Obito Uchiha (Japanese: うちは オビト, Hepburn: Uchiha Obito), also known by his alias Tobi (トビ), is a fictional character and one of the main antagonists in Masashi Kishimoto's manga (and anime adaptation) Naruto, being the primary instigator at fault for the tragic backstory of series protagonist Naruto Uzumaki, whose personality and motivations are nearly identical to those of Obito's younger self, making them foils. He is first introduced in a "Kakashi Chronicle" side story, as a young ninja who sacrifices himself to save his friends (Kakashi Hatake and Rin Nohara) from a cave-in. Although he was believed to have died in the 3rd Great Ninja War, Obito is later revealed as a member of the organization known as the Akatsuki, mainly acting behind the scenes for a majority of the group's tenure. He uses the alias of Tobi and later that of his benefactor, Madara Uchiha, and conceals his true identity with masks. Obito seeks to harness the power of the Tailed Beasts in order to cast a genjutsu that will put all of humanity into an idealized dream state forever, having lost faith in the real world following Rin's death. Kishimoto created Obito early in the series to explore his relationship with Kakashi and explain how his friend possessed the eye technique of Sharingan (写輪眼 寫輪眼; lit. 'Copy Wheel Eye"', English manga: "Mirror Wheel Eye"), unique to the Uchiha clan. Since Obito kept his identity secret, Kishimoto teased fans to anticipate the true identity of Tobi (most notably when the actual Madara Uchiha was revealed, which shocked fans and his voice actor). Critical reception of Obito's character has been praised, primarily for his tragic backstory and his fight scenes as an adult. In 2023, Obito was ranked as the 11th most popular character in the results of the Naruto Worldwide Character Popularity Vote. Obito and his varied personas have appeared in Naruto video games and animated adaptations.
Creation and design
Although Obito does not appear for the first time until the series' special chapters focused on his life as a child soldier, he makes a cameo appearance on the cover of the manga's 16th chapter in a picture with Kakashi Hatake. According to Masashi Kishimoto, one of the biggest mysteries in the series' first half was why Kakashi only possessed one Sharingan eye technique (unlike Sasuke Uchiha and other members of the clan, who possessed the technique in both eyes). Kishimoto wrote Kakashi's backstory to show him as a young ninja whom Obito gave his Sharingan when he was nearly killed in a fight. Kishimoto said that by chapter 16 he had conceived a storyline about Obito being an Uchiha and how it would affect Kakashi. During the series' first half, Kishimoto introduced the Akatsuki terrorist organization, which seemed far stronger than the (younger) main characters. This led Kishimoto to change the series, giving the story a timeskip to when Naruto and his comrades would be able to face them. Kishimoto said he based Akatsuki on similar real-life organizations. Obito in his Tobi persona was Kishimoto's favorite Akatsuki character to draw, because of his simple mask. His nickname (Tobi) comes from Obito calling him Guruguru (グルグル), an onomatopoeia for turning round and round or going around in circles. It can also mean "wrapped around", referring to Tobi's function as armor for Obito. With the manga reaching its climax, Kishimoto wanted to be careful with developing Obito's character, finding him as important as Naruto's and Sasuke's growth in the narrative. According to Kishimoto, Konan's death at the hands of her former superior Obito's statement about the loss of the dream for peace that he, Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan shared, and an indication of Naruto Uzumaki's rise as a bringer of light and hope. When the real Madara Uchiha appeared in the manga, Kishimoto refrained from stating Tobi's true identity but said that both characters were related and he would be revealed in the next few chapters. In the Japanese version, Obito is voiced by Wataru Takagi; his childhood self was voiced by Sōsuke Komori before Megumi Han took over in chapter 343. In the English version, Obito is voiced by Michael Yurchak and his younger self is voiced by Vic Mignogna. Nolan North does Obito's Madara impersonation in Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2, and Todd Haberkorn voices him in Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution. Neil Kaplan first voiced Obito's Madara impersonation in the video game Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3, because the CyberConnect2 fighting game's storyline was ahead of the television series. In the game, it is revealed that Obito is not the real Madara. Kaplan had difficulty handling both characters: his Obito persona and the real Madara. When Obito's true identity was revealed in the anime Naruto Shippuden, the Pierrot staff made an ending scene about his childhood and noted that the series' protagonist (Naruto) was not seen. Pierrot felt that the scene was a success. Character designer Tetsuya Nishio was surprised with the multiple designs Obito had across the series, and noted parallels between him and Naruto Uzumaki in their childhood and innocence.
Appearances
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