Dive deep into the hidden details and Easter eggs of Arcane that only true League of Legends fans would recognize! We're breaking down the most subtle references, character nuances, and connections between the animated series and the game that casual viewers might have missed.
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00:00Hi.
00:08Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at League references and easter eggs in Arcane.
00:15We'll be covering both Seasons 1 and 2, so this is your spoiler alert.
00:38Darting through the shafts beneath Jace's lab in Season 2, Episode 2, Heimerdinger references
00:44a jungle monster very familiar to players thanks to the red brambleback on Summoner's Rift.
00:58This one gave us a good chuckle. Want more jungle monsters?
01:02Singed traps a great merc wolf to create Warwick.
01:06Jinx and Aisha's bugs Stink Maw and Scuttlebutt are tongue-in-cheek references to Vilemaw and
01:11Scuttlecrabs. Oh, and did you notice that the Kiramans hunt raptors? You can see this
01:39in a family portrait in Season 1, and a mounted raptor head in Season 2.
01:47While most of Arcane's protagonists are League champions, that still means that only about a
01:52dozen of the game's 169 playable characters appear on screen, at least in the flesh. However,
01:59there are plenty of references to them. The Wind Spirit Janna, aka Zaun's guardian,
02:04can be spotted in a mural in Season 2, Episode 2, as destitute Zaunites pray for aid. We see
02:11another depiction of Janna in the next episode when Jinx lures Vi and Caitlyn into a subterranean
02:17chamber. Jinx even references Janna's elemental powers.
02:41Season 1 culminated in Jinx firing on Piltover with her signature rocket launcher, Fishbones.
02:47This weapon was actually foreshadowed back in Act 1. Powder has a similarly shaped pillow,
03:08and we see designs for the weapon in her drawings. At the time, only League fans would have recognized
03:14these. Seems like she's been dreaming about Fishbones for quite a while. On Powder's wooden
03:20box is another easter egg, wings that might reference Jinx's star guardian skin.
03:26Obviously, no one missed Klager's goggles. They're right there on his head, but what only
03:46League fans would have noticed is that these are part of Vi's League character design. We see them
03:51again in Jinx's hideout, where dolls of Klager and Milo keep her company. In Season 2, Vi retrieves
04:05these goggles while hunting for her estranged sister, and adds them to her gear in the next
04:10episode. The logo for Riot Games' virtual heavy metal band first pops up in Season 1, Episode 1,
04:20Graffitied on a Wall. It makes a more notable appearance in Episode 4, where we see the state
04:26of Zaun now that Silco has taken over. A hulking figure is getting the Pentakill logo tattooed on
04:32his back. Now that's a fan. Also in this sequence, by the way, there's a sign to the right of a
04:38Kam Baron sucking in pure air that reads, Herald Palace, which could be a reference to the Rift
04:44Herald. Number 15, Raven Familiar. The world is a perilous place for a solitary mage, sister.
04:55According to Arcane showrunner Christian Link, a future spin-off will explore Noxus, Ionia,
05:01and Demacia. Mel's arc also seems to be heading towards Noxus. In lore, Noxus is ruled by Swain,
05:09arguably the big bad of the League universe. Thanks to his pact with the Demon of Secrets,
05:15Rom, Swain can summon demonic ravens. A mysterious six-eyed raven appears in Arcane,
05:22seemingly rummaging for Hextech. Was it sent by the Grand General, or Rom himself? We'll have to
05:28wait and see. Jarvan IV. Speaking of regions to be explored in a spin-off, Arcane's second season
05:48also had a few easter eggs alluding to the exemplar of Demacia, Jarvan IV. A play in Piltover
05:55dramatizes Jarvan's coronation. We see banners featuring his face, and a replica of his crown
06:01on stage. We wish we could watch that play, but we'll just have to keep our fingers crossed that
06:07the royal himself does indeed show up for the spin-off. Number 13, Kindred Masks. Here's a
06:15conning nod to yet another champion. In season one, a quick shot shows a man and woman wearing
06:21the wolf and lamb mask of Kindred, the Spirit of Death. Fans have suggested that the man is the
06:27same person who later bestows his services to Ambessa. There's surely some symbolism there,
06:36given Ambessa's obsession with being merciless like a wolf, which has given rise to ample
06:42theories on Reddit for those who wish to dig a little deeper. Number 12, Gentleman Cho'Gath.
06:49This was truly a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment. After Powder accidentally dumps the gang's loot
06:55in the series' first episode, the dejected crew enter a dilapidated building. Inside is an
07:10elevator that descends into the undercity. Eagle-eyed viewers will have noted something curious
07:16about the paintings on the wall in the entryway. One of them is a portrait of champion Cho'Gath,
07:22specifically the Voidborn's beast-skin, Gentleman Cho'Gath, released in 2010. Number 11,
07:29Caitlyn's .90-caliber net. When Caitlyn turns Vi over to Ambessa in season two, episode six,
07:41it turns out to be a clever ruse. Beforehand, Caitlyn has handed Vi a device to use on the
07:47Matriarch of War, her .90-caliber net from Lee. Once freed from her handcuffs, Vi punches the net
07:55into Ambessa. Arguably, the season also gave us Caitlyn's ult, Ace in the Hole, which other
08:01champions can intercept to save a teammate, as Vi does, in a way, to prevent Ayesha from becoming
08:07an accidental kill. Number 10, Echo's weapons. Season two saw Echo invent the Zero Drive that
08:21gives him the temporal powers we know from Lee. In the series finale, he uses these abilities
08:26against Viktor and his machine army. This power was foreshadowed in his season one fight with
08:45Jinx, where his mind flashes back to their playfights as kids, allowing him to anticipate
08:51her reactions. The series finale also had him finally getting his signature melee weapon,
08:56which turns out to be the hand of a clock tower. Pretty fitting.
09:10That device can't be. Number nine, the Machine Herald. Players know Viktor as the Machine
09:18Herald, so it was a treat when Jinx coined the alias in season two's sixth episode.
09:34Another neat nod came when Viktor used the words,
09:37Glorious Evolution, recalling the phrase he utters when players pick him in League.
09:42Join the Glorious Evolution. He refers to Glorious Evolution again in a later episode,
09:52sealing the concept to his character. Number eight, Heimerdinger's turret. Among the Revered
10:04Inventor's niftiest inventions are, of course, his turrets. We glimpse one of these at work in
10:09the second episode of season two. But instead of firing deadly projectiles, this one is blowing
10:20bubbles to amuse refugees in the Firelight Hideout. Bubbles aside, the basic design resembles
10:27Heimerdinger's H2-3G Evolution turret, which turns out to be a lot more versatile than we thought.
10:33Number seven, Tryndamere's helmet.
10:43Benzo's shop in season one is a treasure trove of Easter eggs. One of the most exciting hangs
10:50right over the door, the helmet of Tryndamere, the Barbarian King. Meanwhile, Benzo is examining
10:56the Heart of Gold, a gold-generating item retired from the game in 2012. On a shelf sits Rabadon's
11:03Deathcap, showing that Benzo is running quite the shop. When Echo spies on his conversation,
11:09you can spot an Eye of the Oasis alongside three masks. The one on the left looks a bit like Jhin's,
11:16the middle like the item Liandry's Anguish, and the one on the right like a Bloodmoon mask.
11:22Number six, Get Jynxed. Jynx's League debut in 2013 was commemorated with the song
11:29Get Jynxed by Anjanette Jolsrud from the Norwegian band Jerv.
11:45The awesome animation for the music video was done by none other than Fortiche, the same studio
11:51that produced Arcane. In season one, Jynx is bopping along to just that song in her hideout.
11:58In season two, we hear another quick snippet coming from Savika's arm.
12:08Savika may not be impressed, but Jynx is definitely a fan.
12:13Jerv has a song on the second season soundtrack, by the way, Rebel Heart.
12:21Number five, The Deceiver. Who's the mysterious sorceress representing the Black Rose? While it
12:33isn't explicitly revealed in the show, we can make a pretty good guess. In lore, the matron
12:39of the Black Rose is the champion LeBlanc, whose distinct eye makeup we seem to glimpse in Arcane
12:44season two, episode five. The thorny chains this shadowy figure throws out resemble red versions
12:50of LeBlanc's ethereal chains. A further connection is LeBlanc's nickname, The Deceiver.
13:01Number four, Warwick's Blood Hunt. There were already signs in season one connecting Vander
13:08and the uncaged Wrath of Zaun. The champion was once a human who put down his blade to live a
13:15better life. After singed experiments, he only remembers blood and a little girl screaming.
13:21Season two confirms the connection. This makes sense of Warwick's in-game dialogue to Jynx.
13:28You were there, and let me forget. The show dramatized some of the jungler's abilities,
13:33including his W, Blood Hunt. We might also be seeing his ult, Infinite Duress, when he tears
13:40into Riktus. Number three, Singed's Backstory. We have our answer now, don't we, Dr. Revik?
13:50Arcane did an incredible job of humanizing its characters, including its villains. In original
13:57League lore, Singed and Orianna are unrelated characters. After Orianna fell ill, her father,
14:04an artificer named Colin Revik, replaced her body parts like clockwork to keep her alive.
14:09Eventually, Orianna abandoned her father, leaving him with a golden dancer that needs no king.
14:15Arcane retcons this so that Singed is Colin Revik, rounding out his character. You really
14:21had to know the lore to recognize what the writers had done here. Precisely what are you trying to
14:27cure? That affliction we all suffer. Death. Number two, Team Logos. The level of detail in Arcane
14:43is mind-blowing. The passion and dedication of Fortiche Studio shows in every frame, and that
14:49goes beyond the animation and narrative to numerous little nods for League players. In a parallel
14:55world, as Echo wanders across the Bridge of Progress between Zaun and Piltover, we see a
15:00wheel marked with mysterious symbols. These are actually the logos of League of Legends esports
15:06teams, including some of the top world teams. Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our
15:17channel and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos. You have the option to be
15:22notified for occasional videos or all of them. If you're on your phone, make sure to go into your
15:27settings and switch on notifications. Number one, Hints of Teemo. While the Swift Scout doesn't
15:35bounce onto the screen in Arcane, we do see an illustration of his furry face as Silco's
15:40henchman browses through a book in season one. Season two gave us a few more easter eggs. The
15:47Yordle is depicted on the wall of the arcade where Vander's fosterlings used to hang out.
15:52Isha's hat closely resembles Teemo's, complete with goggles, and Savika's slot machine arm
15:58features mushrooms that recall Teemo's puff caps. Which of these did you catch? Did you notice any
16:04we missed? Tell us in the comments. Did you enjoy this video? Check out these other clips from Watch
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