So with Eyedol’s release approaching and the new mode Shadow Lords marking the end of Season 3, many can assume that this will be the last season of content and characters the KI community will ever see. However, there is a chance that we could see another season in the far future, and judging by both the discussions about the Community Survey results and the small hints given by the KI novella. Before I continue though, I just want to clarify that everything I’m talking about is just theory and speculation, and as of now, is not confirmed by the devs.
Although the entirety of the Community Survey can be viewed as very important for the future of KI, the part that really stuck out to me was the question regarding which characters the community wanted the most. From what I could remember, the list of characters included Eyedol, Eagle, Jonah Dark, a brute from the Halo franchise, one of the nameless agents from Crackdown, a wendigo, a djinn, an archer, and a Lovecraftian monster. Personally, the Lovecraftian monster was my #1 choose among the characters, but it was more than apparent that Eyedol was the most voted choice by a landslide. However, IG then when on to reveal that the last character of S3 is actually Eyedol. With this in mind, it became apparent to me that, since Eyedol has already been made, it can be assumed that the 2# ranked among the most wanted characters is now 1#. I even went as far as to mention this to one of the devs, in which he had this to say: https://twitter.com/Kranged/status/754703739009761281
With this, I came into the conclusion that IG is still planning for new content for the future of the game. Whether they decide to make a brand new season all together, or begin adding monthly content to the game, we can get a good idea of the characters the devs may add in the future by looking at the Community Survey. In this thread, I will be going over the highest voted characters in the survey and talk about their potential lore and move sets, as well as how they could fit into the KI universe.
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Eagle
Eagle has been a character discussed a lot in the forums, and debated on as to whether or not he’ll become a fully fledged playable character in the game. Originally, I thought that Eagle’s brain was transported into Fulgore, but with the information given by the KI novella, is appears that Eagle is very much alive. However, he was being contained by Ultratech until Glacius infiltrated and broke him out. If Eagle were to become a playable character, I can assume that his move set would be a hybrid between Thunder and Fulgore’s move sets, in which Eagle would have Thunder’s hard hitting attacks and Fulgore’s zoning capabilities. other than that, I can really say much about Eagle until we see more of him in action, as well as what he’s capable of doing during a fight. -
Gameplay Ideas
-To make him stand out from the rest of the cast, perhaps Eagle could be a cyborg who combines human strength (Thunder) with advanced weaponry (Fulgore). Although ARIA had Eagle captured to utilize his brain wave patterns as a base for the AI system of the Fulgore Mk. III units, she could have also had Fulgore technology implemented into Eagle’s body with the motive of transforming him into Ultratech’s strongest fighter.
-Although he could have Fulgore technology inside of him, Eagle would probably use it in a much more unique manner. As a start, he could fire a plasma projectile that’ll pretty much be like Thunder’s Phoenix projectile from the first KI. Eagle’s projectile could be very slow, even slower than Jago’s Endoduken, but Eagle could use the slowness of this projectile as a way to juggle the opponent in the air for a longer combo or a recapture. Eagle could even fire the projectile, run past it to grab the opponent, and throw the opponent into the projectile.
-Eagle could have a fighting style similar to his brother Thunder, but will have some notable differences. While Thunder masters in grappling, Eagle could be more of a speedy glass cannon, good at being aggressive but has a poor defence. His punches and jabs are very fast, and he could be capable of canceling his combo by rolling back, in which he can either dash back in towards his opponent or start zoning them out. Eagle’s combo cancel ability could be good at throwing the opponent off. -
Wendigo
Appearing only in the KI novella so far, the Wendigos are undead, cannibalistic spirits that act as servants and cannon fodder for The Coven, the clan of vampires Mira serves. After doing some research on Wendigo physiology, I can imagine a playable Wendigo to be like Riptor, but with ice/frost powers like Glacius. Having enhanced agility, endurance, speed, strength, and senses, I can imagine a Wendigo being a rushdown character. However, since Wendigos are also spirits of the Winter, the North, coldness, famine and starvation, I can imagine a Wendigo having powers and abilities relating to frost, coldness, and starvation. Perhaps the Wendigo can be a character that works around buffs and debuffs, in which it can buff itself and apply debuffs to the opponent. For example: the Wendigo could have an ability where it surrounds itself with a flurry of frigid air that cause the opponent take small but recoverable damage from attacking it. -
Gameplay Ideas
-The Wendigo could be a rushdown character similar to Riptor and/or Saburewulf, but has poor damage output. To make up for this though, the Wendigo could rely on buffs and debuffs as well as a number of other special attacks. He could have two buffs, with the first being a flurry of frigid air the Wendigo surrounds itself with, in which the opponent can take small but recoverable damage from if they attack it. The second could be a buff that allows the Wendigo to apply “Frost Burn” to the opponent which causes them to slowly gain potential damage when they’re not attacking the Wendigo. While the first buff only lasts for about a few seconds and only harm the opponent if they hit the Wendigo, the second buff can be destroyed if the opponent hits the Wendigo. It can only have one buff at a time, and both buffs require shadow meter.
-The Wendigo could be a character that puts the opponent in a situation where they only way they can survive is by being aggressive and preventing the Wendigo from using his two buffs. However, the Wendigo could have other tools it could utilize other special attacks, like a lunging pounce, frost breath and frost projectiles that slow the opponent’s movement speed (but don’t affect their attack speed), charging attacks, and maybe even a rapid biting attacks that acts a linker.
-In instinct, the Wendigo could have both of it’s buffs applied to it, in which both last until he runs out of instinct. It could also gain a special ability that debuffs the opponent, giving them a “Starvation” effects that begins to slowly drain away the opponent’s shadow meter and instinct. Although the Wendigo doesn’t gain any meter or instinct from this, the debuff is capable of completely draining the opponent’s shadow meter and instinct meter. However,the opponent can get rid of this debuff by attacking the Wendigo, causing the Starvation effect to gradually decrease until it completely vanishes. -
Lovecraftian Monster
Now this is where things get really interesting. Unlike the other characters listed on the survey, IG could go any direction they want to with developing an original lovecraftian monster. Typically, many monsters created for the lovecraftian genre are eldritch abominations, beings whose very existence defies the rules of nature and/or existence. They wield god-like powers and are, for the most part, not bound by the laws of the universe. Their true form can not be grasped by mortal beings, and may be interpreted differently by different individuals/species, others create a collective delusion of their form. These interpretations can range from the unusual, to the awe-inspiring, to the mind-shatteringly terrifying. If IG were to create their own lovecraftian horror, they could give it a very cool and freaky move set. Perhaps they could make it a zoner who can warp the very fabric of reality and induce madness onto the opponent. As for it’s lore, perhaps it was a powerful and ancient being who originated from the Astral Plane (and maybe even created it) but due to Gargos and his army opening portals to invade the physical realm, imperfections begun to arise in the Astral Plane, warping and contorting it. Being awoken by these imperfections, the lovecraftian monster would then seek out the imperfections to purge them, in which the source of the imperfections are coming from the great battle between Earth and Gargos. -
Djinn
Djinns are supernatural creatures in Arab folklore and Islamic mythology that occupy a world parallel to that of mankind. Being extremely magical beings that can manipulate magic on a large scale, Djinns are capable of controlling elements, granting wishes, shape-shifting, and perform all sorts of magical feats. I can imagine a djinn being a trickster character like Spinal, but could manipulate magic at a degree higher than even that of Kan-Ra. It could manipulate elements, teleport itself or the opponent around, perform immense magical abilities to confuse and trick the opponent, and utilize it’s shape shifting ability. And idea I had for the djinn was that it could perform an attack that allows it to steal a special ability from the opponent, in which the djinn can only steal up to three special moves. The djinn could then shape-shift into the opponent and use those special moves. As for his lore, maybe he could be a mischievous trickster who’s searching for his stolen receptacle, since anyone who holds the receptacle will have command over the djinn. -
Magic Archer
Although a bit straight forward in my opinion, this character could be a skilled archer who can incorporate magical enhancements into his skills. I can imagine this character being similar to that of Green Arrow from Injustice, except instead of technology, he/she could enhance their arrows with magical properties, like an arrow that could recapture the opponent, or an arrow that can apply a poison or slow debuff. As for his lore, he/she could be either an ally of an existing character or group, or a rogue who seeks to accomplish some kind of goal or vengeance.
I should also note that Im aware that a Season 4 hasn’t been announced and may not be announced, but I just wanted to talk about the characters that received the highest votes on the Community Survey. I hope you’ve enjoyed this and please comment below! It took me ages to write this and now i’m really hungry. Better make a peanut butter and fluff sandwich