Anyone familiar with MOBAs ought to know that Vainglory is bound to have loads of characters, and new ones are getting added in each update. All heroes have their own fairly interesting lore, which may be accessed in the game's official site
. For a condensed and fairly easy-to-read version of all official hero lore so far, somebody made a thread which can be accessed here.
- Area of Effect: His ultimate hurts everyone in a wide range, and enemies with Arcane Fire on them will get stunned.
- Camp: His quote "Beautiful things deserve to be cherished." often after healing himself. Also, his skin's crafting cards (before the implementation of blueprints) used to include many items associated with the drag scene including guy liner and various make-ups.
- Dark Is Not Evil: He becomes more demonic and reptilian as you get more of his skins.
- The Medic: Uses crystal energy to heal others and himself.
- Winged Humanoid: His wings are made out of feathers, but they are of the reptilian kind in his skins.
- Area of Effect: Her specialty.
- Ax-Crazy: A lot of her lines imply this.
- The Berserker: Her main playstyle involves using skills that damage herself, but in turn dish out more damage against her enemies. Apart from keeping an eye on her special gauge to make sure it's full for her to resurrect, the only thing you have to worry about as far as her abilities are concerned is cooldown time.
- BFS: Her main weapon.
- Cyborg: She seems to have a human face under her mask.
- Explosive Overclocking: Her main melee damage skill allows her to deal splash damage to multiple targets, but it starts to stack up on "Overdrive" which does damage to her overtime. However, this is mitigated by the fact that she can recover health with every basic attack as long as she has a stack of "Overdrive".
- Light Is Not Good: Her basic skin has a lot of white, but it's clear that she's pretty Ax-Crazy.
- Resurrective Immortality: As she goes on through the match, she builds up a special white bar. If she dies, she uses up every bit of energy in that bar to resurrect; this even applies when she self destructs. However, if she is killed again in the middle of resurrecting, she dies for real.
- Robot Girl: While it's not entirely clear if she's a Cyborg, she clearly has a lot of mechanical parts.
- Self-Destruct Mechanism: Her special ability allows her to self-detonate. This grants her armor, and takes out a lot of enemies with her.
- What Have I Done: One of her lines.
- Expy: His Powered Armor makes him resemble a Space Marine from Warhammer40000 minus the left arm.
- Papa Wolf: Thanks to Celeste and Vox being his children in his backstory, it is easy to play him as this.
- Power Fist: His main weapon, though he does add a few kicks to his moveset.
- Powered Armor
- Shout-Out: One of his lines is from Taken.
- Unstoppable Rage: All his abilities run on a special resource called 'Vengeance'.
- You Shall Not Evade Me: His ultimate ability "Gauntlet" literally creates an arena that damages and stuns targets that try to get away or get in.
- Expy: Looks like a gender-flipped Pharah.
- "Stabbing is so barbaric; I eviscerate."
- Anti-Frustration Features: When using Last Rites, the circle surrounding Caine represents the maximum range for the bullet so that you don't miss the target you're trying to finish off.
- Bottomless Magazines: Zig-zagged somewhat, in that his perk makes it so that he can only fire six shots before stopping to reload. That being said, he's got an unlimited amount of bullets for his gun.
- Difficult, but Awesome: People that pick up Caine not only have to get good at kiting enemies, and his Once More ability facilitates this strategy. Doesn't help that he's also a Glass Cannon.
- Hand Cannon: His weapon (and perk) Peacemaker is every bit as big as Ringo's gun.
- Herd-Hitting Attack: His ultimate ability Last Rites allows him to fire a single bullet in any direction that travels at a maximum distance before exploding on contact. Anyone in between Caine and the maximum distance of the bullet will be penetrated, and anyone that's below a certain HP threshold will automatically die.
- Hit-and-Run Tactics: Between slowing down and damaging targets with Triple Tap and Once More refreshing ammo and cooldowns, as well as the fact that Peacemaker forces you to use your six shots carefully (though having an empty mag will improve your movement speed until you reload), and it can be summarized that Caine was built with this strategy in mind.
- Mechanically Unusual Fighter: Unlike most of the gunmen in the game, Caine's Peacemaker is also a perk that only allows him to make six shots with his basic attacks before needing to reload. That means once he's out of ammo, he's a sitting duck for a short time until he's reloaded; that being said, he does a good amount of damage with his basic attacks. Because of how players have to keep an eye on how much ammo he's got left, and the fact that his movement speed goes up a little when he's out of ammo, chances are he's meant to be played somewhat like an FPS character.
- Unnecessary Combat Roll: Averted! Though technically not a roll, his second ability Once More allows him to dash in any direction, automatically reloads his gun (it's a full reload if it's maxed out). On top of that, it refreshes his other abilities upon using it.
- Anti-Magic: Her gameplay involves silencing enemies. Her perk even gives her bonus armor for doing so.
- Blade Below the Shoulder: Her shield doubles as one, with the blades stored inside when not in use.
- The Captain: Her normal role.
- "I'm my own North Star."
A star-casting mage who brings excellent warding and positioning skills into the battlefield, as well as an ability that can devastate fleeing enemy heroes when timed correctly, Celeste is a solid source of crystal power in the Halcyon Fold. Her heroic perk, Julia's Light, allows her basic attacks to gain a spell component, dealing crystal damage that also scales with her bonus crystal power. In addition, her basic attacks also reveal enemy heroes for a brief period of time, even if they manage to move beyond visual range. Her first ability, Heliogenesis, allows Celeste to form a star in a target location, dealing crystal damage to nearby enemies. The star will briefly linger on the field, and if Celeste uses this ability on an existing star, it goes supernova, dealing crystal damage in a wider area. Her second ability, Core Collapse, causes a target location to implode after a brief delay, stunning and damaging all enemies caught in the area. Her ultimate, Solar Storm, allows Celeste to launch a storm of stars that travel across the Fold. These stars collide and explode with the first enemy they hit, dealing crystal damage in the area. The number of stars summoned by this ability also increases each time this ability is upgraded.
- Chain Pain: Causes this by attacking using his chains.
- Close-Range Combatant: Chains only work short range.
- Close-Range Combatant: He's a wolf.
- The Berserker: Glaive's ultimate Bloodsong revolves around getting into fights, and building up Bloodsong stacks as long as he's fighting. It gives him a passive ability that builds up Bloodsong stacks whether he's attacking or being attacked, and he gains Lifesteal once he activates it.
- Critical Hit Class: His heroic perk Hunt The Weak requires Glaive to land critical hits in order to land cleave attacks. To that end, his Twisted Stroke ability does this in two ways; either passively by increasing his chance to land critical hits while it hasn't been activated, or by activating to do a guaranteed burst of critical damage.
- Herd-Hitting Attack: He specializes a lot on this. Whenever he lands a critical hit, his melee attacks do cleave damage in a cone in front of him, and Twisted Stroke not only increases his chance to land a critical hit, but also his cleave damage. His ultimate Bloodsong even hits everyone around him, and does more damage the more Bloodsong stacks you had on him.
- Non-Indicative Name: He's named after a spear that's the European version of the Guan Dao, and yet he prefers to have an axe.
- Area of Effect: Her specialty:
- Grace's passive, Retribution gives her a two-hit combo in which her second strike allows her to hit all enemies in front of her. It also reduces the cooldown on her abilities whenever she hits multiple enemies with it.
- Her Benediction ability allows her to charge, and immediately land an empowered Retribution strike.
- Holy Nova hits all targets around her, doing damage and stunning them for a second.
- Carry a Big Stick: Her main weapon is a giant mace.
- Combat Medic: In addition to healing allies, the Divine Intervention ultimate ability also grants a bit of a shield.
- Good Is Not Nice: She seems to think so.Grace: Lawful Good doesn't mean Lawful Nice
- Groin Attack: One of her combos includes a small kick before following through with Retribution.
- Ironic Name: She's anything but graceful.
- Mighty Glacier: Pretty high offense, with a high tolerance for damage.
- However, this can be mitigated with certain items, as well as the mobility utility provided by Benediction, turning her into a Lightning Bruiser.
- Paladin: Her whole motif.
- "They hide, I seek; it's how it should be."
Koshka is a playful yet deadly assassin who specializes in making fast kills by dashing through and twirling her claws around enemy units, as well as chasing down fleeing enemy heroes and locking down the biggest threats. Her heroic perk, Bloodrush, allows her to gain a burst of movement speed whenever she deals damage with her basic attacks as well as with her first and second abilities, Pouncy Fun and Twirly Death. Her ultimate, Yummy Catnip Frenzy Rush, stuns an enemy unit in place while overwhelming it with a flurry of swipes - giving her team mates a chance to take that threat down.
- BFS: His Turbo Blade is a very large cleaver, and it happens to also be a massive Rocket-Powered Weapon.
- Herd-Hitting Attack: Even more so than Glaive, as his basic attacks already cleave thanks to the Turbo Blade perk. But in general, this is his main schtick.
- Mighty Glacier: He's got a good amount of armor and basic attack strength, but is fairly slow; for this reason, weapon builds are the best way to use him.
- "From Earth we sprout, for Earth we fight!"
An interesting subversion of the spell-slinging mage archetype, Petal is at her best when she is trading blows with her enemies from the safety of her range, while her small pets (which she calls as her "munions") chomp through their defenses or explode themselves in a massive burst of crystal power, dealing damage to enemy heroes or healing friendly ones. Her heroic perk, Bramblethorn Munions allows her to control three munions, which sprout from her seeds. In addition, her basic attacks mark her targets with sunlight, and if one of her munions bites that target, she gains an increase to her attack speed. Her first skill, Bramblethorn Seeds allows her to plant a seed at a target location, which immediately grows into a munion if she controls less than three munions at any one time. Otherwise, the seed provides limited vision within its area and explodes in a burst of crystal damage when an enemy hero steps into them. Trampoline! allows Petal to jump towards a target area, while leaving a seed on the location where she began her junp. In addition, Trampoline! amplifies her crystal and weapon power for a certain amount of time, which makes it a perfect skill for Petal to use in joining team fights. Finally, her ultimate Spontaneous Combustion allows Petal to command one of her munions to explode at an enemy unit, dealing crystal damage to all nearby enemies while healing allied heroes in the area as well. A seed immediately spawns in the area where the explosion happened, which will immediately turn into a munion if there are no nearby seeds present.
- Deadly Euphemism: Most of his attacks ("Quibble" (A), "Polite Company" (B), and "Forced Accord" (Ult)) have pretty civil-sounding names.
- Herd-Hitting Attack: Most of his kit is this, between Quibble's hitting everyone in a circle upon impact, and Polite Company's Shockwave Stomp.
- The Juggernaut: On top of his Stone Wall HP and defense, his Heroic Perk is literally called "Unstoppable". He's immune to movement-impairing attacks (they barely slow him down), and he gains more HP, shield, and armor from items and effects.
- Mix-and-Match Creatures: He has attributes of both an alligator and what appears to be a weasel.
- Stone Wall: Between his Heroic Perk, armor, and his HP, he takes a lot of damage, but is rather slow and his attack power is pretty weak.
- You Will Not Evade Me: "Polite Company" and "Forced Accord" are meant for this; the former pulls surrounding enemies towards him, while the latter is more specific.
- The Alcoholic: He drinks from his gourd to spew a homing ball of flame.
- He has better accuracy when drunk.
- An Arm and a Leg: He lost his left arm, still has his leg however.
- Dem Bones: Is a skeleton in his tier 2 skin.
- Handicapped Badass: Continues to be a sharp shooter, even when drunk and left arm chopped off.
- Hand Cannon: His pistol has a barrel that's longer than usual.
- Revolvers Are Just Better: He's a fan.
- Samurai: The cards needed to unlock his Shogun Ringo skins reference them.
- His skins has the "Rōnin's Debt" card, along with the "Crimson Kabuto" and the "Emperor's Pardon" cards.
- His armor in his tier 1 and 2 skin references traditional samurai armor.
- Amazonian Beauty: Comes with the territory of being a barbarian.
- Barbarian Hero
- The Berserker: Her playstyle, which is unsurprising considering who she's based on. Her abilities run on a resource called 'Bloodlust', and she attacks faster with every normal attack.
- Shout-Out:
- Her entire playstyle is reminiscent of a Dual Wielding Barbarian from Diablo II and Diablo III.
- One of her attacks allows her to leap into the fray.
- Even her ultimate attack is a Spin Attack.
- One of her lines, "I crossed the Donkey Bridge" references to Shrek.
- Her entire playstyle is reminiscent of a Dual Wielding Barbarian from Diablo II and Diablo III.
- Spin Attack: Her ultimate ability "Red Mist".
- Statuesque Stunner: She's easily bigger and a bit beefier than most of the other female characters.
- Area of Effect: His specialty, especially when you get to his ultimate ability which will allow him to bring out explosive ammo.
- The Big Guy
- Chainsaw-Grip BFG: A pretty big machine gun, with a fairly slow rate of fire; he holds it like the Heavy Weapons Guy.
- Meaningful Name: His name in real life means "Squad Automatic Weapon", which just so happens to be his weapon.
- More Dakka: One of his abilities enables him to put out more firepower than normal.
- His own passive, "Spin-up" makes it such that the longer he spends shooting the enemy, the faster his shots will will be; on the downside, this will make him move slowly afterwards.
- Badass Adorable: Cute little dragon but can deal tons of damage.
- Glass Cannon: Very susceptible to damage but skilled players can get past this quickly.
- Long-Range Fighter: Shoots fire that can impact enemies from a far distance.
- Playing with Fire: His attacks are all fire based.
- "Let's take a trip down memory lane - but with knives!"
The quintessential Assassin-class hero of Vainglory, Taka brings excellent burst damage and evasion abilities to the battlefield. His heroic perk, House Kamuha, enables Taka to deal a burst of weapon damage (a Mortal Strike) every five seconds. Using abilities or dealing a Mortal Strike allows him to gain a stack of Ki, which reduces the cooldown of his skills as well as his Mortal Strike timer. His first skill Kaiten, allows Taka to flip in the air over his target, cutting it with his switchblade. While in the air, Taka is also invulnerable. His second ability, Kaku, allows Taka to gain invisibility and bonus move speed as well as a brief healing duration - perfect for escaping. His ultimate, X-Retsu, allows Taka to burst through his target, carving an 'X' with his switchblades. The target is dealt mortal damage (its healing is reduced by 33 %) and takes damage for the next 3 seconds. The damage-per-second effect's timer is refreshed whenever Taka lands a Mortal Strike. Using X-Retsu also grants Taka bonus stacks of Ki equal to the number of ability points spent on this skill.
- I Shall Taunt You: His ability Trash Talk is this in a nutshell; in addition to getting a taunted enemy hero's attention and aggro, he's able take more hits from taunted enemies too.
- The Berserker: His whole playstyle involves being in the fray a lot, his Come At Me perk makes it so that he gains a barrier whenever he takes damage.
- Good Old Fisticuffs: His attacks are simple punches.
- Power Fist: Unlike Ardan, he uses two.
- Megaton Punch: His Ultimate Bada Boom is this incarnate.
- Our Dwarves Are All the Same: Fits most of this trope, though unlike most examples, he doesn't sound Scottish...his accent sounds more Bronx or Bostonian.
- Steampunk: His Steam Knight skin.
- The Berserker: His Heroic Perk, "Devastation Flail" enables him to chain together three hits, each hit giving him a movement speed bonus, and a damage buff.
- Blood Knight: Oh yes. Played a little more literally with one of his skins.
- Epic Flail: The aforementioned Devastation Flail.
- Herd-Hitting Attack: Much of his kit involves a lot of area of effect damage.
- "Overwhelm" causes him to charge energy, before releasing it simultaneously, stunning all enemies near him.
- "Iron Mandate" will not only damage enemies, but slow them while granting allies a barrier.
- In a Single Bound: His ultimate skill "Iron Mandate" enables him to leap very high, and hit enemies with a Shockwave Stomp on anywhere on the map.
- Long-Range Fighter: Somewhat. His flail has a small amount of reach.
- You Will Not Evade Me: His first, and arguably most important ability, "Wolf's Maw" turns his flail into a grappling hook that allows him to pull in the first enemy it hits. This is good for either stopping enemies from running away, or to deny them a kill on an NPC.
