Champion Concept: Alice

Concept Lore

Contrary to popular belief, the use of magic is actually detrimental to the health of a mortal caster.  In rare and extreme cases a magic castor may succumb to Magicite Necrosis -- a severe illness where the mage's tissue slowly dies and becomes crystals that are potent in magical energies.  The end result of this illness is always death -- except in the case of Alice.  Alice first appeared in the League upon it's forming -- a fan favorite, she soon disappeared from the spotlight and it was learned that she was the unfortunate victim of Magicite Necrosis.

Alice did not die from the disease though -- determined to survive, she weaved layers upon layers of spells and enchantments to delay, destroy, or reverse the illness. The use of magic made her symptoms worse -- but the spells she cast spurred an unusual effect in tandem with the nature of the disease.  Now Alice is caught in a form between life and death, crystal and flesh.

Concept Game-Play

Because of the sheer amount of enchantments Alice uses to stay alive, she is no longer a magic caster, but an AP combo-based fighter.  She can grow crystals from her body at accelerated rates to produce weapons, projectiles, or defenses.  She's meant to be very forward and able to spike damage.  When making her, I thought that she would fight something akin to Marrow (X-Men) or Kimimaro (Naruto).  She's supposed to be extremely fast and brutal.

Art Direction

League pushes crystal themes very heavily -- but aside from Taric, there are not actually a lot of crystal based fighters.  Starting from there -- I took a lot of influences from how I wanted the character to look and develop.  To be absolutely forward, Alice is influenced by: Marrow (X-Men), Kimimaro (Naruto), Queen of Blades (Starcraft II), and most importantly -- and this is important -- Space Godzilla (Godzille VS Space Godzilla 1994).  Yeah, I know, Godzilla is awesome.  Alice's skin shimmers with blue and orange but her crystals vary in color glowing with white and yellow light.

Champion Concept: Aiden

Concept Lore

Aiden is a being sharing the homeworld of Kayle and Morgana.  When Aiden was born, his proficiency with magic was limited and weak -- combined with his abnormal physical features, Aiden was looked down upon as some sort of worthless mutation.  But Aiden would not be dismissed, so easily.  Eventually Aiden became a warlord -- infamous for ripping the wings off his captives.  His influence spread so far over the world that drastic measures were taken to remove Aiden from power.  The mission almost ended in failure, but Kayle and Morgana were the ones who succeeded in subduing the warlord -- though many lost their lives in the process.

Thousands of years later -- Aiden has broken free.  And he's hunted his jailors all the way to Runeterra.

Concept Game-Play

Unlike Kayle and Morgana, Aiden is AD bruiser in nature.  He uses his tremendous wings to close-in on, capture, and crush his enemies.  His very limited magic capabilities are bound to being buffs that effect only himself, raising his speed and attack.

Art Direction

I wanted to fulfill a "devil" or "demon" character concept -- but I wanted to avoid an overly evil archetype for appearances.  I thought it would be neat to see the trope as a mirror to Kayle because Morgana only fulfills the need half-way.  Going off of being something of an opposite, I also believed it would be important for Aiden to be more physically powerful as opposed to being magically inclined.  So his wings are more bulky and muscled in comparison to Kayle's.

Sickly Delays

Hey all. Sorry that the new champion hasn't been posted yet -- but if you've been paying attention to the forum thread, you already know that I am sick.

I've been getting plenty of bed rest and taking a lot of medications.  The next champion concept is almost done.  The second I am better, I will finish and post the champion.  Thank you all for your patience.

Champion Concept: Pakwa

Concept Lore

Pakwa belongs to a group of Yordles long lost to myth.  They are Yordles that live deep in the Kumungu Jungles, worship a Toad deity, and ride giant Drake Toads.  What the outside world didn't know though, is that Pakwa's clan face's difficult times.  The Drake Toad eggs stopped hatching -- and can stay unhatched for hundreds of years.  The clan fears this is because their Toad god has lost faith in the clan's ability as warriors.  But when Pakwa took hold of an egg, it hatched for him -- the first Toad rider in decades.  The decision was unanimous; Pakwa would represent the clan in the League, and prove to their god that the clan was still worthy.

Concept Game-Play

Pakwa is a Yordle Jungler and Bruiser.  His Drake Toad, Skorn, takes Pakwa into battle with heavy leaps and bulky rushes.  I wanted Pakwa to be a single-target jungler that had methods of closing in on opponents while still be able to absorb a hefty amount of damage.

Art Direction

Yordles are typically highly magical or highly technological in League -- so I wanted to separate Pakwa from those two areas.  As a jungler, I thought he should have a native look about him.  I also thought it would be fun to make Pakwa a mounted character on something ridiculous and fitting for a Yordle.  So he ended up on a giant toad -- which added to the jungler nature of his character.  I chose a lot from an orange palette to represent the exotic background of the character -- and get across that he's made to jungle and jump.

Champion Concept: Rebekah

Concept Lore
Rebekah was born and raised in Demacia all her life. Instilled with patriotism for country she enlisted into the Demacian military as soon as she was able. Unfortunately, the nature of conflict changed, and the League began to take care of Demacia's defense and conquest. Refusing to sit idle and watch as her heroes of story and legend take all the glory for their country -- Rebekah continued her disciplined training. After being gone for years, Rebekah has returned as a champion in the League -- ready to prove that she too was a legend fit to stand shoulder to shoulder with her idols.

Concept Game-Play
Rebekah is an odd AD Carry who can also be an AP based Support. She'd be ammo based with high impact shot skills and abilities that allow her to heal and scout. Rebekah should have at least 2 build paths. An AD one that should make her fitting as a carry, and an AP path that enhances her utility as a Support while sacrificing her damage. This is meant to make Rebekah a solid bottom lane pick.

Art Direction
I wanted Rebekah to be something of the everyday person who wanted to join the League. Someone who grew up listening to stories of these Legendary heroes doing heroic stuff. I thought it'd be fun to toy with the idea of her being added to the military in order to support these heroes -- but then the League made it so that soldiers were no longer needed, only champions. This backstory made me focus on making her a little "of the people", like a militia. When I thought militia, I thought minutemen -- hence the colonial attire slightly stylized. I decided that uniformed soldiers would probably be more of a Demacian thing as opposed to Noxus, and that's how she got her colors.

Champion Concept: Warin

Concept Lore
Warin's people come from deep within the Great Barrier. Their bones and plating are hardened and enhanced the longer they live. With summoner activity at an all time high, more and more magic has seeped into the home of Warin and his race. The intrusion of rich magics changed Warin, specifically. His plating became organic metal, and he developed a much higher resistance to magic than his brethren. To find the source of his change, Warin ventured out of the deep mountains -- and to the League. His goal is to enrich the life of all his people, by making their shells an even more durable aegis.

Concept Game-Play
Warin is a full blown slow tank. Meant for shielding, reducing, and absorbing as much damage as possible. Being an armored tortoise/ankylosaurus -- I thought he'd have some really interesting abilities that focused on heavy, high cool-down abilities that helped him survive burst encounters, and long team fights.

Art Direction
This time around, I decided to go with Warin to practice different types of materials. Not a fan of scales and metals now. Anyways. As a tank, Warin just had to be large and bulky -- but to show that Warin meant business, he's modeled after medieval maces. He's basically a cross between a tortoise and an ankylosaurus (my favorite dinosaur). There was some things I learned making Warin and Itzel that make me not want to pursue a 100% realisim. The next champ will be more stylistic art-wise.