Which Character's Arc Disappointed You The Most?

So I was doing a re-watch of Vrains and I was reminded of how frustrated I was seeing the evolution of the character of Go Onizuka, and I feel the need to rant about it.

The DVD cover working overtime to hype up the rematch

I remember when I first saw season 1, I wasn't the biggest fan of him or Blue Angel. From what I understand, both of them were leftovers from the original pitch of Vrains where Charisma Duelists were a major focus and is why they feel so alien to the plot of the first season. Nevertheless I have since come to like them and it was so jarring to turn to Season 2 and suddenly Onizuka is an antagonist. That's when it struck me why part of Onizuka's face-heel turn doesn't work - it's the classic show don't tell problem. Clearly given all the clip show episodes in season 1, but there must have been a lot chopping and changing and Onizuka's descent into villainy was not planned ahead of time as all we get upon his return in season 2 of an explanation is a quick flashback of how he was jealous of Playmaker getting all the credit for stopping the Hanoi.

For reference Zane is one of my favorite characters from the entire franchise and Onizuka desperately needed an entire episode dedicated to a similar kind of fall from grace that would push him into villainy. We learned in Season 1 that Onizuka got into Duel Monsters because it gave him a thrill when otherwise living in the orphanage was dull and bleak and this developed into him becoming an inspiration to the younger orphans who looked up to Onizuka as a hero as he donated his winnings to funding them. But come Season 2 you could have spun that into something darker, Sol Technologies have begun to regulate Charisma Duelists much heavier, forbidding Speed Duels and generally sanitizing them so they lose their appeal to the public. With his popularity waning, Onizuka desires to recapture the adrenaline thrill he experienced fighting Revolver and the Hanoi and so he signed up to become a Bounty Hunter, publicly masking the career change as wanting to clean up Link Vrains of cyber criminals instead of fighting for himself. Then we progress with the main plot as normal, just sprinkling in some extra details like how Onizuka gradually stopped visiting the kids, just telling his manager to handle wiring the orphanage monthly payments as his addiction to fighting strong people slowly took over and replaces his original motivation for dueling.

The other problem I have with Onizuka's character arc is how they handled his relationship with Earth, both during his assimilation with the Ai Chip and the subsequent fallout. The elephant in the room is Spectre who is Earth's Origin and yet has no direct interactions with Onizuka. Apparently this is another case of real life writing the plot as I hear that Spectre's VA was unavailable at the time which is why he's barely in Seasons 2 and 3. To give Spectre a form of character arc, I would actually have him be the one to defeat Onizuka in Season 2 and push the Playmaker rematch back into Season 3. We saw with Spectre crying when he sensed Earth's death that some kind of mental link persists between an Ignis and their Origin, so I would expand on that and reveal that when an Ignis dies, their thoughts and feelings feedback into their Origin. This would cause Spectre to want to stop Onizuka from capturing Aqua and would facilitate his redemption by protecting Blue Maiden when he had previously tortured her as Blue Angel. Facing down Earth's Origin causes weird glitches in Onizuka's Brain Chip as the remnants of Earth's data are fighting Onizuka from the inside - stopping his Anti Skill from activating and together Spectre/Earth manage to overcome the stronger Onizuka since Sunavalon being a pure Link deck is at a disadvantage in Speed Duel format which as Revolver mentioned limits the power of Link Monsters.

Then we get to Season 3 and this is where my most radical thoughts about fixing Onizuka's character arc comes in. Whilst he would still have the Brain Chip removed, the negative effects would be permanent and Onizuka would be in a constant state of Link-Sense, unable to tell the difference between the virtual and reality. He is approached by Ai who has undergone his own Face-Heel Turn and recruits Onizuka, promising him a cure if he helps him obtain the SOLtiS androids and Queen's location. Obviously Ai does not really forgive Onizuka for his hand in Earth's death and the "cure" is just him wanting to use Onizuka as a guinea pig for his plan involving the assimilation of human consciousness. But whilst he is working as Ai's lackey, Onizuka is haunted by the "digital ghost" of Earth's data that lingers within Onizuka's brain and who appeals to his humanity and reminds him that the hero the little orphans looked up to wouldn't approve of his actions now. Onizuka undergoes some serious reflection which is paralleled by his deck now becoming a hybrid of Gouki and Dinowrestler. Referencing his use of avatar disguises in Season 1, Onizuka leads Playmaker into Link Vrains where he can thwart Ai's plans but also reveals himself to be the guard dog whom Playmaker must overcome. Their epic rematch ensues and Onizuka gets to go out with a bang as he summons the fusion of his ace Gouki and Dinowrestler monsters (which came out last Set IRL). Ultimately Playmaker triumphs and promises if they live, he'll do everything he can to get that cure for Onizuka. Then when the series epilogue comes around you show a recovering Onizuka being visited by the orphanage kids and he promises to be their hero once more.

Okay rant over. TL;DR Vrains had the potential to be one of the best YGO shows but sadly was knee-capped by too much IRL business. What about you guys, whose character arc disappointed/frustrated you the most and how would you go about fixing it?