(Weird question, but how do you think Jayce would turn out in a S2 roleswap where he died and got fused with the Hexcore intead?
Like, how would affect Jayce's personality, what would his abilities and theoretical final form be, et cetera?)
hey. this is a great question! i'm sorry it took me so long to get around to it, just know i never forgot:)
when it comes to what i think how jayce would become in an arcane roleswap like that, i think i should share my own perception of what the hexcore even does/did to viktor.
to me, the hexcore is very much akin to void and corruption, much in the way possession is seen. i have a sideblog i dabble in sometimes, @oblivisms, which explores these themes a lot more in depth revolving around the void and the dark star universe. anyway, this is all to say that i view the hexcore as a piece of the void, corrupted and transformed by viktor's blood into a sort of fledgling version of what is typical of the void and how it spreads. i believe the hexcore to simply desire chaos and to consume all things. i genuinely could go in depth about how i think there's some heavy correlation and story implications present between the void and the arcane but i'll save that for another time.
and when it became one with viktor, i believe he, in a way, became similar to malzahar. he became a prophet singing someone else's song, though it may not have seemed that way on the surface. viktor still seemed like viktor, though physically changed (up until he became the full arcane herald of course). but you could see the little signs that something wasn't right. this, to me, is primarily seen in the specific vernacular he says when discussing evolution. viktor, as a scientist in his field, would have not upheld the belief he expresses during this point if he weren't altered drastically in some aspect by something wicked.
naturally this would all apply to jayce too in the reverse scenario. i believe he would be the unrealized / unwilling participant in something wicked, transformed into a prophet.
in terms of how this would change him, though? i can merely speculate, but when it comes to his personality, i think he'd end up muted much in the way viktor becomes. much more calm and less outspoken, but just as sociable and charming. but instead of this coming from a place of naïveté and a genuine desire to do good, it would come from a place of manipulation. his goal, of course, would no longer be to utilize hextech for the betterment of the people, but as a form of control over them in some capacity.
how he might end up looking, i'm not sure. i can speculate a lot of ideas in my mind visually or even draw it and probably will some day. but currently i imagine he'd look similarly to how viktor did, while the design would honor the main silhouette elements that make up jayce's design as a character. same with what would be his 'herald' form, but more in line with how we see jayce when he's in that alternate dimension and overgrown.
