Hone Ropata

Hone arrived to the clinic in May 1992 following a stint in Guatemala and instantly clashed with several of the staff due to his unorthodox methods. Hone's fiancé Claire Lloyd (Annie Stanford) soon arrived but the couple broke up when it turned out she had been sleeping with both Chris Warner (Michael Galvin) and Michael McKenna (Paul Gittins). Hone grew close to co-worker Meredith Fleming's (Stephanie Wilkin) son Andrew (Ezra Woods) and became a father figure to him, eventually drawing him into a relationship with Meredith. In 1993 Meredith dumped Hone after several months and he flatted with Jenny (Maggie Harper) and Nick Harrison (Karl Burnett) and later, Chris Warner. Following an appearance on a current affairs show, Hone began to be harassed by an unseen assailant. Hone soon discovered it was a fellow doctor, Te Aniwa Ryan (Moana Maniapoto-Jackson) who disagreed with his medical views. Nonetheless, the two overcame their issues and became a couple. In 1994 Hone cheated on Te Aniwa with Hillary (Susan Brady), ending his relationship for an affair that was short lived.

Several months into the year, Hone disappeared without a trace and upon his return, it was revealed he had illegally snuck a refugee into the country. Michael fired Hone but later welcomed him back to the clinic. Hone's nephew Manny (Albert Belz) arrived to stay with Hone but got into trouble with gangs. Whilst defending his nephew, Hone punched a gang member and was shocked when Chris declared the man dead. Hone was arrested on a murder charge but was cleared and began to date his lawyer Caitlin Devereux (Sarah Smuts-Kennedy), who left her husband for him. After the trial in 1995, Hone and Caitlin decided to set up a clinic on the East Coast and the couple departed Ferndale with the assistance of Chris and Carmen (Theresa Healey). 13 years later, Hone returned to the hospital to audit the hospital under the supervision of Martha Riley (Jacque Drew). Chris and TK Samuels (Benjamin Mitchell) soon came to realize that Hone was seriously mentally unstable following a series of murders and rapes in his clinic in Africa. Hone replaced Chris as the hospital's Chief Executive Officer but quickly tired of the job and began an affair with Tania Jeffries (Faye Smythe). However Hone soon came to realize his fragile mentality and broke it off with Tania and fled to Australia. In 2012 Chris told Henare Ngatai (George Henare) that the two had previously been introduced by Hone.

Upon the show's first airing, OnFilm Magazine critic Wendyl Nissen praised Morrison in his role as Hone, stating he was a natural.^[15] The character was immortalized in New Zealand television history after Carrie Burton's line to him ("you're not in Guatemala now, Dr Ropata") in the first episode gained pop culture significance.^[9][16] On Morrison's first day back of shooting in March 2008, the crew members wore T-shirts donning the phrase.^[9] The character was considered a "heart throb".^[17] Hone's return in 2008 received mixed reviews, Charlotte Cowan of Entertainment Fix criticized Hone's 2008 return and named it in a series of disappointing return storylines on the soap.^[18] Michelle Hewitson on the other hand was a lot more positive, calling it a "brilliant idea" and praising the reunion between Hone and Chris Warner (Michael Galvin).^[10] The Shortland Street website also listed Hone's return as the 3rd best ever character return in the soap's history in a 2013 collated list.^[19] In 2012, the character was named as one of the standout characters of the show's first 20 years.^[20] In 2017 Ricardo Simich expressed his desire for Hone to return for the soap opera's 25th anniversary saying it was a "must" as he was the recipient of the shows most famous line.^[21] The same year, stuff.co.nz journalist Fleur Mealing named Hone as the top character she most wanted to return for the show's 25th anniversary.^[22] The New Zealand Woman's Day magazine listed Hone as the 5th best character of the soap's first 25 years.^[23]