Thoughts on Champion Design and Originality. Can new Champions really break the mold?

So I just read this post and although I don't like ranting, it does raise a point that's been concerning me this past year, following the history of new champs and reworks added to LoL. I would post in the original discussion, but it ended up being too long, plus I wanted as many people as possible to butt in and give some opinions. Now, what makes a champion original? I think we can't logicaly expect new champions to be entirely original, however every new release has the chance of evoking a certain "feeling" of originality in people. A few considerations.

• There can hardly be a purely original design this far into the game's lifespan, I'm not even sure that a purely original mechanic can exist.

• By strict logic, EVERY champ is unique in the sense that they each embody a different overall package.

• However, that doesn't have to do with how original or unique a champion feels. Not on its own anyway. I'd say the following things can affect how a champion is conceived as "original":

  1. Mechanics or abilities that have a unique effect or require a unique execution compared to all others (actual original design)
  2. The champion's role or class and how they operate in their context. When a new champ fills a role that hasn't been looked at for a long time, they might feels more unique, more novel, even more so if they represent it in an unconventional way.
  3. The number of champions in its role or class and how much variation exists within their group, according to the aforementioned points.
  4. The champ's visual design and lore and how well these correspond to their gameplay design. When a champion does what his lore or teasers promise, when their personality comes out in their gameplay and their abilities mirror the power they are supposed to hold, it makes the champ feel right, y'know? It doesn't affect the specific character's originality per se, but I think it can affect originality in a more roundabout way as I'll elaborate later on.
  5. Their release order. Pretty straightforward, the ones who did it first will more likely feel like the pioneers of a role/ability/subclass/mechanic etc

Now, these elements I think do not work additively. More like, they interact in various ways, sometimes overlapping with and sometimes overpowering each other to form the picture of a character as more or less original than the rest. Also the significance of said elements for every person differs.

To become more clear I want to use certain champions as examples of both good and bad designs, always in my opinion. I'll be making very, very brief mentions to their identity, quickly listing their kits and how original they feel on their own and when compared to other similar instances.

• Zilean. Came up in another discussion I was having and sparked my interest in this topic. He is supposed to be an unfathomably powerful time mage that blinks through time on a snap. In a void, he delivers kind of ok. Q is a time bomb, W is a time speed-up, E is a time slow/speedup, R is a rewind. However when you compare him to time mage concepts in general, it seems like he does a poor job. His abilities don't capture the feeling of drifting through time, laughing in the face of eventuality. His kit boils down to an AoE explosion, a movespeed steroid, an ability refresh, and a revive. You know who does a better job than Zilean?

• Ekko. Boy with a time-breaking gizmo. Ekko's abilities aren't only time themed, but their implementation makes you feel like you are messing with time, actively trying to master it. His Q is just a delayed boomerang skillshot, BUT, it makes it so that you need to time it just right to get your passive procs in a well executed barrage. His W is an AoE slow/stun, with it's massive delay requiring of you to see ahead of time, predicting enemy movements. His E is pretty standard, just a dash blink. His R isn't just the cherry on top, but the frosting that binds his whole theme together. You leave a trail of your past self behind you and when activated, you blink to that point in your past. That's is a much tighter version of Zilean's ultimate. Instead of pulling a Lazarus, it resets you to whatever state you where at a specific time.

• Neeko: Chameleon girl with a curious nature and shapeshifting skillz. If I'm not mistaken, Neeko was the first new champion released after Riot had stated that they wanted their every new release to boast fresh mechanics, to make them feel more unique and worthwhile. The result? One of the most disappointing champion releases of the past couple years. But why? Firstly, her role. A burst mage that plays like any other burst mage with a gimmicky mechanic (appearance copying) on top, that isn't even that impactful. Land skillshot CC into bursting down fools with your full kit. Oh, and an active Leblanc passive. Secondly, weakly implemented theme: Biology 101- Chameleons use CAMOUFLAGE, not SHAPESHIFTING. Also chameleons are god ugly, scaly, wrinkly and placid, not overexcited instagram body paint models, with a taste for sexual experimentation. Curious? Where? Curious character stereotypes are suppossed to be either inquisitive, learned and inventive or elusive, swift, and roundabout. She doesn't deliver on these fronts. Now let's move on to a champion with a relatively unoriginal kit, that to me feels like nothing else in the entire game.

• Ivern: A sentient tree with a kind predisposition that will extend his helping hand to others and loves dat thicc forest. Q- a skillshot CC. His W creates a brush. E is a shield that pops for damage. R is a controllable summon. He sound pretty bland this way, yet Ivern was the first ever champ that was tied to a specific role because of his kit. His passive is what defines him in almost every way. Turns him into a de facto jungler that is probably the most unique in his role. A supportive jungler, that dominates mosters with kindness rather than violence and shares the fruits of his labor with his teamates. On point with his theme. Mind you, his only truly unique mechanic is that he can oneshot camps after some time passes or with his smite.

These were some examples that just popped to my mind. I'll end it here but I'd really want to hear your thoughts on these, other champs you'd want to discuss, and even that new Yuumi cat that is coming up.

Thanks if you made it to the other side of this wall of text.