Everything You Need to Know About Poros in League of Legends

The Initial Poro Concept

Riot shipped the Howling Abyss ARAM map in 2012, and it was just a frozen bridge. Three Riot Games devs needed to warm it up, started sketching mountain goats and reindeer, and eight hours later, a fluffy little thing with a big tongue and a heart-shaped belly went live for ARAM.

The Freljordian champions like Ashe, Lissandra, and Braum already set a mood, and the poro felt like it belonged and later became the most recognizable non-champion asset in League of Legends.

Who Built the Poro, and How They Did It

Stage	Riot Developer	What Happened
Concept Art	RiotEarp	Sketched a design mixing mountain goats, reindeer, and polar bears.
Modeling & Texturing	RiotOtown	Built the first 3D poro, including the heart-shaped underbelly.
The Tongue Decision	RiotOtown + RiotCaptainLx	Added a giant tongue after the model started reminding them of a puppy.
Animation Phase	RiotCaptainLx	Created the face-lick loop and the panting run cycle.
The Name	RiotEarp (Finnish origin)	"Poro" means reindeer in Finnish, kept as a placeholder that stuck.
Total Build Time	Three-person team	Roughly eight hours from concept to live on PBE.

Where Poros Come From in Runeterra

Riot's lore is vague. Poros are the mysterious, magical creatures originating from the Freljord, not sure exactly where or why. They have since spread across all of Runeterra and live in groups called flufts.

They are omnivorous, love Poro-Snax frosted with Freljordian ice crystals, and will absolutely follow you home if you hand them a snack. They’re so cute and fun that many Freljordians dream of retiring as poro herders.

How Poro Works In ARAM

Poros waddle around the Howling Abyss as untargetable little floofs no one can kill. Toss one a Poro-Snax, and it plumps up and starts trailing your champion. Feed it enough, and it bursts into a fresh fluft of baby poros, and if Braum is the one sharing snacks, it sprouts a mustache to match his look.

The Poro King

The core mechanic of the Poro King (leader of poros) in-game was simple in 2014: your summoner spells were swapped for Poro Toss and To the King!, two poros trailed every champion, and every toss that hit an enemy earned your team a Poro Mark. Ten marks summoned the Poro King himself as a tanky siege minion.

Riot has rotated versions of the mode, and its successor, Bounce of the Poro King, keeps the vibe alive in the ARAM: Mayhem rotation.

Poro Cosmetics: Every Skin, Icon, and Emote

Champion Skins (Snowdown / Winter Wonder / Poro)

The entire Winter Wonder and Snowdown skin line is set inside the Poro King's enchanted Winterlands, which includes:

Poro Rider Sejuani (2014) — the only true poro champion skin
Happy Elf Teemo (2009)
Earnest Elf Tristana (2009)
Old Saint Zilean (2009)
Snow Bunny Nidalee (2009)
Workshop Nunu (2009)
Santa Gragas (2010)
Reindeer Kog'Maw (2010)
Candy Cane Miss Fortune (2010)
Ragdoll Poppy (2010)
Re-Gifted Amumu (2010)
Nutcracko (2010)
Silent Night Sona (2010)
Toy Soldier Gangplank (2011)
Snowmerdinger (2011)
Mistletoe LeBlanc (2011)
Festive Maokai (2011)
Dark Candy Fiddlesticks (2012)
Slay Belle Katarina (2012)
Bad Santa Veigar (2012)
Snow Day Ziggs (2012)
Winter Wonder Lulu (2013)
Snow Day Singed (2013)
Snowstorm Sivir (2013)
Snow Day Malzahar (2014)
Winter Wonder Orianna (2014)
Snow Day Bard (2015)
Snow Day Gnar (2015)
Snow Day Syndra (2015)
Santa Braum (2016)
Snow Day Graves (2016)
Winter Wonder Karma (2016)
Santa Draven (2017)
Ambitious Elf Jinx (2017)
Snow Fawn Poppy (2017)
Frozen Prince Mundo (2018)
Snow Man Yi (2018)
Winter Wonder Neeko (2018)
Winter Wonder Soraka (2018)
Ice King Twitch (2018)
Winter Wonder Milio (2025)
Winter Wonder Zeri (2025)
Reindeer Smolder (2025)

Poro Ward skins

Poro
Astronaut Poro
Battlecast Poro
Gentleman Poro
Dragonslayer Poro
Underworld Poro
El Poro
Vamporo
Queen Poro

Poro Summoner Icons

The ones that also reskin your trailing poros in Legend of the Poro King:

Astronaut Poro
Baron Poro
Battlecast Poro
Dark Star Poro
Dragonslayer Poro
Gentleman Poro
Poro on Fire
PROJECT: Poro
Reindeer Poro
Shadow Isles Poro
Star Guardian Poro

Other Poro Icons

Icon of the Poro King
Poro King 2016
INCOMING PORO!
Giftwrapped Poro
Red-Nosed Poro
Gemstone Poro
Poro Snax Lover
Hungwy
Mafia Poro
Pixel Arcade Poro / Corrupted Arcade Poro
The Worlds Pick'em Poro icons (2015–2019), including the Master Poro and Wizard Poro versions for perfect brackets
The role Welcome Poros, Top, Jungle, Mid, Bot, and Support Welcome Poro, sold as part of role-based bundles

Poro Emotes

Poro Snax Lover
Cheeky Poro
Poro Pal (leveling reward)
Pet the Poro, an esports emote referencing the pet-the-X meme