The murderous Silco is one of the most charismatic, if evil, characters in Arcane. But who is he?

Update 11/14/21 12:26 AM PDT: Information on Silco's role in Act II of Arcane has been added.

The murderous Silco is one of the most intriguing characters in League of Legends’ Arcane and seems to be setting himself up to be the series’ big bad. Not only does he have a bloody past with Vander, but he also wants to set up the Undercity to be a nation to rival Piltover in power.

Silco's backstory in Arcane

His past with Vander comes in the form of several flashbacks. The first of which shows Vander and Silco fighting bitterly in some sort of river. This seems to be the endgame of the conflict where Vander led the charge against Piltover years prior. He also directly mentions that he is affiliated with the nation of Zaun, as he chides Vander for abandoning his duty. 

In the flashback sequence, Silco’s eye became mutilated and bloodied, leading to its replacement. Vander, grievously wounded by his own knife, as Silco stole it as he was being choked by Vander.

As a result, Silco has a bitter hatred for Vander, who has settled down and now wants to maintain the peace between the undercity and Piltover. Silco resents Vander’s “peacemongering” and is working to engineer a revolt of sorts, wanting to establish a nation to rival Piltover in power. He also resents the fact that Vander had to become a "lapdog" of the enforcers, damning him with the quote:

"You're willing to die for the cause but you won't fight!"

Silco to Vander after his capture.

He directly seems to do this by the end of Act 1 He also is working with Singed to create a mysterious purple toxin that turns people and animals savage. This is the origin of several League of Legends champions, including (seemingly) Twitch, Singed himself (as we know him), Warwick, and others. His intentions have already marred the lives of several characters in the show including Vander, Vi, Jinx. His actions set up the deaths of Clagger, Milo, and Benzo as well.

By the end of Episode 3, Silco has taken in Powder. It is heavily implied that he helps her become Jinx as we know her. The teaser for the next episode shows the pair wreaking havoc around Piltover. 

<em>Silco comforts Powder, who is about to become Jinx</em>.
Silco comforts Powder, who is about to become Jinx.

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Act II: Silco continues to expand Zaun's ambitions

Silco in Act II has all but taken over the lanes. Using his ingenuity, a continued deal with Marcus to stop Piltover from enforcing laws and ignoring shipments of shimmer, he's got quite the empire going.

However, things are already starting to come unraveled. Thanks to a botched operation by Jinx, followed by a terrorist attack and the stealing of a Hextech core, the council has decided that the Undercity is getting a little out of control.

His rather toxic relationship with Jinx has continued as well, with him getting furious over her botched operation and terrorist attack, imploring her to just work on her gadgetry rather than anything else.

Following a manhunt for Vi and Caitlyn, Silco confronts the pair, who were sold out by a shimmer addict, leading to the pair exchanging threats. Silco then sicks some Shimmer addicts on Vi, which causes her to punch a support beam loose, which falls on Silco, nearly killing him.

Will Silco come to League of Legends as a playable Champion?

As Silco doesn’t have any obvious parallels to a current League of Legends champion, many have wondered if he is on his way to the game as his own champion. 

While there hasn’t been any outright confirmation, there was an excerpt that caught our eye from the recent Champion Roadmap where he could have been hinted at. It certainly lines up with his character as revealed so far in Arcane at any rate. 

It reads:

Money runs this city. Technology, power, people. All can be bought when you have enough cash. Technology to reach out and take what you want, discarding it like trash when you're done. Power to turn your enemies against each other, watching them kill the very ones they swore to protect. And people to manipulate with your terrifying charisma, sending them to almost certain death, only being saved if they fulfill your wishes.

In the end they will know your name, the one that truly ran this game, the one calling the shots… the “support.”

Of course, we could find out more information as Arcane’s next batch of episodes 

This could be referring to someone else entirely, but as we have no other clues three episodes in as to Silco’s overall role, it’s as good a guess as any. We do know, however, that he is associated with Singed. The assistant is the creator of the purple toxin that turns people and animals alike completely savage.

What’s your theory on SIlco’s identity? Let us know on Twitter @esports, and be sure to keep it locked here to Esports.gg for all the latest on Arcane