The reason Mordekaiser has a cult following: His theme

Mordekaiser has an interesting theme for a champion, one that isn't really touched upon in other champs. He's an undead overlord, who's soul is bound to a suit of armor. People like the idea of Mordekaiser for the same reason that they get invested into the universe of Dark Souls, despite there being little upfront narrative to the game. The feeling of a Dark, and Hopeless world is an interesting one, and Mordekaiser has the potential to be the embodiment of this in Runeterra.

"As hated as he was feared, his enemies finally rallied to end his dark reign. After a long and bloody day of battle, Mordekaiser met his fate standing atop a mountain of corpses, surrounded by his foes. He laughed even as he died, pierced by arrows, swords and spears, promising his killers that he would come back for them. "

I actually enjoy Mordekaiser's current lore, and feel like it is one of the most well written pieces in league of legends. It paints him as this ancient, evil warlord who transcended death through the use of dark magics. Imagine if such a character was expanded upon, if Mordekaiser could capture this theme properly as a champion through his dialogue and his visuals.

Mordekaiser is different from the other major villain in league, , who considers his actions to be a Necessarily Evil , because he has no noble goal and merely wants to expand his empire, and secure his immortality. Where Swain would be the gray morality, Mordekaiser would be black.

"Mordekaiser has since carved out his own empire upon the Shadow Isles, enslaving a growing army of the dead. He looks down upon these newly formed undying spirits as a lesser breed, for he chose his path freely, while these others are merely lost souls. Nevertheless, he sees their use; they will be his foot-soldiers in the conflicts to come..."

Mordekaiser's current lore is in a good starting place to expand his character. He has the potential to be made into a Dark Messiah type character for the shadow isles, one who's name is feared by the people of runeterra, but is worshipped by his undead army. Mordekaiser's character could be a charismatic, but disingenuous savior to the lost souls of the shadow isles, leading them towards a "better future" as he uses them as puppets for his own selfish gain. The paranoia mentioned in his lore could be a key motivation to his character, as Mordekaiser's ultimate goal seems to be to preserve his immortality.

I do believe current Mordekaiser's lore and theme are good, but they just haven't been properly expanded upon in the game yet. He definitely has a lot of potential to be built into an interesting character.

https://i.imgur.com/U0KhqfI.png

Thoughts?