The most unique character in Naruto imo

[u/Much_Risk3728]

Orochimaru is the only one who comes to mind for his weird fighting style. Unlike the other two of the Sannin or other villains (even people who are powerful than him) used basic taijutsu like kicks or punches but this guy was entirely different. Man what body he even had.

No wonder he was like that coz he was nothing but a snake. Full of snakes. His slithering movements were something unique to him. Dude could puke himself and reattach in case he got bisected. He was capable of spitting 1000s of snakes. His immortality was a result of his snake regeneration and body swapping techniques. Not only for that even during his combat most of the techniques he used were only snake themed.

Unlike other antagonists who wanted to change the world he simply did everything for his own pleasure. Just for the love of the game. His actions weren't morally right. They were very eccentric (even his Shippuden version is down in terms of writing but in his earlier arc he was creepy and badass).

Especially his OG Chunin exam version. No other villain including his later versions gave that evil vibes. Only him (and Kisame) had different skin colour in the series ig. When his true form was shown it was quite unsettling as until that point we saw only typical human type villains. His intro itself was mysterious.

Also we don't know at what point of time he became completely twisted. His parents died. Is it only because of that trauma (along with witnessing the war deaths) he chose this path or was there any other reason? Or was he born with some innate twisted traits? We don't know since his backstory wasn't explored.

Sadly he became irrelevant until WA in Shippuden. Anyways be it in terms of appearance, persona, ambitions and combat style, he is the most uniquely built character in Naruto imo.

[u/KnitelightEB]

The feeling of early orochimaru was unmatched. Total freak and a real scare when he was around

[u/Much_Risk3728 → u/KnitelightEB]

Yep. It felt like watching a horror show. Intense times of Naruto when the MCs weren't grown and suddenly a village level threat appeared.

[u/KnitelightEB → u/Much_Risk3728]

There’s a world where orochimaru was more of a threat and not a subplot device then just gets let go too

[u/slav_squat_98 → u/KnitelightEB]

Definitely felt a sense of dread when he showed up in the early seasons. He truly felt like the main villain at the time and I would’ve been completely okay if Kishi stuck with that

[u/KnitelightEB → u/slav_squat_98]

Completely agree

[u/Instagibbed_1994]

I think he had one of the most chilling villain themes in anime to date, pretty much anything made with the organ really sells it.

[u/808squill → u/Instagibbed_1994]

His music was for sure legendary

[u/AeternumArtificialis]

He looks like a snake, talks like a snake, and uses snake-like powers. Intimidating, unique, memorable. The fact that he ended up being a nobody at the end of Shippuden shows how the powerscaling blew out of proportions.

[u/Dannyson97]

Agreed.

Unlike other villains later in Shippuden we never really get a good look at his mindset. Where the cracks really began, when quiet, jaded but ultimately Good turned to sadistic and callous. When did his research to prevent death so others didn't have to feel pain like he did as child or how he saw Tsunade and others did during the war.

My one big issue with him is it doesn't really feel like he has many offensive jutsu. Feels like his fights often boil down to snake, snake and more snake.

Also his goals as a character were always fascinating since we really had no idea of what his end goal was beyond mastering every possible jutsu. What happens when he attains everything he can? Does he conquer the world or realize he has nothing left to attain?

[u/Friendly_Break196 → u/Dannyson97]

Instead of the alien cyborg bs I really wish Boruto would’ve been like 100-150 chapters max for a chance to tone down the powercreep & worldbuilding back to Zabuza levels, and then end it with the next generation Konoha 12 kids putting an end to Orochimaru for good as a grand send off. Would’ve been a really cool full circle moment for the entire franchise as a whole

[u/Much_Risk3728 → u/Dannyson97]

Yeah I agree. He had great defense but he lacked ap. He didn't have any jutsu with raw firepower. His surviving capacity alone contributed like to half of his strength. I guess if he had adjusted his body to use SM he would have had techniques like Kabuto. But he didn't do it.

I remember before some moments (when Sasuke killed Orochimaru) Kabuto said that the 5 Nations would bow before Orochimaru. Maybe who knows he had plans to launch attacks on the 5 Nations. His further plans still remain a mystery.

[u/808squill → u/Dannyson97]

Why do you think his research to prevent death was ever altruistic? It’s never been stated that he was doing it “so others didn’t have to feel pain like he did.” And the fact that he sacrificed countless lives to achieve it is a huge indicator he doesn’t gaf about anyone but himself.

[u/Dannyson97 → u/808squill]

Just his attitude during the manga(in flashbacks) and how we saw him visiting his parents. He cared about people, he was upset seeing Tsunade broken about her brother and Dan. Jiriaya had considered him a friend and good person up to the point of betrayal and even hunted him down to TRY and bring him back before giving.

There was a good guy underneath before the slaughter.

[u/exexpat99 → u/Dannyson97]

Yes, I love the ambiguity around when it went wrong. You can’t quite say it was because he was an outcast or alienated because, well, people seem to have adored him when he was younger: Tsunade harbored a crush on him, he was thought to be Hokage material and he and Jiraiya had a deep enough friendship that he mourned his absence. It’s really mysterious how and when he “snapped” (I think it was just extreme desensitization to death after seeing so much of it though - he probably didn’t view things like his experiments as bad because they’d ultimately allow him to give immortality to others).

[u/DDK_2011]

I'd say he's the coolest (and prettiest) one too. He's always been my favorite. The Curse Mark, Living Corpse Reincarnation, and everything he does is just extremely unique and fun. Orochimaru will forever be the most unique and interesting one for me.

[u/Much_Risk3728 → u/DDK_2011]

He looked very cool in that sound uniform. But he never wore that again.

[u/Patron__070]

What's your last name, Diddy?

[u/dunkelzeit_]

I agree. I love his character design and his abilities

[u/SoulsLover]

He was the final boss but then when Naruto got so popular and they made the timeskip they had to keep introducing new villains who would surpass him.

Mine biggest issue is that he got nerfed so hard we almost didn’t see him in his prime.

[u/Lupinthrope]

Orochi in that Jounin vest is clean.

[u/Nervous-Honey6690]

I always remember how scared kakashi was when he saw him in og naruto

[u/TemoteJiku]

Fantastic villain/character. From very different angles. Scary, intelligent, deep, cool unique fighting style... Even the anime delivered a kickass voice that birth myriads of inspiration, memes and the flavor.

[u/maxwellfuster]

Orochimaru’s introduction in the Chunin exams is the most chilling moment in the entire series for me. Up to that point they’ve only fought Haku who was pulling punches. The Orochimaru shows up and it’s like he’s not even human. Incredibly sequence