but she could be significantly older given she's a vastaya.
Evelynn, Kayle, Morgana and Nocturne were all born during the Rune Wars (source: their bios), which puts them between 1,010 and 1,000 years of age. The specific timeframe within this is unknown.
Poppy and Kled both became part of Demacia and Noxus respectively when each nation was new (source: their bios), putting them at a minimum of 1,000 years of age, as these nations were directly founded in the immediate aftermath of the Rune Wars. They are likely significantly older than this; this is simply their absolute minimum age.
The next category is between 1,000 and 100 years, this covering champions whose history or nature as entities puts them within the bounds of time between the Rune Wars and now, but are all either definitively or likely older than any living mortal.
Brand was Ryze's apprentice before he was overtaken by his desire for power, and transformed in to what he is now by the power of a World Rune (source: Brand's bio). He is stated to have been active for centuries since then.
Elise was born during an unknown timeframe in Noxian history, but is stated to have been born centuries ago, hence her inclusion here (source: Elise's bio).
Galio was created when Demacia was known to be a kingdom, and has existed for centuries, putting him at a maximum of 705 years of age (source: Galio's bio).
Karthus is stated to have lived in slums just beyond the walls of the Noxian capital (source: Karthus's bio), which are not known to exist in the current time. As such it is likely, albeit not 100% confirmed, that Karthus was born before 100 years ago, however he can't be older than 997 as Noxus didn't exist before this point.
Nami, Neeko, Rakan, Rengar, Wukong and Xayah have no specified age, however it is noted that vastaya at large are suffering from mass infertility due to disruptions in wild magic (source: the Vastaya page on Universe), which has led to no new vastayan children in the last few mortal lifetimes. Rioter comments to this support this, with an estimation that no vastayan champion we have is under 180 years old.
Nautilus has no specified timeframe for his existence, however he cannot be older than 210 years old, as this was when Bilgewater was founded, and he was a native Bilgewatian (source: Nautilus's bio). Given his mythical status, I have him tentatively in this category, as it's more likely for him to be older than anything mortal than to be a contemporary to Bilgewater's current mortal population.
Sion is stated to have existed "a century past", putting him at being likely around 150 years old (source: Sion's bio), likely having died in his 40's or 50's.
Next we have the tiers reserved for champions who have been born, and exist within, a mortal lifetime, with a maximum cap I'm putting on of 100 years. Not all of these champions are actually mortal, but they can be placed in the last 100 years more definitively than others.
As a note, because much of this relies on estimation and aproximation, I deffered to the idea that, if a champion must be an "adult" at a specific time in history, they were at minimum 20 years of age.
Alistar is stated to have been a renowned warrior when he was enslaved by Noxus, which occured because Noxus wanted to conquer the independent state of Basilich (source: Alistar's bio, Darius: Blood of Noxus). That happened 23 years ago, and so Alistar had to be a renowned warrior at the time. Assuming a youngest possible age of 20, this would make Alistar 43 years old at minimum, though he is likely older.
Camille was stated during her development to be around 80 years old (source: Rioter comments). Given surrounding lore context (Progress Day, Darius: Blood of Noxus), this would put her as roughly 80 in 996, which would go to 81 in the current year: 997. So roughly 81 years of age.
Gangplank was an adult when Miss Fortune was a young girl, and as such can be inferred from her own age. MF however has no lore to actually indicate her age, so all we can do is guess she's somewhere in her 20's, maybe early 30's. Assuming a minimum age on GP of 20, this'd put him in his mid-late 40's, possibly in his 50's.
Kassadin is similar to Gangplank in that we can infer his age based on another champion; Kai'Sa. As he is her father, he had to have been an adult when he concieved her, and using 20 as a minimum paired with Kai'Sa's known age of 21, this puts Kassadin at a minimum of 41 years old, though he is likely older.
Malzahar is a bit trickier than Kassadin but follows similar logic. He was an adult when she fell in to the underground, as his actions caused that event to happen indirectly (source: Malzahar's and Kai'Sa's bios). This means his minimum age is actually 31, going by 20 as a baseline, but I chose to bump him up as it made more sense to me if he was closer to Kassadin's age, though this is entirely a personal choice made on my part.
Pantheon is really awkward it is stated that the Aspect of War commandeered his body for several decades, during which time he barely aged (source: In Battle, Broken), which made him significantly older than his contemporary, Iula, who is currently 68 years old. Using her as a basis, we can simply estimate he is of a similar age, and thus in his late 60's to early 70's.
Renata Glasc had pre-release content which is not available outside of the League wiki now, but stated that Glasc Industries; the business she runs, has existed for 30 years. Given she originally worked with her parents, and founded Glasc Industries after her parents were dead, she must have been an adult around this time (source: Renata Glasc's bio). Assuming a minimum age of 20 for adulthood, this would make her 50 years old at minimum, though she is possibly older.
Singed can be determined in part due to Camille. Singed was in academia when hextech was new, and given Camille became a cyborg at age 25, this would put Singed as being in university as roughly 56 years ago. Given he was being funded for research at the time, we can safetly assume he was an adult, and so using the age 20 minimum, we can estimate that Singed is somewhere around 76 years of age, likely older (source: Camille's and Singed's bios).
Udyr is Sejuani's oathfather, and while we can only estimate her age relative to Ashe, we know that Udyr had romantic relations with Sejuani's mother, Kalkia, before Sej was born (source: Udyr's bio). As such we can infer that he was at minimum 20 before she was born, and so knowing that Sejuani is roughly similar to Ashe's age of roughly 25, this'd put Udyr at being around 45, potentially older.
Xin Zhao was an adult when he first met the Jarvans (source: What Once Sailed Free, Aftermath). This event is stated to have happened 20 (now 21) years ago, so with our adult minimum of 20, Xin Zhao would thus be 41 years old at a minimum, likely older.
Darius and Draven were both not adults when Noxus conquered their home-city of Basilich 23 years ago (source: Blood of Noxus). While specific ages aren't specified, they both look to be in their teens, placing them both above 33 years of age.
Graves is stated to have been "gay for the better part of four decades" according to Twisted Fate (source: The Boys and Bombolini). This means Graves would be at an absolute maximum of 40, and wouldn't be below 31 years of age. A part of me thinks I might be being silly here in assuming the statement means Graves is at a max age of 40 but someone else can correct me on that I'm very tired right now I've been at this for too long.
Jhin, Shen and Zed have their ages inferred from the ZED comic and the writer's comments. Shen and Zed are similar ages, and were in their mid teens during their first confrontations with Jhin around twenty years ago, putting both of them in their mid 30's. Odin Shafer's comments to the effect put Zed specifically around 34-35, now 35-36. He also stated that Jhin is 4 years older than Zed, putting Jhin at 39-40 years old.
Samira is stated from rioter comments to be around 32 (now 33) years of age.
Ashe and Sejuani are inferred from comments about the Ashe: Warmother comics. Odin Shafer noted he had Ashe as about 15-16 during the comic, and that it happened around 8 years ago at the time, which would be 996. This would put Ashe at roughly 24-25 years old in the current year, with Sejuani likely being a similar age.
Briar is stated by Rioters to have existed in-universe for a couple of decades, and is intended to come across as like she's fresh out of college.
Garen, Lux, J4, Quinn and Taric exist within a similar space of ages. Lux was 16 when Garen became a member of the Dauntless Vanguard, and he only began trials for that after their aunt, Tianna Crownguard, became the High Marshal of Demacia, following the fall of the Gates of Mourning, which was somewhere around 990-991 (source: a bunch of Demacia stories and bios). Garen was stated to have been reputed in the military by the age of 18, and it is also stated that Garen has led the DV for 4 years (source: Garen: First Shield), which means Garen had to join the DV between 990 and 993, as the sourced story happens in 997. Assuming minimums, Garen is between 22 and 25 years old, with Lux being between 21 and 23 years old. Taric and Jarvan are similar ages to Garen, which makes it more likely that Garen is closer to 25 than 22, and possibly older, given Jarvan was combat ready and a capable fighter when the Gates of Mourning fell, so roughly 7 years ago. Taric was exiled from Demacia by Garen to save him from the death penalty when Garen became head of the DV, putting his banishment in 993. Quinn is stated to be a young woman in the aftermath of the fall of the Gates of Mourning, putting her around her mid to late 20's as well.
Qiyana was stated by rioters to be 20 years old, but given she is a 2019 release, this would be in 996, so with it being 997 she'd be 21.
Sett was still young, but fighting in the pits when he was a teenager, and this was when the Noxian Invasion of Ionia was beginning, itself being 14 years ago. This puts Sett's minimum age as likely around 26-27, more likely being in his very late 20's or early 30's.
Sona was a child during the Noxian Invasion of Ionia, which began 14 years ago. Given she is considered an adult now, she would thus have a minimum age of 20 during 996. It is more likely that she is older, but this would be the absolute miniumum age for her.
Taliyah is stated by Rioters to have been around 16-17 when she returned to Shurima. Given she left during a 1 year timeframe between the end of the Noxian Invasion of Ionia and Yasuo being aquitted for the murder of Elder Souma (source: Confessions of a Broken Blade) this puts her as being around that age in the year 990, which would put her as being 23-24 years old now.
I'm actually out of characters to keep writing so this'll have to do. I'll add a bit more in a reply if I can
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