History Characters / NarutoDanzoShimura

Due to Danzo's draconian beliefs and his ''need'' for Konoha's "protection", he ended up causing more problems than he solved: {{brainwash}}ing his subordinates into total obedience as he almost did with Sai, corrupting Nagato and creating "Pain" by influencing Hanzo into betraying the idealistic Akatsuki members, turning Kabuto against Konoha by having him kill his foster mother despite the years of service he put in and letting countless villagers die so he can blame Tsunade for it and usurp the Hokage position. The jarring act is forcing Itachi to slaughter his entire clan and preventing Shisui from using his technique to end the conflict non-aggressively, all because he wanted the technique for himself. All the while he justifies these betrayals due to his belief that the people he was betraying were too good at what they did to be trusted, creating one SelfFulfillingProphecy after another when the tragedies he caused or influenced drove them to become criminals. Arguably, Danzo's death makes everyone else in the story better off in the end.

It's further revealed that his obsession with ninjas being strong stems from an inferiority complex that's been with him since before Hiruzen was selected as the Third Hokage and from his personal belief that a ninja should be prepared to sacrifice himself for the greater good -- a belief he has his subordinates follow to the letter but he himself finds difficult to do. It's also revealed that his rivalry with Sarutobi was less bitter than it seems to be.

Due to Danzo's draconian beliefs and his ''need'' for Konoha's "protection", he ended up causing more problems than he solved: {{brainwash}}ing his subordinates into total obedience as he almost did with Sai, corrupting Nagato and creating "Pain" by influencing Hanzo into betraying the idealistic Akatsuki members, turning Kabuto against Konoha by having him kill his foster mother despite the years of service he put in and letting countless villagers die so he can blame Tsunade for it and usurp the Hokage position. The most jarring act is forcing Itachi to slaughter his entire clan and preventing Shisui from using his technique to end the conflict non-aggressively, all because he wanted the technique for himself. All the while he justifies these betrayals due to his belief that the people he was betraying were too good at what they did to be trusted, creating one SelfFulfillingProphecy after another when the tragedies he caused or influenced drove them to become criminals. Arguably, Danzo's death makes everyone else in the story better off in the end.

It turns out that he wanted the position of Third Hokage so bad, that he secretly aligned himself with Hanzo of Amegakure. After Pain's invasion is thwarted, he lambasts the citizens of Konoha, stating that the interconnected Hokages made the village weak (although all of the disasters that fell upon Konoha are directly or indirectly caused by him). As a result, he is named the acting Sixth Hokage in Tsunade's absence by the daimyo but lacks the approval of the jonins needed to get the position permanently. He expects that if he can make the Kage Summit go well, they would have no choice but to give him full approval. He goes off to the summit with his bodyguards. He almost managed to get appointed leader of the alliance against Akatsuki on Mifune's advice, but Ao interrupts, stating that Danzo's eye allows him a MindControl dojutsu that is being used to influence Mifune's decision. He admits to it, claiming that he's fulfilling a need for the shinobi to unify for protection, then makes a veiled threat towards Ao. When Sasuke invades the meeting room, he takes it as an opportunity for his party to leave with Ao in pursuit.

It turns out that he wanted the position of Third Hokage so bad, that he secretly aligned himself with Hanzo of Amegakure. After Pain's invasion is thwarted, he lambasts the citizens of Konoha, stating that the interconnected Hokages made the village weak (although all of the disasters that fell upon Konoha are directly or indirectly caused by him). As a result, he is named the acting Sixth Hokage in Tsunade's absence by the daimyo but lacks the approval of the jonins needed to get the position permanently. He expects that if he can make the Kage Summit go well, they would have no choice but to give him full approval. He goes off to the summit with his bodyguards. He almost managed to get appointed leader of the alliance against Akatsuki on Mifune's advisement, but Ao interrupts, stating that Danzo's eye allows him a MindControl dojutsu that is being used to influence Mifune's decision. He admits to it, claiming that he's fulfilling a need for the shinobi to unify for protection, then makes a veiled threat towards Ao. When Sasuke invades the meeting room, he takes it as an opportunity for his party to leave with Ao in pursuit.

His importance belied what his infrequent appearances would suggest (he didn't even appear until ''Shippuden''), as he's evidently been pulling strings behind the scenes for quite some time. He believes Konoha should rule by force, and resents the more diplomatic stances taken by the Third Hokage and his successors, which he believes softens the village's ninja and makes them weak.

* SummonMagic: Has access to a giant creature called {{Baku}}, a large creature with a huge trunk that can create a powerful vacuum and enhance Danzo's own wind technique.

* AdaptationalVillainy: Danzo is no saint but he's too complex to be written off as completely evil and his actions, while questionable, are always aimed towards the "good of the village". {{Filler}} episodes of the series tend to make Danzo the main antagonist, particularly during "Kakashi's ANBU Arc", where he was deliberately working with Orochimaru, had a hand in corrupting (at first) a young Yamato and even tried to ''kill'' the Third Hokage! Perhaps most glaring is the fact that during the saga, Danzo deliberately stopped Shisui from using his Kotoamatsuki to halt the Uchiha coup d'etat, reasoning that ''he'' would make better use of the technique and is "worried" that Shisui may perform this technique on ''him''. The last part admittedly ''did'' happen in the manga in some form, but the only details given are that Danzo stole Shisui's eye because he did not trust him.

* WorfHadTheFlu: Powerful as he is, Tobi specifically arranges his fight with Sasuke only when Danzo cannot use his most powerful weapon: Shisui's eye and the nigh-unstoppable Genjutsu Kotoamatsukami, something that would've otherwise instantly granted Danzo victory.

** His entire philosophy is based on Tobirama Senju's words that ninja should be in control of their emotions and not let them cloud their judgment. However, he takes these words to the extreme and turns his subordinates into [[EmotionlessGirl emotionless puppets]] willing to follow [[EyeScream any]] [[HeroicSacrifice order]]. Ao and even ''Tobi'' call him out on this during the Five Kage Summit arc.
** Tobirama also believed that the safety of Konoha is more important than any individual, no matter who they are. That's why he was willing [[YouShallNotPass to die]] in order to save the lives of his subordinates and why he was going to pulverize Sasuke the moment he spoke about ''possibly'' destroying Konoha. Danzo believes himself to be too important to die. He is also willing to let hundreds of people die if that means he can become Hokage.

* DirtyCoward: The crux of Danzos' psychology is that he is a self-loathing coward and he hates himself for it, so he overcompensates by reframing himself as a hardliner who makes the "tough" decisions that others are too soft or weak to choose. For instance, he is haunted by a childhood incident where Sarutobi freely volunteered for a SuicideMission to save the rest of their team, when Danzo himself hesitated to out of fear, so instead, he has raised a cadre of ruthless, brainwashed, emotionless child soldiers who will kill and die on command- exactly the sort of person Danzo ''wished'' he could be. He sends others to their death because he is too much of a wimp to do the same himself.

* WorfHadTheFlu: Powerful as he is, Tobi specifically arranges his fight with Sasuke only when Danzo cannot use his most powerful weapon: Shisui's eye and the nigh-unstoppable Genjutsu Kotoamatsukami, something

* AdaptationalVillainy: Danzo is no saint but he's too complex to be written off as completely evil and his actions, while questionable, are always aimed towards the "good of the village". {{Filler}} episodes of the series tend to make Danzo the main antagonist, particularly during "Kakashi's ANBU Arc", where he was deliberately working with Orochimaru, had a hand in corrupting (at first) a young Yamato and even tried to ''kill'' the Third Hokage! Perhaps most glaring is the fact that during the saga, Danzo deliberately stopped Shisui from using his Kotoamatsuki to halt the Uchiha coup d'etat, reasoning that ''he'' would make better use of the technique and is "worried" that Shisui may perform this technique on ''him''. The last part did happen in the manga in some form, but the only details given are that Danzo stole Shisui's eye because he did not trust him.

May end up being quite a bit more important to the plot than his infrequent appearances would suggest (he didn't even appear until ''Shippuden''), as he's evidently been pulling strings behind the scenes for quite some time. He believes Konoha should rule by force, and resents the more diplomatic stances taken by the Third Hokage and his successors, which he believes softens the village's ninja and makes them weak.

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Multiple antagonists and the horrific things they did resulted because of Danzo's paranoid machinations. It's entirely plausible to say that much of the Fourth Shinobi War went into motion out of the long-term consequences of his actions.
* UnwittingPawn: In spite of all his motives he became one for Tobi. So nearly all his actions played into the hands Tobi: His union with Hanzo in the betrayal of Nagato allowed Tobi to take him under his control as well as Akatsuki. Also, he manipulated Itachi into slaying his clan that allowed Tobi to not only to acquire a large number of Sharingan but also to use Itachi to find a new pawn in the person of Sasuke. And Danzo is the one who reveals to the Kages that Tobi is Madara, [[spoiler:which is exactly what Tobi wants them to believe]].

** He expects ninjas to be self-sacrificing while he himself is too cowardly to do so himself and has never performed any self-sacrifice in his entire life. He is more likely to throw others under the bus to advance his own goals than to sacrifice anything of his own for the sake of others. It should be noted he ''hates'' himself for this and wishes he had the courage to give his life for his village. He does... in the TakingYouWithMe sense that he was going to die anyway, at least.