New Champion(s) speculation thread // Double Release Possible?

So, A Rioter confirmed that the next patch will not inculde a new champ as that one is the patch worlds will be played on, which makes me beiefe that we will see the new champ on the PBE the moment the worlds-patch is done - mostly because there has been a LOT of time since the Tahm Kench release (Just a reminder: The River King Video was released at the 18 JUNE).

Also we have this mysterious "They are coming" thing going on...

And not to forget: If the champion comes in the patch after the next one that will be in October. All ya Shadow Isles fans know what that means, no...?

So, let's start the speculations then!

We know that it will be a Harrowing Champion, so I looked through old Horror Stories and Movies to find something that was still missing COMPLETLY from the Champion Roster League has (after all we have several Horro-Archetypes filled already: Spiders, Soul Collector, Dark Paladin, Undead Horseman, Lich, Nightmare/Darkness, A demonic clown and a Scarecrow, also a Crossroad Demon and a Undead Summoner (yes, i remember Yorick Mori - I wonder if Riot does...).

So, that limits it pretty much if you want to add something that is not already in the game somehow. There were several possibilities, but the best ideo I got when I spotted something in the Academy Splashart. You know, those two figured behind the window? It's not that unusual to have new champions teased through skin splasharts, just think if Jinx and the Pool Party artwork.

I'm not really interested in the male figure (who is Jayce or Sion, depending on preference. Buff and Bald, I think it's Sion, but whatever), but in the female one, WHO DOES NOT HAVE A NECK. Her head is floating over the body and there is even a hole where her head would connect to the body. At first I thought that this was a Orianna skin maybe, but usually Orianna has a neck in her skins (apart fromn the Esports one, but these don't really count I guess).

Now, is there any kind of "headless" horror figure in the old stories? Well at first that old pirate story of Klaus Störtebeker comes to mind. When he was caught 1401 and executed in Hamburg (North german port city) it is said that he made a deal with the judges: They made his crew stand up in a line and every man he could walk past on whith no head they would be freed. They simply laughed and beheaded him, but then his body rose up and walked past his crew and he surely could have passed them all but after the 11th man the executioner tripped him and he fell and remained dead.

Sadly, those men were also executed. Since that day his vengeful ghost is said to haunt the North Sea, furious about getting tripped, but even more pissed about them breaking the deal by killing the men he walked by...

Buuuuuuuuuut, we already have a pirate in League and while an undead pirate armada would sound awesome, we already had a Bilgewater event. We might get our Davy Jones at some point tho...

Now, moving on, there is another "headless" mythological figure, the Dullahan from Celtic Mythology. Often seen as a walking "Omen of Dead" the Dullahan describes a knight in full black armor - that misses its head. In some storys he cuts people apart with a giant claymore, in others the simply touch of his hand could drain the life of a person. Also in several stories the Dullahan is brough in connection with Dark Magic among other stuff.

Now THAT'S sounding pretty Shadow-Iseles-like to me, no?

But how could this possibly be a double release?

Well, first of all the Dullahan has pretty much two themes going: Giant Headless Warrior with a giant weapon and the Dark Magic part. But how do you split this up into two champions? Simple: they are already split up: it's not like the head is simply "gone". Usually the Warrior carries it around and sometimes the head is described as a spirit of it's own, similiar to a Banshee.

So you have a: Warrior/Tank champion which is the body and a Mage/Support champion that is the head. While the body could be your typical juggernaut/fighter, the head has probably a supportive role: Slow movement speed on it's own and can be "picked up" by allies to buff them up and help them out with abilities.

"THEY are coming", remember? Also, it has been so long since the last release that they could have probably designed two champions in that time.

Tl,dr: Double Release of a Female Dullahan (female because 1.) of the academy splash and 2.) A floating male head would be a bit lame - and also a bit small for the map. But with long spectral tentacle-like hair that would look completly different...and 3.) Usually the headless knight is shown as male and another male representation would be boring I guess... )