[Hero Concept] - Octopus

[takimate]

A Lovecraftian Octopus character would be a great addition to the hero catalogue and the NY world in my opinion.
There could be a lot of interesting abilities, like sliding on walls, turning into NPCs as camouflage. Maybe the ultimate would be throwing little squids to alter the enemy's view like in mario kart.
But of course these are just ideas, its the designers/directors work to choose these.
Thanks for reading my idea!
-Taki

 

[Jambae]

Was about to start a new thread on my idea for a vampire squid inspired hero, but I'll just post it here.

Aesthetically I imagine it as sort of haunted cursed cloak with a vampire squid motif, wrapped around it's host who is a ghostly figure. Character wise I imagine it as a slain vampire wishing to be brought back to it's full un-life by the patron. Relationship wise it could be a rival or maybe mentor to Drifter, slain by Venator, and revered or mocked as an old legend by other members of the cast. Could also go the route of making it more overtly sealife-like and tying it to the deep.

Inspired partly by a cloak and dagger spy from tf2, and as a sort of offensive mirror to Rem. I would give it two stamina, reduced gravity, and improved air control/speed (it spreads out similar to a wingsuit in the air). Low hp pool.

Gun - High velocity, slow rate of fire darts that build up leeching poison on targets. Poison scales with spirit.

Ability 1 - Hovers with slow movement and channels an aimable and piercing spray of ink in front it that deals damage while building up a unique debuff that causes the squid to become invisible to debuffed targets. At base if it's fully channeled on at least one player they'll be debuffed with a little extra channel time for leeway.
level 1 - longer range on spray + more damage
level 2 - cdr + double build up rate (can debuff multiple spread out targets with quick aim)
level 3 - When channeling creates an expanding cloud of ink around it that lingers after channel, cloud blocks all player's sight except the squid and if entered enemies rapidly become debuffed with Drifter blindness inside and for a short while after exiting. Cloud's size is based on the length of channel time.

Ability 2 - Squid hovers and twists into a spear tip that spins forward through enemies and at the end expands into a larger aoe disc of damage, after full animation squid is launched upward similar to Rem exiting sleep.
level 1 - more damage + leeches health from hit targets
level 2 - larger end radius + knocks enemies away from it
level 3 - cdr + slow effect to end radius

Ability 3 - Passive effect: squid turns completely invisible when still and crouched and invisible with a short sight radius while crouched and moving.
Active effect: Squid self-roots and spreads itself out into a living trap after a short delay that slows and instantly deals damage to enemies when triggered. Trap deploys instantly from invisibility. When triggered on an enemy the squid un-roots and has a similar upwards launch to ability 1.
level 1 - trap roots from invis + enhanced fire rate and gun poison effect to impacted players
level 2 - trap curses from invis + larger radius
level 3 - invisibility builds instantly while dashing and sliding + increased damage

Ultimate - Squid latches onto an enemy players head and mind controls them, giving them full control of the players movement. If used from invisibility the squid latches onto the enemy player while invisible and can wait for an ideal moment to re-activate the ability and cast it's mind control. Note: can be shot while attached even when invisible. Squid can be cc'd while channeling mind-control.
level 1 - leeches health from target on mc activation + increased duration for mind control and invisible attach
level 2 - can use enemy player abilities and gun against their own team
level 3 - can use enemy player ult against their own team

 

[SynthRave]

Yeah i was just about to make a post about some octopus character. It'd be cool if they could go into the small spaces like REM too.

 

[takimate]

Some voicelines and ideas for backstory. Plus an AI(Gemini) generated concept picture (sorry for using AI, I was just curious how it would resemble him and it kinda looks how I imagined it)

Roles : Assassin • Hit-and-Run • Disruptor

Centuries ago, Lord Silas was a terrifyingly elegant vampire lord who ruled the night—until he crossed paths with Venator. A silver stake and a sunlit pyre stripped Silas of his physical form, condemning his spirit to the void. But Silas refused to fade. In the pitch-black abyss between worlds, his desperate spirit made a pact with an ancient, forgotten Patron of the Deep.

The Patron granted Silas a vessel: a cursed, living mantle shaped like a vampiric squid, dripping with abyssal ink and void-energy. The cloak anchors Silas’s ghostly projection to the physical world. Now, "Octopus" prowls the streets of the Cursed Apple. Silas seeks to drain enough life essence to fully resurrect his undead body, while the alien intelligence of the cloak feeds on the terror of his victims.

To the rest of the cast, he is a walking contradiction: an aristocratic ghost wrapped in a cosmic horror. He was once a mentor to the Drifter before his demise, teaching him the arts of the shadows, and he holds a centuries-old grudge against the hunter who burned him.

Voicelines & Interactions​

Spawn & Match Start:

• "The pyre burned the flesh, but the tide... the tide brings everything back."
• "We are hungry today, aren't we? Let us see what this city bleeds."
• "There is only shadow in the deep sea."

Hero Interactions:

• To Drifter (Ally): "Your footwork is still sloppy, my old student. Walk on the water, not the stones."
• To Drifter (Enemy Kill): "I taught you how to hide. Did you really think you could hide from me?"
• To Venator (Enemy Start): "The hunter returns. Let us see if your stakes can pierce the abyss."
• To Venator (Enemy Kill): "Ashes to ashes, hunter. And dust to the deep."
• To Viscous (Ally): "You are... a fascinating puddle. Do try to keep up."

Ability Casts:

• Ability 1 (Ink Spray): "Sight is a luxury!" / "Drown in the dark!"
• Ability 2 (Spear Spin): "Through the current!" / "Pierce and bleed!"
• Ability 3 (Living Trap Trigger): "Caught in the tentacles." / "The abyss reaches out."
• Ultimate (Parasitic Latch): "Give us your mind!" / "Look into the deep!"

Death & Respawn:

• Death: (Cloak screeches, ghost sighs) "Banished... again..." / "The pressure... drops..."
• Respawn: "We crawled out of hell once. A minor setback."

 

[SynthRave]

Ooooh this is good. This unknown patron of the deep could be The Adversary. Making him an enemy to Viscous. Making himself invisible to a single enemy with a skill shot is so funny sounding. This is a sick concept art too.

 

[Jambae]

Some voicelines and ideas for backstory. Plus an AI(Gemini) generated concept picture (sorry for using AI, I was just curious how it would resemble him and it kinda looks how I imagined it)

Roles : Assassin • Hit-and-Run • Disruptor

Centuries ago, Lord Silas was a terrifyingly elegant vampire lord who ruled the night—until he crossed paths with Venator. A silver stake and a sunlit pyre stripped Silas of his physical form, condemning his spirit to the void. But Silas refused to fade. In the pitch-black abyss between worlds, his desperate spirit made a pact with an ancient, forgotten Patron of the Deep.

The Patron granted Silas a vessel: a cursed, living mantle shaped like a vampiric squid, dripping with abyssal ink and void-energy. The cloak anchors Silas’s ghostly projection to the physical world. Now, "Octopus" prowls the streets of the Cursed Apple. Silas seeks to drain enough life essence to fully resurrect his undead body, while the alien intelligence of the cloak feeds on the terror of his victims.

To the rest of the cast, he is a walking contradiction: an aristocratic ghost wrapped in a cosmic horror. He was once a mentor to the Drifter before his demise, teaching him the arts of the shadows, and he holds a centuries-old grudge against the hunter who burned him.

Voicelines & Interactions​

Spawn & Match Start:

• "The pyre burned the flesh, but the tide... the tide brings everything back."
• "We are hungry today, aren't we? Let us see what this city bleeds."
• "There is only shadow in the deep sea."

Hero Interactions:

• To Drifter (Ally): "Your footwork is still sloppy, my old student. Walk on the water, not the stones."
• To Drifter (Enemy Kill): "I taught you how to hide. Did you really think you could hide from me?"
• To Venator (Enemy Start): "The hunter returns. Let us see if your stakes can pierce the abyss."
• To Venator (Enemy Kill): "Ashes to ashes, hunter. And dust to the deep."
• To Viscous (Ally): "You are... a fascinating puddle. Do try to keep up."

Ability Casts:

• Ability 1 (Ink Spray): "Sight is a luxury!" / "Drown in the dark!"
• Ability 2 (Spear Spin): "Through the current!" / "Pierce and bleed!"
• Ability 3 (Living Trap Trigger): "Caught in the tentacles." / "The abyss reaches out."
• Ultimate (Parasitic Latch): "Give us your mind!" / "Look into the deep!"

Death & Respawn:

• Death: (Cloak screeches, ghost sighs) "Banished... again..." / "The pressure... drops..."
• Respawn: "We crawled out of hell once. A minor setback."

I thought some more about how I'd depict him and came up with this idea.

Hero name - Beholder
He takes the form of an inky silhouette of a lighthouse keeper in a coat and hat with an octopus attached to it. The character itself has beaming eyes that resemble lighthouse beacons. Drew some crappy mspaint concept art as a visual aid. Could have a unique way of communicating to other cast members, like he's talking directly to their minds. Represents some evil of the deep, like the adversary or otherwise. I'd want to make the octopus stand out more (maybe a sort of shimmering and changing color effect on it), with the lightkeeper being mostly formless and dark minus the eyes, and overall I'd want him to appear sopping wet with ink. I like the idea of him dripping ink and leaving a subtle trail that can be used to spot him when he's invisible, or giveaway him being attached to an ally. But that might make it too easy when you can just the do the standard "spy check" of randomly shooting at allies to test them.