The Dota universe, connected

Lore Atlas

Every hero's story, and the events and rivalries that tie them together. Pick a hero, read their tale, follow a story to the others in it.

12
Heroes
71
Stories
Latest release

Release 2: Does It End, Death Prophet?

Does It End, Death Prophet?

Canon

Undying asks the one woman who has died and come back whether it ends.

Ties back to earlier releasesThe Age of Light

Io
universalHero

Io

the Wisp

Fundamental

Io is a Fundamental of the universe, a force older than time whose being occupies all planes while only a fraction crosses into physical existence.

“Beep Boop”

Stories

Appears in 3 stories

ImpliedLegend

Creation

Three accounts of the beginning survive, and none of them claims to come first. In one, the Titans stood near the Beginning, perhaps witnesses to creation and perhaps born while it still echoed, and set about shaping matter, themselves and reality. In another, a single primordial mind fragmented as the universe came into being; two of its pieces, and , turned creation toward their war, while a third, , tried to restore the unity that was lost.

In a third, the ancient were bound in a primordial harmony until walked out of the Fundamental plane, and Io and Enigma keep their own memories of the Schism. Whether these were one event seen from three sides, three stages of one long dawn, or three beginnings that never touched, no teller says. They stand side by side.

Three origin accounts, told side by side; no single creation reconciles them.

The hero's story

Io is a Fundamental of the universe, a force older than time whose being occupies all planes while only a fraction crosses into physical existence. 's biography says the sent Valora to seize an unnamed source of great power and were extinguished after she failed. In her own words Io had to do with her masters' demise, and they had meant to turn Io's power against chaos.

Put together, Io is the likely target, though her history never says so.

Connections
  • Elder TitanCanonCreated by

    Io is the quietest of the four children, and the one the died trying to bind.

  • Chaos KnightCanonFamily

    Brothers of the Schism. Chaos Knight pursues Io to bring him back to the plane the abandoned.

  • DawnbreakerImpliedRivalry

    Valora once wanted to kill Io for her masters' demise. She no longer walks that path, but the old grievance is not forgotten.

Belongs to
Voice lines
  • “If only I knew how the golden ones planned to use your power...”

    Dawnbreaker, about Io · Meeting a rival

    ImpliedValora once wanted to kill Io for her masters' demise. She no longer walks that path, but the old grievance is not forgotten.

  • “Rejoin your kin on the Fundamental plane.”

    Elder Titan, about Io · Meeting a rival

    Io is the quietest of the four children, and the one the died trying to bind.

  • “None can stand before the .”

    Enigma, about Io · Meeting an ally
  • “I would trample your bones to dust, if you had any.”

    Chaos Knight, about Io · Meeting a rival

    Brothers of the Schism. Chaos Knight pursues Io to bring him back to the plane the abandoned.

Ability lore
  • Overcharge

    Drawing on the energy of matter from all worlds, Io begins the unravelling of time.

Appearances
Official biography
Read Valve's biography

Io is everywhere, and in all things. Denounced by enemies as the great unmaker, worshiped by scholars as the twinkling of a divine eye, this strange Wisp of life-force occupies all planes at once, the merest fraction of its being crossing into physical existence at any one moment.

Like the great twin riders Dark and Light, and yet another ancient traveler whose true history is lost to the ages, Io the Wisp is a Fundamental of the universe, a force older than time, a wanderer from realms far beyond mortal understanding. Io is nothing less than the sum of all attractive and repulsive forces within the material field, a sentient manifestation of the charge that bind existence together. It is only in the controlled warping of these electrical waylines that Io's presence can be experienced on the physical plane. A benevolent, cooperative force, Io bonds its strange magnetism to others so that the power of allies might be enhanced. Its motives inscrutable, its strength unimaginable, Io moves through the physical plane, the perfect expression of the mysteries of the universe.

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