Why Did Mako Stick Around in TLOK?

[CharlesPhipps]

There's plenty you can do with Mako.

Making him a heroic platonic friend to Korra is the obvious way to go with him. However, they didn't.

For whatever reason, the writers chose to write him as deeply unlikable.

[Admiral X]

I think a lot of writers make the mistake of thinking that in order to break a couple up, they have to make one out to the an asshole. And since Korra is the protagonist, obviously they went after Mako.

[Deledrius]

I really feel like the show never knew what to do with... pretty much any of its cast besides Korra.

I think it's not hard to make an argument that they didn't know what to do with Korra either, given the constant back-pedaling and rehashing her development went through. She's a one-note protagonist throughout most of the show, with only the final season really having anything "stick" and lead her to examine her worldview. Even then, only barely...

I think a lot of writers make the mistake of thinking that in order to break a couple up, they have to make one out to the an asshole. And since Korra is the protagonist, obviously they went after Mako.

Yup.

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

Everybody Hates Mako
https://www.deviantart.com/neodusk/art/ ... -407122268

[Winter]

For me Mako is a lot like Jonah from the resent Tomb Raider games. A rather bland and forgettable personality, (what little there is), is mostly useless, adds little to nothing to the plot or Lara's character, his most notable contributions to the series is making the situation worse and pales in comparison to Lara/Korra's other friend, Asami for Korra Sam for Lara.

Both Asami and Sam are great characters in their own right and, as Chuck said, when you're forced to work with a character limit your work with a character you're have to make their every scene count. Asami and Sam are, in my most humble opinion, every bit as awesome as Korra and Lara with both being fully fleshed out three denominational characters in their own right who prove to be as smart and as strong as the respective series protagonists.

Mako and Jonah feel like they're here just to be there and no real thought is given to their characters. Both are a interesting case of taking a certain character type, (the dark brooding bad boy for Mako and the Gentle Giant Big Brother for Jonah) and making them as interesting, and as useful, as dry wall. Though I will say that Mako is at least a little bit useful in the series as he does at least help out in a few fights while Jonah spends most of his time getting captured (seriously Jonah's captured count is currently up to 6 or 7 and if we include the comics 11 or 12 while Sam has only captured 5 times (and she managed to save herself at least three of those times)).

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

Does this mean you ship Lara Croft with Sam?

[Winter]

Does this mean you ship Lara Croft with Sam?

Like you wouldn't believe, they're just so cute together and I honestly think they should get together. However, I am okay with the two remaining ambiguous, I mean if Link and Zelda's relationship can be left unanswered then surely so can Lara and Sam. But really even if you removed Lara from the equation I would still love Sam mainly for the same reason I love Asami, Korra, Lara and Mara Jade, they are all people who have gone through a great deal of trauma and yet they refuse to let it fully break them.

I honestly love Sam so much that I actually made a Patreon request to Linkara to talk about one of the comic arcs where Sam was heavily involved in and I'm really hoping that he sees why I've come to love this series and Sam in particular. So I do ship Lara and Sam but I love Sam because she's a great character in her own right just like I do with Asami.

[Madner Kami]

Where's the interest in Sam coming from anyways? I played the first Tomb Raider remake, liked the game, didn't care for any of the characters because they behaved like complete idiots for the most part and Lara was kinda meh with a character-arc I just could not follow. I remember Sam only as a wet blanket and the game's constant Damsel in Distress.

[Winter]

Where's the interest in Sam coming from anyways? I played the first Tomb Raider remake, liked the game, didn't care for any of the characters because they behaved like complete idiots for the most part and Lara was kinda meh with a character-arc I just could not follow. I remember Sam only as a wet blanket and the game's constant Damsel in Distress.

A bug chunk as to why Sam is one of my favorite character is mostly down to how she was written in the comics where writers Gail Simone, Rhianna Pratchett and others really took the time to flesh out her character and gave her a proper arc along with giving her a number of really awesome moments. Chief among them being Sam stabbing a bull shark in the eye with her necklace, saving Lara from a culter leader and having a battle of wills with a demigod and Winning!

As for her role in the first game, A Survivor is Born, I can't really agree to the notion that she was a wet blanket as most of her freak outs are understandable, (I don't think anyone would be calm when people are talking about burning you alive). Also Sam only got captured two times in the entire game and the second time was actually Jonah's fault because he thought that Whitman could be trusted even after Lara flat out tells him not to trust the obvious traitor.

And just going off the games Sam has actually proven to be more useful then Jonah has in the entire series. She helped fund the voyage to Yamatai, managed to contact Lara and tell her where she was being held, got through the Solarii base after Lara freed her and even killed a few Solarii along the way. Stood up to Reyes when she started to blame Lara for their situation and managed to keep Himiko from possessing her long enough for Lara to help her.

And like I said before, Jonah has gotten captured more times then Sam has (6 or 7 times in the games alone and 11 or 12 times when we count the comics) and has accused Lara of being selfish for wanting to save the world no less then three times and has nearly doomed the world due to sheer stupidity on his part.

But back over to Sam the reason I have grown to love her so much is because she is a great character thanks to the great writing she got in the comics and the pretty good writing of the first game. In fact Sam was originally suppose to die but test players hated that as they had grown to like Sam and Lara and wanted them both to get off the island.

For me Sam is not a useless damsel but a really great character and I know I'm not alone in that as that is the same opinion that has been held by Every writer who has worked on her in the series so far and I really hope she returns so she and Lara can mend their relationship.

[Madner Kami]

I see.