LogFAQs > #966573220

#50: Mento (Steve Dayton)
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/0/4/5/AAQcMAAADc9V.png

When I started making this list, I never thought I would put Mento here, but the more I thought about him, the more I adore him.

The Doom Patrol is full of broken people. They aren't in the Doom Patrol because they have problems, because if they merely had problems, they would have been in the Doom Patrol and left. The Doom Patrol is the Doom Patrol because they can't be fixed.

Mento's problem is that he is the biggest asshole in the world.

Living in the very top floor of our base Z'onn Z'orr is this son of a bitch. Mento's helmet unlocks the full potential of the mind, and with it on Mento provides a mental shield that hides the presence of our entire resistance. Without him, we will die. And Mento knows it, he knows he is possibly the single most valuable person in Z'onn Z'orr, and with that knowledge comes an ego just as big. No secret is safe from Mento, and he'll be sure to tell yours if given the chance, whether it's your shameful past as a formerly married woman, or your true species that would cause a terror if that identity was known.

And if you try to get on his good side and get him to do favors for you, you might end up even worse than that. Bloodfruit (JB's fairy) asked Mento to provide a prisoner, Fright, some relief from living in constant terror. Mento did just that. Now Fright is incapable of feeling anything. Mento patted himself on the back for being such a good guy. What an asshole.

On the flip side of Mento is Steve Dayton. Without his helmet, Mento becomes just Steve Dayton, the most pathetic man in the world. He just wants to lay down on the floor and mourn how useless he is without the helmet, and on top of that he doesn't particularly want the helmet, for he's seen firsthand the harm people who wear it bring to those around him.

If Steve Dayton had a fraction of the power Mento does, he could be a great hero. If Mento had a fraction of the humanity and humility Steve Dayton does, he could be the greatest hero. Instead they're miles and miles apart from one another.

But what truly places Mento on this list is his relationship with his guard, Tommy Jagger. Someone needs to guard Mento, to keep watch on him, and that responsibility fell onto Jagger. When our base was attacked, Jagger was taken down physically, and even Mento fell prey to the plot from an assault of fear on his mind. In the aftermath, Mento asked for Jagger to leave him be, for Jagger needed to recover his wounds. Was this just frustration at his guard having failed so spectacularly in his duties, or did Jagger break through so Mento ever so slightly has concern for someone? I don't know, and Mento, being Mento, is hard to approach on the subject even if you can manage to put up with him.

Hint For #49: This character is not American.