My tier list will be a little bit different, more similar to
@D. B. Gooner's old "My Perfect Naruto Characters" thread:
These characters' writing mimic major revelations I have come to in my life. Even if some of them lack general appeal (not cool/likeable), I consider them perfect, and the message around them to be important. 1. Kabuto & Identity Character Synopsis Kabuto loses his memory as a child. Not...
incels.is
I liked that thread because I think it is interesting to characters based on how valuable their stories were to me personally, rather than on how much I like them or how good I think they are objectively. That also means that I will only include characters which I have something to say about. Here we go:
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S-Tier:
1 and 2. Naruto and Sasuke. Naruto and Sasuke's story touches on one of the biggest problems humans face: Loneliness. It shows just what a gargantuan and sisyphean task it is for two people to try to understand and connect with each other, even when both parties want to.
3 and 4. Madara and Obito. The whole story about the Infinite Tsukuyomi is simply one of the deepest and darkest concepts in all of fiction. It goes way beyond other concepts in manga and anime like the Philosopher's Stone in Fullmetal Alchemist. It is most similar to the Human Instrumentality Project in Neon Genesis Evangelion, but even then the Infinite Tsukuyomi went far more in-depth. The important part about the Infinite Tsukuyomi story is that it came to the right conclusion, namely that however tempting something like it would be it would still not make life complete. That is because ending pain and maximising pleasure doesn't look far enough, it is a misdiagnosed cure for the human condition. It would be nice to live without pain and lack of pleasure but people give those things far too much credit, in reality they are not so profound. Even if we could live without pain and with maximum pleasure we would still feel unrest because to be conscious is to seek. As long as there are things we don't know about the universe we will continue to feel unrest. And something like the Infinite Tsukuyomi would inhibit us to seek, so it would be no good. Another detail I liked was that there was in reality a nefarious purpose behind it, namely the God Tree. That very much mirrors Evangelion as well because Madara was fooled by the Otsutsuki just like Gendo was fooled by SEELE, both of which just wanted to continue being Gods/tried to become Gods, not help humanity out of its suffering. The lesson behind that is that it is important to be skeptical about Infinite Tsukuyomi/Human Instrumentality Project type solutions to life, because they could very well be selling us something that sounds pleasant but in reality is just something that evil people would use to control us for their own benefit. Those who want to learn about a similar concept to the Infinite Tsukuyomi/Human Instrumentality Project to watch out for in real life can read this article:
Some want to enslave mindkind because it would be fun to design our chains.
lukesmith.xyz
5. Jiraiya is simply the man. With Nagato and Naruto he shows what a profoundly positive effect one human being can have on another. If only all the normies who watched Naruto could take that lesson to heart, and start being excellent to their fellow man. Then we would live in slightly less of a blackpill hell than the one we live in now, but unfortunately I don't think that neurotypicals can understand the message behind Jiraiya. That is because they are not really conscious, they are more like animals. The only thing which goes through their heads is gathering resources, maximising social status and lust for sex. They never seek love for or from anyone else, all they seek is a narcissistic love for themselves and pitiful as they are they come up empty each time. But enough about normies, for us conscious people Jiraiya's story is still very valuable. Jiraiya is also the best pervert in anime and manga, all hail Pervy Sage
.
A-Tier:
6. While Naruto and Sasuke represent the struggle humans face in trying to understand each other, Kabuto represents the struggle to understand ourselves. In our lives we can end up much like Kabuto, having to present different versions of ourselves to others, and often dishonest ones at that. It can go so far that we completely lose perspective on ourselves, which leads to an existential crisis. The solution is to try to avoid fake personas and instead work on aligning our outer face with our inner one, like Kabuto did. His story makes things like the Japanese concepts of Honne and tatemae spring to mind (as well as the "Japanese Three Faces Theory", which is the Western interpretation of Honne and tatemae) and of course Jungian Psychology (Persona fans will know that one lol
).
7. Shino is simply a cathartic character to me, and I imagine that he would be to anyone with schizoid-like inclinations. When you are content doing something simply for yourself rather than from approval from others normies raise their eyebrows at you. You become a complete alien to them, a fear of the unknown-type danger even. I appreciate Naruto depicting a character like Shino amicably because normies need to learn not to fear Shino's type of behaviours. The lesson behind Shino's character is basically that someone enjoying, or even preferring their own company doesn't mean that they are a serial killer or something. Most here understand that, but normies don't.
8. Shikamaru is a relatable character to me because when I was younger I also just wanted to take it easy. But eventually you realise how serious life is, and you have to start picking up the slack. As truecels many of us likely had to do difficult but important things that nobody else could, or at least would do for us. Shikamaru likewise also had to take on a lot of responsibility for things only he, and nobody else could or would do. As for the whole Will of Fire bit in Shikamaru's story, I am inclined to agree with
@D. B. Gooner's perspective in this thread:
The Will of Fire, Grand heroism vs Personal resolution The Will of Fire is a Konohagakure belief system holding that the village is a large family, and every shinobi must protect it with love and sacrifice, inheriting the hopes of the previous generation. I think the Will of Fire an awful...
incels.is
B-Tier:
9. Anyone who was been severely discriminated against, especially by adults in their youth, will be able to relate to Gaara. Gaara's childhood was even harsher than the one Naruto had. And the friendship Naruto was able to form with him once again goes to show how much of a positive effect one person can have on another, just like Jiraiya did. Again, if only normies were able to take that lesson to heart and not be so judgemental and discriminatory to anyone that is different from them.
10. Some devout genetic determinism blackpillers here might instintinctly feel the need to criticise Neji for developing a seemingly less fatalistic view of the world after being defeated by Naruto, but I don't think that is the lesson from that whole ordeal. The lesson from Neji's character is not that the world is not fatalistic, but that it is that it is impossible to fully know what one's own or anyone elses limitations are. The point is not to become bluepilled, it is to not be so arrogant to think you know everything. Everyone should strive to be honourable and overcome their pride like Neji did, which is the greatest sin of all (Fullmetal Alchemist fans will know that to be true
).
11. The lesson from Kakashi's character is simple, but important nonetheless: It is important to not be selfish, we should actively care for others.
12. In my opinion Sasori is the most underrated and overlooked Naruto character. Due to losing his parents at an early age Sasori was traumatised by death, and became obsessed with immortality. He wanted to immortalise the ones he loved, and most importantly himself through puppetry, which was his artform of choice. But thanks to Kankuro he realised that he did not actually need to live forever, since the art he had created with his puppets already managed to contain and preserve all of his being. The lesson is that we do not need to fear death as something that completely undoes everything someone was when they were alive, because it does not: The legacy of that person is still alive and there. If I was making a tier list based on how much I liked each Naruto character then I would put Sasori in my S-Tier.
13. Many people probably see Deidara as a pointless and faggy character, but personally I find him extremely endearing. That is because he reminds me of a very brief period in my early childhood when I was extremely jealous of anyone and everyone that was better than me at literally ANYTHING. Especially when someone was better than me at my hobbies and interests, even adults who were working professionals in those fields, which was just insane and laughable now that I think back on it. Eventually I learned that I could not maintain my sanity if I continued to base my entire self worth on how good I thought I was at things, and that one needs to view oneself as worthy completely unconditionally. What makes Deidara's character perfect is his extremely foolish death, which was all because Sasuke threatened his sense of self-worth since Deidara felt that he needed to be the best. If I was making a tier list based on how much I liked each character I would again place Deidara in S-Tier. I would even go so far to say that Deidara is my favourite Naruto character. I am probably alone in the world with that opinion but that doesn't mean that I would call him underrated or overlooked, his character simply happened to resonate with me very strongly given my own life experiences. If anyone has seen the movie Amadeus I would say that Deidara could be likened to Salieri in that movie. Amadeus is an excellent movie in general, I would recommend it to anyone.
C-Tier:
14. Iruka is a highly likeable character, I'm sure that anyone would find his relationship with Naruto extremely heartwarming. The reason I brought him up however is because of his backstory. He was a jestermaxxer since jestering was the only way he knew to forge a connection with his peers. That is very relatable to me as I was, and even continue to be the worst jestermaxxer there ever was. I have done stuff that could have put me behind bars in order to jestermaxx, I always take things too far just embarrassing myself to hell and back. The worst thing about that is that I'm not even sure if my worst jestermaxxing moments are behind me
. His backstory is important because everyone ought to know about the sad clown paradox.
15. Rock Lee is inspirational in how much he was able to achieve in spite of his limitations. Anyone should strive to do their best within their limitations, like Rock Lee did. Even so Rock Lee's story has a bit of a tragic quality, since neither he nor his sensei Might Guy (who was bested by Madara in the Fourth Great Shinobi War) could only ever become very good, and never the absolute best ninjas due to their limitations. The takeaway is that one should recognise one's limitations and strive to work within them, but also that one should manage one's expectations and to be proud of what one was able to achieve, even if one didn't manage to become the best.
16. I quite enjoy the concept of the Root/Foundation within the Anbu Black Ops, and Sai is the character from the Root we get to spend the most time with. Sai, like all Root members were taught to have no personality, personal connections, name and most importantly no emotions. The reason I bring him up is just because of the no emotions bit. While it is important to not be controlled by one's emotions, it can also be taken too far. Most all men were taught to not ever cry in their youth but if one never faces one's emotions in life it can be hugely damaging to the psyche. I spent many, many years never ever crying as far as I can remember. It was only when I could fully accept the blackpill as true in my heart that I was able to cry some, and truly process the traumas in my life. Sai's story is important because it reflects the journey that most any man has to follow to reclaim his psyche. Besides that Sai should also be relatable to most everyone here in that he had to study normies in order to understand them, that is what much of the discussion on this site is about after all.
TL;DR:
Esoteric Narutoism. Read at your own will.
