The Mystery of Doran in League of Legends

There are many mysteries around the game, way too many I would say. Many of them have been found by players, that work together putting theories on the table and getting solid arguments, Riot has confirmed some but have left many in mystery. One of the most popular mysteries was made out of an artwork made by Riot, it is a battle between Jarvan IV and Swain using Demonic Ascension. 

The interesting part here is that Jarvan, who appears facing swain and you see half of his body is reflected on Swain’s armor and the reflection apparently is Leblanc. Many speculations were debated and even a story was made, claiming Leblanc took Jarvan IV prisoner and she was using a clone of Jarvan IV to start a war with Noxus. Incredible, isn’t it? 

The Mystery that we are going to speak about today is about Doran, do you remember that last name? 

Itemization: The beginning of every match

One of the most important parts of the game is the items, everyone needs items and the right itemization can give you a good advantage over your enemy. Through seasons, we have been seen new items and we had to say goodbye to some others (bye-bye Philosopher’s Stone, we still miss you). But some other items have lasted for a long time and I believe those items are going to be forever in the game, especially if those items have a good background in the game. 

The lore is the story behind the game, which is actually pretty good and I feel happy about Riot hearing all the ideas of making more cinematics and nowadays a series that you can watch! But the story behind the game is fantastic, if you don’t know about it I can highly recommend you to take a look at at least the story behind your favorite champions, I bet you are going to get hooked and you will want to know more!

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Sword, Shield, and Ring

There are a few items that everybody (and I mean it) remembers, three items that you can choose to start your game along with one or two potions. Yes, I’m speaking about Doran’s. Doran’s Blade, Doran’s Shield, and Doran’s Ring. Doran’s weapons are the most underrated and yet the most useful weapons everyone can get with just a few hundred gold.

There has been always a controversial conversation about Doran’s weapons and flat items (Long Sword, Amplifying Tome, and Cloth armor) and which one is better. In my opinion, Doran weapons are the best. Even though you can’t stack them anymore, Doran’s items are still helpful in many ways, but besides that, what makes Doran’s items so special? 

Well, to answer this question, we have to take a look at some stories behind these items, have you ever wondered why the name of this shield, sword, and ring is Doran? 

Who is Doran? 

According to the old lore that nowadays can be found in different sites, Doran was a man that was born with a hammer in his hand and a forge in his heart, A.K.A. a craftsman/smith. 

So Effrem E. Doran had a gift, every single artifact he touched, he always found a way to improve it and make it better. The gift and the ability to make everything better gave to Doran a call from the League to work there when he was very young still, with the promise of getting the title of Master Artificer, a dream that many craftsmen and smiths wanted to achieve and Doran was very proud to get that title very early in his life. But not everything was good, on his way to the League he suffered an accident that turned things a bit complicated for him. 

His carriage broke an axle and when he was checking it he got kicked on his head by his donkey, which caused him big damage. When he managed to get to the Institute of War he was different, his mind soft and the kick was the reason, but luckily for him, his passion was still there. The difference was that he couldn’t craft masterpieces anymore, but just simple items, and not just a few but many,  and three of these items are the swords, the shield, and the ring that uses his last name. 

Doran was born in Ionia and there he belonged to the Wuju order (sounds familiar?) In the League of Legends two champions belong to the same order, Master Yi and his disciple, Kong, who after dominating the Wuju path got a new honorific reserved for the brightest students and a magic rod, since that, his name changed to Wukong. Among all the incredible artifacts and weapons, Doran crafted, remains Wukong’s Rod and Master Yi’s Helmet. 

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Doran a Wuju Master

Doran was a well-respected person in the whole of Ionia but also respected by the whole members of the Wuju Order. “Wuju is Art” and Doran taught Master Yi on many occasions, and is very easy to realize how wise and what type of personality he had in a story called “Poetry with the Blade” that can be found on the Riot site.

Being part of the Wuju Order meant among other things that he obtained absolute spiritual awareness of everything if you add the ancient fight style of the Wulu, then, only the best weapons were probably made by the Wuju Masters. More stories are needed in order to confirm some other ideas, but accordingly with the information can be found Doran has passed away. 

Re-cap of Doran’s skills and theories. 

Doran, as I said before, was born with a gift, a gift to turn every single trinket, weapon, armor, and artifact into something better, until he got in an accident that affected him. He was a Master of Wuju, dominating the art of Wuju provided him the best experience to know more about his passion. Also, and this is a theory that hasn’t been confirmed, he was Ornn’s apprentice.

Yes, the Freljordian spirit of forging and craftsmanship. It is said that he works in the solitude of a massive smithy, hammered out from the lava caverns beneath the volcano Hearth-Home. There he stokes bubbling cauldrons of molten rock to purify ores and fashion items of unsurpassed quality. This theory came to light with one of the phrases Ornn uses in the game. After Ornns finishes forging an item in the game, he says “I taught Doran everything he knows”.

So what’s the story behind this, it is uncertain and even though Doran is dead in the lore nowadays, this “issue” hasn’t ever been a problem for Riot to make a character shine.

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Conclusion

So Doran has a heavyweight over some parts of the story, due to his background it would be very nice to learn more about him and especially the path that took him to the place he got as a respected man for everyone. So far I can tell you are no longer going to see the Doran items in the same way as you did before. I’m fairly sure you like me are interested in the part where he is Ornn’s disciple.

Can you imagine what would have happened if Doran wouldn’t ever have that accident? Is Doran connected to some other Champions or Weapons? Hopefully, someday we will get all the answers that we have.