Lore: Pantheon Atreus, the Human who matched to Gods

You probably know some epic story in which a human challenges Gods and goes on a mythological journey.

Atreus' story isn't much different from the great Greek/Roman heroes nor the story of characters more commonly known as Kratos (God of War) and Guts (Berserk), except for the fact that Atreus lost control of himself completely.

In the next few lines you will get to know the details of Atreus' story, the human who matched Gods.

Contrary to popular belief, the League of Legends Champion, Pantheon, didn't have its story based on other games such as the aforementioned God of War.

So what do they have in common?

The answer is simple: the original source!

Both characters were inspired by the poems and stories from Greek Mythology. Stories such as: "The Iliad", "Ulysses' Odyssey", "Hercules' Twelve Labours", "Perseus and Medusa", among other myths.

Our story begins with Atreus, a Targon man who was named after a start belonging to the War constellation, known as Pantheon.

Keep in mind that, as in our Astronomy, in Runeterra the constellations have names and stars too. On our Earth we have the Orion constellation, which is composed of many stars, among them the "Three Maries" — which together compose the Orion belt.

Early on, Atreus knew to be destined for battle. As many in his tribes, he trained to join the Ra'Horak, the military order of the Rakkor (a faction tribe which lives in Mount Targon). Not being the strongest or most skillful of warriors, somehow Atreus managed to persevere, rebuilding, bloody and wounded, battle after battle.

Atreus met Pylas, a fellow recrute who soon became his best friend. And after witnessing and fighting against a barbarian invasion which ambushed their patrol in which only the two of them survived, Atreus and Pylas decided to climb Mount Targon.

Mount Targon

Mount Targon is the biggest and wildest mountain existing in Runeterra, and at its peak lives a being called "The Arbiter", a Celestial being who judges who is worthy or not of the presence of the Gods. In case you are worthy, probably a Celestial will show up and bless you. In case you are not worthy, various consequences might happen, such as your death or just the order to come back and face the social consequences of your "failure".

As said before, Atreus and Pylas decided to climb Mount Targon, in search of the Celestials' divine power. However, only Atreus managed to reach the peak — Pylas, his best friend, perished.

The Ascension

Atreus reached the peak and was considered worthy by the Arbiter, so the War constellation Celestial, known as Pantheon, came to Atreus and took control of his body, because Pantheon considered Atreus worthy, but weak.

The Celestial taking over completely the body of its host was something extremely uncommon. Usually just the power of the Celestial was given to the mortal who became their Aspect, but Pantheon, arrogant as only he could be, took over control and went after a Darkin who needed to be stopped.

The name of this Darkin was Aatrox, a disturbed being, but that possessed the divine powers of an Ascendent. Aatrox wanted to reach Targon's peak, and needed to be stopped.

The Fight between two Divine beings

Aatrox and Pantheon locked one of the most epic battles in all of Runeterra's History. The fight took over the skies and decimated armies of men on solid ground ... until the unimaginable happened. Aatrox's Darkin blade was able to kill gods, and pierced Pantheon's chest; a strike that yanked the War constellation from the skies. There died Pantheon, the War Celestial.

When the Aspect disappeared, Atreus, the man who Pantheon considered weak, awoke. Stabbed by Aatrox's blade, and without the Aspect's weapon's power, he took a deep breath and spat on the Darkin's face. Aatrox obviously made fun of Atreus and decided to leave him there to die. But as said before, Atreus was extremely persevering.

Hours later, Atreus with difficulty even standing up, walked and stumbled back to the Rakkor. After a whole life of defeats, his will to live and the anger because of Pantheon's betrayal were enough to fend off the death that had taken War's life itself.

Atreus regained his strength in his deceased friend's house, under the care of Iulla, Pyla's widow. There, Atreus thought hard about his world view, and on how he had spent his entire life looking at the stars hoping that the celestial beings blessed them and controlled their destinies. That had to end, Gods no longer should treat mortals as their toys.

In the midst of these thoughts, Atreus was awakened because the barbarian invaders threatened the Rakkor settlements, exactly where Iulla's farm was. Though he wasn't yet recovered, Atreus was determined to personally end that martyrdom and decided to leave with the Spear and divine Shield that belonged to the Aspect.

But when arriving, he found his enemy already under attack. By the screams and the strong scent of blood... he knew it was Aatrox.

The most important fight of his life

Atreus realized that his enemies didn't want to conquer, but instead, to flee Aatrox. The human was taken by an unimaginable rage, in his heart hovered the anger that he felt for Celestials and also the anger he felt for the Darkin. These feelings crossed over his personal limitations. Atreus nurtured these feelings, because he couldn't accept the fact that humans were at the mercy of such powerful beings.

Atreus put himself between the barbarians and Aatrox. Recognizing the defeated Aspect's spear and shield, the Darkin once again mocked and underestimated Atreus; what hope could Atreus have now, without Pantheon's power? The battle wasn't on equal grounds, Aatrox was extremely superior.

Even on his knees, Atreus' determination was unbreakable. As he heard the screams of the people around him, he rekindled the Aspect's spear, summoned a divine power which was certainly the consequence of before having hosted a Celestial and jumped... and with a powerful leap, Atreus hit a blow that cut off the Darkin's arm.

Without one arm and with its sword dropped on the ground, bewildered by the strength shown by Atreus, Aatrox retreated and the War constellation once again shone in the skies.

Atreus promised, that day, to fight against Aspects, Ascendents, Darkins and demons and any other ones whose power brought nothing but destruction. By denying his own name, he became a new Pantheon.

Now that the divine Pantheon was no longer, War would be reborn in a man.

Many believed that Atreus became a Celestial. In my perception, Atreus became another being, a being that is between humans and celestials.

I'm personally very fond of Atreus' story, because I love mythology, and seeing that many references brings me a mixture of happiness and nostalgia. I read these Pantheon's short stories and I remember the many afternoons in my childhood and teenage years reading short stories, poems and books about mythology.