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A little discussion on Mordekaiser's colour scheme

Malicious Metal·11/25/2018, 7:45:19 PM·18 votes·11,819 views

What's that, two Morde threads within the same month? Are we getting back to our regular schedule program of daily posts? Not really, but while working on some Mordekaiser fanart I've been noticing something pretty interesting in terms of what certain highlighting colours can do for a champion's overall narrative.

Mordekaiser's always been a weird case, he does not really fit into any particular Faction in terms of his aesthetics but even the smallest changes to his overall colour scheme can go a long way in painting him in vastly different lights in terms of what a quick glance might say about what kind of character he is.

So without further ado let's get into what merely changing ONE primary colour can do for a champion's overall visual narrative.

#Teal

The primary colour of a lot of Shadow Islanders. Teal is a cold, dark colour that has been associated with unnaturally prolonged life, undeath, cold and sickness throughout League's recent aesthetic unification. It makes a character appear unnatural and rather spooky, which would be the best choice for a VGU's Morde who's supposed to be more easily recognizable as an UNDEAD character that hails from the SHADOW ISLES

https://i.imgur.com/0tdEy3z.jpg

#Crimson

The Noxian Aesthetic has been changed from its former Green and Gray hues to muted shades of grey and a very aggressive red; a bloody crimson that signifies STRENGTH and makes their colour scheme instantly recognizable as Noxian. Mordekaiser himself is PROTO NOXIAN, basically the Forerunner of the Noxii tribes, and giving him crimson highlights would make it easy to relate him back to the Immortal Bastion as well as the fledgling empire that rose after the fall of his undying tyrannic regime. Easily one of the picks that would make him appear more "in your face" and violent while marking him as Noxus' Granddaddy.

https://i.imgur.com/BucDPZf.jpg

#Black

A colour that has been used scarcely, and for good reason. It's very dark, foreboding and instantly relates a character to primordial darkness and highlights them as something ancient and evil. Which is exactly what Mordekaiser is. His already dark colour scheme of blackened Iron armour would become more monochrome from such a choice of cloak but it would give him his own unique visual niche as an ancient Immortal Conqueror whose return is imminent and would herald another age of war in his name.

A great choice if he were to neither fit into Noxian nor the Shadow Isles aesthetic.

https://i.imgur.com/0sihX55.jpg

Either way, I'm really looking forward to Mordekaiser's impending VGU that'll come with shiny new visuals and other cool new toys. How they'll make him stand out visually, with reimagined aesthetic narrative and new visual hooks is going to be one of the things I'm going to be the most excited about once we see even the smallest hint of Morde on next year's champion roadmap.

But what about you, do you have other colour palettes that you think would fit Morde and tell vastly different stories about WHO he's supposed to be?

20 Comments

Vartius11/25/2018, 7:55:04 PM7 votes

Huh... Side note: I feel like this art fixes A LOT of issues I had with your design. I would actually love this to be the final Morde's look! So that's the first thing.

As for the colors... I am definitely in the crimson camp, but the black also works. I feel like Mordekaiser's roots are far more important than his Shadow Isles visit. It might just be me, but I just don't see any reason for Morde to adapt SI colors, unless he used them originaly, for whatever reason.

It's not a matter of morale, because I doubt the dead care what colors does their leader wear. It's not like Morde likes Shadow Isles, so I doubt he would bond with them so much to adapt their colors. And I feel like switching his colors would actually lessen his impact. In his original garment, he is MORDEKAISER. He is THE ONE EVIL DUDE every child in noxus fears. He is the one terrible page from history that would make his foes tremble. If he switches his colors, he suddenly becomes yet another undead. Sure, it's still Mordekaiser, it's still the dude from the stories... but by adapting the colors of shadow isles, he states that he is one of them. He is one of the undead the people managed to deal with for some time. Sure, they are all still the big scary monsters, but they are not the one traumatic nightmare of every noxian.

... Also he just looks so much better in red.

EDIT: a bit off-topic, but I also like to think that Noxus not only adapted Morde's colors, but also their three main visions of power: Mind, Strength and Guile. I'd love if Mordekaiser after rework embodied all three of these.

Moody P11/25/2018, 8:37:38 PM4 votes

Black makes me think strongly of Phantom Karthus to be honest with you

I like the red best. Feels 'thematic' for the guy who created Noxus if Noxians ended up adopting his color scheme.

RyzeTheSmurfMage11/25/2018, 7:50:44 PM3 votes

The first and the last one are imo the best because they highlight who Morde is right now more

Pale Mask11/25/2018, 7:50:19 PM2 votes

IMO, black and red is the proper choice for Mordekaiser. That is to say, 3 with red details. You can replace the necromantic turquoise emanating from his armor with smoke and ash.

Guy Broman11/25/2018, 8:29:00 PM2 votes

I like that you're drawing Mordekaiser a little thicker now. I liked the more sleek and slender look of your older designs but I gotta admit, beefy Morde is my favorite Morde.

JonnyBoyy11/26/2018, 8:01:48 AM2 votes

how about the second one but with teal auras/smokes like thw one in karthus' hands :) can you please try it.

https://ddragon.leagueoflegends.com/cdn/img/champion/splash/Karthus_0.jpg

Stars Shaper11/26/2018, 1:25:26 PM2 votes

Imo his colour palette should be his own as he is nor a Noxian nor a mere SI ghost.

The fact that he is more ancient than Noxus and a superior kind of spectre should be represented in his colours too, something that might recall Noxus could be appropriate as they are basically his heritage but nothing more than that.

Unfortunately we are not getting a real black tint as Riot policy on that has changed since the latest graphical change in Morde model.

MuffledGarbage11/26/2018, 3:19:25 AM1 votes

I think that making Morde's cape change color over time would be cool!! like over the course of 10 minutes it'd start red and then go black

Jerry SeinfeId11/26/2018, 7:23:53 PM1 votes

red seems like the obvious choice to me. It sets him apart from the shadow isles champions. Emblems in his armor should resemble but not be identical to noxus' to set him apart from noxian champs.

This would make him fit with both as he still wears dark armor and if some kinda necromancy related glow comes from inside the armor it would show his undead nature fitting with many of the other shadow isles champs. while also showing his influence on noxus.

then again i don't play morde so i'll leave it to you guys.

Chembaron Yamada11/26/2018, 10:21:02 AM1 votes

I like the teal version the most. In my opinion, they should integrate Mordekaiser more in the Shadow Isles aesthetic, basically for the same reason why Urgot has alot of green in his colour scheme (the representive colour for Zaun) now.

Yes, Mordekaiser originated from Noxus and had a huge impact on their history. But he is still located in the Shadow Isles now, basically using it as the headquarter for his new conquering mission. He is undead, he is using other undead to conquer the world. I think he fits in pretty well in the Shadow Isles now and I would like if they made this more obvious.

GreenLore11/26/2018, 12:26:20 PM1 votes

I'd go with black.

Morde is not from the shadow isles,he is just using them,so I don't think that there is much reason for him to adapt to their color scheme.

However I also have to say that making him red would make him look too much like a regular noxian champ(and in general I'd say in your concept the red is still too bright),so I'd say that red shouldn't be one of his primary colors(though I do think that "some" red on his armor or cape would be ok).

WAZZZUP50011/26/2018, 1:21:43 PM1 votes

I like the red the most, but the color needs to be darker, like a maroon or blood red.

Alzon11/26/2018, 7:48:05 PM1 votes

Visually, Teal and Black are Rammus.

Crimson, however, is GORGEOUS. Of those three colors, it’s the one that screams “power” and “royalty.” But, it’s also the color of Noxus, and Morde shouldn’t be wearing the colors of his usurpers (more like they shouldn’t be wearing the colors of the one they overthrew).

A couple unused hues (yes I saw what you did there) that would capture a similar aura are a solid, deep purple or a bright scarlet (Dragon Knight).

Jackom111/26/2018, 1:53:00 PM1 votes

There are never enough Mordekaiser threads!

Personally I wouldn't like red too much. The bright red that is associated with Noxus is out of place on Morde, as it represents the empire that was born after Morde's defeat, and even more so after Swain's rise to power. If anything, that colour is a sign of defiance against past and future tyrants like Mordekaiser was.

Teal would be a decent choice, as Mordekaiser is, and I hope will remain, and undead revenant/lich. Though I'd like him to be less bound to the mists than, say, hecarim, thresh, kalista, and more his own kind of indipendent undead, with more down to earth goals than, like, torturing souls, or revenge.

Black, of these three colours, would probably fit him best in my opinion. It's the typical color of the typical dark lord, although there's the risk of making him just another cliché.

Lastly, since you didn't talk about it, I'll add: what about brown? Per se, it's not as strong a colour as the others, but it would highlight him being an ancient ruler of a sort-of barbarian kingdom. I'd like Morde's look to reflect more those past times in runeterra, in cotrast to valoran's modern times, and modern choices of colour. I think Morde's choices of esthetic should be somewhat simple, with colours that date to an older era, and would better reflect his concept of an ancient terror.

Mordekaiser's VGU should reflect the idea of and old tyrant taking action in the present. It would work better for him than other ancient "champions". Take shurima, it went from a golden empire to a nation of beggars, so champions from it's earlier days are supposed to talk about it as an age of greatness and wealth. The freljord on the other hand, doesn't seem to have changed much since the frostborn were driven off, at least in terms of culture and aesthetics. Noxus is neither of those, it actually expanded, and became one of the greatest empires in present valoran. There has been an evolution in all aspects; and so Mordekaiser aspect should somewhat reflect a time were things were conceptually simpler in the lands now known as the Noxian Empire.

WIth all that said, I'd ask if you can make another picture, but with brown as his main colour, out of curiosity. In my head it fits him rather well, if go past pure aesthetic and think about the character as a whole. That said, his whole aspect will need other colours put in together to form a cohesive design, but that applies of every champion.

DM For Rat Facts11/25/2018, 11:47:56 PM1 votes

My issue with morde is always that his animations look so stiff. Like, I get it, he's in big heavy metal armor but... he's been warrioring for, theoretically, longer than almost all other champions, right? And he's not a human... if it looked more smooth and natural like garen or darius (other big guys in big armor swinging big weapons) maybe he wouldn't look so dumb. Off the top of my head, make it so the three Q autos chain into each other instead of resetting his mace to his shoulder with each auto.

Hupsis11/26/2018, 1:19:47 AM1 votes

I personally like the green/teal one as it highlights him as a being who managed to achieve immortality (or something close to that). He's more closer to an undead than living, so the visual connection to Shadow Isles feels natural. I don't think his color scheme needs to reflect the current color schemes of the nations (Noxus). He's ancient and the colors associated with regions have surely changed over centuries.

Green would also fit soul magic, which he presumably uses as his main source of power. Black could work as a neutral color and definitely support his overlord thematic. I wouldn't mind the black variation. The red seems a bit too flashy on him and he has a lot of red skins already which will hopefully deliver that aesthetic.

It would be cool if Riot explored him as a potential ancient ascended being (maybe even the very first) who researched twisted magic to achieve 'true' immortality. It would nicely connect him with the rest of the universe.