User blog comment:YourPrivateNightmare/Champion death and replacements/@comment-8050014-20150826054753

The thing about this idea is that in order for it to work for a certain champion two seperate and (mostly) mutually unrelated qualities have to be had by the champion in question:

1) The champion has to have a out-of-date kit, visuals, lore, or all three. This is applicable to many champions, including but not limited to Evelynn, Poppy, Warwick, and Shaco. As such there is a viable reason for replacing the champion. (This is why I dislike your example, Jayce. He's a relatively modern champion with few problems in any of the aforementioned areas.) If they 'die' and come back with new kit and visuals, it actually is significantly better than before.

2) The champion has a reasonable and interesting lore-based reason for dying and returning. It doen't make thematic sense for certain (perhaps even most) champions to undergo this treatment. Can YOU think of a way Poppy can die and be replaced by another yordle named Poppy?

Since Gangplank has already done it, we can't have a champion merely seem to die and actually return disfigured and broken. If Rito does this again, it will be either by the same champion returning in a new way (e.g. becoming a ghost or spectre, Zilean going back in time and becoming a young man) or by creating a whole new champion with the same (or very similar) kit and name (e.g. Jarvan V, as you said, or maybe Kog being replaced with his adult form (he's a larva after all)).

The one question I have is this: Are we assuming that the 'new' champion has the same name as the replaced? I mean what are the odds that there's another brilliant Piltie kid named Jayce that wants to become the new Defender of tomorrow?

Good ideas though. I tip my Deathcap to you, Summoner.