Former League of Legends World Champion Ambition named his son after Jarvan IV, the in-game character that helped bring home the Championship in 2017.
Kang ‘Ambition’ Chan-yong is an all-time esports great. He had an extensive career as one of the world’s best Starcraft players before he even touched League of Legends, and went on to win a World Championship in 2017.
Since his retirement in 2018, Ambition has settled down and had a child. But his career lives on through his child, who he has reportedly named Jarvan V.
According to a report by South Korean news outlet Daily Esports, Ambition named his child as the successor to Jarvan IV, the champion Ambition chose to get the Worlds skin.
Since the beginning of League of Legends’ life as an esport, World Champions always got to pick a Champion to receive a skin themed around their team.
On top of that, the music video for 2018’s Worlds song, ‘Rise’, starred Ambition and showed an animated version of him armed with Jarvan IV’s signature spear.
Teams have gotten very creative with their picks for worlds skins. For instance, EDG’s Meiko themed his skin for Yuumi after his cat, Raccoon. But Ambition has taken things to the next level.
With Ambition’s legacy immortalized in League of Legends, he chose to continue that legacy of greatness and give his son a name befitting a king.
The story of a respected king giving birth to a successor draws a lot of parallels to Jarvan IV’s lore, and, considering Ambition’s achievements, there’s good reason to draw that parallel.
The lore behind Jarvan IV is that of a successor, someone destined for greatness with the difficult task of inheriting a kingdom from Jarvan III.
Ambition naming his child Jarvan V is certainly a bit strange, but also shows just how much of an effect League of Legends (and esports as a whole) has had on Ambition’s life.