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Orochimaru (in Japanese: 大蛇丸, Orochimaru) is a major character in the Naruto anime/manga series and the Boruto anime/manga series. He started off as a villain, but later on became a anti-hero. He is one of the three legendary Sannin of Konoha that trained under Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, alongside Jiraiya and Tsunade, who was obsessed with gaining power and betrayed the Hidden Leaf Village in pursuit of banned jutsu and immortality.
Ever since the Second Shinobi World War, Orochimaru became fascinated with the idea of learning all jutsu around the world. In order to accomplish this goal, he began to conduct illegal experiments that involved experimenting with the corpses of deceased people, as a means of cheating death. When his secrets were discovered, Orochimaru abandoned Konoha and was branded as both a criminal and a traitor. As a rogue offering Sasuke Uchiha the power to get revenge on his brother, he manipulates Sasuke into helping him meet his goal of learning every jutsu with his Sharingan, all while returning to Konoha to plot revenge against the village.
After being defeated by Sasuke and long after his failed invasion of the Hidden Leaf Village, his influence still affected the events leading to the Fourth Shinobi World War through Sasuke and his servant, Kabuto, who now works with Obito Uchiha. He is later revived by Sasuke, and he decides to help Sasuke defeat Madara Uchiha just to see what will happen. By the end of Part II, he sees how flawed his goals of copying everything was with the war and a now redeemed Kabuto, who had tried to copy him completely, and gives up his previous villainous ambitions, becoming an anti-hero throughout the New Era.
He is voiced by Kujira in the Japanese version, and by Steve Blum in the English Version. In Rock Lee & His Ninja Pals, he is voiced by Vic Mignogna in the English Version.
Personality[]
Orochimaru's various human experiments are conducted for two purposes, the most important of which is his desire to learn every jutsu in existence. Jiraiya speculates that this stems from the fact that his parents died when he was very young, and flashbacks shown during his fight with the Third Hokage hint at this. Perhaps because he wanted to see his parents, or as a way to avenge their deaths, he experiments on humans to see what modifications the human body can withstand and to otherwise exploit the subject's unique abilities.
Another reason could be that he witnessed the deaths of Tsunade's younger brother, Nawaki, and her lover, Dan, and the pain they caused her. It is suggested that Orochimaru was particularly fond of Tsunade and her brother, finding Nawaki's enthusiasm endearing and being deeply disturbed when he saw him killed. He showed regret when speaking of Nawaki's mutilated body, though in the first part he seemed more bitter than truly sad, reprimanding Tsunade for not healing him and retrieving the necklace Tsunade had given Nawaki and returning it to her. When he witnessed the death of Tsunade's lover, Dan, and the profound impact it had had on her, Orochimaru was clearly distraught, to the point of crying. Even at his worst, Orochimaru showed some level of affection for them, noting that he would sincerely resurrect them for Tsunade if she healed his hands and gave Tsunade the chance to let him kill Naruto. He seemed saddened by the fragility of human life and its impact on those still alive. This gradually eroded his original personality, as he was known for initially being loyal to Konoha, fearlessly engaging in wars for his village, and although he had already begun research, his experiments did not involve human life, and he used this to benefit Konoha. He also seemed to value life, as evidenced by his genuine fear and concern when Itachi boldly attempted a challenging training session and attempted to stop him. Having achieved this goal, Orochimaru hopes to be worthy and achieve the unique title of "Ultimate Being." Because a human's lifespan doesn't allow enough time to learn every jutsu, Orochimaru also experiments on others to achieve immortality. Living for centuries, Orochimaru never has to worry about death, and therefore, all the knowledge he has acquired will never be lost.
Above all, Orochimaru cares only for himself. He becomes bored when there is no conflict or violence in the world and immediately instills fear in others when they first encounter him. Although he has many followers who would do anything for him, Orochimaru treats them as mere pawns. A master manipulator, he doesn't hesitate to send them to their deaths for his own gain, only feeling remorse for their loss when they fail to complete a task properly. To convince these followers of their disposable status, Orochimaru approaches them with promises of fulfilling their dreams, such as gaining power, revenge, or a purpose in life. He places a cursed seal on many of his stronger subordinates to corrode their bodies and minds, making them more susceptible to his influence and control.
While he was deeply attracted to Sasuke Uchiha as a prodigy, Orochimaru was contemptuous of Naruto Uzumaki, considering him a failure with no talent in the arts of ninjutsu. However, when Naruto injured Kabuto with his Rasengan (enhanced by the use of Shadow Clones), Orochimaru believed Naruto would become a threat in the future and attempted to kill him. Over time, Orochimaru revealed that he was more interested in Naruto's development, despite the failed murder attempt against him and Naruto's mockery and anger at Sasuke. He trained Sasuke so he could become stronger to kill his older brother, Itachi. But Orochimaru actually planned to possess Sasuke's body, resulting in the Sharingan (in his possession) propelling him into the heavens towards his ultimate goal of learning all the jutsu in the world. Because of this, he assisted Sasuke with everything he needed, knowing he needed to become his new vessel.
However, after Sasuke's rebirth, Orochimaru lost interest in his previous goals and concluded that copying someone else was a mistake after his former assistant, Kabuto, attempted to completely duplicate him. He decided to observe Sasuke's participation in the Fourth Shinobi World War, and as a result of his new change, Orochimaru made sure to heal Tsunade and the other Kage, and later assisted in healing Sasuke after he was severely injured by Madara Uchiha. While he doesn't seem to regret many of his actions, it can be concluded that he feels some remorse for what he did when it came to those he cared about, showing sadness over the death of his ancestor.
Powers & Abilities[]
Orochimaru possesses numerous abilities, most notably his immortality and unique body manipulation, which allows him to shed his skin to regenerate and transfer his soul into new bodies. He is a master of Ninjutsu, especially snake-based techniques like summoning giant serpents and Hidden Shadow Snake Hands. His other skills include **Senjutsu, extensive knowledge of Fuinjutsu and Summoning: Reanimation, a high-level intellect, and exceptional skill in espionage and manipulation.
History[]
List of summoning of the Reanimation Jutsu[]
- Hashirama Senju (twice)
- Tobirama Senju (twice)
- Hiruzen Sarutobi
- Minato Namikaze
- The Third Kazekage
- Osoi
- Yota
In other media[]
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles x Naruto[]
In an alternate universe approximately set between events of Search for Tsunade and Sasuke Recovery Mission Arcs, Orochimaru made a cameo appearance as the person Sasuke reminded of upon hearing April O'Neil's concern regarding Baxter Stockman's project with Ooze which can turn animals into formidable anthropomorphic versions of themselves. This was understandable as both Orochimaru and Stockman were meddling with something dangerous.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- His English Voice Actor, Steve Blum is best known voicing as Flamedramon, Magnamon, Raidramon, Pururumon, Poromon, BlackWarGreymon from Digimon Adventure 02, Guilmon, his digivolutions, Kenta Kitagawa from Digimon Tamers, J.P. Shibayama from Digimon Frontier and Falcomon, his digivolutions from Digimon Data Squad.
- His Second Voice Actor, Vic Mignogna is best known voicing as Edward Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist series, Obito Uchiha as young, Nagato from Naruto Shippuden, Matt Ishida from Digimon Adventure tri., Eld Jinn from Attack on Titan, Christopher Aonuma from Digimon Fusion, Zero Kiryu from Vampire Knight series, Yoshimori Sumimura from Kekkaishi, Spirit Albarn from Soul Eater, Tamaki Suoh from Ouran High School Host Club, and Fai D. Flowright from Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, and Ikkaku Madarame from Bleach.
- In Boruto, Orochimaru is identified to be non-binary, which is why Mitsuki calls Orochimaru his "parent" instead of a gender term.
- Though everyone from Part I and II still refers to Orochimaru with male pronouns.
- Orochimaru is the only member of the Legendary Sannin to have children.
- Orochimaru is under constant surveillance by Yamato's ANBU Squad in the New Era.
External Links[]
- Orochimaru on the Villains Wiki
- Orochimaru on the Naruto Wiki
- Orochimaru on the Boruto Wiki
- Orochimaru on the Inconsistently Heinous Wiki
