Entering Marvel Contest of Champions: Morningstar

An ancient and evil iron maiden Morningstar smashes her way into “Marvel Contest of Champions”  brandishing a blazing bludgeon and a seriously negative attitude. Wielding her namesake, what kind of trouble will Morningstar be stirring up on Battlerealm? Fear not, we asked Kabam Lead Character Artist Gene Campbell and Character Designer Simon Cameron all sorts of cool stuff about the Contest’s newest combatant

Marvel.com: This lady looks like she means some serious business. What’s Morningstar’s story?

Gene Campbell: Morningstar, once known as Queen Haasen of Languria used to have it all. Once a powerful Queen and tyrannical ruler over an ancient land, she used the cursed powers of the Guillotine sword to keep her frightened subjects loyal and subservient. However, her subjects had enough and the people revolted, taking the sword and its powers away. In her weakened state she was imprisoned in one of her very own torture devices she had used against them as she was locked away and forgotten over the centuries.

As time passed by locked in her iron prison, a mysterious and powerful stranger took notice. Queen Haasen was offered a deal to return to the world and become the Morningstar. All she had to do was help this stranger with obtaining a power of his own desire located within The Contest of Champions and he would return her cursed sword and all of its power that she obsessed over. But, like most deals with this mysterious stranger… there is some fine print, and The Morningstar’s vengeance will come at a price.

Marvel.com: And Morningstar a “Contest of Champions” original, right? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of her before this.

Gene Campbell: She sure is! We thought it was about time to expand on the world of our first original Marvel character, Guillotine. Guillotine, not only a very important character in the story of Contest of Champions but she has become quite the popular and useful character in the game. She’s a fan favorite and players love her abilities. So like any good Super Hero, she needed a nemesis and Morningstar was created.

We worked really hard to make sure she had an interesting, unique and iconic look. We knew we wanted her to be big and imposing, to have vibrant and contrasting materials that fans have come to expect from our characters. The idea is that she would be an overbearing, strong and aggressive war machine created from the living iron and brass that she was cursed to walk the Earth in. It was also important that like any great Marvel character, that she has a strong and layered narrative and rich backstory connecting her to Guillotine.

Marvel.com: What was it like coming up with abilities for a character we’ve never seen in the comics?

Simon Cameron: It was a lot of fun! We always do a bunch of research into what a character’s abilities are, and how we could represent them within The Contest, but usually this is limited to whatever reference material we can find online or in print. Since Morningstar is an original, we were able to sit down with the person who actually created the character to talk about what she could do, and even allow some of our ideas for gameplay to seep back into her lore.

Marvel.com: Let’s talk about her abilities. The key to her power is collecting Souls right? Can you give us a little more info on that?

Simon Cameron: Absolutely, collecting Souls is core to Morningstar’s kit, and how she ramps up in power over the course of a quest. When she uses her Special 3 Attack, she gains a counter. Each time she deals damage to her Opponent, the counter increases and each time she receives damage the counter decreases. If the counter reaches 100, or she wins the fight (including killing her opponent with a Special 3 Attack), she steals the Soul. If it reaches 0, her Opponent maintains possession of their Soul until she tries again. Each Soul she gains unlocks additional abilities. For example, her Special 2 Attack becomes Unblockable with 3 Souls, and empowers others such as her Special 1 Attack which gains Energy Damage for each Soul.

Marvel.com: And what else can she do?

Simon Cameron: In additional to stealing Souls, Morningstar’s Signature Ability is an excellent counter to some Buff reliant Champions, especially those that rely on potent Fury, Power Gain, or Regeneration Buffs. Once unlocked, this ability reduces the potency of any of those Buffs that her Opponent triggers, and gives her own version of each of those Buffs as her Opponent triggers them. This can be extremely potent against the right Champion, allowing her to drastically reduce Hyperion’s Power Gain, or Wolverine’s Regeneration.

Marvel.com: Who does she play well with? She doesn’t look she makes friends easily.

Simon Cameron: While I wouldn’t go so far as to call them “friends,” she does have an arrangement of sorts with Mephisto. She brings him Souls in exchange for Power. As the original wielder of La Fleur du Mal, she shares a mystical connection with Guillotine’s bloodline, and finally she shares an understanding, such as it is, with Angela and Magik, each having faced similar challenges in ruling over their domains as both powerful warriors and queens.

Marvel.com: Anything else we need to know?

Simon Cameron: Morningstar will be coming to The Contest on October 12! Check her out as she’ll only be playable in Contest of Champions!

Stay tuned to Marvel.com and @MarvelGames on Twitter for more “Marvel Contest of Champions” news and interviews!