Rivals: they're the cornerstone of every great duo. Vegeta gave Goku a foil unlike any other, Gary Oak tormented Ash Ketchum to the point we were all cheering when Ash finally got the upper hand, and who could forget Jonathan Joestar and Dio’s generation spanning rivalry? No matter where you look, the best quality will always be right behind the rival.
Naruto’s Sasuke is no exception. He challenges, antagonizes, inspires, and changes Naruto throughout the course of the series. His presence is so monumental, there are moments where the anime could have very well been titled Sasuke. Entire storylines are dedicated to him, and the overall narrative couldn’t work without him.
Like any good rival, though, Sasuke isn’t just a barrier for Naruto to surpass. He has his own talents and abilities that help him not only stand out, but also overshadow Naruto in some instances. He’s your favorite brooding ninja; he’s Sasuke Uchiha.
15 He Can Have An Memorable Character Arc
As likable as Naruto is, he doesn’t exactly have the most dynamic arc. He starts out as a lonely boy who lashes out at others, but slowly mellows out and develops genuine friendships that’ll last him the rest of his life. It’s fine for what it is, but it completely pales in comparison to the journey Sasuke goes on throughout the series.
He starts out as your typical shonen rival, aloof and distant, before warming up to his teammates and sharing a sense of genuine camaraderie with them. Unfortunately, his past comes back to haunt him, and he’s torn between either committing himself to companionship or betraying his village in pursuit of revenge. All this culminates in a final showdown where, after fighting his best friend to near death, Sasuke finally returns home, concluding a long journey of heartbreak and discovery.
14 He Can Get The Girl
It's not unusual for a female character to be used as some sort of reward for the male lead’s development. You see it all the time in films, and animes have been doing this for ages. Naruto is an interesting example, though. Sakura is clearly introduced as his ideal love interest, but nothing ever comes out of it. Instead, she pines over Sasuke and it can be argued that he's as much a reward for her development as she is for his.
Sasuke isn't so much getting the girl as he is building a sincere relationship with her with plenty of realistic pitfalls. Compare this to Naruto and Hinata where their relationship is mostly one sided until they finally get together.
13 He Can Be More Than An Archetype
As fun as Naruto is, you can't really deny just how much of his character is lifted straight from Goku. He's a big eater, he primarily wears orange, and his goal of becoming Hokage basically translates to being the strongest. It's inoffensive since Goku is an interesting character and these are interesting quirks, but you don't see Sasuke acting like Ninja Vegeta.
In many ways, Sasuke is a foil to Vegeta. Instead of starting the series as a villain who gradually becomes a hero, Sasuke is a hero who gradually becomes a villain. Even then, Sasuke’s development is more nuanced than that. He’s villainous out of what he considers to be a necessity, and he clearly struggles with that fact. You can easily compare him to Vegeta, but you’d be doing a disservice to just how in-depth Sasuke’s character really is.
12 He Can Use Cooler Abilities
The Sharingan and chidori. They’re two of the most, if not the most, iconic techniques in Naruto. Neither are inherently exclusive to Sasuke, as is the case with just about any jutsu associated with any ninja throughout the series, but they arguably leave a stronger lasting impression that the rasengan or Naruto’s jinchūriki forms. It's incredible when Naruto channels his inner fox, but it's even better when Sasuke gets his Sharingan going and starts wreaking harbor.
Aesthetically, his two mainstay techniques just look cooler. The way lightning bolts up his arm while Sasuke runs towards whatever opponent he's facing is an unforgettable image. The design of the Sharingan is also breathtaking; deep crimson with specs of black really that demonstrate the fury behind its power. If that's not cooler than making a ball of wind or cloning yourself, I don't know what is.
11 He Can Use His Awesome Backstory To His Advantage
The revelation of Sasuke’s background is, without a doubt, the moment Naruto permanently changes from a pretty standard, albeit well written, action series to an exploration of familial bonds with life or death fights. Typically, these tonal shifts come from a revelation about the main character (i.e. Goku’s Saiyan heritage,) but such a moment couldn't occur with Naruto’s personal backstory. He's an orphan and there's a fox demon trapped inside of him, but that doesn't have the same gravitas as Sasuke’s clan getting murdered in front of his by his older brother.
It's this one occurrence in his life that shapes who Sasuke is in the beginning of the series, and who he becomes. From one singular moment, he's able to gain a ridiculous amount of characterization and development you rarely find in other animes. Losing his family makes him a deeper character, gives him a clear motivator, and allows us to sympathize with him even when he's defected from the Hidden Leaf Village.
10 He Can Drive Home The Theme Of The Series
In an interview with Entermix magazine, series creator Masashi Kishimoto said, “losing a friend is like losing one’s identity.” Friendship is perhaps the heart and soul of Naruto, and no other friendship defines the series more than Sasuke’s and Naruto’s. You would think that the protagonist, with his desire for companionship, would better exemplify the series's main theme but it's really Sasuke who drives home Naruto’s main theme.
He doesn't want friends, not outwardly at least, but people want to be friends with him. Naruto aggressively tries to bond with Sasuke despite the latter’s desire to be left alone. That said, he grows to appreciate this friendship and learns to accept others. Unfortunately, his past tears him apart from his friends, and he forces himself to detach. He can't detach completely, though, and ultimately comes around. His character arc fully explores the many the many nuances found in a platonic relationship, far more than Naruto’s.
9 He Can Naturally Jump Between Casts
One of Sasuke’s best qualities is his ability to naturally fit in with any group of characters. Throughout the course of the series, he’s a member of Team 7, Orochimaru’s creepy village-lab hybrid, a group dedicated to hunting down Itachi, and the Akatsuki (though only kind of.) What's particularly impressive about Sasuke’s cast jumping is how he manages to help other characters shine: Orochimaru is far more fascinating when he's tempting Sasuke, Karin’s personality starts to show through more prominently once she's playing off Sasuke, and Obito gains newfound depth the moment he offers a truce with Sasuke. Sasuke may not bring out what's necessarily considered the best in people, but he sure makes them worth watching.
8 He Can Be The Center Of Dynamic Family Drama
Considering how much of Naruto is spent diving into Sasuke’s family history, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that the Sasuke-Itachi conflict is the main arc. For a good chunk of the story, at least. If you’re one of the four people familiar with the franchise but somehow completely unaware of Sasuke’s brotherly turmoil, Itachi, that’s Sasuke’s brother, decides it would be a cool idea to murder his entire family in cold blood in front of his little brother. Sasuke, understandably, resents this act quite a bit and dedicates his life to getting revenge on Itachi. This storyline lasts for the majority of the series, and isn’t really resolved until very close to the end. While Naruto is the undisputed main character, he’s never the center of an arc the way Sasuke is here.
7 He Can Equally Match His Rival
The one thing that differentiates Sasuke for his archetype brethren is the mere fact he isn’t totally outclassed by his rival. Yes, he is outshined to an extent as Naruto is the main character, but he’s also able to keep up nearly 1:1. There’s an equal give and take in their final battle where neither one is clearly dominating the engagement. Sasuke gets the upper hand just as much as Naruto. If you needed more convincing of their equality, the battle ends with both of them in the exact same state: armless and bleeding out. It’s a visual representation of their equality and strength. And also proof Sasuke doesn’t have to be the main character to kick serious ass.
6 He Can Top Tier Lists In The Fighting Games
As the rival, Sasuke is destined to be outshined by Naruto. He can keep up and match him, but Naruto will always be the one who comes out on top. It’s not necessarily a bad thing since it means we’re naturally more invested in Sasuke’s growth, but it can be a bit disheartening to see your favorite character lose to the main character. You don’t have to worry about that anymore, though, because Sasuke is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to the games.
Sasuke is arguably the best character to play as in Ultimate Ninja Storm 4, the most recent of the Ninja Storm series. His speed, flexible moveset, and fluid combos allow him to get in and out of combat in a flash all while doing incredible damage. In the right hands, Sasuke can decimate practically anyone. He may be Naruto’s equal in the canon, but he is near untouchable in the games.
5 He Can Get A Whole Arc Dedicated To Getting Him Back
Nothing says you matter more than being the key player in a story arc that permanently changes the course of the story forever. To be more specific, the Sasuke Recovery Mission acts as the final arc of Part I and leads directly into Shippuden (if you ignore the first anime’s year of filler.) In his pursuit of revenge, Sasuke is walking a thin line towards becoming a fugitive. His teammates want to bring some sense back into him, but the prospect of allying himself with Orochimaru and gaining newfound power is too tempting for Sasuke. What results is a tense, emotional story arc all about bringing Sasuke home. It’s the high point of the original series, and perhaps the entire series as a whole, and it only works because of how compelling Sasuke’s character is.
4 He Has The Emotional Maturity To Recognize His Misdeeds
Character development is hard to begin with. It’s even harder when the character you want to develop has gone so far off the deep end that any misstep with reeling him back could be disastrous. You could make the case that the cast’s reactions to Sasuke’s development underwhelmed, but the actual execution, and culmination, of his arc stands out as a surprisingly fitting conclusion to a story that had seemingly been all over the place.
Sasuke decides that the world needs a Hokage to act as a universal pit of hatred who does all the harsh things no one wants to do. He also decides he’s going to become this Hokage and that he needs to kill all his friends, so they don’t hold him back. Naruto beats some sense into him, and Sasuke actually reflects on this, coming to terms with the fact that his idea was bad. Not just this idea, though, all his past actions. He comes to terms with his mistakes by seeing them as actual mistakes. Naruto and Sakura’s reactions may be questionable, but Sasuke recognizing his flaws was a mature moment that the series was desperately in need of that late in the game.
3 He Can Charm Everyone To The Point Where They Forget He Was An Incredibly Dangerous Fugitive
By the end of Shippuden, Sasuke has officially been labeled a criminal by the Hidden Leaf Village, he has tried to genuinely murder his former teammates, and his constant alliance shifting got to the point where many of his former friends considered him not worth saving. Ever the optimist, Naruto refuses to let Sasuke go and fights him to the brink of death in order to show him just how much he cares about him. Throughout this fight, Naruto convinces Sasuke that it’s not only worth living, it’s worth living to redeem yourself. With newfound inspiration, Sasuke returns to his former village with open arms, marries a woman he once tried to murder, and roams the world knowing that none of his friends care about that whole “I’m going to kill you” thing.
2 His Daughter Is More Interesting Than Naruto’s Son
As much as the writers can pretend he isn’t, Boruto is basically just Naruto lite. Even Dragon Ball, which originated basically ever modern shonen trope, had the foresight to know that Gohan should be a stark contrast from Goku. Boruto’s existence would be a lot worse, but Sarada, Sasuke’s daughter, is more than just a watered down version of her father.
Like Sasuke, Sarada’s backstory is filled with a familial detachment. For Sasuke, it was the death of his family that defined his early arc. For Sarada, it was Sasuke’s general absence in her life. The results are not the same, however. Where Sasuke was closed off and aloof, Sarada is actually warm and inviting. Her goal even goes so far to become Hokage so she can connect with other people. She’s a proper foil for father, unlike a certain pair of blond haired ninjas.
1 His In-Universe Stats Prove That He’s Just A Better Ninja
The Boruto manga didn’t just give us a sequel nobody really wanted or asked for, it also gave us stats for Naruto and Sasuke. Naruto scored a 120 in perception, 160 in dexterity, 170 in negotiations, 110 in strength, 90 in intelligence, and a whopping “unknown” in chakra for some reason. Those are pretty good numbers. Nice, high, and to be expected of a protagonist. Now let’s take a look at Sasuke’s.
200 in chakra, 165 in perception and dexterity, 142 in negotiations, 130 in strength, and 100 in intelligence. The only thing Naruto beats him at is negotiating. Sasuke is factually better in almost every single regard. Naruto gets to be hokage, but he doesn’t get to be the objectively superior ninja.