Orochimaru (Naruto)

Orochimaru
Naruto character
File:OrochimaruAnime.jpg Orochimaru by Masashi Kishimoto
First appearance	Naruto manga chapter 45 Naruto anime episode 27

Orochimaru (大蛇丸) is a fictional character from the Naruto universe created by Masashi Kishimoto and developed into a media franchise, which consists of a series of manga, anime, soundtracks, OVAs, movies, video games, and other collectibles. He was created as one of the series villains, and intended to represent the opposite of the protagonists' morals and values.

In the anime and manga, Orochimaru is a former ninja of the village of Konohagakure, and leads his own ninja village, Otogakure, in hopes of destroying his former home. During his time in Konohagakure, Orochimaru distinguished himself as one of the village's most powerful ninja; however, his desire for power lead him to obtain a means for immortality by transferring between different host bodies. This desire for a host is one of his driving motivations throughout the series, resulting in his desire to acquire Sasuke Uchiha due to his powerful genetic heritage. Orochimaru has appeared in media outside the Naruto anime and manga, including several video games.

Several anime and manga publications have praised and criticized Orochimaru's character. As one of the series' premier villains, he has been praised in this regard; IGN compared his character to Darth Vader of Star Wars fame. His lack of redeeming qualities and open malevolence was also praised by reviewers, with AnimeOnDVD calling him the "first real villain" of the series. Among the Naruto reader base, Orochimaru has been popular, ranking within the top twenty characters in several polls. Numerous pieces of merchandise in Orochimaru's likeness have also been released, including action figures and plush dolls.

snake guy

Character outline

Background

As a child, Orochimaru and his former teammates, Jiraiya, and Tsunade, were students of the Third Hokage. Because of the three's exemplary skills, they were given the title "Legendary Three Ninja" (伝説の三忍, Densetsu no Sannin) by Hanzo, with whom they battled and managed to survive against. Orochimaru's parents died when he was young, leaving him to fend for himself for much of his life. After taking him on as a student, the Third recognized Orochimaru's natural talent as well as malice and a lust for power within him. The Third chose to ignore these traits, hoping that he could quell this part of Orochimaru's personality. Despite the Third's efforts Orochimaru always retained his dark ambitions and began to act upon them once leaving the Third's side.

Over the years Orochimaru began to crave immortality, wishing to use the extended life to learn every jutsu in existence. To accomplish both goals Orochimaru began abducting villagers and experimenting on them in secret, trying to find ways to extend his life as well as replicate jutsu and abilities he could never learn by himself. While he carried out these experiments, he also tried to acquire the position of Hokage in the hopes that such a position would allow him easier access to secret jutsu. Although the Third had hoped to pass the title onto his favorite student, Orochimaru's desire for power and inability to accept the beliefs required of a Kage forced him to pass the title to one of Jiraiya's students, Minato Namikaze. Robbed of his only reason to keep face in Konoha, Orochimaru began to be less discreet with his abductions and experimentations, allowing the Third to eventually discover what Orochimaru was doing. Upon being found out Orochimaru gave his former master the chance to kill him, but the Third couldn't bring himself to do it, thus allowing Orochimaru to escape. As he fled the village, Jiraiya, having come to think of Orochimaru as a dear friend, tried to stop him and persuade him to return to Konoha; though Orochimaru refused and turned his back on Konoha forever, acquiring a hate for his former home and a strong desire to bring about its destruction.

After leaving Konoha, Orochimaru joined Akatsuki, where he was teamed with Sasori. While what he did while a member of the organization is unknown, it is known that he tried to take control of Itachi Uchiha's body so as to gain the Sharingan. Itachi used his Sharingan to stop the attempt and severed Orochimaru's left hand as punishment. As a result of this failed encounter Orochimaru left the organization with his ring and a book containing all of the organization's secrets, and Akatsuki has hunted him ever since. At some point in time Sasori inserted Kabuto Yakushi into Orochimaru's ranks as a spy, with special interest in recovering the Akatsuki ring, though Orochimaru soon became aware of this and persuaded Kabuto to side with him instead. Orochimaru would go on to take over the Land of Rice Fields where he created his own ninja village, Otogakure, filled with ninja loyal to him. Orochimaru also built a number of secret bases throughout the Naruto world that he switches between on a weekly basis.

Personality

Orochimaru is a cold-blooded character concerned solely with fulfilling his own ends, and makes it his purpose in life to gain immortality by using everyone and everything around him like pieces of a game to get there. He compares life to a game of chess, ranking people like pieces and claiming that pieces must be sacrificed to accomplish a goal. He also enjoys conflict and unrest, becoming bored when neither is in motion. However, he does find conflict and unrest he is not causing useless, claiming that the people involved in it don't understand its true meaning. Ibiki Morino, when first seeing Orochimaru as a child, claims to have been terrified at the sight of Orochimaru, believing him to be a monster in human skin. Despite this, Orochimaru has a knack for winning otherwise desperate people to his cause, filling the void in their life with loyalty to him. He brands some of his most powerful subordinates with a cursed seal that corrodes their body and free will in exchange for power. While many of Orochimaru's subordinates seem to admire and respect him, the reverse does not seem to be true. Orochimaru generally treats his subordinates as pawns, caring only for their ability to further his interests. The only ones he shows any sort of care for are those he intends to use as a host, and this too is only because they can prolong his existence.

Orochimaru is male, but speaks with a very formal female tone in Japanese to make him seem more sinister. In the English language dub, he is instead given a masculine, yet quiet and raspy voice.

orochimaru does not like fairy cakes.

Plot overview

Orochimaru approaches Sunagakure with a proposition for joining forces in invading Konoha. Having no need for a partner in the plan he kills the village's leader, the Fourth Kazekage, and impersonates him, giving the illusion of approval of the invasion. Prior to the invasion's start Orochimaru infiltrates Konoha to test the abilities of Sasuke Uchiha, Itachi's younger brother and his last hope of gaining the Sharingan. After a brief encounter between the two, Orochimaru brands Sasuke with his Cursed Seal of Heaven, hoping that its power will someday draw Sasuke to him. A month later the invasion begins and Orochimaru forces the Third to battle with him. Lacking the strength required to fully remove his soul with the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, the Third settles for sealing Orochimaru's arms, making them useless and thus taking away Orochimaru's ability to use jutsu. The Third dies as a result of performing the sealing, and Orochimaru is forced to call off the invasion and retreat.

In an effort to regain the use of his arms Orochimaru approaches his old teammate Tsunade, offering to revive both her dead brother and lover in exchange for helping him. She ultimately decides against it and attacks him instead, forcing him to use his last resort of escaping the Third's seal. Finally deciding to make use of Sasuke, Orochimaru sends his Sound Four to fetch him, planning to take Sasuke's body upon his arrival. Although he waits for as long as he can, the pain in his arms forces him to transfer to a body that Kabuto prepared for him. Stuck in this body for the next three years, Orochimaru begins training Sasuke upon his eventual arrival, molding him into the ideal body all the while.

After two-and-a-half years of training Sasuke, Orochimaru's current body begins to fail him, forcing him to begin the body transfer on Sasuke. Sasuke, unwilling to give up his body, fights the process and, like Itachi years earlier, is able to use his Sharingan to stop it. Setting himself apart from his brother, Sasuke also uses his Sharingan to turn the process against Orochimaru, absorbing him into his body. Orochimaru is from that point suppressed by Sasuke, who uses Orochimaru's abilities as his own in the interim. When his fight with Itachi leaves Sasuke without the strength needed to hold Orochimaru back, Orochimaru sprouts from Sasuke's body ready to take Sasuke's body for himself. Before he can do so, however, Itachi seals him in an eternal, inescapable genjutsu. Several snakes detach themselves from Orochimaru's body just before this happens.

After Sasuke's initial defeat of Orochimaru, Kabuto integrates what remains of Orochimaru's body into his own in an attempt to make himself into an entity even stronger than Orochimaru. The remains, however, seem to have some degree of consciousness, as they have since begun to slowly take control of his body.

Appearances in other media

Orochimaru is not present in any of the four featured films in the series, nor any of the original video animations; however, is a playable character in nearly all Naruto video games, including the Clash of Ninja series and the Ultimate Ninja series. In some games, he utilizes variations on his techniques not seen in the anime or manga, and in the second installment of the Ultimate Ninja series, his state after his arms were sealed by the Third Hokage is available as a separate character. Naruto Shippūden: Gekitou Ninja Taisen EX 2 marks the first appearance of Orochimaru in a video game set in Part II, with the second one being Naruto Shippūden: Narutimate Accel 2.

Reception

Orochimaru has been featured consistenly in the Shonen Jump popularity polls, commonly placing in the top twenty characters. There has not been another poll as of 2005. Merchandise based on Orochimaru has also been released, including action figures, plush dolls, and key chains.

Several publications for manga, anime, video games, and other related media have provided praise and criticism on Orochimaru's character. IGN compared Orochimaru's search for power and subsequent fall into villainy to that of Darth Vader, and labeled Orochimaru as "something more than just pure evil."AnimeOnDVD considered Orochimaru the "first real villain" of the series, noting that he had no redeeming qualities, as versus Zabuza Momochi, the villain of the previous arc. DVDTalk celebrated the introduction of Orochimaru into the series, as well as the potential plot development from the curse mark Orochimaru placed on Sasuke, noting it was one of the best parts of the series.