Del Toro and Steve Irwin had such a profound impact on my taste in aesthetics and my love for freaks.

I love all monsters, I love it when something abstract is represented in mishapen forms. I love folklore creatures and their many mutations from word of mouth. I love ghosts that look like they kept the damage that killed them and wrapped themselves in it. I love nameless things from beneath the Earth or from unknown outer spheres.

People were always afraid of me because I don't really know how to talk to people, and whenever I pretended to be like those loud and happy kids it was always painfully obvious and just unsettled people. I love wearing big boots, but the stomping and jangling of my house keys gave people anxiety. I love reading those CIA profiling guides and using what I learned while playing with tarot cards to "see" people, but it freaks most people out.

Monsters make me feel better, they make me feel like I'm actually cool in a different way and whatever fear follows me is a normal response. There's nothing wrong with me and nothing wrong with people who don't like me, this is just who I am.

Humbug has been teased on the most recent New York map, and I've learned a lot about his character since I found him. He's got ties to Black Cat, Savage Land, The Brood, Heros For Hire, and he was one of Spidey's villains for a bit before he went a little insane.

While not a true monster, he does have ties to monsterous insect creatures which might be amped up if the ever introduce Annihilus as a seasonal villain.

Who *is* more of a monster though would be Kindred, an undead version of Harry Osborne. I'm not the biggest fan of his identity or his role in the narrative, I think Harry has more potential in other areas, but I absolutely love his design and powers as Kindred.

I know bugs aren't for everybody, but I'd love a swarming character added to Rivals. I think if they somehow combine aspects of Kindred into Humbug and screw with the anatomy a bit, he'd be a sick ass character in any role.

Art by @DogaKaraalp on Twitter!

Groot has some really fun pootential to have the most non-human looking humanoid skins, I think Rivals should try out a mushroom freak aesthetic for him!

I think it'll be a cool contrast to character too, with him being this nature elemental that usually stands out as a creature of abundant, vibrant life and then flip that to make him an avatar of stagnation and predatory decay. As a mushroom, there's still that disarming and gentle element, but with a gloomy vibe like you're only safe because you're not a dead thing he can eat.

Now that Dino's in the game, people are looking at huge characters that could be playable. Weaver's already fully modeled on the Island maps, it would be sick as hell to have him on the roster AND he already has motives to join the biggee fight.

With the release of DD who ignited interest in non-human characters along the ongoing debates surrounding ethical gooning to our newest Dino Vanguard there has been rising concerns in regards to hero roster lacking diversity and giving priority to certain characters over the less appealing cast.

Heroes Variety

Currently we have 50 characters with only 6 of them being considered as ungoonable. While we can acknowledge attractive women being crucial for game's finacial performance there is still space for characters who can appeal to many people without a need for big boobs and butt.

After all; we do get up to 12 heroes each year currently.

Before DD came out, there were 3 sexy women released back to back. Fitting someone like Man-thing, Man wolf, Hive or Shou Lao would bring a much needed space between sexy women and cool men while also delivering much more diverse roster.

Additionaly should Devs focus on making skins which alter the character?

By that I am refeering to skins like Lady Loki and Capwolf which drastically change the character model.

Does the idea of turning your main into a furry alternative variant sound appealing?

With the release of DD who ignited interest in non-human characters along the ongoing debates surrounding ethical gooning to our newest Dino Vanguard there has been rising concerns in regards to hero roster lacking diversity and giving priority to certain characters over the less appealing cast.

Heroes Variety

Currently we have 50 characters with only 6 of them being considered as ungoonable. While we can acknowledge attractive women being crucial for game's finacial performance there is still space for characters who can appeal to many people without a need for big boobs and butt.

After all; we do get up to 12 heroes each year currently.

Before DD came out, there were 3 sexy women released back to back. Fitting someone like Man-thing, Man wolf, Hive or Shou Lao would bring a much needed space between sexy women and cool men while also delivering much more diverse roster.

Additionaly should Devs focus on making skins which drastically alter the character?

By that I am refeering to skins like Lady Loki and Capwolf which drastically change the character model.

Does the idea of turning your main into a furry alternative variant sound appealing?

PS: The artist behind the bp art nuked his Twitter account so I can't give a link to his art.

So the story for this guy is he's an eldritch entity affiliated with a group of psychic energy feasters called the "Fear Lords."

His whole "Scarecrow" thing is actually just his preferred avatar, he creates scarecrows by manipulating plant life in his area of influence.

The scarecrows aren't his body, if they're ever destroyed he just goes back inside of a painting which acts as a little pocket dimension and is the source of any funky stuff that happens in the area related to weird plant stuff and bad dreams.

His powers include controlling plant life, summoning crows, possesion, and other psychic abilities which I think if it were ever adapted to Rivals they would be amped up into Evil Dead looking demon powers.

This is the universe where monsters and gods are going on an all out war. Elsa Bloodstone's lore was the coolest look into how this universe "looks" right now, there's gotta be some freaks in there I wanna see.

Here's hoping the next map and lore hints at someone or something from Marvel's horror themed side.

Art by @PanelPerDay on Twitter!

I keep thinking back to Moon Knight's Lunar General skin and how sick it would be to have a flaming decapitated Dullahan skin for Angela.

I've been hearing from the community that The Hood's power in Rivals doesn't come from Dormammu, but from Oblivion. This has some really interesting implications for future maps, relevant characters, and character relationships. But the definitely elevates him from a Doctor Strange/Spider-Man villain and puts him in a much higher league.

His aesthetics might change drastically from the comics too. Instead of his usual flaming, body horror looks, he'll be more shadowy and abstract.

A whole living city of monsters is just too cool to leave in the comics. Here's hoping they do a short Infernal Hulk arc in a later season!

I feel like the game needs to reference Wanda's villains and story more often, I need to see Cthon sooner or later!

Recently we had some more leaked voicelines come out related to Gorr, and this got me thinking about a potential mono-thematic season.

Gorr is similar to The Hood in the respect that they are both ruthlessly ambitious with a deep hatred for heros, or idolized figures. Gorr and The Hood both have ties to Oblivion in their Rivals varients.

I could definitely see them showing up during the events in Kun Lun in an attempt to grasp more power or kill yet another "god" respectively.

If Rivals wanted to do a season themed around ambition, these would be the characters I would pick.

Moridun is a really special character to me, his whole aesthetic and dynamics with Strange, Wanda, and Wiccan is so much fun. I really hope he gets featured one day, but for now here's a concept kit I made for him!

Moridun

Strategist (Summoner / Controller)

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Moridun places Ritual Totems/Obelisks

Each Ritual Totem can be upgraded to change its function:

Ritual Upgrade Paths

Veritas Atrox — boosts Moridun’s damage and empowers offensive minions.

Vita Peruersum — boosts healing and empowers support minions.

Pandemonium — enhances crowd control and debuffs enemies.

Only one Ritual Totem may be active at a time. Recasting replaces the old one. Upgrade paths reset either upon death or within upgrade menu, both retain XP gained.

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Primary Fire - Eldritch Bolt

Damage: 40 flat per hit

Range: 10 - 15 meters

Explosion Range: 3 meters

Effect: Applies 1 stack of "Warped Mark" with each bolt

Description:

Moridun casts homing bolts of mystic flame that explode on impact for 40 damage and deal bonus 30 damage to fully marked enemies, kinda like Phoenix but with slow moving auto tracking projectiles and much slower rate of fire.

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Secondary Fire - Healing Whispers

Effect: Cast a stream of healing energy towards an ally

Range: 15 meters

Healing output: percent based - 10% healing per second

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Ability 1 — Eldritch Ritual Totem

Cooldown: 14s

Health: 350

Radius: 10m

Base Effect: Places a Ritual Circle that periodically pulses eldritch energy which heals teammates and grants debuffs on enemies.

Upgrade Options (press Ability 1 again while near the Totem)

- Veritas Atrox

- Summons have increased health and damage effects

- Circle pulses apply a stacking Weakness and Anti-heal debuff

- Vita Peruesum

- Allies inside gain 15% healing received, since it's percent based this will be where most of his big heals come from.

- Summons have increased healing effects

- Pandemonium

- Circle pulses apply Blindness and Slowed

- Summons apply Grounded and Slowed upon death

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Ability 2 — Summon Servitors

Depending on which ritual path is chosen, this ability will automatically summon creatures that with either heal, harm, or disrupt.

Veritas Atrox: Summon two large beasts with 275 HP each who will guard Moridun or attack at a pinged location. Upon death, they burst with energy that heals teammates for 100 HP and damages enemies for 50 HP.

Vita Pereusum: Summon two middling 175 HP fiends that swiftly seek out injured teammates and summon a 100 health ground shield/barrier at their feet, and slash at enemies with claws that deal 20 damage and heal 15 HP per hit in a 5 meter radius. Upon death, their total combined health is granted as Overshield for Moridun.

Pandemonium: Summon 3 small floating polyps with 100 HP each that cast streams of energy towards a single enemy each which cause illusions that gradually strengthen over time. The first few seconds, players will not have visual or auditory warnings of low health and illusory characters will appear once in a while on screen. At 20 seconds the player hud will be disabled and the enemy will have Warp Mark applied. 40 seconds and longer, the enemy will have Blinded effects, inconsistent audio with Moridun whispering quietly, and random attack inputs. Upon death, the polyps explode for 15 damage and leave behind healing blood.

Cooldown starts at 15 seconds upon death of all Summons.

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Ability 3 — Master Of Life

Cooldown: 40s if possesed enemy, 25 seconds if only used to escape

Duration: 8s invisibility + invulnerability

Possession Duration: Up to 8s

Effects:

- Moridun becomes invisible and invulnerable.

- During this state, he may possess an enemy by touching them.

- While possessing: Moridun CANNOT use Ultimate abilities but otherwise has total control over the enemy.

After possession ends:

- Enemy movement is slowed by 10%

- Their abilities are all on cooldown

- Full stack of Warp Mark

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Ultimate — Collapse

Duration: 7s

Description: Moridun summons a lesser Many Angled One through a circular portal. All enemies within line of sight of the portal suffer these effects.

Cooldown Scramble:

- All enemies in the area have their cooldowns randomized between +20% and +30% longer.

- Enemies gain stacking debuffs:

- Multiple illusionary characters on screen

- Reduced ability accuracy

- Occasional involuntary ability misfires (1 random ability triggers a 0‑damage “fizzle”)

Collapse Pulse:

Every second, a pulse erupts for 60 damage.

- Applies Warped Mark to all enemies hit

Final Collapse: A massive implosion pulls enemies inward and resets one random Ultimate ability on a single enemy to 50% charge.

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Passives

Life Is Horror: Allied summons (Namor Squids, Magik Demons, Ultron Drones, Spider Bots, etc) apply Warp Mark.