Champion Concept: Ardok

Concept Lore

A juggernaut of magma and flesh, bone and steel, Ardok is a punishing foe. In their arrogance, Noxian spell weavers once sought to control the forces of Earth and Fire by creating an abomination; a dual Elemental. The ceremony went horribly wrong and Ardok came into the world -- slaying the sorcerers with his explosive birth. Ardok possessed key attributes of the elements Earth and Fire, but was not the dual elemental his creators had hoped for. Ardok would not be calmed and Earth and Fire gave rise to his strength and recklessness. It took Noxian's best magicians and fighters to eventually subdue Ardok after weeks of effort. Impressed by their ability to hinder him, Ardok joined his Noxian creators in pursuit of more strength. His new path of has led him to the League.

Concept Game-Play

Ardok is a tank that excels at absorbing and redirecting damage. His kit would revolve around dual abilities, both for defense and for offense. Defensive attributes would scale off of Armor, Health, and Attack Damage; Offensive attributes would scale off Magic Resist, Health, and Ability Power.

I toyed with the idea of Ardok being able to shield himself while exploding at the same time, causing AoE knockbacks and damage. Absorbing magic attacks to regurgitate magma covered weapons. Deflecting physical attacks while increasing his strength. Everything he does is a quake and torrent of fire and rock.

Art Direction

I wanted to avoid traditional cyclops -- and make Ardok a bit of a wrecking ball. I borrowed from some God of War elements, and started meshing in my own interpretation of the creature. I covered more of his hide and made it a bite more gravel and scale -- instead of rough skin. I also enjoyed the idea of Ardok being this juggernaut sort of creature that couldn't be stopped; So I thought it would be interesting to have him carrying these wounds from weapons that could not stop him. Because Ardok is supposed to be this failed attempt at Earth and Fire combined, his colors are reds, browns, and tans; also adding to the idea that he is a sort of tank.

Adding a bit of mystery to his lore though, Ardok also has this huge scar across his belly -- a wound he suffered at the hands of another champion. A champion I'll be exploring soon.

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.

Champion Concept: Rhodes

Concept Lore
In the jungles of Kumungu, life is made easier in numbers. Rhodes belonged to a terramancer clan that shaped out their home from the earth. But as is life, there is no lack of surprises -- and nothing in Kumungu is safe. Rhodes' clan was attacked in the night by one of their own. The entire clan was engulfed in an earthy prison... but Rhodes managed to elude the betrayer. Now, working as a mercenary, Rhodes seeks his clan's betrayer -- and to bring upon them the earth's judgement.

Concept Game-Play
Some of my favorite abilities are those that alter the terrain for a short period of time (Jarvan ult, Anivia wall). But we don't have a champion that specializes in such abilities. Abilities I was thinking about while making Rhodes were things like; pillar prisons, earthquakes, crushing walls, landslides, shields of rock and earth, and defensive steroids. I thought it would be fun to have a champion who specialized in changing the terrain so that you could trap or pin enemies, or assist allies with more strategic play.

Art Direction
I wanted Rhodes to be tanky, but I didn't want to stick with the forested mountain motif that surround such characters. Since his abilities are earthen in nature though, I wanted to keep earth-tones in his palette. So I dropped a lot of green to favor browns, oranges, and khaki. I used a lot of rounded and thick shapes to emphasize his ability to take damage. I gave him a large hammer in which to alter the environment -- my thought process was that Rhodes is a Blacksmith... of the Earth. An Earthsmith. Since he is a soldier of fortune though, I wanted his armor to be both stone and traveler's wear at the same time. This is why he still has cloth clothing, boots, and belts. The heavier pieces of his armor though are styled after stone.

Champion Concept: Rhyodacite

Concept Lore
Based on a being of Malphite's world/or from The Crystal Scar. Corrupted by chaotic magics, Rhyodacite has lost sight of his purpose, leaving him a brutal beast with brief moments of lucidity.

Concept Game-Play
(He runs like a gorilla, hits like a rhino) I think of Rhyodacite as a tank with a lot of rushing moves -- something any Champion would be scared to see coming at them. He's made for players who like to play fast tank champs that can still deal damage. Unlike Malphite, who has one projectile, two melee moves, and one rush/popup being an ultimate... I think of Rhyo as having shields/defensive steroids/and full body skillshot rushes (Like Sejuani). I also think of him having a lot of displacement effects in those abilities. Such as soft knockbacks from his center, and hard knockbacks from his area of attack (Riven's 3rd Broken Wings, Alistar Headbutt). Another idea I've thought (borrowing from Malphite's Q's visual) is that he creates damage in his wake; use a rushing move, tear up the earth in your path. It may be better to think of Rhyo as a missile that erupts forward from the ground, as opposed to Malphite -- who strikes me as more of a wrecking ball.

Art Direction
His gorilla stance and protruding rock shapes from his back point forward and out -- this is to denote that he's a fast, heavy, all-in champion. The only way to play him is to commit to a rush forward. I think the biggest hiccup in his design actually comes from absence of game-play, cause there's only so much I can push his look to fit his kit -- which doesn't actually exist. His earth elemental appearance is to denote that this character does function as a tank as well as being able to deal damage.

Revision 1
I drew Rhyo into his default stance to better illustrate his character. Connecting his arms, neck, and portions of his back are tree roots. This is to differentiate him from Malphite. The rock protrusions have been sharpened as well, to dictate his direct game-play.