Madara Uchiha was the main villain in Naruto. Having plotted against Konoha for most of his life, he remained a serious issue after death and especially upon being reborn. He was single-handedly strong enough to pose a significant threat against the Allied Shinobi Forces.
Despite being arguably the strongest character in Shippuden, there are many harsh realities behind Madara Uchiha and his backstory. In addition to his less than glamorous origins, almost his entire life has been in vain. Through identifying the hardest things he had to go through, it becomes easier to sympathize with one of the series' most irredeemable antagonists.
10 Madara Watched His Brother Die
Before the Senju and Uchiha clans made peace, their top warriors fought against one another. While Hashirama battled Madara, Tobirama clashed with and ultimately struck down Izuna. This understandably caused substantial emotional distress to Madara and increased his already steep grudge against the Leaf.
When Hashirama proposed a truce between the two villages, his first reaction was to demand Tobirama's death so that they would be even. Predictably, his terms were met, and the alliance was struck anyway. As a result, the union had a difficult start.
9 Madara Was Reincarnated From Indra
One of the most difficult realities of Madara's life is that he isn't even his own person. Instead, he was reincarnated from Indra Otsutuki in what became a cycle of violence with his brother.
In addition to predetermining Madara's fate, this also attracted Black Zetsu's attention since he was the only one that could restore Kaguya. As a result, Madara wasted most of his life chasing a promised dream of the Uchiha clan that Zetsu wrote into the tablets. Were it not for being reincarnated, he would have been able to live his own life.
8 Madara Lost To Hashirama Twice In The Past
Madara's desire for strength is only eclipsed by his desire for victory. This makes his two losses against Hashirama particularly tragic, especially given the advantage he had the second fight. Despite enslaving Kurama to his will and learning from their previous encounter, Madara was still no match for Hashirama.
In a final act of petty vengeance, he tore off some of Hashirama's skin and would later clone it. Hashirama cells became a popular tool used to increase a shinobi's chakra reserves and control, as first illustrated through Obito Uchiha.
7 Madara Was Betrayed By Obito
Having groomed Obito since he was a boy, Madara grew to trust him as his only remaining kin and confidante. Together, the two villains terrorized the Allied Shinobi Forces during the Forth War.
However, Naruto and Kakashi managed to change Obito's mind about his allegiance and mission. Obito became so determined to his newfound cause that he was willing to let Sakura destroy his Rinnegan. Unfortunately, she hesitated long enough for Madara to arrive and confiscate it himself. By doing so, he witnessed the open betrayal of one of his last remaining allies.
6 Madara's Own People Turned On Him
Dissatisfied with alleged feelings of marginalization, Madara attempted to galvanize the Uchiha clan and officially call off the truce. However, they had long since found happiness in their own lives and refused to join his suicide mission.
Madara would not be deterred. He used Kurama to attack the village regardless and was defeated by Hashirama as mentioned before. His loss was particularly poetic when considering that the other Uchiha members hosted their own coup a few years later.
5 Madara Died A Bitter Old Man
After being defeated by Hashirama, there was nowhere left for Madara to go. The other four nations still reviled the Uchiha, and it was risky for his own clan to take him back in. As a result, he spent the rest of his life underground plotting his revenge through Obito.
Considering that he was an old man by the time that Obito met him, this meant that he spent several decades in darkness without any goals or ambitions. Although Madara was reincarnated, he spent most of his only mortal life as a bitter, resentful, and lonely man.
4 Might Guy Humiliated Madara In His Eight Gates Form
After stealing the Rinnegan and becoming the Ten Tails Jinchuriki, Madara felt nearly invincible. Completely immune to ninjutsu and genjutsu, only taijutsu remained a relevant threat (to a degree, since he could still heal from virtually any damage).
Unluckily for him, there was a powerful martial artist in the Allied Shinobi Forces. By unlocking the Eight Gates, Might Guy single-handedly beat Madara to a pulp and nearly killed him. This was especially humiliating due to the god complex that Madara carried himself with ever since being reborn through the Edo Tensei. In the end, Guy lost his leg in a blaze of glory.
3 Madara Failed To Recruit Sasuke
At first, Madara made an attempt to recruit Sasuke. It was a reasonable ambition; in addition to being an Uchiha member, Sasuke showed little self-control whenever promised with power. Despite this well-founded attempt, Sasuke refused Madara's bribe and fought alongside Team Seven in hopes of defeating him.
Considering that Sasuke betrayed Naruto anyway after Kaguya's death, Madara's failure to recruit him was especially embarrassing and encompasses the character's most recurring theme of loneliness and isolation. In the end, Madara was so unconvincing that he couldn't even persuade a reincarnation of himself.
2 Madara's Sharingan Is Fueled By Negative Emotion
Madara suffered from the same issue as most members of the Uchiha clan. In order to evolve his Sharingan, he had to undergo an immense period of emotional pain. It is one of the harshest drawbacks of the entire series, especially since other ocular abilities like the Byakugan do not have similar conditions.
Luckily (or perhaps unfortunately, depending on perspective), his life had been laden with so many tragedies that he evolved his Sharingan well beyond most of his kin. Nonetheless, these advancements are emblematic of how much hatred and rage that he carried constantly.
1 Madara Died A Second Time Without Accomplishing Anything
Madara spent the later years of his life preparing for his return. When finally reborn through the Edo Tensei, he had a strong start when decimating the Allied Shinobi Forces. However, all of Madara's grand ambitions ultimately amounted to nothing.
The Infinite Tsukuyomi was a ruse to manipulate him since the beginning, and he died without killing a single major character. To make matters worse, he did not even defeat Hashirama conclusively before Zetsu betrayed him. As a result, he is a remarkably impotent villain regardless of his many powerful abilities.