Are Vel'Koz and the Void invading League of Legends? Facts, rumors, and theories

Lately, the League of Legends community has been abuzz about Vel’Koz, a new Void champion that Riot seems to be hinting is coming soon. But with all the theories and rumors flying around, it can be a bit difficult to separate fact from fiction. So, to start with, here’s what we know about Vel’Koz right now:

Facts

• A teaser video clip showing a purple eye has been popping up in an awful lot of videos from high-profile streamers and video creators. The general interpretation seems to be that this clip is teasing Vel’Koz and may suggest a link between the Void and Summoner’s Rift.
• Leaked images appear to show Vel’Koz in game (pictured above), along with his abilities, and what is apparently his face is discovered to have been in the splash art for the Creator Viktor skin.
• Riot hasn’t officially announced anything, but Riot reps have told players that the company is working on more monster champions.
• Riot has officially warned players to “keep an eye out for an invasion from the Outside.” The Outside is another term for the Void.
• Something new is definitely coming in this fiscal quarter. When a player posted on Reddit about how it seemed odd that Riot’s artists don’t seem to have done much this winter, a Riot rep posted this rather cryptic message: “You’ll see why in Q1 of 2014.” The implication is that Riot’s artists didn’t make many changes to the game during the earlier winter event because they were preparing for some upcoming event we’ll get later this quarter.

That’s most of what we know at the moment. And it seems pretty clear that whatever else is happening, League of Legends will be getting some additional Void monster champions, almost certainly including Vel’Koz. But it could go a lot further than that! Here are some of the more interesting theories the League of Legends subreddit has come up with based on these leaks, teasers, and analysis of the game’s rather extensive lore:

Theories

• Horde mode. It’s unlikely that the Void invasion will lead to the release of a ton of new Void champions, but some players have hypothesized that it could be related to the release of a new co-op game mode like Gears of War‘s horde mode that would pit you and four other champions against waves of increasingly-powerful beasts from the Void.
• Ao Shin incoming? The Chinese-themed champion was expected last month but failed to appear; however, Riot has said that “Legend holds that when Ionia faces its greatest crisis, Ao Shin will descend from the sky.” Could Ionia’s greatest crisis be the Void invasion the Vel’Koz teasers seem to suggest? If so, that might mean that Vel’Koz won’t be the only new champion we see soon. A twist on this theory hypothesizes that Vel’Koz will bring the Void to Summoners Rift and he, along with additional new Void champions and the Void champions already in the game, will be the only champions playable until Ao Shin is released and restores order.
• In-client game replays? Supposedly, Vel’Koz will be a Watcher. Could this also mean that Riot is planning to facilitate watching LoL games by finally adding a convenient, in-client way to watch replays?

And of course, that’s probably just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to fan theories. Most of them probably won’t come true, but until Vel’Koz actually hits the game, it’s fun to speculate. Personally, I’m hoping that the Ao Shin theory proves to be true. Then again, part of me hopes that none of this is true—I can’t afford to buy any more champions; I need to save my IP to buy runes!