Valorant characters Killjoy and Raze are finally confirmed to be queer and dating one another, improving the representation for LGBTQ people across Riot Games’ various series, including League of Legends and the Netflix anime Arcane, and giving the multiplayer FPS game its first canonical couple.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise. For years now, we’ve been speculating on the romance between the sentinel Killjoy and duelist Raze, and Riot Games has never shied away either from putting its characters in canonical relationships or supporting queer representation.
In the official short story Rise with Me, by Dana Leury Shaw, League of Legends champions Leona and Diana are confirmed to be in a relationship, after falling in love during their initial training.
The League of Legends anime series Arcane also hints at romantic feelings between various heroes, including Caitlyn and Vi. This is the first time, however, that Valorant agents have been confirmed to be in a relationship, as shown by an image of Killjoy and Raze kissing one another, shared on the official Valorant Twitter.
Adding romances to Valorant’s lore is another strong step in building the world and the universe of the multiplayer shooter, bringing some welcome narrative depth to the run-and-gun fun of online deathmatch. Of course, although this is the first official Valorant romance, fans have already beaten Riot Games to the punch with the fantastic Valorant dating sim, which you can play now.
The relationship reveal comes as Valorant launches patch 5.12, which buffs Killjoy’s Lockdown and Nano Swarm abilities, while nerfing Raze’s Boom Bot. The new patch also introduces the beta for Swiftplay, Valorant’s shorter, more-intense game mode which you can test out now until January 10.
Check out our Valorant Killjoy guide if you want to get the best out of our favourite sentinel. The best Valorant guns will also help you get ahead in the fast-paced multiplayer game, alongside the Valorant tier list and our rundown of the most vital Valorant tips, so you can get a head start on owning Swiftplay.
