Hello and welcome to the BFB Brie F B reakdown, where we talk about BFB characters.
This time, we'll talk about Nickel.
No, not this Nickel.
Or this Nickel.
It's this one.
In fact, let's get it out of the way, it's hard to talk about this one without
mentioning this one, because despite being pretty different characters, comparisons
are inevitably drawn between the two
by virtue of them being the same object.
Even if those comparisons are just "I like this one more"
Also, this Nickel is probably seen as meaner and deeper,
while this one is probably seen as quirkier.
Personally, I think this one is easier to read.
He's sarcastic, quippy, arrogant, cliquey, expects respect that he doesn't give people,
only treats their closest friend well, and so on.
All traits that are directly associated to the 'sarcastic' archetype, and I believe
it's fair to say this Nickel could be boiled down to 'the sarcastic' character
Like Noah, from Total Drama.
Archetypes are familiar, and it's not necessarily bad to make a character that is based on one
But everything you do, be it deviating from the norm or following the norm to a tee,
sort of gets compared down to the basic framework.
And thus the character is easier to understand
This, however, doesn't mean that characters based on an archetype are necessarily better or worse
than characters that aren't based on an archetype, and vice versa.
It just means that characters that are based on archetypes are a little bit easier to grasp
since we can see when you're playing the archetype straight or when you're trying to subvert it.
This Nickel is a lot harder to read because, well, he doesn't really follow an archetype.
Let's break it down.
So depending on the situation, Nickel can be pessimistic, he can be helping, he can be
freaking out, making light of everything, rolying polying on
a guacamole, or, not even bothering to try.
These actions might seem mismatched at first but they do follow a common thread.
Nickel seems to be a fatalist.
Not *just* in the literal sense of the word but also in the sense that he doesn't seem to really care about the show
(or, well, anything), to be *super* invested in any outcome,
at least to the point of taking an active role in changing the course of things
It's worth pointing out that it's just not in the literal sense of the word fatalist
because death not being *that* big of a deal is a recurring theme in the BFB Universe
So the term 'fatalist' carries a different weight there.
Uh, but Nickel's that too!
So, Leafy wants to boss me around on the challenge?
Sure, whatever, arguing is going to be *more* of a bother.
Match doesn't want to let me have any break time when I've been cranking for a day?
Sure, I'll be disgruntled, I'll call her a poo poo face, but why bother fighting against it, I'll accept what's
going on and go back to cranking.
Nickel actually doesn't even seem to contest the switch in BFDIA (even though he's the first character
that is both capable of contesting it, and against it)
The most extreme example of this is when there was an worry that the Hand Powered Hand Powered
Recovery Center Creator could explode and kill them all *for* good.
Even Coiny's comment about them being the Final 6 because everyone is dead (while
also pretty dark, going along w/ the whole BFDIA 5 atmosphere), doesn't stop them from
working towards building a recovery center after the competition is over.
For Nickel, dying there would be it.
It's the moment one where he can't afford to not care… and he doesn't care.
Nickel straight up says he's lazy and will risk the chances of dying because ehhh, what
can you do.
It's not that losses or negative outcomes don't bother him, and it's not that he *wants*
to lose or that he wants to die, it's more that fighting against it is just too much of a bother
So he'll rather take the chances and, for example, draw during the challenge.
Because that's more fun.
And you know, losing like that is fine, it's j-
just a small amount of annoyance that he can tolerate.
The only time when he really 'contests' something is when Four tries to dehumanize him
in Episode 6 of BFB (which is maybe the first time something really cuts deep to Nickel)
Because you know, Nickel might be passive,
but he doesn't want to be addressed as such. He doesn't want to be called an object.
And even then, that reaction is an impulsive reaction, it's not something that he really thought through
And it's something that he immediately regrets after seeing the possible consequences
- of being zapped by Four
If he thought about those consequences before speaking out
he wouldn't have said those words.
And what I think is really cool about him is that characters like these are usually
grumpy and constantly cynical and well, sort of one note, which isn't the case with Nickel.
Just as he goes with the flow challenge wise and just as he thinks a loss is an inevitability
sometimes so whatever, he's also, well, kind of a little kid.
He'll play with Spongy (w/ the poppers in BFB7), he'll say he's 'saved from the zappies'
and stuff like that, he'll call Match a Poo Poo Face,
he'll meme and play Fortnite or whatever (he doesn't actually play fortnite shh),
even, again, you know, making light of the situation.
In a sense, it feels like Baby's first 'nihilist' streak.
A kid growing just a bit jaded and not wanting to fight the world back, but still a kid,
making the most of things.
What i mean is that overall that's pretty believable, and it's nice when these moments
shine through the colder pessimistic/can't be bothered ones.
Lately, he's been growing more antagonistic to the team, likely because BEEP is just *so*
incompetent jesus christ.
And while he's still not taking a lot of like active roles in preventing losses if it's
bothersome or impactful (like not being able to throw cus he doesn't have arms), he's one
of the few members of the team that is aware losses matter AND could lead to elimination.
Baby boy Woody is just too caught up on his fears to do anything about it, Cloudy has been incapacitated
recently with the Orange Juice/Bandage situation, Roboty is pretty detached from the competition
as well (though for different reasons) and isn't exactly the easiest to talk to, Rocky
is mute and seemingly oblivious to things, and David's straight up antagonistic and unhelpful.
Leafy was bossy, and that was annoying for Nickel, sure, but being bossed around was
something he could halfway tolerate, and at least Leafy took an *active* role in winning.
Which meant Nickel didn't need to take an active role in winning!
After Balloony comes back, as well, it seems like he was more worried about Nickel harming
Woody (which was the barebones Nickel could do to help) than winning.
From Nickel's point of view, Balloony turned what should be a simple, not-bothersome, non-stakes
scenario into a conflict for seemingly no reason whatsoever.
And that annoyed him.
Because scaring Woody with the fork was something that took no effort
that Nickel could to push the team just a little closer to winning
And Balloony turned that something that shouldn't be bothersome, that shouldn't take any effort at all,
and turned it into an actual fight.
It's been a fun development, and I'd like to see where that story goes down the road,
but I also hope for some more light-hearted moments before BEEP loses for the fourth time.
I won't go over Nickel's short stint in BFDI because most of the RCs weren't really
characters by that point, and with a few exceptions (which i'll bring up when we get to them)
not much there relates directly to their characters.
i guess with nickel you could make the case that the loss in the debut helped shape him
into the pessimist that he's kind of today, but eh, i at least don't think that's
particularly useful in the grand scheme of things.
With all that said, while I certainly prefer this Nickel to this Nickel, I don't
actually find this Nickel that impressive.
Yes, I did manage to talk about him for this long, and yes, his character is consistent
and has a reasonable amount of depth, but besides some good jokes,
he doesn't really deliver *the goods* as much as other contestants.
He's fun & kinda interesting, but not much beyond that, at least for now.
While I don't have a definite least favourite BFB character, because I enjoy everyone and they
all have their good moments,
Nickel is a contender for that position.
I don't think he'd bother complaining about that, though.
So, there you have it!
I've been planning to do this video for a while, but kept postponing it and here we are!
I want to make more of these kinds of videos analysing object shows, talking about characters,
episodes, writing & tools, so hopefully you'll stick around!
If you have any topic you'd like to see me tackle next, feel free to post it down on the comments.
We have a lot of ground left to cover.
And I hope, even if just a little
I can push the object show community towards more of these kinds of deep analysis and stuff.
It's a lot of fun to do analysis and it's a lot of fun to, y'know, think about stuff!
And I hope we can get the discourse a little past the usual buzzwords of
'bland' and 'overrated' and 'sympathy collector' and stuff like that.
So, y'know, we have a *looot* of ground left to cover.
I hope you stick with me!
It's it's gonna be a journey
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