Designing a character list as big as Naruto can be exhausting, even for a mangaka as big as Masashi Kishimoto. With over 700 chapters and 49 arcs, Naruto carries a varied character array that is rarely seen in the anime and manga industry. And, while each character has a distinct role, not all of them were created by Kishimoto.
The mangaka himself once admitted to the fact that because of the pressure of making intriguing storylines like the Chunin exams arc, he took help from his editor to come up with new designs for the characters. As he had no idea about the storyline that he would use, he decided to create it after the characters were created.
While explaining this, Kishimoto revealed that his editor at the time was the one who came up with the designs for Rock Lee and Might Guy. Both Guy and Lee are two of the most important characters in Naruto, and they have played some major roles in building the entire narrative structure of Kishimoto’s manga.
The Importance of Might Guy and Rock Lee in Naruto
The masters of taijutsu, Might Guy and Rock Lee, have had a decent impact on the story of Naruto. They preached the value of hard work and dedication, which was a central theme of the narrative. In fact, Lee was the first character who gave the Naruto series one of its most hyped moments with his fight against Gaara of the sand.
Guy, on the other hand, proved his worth as a mentor and as a friend. He helped Rock Lee understand the importance of hustle and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Kakashi whenever he needed a friend. His strength was so immense that Madara Uchiha gave him the title of “strongest taijutsu master” in Naruto.
While many fans believed that Might Guy and Rock Lee were secondary characters, their contribution to the series at the most important moments made them significant to the story. In fact, their team became the most important team after Kakashi’s team 7 in many crucial arcs.
Masashi Kishimoto’s Editor Came Up With The Character Designs of Guy and Lee
KirinNOTKarin98 translated and summarized a 2015 Fuji TV interview of Kishimoto with Japanese comedian Kobayashi, where the mangaka spilled some major secrets about Naruto as a manga. One of the secrets that Masashi Kishimoto revealed was that his editor was the one who came up with designs of Might Guy and Rock Lee after looking at a keychain.
The summary read:
So he found it really difficult coming up with so many new characters and their designs in one go with no material to go on. So he asked for some designs from his editor to help, who saw a really weird looking keychain and made drawings based on that, and that’s where Gai and Lee’s etc designs came from.
When Kishimoto started Naruto, he had a different setting planned for the story, but his editor forced him to create a tournament-like scenario to introduce all the characters at once. Thus, he came up with the Chunin exams arc, but he didn’t have much time to come up with the characters.
He took his editor’s help, who drew Might Guy and Rock Lee, and Kishimoto was so impressed by the two characters that he gave them one of the most unique storylines in the entire history of Naruto.
You can watch Naruto on Hulu.
