Was sasuke the villain or the anti-hero?
- Thread starter Zenobs
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Dissonant Values
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Good question.
Sasuke is never truly the villain in his own right though he exhibits tendencies that set him outside the boundaries of conventional morality which by definition would make him an Anti-Hero.
However, Sasuke more closely fits into the category of "Dynamic Protagonist." A central character that is written to have specific goals and missions that must be achieved in order to grow or change as a character.
These changes can be simple or profound:
The outer journey (a physical mission, goal or task), which the hero sets out on by the end of act one.
Sasuke's goal in act one. His need for power in order to confront Itachi and the side effects thereof which lead him to do many things typically associated with a villain.
The inner journey (character arc) initiated from page one in the form of the personality or character flaw with which your protagonist starts the story.
This is where it gets complicated. After Sasuke kills Itachi, there's a muddy period where it's difficult to tell which role he is playing. Basically during the entire Five Kage Summit up until Sasuke killing White Zetsu he plays the part of Foil to Naruto. His actions contrast to Naruto's as equal and opposite. After Itachi is revived Sasuke becomes a more traditional anti-hero whose actions may not always be commendable or in line with the readers morality but he is integral and a central character nonetheless. Sasuke is a perfect example of a "Round" character. This is usually a character in literature or media who is depicted as being complicated and troubled.
Sasuke is never truly the villain in his own right though he exhibits tendencies that set him outside the boundaries of conventional morality which by definition would make him an Anti-Hero.
However, Sasuke more closely fits into the category of "Dynamic Protagonist." A central character that is written to have specific goals and missions that must be achieved in order to grow or change as a character.
These changes can be simple or profound:
The outer journey (a physical mission, goal or task), which the hero sets out on by the end of act one.
Sasuke's goal in act one. His need for power in order to confront Itachi and the side effects thereof which lead him to do many things typically associated with a villain.
The inner journey (character arc) initiated from page one in the form of the personality or character flaw with which your protagonist starts the story.
This is where it gets complicated. After Sasuke kills Itachi, there's a muddy period where it's difficult to tell which role he is playing. Basically during the entire Five Kage Summit up until Sasuke killing White Zetsu he plays the part of Foil to Naruto. His actions contrast to Naruto's as equal and opposite. After Itachi is revived Sasuke becomes a more traditional anti-hero whose actions may not always be commendable or in line with the readers morality but he is integral and a central character nonetheless. Sasuke is a perfect example of a "Round" character. This is usually a character in literature or media who is depicted as being complicated and troubled.
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Megax Rocker7
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Umari Senju
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salamander uchiha
Active member
A better question is Naruto a hero or a vilian since he overlooks orchestrated atrocities by konoha yet blabs on about others doing it.
Pain called him out on it and he didn't have an answer
Pain called him out on it and he didn't have an answer
chaos control
Active member
An even better question is: Is Naruto the topic of this thread?
Also, he didn't overlook jack.
OT: Sasuke is neither a hero nor a villain. He is more like a realist who simply reacted to a heinous and grievous tragedy in a way that is quite understandable for any human being with real emotions.