Character Spotlight for November 2019: Jiraiya

 

***NOTE TO EVERYONE: This character is from Naruto and Naruto: Shippuuden. If you have not seen/read it and are planning to, or are currently in the process of watching/reading it, then please do not continue as there are lots of spoilers below. You have been warned.***

 

 

Name:

Jiraiya

 

Nickname(s):

Toad Sage (due to having trained under the Great Toad Sage in Mount Miyoboku)

Pervy Sage (really only ever said by Naruto)

 

Birthday:

November 11

 

Age:

Part One: 50-51

Part Two: 54

 

First Appearance:

In the anime: Episode 52

In the manga: Volume 10, Chapter 90

 

 

Who Is He? & What Did He Do:

• A student of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
• One of the three Legendary Sannin, obtaining their name from having survived an encounter with Hanzo of the Salamander, the leader of the Village Hidden in the Rain during the Second Great Ninja War.
• Mentor to Nagato [Pain], Yahiko, and Konan prior to them founding the Akatsuki.
• Mentor to the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.
• Godfather and mentor to Naruto Uzumaki.
• First choice for the position of Fifth Hokage.
• Traveled around the world because of a prediction that was given to him by the Great Toad Sage from Mount Miyoboku that stated that he would meet the ‘Child of the Prophecy’, a student who would grow up to either save the world or destroy it depending on how Jiraiya taught the child
• Randomly returned to the Leaf Village after long absences to report to the Hokage on any new information regarding Orochimaru and the criminal organization Akatsuki

Personality:

• At first glance, he’s a very perverted old man whose only mission in life is to figure out new ways of sneaking a peek at the ladies in the public baths.
• Has an extremely energetic pattern of speech
• Very confident in his strength, but was never arrogant about it and didn’t normally let victories go to his head
• Could go from fun and neurotic one moment to serious, wise, and surprisingly philosophical the next
• Extremely sympathetic
• A wanderer from a young age
• Incredibly poetic at times

 

Strengths:

• Jiraiya was a lighthearted guy who never missed an opportunity for a joke, even if it was at his own expense. He thrived on being over-the-top in combat, striking poses, and giving dramatic self-introductions that were commonly interrupted by the bad guys.
• In the official Naruto handbook, he scored an overall total of 35.5 out of 40, receiving a perfect score in both ninjutsu and stamina.
• Deeply loyal to his beliefs, making it his mission in life to bring peace to the war-ridden world
• Was content with the way he was and never tried to change himself
• Physically stronger than most characters in the story, as well as, more intelligent
• Completed the most amount of missions out of all of the characters, so he had a lot of experience under his belt

 

Weaknesses:

• Too spontaneous at times for his own good
• Wasn’t very confident in his personality; he hought that’s what kept him from being Hokage because his personality traits instantly made him unqualified to hold such an honorable title and lacked the responsibility to lead the village.
• Too self-conscious about his image when he was in Sage Mode; felt less attractive to females like that
• Lacked the ability to balance his chakra properly with natural energy
• Possibly had psychological issues due to having graduated at such a young age from the academy
• Often saw his life as a failure and didn’t hold it to as high of a value as he would other’s
• Constantly blamed himself from the downfall of his childhood friend and rival, Orochimaru and continuously thought himself unworthy of finding true happiness

 

Fun Facts:

1.) The only one of the three Sannin that didn’t use any jutsu to make himself look younger.

2.) He was tied with Itachi Uchiha in having the highest stats in the official databook. They both knew of each other’s strength, so the only time they did confront one another, they were extremely careful and we never saw them fight at full strength.

3.) He always wanted to legitimately fight with Naruto Uzumaki.

4.) He graduated from the academy at the age of six.

5.) He has no official rank in the databook, although it is hypothesized that he was a jonin.

 

Favorite Thing About the Character:

Everything Jiraiya did in life was to bring peace to a violent world filled with nothing but war and bloodshed. Despite his happy and easygoing demeanor, he held a strong belief that with enough effort, he could change the world for the better. He never stopped thinking that peace was possible, even as he took his final breath. I admire people who hold true to their hearts.

 

Favorite Quote Said by the Character:

This was a quote said to his former teammate Tsunade right before his mission of infiltrating the Village Hidden in the Rain in order to find out the true identity of Pain.

“Now my job is to help the next generation, and set a good example for them. And for that I’ll gladly lay down my life, and I’ll be smiling the whole time. It’s what makes us old guys cool, you see.”

 

 

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