Jhin

The Virtuoso

The Golden Demon

The Artisan Killer

Assassin

“ In carnage, I bloom, like a flower in the dawn. „ ~ Jhin.

“ One... two... three... four! „ ~ Jhin as he fires Whisper

“ Art requires a certain cruelty. „ ~ Jhin

**Khada Jhin**, also simply known as **Jhin** or **The Virtuoso**, is a villainous playable character on the multiplayer online battle arena game *League of Legends*.

Formerly a serial killer, Jhin is a highly skilled assassin that works for the Ionian government to spread terror on their enemies. With a cunning mind and artistic flairs, Jhin remains ever-determined to make each and every death spectacular.

The 129th champion to be released, Jhin was added on February 1, 2016, and one of the most popular ranged champions of the game.

He is voiced by Quinton Flynn, who also voiced Axel from *Kingdom Hearts* and Henry Cooldown from *No More Heroes*.

## Biography

### Lore

Jhin's past is a complete enigma. What his motivations, past, or even his real name or face is shrouded in mystery.

What is known is that he was a simple man that worked as a stagehand in theaters and opera houses in the Ionian province Zhyun. His low profile is what helped him on getting away with his work, as Jhin started killing people in the province and staging the murders as "art pieces". The murders were so gruesome that they were actually adjudicated to a monster, which they began to call *The Golden Demon*, as they couldn't believe a simple man would be so heinous for such horrible acts.

This allowed Jhin to get away even further, as now he would not drag any attention at all. It was thank to the efforts of Great Master Kusho, his son Shen and his star apprentice Zed that Jhin would finally get punished for his acts.

#### The Golden Demon

When a series of horrible killings in Zhyun began to terrorize the entire country, the people adjudicated it to a monster, who they called The Golden Demon. Travelers, villagers and even complete farmsteads have been found horribly slaughtered, with their corpses being staged as some kind of art piece.

The Council of Zhyun used all of their resources to hunt down the beast, sending complete armies, demon hunters and even Wuju Masters to stop the massacre of the demon, but it was all in vain, the bodies kept stacking and the options ending.

Desperate, they begged for help to the great Ionian master Kusho. Having hearing their prayers, Kusho invented an excuse to deny any help, but it was all a plan to disguise himself as a merchant and find a connection within the murders.

Along with his son and his best apprentice, they visited countless families psychologically destroyed by the murders, in hopes to find any conclusion on the pattern of destruction.

It took four years for them to finally realize that a monster wasn't behind the curtains, but a human being. Knowing that they were in the eve of the Blossom Festival in Jyom Pass, Kusho took advantage to disguise himself as a renowned calligrapher, in order to blend himself with the other artists. There, they found the Golden Demon in person, a simple stagehand who they only knew as "Khada Jhin".

A young Zed, heavily traumatized for years to be subjugated to investigate his horrible work, realized that someone like him should be finished for all the suffering he caused. A scared Jhin almost meets his end at the hands of the one who would be later be The Master of Shadows, but at his surprise and Zed's disdain, he is ultimately saved by Kusho, who spared the killer of death and suggested him to be taken to Tuula prison instead. Shen disagreed, but finally accepted his father's judgement. Zed on the other hand, couldn't understand his emotionless mercy as someone as horrible as Jhin, and began to grow resentment on his master.

"The Capture of the Golden Demon" would become the last great act on the career on Kusho, being performed on theaters and immortalized in epic poems. Jhin's performance would be remembered on the collective consciousness of the people on Ionia, as the most horrible man to ever set foot on Runeterra.

#### Weapon of Terror

Even after being imprisoned in Tuula for many years, Jhin revealed almost nothing of himself, with his real name still remaining in mystery. The monks of Tuula noted that he was highly skilled in many arts, which included smithing, poetry, dance, theater etc. This lead him to be re-called as ''The Virtuoso''(prodigy, virtuous), however, despite many efforts, they were not able to cure him of his natural sadism and love for slaughter.

Many years passed since Jhin performed his last bloody act, and even so, the nation didn't become any better. Noxian invasions lead Ionia to fall into political instability. Fed up of ninjas and Wuju masters, the pacific nation of Ionian was thirsty of bloodshed, looking for something more effective. That's were a cabal withing the council conspired to free Jhin on secret, giving him a new purpose, new weaponry, and unlimited founds only for himself, to act on his most greatest passion despite many arts: terror.

#### Comic

Jhin makes an appearance in Marvel Comics' *League of Legends* adaptation with collaboration of Riot Games. He appears in the *Zed* series as the main antagonist with his main goal being trying to kill both Zed, Shen and everyone close to them for capturing him years ago. In Issue 1, we have a flashback of Zed finding a village completely burned by the "Golden Demon", with a pile of bodies covered in flower petals gathered in front of the village's Inn. Zed gives aid to the injured and is forced by Master Kusho to leave those who can't be saved to die of their wounds so he can save others. Nineteen years later, Zed returns with his students to the ruins of the same village where they found two bodies, the girl that lured them to the place, and a woman that Zed saved years ago in the village, completely deformed with their faces looking as a "flower". As they are looking at the bodies, Jhin is watching them on a tree, saying that their performance is just beginning.

Issue 2 follows Jhin murdering four of Zed's students and escaping to a Blossom Festival in the Harbor of Jyom Pass, where Zed pursued him sixteen years ago. On this flashbacks, Jhin seemingly tortures a young Zed, telling him that he installed Lotus Traps (personalized bombs of his) in the Harbor that will explode at the culmination of the Festival and kill everyone in it, including Zed's lover, that Jhin lured in there. It is revealed that Zed led himself to be captured on purpose so Shen and Master Kusho could discover where Jhin's location was and arrest him. Zed tries to kill him, but is stopped by Master Kusho, saying that is not their job as Kinkou to judge men and they exist to bring balance. Back in the present, Zed pursues Jhin again in the same location in another Blossom Festival, but he escaped in a boat right before Zed could find him. At the moment when Zed was in a safe spot marked by Jhin in flower petals, the Lotus Traps that Jhin planted explode and kill everyone behind Zed, following his plan of years ago. This was just a plan of Jhin to remind Zed that he can't capture him alone, so he would be forced to work with his old friend Shen, knowing that he would never forgive him for killing his father, Master Kusho. In an unknown location, Jhin is arranging a puppet show entertaining children with marionettes of Zed and Shen, showing how he is toying with them.

Issue 3 follows Zed asking Shen for help, with him denying to work with him but agreeing that Jhin must be stopped, working along with his student Akali to gather clues of Jhin's whereabouts. Zed silently follows him in his journey to catch Jhin, stopping at the Ionian city of Nanthee, were Zed discovers that Jhin has planted bombs inside a series of lanterns hanged across the city, a trap planted for them.

In Issue 4, Zed discovers Jhin's master plan and realizes that he is going to detonate the bombs once the bells of Nanthee ring four times. He discovers Jhin hiding in the crowd, but before he could stop him he is pursued by Shen who is also looking for him out of vengeance. Having lost his time, Jhin detonates all the bombs and kills hundreds of people in Nanthee, also knocking out both Shen and Zed and making them fall into the ocean. Zed manages to save him, but Jhin has escaped in a ship that is heading to the port of Piltover.

In issue 5, Akali is following the tracks of Jhin in Piltover and Zaun. She discovers that Jhin is working for some kind of 'shipping cabal' that is terrorizing merchant clans in Piltover that are exporting weapons to Ionia, with the exception of the Ferros Clan who, leaded by Camille Ferros gathered a kill team to exterminate Jhin in the theater district of a neighborhood called Mistfloor. Following the events showed in the music video "Awaken", Jhin trapped the kill team of Ferros Clan and decimated them using his Lotus Traps, with the exception of Camille who confronted Jhin in the theater. It is unknown what happened to Camille afterwards, but Jhin somehow survived the confrontation and is now hiding in the same theater waiting for Akali. She confronts Jhin below the opera theater, but ends ups loosing to his traps. Shen and Zed arrive at the exact moment to save her, and find him sitting in one his traps.

Shen tries to cut him down, but finds that it was just a decoy doll planted by him. Soon, a series of complicated traps and devices start attacking the old friends, with Jhin narrating the events from afar. Apparently, this was all set up to psychologically torture Zed, and make him tell Shen the real reason why he murdered Kusho. At the end, Jhin is defeated by the combinated efforts of Shen, Zed and Akali, but despite of loosing, Jhin achieves his ultimate goal despite never telling who freed him, because Zed always knew the truth. At the end of the comic, we know why, as Zed visits his ''patron'', a shadowy figure who is later revealed to be Master Kusho himself. Not only he never died, but he took control of the Navori Brotherhood and he was the one who set Khada Jhin free in his mission of unifying Ionia through terror and bloodshed, by reminding people the horrors of war, mission that only Jhin could achieve.

### Gameplay

In game, Jhin is both a marksman and catcher-type character, using Captive Audience to slow and damage his enemies in lotus traps and Deadly Flourish to shoot and immobilize them. Jhin can also throw a Dancing Grenade to hit up to four targets, dealing more damage each time it hits. Jhin's passive, Whisper, leaves his weapon with exactly four shots, with the fourth dealing the most damage. Similarly, Jhin can use Curtain Call to create a deadly mega-cannon to snipe and slow his enemies from a distance, again firing four shots (with the fourth being the strongest).

## Personality

“ Do you see, Zed? This is my work! This is my opera! This is my... perfection! „ ~ Jhin as he destroys the port of Nanthee.

Jhin is the embodiment of vanity. His high charisma and charm on artist flairs is highly overshadowed by his high ego and unhealthy vanity.

He is the perfect psychopath who sees people as nothing but puppets, where he will always pull the strings off. With no respect for the human life and lacking entirely from the sense of empathy, Jhin has no limits for his explicit sadism towards people, having the typical traits of the psychopathic serial killer.

He is seemingly chill and calmed almost the entirety of time, a calculating and meticulous mind that reasons before acting, but such traits are overshadowed by his craving need of attention. Being extremely flamboyant and melodramatic, Jhin always looks to be the center of attention, not caring if it be in a good or bad way.

Jhin often references different forms of art, and relates them to his killing. preferring to see his gruesome contortions of human corpses and their deaths as an elaborate stage that he orchestrates and sets up. Although it does seem he is aware of his surroundings, bringing question to weather his beliefs are but fabrications of his theoretical insanity, or that he genuinely sees the murder of others as beautiful.

His obsession with the number four, relating to his gun, Whisper, as it has four bullets, but is also seen several other times. As when he cleans his gun, he uses the cloth four times, keeping specific count leads to many questions, if he is a genius as he wishes to be seen and believes he is, or simply an extremely developed psychopath.

## Trivia

* Jhin is partially inspired by Simo Häyhä, a famous Finnish military sniper during World War II.
* The name *Khada Jhin* means "Golden Excellence".
* Jhin is obsessed with the number four.
* Jhin is the only champion that doesn't actually appear in his splash art, only his broken reflection from the mirror is visible.