Riot introduces Aurora as LoL’s first champion with autism

For the first time in League of Legends history, Riot Games is adding a new champion who is autistic: Aurora.

Aurora is a skirmishing mage who can be played in both the top and mid lanes, boasting a unique ability set that allows her to dance and hop around the battlefield while dishing out some major damage through skills based on her connection to spirits.

“Aurora is a labor of love and passion from the dev team,” Riot said. “We wanted to deliver an approachable solo lane champion, and bring diversity to League‘s champion roster through the representation of autism.”

Her kit is mainly centered around spirit witchcraft, where she exorcises spirits from an enemy champion to gain movement speed and self-heals through her passive, Spirit Abjuration. The rest of her kit allows her to blast enemies with spirit energy while staying mobile with the various jumps she has built into her abilities.

In League lore, Aurora was born to a Vastayan tribe in the Freljord and has the unique ability to see the divide between the spirit and material world. Growing up, however, she struggled to connect with friends and other compatriots, causing her to find friendship among spirits that only she could see.

In her quotes, she talks about seeing the spirit realm and the material realm at the same time and how her work will help others understand what they can’t see. She leaves her village to explore the rest of the Freljord while trying to learn more about the spirit realm, and in her adventures, she eventually meets a forgotten demigod who becomes her friend.

Aurora is set to be the second new champion added to League in 2024, following Smolder. She’s expected to join the game with Patch 14.14 on Wednesday, July 17.