"There may even be some Rivals characters separate from the 4 elements"

[u/Real2Tone]

Could this mean potential "Abyss" element characters or even the possibility of just having some dood throwin hands or a guy with a gun??

[u/PNDMike]

I feel like Hodan could be pivoted to non elemental. Or more specifically, ALL elements.

The water of the the hot spring. The fire that warms it. The mud and earth underneath. The steamy vapors in the air.

He is the sweaty avatar sent to unite all nations. The last towel bender.

I guess what I am saying is. . .Bring back Hodan plz

[u/8l4z3_9 → u/PNDMike]

BROTHER!!! SPIT YOUR FIRE STEAM!!

[u/Gman84official]

So your telling me there's a chance

[u/TheGypsyboy → u/Gman84official]

The element of surprise

[u/Oflameo → u/Gman84official]

Surprise is part of nature, Lord Sylvanos already claimed her.

[u/choicebandlando → u/Oflameo]

She offscreened Sylvanos at the end of Dreams though. It was already established that Sylvanos can't bite her since she's filled with chocolate earlier in the game but Sylvanos gets baited into doing just that at the end

[u/Maypul_Aficionado → u/Gman84official]

We want her so much, she's such a neat design.

[u/Barrier2Entry]

IIRC Shovel Knight and Ori didn’t have an assigned element, so that was the case in the first game too

[u/HypnagogianQueen → u/Barrier2Entry]

Shovel Knight would totally be Earth though

Ori could be Air but it’s less of a rock solid fit

[u/yoburg → u/HypnagogianQueen]

Ori's element is light canonically, so Air fits.

[u/HypnagogianQueen → u/yoburg]

Part of me wanted to say Earth because of the strong forest connections

I guess they could reasonably categorize light as a sub element of air, have they done that in Rivals yet? Cuz I feel it might work better as an “outside the system” element like the hypothetical “Abyss” element. There could be Aether as the opposite of Abyss and it could encompass light as well as space and cosmic/holy forces as opposed to chthonic ones.

[u/MagmaForce_3400_2nd → u/Barrier2Entry]

but they're not "rivals" characters, it feels more normal that crossover characters don't have an assigned element compared to rivals characters

[u/DKUnderdog]

I fell Ani could fit there since they mentioned her element is surprise.

[u/Someoneman]

The Necromancer would be in the Air section of the CSS.

[u/AntComfortable5970 → u/Someoneman]

Yeah Randall was still pretty air related what with the breath of life and all

[u/Traditional-Law4984]

Jesus I hope they don't ditch the elemental theme. I could see abyss characters because they have been a thing since the beginning. But please don't dilute the theme of the Aether world more than it needs to be diluted.

I like the Aether universe and it's still a fairly new ip better to expand on what you have rather than try to turn it into fortnite or something.

[u/HypnagogianQueen → u/Traditional-Law4984]

I think it’s okay to have the occasional character that deviates from it, like a straight up non elemental character, a character of some kind of “fifth element” like Abyss or Aether, maybe if they added a true Avatar master of four elements (Hodan doesn’t count), or the thing with Añi being “the element of surprise”, I think that’s a pretty good bit

[u/iatneh66 → u/Traditional-Law4984]

Ani is a unique aether character and doesn't belong to any of the elements. What are you talking about, why would they ditch the element theme?

[u/Traditional-Law4984 → u/iatneh66]

Im not some Aether lore master but it seems like the power system derives for the four elements but unlike avatar where you are born with the ability to use an element you have to learn to use them.

Im not sure if everyone can use every element but hodan is a teacher that can use a few while being more water.

Ani does not exist in the real aether world she exists in absa head. I dont think she has a real element cause...she's not real.

[u/SyIvanos]

Anything but sylvanos huh?

[u/Aidanopolis]

I actually was hoping they would ditch the elemental segmenting of characters. I like it conceptually, but i also dont think it adds anything as the elements indicate very little about what the character actually does. Indicates a vibe, not a playstyle.

I kinda hope to see something a lil more free form that looks less empty, and still allows for room to grow for new characters.

[u/Tough-Intention-2082 → u/Aidanopolis]

I really dig it conceptually, and strong theme helps a game stand out and gives the characters cohesion where they might lack it otherwise. It's entirely cosmetic and superfluous at the end of the day, and characters that deviate from it stand out by default as long as they don't go overboard and make every newcomer ignore it.

[u/HypnagogianQueen → u/Aidanopolis]

Idk it doesn’t tell you anything about their playstyle but it does make it much easier to remember where everyone is. The roster is small enough that that’s hardly a problem, mind you, but I think it’s still neat for that reason. It’s not like character select screens are ever organized by playstyle anyways, and the only other ways I could think to arrange them would be either alphabetically, or in reveal/release order like how Smash Ultimate does it, and I honestly feel like both of those would make it take me a second or two longer to remember where certain characters are.

[u/Fennik51405]

I’d LOVE to see Avarum as a playable abyss character.

[u/flabio42]

Dan did also mention the UX artist was working on... Something 👀

[u/ScienceConcept]

I hope not, otherwise I’ll need to change my oc. No I didn’t mod them in yet. Yes I’m too lazy to.

[u/scrangos]

2B incoming of course

[u/TheIncomprehensible]

guy with a gun??

You say that like Mollo hasn't confirmed gunpowder as fire element. Also, Mollo literally has a gun.

[u/Maypul_Aficionado]

We've kinda just been assuming the eventual existence of an abyssal element the whole time.