Ekko Speculation
WARNING!! WALL OF TEXT AND MASSIVE SPECULATION APPROACHING!! PROCEED WITH CAUTION!!
With the "Seconds" trailer and Champion Reveal page up, there's been a nice number of posts about possibilities with Ekko's lore. I've glanced through some of them, and they're pretty cool. However, I'm not here to talk about his possible relations to Vi and Jinx. I've noticed several things that have led me to speculate that Ekko had some form of relationship with Riven, whether in passing or whatever. It's crazy. I know. Some kid from Zaun somehow knew the poster-child of Noxus. I do have my reasons, though.
1) Character Design Yes, it's a flimsy comparison, but just hear me out. Two noticeable features about Ekko are his hair and face paint. He would be the eighth character to have white hair, who isn't old. But the fact is, his hair is dyed. It's possible that it's naturally white, but considering his biology and where he lives, that's highly unlikely. Not to mention, it's a pure white. Out of the current seven white-haired champions, only two have "pure" white hair, Ashe and Riven. I'm automatically ruling out Ashe because she's from the Freljord, which leaves Riven. While there's nothing saying her hair is naturally white, doesn't it seem odd that her hair is pure white? And she's from Noxus? Maybe it is natural, maybe it isn't. It's worth noting.
Ekko's face paint is a much simpler matter. Face tattoos aren't new (Vi, Ezreal, etc.) but face paint is not the same as a tattoo. Both the splash art and "Seconds" trailer show that the white markings on his face are a form of paint, based on the streaks at the edges of the painted area. And (surprise, surprise!) who's the only other character with white face paint? Exactly. Did he come up with the idea on his own? Or did a friend/teacher inspire him?
2) Animations This is what first led me to my current speculation. Upon watching his passive video, there was something strangely familiar about his gait. I watched it several times over before I realized why: his gait is similar to Riven's. I had to watch several Youtube videos to make sure (I was too lazy to check in game/ I don't have all the champions to cross-reference my speculations. Sue me.), but I couldn't shake that familiar feeling. His strides are long, with a sort of hopping motion in them. Sword-wielders are common in league, but each has their own walk. Leona glides across the ground with short quick steps, refrainnig from bobbing so her shield arm doesn't get tired. Yasuo has a dashing-like stance, narrow and leaning. Diana has a very proud running stance, upright and regal, with long strides. Ekko is slightly hunched, ready to strike at a moment's notice, with long, hopping strides, much like our Exile.
Another thing to note is how he attacks with his sword. With the sword being a fairly versatile weapon, there are many ways to strike with it. I could go through all the different ways that I've seen champions strike, but it'd take too long. To get to the point, In the passive video, there are two attack animations that bear striking resemblance to Riven's, the first and third strike. The first one is a cleave, well known among everyone. But the way it is done is what is in question. One-handed. Few people perform such a powerful strike with one hand. It takes from the overall power and accuracy of such an attack, Riven is the only other character to strike like that. Strange that he would do that, especially since the natural inclination is to cleave with two hands. The final strike, a slash is done slightly different from Riven's but the way he turns his shoulders is vaguely similar to Riven's. It's a follow-through motion that varies from person to person, but watching the sword's arc is key. It goes almost the same distance as Riven's slash, albeit much faster.
To summarize, Ekko learned the sword from someone, meaning that he would naturally pick up some intricacies from his teacher. Despite the majority differences, there are slight details that are similar to Riven's, beyond the average "they both wield swords" argument. Riot has been one to place minor details for us to pick up. That's how speculation about LeBlanc impersonating Jarvan. If the minor details are right, it is certainly possible that Riven may have taught Ekko how to use the sword.
3) Lore For a moment, put aside the fact that his lore has been bare bones at this point. Let's break it down. Ekko is from Zaun, a not-very-respectable city-state known for horrible experiments and relations to Noxus, among other things. In the "Seconds" trailer, he is being attacked by a hit-man for reason "xyz". From background details, we know that there was someone important to him that died, and he now has a memorial to said friend, or possibly friends (which could include Jinx). From the fight itself, we know Ekko is tenacious and dedicated, starting time again and again to ensure that he wins. He even restarts again when he failed to win with the memorial intact. Also, he's intelligent, and he also built, or helped build, the Z-drive that he now carries
Now, here's my interpretation on all of those facts. One, Ekko is not a natural fighter. He has some skill, but he gets consistently hurt. That means, to me, that he is new with the sword and learned it from someone AFTER his friend was killed. If it was anytime before then, his friend would probably still be alive because he could have defended him. Or very possibly, Ekko might be dead in his attempt to save his friend.
Two, since he's from Zaun, I'm guessing the reason his friend died is because he and Ekko worked on the Z-drive together. Someone got jealous and decided to take their work from them, thus resulting in the untimely death of Ekko's friend. And, with Zaun being prime territory for experiments not going to plan, Ekko tries to use the Z-drive to bring back his friend, and ends up being unsuccessful because of how the Z-drive ended up working.
Lastly, his ideals. From his dialogue in the trailer, Ekko seems to have a firm grasp on what he believes and why. Time is not to be abused, because you'll only end up hurting yourself in the process. This stems, obviously from his friend and the events surrounding his death. His tacit ideal of being tenacious is obvious. Broken jaw? Restart. Broken ribs? Ignore it and restart. Broken arm? Restart and fight one-handed! Broken memorial? Face the pain one last time. It takes a certain breed of person to willingly expose themselves to that much pain and danger, even if you're fighting for someone/something.
How does that tie back to Riven? Let me tell you in a proposed Lore: Ekko and his friend work on a device known as the Z-drive, a device that can rewind time. Some famous Zaun researcher wants to get his hand on the Z-drive and kills them in an attempt to get it. Ekko escapes, but his friend doesn't. Once he's safe, for the moment, he tries to use the Z-drive to get back his friend. It doesn't work as he is only rewound to the moment he activated the drive. Distraught and on the run, Ekko runs into a snowy haired swordswoman whom seems the hidden strength in Ekko and defends him from his pursuers. The woman happens to be Riven, and she teaches Ekko how to wield a sword and defend himself. Along the way, her personality rubs off on him, strengthening the tenacity and resolve he already has. In time, Riven has to leave, and the "Seconds" trailer is his first significant fight without her to guide him.
Conclusion These speculations have led me to think that, just maybe, Riven and Ekko have some history together. And I didn't even go into how they're both from "bad" city-states that stand up for good. Yes, a lot of this could be sheer happenstance and speculation. I just thought it'd be cool to point out things I've noticed and how they relate to another champion, whose Lore I happen to really like.
TL;DR, Riven inspired Ekko to be the person he is, both in combat and ideals... maybe even fashion.
