[Hero Concept] Caesar, the Thespianguin

[aiarys]

Caesar, the Thespianguin​

Lore​

For years, Forster dreamed of Broadway. The bright lights, the adoring crowds, the drama. Unfortunately, his native home of Antarctica was dearth of theaters, and any opportunity for a soliloquy fell on deaf ears. And so, like any aspiring actor, he decided to forgo any thoughts of his demise and swim towards his dream — dodging seals and orcas and rough waves, but eventually finding himself in the Cursed Apple with nothing but the feathers on his back and hope in his heart.

Treated initially as nothing but a sideshow act for back-alley vaudevilles, Forster’s talent shone through until he eventually managed to work his way up to an off-Broadway production of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. With his goal in sight, he threw himself into the titular - if not main - role. Practice made perfect, and with every rehearsal he came closer and closer to truly embodying Caesar.

On the night of the premiere, his performance was flawless. Every line delivered with the gravitas befitting an emperor; every subtle movement of a fin or a beak betraying the hidden ambition behind the veil of humility. Everything was perfect, and his curtain call was met with a roar of approval.

But something in him had broken.

So consumed he had become with his role he had come to actually believe he was Caesar. Forgoing both the name of his birth as well as his original dream, he’s adopted a new persona for himself — Caesar come again, brought back to this Earth to rule an empire of the ages. And what better place to start than the Empire City itself?

Appearance​

Weapon​

Chilly Commands: Rapid Fire, Long Range

Abilities​

Ability 1: Cowards die​

Caesar fires a shard of ice in a direction, dealing spirit damage and slowing on impact with enemy units. If the unit is moving away from the projectile at the time of impact, it deals bonus damage.

Ability 2: Taste some wine with me​

Caesar shares a drink with an allied hero, granting them both damage reduction and deferred damage for a time.

Ability 3: Et tu!​

When Caesar takes sufficient damage, he automatically fires a knife of ice in the direction of the closest enemy, slowing and dealing spirit bleed damage. Can be activated to lower the damage threshold. Calculated before reductions.

Ultimate: Lend me your ears!​

Caesar delivers a grand speech to everyone in a radius around him, both inspiring his allies with damage amplification and move speed as well as converting any enemy non-hero units to his own team.

Design Notes​

Character Niche​

Caesar takes a more support/tank role, with an emphasis on pushing and buffing — an aura support archetype which as of yet doesn’t exist in Deadlock. Limited ability for individual outplay from the ability set, where instead gameplay focuses more on positioning and macro play.

Appearance​

Caesar has the body of an Emperor penguin — a reference to how the original Julius Caesar was never emperor himself but the new Caesar would see the original's ambition fulfilled.

Lore Links​

Caesar could be recognized by Celeste as a fellow sideshow act, and Rem as a fellow bird-adjacent being.

Ability Names​

All the ability names come from lines from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. Abilities 1-3 are from Caesar himself, whereas the ultimate is said by Mark Anthony. I can imagine Caesar liking the line so much he took it for himself, imagining a world in which Julius Caesar had lived to say it.