Tom Turkey should've been a playable character instead of a caged decoration.

amcevil wrote:
I think it's pretty much a given at this point that everyone would prefer it if all characters were playable, that seems to be the consensus around here anyway. Though, it's highly unlikely that EA will be doing that.

Which leads to this question:

Has there ever been a character that was initially released as an NPC and then later gained tasks? (I can't think of any at all)

no but they do have unique characters
perhaps this character will be unique as well.