Who is the best character in the series, in your opinion?

[salamander uchiha]

Adult Sasuke is the best hands down.

Adult Sasuke is caracter development done right.

He's jumped onto Borat's cheerleader bandwagon.

OT: Kakashi and Madara.

 

[Happy Medium]

Yo maybe if your font was a bit fcking bigger i could read your shit. OT: Himawari no debate



shutup stinky favela monkey, uma delicia mother fucker

Sorry, I'll fix it.

 

[DHOH]

Sasuke and Kakashi hands down

 

[HowDidIGetPrem]

Itachi is a cool character tho. Who cares if his development boils down to realizing he can't do everything alone when everything else about him is perfection. Demeanor, backstory, the facade he put up, and the hype.

 

[Icelerate]

My favourite is Temari but the best written would probably be either Gaara, Itachi, Kakashi, Jiraiya or Guy. For villains I'd say Nagato and Madara.

 

[Tauren Chieftain]

Madara and Gai.

 

[salamander uchiha]

Madara and Gai.

I forgot about Gai Sensei.

 

[shelke]

Kakashi's what you would call a shallow character that's created with crowd-pleasing gimmicks. In regards to dynamic and complex characterization, it's Sasuke, and it isn't even close.

To copy the post of a friend:

These days, characters are nothing more than 'vehicles of self-realization', and fictions are divided on binary notions of clear-cut dichotomies. As people adore vicarious living, they look for themselves in these flimsy, poorly constructed characters, and anything that doesn't sit well with their self-image, they lash out. Sasuke's character does everything against these commercialized phenomena. His personality's too well-defined and defies the ideals of 'relatability', which, somehow, have become a benchmark of good-writing; a character, apparently, isn't well-written till he isn't paper-thin enough to be moulded to your needs, like a custom-made, free-size stretch-pants anyone can fit into. Neato!

Imagine a character that's relatable for thousands (a commercial-product to satisfy a neurotic audience’s need for projections). How complex will such a character be? His personality's make-up (or lack thereof) will have to be utterly antithetical to the concept of complexity: the less defined his boundaries, the more accessible he will be. (An every-man's character!) This rise of the 'every-man' in fiction has truly dragged characterization through the cesspools of anti-intellectualism and paradoxes that stand before challenging characters (this concept’s actually covered in books on anti-intellectualism and its rise in society and media): Sasuke's created to confront, to oppose, to subvert a reader's ideals, mores, and expectations. And once a character does that, it's no longer 'relatable', but a character that can't be moulded to fit the much-coveted (but supremely idiotic) 'vehicle of self-realization'.

Sasuke's also very Japanese in nature and encompasses several Japanese ethos and mores. He personifies 'mono no aware', where 'acceptance' of ‘all’ of the individual (along with his faults, flaws, and short-comings) is the key, rather than asking him for redemption and bettering his faults; love and attachment to the past are also the part of this philosophy where 'present is looked through the lens of the past'; Which is why Kishimoto called Sasuke 'pure', as he's always attached to his past, and what he does in the present is an extension of the past, not separate from it.

In the west, redemption and morality are absolute. That's not the case in Japanese classical philosophy. 'Mono no aware' is about the relative nature of morality, whereas the West focuses on 'higher emotions' and absolutes (though they seldom practice it): sacrifice for the greater good and good and evil have clear-cut boundaries. That's the reason why a Western reader demands for 'redemption' are so comical; redemption's a Western thought, and Sasuke defies it as he's moulded in Japanese classical philosophy where vengeance was an honor-bound act. So, if another culture's ideals don't sit well with you, and you absolutely want them to pander to your socio-cultural ideals, then it exposes a deeper and troubling problem (racism and cultural-supremecy) that demands self-evaluation and censure.

Sasuke also harbours and carries, as a single entity, the themes of choice in 'Noh' and 'Kabuki' theaters, which, surprisingly, deal mostly with themes of revenge (really bloody ones at that). The only difference between both of them is when the 'choice' is made: before the play (Noh) or it constitutes the plot (Kabuki). Sasuke embodies both and the gestural and masks aspects are covered well in how the Ocular-show mirrors emotions and defines the clan. Also, the spectator's distance in Noh is metaphorically translated so well into Sasuke's character: he's a true treat to watch, but you can't associate yourself with him and his story's so cut-off from an average man's tale.

Then we have the idea of 'collective justice' in Japan: "Konoha killed innocents in my village (the clan had been relegated to a sort of small village settlement), so it's fair to collectively impart justice upon them as they benefited through my clan's death." It makes sense, too, as no one was tried for war-crimes and Itachi was lauded as a hero by the top-echelon. Danzo's policy that "every child should be killed to prevent future seeds of revenge" works here as well: kill every man, woman, and child in Konoha, so that no one would come seeking revenge. Furthermore, Konoha was actively involved in direct funding for cross-border terrorism (so that village's funding from the Country's Elite wouldn't dry out), slaughtering millions, genocide, pillaging, mindless war-mongering, preying on smaller villages, random-incursions, killing of hard-liners from other villages, etc., so pragmatically, it makes sense to do away with them to end the reign of these morally bankrupt juggernauts.

Sasuke's story plays like the tales of many Samurai stories where heroes set out on a quest for honour. In Japan, family is honour; in the west it isn't. Japan's a culture of shame; West is a culture of power and fear. Sasuke's painfully Japanese from every angle, so disliking a character that carries the cultural markers of that place, and desiring for him to adapt to Western philosophies by discarding their indigenous culture ... I mean, what does that say about the person? Your guess is as good as mine, but it does expose a comical and absurd amount of “illiteracy” in this fandom, which is fun to watch!

So, yeah ... calling Itachi and Kakashi well-written characters is a insult to characterization. At least, the former's a bit better compared to the latter. The latter? Oh boy ...

 

[shelke]

To be honest, that post seems a little reminiscent of the argument that Rick and Morty is only for smart people. But it's a well-written post nonetheless.

Sasuke's a character that's steeped in Japanese culture, tradition, history, and literature and art; so to understand Sasuke, you need to understand the aforementioned factors. All of those themes are a part of Sasuke's character, and like it or not, he's from Japan, written by a Japanese individual. Cultural literacy is a thing.

Nothing about characters like Kakashi and Itachi's even remotely impressive. They're custom-tailored for anime, and that's all they'll ever be: cheap anime characters.

 

[Happy Medium]

Kakashi's what you would call a shallow character that's created with crowd-pleasing gimmicks. In regards to dynamic and complex characterization, it's Sasuke, and it isn't even close.

To copy the post of a friend:



So, yeah ... calling Itachi and Kakashi well-written characters is a insult to characterization. At least, the former a bit better compared to the latter. The latter? Oh boy ...

To be honest, that post seems a little reminiscent of the argument that Rick and Morty is only for intelligent people. But it's a well-written post nonetheless. However, it feels like you're riding on the coat-tail of this post as a method of propagating the idea that Kakashi is a terrible character, when all I'm gathering from the post your referenced is that Kakashi doesn't have as many literary devices implemented into his story. If Kakashi was given the same kind of treatment and development as Sasuke, he could very well be on the same level while still retaining a fair amount of his story-line.

 

[shelke]

To be honest, that post seems a little reminiscent of the argument that Rick and Morty is only for intelligent people. But it's a well-written post nonetheless. However, it feels like you're riding on the coat-tail of this post as a method of propagating the idea that Kakashi is a terrible character, when all I'm gathering from the post your referenced is that Kakashi doesn't have as many literary devices implemented into his story. If Kakashi was given the same kind of treatment and development as Sasuke, he could very well be on the same level while still retaining a fair amount of his story-line.

I know all of these arguments myself, as well. None of these are literary devices: they're cultural markers in modes of art. Kakashi lacks depth. He's terrible in every sense of the word. He showcases none of the trauma (which is very superficial in the manga to begin with), and brushes everything aside with a smile and a mask. These two are gimmicks of "cool-anime-character" tropes that are never expanded.

In regards to the narrative, he's no leverage to affect it in a manner where he would trigger any sort of causality. Development's also an empty word many internet laymen use. Characters are either complex or they're flat. This whole "manufactured" change doesn't automatically mean "complexity". If that was the case, then Charles Dickens's characters, which are far more complex than Kakashi and Itachi combined, wouldn't be called "Caricatures"--a tier lower than flat.

 

[Happy Medium]

I know all of these arguments myself, as well. None of these are literary devices: they're cultural markers in modes of art. Kakashi lacks depth. He's terrible in every sense of the word. He showcases none of the trauma (which is very superficial in the manga to begin with), and brushes everything aside with a smile and a mask. These two are gimmicks of "cool-anime-character" tropes that are never expanded.

In regards to the narrative, he's no leverage to affect it in a manner where he would trigger any sort of causality. Development's also an empty word many internet laymen use. Characters are either complex or they're flat. This whole "manufactured" change doesn't automatically mean "complexity". If that was the case, then Charles Dickens's characters, which are far more complex than Kakashi and Itachi combined, wouldn't be called "Caricatures"--a tier lower than flat.

I'm disappointed that as an aspiring author I couldn't see the issues with Kakashi. I concede, cause you're obviously on a whole other level with this narrative shit than I am :dunno: at least I learned something knew :yeah:​

 

[00Rinne]

Itachi & Kakashi a close second.

 

[take it easy]

Kakashi
Gaara
Part one/adult Sasuke
Naruto
Pain/Nagato
Jiraiya

 

[Team7monaa]

Gai and Tsunade.

 

[To Whatever]

Kakashi
Naruto
Sasuke
Obito

 

[Naruto X Hunter]

Sasuke, easily

Sasuke has the best fighting style, battles, & character development. Formed a better plan for peace than Nagato, Madara, & Obito. Travelled around the world + other dimensions handling criminals and protecting from the shadows better than Jiraiya & Itachi. Became a better Hokage than Naruto and their predecessors (Hokage literally means Fire Shadow, Sasuke is protecting from the shadows like a true Shinobi and is renowned as "The Supporting Shadow" - "Sasaukage"), and now with Boruto, Sarada, & even Mitsuki, he's going to become the best Sensei.

 

[Brooks]

It's between Sasuke and Pain.

 

[Eos]

Itachi and Kakashi both had some seriously well written storylines.

 

[Sagebee]

Shisui is easily the best written character in the series after rock Lee and sakura