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What This Game Could Use: True Eldritch Horror

Meep Man··8 votes·9,784 views

http://static5.comicvine.com/uploads/scale_small/5/57845/1504782-behold.jpg

This is an Eldritch Horror.

http://ddragon.leagueoflegends.com/cdn/img/champion/splash/Chogath_0.jpg

http://ddragon.leagueoflegends.com/cdn/img/champion/splash/KogMaw_0.jpg

http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/leagueoflegends/images/5/5f/Vel'Koz_OriginalSkin.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20160518205027

These are not Eldritch Horrors.

Void creatures are more alien horrors if anything. Currently, this game has a lack of truly nightmarish monsters. We have the undead, other dimension-like monsters, and some deadly creatures, but we don't have any Eldritch Horror in this game. Nautilus stems from this kind of horror, but is a very, VERY human version of this kind of horror. We don't have a monster that is just a mash of body parts, eyes, and just a gross creature in general. We don't have anything that is actually scary, just threatening. Cho'Gath is threatening, Vel'Koz is threatening, even Rek'sai is threatening, but we don't have anything that is ACTUALLY scary. The closest to SCARY in this game is Fiddlesticks, but even he is human-like. Everything that could even remotely be considered horror and not monster movie in this game has human features that makes it not something unknown, and the scariest thing for a human ever to face is the unknown. A monster of the unknown that you wouldn't see in a monster movie is what we need. Something that would truly bring horror to the game. Horror in general is kind of being washed away.

The Shadow Isles

After discovering the Shadow Isles with lore, everything became less scary because we know who they were and that they themselves can have motives in the afterlife. Hecarim is cruel, Thresh is a cliche insane torture guy, Kalista was a brave warrior who got the short end of the stick, and Mordekaiser was and still is a barbarian king. Everyone in the Shadow Isles became undead humans with a goal to either empower or defeat the Black Mist. They are all threatening, but none are scary. You wouldn't think of scary when you think Shadow Isles, you think violent and dangerous. Not a bad thing, but they aren't scary.

The Void

Aliens and monsters are from here basically. Every one of them just seems to be out of a monster movie, and that's not bad. It just isn't scary. Vel'Koz is straight out of a space, science fiction monster movie. Kog'Maw is the perfect suburban monster. Cho'Gath is from a Godzilla movie. Rek'sai is straight out of Tremors, and Kha'Zix is almost without a doubt inspired from Alien from Alien vs Predator due to his relationship with Rengar. They are all out of monster movies! Sure, if you were in their face, they would be scary. Truly terrifying actually. However, you don't get shivers thinking about them. You just think, "Wouldn't want to run into a creature like that!"

Eldritch Horror

This is a realm almost completely unexplored for the lore team. Eldritch Horror has an amazing cult following and often has endless potential for story telling, unexpected plot, and, most importantly here, truly horrifying creatures. The corruption that naturally comes with Eldritch monsters is straight out of the nightmares of any human on the planet. Unknown creatures that just boggle the mind with their appearance and defy the laws of time and space. Their all powerful, yet at the same time fragile thing they got going is just truly magnificent ground that hasn't been explored in Runeterra yet.

To summarize, we need more scary monsters. Scary monsters are something that really aren't in the game yet and something that would be really cool to explore in the lore. I know we already have so many angles of villains in the lore, but the thing is Eldritch monsters aren't necessarily villains! Sure, they are definitely not WITH mankind, but they aren't WITH anyone. Not even each other! Eldritch Horror is like if you mixed Chaotic Evil with True Neutral and then made it horrifying! They are horrors without any flag to carry but their own and I (and many others) would really like it if this area of characters was explored by Riot. We have yet to have any evil celestial beings and this would be the perfect place to get inspiration from. The first evil celestial should be an Eldritch horror, period.

36 Comments

Sharjo7 votes

AurelionSol "The depths of space crawl with terrible entities. Pray they ignore this world."

Meep Man3 votes

EXACTLY! This is the quote along with me watching some Eldritch stuff lately that made me make this thread. As someone playing the game, I pray they don't ignore this world. Thank you Sharjo! This is exactly the quote that proves they DO exist in the LoL universe, but just aren't yet in the game. As far as Lore goes, I feel like we have highlighted the same villains for too long without introducing a new form of villain. We have had tons of Void creatures, Shadow Isles undead, and just sinister folks in general, it's about time we had something else. While it is true the new version of the Lore is not fleshed out yet, Riot has proven that they can update entire nations in one swoop. I say it's about time we introduce a new side to the world of Runeterra.

Abyssphere3 votes

Not happening. I don't think they can make the concept satisfying without it being inappropriate for the game's rating, so I think monster movie/spooky ghost is about as far as we're going with scary champion concepts.

Rebonack3 votes

I would be rather keen on the idea that the Void itself is an eldritch realm of madness.

The Voidborn and voidlings would be, in effect, mere shadows of the things that lurk there. Physical manifestations of creatures that can not and must not ever exist in a sane universe. It would be something that could be addressed nicely in Lore, but making an actual eldritch abomination champion would be difficult, if not impossible.

The whole hook of the cosmic horror genre is a complete and utter loss of agency. You are insignificant and utterly powerless in the face of the creeping terrors clawing at the threshold of reality. That sort of feeling is quite difficult to get right in a game like League, which focuses strongly on empowerment and personal agency through your champion.

Meep Man2 votes

I think an Eldritch champion could be added. You are right that Eldritch genre of horror revolves around the feeling hopelessness, but I feel like that can be halfway translated into League by a champion that causes his enemies to go insane. Sort of make the enemy team have to constantly motivate each other to move on or have them all slowly become insane. It's like the eternal fight between hope and despair, but put into a champion in League.

GreenLore2 votes

I think there are a few problems with getting eldritch horror into this game,I'm not saying it is impossible,but it certainly makes it more dificult: 1.Eldritch horror is usually unimaginably horryfying,which pretty much means we'll only ever see parts of it,but can never fully grasp its true form.So making an eldritch horror champion is going to be difficult,because the champion itself is only a part of the whole.

2.Eldritch horrors are usually extremely overpowering.Humans are pretty much nothing compared to them and their utter hopelesness against these beings is part of the horror,so it could be difficult to integrate eldritch horrors into the lore.

3.If said horror looks too disturbing it might actually cause real life problems,like a higher rating in certain regions.

That being said,I do want to see an eldritch horror within the game. To be fair there are already a few eldritch-horror elements in the lore,the void as a whole seems sentient,so even though the individual voidborn are "merely" monsters,the void as a whole might qualify as an eldritch horror. Then there are the watchers,I mean they are extremely mysterious and powerful beings that do look more eldritch than any voidborn http://abload.de/img/wp_20151231_001lupji.jpg but considering that they were seemingly defeated by getting tossed into a hole they might be more like powerful monsters.

If we'd get an eldritch horror as a champion then I guess it would either be a powerful spirit(a horrific counterpart to bard?),a being from outer space(as Aurelion says "The depths of space crawl with terrible entities. Pray they ignore this world.") or the ocean(as its not really uncommon to associate eldritch horrors with the deep sea)

Meep Man2 votes

I feel like a good place (and this may sound like fan-boying but I actually feel this way) to look for how to implement an Eldritch Horror-like character into a game is World of Warcraft and their Old Gods. I've always felt LoL and WoW had somewhat similar art styles (and for a reason as well), furhter showing that the Old Gods are good inspiration for Eldritch beings. C'Thun, Yogg, and N'Zoth are all really well implemented Eldritch beings that solve most of the listed issues above.

  1. While it would be impossible to implement an Eldritch Horror into LoL's in-game world without it entirely being there (almost), this can be made a little similar in a way that the Eldritch Horror would have more global presence than other characters. In WoW, C'Thun, Yogg, and N'Zoth can whisper into the minds of creatures around them to corrupt them.

  2. This is not a problem. Aurelion Sol, basically god, is in the game. Power creep has never been higher and it would be ALMOST impossible to make someone more powerful than Aurelion Sol.

  3. As I said, the Old Gods in WoW are a good place to look for how to implement Eldritch monsters without affecting the rating. WoW is, if I recall, rated T, so C'Thun, Yogg, and N'Zoth are what is accepted Eldritch horror in a T-rated game.

Fasmodey1 votes

I think it is not a big deal to have a eldritch horror narrative wise. I mean, please, Xerath burnt mom and her baby FUCKING ALIVE. Nasus shattered the skull of a barbarian, cut 3 of them in half and rip the heart of another barbarian off. Jhin imagined to flay a woman's face completely for only to make it a mask. Vel'Koz has classic mad doctor themed quotes.

Those are serious shits for a T-rated game. Only problems are overstated torture and blood. That's why Jhin's first color text was declined. Eldritch Horrors can be brutal in lore, but not sure about their appearance. Even monsters we have are expectionally ordered looking. Vel'Koz is nowhere close to a disgusting look. He doesn't even look organic.

it would be ALMOST impossible to make someone more powerful than Aurelion Sol.

It is not even almost. It is quitely easy. Dark Star Thresh is obviously much more powerful than Aurelion Sol.

Meep Man1 votes

True enough I guess, although I would say Dark Star Thresh and Aurelion are about the same power level. To be simple, it would be stupid to make anyone more powerful than Aurelion since that would just make any lore almost meaningless.

Beyond Legends1 votes

WoW is an mmorpg and League is a Moba though. Just because their art style maybe similiar doesn't really mean they are the same. Beside you have you heard about the void lords?

Meep Man1 votes

Ok, I was more referring to the art style alone as far as Eldritch appearance affecting the game rating.

Beyond Legends1 votes

I think the problem with Eldritch is simple too hars to make in game. Wow gets away with old gods because you get to fight them in game or see their effect. Moba is far more restricting for designing entity that is alien to thd imagination. It's the reason why Aurellion sol was made a dragon.

EndGamer111 votes

Aurelion is not "basically god", he's just a dragon who has some celestial powers. Nagakaboros would be closer to "god".

The problem with implementing an eldritch horror into LoL is that they are supposed to be too horrible to imagine. The issue with making a champ this way is that if it has a 3D model in-game, then it becomes identifiable and not mysterious. Much like Cthun, Yogg, N'zoth, and Y'saarj, they usually end up just being a mess of tentacles, eyes, and mouths. We already have Vel'Koz, who has filled up the Tentacles and Eyes slot, so unless the champ's model is a blob of particle effects, he'll be intruding on Koz's look.

Personally, I am fine with the Void remaining more alien-y.

GreenLore3 votes

Well I'd say that calling Aurelion "just" a dragon is wrong as well. Aurelion is a powerful being that is as old as the universe itself,he only resembles a dragon(or more closer dragons resemble him),but he isn't related to them.

But yeah he is not a god.

PermabannedGaren2 votes

{quoted}

2.Eldritch horrors are usually extremely overpowering.Humans are pretty much nothing compared to them and their utter hopelesness against these beings is part of the horror,so it could be difficult to integrate eldritch horrors into the lore.

Aurelion Sol could literally destroy the entire setting of Runeterra and almost the rest of the champion roster with no effort. Huge disparities in power don't seem to bother Riot these days.

GreenLore1 votes

Yeah,but the thing is that Aurelion Sol isn't malicious. He doesn't want to destroy runeterra since he believes that he can find there a way to break free.

But a horrific malevolent eldritch monster? Why would that hesitate to destroy the world?why would that stop plunging entire nations into madness?

Rebonack2 votes

{quoted}

Yeah,but the thing is that Aurelion Sol isn't malicious. He doesn't want to destroy runeterra since he believes that he can find there a way to break free.

But a horrific malevolent eldritch monster? Why would that hesitate to destroy the world?why would that stop plunging entire nations into madness?

An eldritch creature typically isn't actively malevolent. They're simply going about their own ineffable business and if a few trillion lives are snuffed out in the process then oh well, can't make an omelette without a little omnicide after all.

Consider how humans relate to ants.

For the most part, humans don't even notice ants. They might even be nice to ants sometimes by intentionally avoiding stepping on one or throwing them a few crumbs. But the moment the existence of those ants come into conflict with human goals, the ants are annihilated without hesitation, mercy, or thought. Are humans malicious for destroying an ant colony in the process of building that new highway bypass? Not really. The ants are simply beneath their consideration.

Trying to pass off that sort of relationship would be pretty difficult in game. Though Riot might just totally ignore the power gap as they did with Sol. Personally, I feel characters of that sort are better off as components of the story only, not as playable characters in the game. It cheapens things.

CamilIe Toe2 votes

One of the many reasons i crave more Dark Star skins with a fitting VO. DS Thresh's VO comes pretty close to something i would call a "Eldritch Horror", only his body is too humanoid ( Rito pls more Dark Star skins).

Lines like "We are the death of hope.", "I am the herald of realitys end.", " "Not even gods dare look within." and "We shall hunt you to the ends of creation." are what is truly alien to us, we can hardly grasp concepts like these. Perhaps only percieve him (Giant, purple humanoid alien) because our minds simply cannot grasp his true form (Check this TV trope out).

I guess u dont want to go in the direction of Warhammer 40K ? I mean we allready have Graham McNeill so there would be the perfect Candidate to give us something like a C'tan or Chaos God. If we want to take baby steps and have a Champion that would fit in the power range of the others we can start with something like a Chaos Spawn (Im not sure if posting pictures would get me banned) or a Herald of the above named C'tan/Chaos God .

Oleandervine2 votes

The Dark Star skins are supposed to be Eldritch Horror.

Meep Man1 votes

A little bit of a stretch in my eyes, but they have similarities with Eldritch Horrors, yes.

Oleandervine1 votes

[{quoted}](name=Inept Maverick,realm=NA,application-id=6kFXY1kR,discussion-id=eA5wAsFU,comment-id=00070000,timestamp=2016-10-10T19:06:13.958+0000)

A little bit of a stretch in my eyes, but they have similarities with Eldritch Horrors, yes.

It's not a stretch. Rioters have confirmed that Eldritch space horror was the objective fantasy of the Dark Star skins.

Meep Man2 votes

Yeah, I can see it. Giant dark monsters that destroy planets and realities. That is very Eldritch like. However, it's still a skin and is limited in Eldritch appearance to the skeleton of the champion, so it isn't, as the thread title states, TRUE Eldritch Horror. The skins are great, definitely, but they are still restricted to their champion's skeleton.

Oleandervine1 votes

[{quoted}](name=Inept Maverick,realm=NA,application-id=6kFXY1kR,discussion-id=eA5wAsFU,comment-id=0007000000000000,timestamp=2016-10-10T23:06:39.339+0000)

Yeah, I can see it. Giant dark monsters that destroy planets and realities. That is very Eldritch like. However, it's still a skin and is limited in Eldritch appearance to the skeleton of the champion, so it isn't, as the thread title states, TRUE Eldritch Horror. The skins are great, definitely, but they are still restricted to their champion's skeleton.

Well, yes. However, I feel like the a lot of the Void creatures fit the eldritch horror a lot more than you give them credit for. Vel'Koz, definitely so. Cho'Gath could if he got a VGU. The kind of amorphous glob of teeth and limbs is typically what a lot of eldritch monsters look like, but from a design standpoint, they're a terrible idea. You can't readily make skins for such creatures, and psychologically and statistically speaking, people tend to prefer recognizable and mostly symmetrical character designs, so the creatures you suggest would be unpopular unless they had an absolutely bonkers kit. Hell, even Cho'Gath verges on unpopular, mainly because he is a mess of limbs.

Meep Man2 votes

Cho'Gath is unpopular because he is old and his kit is pretty clunky. Plus, Lovecraftian horror has a pretty decent following behind it, so I'm not sure the appearance of said creatures would impact their purchase rate. Skins would be difficult, you are correct, but that didn't stop Riot from releasing Zac.

Trolosaurus2 votes

Once again I dip into Dark Souls

http://darksouls.wiki.fextralife.com/file/Dark-Souls/Charge_manus.jpg

I'd love to see someone like Manus in League

Insanity Song1 votes

with a 4 hit combo too hyper aggressive fighter

Ruin Lance2 votes

having an eldritch champion isn't very fitting for league imo.

it's not very scary to play as an eldritch horror

TricolorStar1 votes

Although we don't have many Eldritch horror champions are the roster, we do have lots of Eldritch ones in general. Bard, Kindred, Illaoi's Nagakaborous, Aurelion Sol, and Yorick's Maiden of the Mist to name a few.

Meep Man1 votes

Eh, Bard, Kindred, and Aurelion Sol I wouldn't really consider Eldritch. While they are celestial beings, they aren't really sinister or evil. They are weird, correct, but they can be more closely tied to other genres of "god-like creatures" than Eldritch itself. The Maiden is honestly nearly the closest thing we have to something Eldritch along with Nautilus, but they are still from the Shadow Isles and can be explained as just a lump of souls. Truly Eldritch beings can commonly be looked at and you just think "What the HECK am I looking at here and why is it something I would see if I were in sleep paralysis?" The Maiden is nearly there, just not quite. Plus, it stems from Yorick, who is human. It's really hard to call something Eldritch when it can be very cleanly explained. especially if it is tied directly to something not very Eldritch at all. Nagakaborous is a really great example as an Eldritch BEING within the game, correct. It fits almost every bill to be considered Eldritch, but it being SO closely tied to Illaoi really dampens it's potential as something you would relate to Eldritch when you think of Eldritch.

PermabannedGaren1 votes

[{quoted}](name=Inept Maverick,realm=NA,application-id=6kFXY1kR,discussion-id=eA5wAsFU,comment-id=00000000,timestamp=2016-10-09T17:22:04.158+0000)

Eh, Bard, Kindred, and Aurelion Sol I wouldn't really consider Eldritch. While they are celestial beings, they aren't really sinister or evil.

Neither are most of Lovecraft's various Eldritch Horrors.

Azathoth, biggest Eldritch Horror in the setting, would destroy all of humanity and wouldn't even do them the honor of noticing they were there.

Though yes, League at the very least doesn't have a real Eldritch Horror as a champion as of yet.

Rebonack1 votes

{quoted}

Neither are most of Lovecraft's various Eldritch Horrors.

Azathoth, biggest Eldritch Horror in the setting, would destroy all of humanity and wouldn't even do them the honor of noticing they were there.

Though yes, League at the very least doesn't have a real Eldritch Horror as a champion as of yet.

Azathoth pretty explicitly can't notice anything. There's a reason it is called the Blind Idiot God.

Tesla Effect1 votes

We only saw a small amount of Void individuals being shown in Runeterra....we know nothing about what lies inside the Void itself.

Meep Man1 votes

If there are Eldritch monsters in the Void, good. But currently, none of those guys are in the game, which is what I am requesting.

The Whamboozler1 votes

I love me some lovecraft plenty... and I would be totally fine with eldritch horrors in the game.

EXCEPT... they will quickly become less scary once they're understood. Once they're statted, they're not scary. It's hard to take this cosmic being that sits apart from time seriously when some new player is using it and feeding a Teemo while they rage in chat about it.

More eldritch horrors in the STORY? Sure. A playable one? Nah. Illaoi is a good idea for this. An agent of some unspeakable thing. They kinda dropped the ball with her (She summons tentacles for god's sake! Why isn't she more of a lovecraft reference!?) but the idea is good. A deranged cultist or a hideous monster who speaks of bigger, scarier, unknowable "things" that they serve. Malzahar was a good example of this too, except that the void is basically alien bug world and kinda understood now... so.... yeah.

But yeah, I agree with you for the most part OP, but that kinda shit needs to be handled smartly, not just thrown into the ring as a pile of mismatches parts and called a champion. That would ruin it.

Meep Man2 votes

Yeah, if it is too be a champion, it would need a huge lore build-up and careful implementation. Kind of what they are doing with the Void right now where it is kind of popping up a little bit in almost every new little piece of lore as of late (Shurima, Mount Targon, etc.).

BobaFlautist1 votes

Idea: make a Malzahar equivalent for an old god. Malzahar was a human prophet who stared too long into the void, now he's an insane, twisted shell of a man that spreads corruption and brings unfathomable horror to all he targets (his e and ult are basically "Show them the horror of the beyond and they take damage because they can't handle it).

In fact, he's already pretty damn close. But basically, don't try to make an Eldritch horror into a champion, make a man or woman that strayed to close to one I to s champion. This also helps maintain the scale, an ordinary human that has been infected with madness and corruption of the eldritch being able to go toe-to-toe with physical gods really gives you a sense of just what that horro rmight be.

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