Most Wasted Character

[Duarack5]

Strakk, Tuma, and Nektann were all completely wasted, bereft of even a fitting and satisfying death and being reduced to wandering outcasts.Although, the Piraka were wasted even more. Things went downhill once they turned into snakes. That was when I really started finding problems with the BIONICLE story.

I wouldn't say that Tuma was always wasted, in Empire of the Skrall we got to see quite a lot of him. Now in The Legend Reborn, he was completely wasted. Any development we got from him was thrown out the window in that movie, replaced by him just being another big, black-armored villain.I don't think the Piraka were wasted, especially not in the books. Sure, in the comics we didn't get much of their personality, but you only have so much room in those. In the 2006 books, we got to see them constantly, talking, fighting, or just being creepy. We even got a whole book dedicated to their back-story! I'd consider them some of the more enjoyable Bionicle villains.As to who I thin was wasted: the Hydruka. Think about it, we barely saw them in the comics, and were mentioned only a few times in the books. I don't recall Morak ever being mentioned. This was a shame, because the Hydruka looked so cool, and so much could be done with them! We could have seen them trained to defend Mahri Nui or attacking the Barakki in droves. We were given Rahkshi-headed-under-water-scorpion-creatures, and they ended up just skittering around and harvesting an air bubble or two. Edited January 14, 2012 by Duarack5

[Voxumo]

I must say i think i would have liked to see jovan he could have had so much potential. the only other character would be Johmak. I always thought she would have been a interesting character. i mean i think a member of her species might have been that green cloud that was above the energized protodermis when the skakdi fusion thing was created. so yeah those are my two.

[Bionickel]

I don't know so much about wasted character, but the Toa Nuva during the Bohrok Kal period were significantly rushed. Can you imagine losing the very power that seems to define you as a Toa and then facing six creatures more powerful than anything you have yet experienced? Can you imagine the identity crisis, the sense of despair, the primal fear? My goodness, they could've been the most introspective, fascinating characters in the whole series. But then again, Bionicle was a "kids" toy. Sigh.

[Master Inika]

Easily the Av-Matoran and Shadow Matoran from 2008. Mostly Radiak and Photok. I really would have liked to see their friendship expounded on. Mostly, each Matoran just acted like Mini-Me for their Toa or Makuta. Gavla got some cool lines, but the story still didn't really give us a chance to sympathize with her.

[X-Ray]

Dear me, where do we start?The answer, I'm afraid, falls into the realm of opinion- a realm which Plato once described as a sort of neutral zone between knowledge and ignorance. Personally, I would have loved see Antroz to be used a lot more, what with his "rough sense of honor" and all, I'm partial to Nocturn's interesting origin (does he feel guilt about what he did? Does he miss his home? Does he know if any deaths resulted in his destructive actions?), and I am still waiting for stories concerning the Dark Hunters Conjurer and Shadow Stealer. Because truly, there are a LOT of such "wasted" characters, and don't think that I'd be able to objectively identify the most "wasted character."But I might be able to help just why there seem to be so many.Due to BIONICLE's nature (or former nature) as a story driven by merchandise, its otherwise interesting premise with bountiful amounts of storytelling potential is also, by nature, polluted by more characters than poor Mr. Farshtey can be expected to reasonably handle in a satisfying way. This has unfortunately lead to him being forced to kill off all of the Karda Nui Makuta, Karzahni, Trem Krom, Spiriah, Nidhiki, Krekka, Anicent, Sidorak, Tridax, Lhikan, and Nocturn, all characters with interesting backgrounds and potential, and to marginlize other interesting characters such as Hydraxon, Lesovikk, Sarda, Mazeka, Light-Teridax, Helryx, Brutaka, Axonn, Umbra, the Piraka, Trinuma, Johmak, Jerbraz, Tobduk, Roodaka, the Barraki, the Shadowed One, and most of the Toa Hagah (yeah, I know they got that serial, but...). At the same time, however, Mr. Farshtey is not helping himself by constantly adding new or formerly "dead" characters to the mix and killing off several interesting one which could easily have been kept, such as Ancient, Nocturn or Spiriah even.I understand that a lot of time had been spent on several of these characters, it's just that not a whole lot of direction has been given to their individual character development. Take TSO for instance. He's a calculating, ruthless killer who rules over an organization of other ruthless killers. Yes, and...? Just why is he the way he is? What led him to be able to kill someone as close to him as Ancient without a second thought? Answering these questions alone would work wonders for TSO.A good example of good character development, believe it or not, are the Great Disk Matoran. Granted, they only show up in two books, and none of them save Akhmou ever came back, but all these characters have very distinct personalites and motivations, and I daresay they are quite possibly the most relatable BIONICLE characters ever created. Nuhrii mentored our hero Vakama and wants to be great. Orkahm is dutiful and meticulous, an exception to the stereotype of Le-Matoran, wanting to get his job done and mind his own business (think Jaller as a factory worker). Vhisola really wants to please Nokama, which makes sense seeing as how a teacher/mentor relationship is apparently the only other relationship available to MU inhabitants other than sibling/comrade/co-worker (though seriously? Nokama has never been to her house? Really?). Ehrye is eager and ambitious as well as chatty and maybe impatient, kind of an icier version of Takua. Tehutti is a somewhat arrogant colleague of Whenua and fame-monger, but also a workaholic. And Ahkmou just wants to be number one at something, and to be recognized for it. Ahkmou in particular is a quite tragic character, first with the "always second best" routine, then bribed/blackmailed by Dark Hunters, and then exploited by Teridax, who turned him toward the path of evil, but is still responsible for many of his own decisions. We even know that he likes rock climbing as a hobby! They're all somewhat flawed characters, but are seen as heroic (well, except Akhmou) in that they assist the Toa Metru, and at the end of their story, seem to be changing for the better.If only we had a few more characters like that. The key to developing character, however, is to put them in situations which demand them to make decisions which reflect their personal motivations, opinions, fears, beliefs, etc.I also find it remarkable that Mr. Farshtey managed to make six barely significant characters the most relatable ever desgined in Bionicle, ever. What I mean is that these figures are the regular people. It's like you're working at your job, and are then grabbed by some big guy in armor with these crazy powers, who you happen to know in some degree, to go on some bizzare trip. Would you run away the first chance you got? This all goes to show that Matoran, like humans, are far from perfect, but all have the potential to do great things and to be great people.That said, I still miss Antroz. I hope that my post has been helpful.Sincerely, X-Ray

Edited February 12, 2012 by X-Ray

[CroMagnonMan]

The answer, I'm afraid, falls into the realm of opinion- a realm which Plato once described as a sort of neutral zone between knowledge and ignorance.

Not so much a neutral zone as a battleground, I would say. ;)It's interesting what you've said about the Disk Matoran, because hearing you praise their portrayal makes me want to get new copies of those books and read them over again. I too find their more or less flawed but all the more human personalities interesting -- Vhisola especially is a character I would have liked to have seen more of (jealousy is an exceedingly rare trait in the BIONICLE universe), as well as Ahkmou and, along the same lines, Vultraz. Basically the "darker" (though not necessarily the "evil") side of characters is the side I'm most drawn to, I guess you could say.Tren Krom is a character I would have liked to learn more about, mostly because a lot of his facets are things taken for granted that could be more fully explored. For instance, in what way did he feel protective of the MU, and how did that apply to the MU inhabitants? How much of it was possessiveness, and how much of it was a genus of love; and again, how did that apply to the MU inhabitants?I'm a bit skeptical about the merits of character development as a conscious process. I think a lot can be demonstrated and learned about a given character simply through their everyday actions and attitudes (which it seems to me would show their motivations, opinions, etc. just as much as anything), rather than some extraordinary circumstance that forces them to come to an unusual decision or personal alteration. The reason I say that is that character development too often is an artificial process. In my opinion, the character should be explored as they are in their normal environment, or as a natural progression, rather than "placing them" in a peculiar situation. A lot of more subtle development can be achieved that way, if you're a really good writer.But then, if a peculiar situation arises more or less naturally (for example, Tren Krom being "stripped" of his universe again upon the MU shutting down -- a wasted opportunity indeed), then you're right about its merits. And all that being said, you're right about the characters needing more definition.~QMark Edited February 10, 2012 by QuestionMark

[Toa TAK]

Nektann. Would've liked to see more about him before the climax of the story.TAK

[Erebus]

Varian :XI'll have to go with Toa/Turaga Jovan. I mean seriously, who is this guy?

[fishers64]

Bionicle had a lot of characters that weren't given much of a side-script simply because there was so much going on to so many people. I remember during one book in the Legends Series, Dark Destiny, Greg had to deal with 52 characters in a single book. (six Toa Nuva, six Voyatoran, six Matoran journeying from Metru Nui, six Piraka, Takanuva, Brutaka, Axonn, Karzanhi, the insane Matoran in Karzanhi...). From 2006 on up, there was so much happening all at once. Now that we are on SM, I would like to put in some development into characters that are still alive and have potential for further development.I'm not going to complain too much...I mean underdeveloped characters make for great fan-fiction or canonization story contests to develop them. Sometimes, however, the underdeveloped character dies. Like Botar or Sidorak. Then it is an object of storyline injustice.

[Chromatic Ninja]

I don't know so much about wasted character, but the Toa Nuva during the Bohrok Kal period were significantly rushed. Can you imagine losing the very power that seems to define you as a Toa and then facing six creatures more powerful than anything you have yet experienced? Can you imagine the identity crisis, the sense of despair, the primal fear? My goodness, they could've been the most introspective, fascinating characters in the whole series. But then again, Bionicle was a "kids" toy. Sigh.

This. This this this this this. Oh dear god, this.But for a more accurate answer, I would have to say that one character I would have liked to know a lot more about was Hydraxon, especially before he originally died. He seemed like kind of a soulless character in the Mahri Nui story arc... probably because it wasn't really him. But he sounded freaking awesome in the flashbacks with the Toa Mata.~Tay

[Voxumo]

i just thought all the shadow takanuvas. we really only saw 3 and they were just killed. i think they should have been used more and were wasted they had such potential.

[Axilus Prime]

IC: Gelu, Krika, Antroz, Umbra, The Shadowed One, Voporak. It would have been cool for all of them to develop more, and I can imagine some epic scenes with them all helping take down Makuta at the end of 2010. A much better ending than asteroid planet fragment COMPLETELY comes in by accident and slams into Makuta's head. Think about it: Two samurai start fighting, and some sniper shoots the bad one in the head? What the Karz kinda ending is THAT?But if those characters I mentioned got more development and even helped fight Makuta (by that I mean Teridax) and especially Krika and Antroz helped...that would just be epic.

[Akuna Toa of Sonics]

I say the Avtoran and Tarduk. How many times did Tarduk appear in the story?

[Ladon: Lord of Hesperides]

Zaktan.Hear me out: the Piraka in general were not wasted-- they had their time and it passed, and we were given a good explanation as to what happened to them. But Zaktan was different than the others: he knew Teridax's plan, and knew that he wanted to make himself a part of it. After his year in the lime light, though, he pretty much just has a couple of appearances before getting killed by Teridax.While I understand why he was killed, from both a story and author's perspective, I think he definitely could have had a much larger role.

[Touko Fukawa]

The barraki, definately, as wwhale as the Kardakuta, especially Krika, Antroz, and Mutran.

[Kaleidoscope Tekulo]

Hmm... Does Kongu's toa tool count? XPI'd say Nikila and Lesovikk. He's one of my favorite characters (the fact that he's a toa of air that's troubled and yet didn't turn into a complete villain is just a cherry on top of why I like him). I'd love to see more of the Southern Continent and its characters in the story, and that's probably why I've chosen that location for one of my writing projects.