Rhaast

Info

Rhaast, also known as The Darkin Scythe, is the weapon of choice for Kayn, the Shadow Reaper, as well as a villainous playable character in the multiplayer online battle arena game League of Legends. A sentient Darkin scythe, Rhaast is wielded by Shieda Kayn, Master Zed's second-in-command to the Order of Shadows. Slowly corrupting the young Kayn from within his prison, Rhaast hopes to one day become powerful enough to take over Kayn's body and become the malevolent overlord he was always meant to be. Rhaast was added along with Kayn, the 137th champion added to the game. Thus, Rhaast was released on July 12, 2017, and is most commonly played in the jungle. He is voiced by Sam A. Mowry, who also voiced Kessler in inFamous and Arpeggio in Sly 2: Band of Thieves.

Lore

Like the other Darkin, Rhaast was born a warrior in the ancient Shuriman empire, who underwent an Ascension ritual before the great Sun Disc to become a god-warrior. The Ascended were forced to fight the forces of the Void at Icathia, but when the emperor Azir was killed and Shurima fell, the Ascended were left without a master, and in the Great Darkin War, Rhaast sided with the corrupted Ascended who used the forbidden blood magic for world conquest. When the Darkin lost the war, Rhaast was sealed within his scythe and hidden for centuries in what would later become Noxus. During the invasion of Ionia, Rhaast was uncovered by the Noxians, who sought to weaponize the Darkin's power to aid their war effort. But Rhaast would not be wielded by the Noxians; his power would soon fall into the hands of the Order of Shadow, an elite group of assassins sworn to protect Ionia by any means necessary. The assassin sent to retrieve Rhaast was none other than Shieda Kayn, who was once a conscripted child soldier of Noxus before he was accepted under Master Zed's tutelage. Kayn was young and ambitious, someone who Rhaast saw as the perfect potential host. While Kayn had been sent to destroy the scythe, Rhaast manipulated the boy, using his arrogance to convince him to instead take the scythe and its power for himself. When Kayn picked up the scythe, however, Rhaast was surprised at the strength of Kayn's spirit. Where another could have been corrupted instantly, Kayn's powers were strong, holding back Rhaast's corruption as it made its way up his arm. As a result, Kayn and Rhaast are currently locked in an endless struggle for dominance, a symbiotic stalemate between weapon and wielder. Kayn returned to Ionia with the weapon, hoping to use it to fulfill his ambitions in the Order of Shadow. But meanwhile, Rhaast is always planning his next manipulation, hoping to one day fully possess his host and join together with the other Darkin so their reign of terror can continue once more.

Abilities

In game, Rhaast is a skirmisher-type champion, engaging in duels at melee range to deal sustained damage over time. Rhaast becomes playable through Kayn's passive, the Darkin Scythe, when he possesses Kayn's body. The Darkin form allows additional healing, and can be activated by dealing damage to melee champions. Rhaast can use Reaping Slash to dash and slash enemies with the scythe, Blade's Reach to damage and knock up enemies in a line, and Shadow Step to pass through walls. Rhaast's ultimate, Umbral Trespass, helps him hide in an enemy's body before slashing them when he leaves.

Appearance

Unlike the other Darkin, Rhaast is not presented as a tragic character doomed by his own ambition, instead taking almost childish joy in his quest for destruction and bloodshed. In his unleashed form, Rhaast is incredibly hammy and arrogant, reminiscent of a cartoon villain, maniacally laughing at his own evil deeds and appearing excited whenever he kills someone. Rhaast loves wisecracks almost as much as he hates humans, sarcastically joking that his dead victims should "walk it off" since he was hardly even trying. Despite this, Rhaast is capable of patience, as in his scythe form, Rhaast is able to tone back his bloodlust in favor of carefully manipulating Kayn over a long period of time. But Rhaast is always ready to murder, and will gladly tell Kayn to do so.