| “ | What, pray tell, would a father sacrifice to save his son? Better yet, what would a king? | „ |
| ~ Leblanc describing Jarvan III |
Jarvan Lightshield the Third, also known as Jarvan III, is a posthumous heroic character in the lore of League of Legends, being the former king of Demacia before his death and the father of Jarvan IV. He was a selfless, compassionate ruler who invited others into Demacia no matter their background, and was the one who rescued Xin Zhao from Noxus and adopted him as a Demacian.
He also wanted mages to be accepted into Demacia due to them being feared amongst Demacian society, but after Sylas' mage revolution caused his death, Demacia became an anti-mage nation which was ironically the opposite of Jarvan III's ambition.
Biography
Jarvan III was the third heir to the Lightshield House, the royal family of Demacia since Jarvan I's rule. After his coronation, the noble families of Demacia fought each other to gain his favor, some even raising private militias to serve him. However, Jarvan III refused to let these rivalries escalate to dangerous levels, so he made a compromise by marrying Lady Catherine, who was popular amongst the people. They had a healthy relationship and gave birth to Jarvan IV, but Catherine sadly died in childbirth. Jarvan III swore never to take another wife and ensured that he would train Jarvan IV to be the next heir of Demacia.
One day, a bunch of Noxian gladiators were sold on a ship to Demacia, where they were captured and taken to a Demacian arena to fight the Dauntless Vanguard. Unlike the arenas of Noxus, Demacia was more merciful and honorable and spared all of the gladiators from execution under Jarvan III's orders. Viscero, the most skilled amongst the gladiators, was brought before King Jarvan III, his young son and his bodyguard Tianna Crownguard. When he said that Viscero was not his real name, Tianna and the Vanguard threatened him for interrupting the king, but Jarvan III laughed and invited him to speak.
He told him that his real name was Xin Zhao and he came from an Ionian fishing boat named Raikkon, telling the king about how he was captured by Noxus and became one of the most powerful gladiators in the arena until he was rescued. Jarvan III offered him money to go back home, but Xin Zhao decided that he had to repay the king for giving him a better chance in life than ever before, so he wished to join the king's guard, angering Tianna. Jarvan III asked Xin Zhao how he could prove that he was capable, causing him to demonstrate by taking a spear from a guard and striking down all of the guards before pointing it at the king's neck.
Tianna and her guards prepared to execute Xin Zhao as he awaited his punishment, but Jarvan III told them that Xin Zhao had demonstrated how he could be assassinated even in front of his guards. He praised Xin Zhao for being a role model (to Tianna's annoyance) and invited his guards and son to learn from him. Since then, Xin Zhao not only became Jarvan III's guardian and most trusted steward, but also his best friend. He was even adopted as a brother, becoming an uncle to Jarvan IV.
One day, the convicted mage Sylas escaped from the Demacian mage prison and freed all of the other mages, where they went on a destructive rampage across Demacia using their magic before heading to the king's castle, where they wished to publicly humiliate Jarvan III as an act of payback towards Demacian society. To Sylas' shock, Jarvan III had already been killed. Jarvan IV cried in horror when finding his father's corpse, calling Sylas a monster and believing that his father was wrong for trusting mages when they just murdered him. Sylas decided to humiliate Jarvan IV instead, but his friend Lux broke the prince free and caused Sylas and his fellow escapees to exit Demacia via the sewers.
Since Jarvan III's death, Jarvan IV gained a distrust towards mages and made a public decree that all mages in Demacia would be shown no mercy. Jarvan III's letter to the head of the Mageseekers was originally meant to accept mages into Demacia, but due to the incident Jarvan IV ordered Xin Zhao to burn it. However, this also caused Jarvan IV to take on the mantle of king, and he now leads the nation to continue his father's duties.
Gallery
 Heroes
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Kingdom of Demacia House Crownguard House Laurent Dauntless Vanguard Deities Others Piltover and Zaun Enforcers Firelights Zaun Others Ionia Shadow Order Navori Vastaya Others The Freljord Winter's Claw Others Noxus Mages Others Others Bilgewater Mount Targon Solari Lunari Celestials Shadow Isles Others Icathia The Void Ixtal Bandle City | ||