Even Tonks Fans Agree She's the Most Useless Harry Potter Character Ever

Summary:

• Tonks had a spectacular debut in the Harry Potter series and seemed like a plot-relevant character in the future.
• Her unique abilities and ability to communicate with different groups would have made her invaluable to Harry.
• Sadly, Tonks never received any purpose and didn’t affect the events at all, simply existing in the background.

Forget protagonists and antagonists; let’s talk about supporting characters. Some of them have permanent functions, like Hagrid or Dumbledore. Others serve their purpose at certain moments, like Cho Chang or the Weasley twins. But then, some characters have no purpose at all — they just… Exist. They exist, they take up screen time or page space, and they bring absolutely nothing to the table.

Unfortunately, Nymphadora Tonks — who we’ll only refer to as Tonks from this point forth out of love for her — belonged to the latter group. She was utterly pointless.

Tonks Is Everyone’s Favorite for a Reason

When we first meet Tonks in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, she’s an absolute delight. She brings positivity and youthful energy to the otherwise grim and serious group of Dumbledore’s (actual) army, and she’s just old enough to both be the official member of the Order and easily connect with Harry, Ginny, and others.

Tonks is fun, cheerful, has a great sense of humor, and doesn’t bother herself with formalities. What a character, right? No wonder everyone fell in love with her: almost the entire Weasley family wanted Bill to marry her, and we as readers and viewers wanted more Tonks action in the upcoming installments of the Harry Potter series.

But that was all a delusion as that Tonks action never came around.

As a Character, Tonks Served No Purpose

Unfortunately, Tonks never played even a minor part in future events. Unlike other characters who were introduced to just exist in the background, she had quite a spotlight to bathe under at first; and then, she was simply discarded. But why?

Tonks was among the most notable members of the Order and a Metamorphmagus; her unique ability would have made her an invaluable spy ally to Harry during the Horcrux Hunt. Tonks became friends with Ginny and Harry and partners with Lupin; she could have been the much-needed communicator for the Trio and the Order.

But ultimately, Tonks never did any of that — or anything at all, for that matter. Her most important act was finding Harry on the train at the start of The Half-Blood Prince, but even a nameless conductor could have done it plot-wise. Despite her colorful debut in the series and unique character and abilities, she had no purpose.

In the end, knocking things over and being able to change one’s hair color at will is not a personality, and patrolling the grounds and sitting at home is not a purpose.

We love Tonks, but boy was she done dirty.