the hit shonen series naruto maintains a careful balance between its lighter and darker sides to create a nuanced and compelling narrative from start to finish. Like a true shonen story, naruto is an upbeat story that embodies the virtues of hope, friendship, courage, humility, and more. But the story also has its dark side, which includes a variety of frighteningly dark characters.
many of narutoThe darker characters are defined by pain, hardship, betrayal, and more, and this describes many of the villains or antagonists Naruto has fought, some of whom overcame their dark side and became heroes.
10 Kakuzu makes immortality terrifying
The twisted Akatsuki member Kakuzu is part of the immortal duo, along with the brutal Hidan. However, unlike the pious Hidan, Kakuzu loves money and is an experienced bounty hunter who sees everything in terms of contracts and payments. He has nothing more sacred.
Naruto fought Kakuzu midway through. Shippuden, and it was a tough fight, to say the least. The creepy and creepy Kakuzu didn’t care about anyone’s life but his own, and he sent chills through all the onlookers as he struggled with his strange jutsu. Naruto had never faced a villain like this before.
9 Kaguya Otsutsuki felt utter despair.
The moon princess herself, Kaguya Otsutsuki, was completely desperate for the state of the world and the chakra itself. She is an alien being who served as the progenitor of chakra in the world, and she can’t stand to see humans using chakra to wage war and harm each other.
Kaguya openly wept and is determined to reshape the world according to her own vision, no matter the cost. She had to be stopped, but to some extent, naruto fans could see his point. She was like a mother to everyone, except she was a monster too.
8 Kimimaro served Orochimaru to the end
Kimimaro managed to die doing what he loved the most, serving Lord Orochimaru the sannin. Still, Kimimaro’s short life was anything but happy, even if she wielded a fearsome kekkei genkai. Kimimaro had nothing but her duty to Orochimaru, and he had no chance of having an ordinary and peaceful life.
It was tragic and chilling to see this young shinobi go to such lengths for a cruel teacher like Orochimaru, and all the while, he was also slowly dying of a fatal disease. He is definitely among the darkest characters in the pre-Shippuden was.
7 Lady Tsunade almost lost herself in her pain.
Lady Tsunade, the slug princess, is another member of the sannin, but unlike her old friend Jiraiya, she felt no loyalty to the Hidden Leaf Village when she was introduced. At the moment, Tsunade was busy drowning her pain in sake, gambling, and aimless wandering, but Jiraiya still saw an opportunity to change this.
Tsunade was still grieving the loss of her little brother, Nawaki, and her lover, Dan, and was in no mood to become the Hokage. Fortunately, her dark life improved after meeting Naruto, and she became one of the best leaders in the Leaf Village. But Naruto had to fight her first and show her Rasengan to prove her worth.
6 Neji Hyuga was a total fatalist
The prodigious Neji Hyuga was Naruto’s toughest opponent in the chunin exam story arc, and the two young ninjas had a serious clash of ideologies during their fight in that arena. Unlike the optimistic Naruto, Neji believed that everyone’s fate was set in stone, no matter how miserable that fate might be.
Neji’s attitude was a result of his belonging to the downtrodden branch family of the Hyuga clan, internalizing a sense of futility upon seeing how poorly the branch family is treated. Like Tsunade, Neji changed his tune when he lost to Naruto and began to embrace shonen values in his place.
5 Haku always had it rough
Haku was one of the first characters Naruto Uzumaki fought, and he’s also among the darker ones. Haku had a terrible childhood in his hometown of the Hidden Mist Village, and might have died on the streets if not for Zabuza, who rescued him.
From then on, Haku was Zabuza’s loyal ally, and the two undertook many bloody and brutal missions together as a rogue ninja who would do anything for money. Haku never had a good life, but at least he died somewhat happily by Zabuza’s side.
4 Itachi Uchiha bears many burdens
Naruto briefly clashed with Itachi Uchiha on a few occasions, often in naruto shippuden, and Itachi is easily one of the darkest characters Naruto has ever met on the battlefield. In Naruto’s eyes, Itachi is just a traitorous ex-Blade ninja who is helping the terrorists capture the tailed beasts, but there’s more.
Itachi actually had to make the difficult decision to sacrifice his scheming family to protect Hidden Leaf Village and let the entire world think of him as a monster, and that’s pretty dark. Also, Itachi was slowly dying and losing the “light” from him, and actually arranged for Sasuke to kill him in battle. What exactly happened?
3 Sasuke Uchiha has been dark from the beginning
Darkness is pretty much the defining trait of Naruto’s friend/rival/enemy, Sasuke Uchiha, who was once a key member of Team 7 in the old days. Sasuke has always been a bitter loner obsessed with his own goals, and for years he ruthlessly sought power so he could kill his brother, Itachi.
Sasuke left the Leaf Village and trained with Orochimaru for that very reason, and then eventually killed Itachi, only to be dragged into Obito and Madara’s plans, twisting him further. Redemption seemed impossible for Sasuke until the final battle took place.
two Pain wanted to share his agony with the world.
The Six Paths of Pain can be considered several characters in one, with the main path being the body of the fallen Yahiko. This is a dark character, one called Pain for good reason. In years past, the three friends Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan shared a dream of transforming their homeland for the better, but then things took a dark turn.
Yahiko died, and now he is Pain, a scheming and angry undead shinobi who is determined to teach the entire world a lesson about the cycle of pain, violence, and hate, no matter what. That’s kind of dark, even if he didn’t destroy the Hidden Leaf Village, but at least Naruto defeated him in the end.
1 Gaara suffered every minute of his childhood
When introduced early in the Chunin Exam story arc, Gaara of the Sand was easily the darkest character in the series, being an even more tragic and tormented version of Naruto. Both boys grew up as outcasts in their respective towns, being jinchuriki who had monsters inside.
Growing up, Gaara had no friends or allies to call his own, and even the seemingly friendly Yashamaru betrayed him. Gaara was in a deep, dark well of isolation, anger, and despair and sought validation by killing everyone around him, but ultimately, Naruto helped turn his life around after the battle.
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