Welcome to the Anime Walk of Fame, a series of retrospectives on the many characters of the anime world. You'll see all your favorites along with a few that deserve more than their reputations give.

So sit back relax and enjoy the show.

Mathilda Should've Been the 5th Bladebreaker

Yes, the pixie Beyblader of Barthez Battalion, Mathilda should've been the 5th Bladebreaker.

The Barthez Battalion is a team with a history of cheating although looking at Mathilda and even the other team members, it's clear that it's against their will, Mathilda getting hit particularly hard by this when she's told to shatter her Beyblade to take out Daichi, but her teammates share a strong enough bond to band together and get her back on her feet, expect team reviews to follow these character reviews as Barthez Battalion is fascinating to analyse compared to real life sports teams.
Now why do I think she's suitable for the Bladebreakers?
1. Her design shouts marketable beyblader as she looks most the part compared to the others, the designs of the other female characters make it obvious they were designed for a themed team but Mathilda can be any team as her design is contemporary for the franchise she's in.
2. Her design itself is sporty and has the one thing missing from an anime like this, goggles, she also has an obvious pink ranger vibe and comes into the team with a clean slate so good news shippers, she can be paired with any one.
3. If you don't believe me on her design, sequel series Metal Fight Beyblade's main female Madoka Amano is basically Mathilda as a brunette with added mechanic skills.
4. She's just flat out adorable, although I prefer Mariam and Julia as characters, Mathilda is a worthy bronze medal.
But were stuck with Scrappy-Doo Daichi, so what can you do?

Ray and Driger Have an Interesting Bond

The bit beast thing isn't really that noticeable but then there's Ray.

Ray inherited Driger to lead the White Tigers, he's an all-rounder who doesn't always find himself on the right path but out of all the Bladebreakers, Ray is the one who communicates with his bit beast the most, although Driger doesn't talk, he always makes his feelings known through subtle actions and is surprisingly never stolen, Driger instead disappearing after defeating Bryan in season 1 and I think the same thing happened in V-Force after a tie against Gordo.
Bit beasts are a major part of Beyblade but really only Ray sees his beast as a companion over every other blader who uses a master and servant dynamic, even Tyson who spoke to Dragoon doesn't have the same dynamic as Ray does.

Mariah is Just Ship Bait

No, Mariah is not my pick for fifth Bladebreaker, keep guessing.

Mariah is a member of the White Tigers and Lee's sister, she originally challenged Ray in season 1 but fell in love with Ray losing the battle for her team, she didn't do much after and is far from even being the best female blader losing out to Julia, Mariam and Ming-Ming.
The sad thing is, she's the most qualified to be the fifth Bladebreaker as her love for Ray is canon, so her only role is being ship bait, one of the worst titles I can bestow on a female character.
She's just not made to be anything more and between her and Emily made for a painful run in season 1 for female characters in general.

Hilary is No Different to Anzu From Yu-Gi-Oh

No Hilary is not the one who should be the fifth Bladebreaker but keep guessing if you're playing along.

Hilary was introduced as the no nonsense class president known as the Wicked Witch of 8th Grade back in V-Force, but found that she was getting dragged into Tyson's beyblading world the longer she was around him, this would later lead her to becoming the coach of the Bladebreakers after suggesting the team goes back to basics when the magnacore was introduced in V-Force, this was backed up by Kai, since then she's stuck by ever since with her only attempt at blading being a humorous moment attempting to be an idol.
I bring up Anzu from Yu-Gi-Oh as their roles are very much the same, a good cheerleader and a supportive friend, just a pity that they add absolutely nothing to the series and doesn't really make a good case for female characters in the franchise.

Daichi is the Worst Case of Scrappy Doo

Before I get to Daichi, a history lesson.

For those much younger, Scrappy Doo was a Scooby Doo character introduced in the 80s to try and boost the declining series, he wasn't well received and is outright hated for being extremely irritating and often stealing the spotlight from Scooby and Shaggy.
In the context of the trope, the Scrappy character is annoying by default, wasn't really asked for to begin with and left overall no impact on the show, Daichi became this in less than ten minutes.
He originates from the movie but was given a more prominent role in season 3 as the 5th Bladebreaker and as a partner to Tyson, he's meant to represent the wild untamed part of Beyblading, even more old school than Ray, unfortunately he spends most of his time trying and failing to beat Tyson and barely anyone else really, his win/lose record is dreadful so he fills all the criteria for worst Beyblade character and my main complaint with his inclusion being he took away a slot on the Bladebreakers better suited to a female character especially when matched against Ming Ming.
Traditionally a five character team is made up of four males and a female, Metal Fight Beyblade even remembered to do this, but which female Beyblade character would've suited the role of 5th blader?
I'll leave you guessing as I'll reveal later this week who it should've been.
You get no clues.