Hero Concept - Jack

[Sketchy3032]

Jack
Hits hard, harder to hit.

Jack can roam the streets of New York City with his blinding speed, dodging attacks and slipping through the tiniest openings with his miniscule stature. The explosive power of his shotgun and dynamite bundles is not only for combat, but also movement.

A Fate's Tale:
Little is known about Jack Lancaster, just a strangely reliable and eager hireling, and a former goon of the Mendoza Syndicate. He faces unemployment upon the dismantling of the criminal organization he once proudly served, but no grudges were held to its enemies, not even the vigilante he never met. It’s simply his time to move on, as his loyalty lies only to the thrill and fulfillment of service, but jackalopes like him are rarely welcome in legitimate jobs. Still, the dark corners of the city hold many opportunities for lackeys, and it didn't take long for him to be hired to assist in the summoning, perhaps by the patron, perhaps by one of the ritualists.

Playstyle:
- Intended for Arena FPS fans who want to focus on movement and shooting aspect of the game over the number crunching and some other nerdy MOBA stuff
- The most annoying CC roamer for both allies and enemies
- Maximum griefing potential

Stats:
- Is the smallest hero of the roster, rivaling Krill's size
- Lowest base HP, regen, and melee damage of the roster
- Highest base weapon damage, move speed, and sprint speed of the roster.
- Hard to hit with weapons and skillshot abilities, but especially weak to AoE and lock-on abilities

Weapon: The New Blood
- A quad-barrel 4-bore shotgun, popular among hunters of big game and monsters alike.
- Spreadshot
- Close Range
- Low magazine size
- Fast Reload

Abilities:
1 - Quad Blast - Press Alt Fire to fire all four barrels at once, quadrupling the pellet count of the shot with a wide spread, and knocking both you and your target back, allies and enemies alike. Can be used for blast jumping.
- Indicates readiness with particle effects on the barrel
- Tier 1: Shorter cooldown
- Tier 2: Stronger knockback
- Tier 3: Weapon damage becomes scaled by Spirit Power

2 - Dynamite Bundle - Throw a bundle of dynamite that explodes on impact and knocks its targets away from the blast radius, also allies and enemies alike. Can also be used for blast jumping.
- Select and throw
- Hold and release to charge throwing distance, damage, and knockback strength (per second multiplier)
- 3 seconds max charge time
- Can backfire and explode on your hand if charged for 1 second beyond max, knocking you and nearby allies back with quadruple strength but without self-damage (Can be improvised for kamikaze-style attacks, also quadruples damage to enemies caught in the blast)
- Tier 1: Shorter cooldown
- Tier 2: Stronger knockback
- Tier 3: Better spirit scaling for spirit damage

3 - Rabbit's Foot - Enables auto-jump, allows you to bunnyhop, and gives you twitchier strafing.
- Passive
- Auto-selected
- Tier 1: Extra stamina bars
- Tier 2: Faster base move speed and sprint speed
- Tier 3: Fully preserves momentum while bunnyhopping (even if you hit a wall)

4 - Ultra Violence - Gives instant cooldown for Quad Blast and Dynamite Bundle for a duration.
- Tier 1: Shorter cooldown and longer duration
- Tier 2: Quadruples knockback strength
- Tier 3: Gives infinite ammo and quadruples fire rate (You can fly across the entire map and back at this point)

Spirit Power Impact:
- Move speed
- Sprint Speed
- Quad Blast knockback strength
- Dynamite Bundle damage and knockback strength
- Ultra Violence duration

Misc:
- Enemy heroes would comment on landing their skillshots on him
- Rides the zipline by hooking one of his antlers on it, swung around by the dead weight of his gun
- Would squeak like a rubber toy if caught by a Bebop hook
- Grunts whenever he jumps like the Ranger in Quake

Headcanon voice: Joe Pesci

Animations:
Light Melee - Smack with his paw
Heavy Melee - Hop and Dropkick
Running - Lugging his gun
Sprinting - Dragging his gun’s barrel through the ground sparking as he leaps

Don't worry fellas I know how absolutely ridiculous this lil' shit would be if he were ever added in the game.
I'm operating purely on "it's okay for it to be OP if it's funny" with him, like the Holiday Punch in TF2.

Oh, and I can only manage a sketch for now, oof.

 

[🐸mr.rukolo🐸]

Have you thought about the chemistry between the characters yet? I understand about Ivy, and what else?

 

[Sketchy3032]

Have you thought about the chemistry between the characters yet? I understand about Ivy, and what else?

Oh yeah, I want him to be the wildcard who no one (except Viper) has heard of until a little while before the ritual, and how he ended up there will be different based on his lane partner. Some hired him just for this one job, while others consider keeping him, sometimes it's the Patron. They'd be pleased with, bewildered by, or suspicious of his eagerness to work for/with them, more so given he has no moral standards.

His past before working for the Mendoza Syndicate is all over the place. Somehow, he never encountered Ivy until the ritual, and he'll only find out about her whole deal at that moment. Oddly enough, he'd just be mildly upset about it and hold no grudge.

Here are some interaction lines I came up with so far, and yeah, they're chock full of references to retro shooters lmao:

Infernus: There’s gotta be somethin’ else you’re good at other than shootin’ people, if you wanna work in the bar.
Jack: I’m pretty good with a saxophone!
Infernus: Well I’ll be damned, a jazz jackrabbit.

Dynamo: Okay! so you have experience as a lab assistant?
Jack: Yup! One time, I pushed a cart with a gem on it into a laser, and the whole thing blew up!
Dynamo: Right... You better not be full of unforeseen consequences…

Vyper: Didn’t we meet before?
Jack: In a state penitentiary… Forgot the name, but I swear I came across your cell on patrol one night!
Vyper: Hah! Knew it. Say, how’s the joint these days? Something happened, right?
Jack: Old death row inmates came back as literal monsters, killed a lot of guards as revenge for the suffering.

Haze: The Sandman Division is selection only, but you can try your luck in another branch.
Jack: Well, whatever it is, I will! even if it means dealing with secret lab incidents eh?
Haze: Operations involve first encounter assault and recon, let's see how well you fit in.

Holliday: You were a town deputy in Pennsylvania?
Jack: Title's just for show, doin' nothing all day. The treasures I’ve hunted made up for it, but not for long...
Holliday: What made you leave?
Jack: Eh… Somethin' ain't right over there, cult members and shit… especially at dusk…

Jack: You gotta be careful with your collection…
Paradox: What do you mean?
Jack: You might grab something that’s bad news! A baroness I was working for came back and screwed around with an Egyptian water clock, and all hell broke loose… Let me tell ya, when I was guarding her estate at midnight? I wasn’t killing time.

 

[Sketchy3032]

For anyone still following this, I redrew him again to better fit the new character selection screen.
Oh, and I also gave him an actual pose.

Not much changed with him though, I leaned more into his Roger Rabbit influence that people kept pointing out until I can't unsee it, by making him wear overalls instead. Oh, I also replaced his bowler hat with one that goons wear in Fallen Aces.

Oddly enough, I struggled with coming up with a font that's unique to him like other characters.
Given the slapstick cartoon vibes he has and would play like, I just looked into Looney Tunes for inspiration.