My favorite Naruto character shows why the power system is always broken

There are many lovely characters in it NarutoBut my favorite is one that rocks the series to its core. NarutoThe prevailing themes are friendship, perseverance and the power of peace over violence. in Narutos world, the general sentiment is that Anyone with a good heart and the will to push through struggles can become a legendary ninja. What this leaves out, however, is that the journey of letters can be very different – and some will have it much harder than others.

There is one Konoha shinobi whose sheer effort and dedication Makes the others pale in comparison: Rock Lee. Although essentially every character in Naruto Faced with some kind of hardship, Rock Lee overcomes unique difficulties that make him the most relatable. Despite this, he has always been underappreciated, and Rock Lee’s role in Naruto Is considered wasted potential by many fans.

Rock Lee is the underdog of Naruto’s underdogs

Naruto has many underdogs, but Rock Lee is always underappreciated

Naruto is, at its heart, an underdog story. Naruto is an underdog who wants to overcome his circumstances as an orphan jinchuriki to become Hokage. Sasuke, the foil to Naruto, is in many ways an underdog himself; Although he would become one of the strongest Uchiha ever, he does so by forging his own path and defying social expectations altogether. Among these, Rock Lee sits occasionally popping into the spotlight, waiting for history to give him his chance to shine: the underdog of the underdogs.

Rock Lee does not have full access to the same powers that most ninja do. The average shinobi is able to use at least one or two types of jutsu, but jutsu is ultimately just the manipulation of chakra. Rock Lee lacks chakra and is unable to use ninjutsu or genjutsu. It’s an isolated and heartbreaking situation, but Rock Lee never lets it show, remaining optimistic and cheering others on no matter what.

After expressing his interest in becoming a great ninja with taijutsu, martial arts that usually do not require chakra, his teammate, Neji Hyuga, sneers at him. But you can, his teacher, Takes a special interest in him. Might Guy is another chakra-less ninja who has adapted to become a master of taijutsu, and he is one of Naruto’s best teachers. Both Itachi and Madara Uchiha comment on Might Guy’s strength, and He hands this power over to Rock Leewho becomes a faithful disciple.

Through the caring attention of his teacher and mentor, Rock Lee was able to grow into a very capable shinobi. At the end of the US Naruto ShippudenRock Lee is strong enough to cut Madara in half. Pretty strong enough to challenge NarutoThe strongest villain is a feat in itself, but Rock Lee’s determination, ingenuity and dedication to overcoming his lack of chakra makes it extremely inspiring. It also shows as broken Narutos power system is.

Rock Lee shows the unfairness of Naruto’s power system

Rock Lee undermines Narutos protagonist and setting

From very early on Naruto, Power is associated with training. However, since Rock Lee doesn’t have any chakra, he has to train much harder than others. This is not to put down, for example, Naruto’s own life-threatening efforts during his Sage Mode training. However, it is undeniable that other characters seem to develop with ease compared to Rock Lee because they are propelled and empowered by their chakra. For Rock Lee to have even a quarter of the same progress, he has to move mountains.

This is especially evident in Rock Lee’s favorite fight against Gaara during the Chunin Exam preliminaries. Gaara, an orphan Jinchuriki like Naruto, did A huge built-in chakra pool on top of his natural talent for jutsu. The resulting fight sees Rock Lee put up the best fight that he possibly can, opening up five of the eight gates that limit chakra flow.

The fight ends up leaving Rock Lee unconscious with two of his limbs crushed. In a way, the fight is inspiring, but it also calls to the fact that for Rock Lee to have a chance against a jinchuriki like Naruto, he has to risk his own life. The way he befriends Gaara afterwards is honorable and admirable, but it can’t help but make one wonder if Rock Lee’s reason for acting so honestly is to be respected and taken seriously. Nevertheless, it is easy to argue that Rock Lee is the best representative of Narutos topics.

Rock Lee shines regardless of his hardships

With everything stacked against him, Rock Lee refuses to give up

I always found Rock Lee to be a funny, cool representation of disability. Many shows with disabled characters feel the need to do so in an obvious way that errs on the side of condescension. Rock Lee is an example of an accidental depiction of disability: A depiction that results from creators not understanding how insidious Ability is. When Kishimoto created a world where most people have chakra abilities in some way, creating a character that is impaired by society’s standards is without question writing a disabled character.

The analogy really struck me with Rock Lee’s rivalry with Neji. Neji, born to the Hyuga clan and named a “genius”, Rock Lee’s desire to become a great ninja despite his chakra impairment is ridiculous For much of the series. An analogy can be found in the K-drama Extraordinary Counsel III: The main character, Woo Young-Woo, is an autistic savant of the law who wants to work in a major Korean company. Since her line of work requires speaking in front of people, irregular situations and connecting with clients, she is constantly disregarded because of her autism.

The few people who take you seriously and give you the time of day are the crucial factor in your path to success. May Guy mirrors this for Rock Lee by being a representative of a great ninja with a similar impairment. Rock Lee and Woo Young-woo Both work incredibly hard to be great in their respective fields. Both are inherently positive about their own abilities, despite what others may have to say about them. In this kind of isolation, optimism becomes a weapon, anyway.

Slowly, more people begin to respect them after showing that, despite their difficulties, They have unbreakable wills and are talented in their own ways. Likewise, Neji comes to respect Rock Lee and see him as an excellent ninja along the line, despite his initial prejudices. During the Gaara fight, as Rock Lee’s unconscious body is determined to keep fighting, Might Guy tears up and remarks how dedicated Lee is to finding his own “ninja way”.

It’s a nice sentiment, but it raises important questions. Naruto Shippuden Has an infamous power creep causing Konoha’s shinobi to be forgotten. Characters like Rock Lee exaggerate this differential. Yes, Rock Lee and Might Guy are inspiring illustrations of how hard work can put a disadvantaged person on the same level as others. But what does it say to have a power system Where they feel the price of “viability” is torturous discipline? Especially when Rock Lee, the best example of Narutos correlation of hard work to talent, never canonically wins a battle.

From this point of view, some ideas become particularly crude: that to really have a chance against Madara, Guy must be all but dead; To put up a fight against Gaara meant a hospital for Rock Lee. I feel conflicted, because I know that this reading of Naruto is an accident, against the intended reading of a character who, for Kishimoto, simply represents human weaknesses. The questions remain on my tongue: When do character problems become accessibility problems, or problems of how the surrounding narrative and society see them and structure themselves to exclude themselves?

In other words, why does Rock Lee feel so alienated, and What hand do we have in it by not being aware of the ableist subtext? I always feel incredibly inspired by Rock Lee’s perseverance, efforts and eventual success. At the same time, I can’t help but think about what his character arc means because of this path Naruto‘s power system does not enact its themes; The correlation of hard work to power is limited – what matters above all seems to be luck.