A discussion on Nocturne's identity

Hello again friends!

After my fiddlesticks idea i started just brainstorming ideas about other reworks that will happen, but none of them were really good enough to post here. Recently however i've been thinking about nocturne and his identity as a champ both in lore and game.

He is supposed to be this shadow demon that manifests in nightmares, centered around fear right? Well now that fiddlesticks rework is all about him being a fear consuming terror demon, where does that leave nocturne? Obviously fiddle is the better candidate for the whole "terrifying/fear" motif, but that leaves nocturnes theme kinda lacking, or trailing behind as it were. If i remember correctly, when they posted the results of the rework poll they said something about nocturne along the lines of him "having a solid kit, just needs a visual update".

So i had an idea, why not turn him into a Freddy Kruger esque nightmare creature? Hear me out on this, his whole lore is about how he can/is manifested in any and all nightmares, and he just goes around terrifying people in dreams, and ultimately killing them, so why not go full force on the concept?

Now i don't mean add all the Freddy one liners or slapstick he does in the movies, but more so the threat and identity of a dream demon. I had some ideas on the visuals too, kinda leaning in that direction.

I wouldn't really change his model all that much, spooky arm blade wielding nightmare ghost is cool, but maybe id add more bulk to him so he isn't just 'ghost', maybe add a 'pseudo face' or a mask, even something that contorts or shifts, kind of like a Rorschach test, then maybe make his arm-blades a bit more threatening, sort of like Galaxy slayer zed's blades almost, where there's the blades he has now present, but when hes going after you have more pop out.

Ability wise, i've also got some design changes in mind, and MAYBE a change or 2, but this is more focused on the design rather than balance, so keep the changes i say to the abilities in the back of your mind.

Q: What id do for this is instead of just a black trail being left (because i like the concept of the hand projectile that is on live), why not have the trail have grasping hands? Picture it like death stranding's BTs pulling you down, or slowing you that way.

W: This will go with the ult in a certain way, but clean up the spell shield effect, but if it blocks something and he gets buffed, why not have him turn into a sort of "True form" for the duration of the buff? Ill explain that more with his R.

E: I mean i cant really think of anything for this other than clean it up, hes pretty much doing what id picture it doing, drilling directly into the mind to give them a mini nightmare or something, so that can stay.

R: Here's where things might get controversial. So id keep the effect, where it makes you nearsighted and you can target one person and deal dmg, but instead, i would change the whole "total darkness" thing (and in its defense, i still think its a really fucking cool effect, and doesn't actually NEED a change) and make it so the champs become nearsighted, but almost become drowsy.

Now i don't mean give them the sleep status like zoe bubble, but make it effect the seem hazy as if you are falling asleep, or to use the medical term, having a micro-nap, almost like the darkness he summons is FORCING you to sleep, then id change the second part (hang with me on this, ill explain after) to instead of him flying to the target, he sort of fades into the champion he target's view and then blinks in and slices them.

Remember how i keep alluding to Freddy? Well for anyone who plays dead by daylight and remembers old Freddy, where he would put you to sleep and you can see little flickers of him before you fully fall asleep, that's the idea i'm thinking of for his ult, but the flickers being shown is his 'True form" i mentioned earlier, this more threatening, full power nocturne, the one that actually comes for you in a nightmare, and when he blinks in and slashes he turns back into his regular model.

Now i know people are going to complain about the change to the targeting, but this idea adds a bit of counterplay, and you can add whatever in return for it (but not overload it, like you normally do riot, don't think i don't see you trying to pull a CertainlyT and giving him tons of stuff for compensation instead of a single balanced effect).

It would be almost like a ult, where you can see where hes going, but for one player, that way the target KNOWS when they are being targeted, but they would also need to ping or inform their team if he was going on them, because it would have him blink to the target instead of him turning into a cruise missile like he does now. Don't worry, the current range of the ult scaling with level is staying, my idea doesnt need for it to suddenly turn into a global ult or anything. That way, it would give more time for the target to outplay, but also makes it so nocturne is only seen by the target during it, making it so he can make some pretty sweet ganks, and surprise those that are unawares to their teammate's plight. I picture it being your feeling really groggy, you see little glimpses of him, and he just appears from YOUR OWN SHADOW and attacks you from that.

Passive: This one bothers me because its simple. Simple is not bad, mind you, but i think if you're going to keep it you need to spruce it up more than the other abilities so it isn't just 'ballerina blade spin', maybe like he slashes and it tears away parts of their shadow? I know champs don't have shadows (at least i think they don't), but i mean more like shreds away an allusion of a shadow, sort of like his ult appearing from the supposed shadow.

One last thing about his model, the whole "true form" thing i keep saying is 100% subjective, but i think it should be like that since i would assume one is his physical form (gameplay) and the true from is him at his full power in a nightmare, maybe this multi armed, shadow beast looking thing. Even then, if that doesn't appeal to you, the ideas i've put can also work from his base (reworked) model.

That's my ideas for him, that way you can keep a little bit of the fear aspect, but instead of sharing the spot with fiddle for "Runeterras bogyman terror guy" Its more of a "demonic nightmare inhabiting menace". Hell i even thought of instead of the current lore of him just being one of many shadow creatures that were summoned and him being the one to kill his summoner and roam free, why not let him be the most powerful of all of those creatures, and have the summoner accidentally summon him instead of a lesser demon.

I would love feedback on this, and feel free to add to it if necessary, thank you for your time!

[slayer-pantheon-thumbs]

P.S. I also had a story idea for volibear awhile back but seeing as him and fiddle are around the corner, i think it would just be insulting to the writing team to post something about him this late, seeing as how they are both looking like they are almost ready to be shipped.