Bastion Doesn’t Feel Like a Real Character BUT He’s Crucial to X-Men 97
People don’t understand the nuances of character in comics and scifi
Senator Kelly matters, that’s a real character. Even if you don’t see him much, you know who he is. There’s hundreds of bigoted politicians always walking around with their head up their ass. Dr. Valerie Cooper is that one liberal who always has to hold the political coalition around your neck like some leash.
There’s many other characters too but Bastion is like Master Mold and Nimrod. He doesn’t hate mutants. He is an animal with an instinct to hunt them.
He has no backstory with emotional weight.
Nothing you can relate to or hate on a personal level.
And that’s necessary.
Because Bastion isn’t anybody, he doesn’t matter. He is a way of externalizing the hate of humans in the show. Humans are on their way to progress in hating mutants less but Bastion crystallizes their hate, gives it a face.
But also, he can’t evolve so he’s effectively a mirror. He reflects the truth of their hatred right back on them.
He shows them at their worst and shows how little they’ve progressed since.
