Today I have decided, "you know what would be fun, reviewing all of my favorite characters," and so here I am. I will go into many categories of discussion: do I think their media does them justice, things about them I find annoying, their designs, and their personality. PLEASE do not take anything I say here seriously, this is for fun.
Tenna from Deltarune
Starting off strong with a very popular character, and a recently introduced one. If you are unfamiliar with Deltarune... Why? But if you are wary of spoilers, feel free to skip this entire section. Basically the story follows Kris, Susie, and Ralsei, going on adventures to try and close "fountains" leading from the light world to the dark world. IDK how to explain it. Go watch a playthrough. But at some point they encounter a TV-headed character, "Tenna," who essentially guilts them into competing in his game show.
Does his media do him justice?
The answer is yes. Yes, yes, yes!!! I love the writing of Deltarune, and especially of Tenna's character! After Ralsei reveals that most Darkners come from objects in the Light world, I think it is very clever to introduce a character who is quite affected by his presence in the Light World than a lot of other Darkners appear to be. I think the gradual reveal that Tenna is Kris' family's TV was very good, with the strange familiarity Tenna seems to have with Kris throughout the chapter. Overall, yes, Deltarune does do him justice! Everybody say Thank you Deltarune.
Things I Find Annoying
Nothing I could think of honestly. He is a very enjoyable character. EXCEPT I definitely had trouble during the battle with him. But that is less a judgement of his character and more a lack of skill on my part.
Design aspects I like
Tenna's design is great. I know TV-head characters are popular in general, but Tenna brings a unique charm I think, having a big pointed nose yet no visible eyes. I am also eternally biased towards game-show host characters, both outfit and personality... I find the fact he is able to grow and shrink very entertaining as well!
Personality aspects I like
Besides the gameshow host stuff, I also just love when a character has some sort of attachment or abandonment issue. Some sense of betrayal, especially if it is due to a long-term event. In Tenna's case, this would be just gradually being used less and less as a TV, until barely being used at all, if ever. It is tragic and I like it. I am not really sure how to word it, but I like it.
Jay from Ninjago
Jay is one of my favorite ever characters. I first watched Ninjago when the pilot episodes aired on Cartoon Network, way way back in 2011. I remember as the season 1, "Rise of the Snakes" episodes were coming out, they would have what they referred to as "Wu-hoo weekends," which were basically weekends which they would replay Ninjago episodes. The actual episodes, if I remember correctly, would release on Wednesdays. Me and my siblings would watch them after school on Wednesday. Anyways, overall, a very nostalgic show to me. Back in 2011, Jay was my favorite character. At some point in 2017 or 2018, I began catching up after not watching since the season 2 finale. There was a lot to catch up with! But one thing remained the same: Jay was still my favorite. In 2020, and especially 2021, I became incredibly fixated on Ninjago (to the point I was so excited for the episodes I would lose sleep and start hallunicating spiders and mice!!!) And especially connected to Jay. And shockingly, today, Ninjago is still pumping out episodes, and I am still watching them. Are they good? Ehhh. Sure.
Does his media do him justice?
Yes. I suppose it does. However, sometimes I fear it may do him too much justice. He is my favorite, I will always love his screentime, but often I feel other characters are a bit sidelined in favor of him. Him, and especially his relationship with Nya, are given a lot of attention, including in seasons not necessarily focused on them. Of course, it is good to spread screentime among characters, but often it feels a bit excessive. HOWEVER! This is not to say Jay's character is butchered. Can he be incredibly obnoxious? Yeah. I also generally find jokes about characters experiencing incontinence unfunny (I do not need to know about that?), which I am not sure why the writers love those jokes so much, but I digress. Ninjago in general has questionable writing decisions throughout (a lot of concepts seeming to be directly taken from more popular media, or just plain random ones for the sake of selling cool Lego sets. Not to mention the strange fusion of multiple different cultures throughout, and in at least one case them using the incorrect terms for things from other cultures.)
Things I Find Annoying
I think the way he treats Nya is often annoying. Don't get me wrong!!! I think Jaya is a cute ship! However, there are some things about it that just don't sit right with me! The way Jay acted in Skybound, whether he meant it or not, felt very guilt-trippy. He also tends to treat Cole strangely. The two refer to each other as "best friends," throughout the series, but there are times we see Jay prefer Nya over Cole, and honestly, Nya is shown caring much more about Cole throughout the series than Jay ever does. I wish there could be more scenes where Jay is being Cole's actual friend. I'd love to see their dynamic more in general!
Design aspects I like
Well... he is blue. That isn't necessarily why I like him, I just happen to enjoy blue characters a lot. One thing I enjoy about him is how much his design is explored in a way. Throughout the show, he goes through many different appearances. In the beginning he has pretty basic flat Lego minifigure hair, and an eyebrow with a notch in it. In season 4, Tournament of Elements, he is shown hosting a gameshow, and has hosting attire and a different hairstyle. When he switches to his movie redesign, in season 8, Sons of Garmadon, he has curly hair and freckles, and no longer has his signature eyebrow notch, which is a huge appearance change, one which I have grown to like a lot. He also has pins on his clothes, one with a lightning bolt, and one wth a smiley face. In season 12, Prime Empire, he is shown with a video game avatar. His skin is a blueish color, his hair is white, he is wearing a blue blazer with a yellow star on it. Judging by the music in the scene revealing this outfit being a reference to "Just Dance," by David Bowie, it is likely it is inspired by him. In the season Crystalized, Jay briefly has a beird (though I am honestly unsure whether it was real or not), and in Dragon's Rising his hairstyle changes again, him now having longer hair. Overall, Jay goes through MANY different design changes, very interesting. I like them all!
Personality aspects I like
I generally like very giddy/energetic characters like him, but I especially like aspects I can relate to!!! I am going into headcanon territory here, but I like to view him as autistic. Seeing autistic traits in him in 2020/2021 is part of what made me realize I am autistic! Throughout the show he can be shown moving a lot, shaking his hands when excited, making noises, repeating phrases, sometimes blinking a lot, etc. He also canonically has sensory issues!!! This is something that when I was first watching I was very excited about, because I have sensory issues! While they are only explicitly mentioned once, if you pay attention you could see other times he seems startled by loud sounds. Well... at least one other time I actually remember, which was at the end of Prime Empire, you could see him flinch when Unagami roars as the dragon (though one could argue anybody would flinch in this situation I suppose.) I feel like there are other instances I don't remember, but I honestly do not know. He also has a tendency to freak out easily about things, something I also enjoy as an anxious mess myself. He is also incredibly passionate about his interests, knowing a lot about mechanics and Fritz Donnegan movies (to the point of roleplaying as Fritz Donnegan during what was probably a very deadly situation...) There is probably more I'm forgetting, but overall, I enjoy him, and he is fun to watch.
Clock from BFB/TPOT
If you know me.... You know I like clocks. While I do think I liked them before growing attached to the character, I think he is probably part of what got me even more hooked on the object. I think I first started feeling connected to him in 2018, though I am not quite sure when. In early 2019 I was in a roleplay group chat, which I would roleplay as him! I also had an ask blog, which I would answer questions as him. At the time, his character had very little screentime, but I was obsessed with him, or at least whatever I thought he was. I loved to draw him, and I loved to associate with him... and I still do! I think he has shaped a lot of my art over the years (because, in case you somehow don't know already, I love making clock characters,) and has always been a character I resonate with a lot, and I often consider him my #1 favorite of all time.
Does his media do him justice?
Hahaha. No, not really. Not in my opinion, but this is not to say BFB/TPOT are poorly made!! The series is incredibly impressive! An indie animation series on YouTube going for 10+ years?! That is not an achievement to downplay. That being said: there are a lot of characters, and with so many characters, some are going to get much more attention than others, which is the case. I feel a lot of the focus often lands on the earlier introduced characters. This is not necessarily the fault of the creators! The show will have vote-to-eliminate or vote-to-save mechanics, which will obviously affect which characters get attention, because the competitors still competing are the focus, not those eliminated. In some BFB and TPOT episodes they will shift focus to the eliminated contestants sometimes, which is always good to see, even if it separates it from the formula of actual reality TV competitions. All of this in mind... I still don't like how Clock's character was handled! There are definitely worse-off characters in terms of arcs/focus (Saw, Naily, more that aren't coming to mind right now,) but I just feel like Clock had potential built up, only to ultimately be lost to an unsatisfying ending. In BFB, he is dead for multiple episodes- meaning, there are multiple episodes which don't feature him at all. Most his development at that point had just been joining the Losers, helping win two challenges, losing a challenge, remembering who needs to be revived/eliminated when Four and X return... and not much else? Most of his screentime was him being helpful in some way, or just judgemental. Eventually, Clock was revived, and he was upset that none of his team had remembered to revive him. At the time, I was VERY excited about this, and excited to see where they would take his arc next. The answer was... Pretty much nowhere. TPOT was announced, and it was revealed it would have a more serious tone. I thought that meant they'd address the situation, only for it to kind of. Not be mentioned. Well, it was, but. One time, kind of as an afterthought. They put Clock on "The S!" which I do have a long ramble on tumblr about my indulgent thoughts on this. But basically he is put into a new arc, which focuses on him and Winner. Which... I am just going to transition this to the next part.
Things I Find Annoying
I do not enjoy the arc with him and Winner. I do not enjoy a lot of Clock's portrayal in TPOT in general, just because it hurts me to watch how he treats Winner. Clock is very fixated on Winner in TPOT, to an uncomfortable degree. He idolizes Winner, making them uncomfortable, and prioritizing Winner, and spending time with them, over everything else. While I slightly disagree with other pre-TPOT Clock fans that he is out of character, (I personally think he is in character, just most of our focus is on his flaws, while during BFB, idolizing one of your teammates was normal! In this situation, he is doing it on his own, and it is making Winner uncomfortable, so it is easy to be like "hey, why is he doing this?" when it is actually most likely very similar to how he acted in BFB towards Loser, which probably due to Clock's lack of screentime and voice lines, this infatuation was more associated with Cake. Who seemed closer to Loser.) Clock oversteps Winner's boundaries multiple times during TPOT, and it is just uncomfortable to watch, especially when he tries to force Winner into performing when Winner explicitly says they don't want to, AND when Yellow Face had already been agreed on to perform for their team. I also find Clock's judgemental nature annoying at times, though honestly it is a trait of his I tend to forget. "Zappy are you sure this is your favorite character" absolutely.
Does his media do him justice? part 2
After Clock is eliminated, Two lets him hang around, helping Four and X do.. kitchen stuff? This gives Clock more time to patch his relationship with Winner. Again, I was hoping this would also lead up to them addressing his former team forgetting him, but in the end it was... Not very satisfying, and the arc was clearly more focused on Winner. While Clock's situation was addressed, it was basically a "I only didn't want you do be forgotten because my team forgot me =(" which ISN'T NECESSARILY A BAD END, but for how much of a flashback scene Winner got in comparison to the itty bitty one Clock had, and Clock's one arc to get recentered around Winner, just felt like him and his own character were pushed aside in favor of another one, and I wish Clock could've had more moments involving his own thoughts on his relationship with his old team, rather than his thoughts on the situation in relation to Winner. I think he had a lot of potential, only for a kind of anticlimactic ending to his arc. I can dream it is continued or properly wrapped up eventually, but it seems unlikely.
Design aspects I like
Well... He is a clock. CLOCK IS A CLOCK WOAH! I like clocks a lot. He is also blue, I like that color. I enjoy the fact his hands are infinitely powerful, able to fling baskets, move swingsets, crack jawbreakers, etc. (Admittedly, I think it would have been VERY COOL to see this utilized in TPOT when One is trying to get more power. I thought it would be so so cool to see Clock and One working together... SIGH. All my good ideas... null... I have made a long post on Tumblr about this too, HELP?) A lot of my own clock characters designs, in a way, come from him. The simplicity is important if you are going to draw a character a lot, and if you want their facial expressions to be readable (though this does not excuse people for making clock designs on Redbubble with no numbers or dots or anything. Waste of gears. PLEASE MAKE YOUR CLOCKS USEABLE REDBUBBLERS!!! This is very off track sorry.) When I draw him I like to give him a little tail. Yay. Also I like how his clock hands are a darker blue than his case.
Personality aspects I like
Oh boy. Oh boy oh boy oh boy. I need to keep this short but ohhh man. I know I already said a lot of his personality traits are annoying, but SO MUCH resonate with me as well. Once again for autism reasons, but also for BPD reasons. Sorry for armchair diagnosing a fictional clock. It will probably happen again. One thing I like about Clock is that even when he can be a bit blunt or judgemental, he never seems to hold any strong grudges oddly enough? He is upset with Ice Cube in BFB 1 for.. tormenting Teardrop I guess? But in TPOT the two join the same team, and seem to have a more positive relationship! I think he comes off more extreme than he realizes at times despite generally having (at least what he believes are) good intentions. I enjoy his urgency to help others (especially his team) and I really enjoy how he talks in TPOT, because it reminds me of how I talk sometimes. I am not sure how to explain it. And, while it does cause a lot of the traits I find annoying, I do enjoy his intense interest/passion for Winner and Loser (while not enjoying the things it leads him to do..) I also find his moments of frustration kind of entertaining, and sometimes even his bluntness. Despite his flaws being INCREDIBLY ANNOYING at times, I can't help feeling a bit entertained by them sometimes as well.
Conclusion
I probably haven't listed everything... Admittedly, my memory of media I consume has been a bit fleeting (I will forget a lot of it within days!!) but still!!! I love these characters!! Yes, they are flawed, and yes, there are some parts of them that make me think "why do I even like this guy so much?!" but alas... I like them. If anybody would like a part 2 let me know!! And feel free to share your own favorite characters in the comment section if you'd like to tell me about them =) !!! Also, sorry if I got any facts terribly wrong, again, my memory hasn't been great this year! Feel free to politely correct me if you feel you must!
