Madara Uchiha

"In this world, whenever there is light, there are also shadows. As long as the concept of winners exists, there must also be losers. The selfish desire of wanting to maintain peace causes wars and hatred is born to protect love."

- Madara Uchiha (to Obito)

Madara Uchiha is the foremost antagonist of the manga and anime series Naruto. He is the co-founder of Konoha and its first Rogue Ninja. Though thought to have died, Madara survived and planned to rule the Ninja World as a god. He is responsible for setting up Akatsuki and making Obito Uchiha into his apprentice Tobi, the main villain of the series. He is eventually resurrected as an indestructible undead and takes part in the Fourth Great Ninja War as his plan comes to fruition.

Madara in his Prime
Madara Uchiha was born around a century before the start of the story. In these times, ninjas were organized as huge clans of mercenaries hired by the lords of warring nations. The most powerful of clans were the Uchiha and the Senju of the Forest, so much that the only force able to resist one was the other, forcing a feudal lord to hire one whenever the other was hired against him. Both clans share a common ancestor in to Sage of the Six Paths, the man who built the fundamentals of Ninjutsu. While the Senjus descended from the younger son, who inherited his father's strength and ideals, the Uchiha descended from the elder brother, who inherited the Sage's eyes and power. Through the brothers' conflict for succession after their father's death, the Senju and the Uchiha were bound by rivalry and conflict throughout history as mortal enemies.

Madara Uchiha was the most powerful ninja of his clan. He and his younger brother Izuna eventually awoke their clan's greatest ability, the Mangekyo Sharingan (Kaleidoscope of Hypnosis), and became their leaders. However, Madara discovered that the Mangekyo Sharingan would lead him to blindness and that only transplanting his brother's eyes could prevent it. And so he did.

Founding of Konohagakure
As the leader of the Uchiha clan, Madara had to fight countless time against the leader of the Senju clan Hashirama, the only ninja able to surpass him. But that changed the day Hashirama Senju, seeing the fighting to be pointless, and offered durable peace with the Uchihas which Madara reluctantly accepted, pushed by his clan. This led to the creation of Konohagakure the Hidden Village of the Leaf, the first of the Ninja villages. However, Madara's hatred did not die, and he took great offense when Hashirama was named first Hokage (the first lord of Konoha). When Madara atttempted to rally his clansmen to stand against Hashirama before they were oppressed by the Senju, his clan regarded his mistrust as lust for violence and turned their backs on him, causing him to promptly leave Konoha.

Madara's downfall
Now on his own as a Rogue Ninja, Madara took control of Kurama, the most powerful of the nine Tailed Beasts, to destroy Hashirama and Konoha. Hashirama caught up with him; leading to the tremendous battle that created the chasm that would become the Valley of the End. Despite controlling Kurama, who was sealed within Hashirama's wife Mito, Madara was defeated. Since then, the people of Konoha carved two immense statues of Hashirama and Madara in the cliff wall, permanently facing one another at both sides of a waterfall, as a symbol of their never-ending rivalry. Though believed to have died that day, Madara survived and went into hiding.

Madara transplanted the sample of Hashirama's DNA he managed to steal during the battle to heal his wounds, becoming a near-genetic match to the Sage of the Six Paths. Having studied the legend of his distant ancestor, Madara devised the Eye of the Moon Plan: To gather all the Tailed Beasts and use them to revive the nightmarish Ten-Tailed Beast from which they were born, and become its jinchuriki. He would then be able to project a reality-warping hypnosis from the moon to ensnare the entire world and unite every mind under his control, in order to become god-like in all senses of the word and create his ideal utopia.

Madara's Final Years
By the time Madara gained Hashirama's Wood Style power from the DNA he stole, which in turn evolved his Sharingan into the Sage of the Six Path's Rinnegan, he had become too old and withered to use it. Madara brought down the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path on the world, being forced to continuously infusing himself with the Statue's chakra to survive. He also used the Statue to harvest Hashirama's DNA and create plant-like humanoids from it, one of which became Zetsu. Later, Madara secretly transplanted his Rinnegan to Nagato as part of a scheme to revive himself, knowing that he needed someone to carry out his work. To that end, he also inspired Yahiko to build the Akatsuki.

During the Third Great Ninja War, Madara saved the life of Obito Uchiha and eventually made the boy into his apprentice, thus obtaining a successor to his legacy in a member of his clan. Madara trained Obito and passed on his vast knowledge relating to the Sage of the Six Path's legend, eventually turning him into the villain known as Tobi. Shortly before his death, Madara perfected Zetsu by infusing him with a part of his will, and instrcted Tobi to resurrect him with Nagato's power when the Eye of the Moon plan would come into fruition. Using his mentor's name as his own, Tobi altered Akatsuki from its intended purpose into tools to fulfill Madara's agenda.

Cryptical Mentions
Madara Uchiha is not mentioned in the first part of the series, in which Orochimaru serves as the primaryantagonist and Akatsuki only serves as an upcoming threat, but he is cryptically mentioned several times: In Sasuke Uchiha's flashbacks about the Uchiha Clan Massacre; when Itachi Uchiha tellsSasuke about the Mangekyo Sharingan, he says that should Sasuke awake it there would be three to share this "blessing", mentioning a yet unknown wielder. (Although he believes said wielder to be Madara, he in facts refers to Tobi.) Later, when Sasuke defects from Konoha, he and his former best friend Naruto Uzumaki (the series' eponymous primary protagonist) do battle at the Valley of the End, near the two giant statues of the founders of Konoha. If the yet unnamed First Hokage can be recognized, nothing is told about the second. The conflict between Sasuke and Naruto also mirrors that of the founders and their respective clans.

In the second part of the story, when Sasuke and Naruto meet again, Sasuke manages to see Kurama sealed inside Naruto and Kurama states that Sasuke reminds him of Madara Uchiha, mentioning his name for the first time. Madara's story would later be explained by Itachi and Tobi through flashbacks. Finally, after Nagato sacrifices himself to revive his victims, Tobi lament that this resurrection spell was meant for "him", referring to Madara who he is impersonating.

The Fourth Great Ninja War
Shortly after Tobi's war declaration to the five Kage, the lords of the five Ninja Villages, he is approached by Orochimaru's former apprentice Kabuto Yakushi, who offers him an alliance. As Tobi attacks him, Kabuto reveals that he perfected Orochimaru's Reanimation technique and used it to revive many powerful ninjas as indestructible undeads, which he offers to add to Tobi's army. Kabuto then forces Tobi to accept by revealing another one of the ninjas he resurrected, who is eventually revealed to be none other than Madara Uchiha, with his body restored to what he was in his prime. Later, as the Ninja Coalition is gaining the upper-hand, Kabuto decides to release Madara on the battlefield. Madara quickly realizes that he was not brought back by Nagato as expected, and Kabuto explains the situation to him through another undead.

Irked both by the alliance of the Ninja countries and by Kabuto's manners, Madara proceeds to utterly annihilate most of the coalition's Fourth Division, but Naruto (acting through one of his Shadow Clones) engages him with back up from Onoki, the Tsuchikage (lord of Iwagakure, the Hidden Village of the Rock) who met Madara ages ago. Madara blocks their attack with Susanoo, but Gaara, now Kazekage (lord of Sunagakure, the Hidden Village of the Sand), manages to drag him away from it. Madara then reveals that he wields the Rinnegan and uses its power of energy absorption to nullify Naruto's attack, before conjuring a monumental meteor to obliterate the battlefield, knowing that he would regenerate shortly after. As Ōnoki attempts to lessen the impact, Madara conjures a second one, wiping out almost everyone in the Fourth Division. After regenerating, Madara attempts to summon Kurama, only to learn that he was sealed within Naruto. He next attacks by conjuring a forest but Naruto manages to destroy it, since Kurama agreed to help him out of loathing for Madara. Shortly after, A the Raikage (lord of Kumogakure, the Hidden Village of Clouds), Mei Terumi the Mizukage (lady of Kirigakure, the Hidden Village of Mist), and Tsunade, the Hokage and granddaughter of Hashirama Senju, are teleported on the battlefield. The five Kages resolve to defeat Madara and order Naruto to find and get rid of Tobi.

The Kage seem at first to hold their own against Madara through teamwork, but he conjures another forest, flowers with sleep-inducing pollen, and a tremendous fire attack, which they barely escape. He recognizes Tsunade as a Senju and resolve to kill her first, seeing her as a stain on her name, but she attacks him with renewed resolve and they manage to seal him... or so they thought. In fact, Madara used a susbstitution technique to change place with a wooden clone and attack her from below. Tsunade then manages to shatter Susanoo's blade and attack Madara with it while Ōnoki's blasts him from behind, but he effortlessly cancels their attacks. Madara reveals that he was merely toying with them and create an army of wooden clones, five for each Kage, to overwhelm them.

Against all odds, the Kage manage to defeat Madara's clones and combine their elemental powers to trap him, but he merely releases the complete form of Susanoo and breaks free from their grasp. Just as he is about to obliterate them, Itachi Uchiha defeats Kabuto and forces him to cancel the Reanimation technique, sending every undead back to the afterlife. Unfortunately, Madara is able to escape Kabuto's grasp and to remain resurrected. Now bored with the Kage, Madara swiftly crushes them, leaving them barely alive and joins the fight opposing Tobi (whose identity has just been revealed) to Naruto and his allies. He remarks that Tobi rushed the resurrection of the Ten-Tailed Beast, but acknowledges that he might have a plan and resolves to capture Naruto and Killer Bee, jinchuriki of Gyuki, the Eight-Tailed Demon Ox. Naruto attacks Madara with the power of Kurama, but he uses the war fan he got back from Tobi to deflect the attack and summons a giant wooden dragon to battle the boy.

Personality
"Anything that can be passed down to you... is hatred."

- Madara Uchiha

Madara Uchiha's most defining trait is his monumental ego: He is extremely proud and confident in his abilities and he boasts without end. He cares only about might and skills, which shows as he constantly belittles everyone he deems weaker, including the immensely powerful Kage and the formidable Kurama. The only one he respected was Hashirama Senju, whom he admired immensely and hated even more.

Madara is a staunch battle-lover who lives and breathes to fight, (which he calls "dancing"). However, he only involves himself in battles he deems challenging, going as far as keeping his foes alive as long as he is enjoying the battle. On the other hand, he will slaughter mercilessly those who do not interest him or worse, keep fighting after he lost interest in them. Although he never bothers fighting at full strength, he is a humongous show-off who uses immensely powerful techniques for no other reason than that he can. Despite this, he remains cautious no matter the situation. He also proves to be quite honourable, giving genuine praise whenever someone exceeds his expectations and harsh but constructive criticism when he sees it necessary. However, any praise he gives is usually followed with a statement about how far beneath him and Hashirama his foes are. Finally, he is a very intelligent strategist and a talented manipulator.

Madara is cruel, aloof and spiteful, with a dark sense of humour. Growing up in an era of permanent war made him highly warmongering and vindictive, to the point of paranoia. He hated the Senju so much that he was unable to bury the hatchet; persuading himself that their offers of friendship concealed attempts to subdue his clan. He believes that will and hope are irrelevant, that hatred is the only thing that can be passed down to the following generations, and that the never-ending conflict plaguing the Ninja World cannot be reverted. He also demonstrates a very strong desire for domination, which first made him want Konohagakure to dominate every other nation, and culminated in his desire to rule reality in itself.

All in all, Madara appears as a repulsive and petty individual, to the point that not even the Tailed Beasts can stand him. He is too self-centered to ever accept that Hashirama Senju could be stronger, and more worthy of the title of Hokage. Not only did he sabotage negotiations between Konoha and Iwa mostly out of spite, but his main motivation is to rise higher than Hashirama ever could. Although he did genuinely want the best for his clan, he was not able to consider their wishes and felt they did not respect him enough, while they merely had different wishes than his own. When he had grown old, Madara became very bitter and disillusioned about reality, believing some must always be losers so that others can be winners, doubtlessly a reference to his past failures against Hashirama.

Powers and Abilities
Madara Uchiha is by very far the mightiest ninja ever seen in the series. He already was unbelievably powerful when alive, but as an undead he was restored to his prime while retaining the special powers he obtained after his defeat, putting his might to absolutely ludicrous levels. As if that was not enough, being undead gives him unlimited regenerative abilities and limitless supplies of chakra, meaning that he can use his mightiest techniques unlimitedly and without strain, making it impossible to defeat him battle.

Fighting Prowess
Madara is an extraordinarily gifted fighter with immense strength, speed, spryness and reflexes, able to take on an entire army all by himself. He was seen sending taller foes flying away, dodging highly fast attacks and taking a weapon from its owner with no effort. He displays unrivalled skills with weapons and in martial arts. He was seen using swords, scythes and giant shurikens in battle, but his signature weapon is a huge war-fan which he uses as both a offensive weapon and a shield. His war-fan is connected to a chain which he uses to swing his weapon like a flail, with a scythe attached to its other end. Also, he can channel his chakra through it to increase its sharpness, raise barriers of chakra, and absorb any kind of attack to reflect the impact in a given direction.

Madara has huge amounts of extremely powerful chakra, enough to summon and compel the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox. He also mastered the mightiest fire-based attacks in existence, being able to conjure overwhelming streams of fire that need many powerful water attacks just to be contained and powerful fireballs shaped like dragon heads, just to name a few.

Sharingan
Madara was the most proficient Sharingan user of his time, mastering Sharingan and attaining Mangekyo Sharingan in his teens. His Sharingan were so powerful, they allowed him complete control over Kurama, the most powerful and dangerous Tailed Beast. Like most Uchiha that awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan, he is able to keep his Sharingan constantly activated without feeling the strain that most other users feel (Kakashi and Danzo also have constantly-active Sharingan with Mangekyo-Sharingan, but that is mainly due to a lack of control).

Mangekyo Sharingan
Madara was one of the first Uchiha to awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan. After prolonged use, he realised that his eyesight was deteriorating. To counter this, he replaced his eyes with his brother's, gaining access to the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, allowing him to keep using this ability with no damage to his eyes.

When he activates the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, he is able to use Susanoo, decimating entire armies and providing a near-impenetrable barrier for himself. It is said that anyone who sees Susanoo fully materialised die, the only survivors of it's assault being the five Kage, whom Madara was not trying to kill with his first attack and who he couldn't kill when Susanoo suddenly dematerialized against his will. Promptedly spoken, the Kage only survived by sheer luck.

Rinnegan
Sometime after his fight with Hashirama Senju, Madara awakened the Rinnegan, presumably the first real Rinnegan since The Sage of Six Paths. With it, he is able to use the same abilities that Nagato and the Six Paths of Pain could use. At some point before meeting Obito, Madara removed his eyes and gave them to Nagato, replacing his left eye with a spare Sharingan.

Mokuton
After surviving his last battle with Hashirama, Madara modified his body by grafting Hashirama's DNA to himself. This allowed him to use the Hashirama's Wood Style, one of the few means to subdue Tailed Beasts. Madara shows great proficiency with it, creating a garden full of giant flowers that spread toxic pollen as well as making as many as 25 wood-based replicas of himself similar to Naruto's Shadow Clone technique.