Disney Lorcana Rules Explained
What Does Banish Mean in Lorcana?
Banish means a card goes from play to its owner's discard pile. Discard means a card goes from your hand to the same pile. And a character returned to hand or put into an inkwell leaves play without being banished at all. Which word a card uses decides which abilities trigger. As of the Comprehensive Rules version 2.3.0 (October 16, 2026).
The short version
Comprehensive Rules · Glossary: banish/banished
"When a character, item, or location is put from play into their player's discard pile ... A character, item, or location put into their player's discard this way is considered to be banished."
The same entry names both routes: an ability or effect that banishes, and, for characters and locations, damage equal to or greater than Willpower.
Two parts of that definition matter. The card has to start in play, and it has to end in the discard pile. A card discarded from your hand isn't banished, and a character that leaves play for somewhere other than the discard pile isn't either. The Lorcana challenge rules page covers banishing in a challenge; this page covers the word itself, the alternatives, and the damage rules behind it.
Every way a card leaves play, and whether it is banished
An ability that says "When this character is banished" only triggers from the first two rows. A few cards say "leaves play" instead, such as Olaf - Helping Hand, and those trigger from any row. When an opponent's character has a strong "when banished" ability, removing it another way skips that ability.
World's Greatest Criminal Mind
Fabled #30
Banishes: "when banished" abilities trigger.
Put That Thing Back
Attack of the Vine! #103
Returns to hand: no banish, no "when banished".
Let It Go
Winterspell #163
Into the inkwell: also not a banish.
Olaf - Helping Hand
Whispers in the Well #57
"When this character leaves play": triggers however it leaves.
Discarding
Discard is something that happens from your hand only. The glossary defines it as choosing one or more cards from your hand and putting them into your discard pile, and when an effect tells you to discard, you choose the cards (rule 7.3.4). Banished cards, actions that have resolved and discarded cards all end in the same pile, the discard, which is public: anyone can look through it (rule 7.6.2).
Because the two events are separate, abilities don't cross over. A card that triggers "whenever an opponent discards" doesn't trigger when you banish their character, and the reverse is true too.
How banishing happens
Damage doesn't banish a character the moment it lands. The game state check does, and it runs after each action, ability and step of a challenge finishes (rule 1.8.1). If a character or location has damage equal to or greater than its Willpower at that check, it is banished (rule 1.8.1.4). A condition that was true only partway through an effect doesn't count (rule 1.8.5). The rules' example is Luisa Madrigal - Confident Climber, who briefly holds 4 damage during her own ability but has moved all of it away before the check, so she stays.
The same check decides who did the banishing. A character banished by damage from a character in a challenge, or by damage from a character's ability, since the last check "is considered banished by that character" (rule 1.8.1.4). That is what "whenever this character banishes another character" abilities look at.
What happens after a card leaves play
Abilities that trigger when a card is banished still work even though the card is now in the discard pile. Nibs - Lost Boy reads "When this character is banished in a challenge, return this card to your hand." Belle - Snowfield Strategist reads "Whenever one of your characters is banished, you may put that card from your discard into your inkwell facedown and exerted." Both resolve from the bag after the banish, which the guide to the bag explains.
Deal, put, move and remove
Lorcana uses four verbs for damage, and they aren't interchangeable (rule 1.9.2). Resist and other "damage dealt" effects only see the first one.
"Takes damage" covers dealing, putting and moving, any way damage is placed (rule 1.9.3). If damage dealt is reduced to 0, the source still "deals" damage but the target "takes" none (rule 1.9.5). Malicious, Mean, and Scary puts 1 damage counter on each opposing character, so a character at Maui's Place of Exile - Hidden Island (Resist +1 while there) still gets the counter. Can't Hold It Back Anymore moves damage, which Resist doesn't stop either.
Malicious, Mean, and Scary
Whispers in the Well #97
Puts damage counters: Resist doesn't reduce them.
Can't Hold It Back Anymore
Whispers in the Well #62
Moves damage counters: not dealt, so no Resist.
Maui's Place of Exile - Hidden Island
Fabled #204
Resist +1 for characters here, against damage that is dealt.
Worked examples
Return it instead of banishing it
Your opponent has Nibs - Lost Boy in play: when he is banished in a challenge, he returns to their hand.
Banishing him in a challenge gives them the card back. Playing Put That Thing Back on him also sends him to their hand, but he wasn't banished, so his ability doesn't trigger at all.
Either way Nibs is in their hand. The difference shows on cards that care about the banish itself, such as your own "whenever this character banishes another character" abilities, which only the challenge would trigger.
Characters banished at the same time (the rules' example)
A player has Lyle Tiberius Rourke - Cunning Mercenary and two other characters in play. Lyle reads "Whenever one of your other characters is banished, each opponent loses 1 lore."
Their opponent plays Be Prepared, which banishes all characters. Lyle is banished along with the other two.
Cards leaving play at the same time see each other (rule 7.4.3), so Lyle's ability triggers twice, once for each of the other characters, even though Lyle is leaving too. Each opponent loses 2 lore.
Both cards are from early sets and legal only in Infinity as of October 2026, but the rule applies to any "whenever one of your characters is banished" card, such as Belle - Snowfield Strategist.
Common banish mistakes
Triggering a "when banished" ability when the character was returned to hand or put into an inkwell. Only a move from play to the discard pile is a banish.
Calling a discard from hand a banish, or the reverse. They are separate events with separate triggers.
Banishing a character the instant its damage reaches Willpower in the middle of an effect. The game state check comes after the effect.
Reducing put or moved damage with Resist. Resist only reduces damage that is dealt.
Keeping damage on a character that was returned to hand and replayed. It comes back as a new card with no damage.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does banish mean in Lorcana?
To banish a card is to put it from play into its owner's discard pile. Characters and locations are banished when their damage equals or exceeds their Willpower, and any character, item or location can be banished by an effect that says "banish".
What is the difference between banish and discard in Lorcana?
Banish moves a card from play to the discard pile. Discard moves a card from your hand to the discard pile. They end in the same pile but are different events, so a "when this character is banished" ability never triggers from a discard, and a "whenever you discard" ability never triggers from a banish.
Is returning a character to hand the same as banishing it?
No. A character returned to its owner's hand, shuffled into a deck, put on the bottom of a deck or put into an inkwell leaves play but isn't banished. Abilities that say "when this character is banished" don't trigger.
Does damage stay on a character that leaves play?
No. When a character or location leaves play for any reason, all damage on it ceases to exist, and the card becomes a new card in its new zone. A character returned to hand and played again comes back undamaged.
Does Resist stop damage counters that are put or moved?
No. Resist reduces damage that is dealt, in a challenge or by an effect that says "deal". Damage that an effect puts or moves onto a character isn't dealt, so Resist doesn't change it.
When is a damaged character banished?
At the next game state check, which runs after each action, ability and challenge step finishes. A character whose damage is moved off it before that check isn't banished, even if it briefly had enough damage during the effect.
Who owns a banished card?
The player whose deck it came from. A banished card goes to its owner's discard pile, whoever banished it.
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