A profile in mediocrity: Otaki

I did not make it to the comic book store due to bad weather in the northeast so I did not get Electric Warriors #1 from my LCS.  I hope to get it for next week.  Besides my schedule is off since I just did a "review" last week.  So I'll try something a little different this time.

Otaki was a character from the Retroboot, appearing in a handful of issues from volume 7.  Presumably, she was part of a new class at the Academy after Comet Queen and the others moved up. 

Bina Nawoti was Titanian, or possibly half-Titanian.  I have no problems with the Legion constantly screening new telepaths.  There is no moratorium on having more than one telepath especially when you have Tellus who has both telepathy and telekinesis.  Tellus wasn't around at this time and Saturn Girl was back to reserve membership.  In the course of the story, Otaki's powers add little, so that's probably why she was a throwaway character.

I have criticized Levitz for creating Otaki and Mwindaji (another student appearing at the same time) and making them terrible characters.  While Legion Lost sales weren't as good as vol 7, there was still no guarantee Levitz was getting them back soon.  So why not create some engaging characters?

Otaki's telepathy was called "mindsense."  Don't ask me what it means, as we are never given any indication of what all she can do.  She could have been just an empath (shades of Deanna Troi here) but all we get is the panel below to give us something.  Bad move. 

Now, I would not mind an empath in the Legion, someone to read and/or inflict emotions in others.  This would still give a niche to the character.  Based on the range comment, it would have been cool if she was some type of network telepath, able to connect minds across great distances.  Nope.  She has mind control powers.  Mind control powers always appear in the Legion stories and they are lame, lame, lame.  She was pretty bad at it too as she is easily defeated by a non-telepath.

While she appears to be Asian, I sorta wish she was something else, considering we had both Dragonwing and Harmonia in the Legion at the time.  Now, someone told me that Otaki was the Japanese word for Waterfall.  I tried to verify it and O taki means "contact waterfall."  Most searches for the word Otaki come up to a place in New Zealand but there were also some Japanese villages named Otaki.  Otaki is also a type of Japanese Maple tree.  Otaki is also the name of a sushi restaurant on Long Island, so take your pick!

Could Otaki be salvaged as a character?  Sure!  I try to believe all characters have some potential, but not in her current state.  Fix those powers and then we'll talk.  Or just create a better character.  There are too many female characters in the Legion lore with mind control powers already.