TheNarutofranchise has given viewers arange of compelling antagonists, with each one presenting their unique motives and backstories. However, there is one such adversary in the series that gave fans a few head-scratching moments with their goofy and childlike personality. Being a recurring villain in theShippudenseries, Tobi garnered plenty of attention from fans with his first few appearances, mostly due to the unique persona he presented.
Naruto’santagonists have a similar pattern in terms of personality, as each one presents quite a serious and stern narrative with an equally depressing backstory. Tobi, also known as Obito, defies this notion initially, as his persona features a playful and cheery character, and one that is kind enough to help anyone with their goals, even withoutpermission from the Akatsuki. However, as the series progresses, the real reason behind Tobi’s eccentric persona is slowly revealed.
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Tobi’s True Identity
To understand where Tobi’s childish persona stems from, it is essential to first look at his real identity. Many fans remain under the impression that Tobi and Obito are the same person, which makes sense considering Obito refers to himself as ‘Tobi’ throughout a large chunk of the series. While this fact may be true to some extent, there is actually another character behind Tobi’s mask – Guruguru, a spiral-shaped clone of White Zetsu.
The name might not ring a bell for most viewers, as this character rarely goes by the name ‘Guruguru’ in the series, however, this clone can beseen next to Black Zetsuand the original White Zetsu during the time they looked after Obito, as instructed by Madara Uchiha. Since Guruguru is a copy of the first White Zetsu, he also bears the same silly and childlike personality, which can be seen in most of Tobi’s appearances in the first half ofShippuden.
Tobi – A Facade of Two Faces
Being born out of two individuals, Tobi can neither be said to be a separate person, nor would it be fair to attribute this persona to either Obito or Guruguru. However, seeing how the cloned Zetsu’s temperament seems to be the outwardly dominant one, associating ‘Tobi’ with Guruguru would seem like the logical choice. Nevertheless, the story of how this character was born can shed some light on this matter.
During the time Guruguru served as one of Madara’s minions, he was tasked withlooking after young Obito, ensuring he is nursed back to health. Bearing a playful personality, he would tease Obito and pester him about bodily functions – eventually befriending the young boy. This is also where the cloned Zetsu’s name originated, as Obito coined the nickname ‘Guruguru’ based on his appearance, a word that means ‘swirly’ in the Japanese language.
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Around the same time, White Zetsu noticedKakashi and Rin, Obito’s former teammates, cornered by shinobi from the Hidden Mist Village. In a bid to escape and help his friends, Obito tried breaking the stone wall blocking the exit, but instead lost his artificial arm in the process. Noticing Obito’s desperation, Guruguru offered himself as a suit of sorts to make up for Obito’s limitations and offer him more power. Even though he initially disagrees, the Zetsu convinces Obito by stating what he would gain bymerging with Hashirama’s DNA. Even after the incident, the two remain merged together for quite a while, as seen during the time they infiltrate the Akatsuki.
A Non-Threatening Persona
While the reason for the two joining together to become ‘Tobi’ makes sense during the time Obito was recovering, the question now arises as to why they kept the childlike persona later on,even after joining the Akatsuki. Their motive is actually quite simple – infiltrating the Akatsuki by posing as a non-threatening entity. The Akatsuki as a whole was already a cautious group, and a serious persona would have led to Obito’s true identity being revealed.
With Tobi’s guise, Obito was able to gain the other member’s trust with ease, especially with Guruguru’s comedic disposition. In a short time span, Tobi became an integral member of the Akatsuki and a close partner of Deidara, as the two were sent on several missions for the organization. Even though Tobi’s initial childlike persona was due to Guruguru, Obito kept the guise simply to present himself a benign entity to the Akatsuki.
