eh.. I think Killer B is way more than your term "pathetic" which is a bit extreme for such character, that word pathetic would fit fodder characters like Ebisu.
-Bee kept his inner peace intact even as a child and became the village's strongest Jinchuriki for his brother, Raikage's political sake. Raikage's not even his blood-related brother, but what he is doing for his village is very respectable. (except for the part where he ran away for some vacation time)
-He is ALWAYS prepared in battle or any type of confrontation. As proved against Minato.
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-Bee destroyed Taka and killed the leader (Sasuke) twice. Sasuke survived thanks to his teammates.
-Bee protected his Enka master and the over sized raccoon during the entire battle with Kisame. He thought of their safety before his own. He managed to blow a hole in Kisame's torso, Kisame survived thanks to Samehada. It's really Samehada that was hurting Bee more than Kisame himself. Now, Samehada is Bee's bitch. Basically a power-up here for him.
-Bee's lariat is superior to the Raikage's. Bee was in his base form and Raikage used his Lightning Release Armor but Bee still won that Lariat contest.
-Bee already got in Edo Itachi's genjutsu before and he broke out of it quickly. I know it might not be Itachi's strongest genjutsu but Bee proved he could hold on his own.
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-Bee is keeping Iruka's words and he is protecting Naruto as much as he can against Tobi and his Bijuus. Again, someone else's safety comes before his own. He looks exhausted in that battle but he isn't close to backing down. Any pathetic character would.
He has many other skills that are admirable such as wielding 7 swords (really, who fights with seven blades?), ink clones that solidifies, hachibi transformations, partial transformations (arm turning to tentacle) and his passion for rapping (even though he isn't that good of a rapper).
To top it off, Killer Bee is an excellent addition to the manga, the introduction of Killer Bee set off a chain of introducing many new Cloud villagers. He greatly helped Naruto, the central character, to develop into a powerful shinobi.
Of course, you are entitled to your opinion and I respect that. What I just said above are my opinions on why Killer Bee isn't anywhere near "pathetic".