Vander

> When did you get so comfortable living in someone else's shadow?
>
> Vi to Vander, "Welcome to the Playground"

**Vander** was once the unspoken leader and protector of the undercity. Determined and zealous, Vander did all he could in his later life to ensure the safety of those under his protection—the residents of Zaun and, more specifically, the children he'd taken under his wing. When a series of events forces him to make a choice between an established truce between Zaun and Piltover and his children, Vander's life is turned on its head by his past.

## Biography

### Early life

In their youth, Vander and Silco formed a strong, brotherly bond over their shared dreams for Zaun's freedom and unity as one nation. At one point, however, the two had a falling out, after which Vander tried to drown Silco in a river, only for the latter to slice his arm to escape.

Vander would come to earn the nickname "Hound of the Underground", who fought for the community he'd supposedly built and united. He tried to lead a revolt across the bridge to Piltover, one that ended in failure and resulted in multiple deaths, including those of the parents of Vi and Powder. Upon seeing the children and their anguish, Vander dropped his gauntlets, symbolically abandoning his fight against Piltover, and took the girls in. Eventually, he also came to adopt two other children: Mylo and Claggor, all of whom grew up eager to please and to prove themselves to Vander and those around them.

In hopes of establishing some semblance of peace in Zaun for their protection, Vander struck a deal with the enforcers—he would ensure that Zaunites would not cause trouble in the upper city, and the enforcers will stay out of his business. This news would somehow reach Silco who despised this decision.

### Season 1

One day, his children decided to go topside to try to pull off a heist on their own. The attempt caught the attention of the Council and authorities because it caused an explosion in the Academy district and the workshop they'd broken into belonged to an influential family. Even Vander's connection to the enforcers and the leniency of Sheriff Grayson could not protect them, though Grayson at least asked for one culprit to take responsibility just so they could present a culprit to the Council.

Vander had to talk the children down, particularly Vi, from making more of a scene. This proved to be a challenge due to the continued pressure on the enforcers from the Council and the children's tendency for trouble. After a conversation with Vi, during which he reminded her of the risks fighting Piltover posed, Vi stole the pneumatic tube capsule from Vander and sent a message to Grayson so she could surrender herself to spare the others. Vander caught on, stopped and trapped Vi in Benzo's basement while he turned himself in instead.

Before he could be taken to the upper city, they were intercepted by Silco and a beast on Shimmer who, after killing Grayson and Benzo, took him to his Shimmer factory. There, Silco finally confronted him for their last encounter before they strapped Vander to a chair in preparation for an experiment for Singed. His children then arrived to break him out. Moments away from escaping, multiple explosions caused by Powder rock the cannery, and Vander fights back against Silco's remaining men and the beast before getting stabbed by Silco. Desperate to protect Vi, Vander used the last of his strength to take Shimmer, turning himself into a monstrous beast temporarily. Vander then grabbed Vi and jumped out of the collapsing building, apparently dying from the fall.

However, as revealed in episode 9, Singed found Vander's body and took it back to his lab, presumably to see if it were possible to bring someone back to life with his chemicals. After 7 years of said experiments, Vander is now an undead werewolf-like beast that Singed calls "Warwick". fully revealed in Arcane: Season 2 First Look

## Characteristics

### Appearance

Vander was a large and muscular middle-aged man with grey eyes, dark hair, and a neatly trimmed greying beard. He was generally seen wearing blue trousers, leather boots, a brown leather jacket over a white undershirt, and a leather pauldron on his upper right arm to cover up the scar that he got from Silco when he was young.

When Vander used Shimmer as a last resort to save Vi, it dramatically increased his muscle mass, made him grow several feet in height, and made his veins purple and pop out all over his body.

### Personality

Vander is implied to have been a brutal man in his younger years. A flashback reveals an incident between him and Silco, where Vander tried to viciously drown the latter in Piltover's polluted river, despite carrying a knife with him. After leading a failed uprising against Piltover's regime that saw a tragic loss of life, Vander was forced to bear the message to Vi and Powder that their parents had lost their lives in the fighting. After witnessing the grief this bore upon the two children, Vander turned pacifist, dropping his weapons and carrying the girls away to raise them as their father.

At the time of Arcane's first act, Vander was the surrogate father of Vi, Powder, Mylo and Claggor. A caring man, Vander was always willing to protect those that need his help. He was seen as a protector by many, and he cared for the Lanes and the people in them. He governed the Lanes through a paternal authority, relying on people's gratitude and genuine respect for him to maintain order. Though turned pacifist, he defied his dogma in his final act, eventually fighting and dying to save Vi's life.

### Abilities

* **Brawler:** Vander had a gift for hand-to-hand combat and was shown to dominate most fights he ever got involved in, even against Shimmer-enhanced opponents. He was also the one who taught Vi how to punch, a notable feat considering how skilled Vi became at boxing in her teenage years.
* **Barkeep:** As the owner of The Last Drop, Vander was a skilled bartender and could make various kinds of drinks.
* **Leader:** Vander was a competent and honorable leader, despite his past failings, and many Zaunites respected him for it, even after he supposedly died.
* **Teacher:** As the adoptive father of four children, Vander would be their primary teacher in life and gave them just about every skill they needed to survive in Zaun. Even after his assumed death, his lessons would still resonate with them, as displayed when Vi had a hallucination of him encouraging her to work on her guard and get back up during her second fight with Sevika.

## Appearances

 "Happy Progress Day!":*Absent*
 "The Boy Savior":*Mentioned only*

## Trivia

* Vander was widely theorized to be the *League of Legends* champion Warwick, which was confirmed in the final episode of season 1. Further shown in Arcane: Season 2 First Look

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Christian Linke, Alex Yee (writers) and Pascal Charrue, Arnaud Delord (November 6, 2021). "Welcome to the Playground". *Arcane*. Season 1. Episode 1. Netflix.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Ash Brannon (writer) and Pascal Charrue, Arnaud Delord (directors) (November 6, 2021). "The Base Violence Necessary for Change". *Arcane*. Season 1. Episode 3. Netflix.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Nick Luddington (writer) and Pascal Charrue, Arnaud Delord (directors) (November 6, 2021). "Some Mysteries Are Better Left Unsolved". *Arcane*. Season 1. Episode 2. Netflix.
4. ↑ "vander warwick" Google Search results
5. ↑ Vander on the League of Legends wiki