Notice!
This page is about Vander, one of the characters in the main Arcane universe. For the alternate universe version of this character, please see Vander/Alternate Universe.
When did you get so comfortable living in someone else's shadow?
Vi to Vander, "Welcome to the Playground"
Vander (later known as Warwick) was a supporting character in Arcane. He was once the determined and zealous unspoken leader and protector of the undercity. Vander did all he could in his later life to ensure the safety of those under his protection—the residents of Zaun and, more specifically, the four children he'd taken under his wing, as his own. When a series of events forces him to choose between an established truce between Zaun and Piltover and his children, Vander's life is up-ended by his past.
Biography[]
Early life[]
In his youth, Vander formed a strong sibling-like bond with two other Zaunite individuals, Silco and Felicia, with him and Silco sharing dreams of Zaun's freedom and unity as one nation. At one point, however, the two had a falling out, after which Vander tried to drown Silco in a river, only for the latter to slice his arm to escape.[1]
Vander would come to earn the nickname "Hound of the Underground", who fought for the community he'd supposedly built and united. He tried to lead a revolt across the bridge to Piltover, one that ended in failure and resulted in multiple deaths, including those of Felicia and Connol. Upon seeing their bodies, Vander dropped his gauntlets, symbolically abandoning his fight against Piltover,[1] and took their children Vi and Powder in. Eventually, he also came to adopt two other children: Mylo and Claggor, all of whom grew up eager to please and to prove themselves to Vander and everyone else around them.[2]
In hopes of establishing some semblance of peace in Zaun for their protection, Vander struck a deal with the Enforcers, mainly their Sheriff, Grayson—he would ensure that Zaunites would not cause trouble in the upper city, and the enforcers will stay out of his business.[2] This news would somehow reach Silco, who despised this decision.[1]
Season 1[]
One day, his children decided to go topside to try to pull off a heist on their own. The attempt caught the attention of the Council and the authorities because it caused an explosion in the Academy district, and the workshop they'd broken into belonged to an influential family. Even Vander's connection to the Enforcers and the leniency of Sheriff Grayson could not protect them, though Grayson at least asked for one culprit to take responsibility so that they could present a culprit to the Council.[2]
Vander had to talk the children down, particularly Vi, from making more of a scene. This proved challenging due to the continued pressure on the enforcers from the Council and the children's tendency for trouble. After a conversation with Vi, during which he reminded her of the risks fighting Piltover posed,[3] Vi stole the pneumatic tube capsule from Vander and sent a message to Grayson so she could surrender herself to spare the others. Vander caught on, stopped Vi, and trapped her in Benzo's basement while he turned himself in instead.
Before he could be taken to the upper city, they were intercepted by Silco and Deckard who, after killing Grayson and Benzo, dragged Vander to Silco’s Shimmer factory. Silco finally confronted him for their last encounter before he strapped Vander to a chair in preparation for an experiment for Singed. Vi, Claggor, and Mylo then arrived to break him out. Moments away from escaping, multiple explosions caused by Powder rock the cannery, and Vander fights back against Silco's remaining men and the beast before getting stabbed by Silco. Desperate to protect Vi, Vander used the last of his strength to take Shimmer, temporarily turning himself into a monstrous beast. Vander then grabbed Vi and jumped out of the collapsing building, apparently dying from the fall.[1]
However, as revealed in Episode 9, Singed found Vander's body and took it back to his lab, where he began experimenting on him.
Season 2[]
Vander, now Warwick, has been transformed into a wolf-like beast by Singed. Vander retains little of his humanity as he becomes instinctual, bloodthirsty, and animalistic. He is then released and rampages the prison that Jinx and Sevika are inside, freeing Zaunite prisoners that were arrested unlawfully; one of these prisoners being Isha. Warwick continues the spree, killing any guard and prisoner in his way until finally getting to Jinx, Sevika, Isha, and the Enforcers who were preparing to arrest them. The Enforcers turn their focus to Warwick, attempting and failing to stop him as Jinx haphazardly prepares her weapons. Jinx would tell Sevika to run and get Isha away as she prepares the fight the beast head on.
Jinx ends up getting pinned to the wall, Warwick ready to tear her apart until pausing. Flashes of Powder begin to cloud his eyes as he stares at Jinx, remembering the scared little girl he took in as his own daughter. This seemed to calm the beast, as Warwick’s breathing steadied, and as he's calming down, the only thing he says is: "Powder?"
Characteristics[]
Personality[]
Vander is implied to have been a brutal man in his younger years. A flashback reveals an incident between him and Silco, where Vander tried to viciously drown the latter in Zaun’s polluted river, despite carrying a knife with him. After leading a failed uprising against Piltover's regime that saw a tragic loss of life, Vander was forced to bear the message to Vi and Powder that their parents had lost their lives in the fighting. After witnessing the grief this bore upon the two children, Vander turned pacifist, dropping his weapons and carrying the girls away to raise them as their father.
At the time of Arcane's first act, Vander was the surrogate father of Vi, Powder, Mylo, and Claggor. A caring man, Vander was always willing to protect those who needed his help. He was seen as a protector by many, and he cared for the Lanes and the people in them. He governed the Lanes through paternal authority, relying on people's gratitude and genuine respect for him to maintain order. Even though he had turned pacifist, he defied his dogma in Episode 3, fighting and seemingly dying to save Vi's life.
Appearance[]
Vander was a large, muscular middle-aged man with grey eyes, dark hair, and a neatly trimmed, graying beard. He was generally seen wearing blue trousers, leather boots, a brown leather jacket over a white undershirt, and a leather pauldron on his upper right arm to cover up the scar he got from Silco when Vander tried to drown him.
When Vander uses Shimmer as a last resort to save Vi, it dramatically increases his muscle mass, makes him grow several feet in height, and makes his veins purple and pop out all over his body. The drug also makes him lose some of his cognitive abilities, as he was seen acting more animalistic while under the effects of Shimmer.
In his transformed state as Warwick, he has an unnaturally muscular and enlarged body with dark grey fur coating his back, head, and arms. He has metal fans and bolts scattered across body, as well as a central pump filled with a green liquid on his back. His hands are metal gauntlets with sharp claws as fingers. Vander’s face has wolf-like features with pointy ears, wolf nose, and a smaller muzzle-like mouth with sharp teeth. He has dark grey hair and a beard which connects to the fur on his back. In this form; his sclera is black, his right iris is blue, and his left iris is yellowish-green.
Abilities[]
- Brawler: Vander had a gift for hand-to-hand combat and was shown to dominate most fights he ever got involved in, even against Shimmer-enhanced opponents. He also taught Vi how to punch, a notable feat considering how skilled Vi became at boxing in her teenage years.
- Barkeep: As the owner of The Last Drop, Vander was a skilled bartender and could make various kinds of drinks.
- Leader: Vander was a competent and honorable leader despite his past failings, and many Zaunites respected him for it, even after he supposedly died.
- Teacher: As the adoptive father of four children, Vander would be their primary teacher in life and gave them just about every skill they needed to survive in Zaun. Even after his assumed death, his lessons would still resonate with Vi and Powder, as displayed when Vi had a hallucination of him encouraging her to work on her guard and get back up during her second fight with Sevika.
Trivia[]
- Vander was widely theorized to be the League of Legends champion Warwick,[4][5] which was confirmed in the final episode of season 1. This is further shown in Arcane: Season 2 First Look.
- Vander and Loris have similar appearances, and Vi mistook Loris for Vander in the series finale.
Appearances[]
| Season One appearances: 3/9 | ||
| "Welcome to the Playground": Appears |
"Some Mysteries Are Better Left Unsolved": Appears |
"The Base Violence Necessary for Change": In main story and flashback |
| "Happy Progress Day!": Absent |
"Everybody Wants to Be My Enemy": Mentioned only |
"When These Walls Come Tumbling Down": Mentioned only |
| "The Boy Savior": Mentioned only |
"Oil and Water": Absent |
"The Monster You Created": Illusion only |
| Season Two appearances: 4/9 | ||
| "Heavy Is the Crown": Absent |
"Watch It All Burn": Absent |
"Finally Got the Name Right": Appears as a corpse only |
| "Paint The Town Blue": Appears |
"Blisters And Bedrock": Appears |
"The Message Hidden Within The Pattern": Appears |
| "Pretend Like It's the First Time": Alternate universe |
"Killing Is a Cycle": As a corpse; Warwick |
"The Dirt Under Your Nails": Appears |
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 The Base Violence Necessary for Change, 1x03
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Welcome to the Playground, 1x01
- ↑ Some Mysteries Are Better Left Unsolved, 1x02
- ↑ "vander warwick" Google Search results
- ↑ Vander on the League of Legends Wiki
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