Cocoon (Time travel-themed Support Hero)

[SnickerPuffs]

This concept is still pretty rough, admittedly-- but I feel like getting feedback on the idea before I lock anything in is the best way for me to make this concept as best as it can be.

Cocoon

Background: Cocoon's life story, much like Cocoon themself, *seems* fairly mundane. They grew up in the suburbs, raised by two loving parents, then moved to the city to study and work. All in all, a fairly average life for a middle-aged person like themself... who won't be born for nearly a decade. Growing up, Cocoon's parents were incredibly cagey about their history and how they met. By the time they passed, Cocoon only knew two things-- that their mother and father grew up in New York, and that they met each other just after The Ritual. If Cocoon ever wants to find out the truth, they'll have to travel back in time to see it for themself. Of course, the smallest of changes to the past could completely change the future-- their present-- and a time-traveler showing up to the most consequential event of the twentieth century is no small change.

Weapon(s): Their primary weapon is an anachronistic machine pistol, similar to a MAC-11. Their abilities are controlled by a device on their opposite forearm, similar to a Pip-Boy from the Fallout franchise.

Ability 1: Cocoon is pulled backward, returning to the position they were at several seconds ago. If they lost health and/or used ammo before rewinding, a small portion will be restored. Upgrading increases how far back this ability 'rewinds' the player, how much ammo/health is restored upon activation, and allows Cocoon to deal damage to enemy players they phase through.

Ability 2: When used on a nearby ally (or themself), instantly removes any and all debuffs. Upgrading increases the number of charges, and grants small bonuses to the target.

Ability 3: A passive ability that allows Cocoon to automatically secure souls in a small radius around them. Upgrading increases the radius size, enables the ability to deny enemy souls, and enable the ability to collect items dropped from urns, idols, and boxes.

Ultimate Ability: A shockwave of quantum energy errupts out of Cocoon's wrist device, and spreads thoughout a massive radius. Any enemy heroes, enemy troopers, and neutral creeps in this radius recieve minor damage over time. Any ally heros in this radius recieve healing based on the damage this ability deals. After a few seconds, the wave collapses back on Cocoon, stunning them for a few seconds. Cocoon's appearance also changes, but this is a purely cosmetic feature.

Appearance: Due to the nature of Cocoon's ultimate, they have no 'set' appearance. Instead, their appearance is randomly selected at the start of a match, and randomizes again whenever their ultimate is used. They have a 'masculine' and 'feminine' body, with a small pool of outfits shared between them. Both forms have greying black hair, pulled back into a messy ponytail, and wear aviator goggles. Their 'masuline' form resembles singer-songwriter Michael Sembello, and their 'feminine' form resembles choreographer Toni Basil.

Upon activating their ultimate, there is a very, *very* small chance of them to be wearing an incredibly anachronstic glam metal-inspired outfit.

 

[SnickerPuffs]

It seems I can't edit the original post, so here's a rework of Cocoon's abilities in the game's style--

(1) Spool
Rewinds your movement over the last several seconds, dealing minor damage to any enemies you bump into
- First Upgrade : Gain 35% bullet evasion chance while rewinding, and for several seconds afterwards
- Second Upgrade : While rewinding, restore 20% max health and 25% max ammo
- Third Upgrade : Bump damage scales with Spirit power

(2) Chrysalis
Encase yourself or an ally in a quantum cocoon, gaining temporary Bullet Shield and Spirit Shield at the cost of a 40% move speed penalty
- First Upgrade : Cooldown reduced by 10s, gain Debuff Remover upon activation
- Second Upgrade : +150 Bullet Shield and Spirit Shield
- Third Upgrade : Move speed penalty reduced to 15%

(3) Planck Ripples
Passive: Distorts reality around you, automatically securing or denying souls in a small radius
- First Upgrade : Planck Ripples can now collect souls and items dropped from breakables
- Second Upgrade : +1m radius
- Third Upgrade : Gain an active ability-- +12m radius, gaining the ability slowing nearby enemies. After several seconds, the ripples collapse, stunning you for 2s

(4) Butterfly Effect
Unleash bursts of unstable temporal energy, manifesting as flapping wings. All enemies in a large radius are Interrupted and pushed away, taking minor damage with each burst.
- First Upgrade : +5m radius
- Second Upgrade : Ability gains lifesteal, Push force scales with Spirit Power
- Third Upgrade : You and nearby allies gain Debuff Reducer with each burst, your appearance now changes when ability ends

 

[bloodfrost27]

Sounds awesome. Ur second attempt is leagues better than the first. It sounds really interesting. Good job

 

[SnickerPuffs]

Much of Cocoon's backstory remains the same as in my original post, I just wanted to elaborate on some details.

The gauntlet-like device Cocoon wears on their left forearm is one-of-a-kind-- in the sense that it's a prototype, hacked-and-bodged together from a variety of black market time machines. Each had a feature that Cocoon would use in order to protect themself, and the timeline, while in the past. One protected it's user from harm while active, another made them undetectable by machines, yet another made them impervious to the prying all-seeing eyes of oracles and seers, so on and so forth. However, these devices also came with safeguards that would've prevented Cocoon from doing what they needed to do (or at the very least, from daisy-chaining them together).

Disabling the safeguards also disabled most of these protections. It also caused the device to overclock during it's initial test activation, sending Cocoon further back than they intended and nearly destroying itself in the process. Cocoon was left with a broken time machine and a now-uncertain future. Even their own birth isn't guaranteed anymore... but then, if they aren't born, how could they travel back in time and cause their birth to be stopped?

With options slim, and thoughts addled with panic, they see only one way out. Change history, the one thing they wanted to avoid, and seek the help of the Patrons. As long as they can avoid a reality-shattering paradox, everything will be fine, right? Even if their future becomes unrecognizable, assuming they'll even be able to return at all, it'll be... fine.


Personality: Cocoon is a very emotionally-conflicted character, unsure if they should be meddling with the past so directly like this, but they feel like there's no other option. They're oftentimes impulsive, and rather immature despite their age, but try to hide that under a futuristically-knowledgeable and cool-headed facade. When alone, their true colors show.

Appearance: Their appearance is no-longer randomized at the start of the match, only upon activation of their fully-upgraded Ultimate. Instead, their base appearance is that of the 'masculine' build I mentioned in the original post. Their basic outfit draws inspiration from the "Time Traveling Hipster" viral image that went around several years ago-- A cardigan, an sweater marked with a sports team emblem, knickerbocker pants with suspenders, and aviator goggles. Their left-arm sleeve is pushed up to make space for the bulky device on their forearm.

I've written down a few voiceline examples as well, in order to get a better feel for their character, but they don't feel quite right yet. I'll give those another pass or two before I post them.

 

[destinyfrfr]

this is fantastic. maybe the 3 is the only ability that could do some changing. but everything else is amazing. they can look to atlas' rewind ability from paladins for inspo and i have been dying for a stasis type ability for this game. also the lore is great. so much intrigue. just what happened at the ritual so many years ago? how old would coccoon be when he jumps back in time? would it be around the 60s when he does it?

 

[SnickerPuffs]

also the lore is great. so much intrigue. just what happened at the ritual so many years ago? how old would coccoon be when he jumps back in time? would it be around the 60s when he does it?

I'm keeping the outcome of the Ritual in Cocoon's original timeline vague for now, outside of the fact that it's results lead to Cocoon's parents meeting and falling in love. By traveling back in time, and unwittingly changing the past, none of that's certain anymore. To keep some fragments of their alternate future alive, and to soothe their own nerves, Cocoon offers to share the future to anyone curious about their (possible) fate. However, they don't share the full story, only broad strokes and interesting tidbits. Ivy writes a book, for example! Cocoon's parents gave them an autographed copy as a birthday present when they were a young teenager.


As for Cocoon's age? It isn't narrowed down yet, but they're somewhere around "middle aged"-- between their mid 40s and early 60s.
I'm not sure when exactly Deadlock takes place, but the late 1930s sounds about right . Cocoon won't be born "for nearly a decade" (to quote my original pitch), so they could have time-traveled back from anywhere between 1980 to 2010. That's an admittedly wide range, so I'll probably skew it more towards the former end of the scale. The end of the 90s is the absolute LATEST I want Cocoon to be from.

 

[supremejester28]

Neat. You put a lot of effort.

 

[SnickerPuffs]

I was hoping to have a mockup for Cocoon's design(s) done by now... but life and other projects keep getting in the way.

However, thanks to Tryneus' Deadmock website, I was able to get *something* Cocoon-related done recently-- refined and Deadlock-styled version of their abilities!





These ability icons are temporary placeholders (for example, Spool's icon was stolen from a scrapped Mirage ability), with the exclusion of Chrysalis and Butterfly Effect. Those were both drawn by myself and, while only rough drafts, are the most accurate to what the final icons *should* look like. I've attached full-res versions of those two to this post, I'm really proud of them!

 

[destinyfrfr]

deadmock is such a great website hehe. the 3 change is neat. he looks like he would be played as a bulky utility hero. i really hope they take from the chrysalis to make something similar to HoN's Monarch's stasis, and the rewind time ability. imagine if paradox had that lmao. maybe another paradox agent.

 

[SnickerPuffs]

deadmock is such a great website hehe. the 3 change is neat. he looks like he would be played as a bulky utility hero. i really hope they take from the chrysalis to make something similar to HoN's Monarch's stasis, and the rewind time ability. imagine if paradox had that lmao. maybe another paradox agent.

For a theives group that publicly displays their hauls, Paradox is fairly cagey about themselves and how they do what they do, so Cocoon might claim to be an agent just to not piss off Paradox. Some of the tech Cocoon bodged together to make the device on their wrist *is* outdated Paradox tech that leaked out into the black market... but it's outdated Paradox tech from the future.

A couple posts ago, I assumed Deadlock took place in the late 30s, but I was a decade off. That means that the middle-aged Cocoon is squarely from the 2000s/2010s. They were born after the 1949/1950 Maelstrom, and lived through the 1999/2000 Maelstom-- the technology and occultism in Cocoon's future must be wildly different from where it currently is in the Deadlock universe, and that's even before considering the roughly sixty-year gap.

Although Cocoon dresses casually (and is attempting to blend into the crowd in 1949-era Cursed Apple) the aesthetic of their future more closely resembles "Neon Prime"-- Y2K Futurism blended with mysticism. Maybe a pinch of disco or glam metal too, for flavor.