Riot refuses to rework Cassiopeia... so I did it for them

it's no secret reworks in League of Legends have become about as common as Modern Marvel movies not being a complete waste of time in a world where every new Champion is released with incredibly polished animations High detailed textures and an expansive repertoire of voice lines huh why is that armored guy smell like Dragon it only calls to attention just how deserted half the roster has become and unfortunately with the current road map it's a situation that's unlikely to ever change Riot is never going to boost production on visual updates compared to just making new Champions because they are much more expensive to make risk alienating their original player base and never see as much immediate financial gain there is no profit because as we all know visually updating champions of the modern era has never boosted their popularity in the long term certainly never providing them with new opportunities to be us in grandiose new ways and earn profit far beyond anything their pre-rework forms could have ever possibly imagined that would be crazy as players we just have to kind of accept that the age of reworks is over for the foreseeable future we're getting only one maybe two full VG us a year while Asus suffer a similar fate and become hard lucked to only the most popular Champions with an already ludicrous number of skins we have to accept that our beloved fossils will never see the joys of the modern era and are being left to rot [Music] forever but what if you could change all that all righty then and so Begins the most ambitious and frankly expensive video I've ever produced cuz I got to thinking one day if Riot doesn't want to update these Champions fine I'll do it myself and so our Story begins with probably the worst kept secret ever I decided to take a task upon myself to redesign one of League's oldest most forgotten and confusing Champions next time baby copia but why copia you may ask that is snake certainly there are other Champions more deserving of the vgu treatment much older and in more desperate need of that oo prestigious model glow up and you would be correct sir but art is a science and just like any great work of art it was born from a place of pure spontaneous inspiration and cocaine at the time of this video's release it will have been approaching a near full year since I started casual Champion review a remarkably low effort series of videos going through each champ champ in alphabetical order discussing their lore character design and thematic fantasy while demonstrating my Challenger level gameplay expertise eventually we arrived at lady copia with the main topic of the video revolving around how she is a character caught between two entirely different ideas she's described in Laur as a manipulative schemer a black rose operative who views others as nothing but pawns to further her own ends a swaave temptress well aware of her own Beauty and using it to her Advantage only enforced by the plethora of voice lines referencing itself so yet it is also also St that she was cursed and turned into a hideous Abomination one with a new form that utterly destroyed her previous life leaving nothing but a slithering monster craving her lost humanity and fighting back her new beastly instincts I don't know about you but looking at this current character model and those two design ideas um yeah I I I I don't really get any of those from this God of War NPC it's pretty apparent the temptress part of her character is what took priority though a pretty looking face curvy features with stylized and symmetrical garments this design is clearly going for appeal but I don't think it really commits to it going the Jan out of oh we got to make the character sexy i' stick her in a bikini it will'll be fine as for the monster side I don't think in any conceivable Universe this would convincingly pass for a snake monster who stuck their head a little too close to the pizza oven the biggest issue with copia as a character is that she's caught in the middle advertised as a horrible snake monster with a tragic backstory but at the same time was designed at a point in gaming history where dressing a female character in clothes in anything less revealing than slave Le was considered a cardinal sin what if we fixed that what if hypothetically Cass did get reworked not just giving her a new design but removing the confusion of her Storyline by honing in on just one of those two core character traits to me that sounded really exciting especially because if I tried to do this I'd have complete creative freedom aumu knockturn or any other highly requested Champions had already seen plenty of Fantastical and popular fan-made redesigns over the years some of them so amazed to get wound up Landing these artists jobs at Riot it would be near impossible to compete with that I mean I I tried anyway cuz you know I'm stupid but with Cass as far as I could tell it hadn't really been attempted yet as an amateur artist it was my time to shine all on my own I could create a cassieopia in bing what she was supposed to be to her fullest extent and so naturally I turned her into full-on fan service wait I haven't been possessed okay I made a Monster version as well in fact it was the first version I drew here's my initial sketch of monster copia focused more on the idea that the curse burned away all her Humanity with almost no human features left I thought it would make her horrible transformation more believable for someone said to have lost everything because of it admittedly though it is a very first draft design while it Incorporated many kinds of snake attributes and nods to nagaa the snake ascended which likely inspired the stone construct and cursed Cass in the first place I mean even in L her darken weapon card is tied to noxis I highly doubt that's a coincidence I just don't think I succeeded in making her truly monstrous I think it's my fascination with dinosaurs and reptiles that held me back didn't really make it truly monstrous which funnily enough a really awesome version of this exact concept surfaced a little bit after I posted my version and it's just so fantastically creepy a wonderful blend of snake and human attributes to create something truly terrifying I saw this well I had created a basic monster cast I drew monsters all the time I've been doing it since I was a little kid even if I didn't accomplish my exact goal on my first draft drawing a monster copia was very easy for me what would be less easy was taking the other route disregarding the tragic side of her story and leaning more into her character she is presented as not just in design but in personality a champion proud to display their striking good looks and using them as leverage over others as the central core of their fantasy Unapologetic fan service on purpose oh hey that's the name of the video concering my current standing in life and reputation on this platform it would prove to be a challenging experience by now most of you are well aware I'm not overly fond of the quote unquote sexy Champions but that's not entirely true silus kaisa yon these are champions I've talked about a lot on this channel ones that were designed with eye candy at the Forefront of their character design even though it completely clashes with who they're supposed to be as characters syus has been a prisoner since childhood chained up and sustained on nothing but the rats crawling throughout his cell what would that kind of character look like obviously the clothing of physique of a male stripper body types just like any other aspect of character design is a tool this is all to say there is a place for the hourglass figure and biceps on biceps body types in League champions like Evelyn are a pinnacle example it makes sense to give her a curvaceous form since her whole character is about luring in her prey through sexual charm on the other hand making a character sexy doesn't necessarily mean they have to be sexualized Samira despite being a bounty hunter wears makeup jewelry and dresses less than practically but it's because she's a show off she knows she's going to do her job well and is going to look great doing it all that being said how does this logic apply to my redesign of copia well again I'm an amateur artist an ace demon and a better rendition will pop up later in the video to truly explain my idea but tldr I wanted to lean further into the temptress side of her character one that proudly and even vainly displays her Dash and good looks for all to see but going this direction does clash with something her current lore so to make this work story-wise we had to rewrite a little bit most of it still the same though she's still had noxian Noble residing in the colonized sharan city of usaras she's still the lesser of the duto siblings being raised primarily by her mother she still got indoctrinated into the black rose at a very young age trained to be a manipulative schemer and use other people to further her own goals she still raided several sherean tombs with civer and ultimately attempted to raid the Tomb of the Forgotten and obtain the power of the ascended literally backstabbing civer and releasing zerth and Renekton by accident I will be free but then at this moment in time after her transformation is when we diverge quite drastically cuz I got to thinking how many times have we seen in fiction an evil villain journeying to acquire some magical or godly power only to be stopped by the hero or discover the power is far beyond their control resulting in their deformation if not Flatout demise what I propose is a somewhat contemporary idea because sometimes bad people aren't punished for doing bad things what if the villain of the story lied died and schemed and murdered all the way to get this incredible power and succeeded the bad guy wins is not an entirely new idea but it's one that I think fits this new version of Cass I have to break your neck who's to say the power of nagaa wasn't what she was after in the first place that by it being held within zarah's Eternal prison he had absorbed much of it leaving a fragment for copia to take for herself becoming not quite to the same level as some of the most powerful beings on R Tera but one that would certainly have noxus and it stream in territories under her thumb this is a copia that was only Amplified by her curse using her Newfound powers to spread her influence making her one of the new Top Dogs of the Black Rose order I like to imagine this is a copia who fully accepted her new form in fact she loves it cuz let's be honest the idea that noxians would be scared of a half snake person is laughable noxis doesn't care who you are where you come from or even what species you are if you are strong enough you are welcome in noxis and Cass is certain ly strong while she had influence before now it's only been magnified a manipulative schemer Vain and greedy with the utmost confidence in her position to rule over other people to the benefit of herself and yes she still shares similar interests with the black rose and isn't looking to be the new head Lord of noxus or anything but as the easily youngest of the main four black rose Champions we have she isn't interested in the long term while LeBlanc sees wealth as a distraction it is a symbol of power to Cass while Vlad hides in secrecy Cass relishes in her popularity even outside of the order while at least is loyal to her God Cass is loyal only to herself cuz to me how would a young impulsive manipulative backstabbing politician born into a wealthy High status family she resents wield this Grand power in any other way than selfishly she was very selfish she's well aware of her beauty and the fact that people want her but she uses that aspect of her appearance solely as leverage swaying her victims to her side through sheer Temptation Hold Up Wait A Minute yeah if it wasn't clear enough already a lot of inspiration for this new copia personality is lifted directly from her spirit Blossom skin I mean hey pretty much all the other wave one Spirit Blossom Skins are direct reflections of the raran themselves why not add this one to the list so I had an idea for what I wanted this new copia to be but there's one big problem I call it bold and BR more like belongs in the TR sorry I must have missed that one my artistic ability is limited to say the Le least I could fully bring it to life like I had hoped thankfully this is the part of the video where it gets extra spicy and probably the part you've been waiting for this whole time because what if I commissioned an actual artist to bring this version of copia to life it's time for the moment you've been waiting [Music] for I know not the biggest reveal for anyone who's seen a single Community or Twitter post from me in the last 4 months but here it is thanks to a violet and their Immaculate ability to recreate League of legends's concept art style and in putting their own design ideas this version of copia has finally been fully realized so you might have some questions what changed from my first rendition of this design and what changed from the original copia cuz I realized I never actually explain that I'm stupid well it's pretty obvious to tell right from the start this version of Cass is committing to the bit Bas cast only dipped her toes into that tail into turning her metal boob plating into loose fitting cloth and long flowing streamers I I don't actually know what these things are called please enlighten me I'm stupid This was done to give her outfit a bit more of an elegant appearance the soft clothing allowing her body the flexibility it needs to Slither around whichever way she pleases she still has The Hourglass body type much like before arguably even more so but that's intentional this time along with the shape of her clothing made to accentuate those proportions this version of cast much like Samira is well aware of how attractive she is and uses it to her full advantage she was always a cutting manipulator who used her beauty to sway the weak wi even before her transformation but now she has the power to elevate that tenfold I like to think this version of cast steers more in the direction of paralysis and hypnosis if she's unable to disuade her pawns through her natural charm she could induce her victims into a trance unable to resist her demands giving her immense power over others albeit not in a raw physical strength kind of way next up her face it's no secret League women haven't been known to have the most distinguishing facial structures and my cartoonish art style doesn't exactly alleviate that problem what are you some kind of silly cartoon so with air ey Violet's help this version of Cass aimed to give her a more unique appearance with a much sharper jawline and nose in some ways a more exaggerated version of Katarina color scheme was important too even if she has lived in sharima for most of her life Cass is still a noxian champion and much like Samira again she should have design elements from both regions current cast is pretty much entirely short Shan with her armor being comprised of nothing but greens and Golds and the only noxin element at all is how she mentions it in a couple voides the redesign aimed to fix that keeping the bright Golds of sharima while incorporating just the smidge of noxian colors with the white and red Fabrics she still leans more heavily into sharima since that's where she got her powers and where she lives most of the time but she has that noxin element to tie her back to her Homeland her headdress as well has been altered substantially turning it into a full-on crown much like LeBlanc at least the alir version it mimics aspects of the noxian insignia I like to think much like the braids of fiori and demigods or shoulder paldrons on ionian blade Masters these elaborate head decorations will be a staple to the head honchos of the black rose and without the headdress her hair was finally freed revealing a similar hairstyle to that of um I this one this is why I could never be an actual character designer dude I don't know the names of anything I'm stupid now I know what you're thinking she could have been a redhead considering both her sister and her father are but as far as we know her mother Serena's hair color is still a mystery since Katarina has closer ties to Marcus and cast a Serena would it not be thematically appropriate for each half of the family to share a similar hair color there's also the little bits of green at the ends and mainly this was done just because it visually looks cool but it could be argued as symbology for the Venom running throughout her body I don't know there's been worse explanations for design choices for body color scheme you may notice she's a lot more tan than you might remember and well yes she isn't technically sherean she has lived there for the majority of her life it would be strange if her skin color wasn't a little bit darker after all that time roasting in the desert her scale patterning was changed as well there's someon her face arms and running down her back while the color schin with the snake half's Underside is the same as her human skin this was mainly an attempt to merge the two halves of her together into one cohesive hole instead of the original where it looks like a snake tail was duct taped to a pharoh cosplayer and lastly a bit of decoration some bracers necklace earrings makeup all to make her look dressed in her Sunday Best she has no need for bulky armor or Battle Gear she's not a soldier me she knows she's beautiful everyone else knows she's beautiful she uses that to her full advantage by putting it on full display for every everyone to admire all this together copia is inherently designed to be fan service with a purpose oh hey that's the title of the video again and does it work well I mean I'm obviously speaking from a bias standpoint here but I thought we did a pretty decent job this is all to say I'm totally fine if you don't like the design and I'm not upset if any people don't like it well I have my opinions on what I think makes a good character design the truth is stuff like this is ultimately subjective this design is not objectively better than the original it's just what I think is better we good we good I was so happy with what AI Violet had produced and proud of my own Ace brain for being able to concoct something I would normally touch within a 10ft radius it's clear many of you fellas liked it a lot too in the leadup to this video from the sketches to the YouTube short to the additional artwork the sheer amount of support and fan art has been overwhelming to say the least seriously there just been so so much fan art I absolutely love it fellas thank you so much as for downsides I'm pretty sure plenty of people would have rathered I gone for the more monstrous version of Cass and fair enough it's something I'd like to tackle again in the future and of course making a character this blatantly fan service has um it has its own risks back you diry ape back all in all I think we made a pretty decent redesign of everyone's not so favorite snake lady one that a lot of people seem to enjoy quite a lot and what more could I ask for than that wow your job's not done yet Nicholas it's clear plenty of people already like your redesign so much so you even gasl so will to forgetting the original even exists so what if and hear me out we went even further beyond all righty then it's not exactly a new idea to redesign some of League's oldest Champions plenty of other conent creators have done it numerous times in the past but I got to thinking would it be possible to not just redesign the champion but modify them in almost every single Avenue to the point it feels like they might pass for an official ASU what if huh what if we did that [Music] [Music] 3 Yeah we actually did it we got an icon in the same style as the newly made portrait icons from last year an emote replicating the only one Bas cast has for a while we had a paint over Splash until eventually we got an entirely brand new one that better suits this version of cass's Personality her smug energy it mocks me so and of course a fully functional custom skin free to use for all who use custom skins at least you know until Vanguard comes in and wipes the entire concept of existence but hey you know what it was fun while it lasted and speaking of if you've seen any of my more recent streams at twitch.tv/ niky boy you probably would have seen not only other special cast redesign emotes not only will you have seen that we've played with this custom skin several times but that we also managed to get all the way to Mastery 7 on copia only using the custom skin in pretty much every single aspect this version of Cass has basically become a full ASU but there is one thing missing isn't there usually one of the biggest draws of these visual updates isn't just the visual part it's audio too fully fleshing out who the champion is personality wise and giving proper interactions with more Champions Beyond just one so what if I told you fellas I had just one last surprise in store for you all beauty is the greatest curse of [Music] all oh it's nothing perf personal dear I dispose of tools that have exhausted their use you are unworthy civer I am not so foolish as to waste a gift of the Gods civer back to die so [Music] soon you really should thank me Civ we both unlocked our full potential that day sister what a pleasant surprise let me demonstrate why mother Favored Me Katarina just who I wanted to see I was about to celebrate becoming an only child you always were my least favorite sibling Talon you are the spitting image of father spineless and pitiful I'd hate for our relationship to get complicated wealth a distraction I did not think the deceiver so deluded I have no need for masks LeBlanc everyone knows me and everyone loves me you remind me of myself lady Elise her pae itic inferior version of myself but still your God's power binds you spider I am not so restrained you've talked to ascended beings stolen their power for your own tell me more ah yes copia I admire your commitment to metaphor oh Grand General I wish I had a compliment to offer in return I'm not the only Snake Here Jericho Annie sweetie you're late for class again I'm starting to think LeBlanc finds Amusement in her own failure Neil why yes you may all this Carnage renon there are much less messy ways to topple an Empire your people's power looks stunning on me doesn't it she could do better hush now sweet thing it will all be over soon yes dear you may bask in my beauty oh you precious thing let me help you gaze into my eyes let those bad feelings just melt away do you like what you see would you like to see it up close violence solves everything [Music] weak just like Father the Black Rose was in need of new leadership I'll be sure to personally inform your Chief Assassin of your Swift demise you have wasted your gift a snake am I perhaps you like to see just how snake like I can be friends are unnecessary but you will make a fine Pawn I saw this I saw this I have no need for masks LeBlanc everyone knows me and there you have it all together we kind of made an ASU all on our own absolute kudos to the artists who help bring this to life they are all absolutely amazing we're a joyed to work with and I trust you fellas will show them the appreciation they deserve so now at the end of the road I thank you fellas for joining me on this journey I hope you enjoyed our copia ASU and hey if you did consider subscribing since we're so close to the 200,000 Mark or if you really want to see more videos like these please do consider supporting me on patreon paying all these artists was pricey to say the least there is no world where this video ever makes back even a quarter of what it cost to produce but it was a passion project and a few dollars from you fellas every month goes a long way into helping fund these kinds of projects can I oh my God can I stop Shilling now I I really should take a sponsor at some point but that's the end what do you think of our fan-made copia ASU was it convincing enough do you fellas like the design perhaps you have some constructive criticism for what we could have done differently be sure to let me know down in the comments below and Hell well you're at it let me know what kinds of Champions you would like to see me make a video similar to this about next I'm particularly fond of my chogath and sraa redesign so perhaps if my wallet doesn't die from Cardiac Arrest we tackle them or any other highly requested champions in the future till next time though thank you so much for watching being with me on this journey through this massive project and hopefully I'll see you in the next [Music] video [Music] n

Channel: NickyBoi

Views: 554,121

Keywords: games, gaming, League of Legends, LOL, Riot Games, character design, lore, gameplay, cassiopeia, rework, asu, vgu, update, visual update, model, shurima, splash art, animated splash art, special interactions, voice lines, smolder, skarner rework, fiddlesticks, mordekaiser, aatrox, akali, evelynn, nunu, volibear, azir, katarina, talon, leblanc, vladimir, elise, garen, briar, annie, amumu, cho'gath, soraka, renekton, nasus, janna, blitzcrank, arcane season 2, art, kai'sa, sylas, yone

Id: zCrJosObqtU

Length: 26min 17sec (1577 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 03 2024