Notice!
This page is about Vi, one of the characters in the main Arcane universe. For the alternate universe version of this character, please see Vi/Alternate Universe.
I am the dirt under your nails, cupcake. Nothing's gonna clean me out..."
Vi, answering Caitlyn's question, if she's still in her fight, The Dirt Under Your Nails
Violet (commonly known as Vi) is one of the two main protagonists in Arcane alongside her younger sister, Jinx.
When their parents were killed by Enforcers, Vi and Powder were adopted by Vander, who let them take up thievery jobs with their adopted siblings Claggor and Mylo. However, a mission to rescue Vander goes wrong when Powder murders him, Claggor and Mylo, causing Vi to abandon Powder and get sent to Stillwater Hold to be imprisoned. Years later, she was freed by Caitlyn Kiramman to help her to thief of the Hextech Gemstone and bring Silco to justice. On their mission in Zaun, Vi and Caitlyn personally confronted Silco and Jinx until they were captured by the Firelights led by Ekko. After losing the Gemstone and failing to convince the Piltover Council, Vi teamed up with Jayce Talis to shut down Silco’s Shimmer factories before being kidnapped by Jinx and failing to convince her sister from declaring war against Piltover.
Defeated, Vi initially rejected Caitlyn’s request to join the Enforcers, but changes her mind after Zaun’s attack on Piltover and joined Caitlyn's Strike Team with Loris, Steb and Maddie Nolen with the mission of taking down Jinx for good. Their mission was unsuccessful when Vi stopped Caitlyn from killing Jinx, which caused Caitlyn to abandon Vi and leave her dejected from their freshly-established relationship. Vi then spent months participating in pit fighting matches until Jinx told her Vander was alive as a senseless beast. Although they were successful in reuniting with Vander, their plans to help him were thwarted when Jayce attacked Viktor and Ambessa Medarda attacked them. In this conflict, Isha sacrificed herself to protect Jinx, who was arrested and sent to prison. She later escaped with Vi's help. Vi rekindled her love for Caitlyn and participated in defending Piltover from Noxus’ invasion. In the face of defeat, Jinx returned with Zaun to join the fight and teamed up with her sister against Vander, which resulted in Jinx sacrificing herself to stop Vander. Vi then went on to reside with Caitlyn in Piltover.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Violet was born in Zaun to Felicia and Connol, later having a younger sister named Powder, who she was very close to. When Vander, Felicia, Silco, and Connol led a rebellion against Piltover, her parents were killed in battle and Vander took the sisters in. Vander later adopted two orphan boys as well, and Vi became the leader of their group.
Season 1[]
Act 1[]
Vi, Powder, Claggor, and Mylo venture into Piltover after getting a tip from Ekko regarding a Piltover citizen whom he had followed after he shopped at Benzo's. After finding the apartment, the kids looted the place where Powder discovers a box full of blue crystals. However, Vi hears Jayce and Caitlyn's footsteps. This makes Vi signal everyone to leave. But in the rush, Powder drops one of the blue crystals, setting off an explosion that blows up half the building. This notifies the enforcers and sends the kids on a chase through Piltover.
Before they get underground, they are stopped by Deckard and his group, who asks them if they have good loot. Mylo answers in the affirmative, and a fight breaks out; Powder is given the bag with valuables and, when one of Deckard's goons spots her, she runs away. They emerge victorious, but Powder throws the valuables they stole into the water.
Defeated, they return home, where Vander awaits them. Vi initially tries to deny she and the others have anything to do with the explosion on topside, but the truth comes out fast. Vander leaves to deal with the aftermath of their actions. Mylo blames Powder for losing their loot, but Vi is quick to put his words down claiming that Powder is “hers to deal with”. Powder heard the beginning of this conversation and thinks Vi blames her as well. Vi later comforts her and brings her to the top of a building to look out on Zaun and she says, this city will respect them.
Later, her and her siblings play in an arcade. Vi fights the boxing machine and gains her new top-score. Suddenly, an enforcer breaks through the glass of the arcade and begins searching them. Vi looks to Powder and sees her holding the crystals. Claggor turns off the lights to distract the Enforcers. They run but are quickly cornered by them, until Ekko lets down a ladder and they escape. Afterwards, Vi and her siblings watch Vander put down any ideas of fighting back. Angry, Powder questions why he would do this when they could easily fight back. Vi catches Ekko’s nervous expression, and she forces it out of him that Vander has a deal with the Grayson, the sheriff.
Sometime later, Vi and her siblings are in their room in the basement of The Last Drop when Vander drops the monkey alarm that enforcers are coming. They hide in the ceiling where Powder almost falls, and Vi yells at Vander about making them hide. Vander sends the other kids away, and she and him go to the Bridge of Progress. They talk about the seriousness of their situation, Vander asks Vi if she is willing to loose Claggor, Mylo, or even Powder in the fight for freedom. Vander tells her that he was the one who led the revolution in the past and is responsible for her parents’ deaths, and that nobody wins in war.
When Vi returns, she decides to give herself in to protect her siblings. She sends Grayson a message, and goes to Benzo's Shop to wait. As the door opens, it turns out to be Vander and Benzo. Vander says he would give himself in, and locks Vi in the basement of the shop. Vi screams and begs him not to do this, and later looks out the window to see blood splatter. She cries, seeing Grayson and Benzo’s death along with Vander being taken away. Sometime later Ekko enters, breaking down as Vi hugs and comforts him. Ekko tells her that Silco took him, and Vi gathers Claggor and Mylo to help them get Vander. Powder starts to gather her things too, to which Vi tells her she can’t come. Powder gets upset, but Vi, Claggor, and Mylo leave. As they get to the Cannery, they slip through an open window and find Vander. Vi tells him how easy it was to get in, when they realize that it was a trap. Silco appears at the other side of the bridge, and Vi grabs Vander’s cast iron mitts to fight his goons. She begins punching and beating them up all while Mylo and Claggor work on getting Vander out, until a shimmer enhanced Deckard comes and strangles Vi. She escapes and locks the door to the room Vander’s in, and Mylo breaks his cuffs free. Claggor breaks out some bricks in the wall, and they begin to leave when a bomb explodes. Vi is crushed by a large piece of concrete, and she turns to see her brothers dead underneath the rubble. She begins to cry, and Deckard lifts the concrete from her but Vander intercepts and begins to fight. He gets up to Silco, who stabs him and gets thrown over the bridge. Vander comes back up, this time under the influence of Shimmer, to fight again but sees that Vi is about to get crushed, so he grabs her and jumps out of the building.
Vi cradles Vander, crying, and he tells her to protect Powder. Powder appears to her side, telling her that her bomb finally worked. Vi asks if she did this, and when Powder realizes what she caused inadvertently, Vi slaps her, grabs her face and screams at her, saying that she is a “jinx”. She then looks at her hand and walks away, scared and sad at what she did. From where she sits in the dark tunnel, Violet looks towards the spot where she left her sister and sees Silco talking to Powder. She tries to go back and save her sister, when Marcus drugs her and she is taken away to Stillwater Hold.
Act 2[]
7 years pass while Vi is imprisoned; she is beaten and mistreated by the enforcers at the prison where she grows strong from fights and self-training. She grows a reputation amongst the enforcers and prisoners for her tough attitude. Eventually, one of Silco's goons is imprisoned where Vi beats him up and breaks his jaw. Caitlyn Kiramman, a low-ranking enforcer goes to Vi's cell to ask her more about the man. Vi learns that Caitlyn is investigating Silco, where she tells her to "give Silco a kiss". The enforcer steps closer to Vi's cell, and shows her some one of Jinx's drawings which intrigues Vi. Vi tells Caitlyn that she can help her, but she must get her out of prison first.
Caitlyn, with Vi's prison release signed by the new Councillor, takes her to the edge of Piltover. Vi effortlessly jumps across the roofs of Zaun and onto the streets, noticing the changes Silco made to the structures she grew up with. Caitlyn hesitantly follows her, and they obtain new clothing from two street thugs. They eat at Jericho's restaurant where Caitlyn argues that its useless, but Vi shows her that Jericho gave her a napking with some information that could help. The two visit Babette's brothel and Vi suggests Caitlyn could pretend to be a prostitute to get info. Caitlyn scoffs and Vi tells her that in order to get people to talk, you have to act like you have what they want. Caitlyn asks what that is, to which Vi calls her hot. A man appears in front of them and Vi introduces Caitlyn as a prostitute, and she leaves to talk to the owner. Babette tells her that no one had been able to stop Silco after Vander's death. Vi asks about Powder, but the Yordle does not know what happened to her. Babette knows that Sevika is a regular at the brothel and could ask Miguel to tell Vi where Sevika is. As Vi leaves, she sees Caitlyn talking to a woman looking much more comfortable. Vi laughs surprised, and walks out.
Vi finds Sevika playing cards with others. Vi come up on her, kicking her face in with her knee. Sevika prepares for the fight by revealing her mechanical arm, which has a container that injects shimmer into her body. The two engage in a rough fight, where both struggle against each other's strength. Vi eventually pins the Sevika down, asking her where Powder was. Sevika then reveals that Powder is know Silco's adopted daughter who goes by "Jinx", shocking Vi, and allowing Sevika to stab her. As Sevika is about to kill her, Caitlyn arrives and damages Sevika's mechanical arm, saving Vi. The two walk off with Caitlyn holding Vi up by the shoulder, and Vi calls her "cupcake".
The two reach a cliff side in Zaun, where Vi attempts to jump around a metal structure to reach the bottom, but falls and lands painfully on the ground. Caitlyn reaches the floor to help her, where in the distance a strange group watches. Caitlyn shoos away the Shimmer addicts who live in the valley and leaves Vi in her childhood home. Vi hallucinates visions of Powder and her mother running around the room. When Caitlyn comes back, she gives Vi the Shimmer she obtained. Vi coughs and struggles with the feeling, but it heals her. Caitlyn discusses Powder, now Jinx, but also asks about the house. Vi tells her that it was her and Powder's home when they were younger. Caitlyn asks about her family more and Vi responds that enforcers killed them. Exiting the building, Vi sees Silco and two of his goons. He hands shimmer to some of the addicts around, and the two talk about Jinx. Vi yells at him, claiming that she will get Powder back no matter what. Three shimmer-enchanced addicts walk up to Vi, and she knocks down the water tower behind her which collapses in the area. Vi and Caitlyn escape into Zaun, and Vi spots a blue flare going off in the distance.
She pauses, realizing that it's Powder, and runs up to the platform where she stands. They reunite and hug. Once there, the leader of the Firelights unmasks himself as Ekko, who accuses Vi of working for Silco. However, Vi breaks from her cuffs and embraces Ekko, who lets her go and reveals their headquarters. He specifically shows a mural showing all those who were lost and attempts to convince Vi that Powder is gone and is now Jinx, which Vi protests against. Once Caitlyn arrives, she and Ekko have an argument, during which Caitlyn reveals the true purpose of the gemstone and attempts to convince Ekko to bring it to the Piltover council, to which he agrees on the condition that he will be the one to give it to them.
When all three arrive on the bridge connecting the two cities, Vi reveals that she is staying to confront Powder, and says goodbye to Ekko and Caitlyn, unaware of Powder watching from above. However, when Marcus, now Sheriff, shoots Ekko, Vi races back, causing Jinx to call her a liar and unleash a swarm of robotic butterflies that kill Marcus and his enforcers, and injure Caitlyn's leg. Vi attempts to carry Caitlyn to safety, but is confronted by Jinx, who attacks the two. They are saved by Ekko, who hands the cannister supposedly containing the gemstone to them before facing Jinx.
However, it turns out Jinx already stole the gemstone, leaving Vi and Caitlyn with seemingly nothing to the council. The two arrive at Cait's house, where they are confronted by her parents. There, Caitlyn's mother, a member of the council, offers to let them address the council. At the council, the two explain that Jinx stole the gemstone, and that Silco is behind everything. Despite this, the council refuses to act, which frustrates Vi. She convinces Jayce to attack Silco's Shimmer factories. She discovers Jayce's Atlas Gauntlets and gets herself a pair. Vi and Jayce attack one of the Shimmer factories, where they are confronted by Chemtanks, people shrouded in Mecha suits enhanced by Shimmer. While the two manage to effortlessly defeat the Chemtanks, Jayce inadvertently kills a child during the fight, convincing him that the cost of war between the two cites is too great.
While Jayce attempts to broker peace with Silco, Vi returns to the Last Drop, Vander's old bar which is now run by Silco. There, she is confronted by Sevika, who has upgraded her mechanical arm. Vi wins th fight but Shimmer-infused Jinx knocks her out, taking her to Silco's old lair, alongside Silco and Caitlyn. Jinx offers to become Powder again if Vi executes Caitlyn. Vi refuses but promises to take Jinx away and leave Piltover behind, which Silco protests. Caitlyn then breaks free from her restraints with a broken glass, and aims Jinx's gun at her, despite Vi's protests. Jinx puts down her gun, but uses her shimmer abilities to attack Caitlyn at superhuman speed, knocking her unconscious.
Vi attempts to make Powder remember who she is by yelling the names of her family members, causing Jinx to suffer a traumatic breakdown. Silco, wanting to help his daughter, attempts to use Jinx's gun to shoot Vi, which prompts Jinx to frantically shoot her gun, mortally wounding Silco. Jinx attempts to apologize to Silco, only for him to state he never would've betrayed her, and that she's perfect. Jinx takes Fishbones, powered by the Hextech gemstone, and fires a missile at the Piltover council; leading to the death of three councilors: Cassandra Kiramman, Irius Bolbok, and Torman Hoskel.
Season 2[]
When it is announced that enforcers will invade the lanes in search of Jinx, Caitlyn attempts to convince Vi to join the enforcers and help her hunt down Jinx, which Vi refuses, not wanting to be part of the same group that killed her parents. Vi angrily leaves Caitlyn's house and comes across a man named Loris. The two spend the night drinking on the streets of Piltover, where Vi lets loose her frustrations on Caitlyn trying to convince her to join the "peanut patrol".
The next morning, Maddie Nolan, a junior officer of the Enforcers, meets Vi, and compliments her by telling how far Caitlyn was willing to go for her, and how she complimented Vi. This encourages Vi to go to the memorial of all the dead council members with Loris. However, the memorial is attacked by the Chem-Baron Renni and her crew, though all are ultimately killed by Ambessa Medarda and Noxian forces. Caitlyn, infuriated with the event, convinces the council to lead a strike force into Zaun to hunt down Jinx and any other Silco-loyalists, consisting of her, Vi, Maddie, Loris, and a Steb.
Caitlyn and Vi confront Sevika and Jinx. Caitlyn manages to hit Jinx's finger, severing it. Isha intervenes to protect Jinx, and Vi prevents Caitlyn from hitting Jinx by using the excuse that Caitlyn might hit Isha. After this incident, Caitlyn and Vi go their separate ways. Vi starts pitfighting and uses alcohol to cope with her pain.
Characteristics[]
Personality[]
As a teenager, Vi was shown to be an enthusiastic and caring, easily-provoked young girl. She cared greatly about her found family unit and was always quick to defend Powder against Mylo whenever she made a mistake during a job. She had a habit of throwing herself into trouble easily and being somewhat predictable in her combat, but always took the initiative and came out on top with a win. She was looked up to by her sister and surrogate brothers, but never allowed herself to develop an ego from it, always firmly maintaining her responsibility to keep everyone in check. She was implied to be patient with her family, but when she got angry, she rarely held her tongue, such as when she firmly told Mylo to shut up and call him out for his arrogance when he began to insult Powder. She heavily resented the Enforcers and Piltover in general for being responsible for the deaths of her and Powder's biological parents.
As an adult, Vi retains many of these personality traits but also has a lot of untouched trauma from when she was at Stillwater. It's implied that due to her claustrophobic surroundings inside the penitentiary and the less-than-ideal mental health standards, she began to believe that she abandoned Powder as opposed to being arrested before she could go back for her. Despite all the burdens Vi has on her shoulders, she is still a very loving and gold-hearted woman, despite her hatred of Silco and the Enforcers. Upon meeting Caitlyn, she's quick to shun the other woman and ignore her due to her status as an Enforcer. However, the more time she spent with Caitlyn, the more her walls began to crumble and the two started connecting with each other on a more romantic level. Vi even goes as far as to sharing her memories of 'abandoning' Powder, to which Caitlyn responds by comforting Vi by gently stroking her face and holding her hand, which is also implied to have been the moment that Vi fell in love with Caitlyn.
Appearance[]
Vi is a young woman of above average height (5'9) and muscular build. She has pink hair, with one side of her head shaved and the hair on the other side long and messy. She has a tattoo that spells "VI" under her left eye and another large tattoo across her spine area up to her neck and her arms. Her ears and left nostril are pierced, and she has scars on her left eyebrow and one on her upper lip. Her eyes are a powder blue and she later dyes her hair black.
Abilities[]
- Hand-to-hand combat: Vi is a skilled brawler, having been taught by Vander since her youth.
- Parkour: Vi is extremely athletic, having no difficulties scaling rooftops and returning to Zaun from Piltover through an unconventional method by jumping off a cliff to running across a steel beam.
Trivia[]
- When Jinx begins betting on her in the pit fighting ring, Vi starts losing her fights.
- After Caitlyn abandons her, she develops a drinking problem.
- Her facial tattoo has a double meaning—both her name, and the number six in Roman numerals.
Appearances[]
| Season One appearances: 9/9 | ||
| "Welcome to the Playground": Appears |
"Some Mysteries Are Better Left Unsolved": Appears |
"The Base Violence Necessary for Change": Appears |
| "Happy Progress Day!": Appears |
"Everybody Wants to Be My Enemy": Appears |
"When These Walls Come Tumbling Down": Appears |
| "The Boy Savior": Appears |
"Oil and Water": Appears |
"The Monster You Created": Appears |
| Season Two appearances: 7/9 | ||
| "Heavy Is the Crown": Appears |
"Watch It All Burn": Appears |
"Finally Got the Name Right": Appears |
| "Paint The Town Blue": Mentioned only |
"Blisters And Bedrock": Appears |
"The Message Hidden Within The Pattern": Appears |
| "Pretend Like It's the First Time": As a corpse |
"Killing Is a Cycle": Appears |
"The Dirt Under Your Nails": Appears |
See also[]
References[]
v • e — Characters —
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| Main Characters | |
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| Other characters | |
| Alternate Universe characters | |