Introduction
It’s been more than 6 months now since the launch of League of Legend’s hit Netflix show, Arcane. The first season introduced us to over a dozen characters, some being popular Champions from League of Legends, and others being completely new to fans.
As this is only the beginning of the stories of Runeterra, with the confirmation that Season 2 is already in production, it has left fans wondering where the future of the story will lead us, and many are turning to the canon lore of each of these Champions in League of Legends to gather some clues. Importantly, many are trying to pinpoint where this story actually occurs in the ‘timeline’ of Runterra, to see if we can determine what might be coming up next. Many die-hard fans have been digging for some time now and struggling to determine how old these characters are to determine what could come next.
Of course, some ages are revealed in the first season, but most are not. On top of it all, after the first Act there is a time jump of an unconfirmed period that just adds to the confusion. So, without any further ado, let’s dive into how old these characters are, and try to pinpoint what that could mean for their futures based on the lore we have available to us. We will note first that Riot Games has already confirmed that the stories that emerge from Arcane will not follow canon lore perfectly, but we have already seen that there is a significant influence as we would expect! Let’s start with the face of the show!
Arcane Vi Age
With Vi, Jinx, and Vander, there are actually two time jumps in their stories because they are all featured in the premier’s opening scene with the battle on the bridge where Vi and Jinx lose their birth parents. While it’s difficult to determine their ages at that point, we do know the ball-park ages of Vi and Jinx for the rest of the series! One of Arcane’s writers confirmed that the time jump between Act I and Act II was about 6-7 years. Additionally, the writer confirmed that Vi was about 15 during the first Act and therefore after the time jump, roughly 21 years old.
The writer also notes that time doesn’t really work the same way in Runeterra as it does on Earth in reality, perhaps suggesting something about Ekko’s future in the show and an explanation for his time traveling! Of course, if you’re a fan of physics, it could also be more of a suggestion to the fact that time is relative and the physical world of Runeterra experiences time differently. For example, Runeterra might not have 24 hour days, or even four seasons!
Nevertheless, Vi was likely orphaned just before her teenage years, spent her early teenage years with Vander, and was essentially orphaned again for the rest of her adolescence until being jailed in Stillwater Hold. As you might expect, this is a roller-coaster of a life before even becoming an adult and shows that there will be problems in her future that come from the unfortunate circumstances she grew up in. Most have already been identified in the first season with her relationship issues with the different characters in Arcane, but when Vi is presumably given more authority in the upcoming season, she will likely struggle to follow the rules. This of course relates heavily to the thematic Vi portrays in League of Legends as the Officer that punches first, and asks questions later! Hope this answers how old Vi is in Arcane.
Arcane Zeri Age
Zeri is in the range of 22-27 years old. While she looks younger and her voice sounds young too she’s older than the appearances. If you read the lore from Riot you will notice she’s also a mother which is pretty young in age. While she’s not yet in Arcane we may see her in upcoming episodes as she’s related to Ekko. Why would you say that? Well the reason here is that Zeri is related to Ekko and Ekko is a main character of the series. For now no one knows but I figured I’d add it for your enjoyment.
Arcane Jinx Age
As previously mentioned, Jinx’s age before the time jump was narrowed down to roughly 11 years only by one of Arcane’s writers, which leaves her as another troubled youth with an unprecedented upbringing by the time she is essentially adopted by Silco at the end of the first Act. After the time jump, this leaves Jinx at roughly 18 years old and still very impressionable!
The culmination of her upbringing in the polar opposites that were Vander and Silco compounds the internal mental warfare she already has with herself; as Jinx and Powder. So much so that the sheer fact that both names are used to further define the limits of one personality and the other, really make it seem like they are two very different characters that were somehow pushed into the same body.
The dichotomy of Jinx is certainly not over despite the conclusion of the season featuring Jinx literally choosing Jinx over Powder and the fact that she needed a variant of Shimmer to survive her own bridge bombing. Vi will definitely believe Powder is still in there, and I think it’s reasonable to believe she still is. Hope this answers how old Jinx is in Arcane.
Arcane Ekko Age
Ekko is another misfit of the Undercity that was clearly somewhere between Vi and Jinx in age, but definitely closer to Jinx. So, if there’s roughly three years between the sisters, we’ll put Ekko at 19 years old with the potential he’s 20. If you take the Imagine Dragon’s official music video for Arcane’s theme song ‘Enemy’ into consideration as part of the story, Ekko idolizes Vi almost as much as Jinx and when you consider the age difference, the chances are that he’s closer to Jinx in age then Vi otherwise his admiration for her wouldn’t be as apparent.
With Ekko, many believe that the second season will introduce us to a brand new version of Ekko, decked out in new Hextech as the final shot of Ekko in the finale shows him tinkering on something with Heimerdinger! Hopefully, we will see a lot more of Ekko as we’re sure he has plenty of life left in him! Hope this answers how old Ekko is in Arcane.
Arcane Caitlyn Age
As already confirmed by the same Arcane writer as the previous characters listed, Caitlyn’s age is pretty well set in stone. Caitlyn is referenced as being more-or-less the same age as Vi. However, considering Caitlyn’s gig as a Piltover officer, she’s more likely on the older side of Vi than younger. When you take into account Caitlyn’s weaknesses as a character come from her upbringing in the prestige of her family, she’s slightly ignorant to the difficulties of living outside of Piltover and something like that doesn’t go away with age. It goes away with experience outside the comfort of her own home! She doesn’t really have any other faults, so there’s a good chance she’s mature and comfortable with who she is so we’ll set her at 22 years old at the end of the first season!
As a result, Caitlyn likely has a lot more time left in Runeterra to explore her life as an Officer and hopefully, teaming up with Vi! There’s also an interesting piece of lore surrounding the kidnapping of Caitlyn’s parents that could be an interesting starting point for next season as this was supposed to take place when Caitlyn is relatively young! Hope this answers how old Caitlyn is in Arcane.
Arcane Jayce Age
Jayce’s age is very easy to find as he reveals it in the show as 24 years old (before the time jump). Therefore, he’s 31 years old after the time jump and roughly 8 years older than Caitlyn (a shock to some)! There’s plenty of room left in Jayce’s development as a character and far too much left in his relationship with Viktor. Especially when considering the feud and grueling back-and-forth between Jayce and Viktor, they are certainly surviving the blast that’s featured in the cliff-hanger of the finale!
If the story progresses similarly to the lore, Jayce and Viktor will be divided again, but this time, for good. This will send Viktor back to Zaun (the Undercity) where he will continue tinkering and becoming his true (mechanical) form and use his inventions to turn the chemically deranged citizens of the undercity into mechanical beings like himself that may try and take over Piltover in the show’s future! Hope this answers how old Jayce is in Arcane.
Arcane Heimerdinger Age
Like Jayce, Heimerdinger’s age is also revealed before the time jump. Before the time jump, Heimerdinger is 307 years old and roughly 314 years old after. Heimerdinger openly states in the show that he has experienced a lot in his time and has a tremendous worry for the pursuit that individuals can succumb to in an effort for the greater good. Although Viktor is the one that says the line, “We were so busy trying to be great, that we failed to do good”, Heimerdinger is pretty much the epitome of that cautionary warning, having lived to see far too many good people take a turn for the worst. Another great line that summarizes this concept is actually from the Dark Knight movie, “You either die a hero, or live long enough to become the villain.”
Heimerdinger essentially acts as the moral compass, that too, has his flaws, but not in the sense of morality (at least so far in the show), but in the sense of understanding the difficulties that everyone around him has to deal with everyday; knowing you’re going to die. Heimdinger is a Yordle, and Yordles are traditionally spiritual beings that cannot die in the same way normal ‘humans’ can in Runeterra. As a result, it’s difficult for him to fully comprehend the pressure that comes with time.
That is what makes his final scene in the first season with Ekko of all people so interesting. Ekko is all about time! There’s a good chance that this relationship is what will build Heimerdinger’s understanding of the value of time, and that to most, it’s a limited resource that must be cherished. Hope this answers how old Heimerdinger is in Arcane.
Arcane Viktor Age
Viktor is another fantastic character from Arcane with a lot of influences to his character. Of course, his main problem that he faces is his impending death from disease. Presumably, because of his close ties with Jayce and a relatively equal footing in respects, he’s likely around the same age if not a year or two older than Jayce. Viktor is, afterall, dying of a disease so there’s a good chance he’s not any younger than Jayce as there are likely not many diseases that would cause someone to die in their early 20’s in Runeterra. But, you can never truly know as his disease is not disclosed or explained to an extent that makes it truly comparable to real life.
Regardless, Viktor’s character arc is so closely tied with Jayce’s that it’s hard to believe that there would be a significant age gap between them. As a result, we’ll put Viktor at 33 years old. Hope this answers how old Viktor is in Arcane.
Arcane Singed Age
The final Champion that we will cover in this list, Singed is clearly older than most of the other characters in Arcane because of Viktor’s flashback as a boy where Singed barely looks to be younger than he currently is. Even before the time jump where Singed suffers from severe burns, he doesn’t look very young either. If we had to put a number on it, it’s probably fair to say that he is a solid generation or more older than Viktor which would put him roughly at the age of 55. Of course, generations in Arcane could look a whole lot different in Arcane, but from the information we have so far, it seems more likely that they are pretty similar to real life, if not prolonged since they have characters that can evidently live longer than humans!
If the rumors are true and Orianna is Singed’s daughter, then there really is a great chance that Singed is potentially even older than 55! It really is hard to tell, but we are pretty confident that we will get a better idea of his age in the next season! Hope this answers how old Singed is in Arcane.
The Other Main Characters
To summarize the other main character’s worth noting, Vander is obviously going to be fairly close to Silco and Singed in age, so Vander and Silco are likely around their mid-50’s (if they are still alive).
Ambessa is probably slightly older than these three as she was clearly conquesting when Mel was young and in Mel’s flashback to those times with Noxus, Ambessa still seems to be older than Mel is now! Mel is likely a couple of years older than Jayce, but not by much. If anything, she is probably the same age as Viktor, which is likely around 33 years old by the end of the first season!
Marcus, the lead enforcer, was likely a few years older than Mel as he already has a young daughter that appears to be at least five years old. With that in mind, Marcus is probably pushing 40 years old, but likely not more than that! Finally, Sevika, Silco’s top guard, is probably around the same ballpark age as Marcus in terms of her appearance. Her age is purely speculation, with the main characteristic that points to her maturity coming from her advising Silco on Jinx’s behaviour, knowing that she will come back to him. The dialogue in this scene almost seems to hint that Sevika has the experience of the dynamic in both the daughter’s perspective, as well as the parent’s. Although for this to be true, Sevika would probably be closer to 50 than 40, but again, this is Runeterrra so there’s no telling what the societal norms are or even the differences in biology and physics that could account for differences in lifetime milestone’s that fall under traditional age ranges in real life!
Conclusion
There you have it! Those are what we believe are the ages of the most popular characters in Arcane and what we believe their ages could mean for the future of the show! Cross your fingers with us and hope that the second season comes sooner than we think!
You can find more about Arcane on Netflix here.
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