A deep narrative and complex storyline aren’t synonymous with tactical shooters like Valorant, but peeking into hints within the game details a dense lore. Taking a deep dive into an agent’s abilities, things we overlook other than their effectiveness in the game illustrates a complex and dense story and character personalities that have not been fully appreciated within the game. Taking a look at each agent, we can see how their abilities reflect their history and how an agent’s backstory becomes more detailed with each release.

Brimstone (Beta, Human, USA)

A former member of the fire department, military, and Kingdom Corp K-SEC agent, Brimstone’s utility reflects all of his former occupations. His Incendiary is a reflection of his time as a firefighter. Brimstone’s Sky Smoke and Orbital Strike are aided by the weaponry given to him through Kingdom tech as well as being common utilities used in a warzone. His Stim Beacon also reflects the Kingdom tech that he uses as the leader of the Valorant Protocol.

Viper (Beta, Human, USA)

Viper, also known as Sabine, was a once decorated and well-respected scientist until an unknown incident had changed her personality. She became bitter and hateful, which clouded her judgment when performing experiments. This is reflected in her attitude mid-game. Her abilities reflect this hate with poisonous concoctions made to hurt others.

Her abilities are referred to as “toxins,” which are compounds found naturally on Earth, opposite of what these gasses really are. Her poisonous creations can be interpreted as a natural extension of her personality, unlike the medicine she was working on before she became hateful.

Omen (Beta, Radiant, Unknown)

Omen is a ghost with no name and a number of previous aliases. Without having a concrete identity and no country of origin, we do not know much about Omen prior to his accident, turning into the phantom-like enigma we know today. Since he is the first Radiant to be introduced to the Valorant Protocol, he has powers that reflect his ghost-like state. Omen is always in pain, so his abilities’ characteristics match the torment he lives with. Paranoia and Shrouded Step are two abilities that reflect his character well.

Cypher (Beta, Human, Morocco)

Cypher is an information broker that had lost his family, which is alluded to as still being alive based on the blackmail dossier of every agent. We do not have much information on who he is personally as he likes to be anonymous. Cypher’s skill in security and networking reflects his abilities in-game.

Sova (Beta, Human, Russia)

It is implied that Sova has a military background and lost his eye for the Valorant Protocol. He has a legacy of being the perfect archer, having never missed a shot. Fade exposes him on this in her blackmail dossier, referencing a catastrophic event where he did not clutch up. His abilities reflect his extraordinary archer skills.

Before the Valorant Protocol, he used to be called “Filin, Brother of Steel and String”. “Filin” translates to Eagle-Owl as well as his codename “Sova” translating to owl. This is reflected in his “Owl Drone” ability.

Sage (Beta, Radiant, China)

A Radiant healer who is compassionate and kind, Sage tries to help anyone and everyone. This could be her biggest flaw as she cares so much it can cloud her judgment in tense situations.

Sage is a geomancer, which allows her to create physical structures through crystalline Radianite orbs. This is reflected in her character model, having orbs strapped across her body. Her abilities reflect her geomancer capabilities as she is able to create Radianite crystals on the ground through her Slow Orb as well as being able to create a physical crystalline wall through her Barrier Orb.

Phoenix (Beta, Radiant, England)

The only connection between his fire abilities and his character is detailed in his history at a Performing Arts School in south London. The school burned to the ground, but the timeline in which this event happened is unclear.

Valorant’s Creative Director, David “Riot Kingkut” Nottingman, has hinted that Phoenix could have played a part in burning down the school’s science lab, which resulted in the school being burned, but it is not confirmed.

Jett (Beta, Radiant, South Korea)

Jett is a Radiant gifted agent who can control wind. She once summoned a massive storm over Seoul, which illustrates her true untapped power. This shows a side of Jett that details a destructive short-tempered person due to her arrogance and blinding confidence. Her wind abilities reflect this Radiant power.

Jett used to be a chef in Seoul, which her expert knifework can be attributed to.

Raze (Beta, Tech User, Brazil)

Raze is blatant in her dislike of Kingdom Corporation. The feeling is mutual. Raze’s class is defined by “Tech User” as she is very gifted in creating gadgets. Her entire kit is reflected in her creativity and expertise in creating gadgets and weapons. Other than her ability to work with explosives and tech, not much else of her history, romantic relationship with Killjoy, or her role in Valorant Protocol is reflected in her abilities.

Breach (Beta, Human, Sweden)

Breach is a congenital amputee criminal who came from a family of thieves. His self-made artificial arm is the spawn of every ability he has in the game. His arms were not always destructive, as he had help from Raze to weaponize them. Not much is said about how they met, only that Raze made the lethal upgrades.

Reyna (1.0, Radiant, Mexico)

Reyna was the first agent to release post-beta. Reyna’s radiant abilities allow her to harvest the souls of her enemies that she kills. She sees Tech Users as want-to-be Radiants. Reyna needs souls to survive, which goes hand in hand with her aggressive, killer nature. Her abilities reflect the need to harvest souls to survive.

Reyna had created a sanctuary for Radiants, which she saved from Kingdom Corporation that was using them as test subjects. This is why she is referred to as “Queen” by some agents and the reason her voice line, “My city needs me. I can’t be away for long. Let’s end this quickly,” is in the game. Her name, “Reyna” also translates to “Queen”.

Killjoy (1.05, Tech User, Germany)

Killjoy is a young genius who created her own inventions to use inside and outside of battle. Killjoy is known as the smartest agent in the Valorant Protocol. Killjoy’s youth and immaturity strips her of control she has over her inventions, since she has no input on how Kingdom Corporation uses them. She was head of the Research and Development division within the corporation at 18. Her abilities in-game can be seen as a way of her taking control over her creations.

Skye (1.11, Radiant, Australia)

Skye uses her Radiant abilities to animate wooden figures she carved by hand. Wood carving is one of her many hobbies which include activities like running and working out. Skye connects to the land, and all that is living on it, which is why her trinkets take the form of local animals. She is defined as an eco-warrior who dislikes Kingdom Corporation and the negative impact its existence has on the planet. Her abilities reflect the many trinkets she carries with her.

Yoru (2.0, Radiant, Japan)

A radiant agent hailing from Tokyo, Yoru is the first agent to delve into the Radiant characteristic of dimensional manipulation. Yoru’s radiant ability allows him to open rifts into the fabric of reality, which gives him the ability to teleport in his physical dimension. All of his abilities are connected to another dimension.

Astra (2.04, Radiant, Ghana)

Astra is a Radiant agent who is tied to a group called the Astral Guardians. The Astral Guardians exist to stop any disturbances within reality and space-time. Astra is the second agent to touch on Radiant’s power to manipulate dimensions. Her abilities reflect her Astral Guardian title, as she goes into an Astral form to place stars onto the battlefield. These stars can then be manipulated to form certain defenses against the opposition.

KAY/O (3.0, Cybernetic, Unknown)

KAY/O is the only agent that is from an alternate timeline from the future. He arrived at the timeline the game takes place through a portal on the map Breeze. In his future, Radiants and humans have gone into a full-out war called “The Radiant War.” KAY/O was designed to kill Radiants on the side of the humans. His anti-Radiant ability is reflected in his ZERO/POINT knife and his NULL/CMD ultimate that suppresses all abilities. His FRAG/MENT and FLASH/DRIVE abilities aid in his task to kill Radiants.

KAY/O has implied that in his timeline, both Brimstone and Jett were casualties in “The Radiant War”, as well as personally eliminating Astra, Skye, and Reyna.

Chamber (3.10, Human, France)

Chamber is a weapon designer who created firearms infused with Radianite for Kingdom Corporation. A former marksman for the French military, he is both a weapon designer and a good shot. He once led the Kingdom Defense Program, which is detailed on his card in-game.

Chamber also has a direct connection to the portal found on Breeze that KAY/O went through. His Headhunter and Tour de Force abilities reflect his expertise in firearms and weapon design, whereas his Rendezvous and Trademark abilities tap into his resources with Kingdom Corporation.

Neon (4.0, Radiant, Philippines)

The youngest Radiant to join Valorant Protocol, Neon was inducted based on Chamber’s recommendation. Her father is a known creator of Radiant tech that helps Radiants control their powers and makes them manageable in every day life. His first invention was the Surge Protector, the large piece of equipment on her chest that helps her control her electric powers.

Valorant details how her powers work:

High Gear is caused by sending Radianite-infused electric charges to her leg muscles.

Relay Bolt is made from Radianite-infused electricity that shoots from her hand, causing static electricity to stun the opposition.

Fast Lane is made from Radianite-infused electricity that is shot from both of her hands. Electric charges coarse through the ground creating walls of plasmic lightning.

Overdrive releases all of the electricity that is stored in her Surge Protector.

Fade (4.08, Radiant, Turkey)

Fade is a gifted Radiant who uses fear-based abilities to torment her enemies. Prior to joining the Valorant Protocol, she worked for REALM. REALM is a task force that recovered historical artifacts from the black market and returned them to their country of origin. During this era of her life, she launched a blackmail campaign against the Valorant Protocol, unveiling its secrecy and airing out information about each member. Her motives were veiled, but we do know that it is personal and revolving around the disappearance of her friend, for which she believed Valorant was responsible.

Not much is said about the origin of her powers, but her Nightmare abilities are a Radiant manifestation created through her mind. There is also a connection between Turkey and its culture of dream reading. Fade detests sleep and rest, which soon became detrimental to her.

Harbor (5.08, Human, India)

Harbor is a human who is also kind of a Tech User. He did not invent his tech but stumbled upon it and used it as self-defense. He continues to use and wear this tech after his first experience with it. Harbor, like Fade, was part of REALM. Harbor found a bracelet and corresponding rings that harness the power of water. He first used this piece of tech in a firefight on a REALM mission. The bracelet forms the water, but the rings allow him to bend and shape it to his needs. His abilities reflect the tech’s unique power.

Gekko (6.04, Human, USA)

It is suggested in the game that Reyna recruited Gekko for Valorant Protocol as they had a brief acquaintanceship with him being from Los Angeles and her being from Mexico. Gekko is a young man that is being trained by Brimstone and mentored by Harbor. He has a good ongoing professional relationship with Reyna.

Gekko controls globule creatures that help him in combat. His abilities reflect his interactions with these creatures. Not much is known about how he came into contact with these creatures other than the fact that the creatures are products of Project Landfall (which is expanded upon in Deadlock’s release). Gekko’s abilities have gendered pronouns:

• Mosh (He/Him)
• Dizzy (She/Her)
• Wingman (He/Him)
• Thrash (She/Her)

Deadlock (7.0, Human, Norway)

Deadlock is an elite hunter from the security force Ståljeger who was hired to escort a scientist to “The Vault” to obtain a special item from Project Landfall. The item turned out to be a bear that had been transformed through experimentation. The bear broke out and killed everyone, but she was able to survive. In her struggle to contain the bear, it bit her, and the substances from the bear’s bite entered her system. This led her to temporarily hear echoing voices. She received a prosthetic arm in place of her infected one and has animosity towards Gekko since he is friends with his Project Landfall creatures (his globule abilities). Her abilities reflect her stalking nature as an elite hunter. She is a predator that sets traps for prey and secures areas with alarms.

Conclusion

There is such deep lore and a really interesting narrative that encompasses the world of Valorant. It is often overlooked in the game, ignoring voice lines, ignoring what the art on player cards means, and ignoring hints on maps. The story is not thrown in anybody’s face, but it is challenging to piece together each piece to create the narrative that the Riot team is building. There is much more to uncover, as this article only focuses on how their backgrounds influence their in-game abilities. More can be read about each agent’s background here.