Character Concept: The Stepford Cuckoos AKA Five-in-One
Stepford Cuckoos in Marvel Rivals
Stepford Cuckoos in the New X-Men
Stepford Cuckoos Mind Blasting Quentin Quire
Stepford Sisters Three in One using Diamond Form
Stepford Cuckoos Hellfire Gala
The Stepford Cuckoos are a set of mutant Quintuplet clones that were developed using Emma Frost's DNA, by the Weapon Plus program. They are a psychic/telepathic Hivemind who have utilized their psychic powers to support their allies, shut down and investigate information out of the minds of enemies(and even their allies in their own catty way), and additionally, share the same diamond shifting ability that Emma Frost also has when they need to go on the defense(the difference being that their diamond form is considered 'Flawless' compared to their mother's but not utilized nearly as much as dear Mum has).
TLDR: The Stepford Cuckoos could function as a supportive team of telepathic healers while playing with their enemies minds by debuffing them and revealing tactical information for their team, while offering telepathic support to their allies and a flawless defense for themselves to get out of the unforseen chaos of battle.
I would love to see the Stepford Cuckoos in the game as playable characters, and it would be interesting to see them function in the game and their first real playable experience in any game.
I think they could have a great supportive kit, potentially. Especially since they're usually a supporting cast in the books they're in, for the most part, but have proven many a time to hold their own ground.
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Appearance and Skins:
With them being the Five in One in the MR universe, the way I could see them working out on the battlefield is One of them is physically present, while an Astral form of the others appears behind them, similar to the Phoenix appearing behind Jean in the Game, symbolizing their assistance to one another on the Psychic plane as a Hive Mind.
The supportive Astral sisters would be a semi transparent Blue or Pink in form, and could appear as four transparent floating heads wearing Cerebra behind the main playable body. Each would be wearing a Cerebra, as to not have to distinguish which is which, for an easier semi-semetrical design for the Character model for development, and this will be utilized in their abilities that I conceptualized(written below).
The default and initial recolor release skins could be the outfit(s) we see in their original models from the Collector's map(or an updated and better stylized version of them), offering the player a way to swap out the character's hair in the Cosmetics tab for these specific skins, all named after each of the Sisters. This could be something we see in just some of their skins, where the outfits remains similar, while their hair could be swapped out, much like in their Revolution X when the One in Three had different hair colors and styles while wearing the same school/X-men uniform. Alternatively, they have the same hair for most of their skins as they're for-the-most-part, usually identical in design throughout the last few decades.
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Abilities/Kit:
The Stepford Cuckoos are notoriously known for being utilized as a set of controlling and investigative characters, utilizing their Hive Mind to influence other people, dig for information secretly, and share that information with their team strategically. Their Kit would focus on that theme.
(These are just ideas I'm literally shooting out of my head while I enjoy my cup of coffee this morning; it's not fully developed)
Primary Fire/Normal Attack: Telepathic Pulse
The Stepford Cuckoos primary fire will be a telepathic spray, similar to Emma Frost's, causing damage to enemies and healing allies.
Right Click: Impotent Blast
The Stepford Cuckoos fire an explosive psychic missile that deals damage to enemies hit and causes the enemies abilities to go on cooldown for 2 seconds, or extend their current cooldowns by an additional 2 seconds.
E : Hive Mind
For this ability, this allows the Stepford Cuckoos to attach one of the Cerebra floating heads(meantioned in the design above) to their allies and/or enemies, to help or harm whomever their minds are linked to. Only one Cerebra can be attached to an enemy or ally at a time, and you only have a maximum of four, representing each of the other sisters. If an ally or enemy leaves line of sight of the player/main body, the Astral heads last for only up to four seconds.
- Psychic Support - While attached to an ally, they receive healing over time and a very small Ultimate Ability increase charge buff when dealing damage to enemies.
- Invasive Assault - While attached to an enemy, the enemy receives a debuff that reduces the amount of healing they can recieve, revealing them to your team, even if they go invisible but are still within line of sight, and reveals the status of their Ultimate Energy meter. If an enemy is purified, it removes this ability prematurely.
Shift: Flawless Defense
The Stepford Cuckoos have the ability to transform into a diamond like Emma, but theirs is considered 'flawless' compared to hers and don't often utlize it unless they're in a vulnerable state.
When activated, the original body goes into a defensive mode, transforming into a flawless diamond form for a short time, healing the player a small amount over time. This causes the Cerebra astral heads to dissapear and end any effects of them attached to any allies or enemies. The player becomes invincible and immune to crowd control effects for up to three seconds, and can be reactivated to end early. The player cannot access any other abilities while in this form, representing the telepathic restrictions the Cuckoos have while in their diamond form.
Ultimate Ability : Cerebral Sisterhood
Reminiscent of the fight between them and Quentin Quire(pictured above, with a twist), the four Cerebra astral heads return to the player(if any are attached to any allies/enemies), and form into full astral bodies of the other sisters, standing behind the main body. All five of them firing a wide instantaneous psychic blast that deals damage and reduces Ultimate Ability energy by 25 percent onto enemies, while healing and increasing Ultimate Ability energy by 25 percent onto allies, that are within range of the blast.
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Team-Ups:
- Emma Frost: Emma Frost gains a +100 increase to her maximim health while teaming up with the Stepforf Cuckoos. Additionally, when Emma hits an enemy with her Psychic Spear, the Stepford Cuckoos can also damage the Sentience shard that's created by it.
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Dialogue:
The Stepford Cuckoos/Five-in-One are known for being cantankerously catty and sarcastic, taking advantage of people not knowing which of them is which, reading others' minds without any consent, or causing people to forget their names or inflict other psychic issues when someone is hitting on them. The dialogue they share with their allies could be them revealing sentimental, traumatic, or secretive memories and thoughts that the other player's characters may have and discussing it in a condescendinigly revealing tone. It could also consist of people trying to compare them Emma, or Emma talking to them, and them either stating things that are supportive of their "Mum" or being condescending towards her like rebellious daughters. They also heavily dislike Jean Grey for the formiddable psychic she is, and we could see that mentioned.
Also: They could have dialogue wondering why Emma loves Jeff, and after Jeff responds to them, maybe their response inevitably leads to them finding him just as adorable too, but that's just a specific one I want if they ever existed as players haha!
