A Comparison
Itachi Uchiha
It’s said that “Most of the evil in this world is done by people with good intentions.”
And something just like that summarizes the tragic life of both Itachi and Eren. This saying, in my opinion, connects the two characters to a much deeper level. And yet, the legacy of these two amazing characters ends that much differently.
Ever Since their childhood, Itachi and Eren had both been subjected to a number of traumatic events. Eren witnessed as his mom got eaten by a Titan. This leads him to form an overwhelming amount of hatred against the titans. And similarly, Itachi killed his own mother… and father…. And his entire clan….well, not that similar. But even though their story looked laid out from the start, the motives that drove the two were that much different.
Oh, and in case you’ve been living under a rock, Eren and Itachi are two very popular anime characters, one from Attack on Titan and the other from Naruto, respectively. And this my friend, is a comparison between the two.
Itachi’s character:
Firstly, let’s take a look at Itachi’s character. If you ask me, no one comes close to Itachi’s level when it comes to character. He, in my opinion, was the most well thought out character of Naruto. And that’s saying a lot, considering Madara Uchiha was from the same anime.
Itachi was a prodigy from the very beginning. Far more mature than anyone close to his age. At the age of 8, he mastered ninjutsu. Taijutsu and Genjutsu soon followed. He lived with his two parents and his younger brother Sasuke, who he greatly loved. Said to have the wisdom of a Kage, Itachi joined the ranks of Anbu Black Ops at the young age of 11. At the mere age of 11, he was strong enough to take on multiple jounin’s. His beliefs and character became apparent during the 2nd Shinobi World War. Seeing the calamities that followed the war, Itachi was instilled with a strong sense of pacifism.
But then one night he up and decided to massacre the entire Uchiha clan. In the dead of night, he slaughtered every Uchiha in the village by himself, leaving only Sasuke to one day seek vengeance for all of this. He joined the Akatsuki and that was the end of it. He was dubbed the villain, who blinded by his own abilities, turned on his own people.
Eren’s character:
Eren’s character also had a tragic beginning. One significant difference between Itachi’s and Eren’s childhoods is that Eren was never a prodigy. He was just a normal kid with a strong desire for freedom in his heart. Eren had always assumed that he would simply keep moving forward and join the survey corps one day. No eternal factor or situation instilled this ideology into him. He was just built like that. Ever since he was a kid, he looked at the walls and felt humiliated. He felt as if he was cattle trapped. And that the titans outside were always ready to eat him alive. He wanted freedom. And then got freedom. The titans humbly broke through the walls and he was given the change to take back his freedom. But then he realized why the walls were there in the first place. Because those on the other side were giant, ruthless beasts to whom Eren was no more bigger than a rat.
Everyone ran towards the second wall after the first fell, but before Eren and his mother could leave, a Titan crashed into the house and devoured his mother. Eren was taken away by a corps member while he witnessed the titan swallowing his mother whole. This agonizing memory would be enough to make anyone despise the titans. That is precisely what happened to him. The hate he had for the titans became his driving force. He joined the survey corps, gained his Titan powers, got betrayed by Reiner, Bertholdt and Anne. But through all that, he was still the protagonist and the hero because he loved his comrades. Mikasa, Armin, Levi, and the rest of his people were dear to him and he on multiple occasions put his life on the line to protect them.
The Contrast:
Uptil here, the story seems simple right? Eren is the good guy while Itachi is the villain that murdered his entire clan.
But as their story progresses, and the layers of mystery peel off, their true character is revealed.
The reason why Itachi murdered his entire clan was not because he suddenly turned evil. The blame for the nine tails attack on the hidden leaf was set on the Uchiha clan. The sharingan which was once the Uchiha’s pride, became their downfall. Itachi’s father, and the leader of the Uchiha, refused to sit ideally and another war was on the rise. The war between the two villages would have been catastrophic, and so to prevent countless casualties, Itachi made the choice that no kid should ever have had to make. He choose to massacre the Uchiha clan. The unbearable agony that brewed in his heart, as he crossed his blade through the hearts of his two loving parents. The tears that dripped from his eyes, as his father ushered his final words to him, “ You are truly a kind child….”
Meanwhile Eren, who used his hate against titans to get stronger (becoming a Titan himself helped a lot…), slowly turned against humanity when he found that the titans were being artificially made and released by the Marleyans and thus began his fall from hero to an anti-hero whose only purpose was the demise of the entire humanity except his own people. He lost the purpose for which he fought so hard, the purpose that made him the person everyone loved, and all that remained with an emotionless man who only thought he was doing the right thing. And thus began the “Rumbling”, taking the lives of countless innocents.
Now with both the characters laid out. If you compare the too, you would realize that how similar yet different they were. Eren chose the ones he loved over the entire world. Itachi became the villain to his people, while Eren became the villain for his loved ones. Either way, the result of both the motives lead to actions that would destroy many lives. Itachi chose the lesser evil, while Eren didn’t take in account the ideology of lesser evil. For him evil was evil and he chose to take the path that would ensure the safety of his friends and those he loved.
