A Plot Tumour Named Uchiha

by Raja-Ulat

This is my personal analysis/opinion of the Uchiha Clan. Please be aware that this is not a fanfiction story but something more like a literature report. Feel free to take look into it but be aware that I do not think highly of the Uchiha Clan as a whole in general. If you wish to review, or place a constructive argument, feel free to do so. I will not acknowledge mindless flaming.

A "Plot Tumour" Named Uchiha

MAJOR Disclaimer: This is my personal analysis/opinion about the Uchiha Clan from the manga/anime series, Naruto, as a whole. As I strongly dislike the clan in general, or at least how the author had depicted them, I will not be very "complementary" towards them. Therefore, I am giving every fan of any Uchiha Clan member a BIG warning that I may get overly critical in my judgment (never mind the chances of my info being wrong). For those hoping for a new chapter of my stories, I deeply apologize as I may not be posting anything new for a while partly due to my increasingly busy work schedule and having art block. A last word of warning, this analysis has MAJOR spoilers!

The Sharingan

Before we go into any character in particular, allow me to provide my opinion about the Sharingan. Based on what I could understand from recent revelations, the Sharingan becomes more powerful the more strongly a member of the Uchiha Clan hates someone after suffering a traumatizing tragedy. Now, assuming that this hatred includes self-hatred as well, which could explain the evolution of the Sharingan into the Mangekyou Sharingan, it is reasonable to assume that the Uchiha Clan as a whole has a higher tendency towards insanity or psychopathy than most clans, something which the Second Hokage already noted, especially after the clan survived a few ninja world wars.

"Survival of the fittest" dictates that only the strong will survive to pass on their genes. Assuming that the rule is true for the Uchiha Clan, it would mean that members of the clan who become more insane or evil as a result of tragedy of loss would be more likely to survive, and therefore pass on their genes, than those who are more forgiving or understanding. Granted, the more insane or evil ones will be more likely to act irrationally which could get them killed but "natural selection" will ensure that those who are exceptionally powerful, level-headed, or at least damned lucky, will be able to survive long enough to pass on their genes to the next generation, creating more potentially evil and insane individuals as a result.

On the other hand, members of the Uchiha Clan who had been consumed by rage and hatred show minimal, if any, interest in the opposite sex as far as I know (and please, don't try to tell me that Uchiha Sasuke showed any romantic interest in ANYONE after the time skip because I'm pretty damn sure that trying to kill someone is no way to show affection under most normal circumstances). Of course, no sex equals to zero reproduction, so how in the world does the clan continue propagating if such is the case? As noted in the later chapters, the Uchiha Clan were losing to the Senju Clan during the Clan Wars so maybe there were more reasonable Uchiha Clan members around to reproduce during the founding of Konohagakure. Also, it must be noted that not everyone reacts to any one kind of tragedy in the same way, which means that they may have the potential but did not experience the "correct trigger" required to drive them to insanity or evil. The fact that members of the Uchiha Clan are somehow able to attract members of the opposite sex (assuming that attractive Uchiha men/women are the norm rather than the exception) certainly raises their chances of reproduction even if they do not show any interest in reproducing, not even for basic human intimacy as far as I know.

Now, after putting all of that into consideration, it can be said that the Uchiha Clan as a whole has a chance to become increasingly more evil and insane the longer they continue to survive through times of conflict and war, or at least more so than most clans. Even times of peace is not guarantee as long as the clan is dissatisfied and grows resentful (granted, the Second Hokage did not exactly help with their issues).

As far as Sharingan abilities are concerned, I'm honestly confused by some of the more bombastic abilities (namely the one Itachi used against Kabuto). However, I can accept the fact that the eye has the potential to be exceedingly powerful provided that the Uchiha Clan really are the descendants of the Sage of the Six Paths. Also, I'm quite certain that I'm not the only one who noted how similar the Sharingan resembles the eye of the Juubi thus indicating that the Sharingan may have a corrupted/demonic origin. As for every evolved Sharingan developing a unique ability depending on the user, I don't have much to comment about it although I do feel that there are already more than enough known abilities which are powerful including Amaterasu, Tsukiyomi, Susanoo, Kamui, Kotoamatsukami, and controlling Bijuu.

Personally, I have no major complaint about the Sharingan's evolutionary mechanics although, as stated before, I do wish that the Sharingan stops gaining new abilities and powers. I mean, the author did not place even a quarter of that kind of emphasis on the abilities of the Senju or the Uzumaki Clans, which are just as important to the story due to similar association to the Sage of The Six Paths, for heaven's sake!

Uchiha Obito

I used to like Obito, until the writer decided that he becomes a major villain. Don't get me wrong, anyone would flip after what Obito went through (having the girl you like killed by your own friend would do that to anyone). What I can't accept is the idea of him trying to create a false reality so that he can have a facsimile of happiness. Granted, I had already made it clear that the Uchiha Clan is not exactly very rational when in the face of tragedy and he did admit that he hated reality in general, but did he not consider what would Rin feel about his actions? Then again, maybe he did consider it and felt that she would not mind his evil actions if she somehow gets her own paradise, not to mention he was already aware that she liked Kakashi. Regardless, I do consider him as a tragic villain who deserves some understanding if nothing else.

Uchiha Itachi

Personally (and I am aware that this can potentially become a major-ass flame bait), I dislike Itachi as he is a poorly-depicted character. I know, he went through a hell lot of bad crap and he did commit a lot of self-sacrifice for both his little brother, Sasuke, and for Konohagakure. What really makes me feel dislike for Itachi though is how he convinced Sasuke to hate him to the point that vengeance became Sasuke's damnable obsession. From what I can understand, he of all people knew how hatred affects the Uchiha Clan and yet he not only convinced Sasuke to embrace his hatred, he practically told him to cling onto it. He even told Sasuke how to obtain the evolved Mangekyou Sharingan, which is a tempting recipe for disaster no matter how you put it. If that is not bad enough, he tortured Sasuke with the Tsukiyomi TWICE just to make sure that Sasuke follows the "correct path" of killing his own elder brother to avenge his massacred clan. Granted, Itachi wanted to die by Sasuke's hands as a means of atonement but his actions are still foolish because they could have easily caused "undesirable effects", such as Sasuke's defection to Orochimaru who was certainly an unrepentant enemy of Konohagakure at the time of his defection. Now, I get that he may have gone crazy during the Uchiha Massacre, including a strong sense of self-loathing, but you would think that a genius like him could have convinced Sasuke to avoid the path of hatred, to find another way to be strong enough to vanquish his own "traitorous elder brother", rather than embrace it. Sure, he did all he could to wreck the plans of the actual major villains, and apologized to Sasuke for all the deceit, but that still does not fully excuse him for his foolishness in my opinion.

Uchiha Sasuke

My opinion about Sasuke is just as poor if not worse than my opinion about Itachi. Granted, Sasuke did put up with a lot of bad crap himself including the Uchiha Clan Massacre, getting exposed to Tsukiyomi twice before his defection, the inherent insanity of the Uchiha Clan that results from traumatizing tragedy, and getting the Cursed Seal from Orochimaru which certainly did not help him get over his personal issues. Speaking about Orochimaru, I PRAY that the snake bastard will not become a damned "Karma Houdini" because I'm pretty sure that his actions, including off-screen actions, are unforgiveable (I mean, having Jiraiya dead but Orochimaru "redeemed" is just not fair no matter how I look at it). However, what really ticked me off is how he decided that destroying Konohagakure was a good idea after learning the truth about the Uchiha Clan Massacre (thereby spitting onto Itachi's very sacrifice for the village). Granted, he got better but, the last time I checked, stabbing your own loyal subordinate is not exactly a nice move either. Only time will tell if Sasuke will suffer the consequences of his actions but I pray that he at least atones for them and not end up as a damned "Karma Houdini" (seeing Karin's reaction to Sasuke's "apology" though, hopeless fangirl as she is, I do have my doubts). It certainly does not help that he's quite literally the focus of Team Seven, and probably the other members of the Konoha 12 in general, as they are determined to get him back even after seeing/realizing how far he had fallen (again, I know he had gotten better and I do know that Naruto can sense negative emotions but I thought the series' primary main character is Naruto, not Sasuke).

I will not comment much on the other Uchiha Clan members as I do not know them well enough to make any solid judgements. However, I do certainly want to know just what is Madara really hoping to achieve with the Eye of the Moon Plan (I mean, he used to be a likeable kid become he became infamous).

Uchiha Clan as a Whole

To put it simply, either the author did not put much thought into it or he had made a number of blunders while planning it out. I also have a feeling that the author has some kind of favouritism to the clan, or at least certain members of it, since no other clan, not even the Senju or the Uzumaki Clans, received such emphasis in the series. Admittedly, I myself and not completely above such favouritism and un-favouritism myself (as most can probably tell from reading some of my fanfiction works on Naruto), but keeping a more balanced emphasis on the different ninja clans, keeping plot holes to a minimum (the Uzumaki Masks part was certainly unexpected and definitely could use a bit more elaboration), and making sure that relationships between characters are more realistic rather than forced or maintained at a stranglehold would have been nice (for example, is Naruto developing romantic feeling for Hinata or does his love/crush/obsession towards Sakura trump all else even after realizing that Hinata loves him).

In conclusion, the poorly-handled "Plot Tumour" known as the Uchiha Clan had caused what could have been a great manga/anime series become a mediocre one in my personal opinion. Ironically enough, it also convinced me to dabble in fanfiction writing if only to try and make a better story than canon.

Notes:

Well, I have finally gotten that out of my system. Feel free to review although a few facts would have to be made clear:

+ To anyone that says that the Uchiha Clan, or at least some of its members, are awesome because of their abilities please do remember that I am primarily criticizing poor characterization, not ninja abilities. For that matter, being handsome is MOST DEFINITELY no excuse for poor characterization.

+ I have already noted the matter of mental insanity caused by the Sharingan and I am willing to admit that I'm not exactly well-versed in understanding the minds of the irrationally insane.

+ If anyone claims that I am biased against the Uchiha Clan, I will not deny the possibility but then again I could say the same to anyone who is biased against Hinata (yes, I do like her better as a character than Sakura). After all, I already made it clear that not everyone responds to tragedy the same way which also applies to hardships, abuses, and/or insecurities.

+ I am already aware that I am handling potentially volatile flame bait here but I would appreciate a civilized argument of known facts rather than mindless flaming over my personal opinion towards the Uchiha Clan.

+ I believe that I have already offered the Monstergirl/Naruto story for potential adoption/adaption so feel free to do so as long as you acknowledge my part in it.