In the world of Naruto, there is hardly any other organization that is as terrifying and menacing as the Akatsuki. Originally created to bring peace to the village of Amegakure, Akatsuki went on to become a group of outlaws who did not like to live by the constraints of the rules of a village. Thus, they recruited every Shinobi who deserted their villages.
While the main plan of the organization as a whole was to collect all the jinchuriki, or tailed beasts, and use them for world dominance, every member of Akatsuki had their own individual goals that they wanted to fulfill through their involvement with the organization. And not all the members had demonic or evil goals.
Masashi Kishimoto, the creator of Naruto, once revealed his favorite Akatsuki member and also talked about why he never wanted to turn the Akatsuki into the pure villains of the manga series because it would have made them less exciting and fans would have hated him. Thus, he decided to give them individual stories that explored their backgrounds.
Masashi Kishimoto’s Plan With The Akatsuki
In 2012, when the Fourth Shinobi World War was brewing in Naruto, Kishimoto was interviewed by Viz Media and asked about his favorite Akatsuki member and the reason behind creating such a terrifying group of villains in Naruto. Kishimoto clarified that Akatsuki were not villains but a group of anti-heroes who were created as rivals of major Naruto characters.
Kishimoto stated:
Itachi, Sasuke’s brother, is my favorite. The Akatsuki is an anti-hero group who are pitted against the main characters in Naruto. But I didn’t want to make them just villains, because I thought there should be different reasons as to why they became outlaws against society. I wanted to explore their backgrounds just as much as I would for the heroes.
While the members of Akatsuki were outlaws of society, they were not necessarily villains, as their reasons for going against the principles of their villages were different. These principles made them more than villains, and Kishimoto wanted to explore these principles by working on the backgrounds of every Akatsuki member, just like he did with the heroes.
The Akatsuki Members Were Never Created As Villains
Although the organization’s methods to bring world peace were entirely wrong, it never started out like this. The Akatsuki organization was first created by Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan to help restore peace in their village, which became a victim of the previous war. However, it was soon infiltrated by the likes of Obito (Tobi), Zetsu, etc., who used them from the background.
They manipulated the organization and transformed it completely. While the transformation was certainly difficult, it never changed the original intention of bringing peace to the world. However, to avoid them becoming flat villainous characters, Masashi Kishimoto decided to embed the characters with their own individual goals.
This made the characters more understanding and similar to the heroes of Naruto, who also followed the path of their ambitions. However, the methods of the two were completely different, which put them against each other. This not only gave them reasons that could resonate with the audience but also made them popular in the eyes of Naruto fans.
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