As of today, Valorant has added 27 unique agents, with two new characters released each year. But in the game's five years of existence, Riot Games has also had some unsuccessful attempts, resulting in several agents being canceled. Below, we'll tell you about all the canceled characters in Valorant.

Crusader

The first unreleased agent in Valorant is called Crusader. As you can see from the only small image that remains in memory of the character, Crusader was a woman with a sword that she carried on her shoulder. Most likely, the sword was not supposed to be used in the game, but was responsible for one of the agent's abilities. This is what the icon for this ability might have looked like in the game.

As for the agent's other abilities, very little information remains. Data miner ValorantExpress previously stated that the agent should have two abilities, a shield and a grenade:

• Shield – Crusader will have a shield that will block damage, including during Spike placement. This shield can also be thrown. Over time, the shield will break.
• Grenade – Crusader will also have a grenade that can be thrown, but its characteristics are currently unknown.

It should be noted that although Crusader was not added to the game, the developers later used the character concept for another agent, Breach, who appeared in Valorant back in 2020. But as you can see, none of Crusader's abilities were ultimately transferred to Breach.

Joules

The next agent that was planned but never appeared in Valorant is Joules, and there is very little information about him. As of today, there are no images that reveal his appearance. However, there is more information about the agent's abilities, and as it turned out, most of them eventually became prototypes for the abilities of other agents. Here's what we know about Joules' possible skills:

• Lockdown – This ability became the prototype for Killjoy's ultimate ability of the same name. It is unknown whether Joules' ability was also supposed to be an ultimate ability or if it was a regular ability with a smaller area of effect and radius.

• Drone Dart – This ability became the prototype for Sova's Owl Drone ability. The principle of operation remained the same, although the appearance and characteristics of the drone were most likely different.

• Blink – The last ability became the prototype for Agent Jett's Tailwind. Although most likely the concept was completely redesigned in the end, since Tailwind is a dash forward, while Blink would have worked more like Agent Omen's teleportation.

Shatter

Another canceled agent in Valorant, about whom more details are known, is Shatter. As you can see in the image above, the agent had an unusual crystalline body and design. Although it is still unknown whether this was due to the game's lore, for example, his body became like this after interacting with radiant, or perhaps he would have received a human face and skin upon release. There is also quite a lot of information left about the agent's abilities. 

• The first of these, Decoy, became the prototype for Yoru's ability, Fakeout. With this ability, Shatter released a clone of himself, which he could dispel at any moment. Although Yoru cannot dispel his clone, the principle is the same, and the skill icons are almost identical.

In addition, data miner ValorantExpress found the sound of this Decoy ability in the game files. It is divided into two parts: the launch of the clone and the sound of its dissipation, which is quite loud.

There is also an image on the internet related to this ability. Most likely, this was supposed to be the blinding effect that enemies would see when killing Shatter's clone, as it currently works with Agent Yoru.

Agent 08

The last agent we will talk about does not even have its own name, and the situation with it is so secretive that it is unknown whether it really exists or whether it will ever be released. Therefore, we cannot say for sure that 08 has been canceled, but we will still tell you a little about it. The fact is that the official Riot website has a list of agents since their release, but Agent 08 does not exist.

After Agent 07 Sage and before Phoenix 09, the number 08, which was supposed to belong to an unknown agent, is simply missing. This can also be seen in one of the trailers that came out at the beginning of Episode 4 in January 2022. 

In it, the agents gather in a room near their personal lockers with their numbers, and when Phoenix goes to his, you can see that the one next to number 08, which belongs to the unknown agent, has some scratches, and its number has been completely erased.

This has led to two theories among the Valorant community. The first is that the agent was ultimately canceled, and according to the game's lore, there are no plans to add him. Therefore, 08 will forever remain a mystery to fans of the game. The second theory is that Agent 08 left the team or went on a long mission, and in the future, Riot will announce his return.