Is Itachi Good? Itachi’s Complex Role Explained!

As far as Naruto characters are concerned, Itachi Uchiha is one of the best and most interesting characters from the whole series. Not only is Itachi’s story one of the best ones, but his importance for the story’s development and Sasuke’s character development is pivotal. Now, Itachi was involved in a fair share of controversial and puzzling moments, and in this article, we are going to give you a proper analysis of his role in the story of Naruto. Namely, in this article, we are going to talk about Itachi to determine whether he was a good or bad guy in the series, clearing the question once and for all.

Itachi Uchiha was an antihero in Naruto. Namely, most of his actions could have and have actually been interpreted as bad, and he was, for a long time, perceived to be a villain. But, when it turned out that he had a reason for everything he did, his true nature came to the forefront, and it was revealed that he was very noble and cared a lot for Sasuke and Konoha. This is why he isn’t just bad or good but rather one of the most complex characters in the whole series.

The remainder of this article will give you a detailed overview of Itachi Uchiha’s story and the overall impact of his complex personality on the Naruto franchise. You already know what happened and how it happened, so we will just bring you the details so you know the whole context. Be careful, though, as the article is going to contain a lot of spoilers, so if you don’t know all the details, be careful how you approach the text.

Itachi was known as a traitor and a murderer

Before we bring you a direct answer, we have to give you some context, i.e., tell you about the events that basically led to Itachi being labeled as a traitor and a murderer. Everyone knows that Itachi was born into one of Konoha’s most powerful clans. But at first, his childhood was not as nice as other children’s. He grew up during the Third Shinobi World War and witnessed the deaths of many of those around him when he was four. These events marked him for the rest of his life. His goal was to become a strong shinobi and prevent future wars. This was reflected in his performance at the academy. From an early age, he was always the best and showed great talent in the ninja arts. At the age of eight, he finally awakened his Sharingan and was thus considered a great talent in the Uchiha clan.

Shisui Uchiha, Itachi’s best friend, committed suicide in front of Itachi to stop a planned Uchiha coup d’état, which is how his tragedy began. Itachi awoke the Mangekyō Sharingan after Shisui passed away, and just before he did, Shisui handed Itachi his left eye, which Itachi then put in one of his crows. Later on, since only these two were missing from a clan reunion, several officers at the Konoha Police Station accused Itachi of killing Shisui.

When his father broke up the quarrel, Itachi, who was enraged, attacked the police officers and then, without his father noticing, glared venomously at him while wielding the Mangekyo Sharingan. Sasuke missed his shuriken training a few months later and returned to find the whole Uchiha clan dead. Soon later, he also ran across Itachi and his parents. Sasuke inquired about what had occurred after discovering that Itachi was still alive. Instead of responding, Itachi utilized his Tsukuyomi to show his younger sibling how he had killed their parents and the rest of the clan.

Sasuke ran away from Itachi in panic but was quickly caught. When he asked him why he did it, Itachi told him only this: Sasuke should fight, train, and get stronger until he – just like Itachi – had learned the Mangekyō Sharingan, and then come back to him. Meanwhile, Sasuke should hate and despise him. Since then, Sasuke has only wanted to become strong enough to take revenge and kill his brother.

But the reality was quite different. In particular, as it proved out later, Itachi had been given the order to kill the Uchiha clan members by the village elders of Konoha. The Konoha village elders suspected that the Uchiha clan intended to take control of Konoha to end years of oppression at the hands of the government. The village elders wished to avoid a new battle, so they took this action. Itachi was assisted in the massacre by the man in a mask named Madara Uchiha.

Itachi, however, lacked the courage to murder his defenseless younger brother. He challenged Sasuke to seek vengeance and work hard so that one day he may kill Itachi and exact revenge for his family’s murder to ensure his existence. However, since the only surviving Uchiha would have killed the rebel Itachi, and so would have performed a good deed, this should only result in the Uchiha clan regaining honor.

Itachi insisted that Danzō Shimura never touch Sasuke because if he did, he would divulge all of Konoha’s secrets, just like Hiruzen Sarutobi and his two advisors knew the truth. In order to preserve Sasuke’s faith in the honor of the Uchiha clan, Itachi pleaded with the Third Hokage never to tell him the truth. Itachi then fled the hamlet as an outlaw to get ready for the day he would have to battle his younger brother.

His final fight with Sasuke revealed he was not a bad guy

After the assassination of the rest of the Uchiha clan, Itachi leaves Konohagakure and seeks out the Akatsuki organization to join them. This was an additional issue in his biography, as the Akatsuki were considered to be enemies and villains in every arc and iteration they appeared in. But, as he had a motive for killing his clan, Itachi also had a motive for joining the Akatsuki. Namely, as was revealed later, Itachi only joined Akatsuki to learn from Madara Uchiha how to get even more powerful and to protect Konoha from within. Itachi knew the situation Konohakagure was in, and he was also aware of how dangerous the Akatsuki were.

This is why he decided to join the Akatsuki to try to defend Konoha from within, risking his reputation and Sasuke’s unending anger. Even if he wasn’t the leader, he could still impact some decisions internally and work to defend Konoha from an attack by strong criminals. This gave Sasuke’s story greater depth, demonstrating his willingness to put his entire identity in danger to defend the people he loved.

And that is the whole gist of Itachi’s role in the story of Naruto. Itachi was a complex and layered character with a lot to offer. Throughout the story, Itachi Uchiha only cares for his village and for his brother. And while all of his actions seemed to be villainous, and Itachi certainly left his actions open to such an interpretation, he was never a villain. He wasn’t a typical good guy, but while he did what he did, he did it – from his perspective – because it had to be done for the greater good.

Itachi killed his clan to protect his village, and he spared his brother because he saw good in him because he did not view him as part of his evil relatives. Itachi joined Akatsuki because he wanted to protect Konoha from, well, Akatsuki. This was Itachi. Once he crossed the border for the first time, he completely destroyed his sense of self in the process, not caring what anyone would think of him as long as those he held dear were safe. And while that does not make him good per se, it certainly makes him a hero.

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