While one might think of the mettle of the protagonist when it comes to measuring how good a shonen series is, there's another huge factor to be considered. A shonen series can only truly be as good as the villains that the heroes fight on a weekly basis, and Naruto has no shortage of brilliant, frightening villains that draw genuine reactions out of its viewers. As early as the main casts' genin days, they're pit against interesting enemies that bring a feeling of tension to the series overall.
At the start of the series, this includes threats like Zabuza and Sasuke's elder brother, Itachi. He isn't the only member of the Akatsuki that the series focuses on, as Part II opens with both Sasori and his quirky artist partner, Deidara, attempting to steal the One-Tails in order to extract it. Despite being against the protagonists, he's a colorful character, and many fans want to know more about him.
10 He's A Taurus, Having Been Born On May Fifth
Especially with the boom in astrology's popularity over the last few years, fans typically like knowing when character birthdays are. Not only that, but for many people, it's fun to know if characters share their birthday and if their personality befits their astrological sign.
In Deidara's case, he was born on May fifth, making him a Taurus. Individuality is incredibly important to them, and they can be stiff in their belief systems. For Deidara, this is shown in his belief that all art is an explosion and how he pursues his artistic endeavors despite others' thoughts.
9 He Has Two English Voice Actors, One Of Which Voices Him For Only A Single Episode
It's not uncommon for characters to have more than one voice actor. While the most common reason is that characters need different voices for different periods of their lives, this isn't the only time it's done.
For Deidara's English dub, all of his Shippuden appearances are voiced by Roger Craig Smith. He makes a cameo in a single episode of the original Naruto series, during which he's instead voiced by Quinton Flynn.
8 He's One Of Three Characters Shown To Possess The Explosion Release Kekkei Genkai
Deidara's explosion release combined with the artistic clay bombs he creates makes for a unique and engaging combat style. Just his Kekkei Genkai alone is quite unique, as he's one of only three characters ever shown to wield it.
The other member of the Explosion Corps, Gari, uses explosion release in combination with taijutsu to deliver explosive punches. The other user, Sekiei, was an anime-only character who combined his explosion release with insects.
7 He Stole The Ability To Knead Chakra Into Clay From His Village
Deidara wasn't always able to knead chakra into his clay sculptures and use them as lethal weapons. In the beginning, his explosion release and clay sculptures were two separate abilities, but he found himself yearning for more.
Deidara stole a kinjutsu from his village that allowed him to knead chakra into substances, thus allowing him to combine his clay art with his Kekkei Genkai. He has no problem becoming a missing-nin after this, believing that it's a fair price to pay.
6 He Doesn't Want To Join The Akatsuki And Only Does So After Losing To Itachi
Deidara's inclusion as a member of the Akatsuki isn't something he actually wanted for himself. Rather, whenever Itachi, Kisame, and Sasori are sent to recruit him, Deidara originally has no interest and declines the offer.
He then gets challenged by Itachi, and the terms are simple. If Deidara wins, the Akatsuki leaves him alone, but he has to join the organization if he loses. He's effortlessly defeated by Itachi and joins despite not particularly wanting to.
5 He Resents Itachi For Making Him Join And Plots To Get Revenge
Going along with the fact that Deidara only joins the Akatsuki due to losing to Itachi, he's actually incredibly resentful of the Uchiha for making him do so. This feeling is so intense that it can be described as murderous intent towards both Itachi and the Sharingan itself.
During his time with the Akatsuki, having acknowledged that Itachi is stronger than him, Deidara does his best to ensure that he'll be able to exact revenge. He trains his left eye to be able to counter genjutsu. Not only that, but he also learns how to create C4 explosives to help him counter the Sharingan.
4 He Respects The Ideals Of His Opponents, Including Gaara
Deidara has a bit of a sadistic streak when it comes to how he prefers to finish off his enemies, often using brutal explosions to do so. Even so, he seems to respect his opponents' ideals during battle, which is best seen during his fight against the Kazekage, Gaara.
Before kidnapping Gaara, he allows him to move the sand he used to protect Sunegakure outside of the village so it wouldn't come crashing down on its people. He even goes as far as to call Gaara noble for his actions, showing that he's capable of respecting his enemies.
3 Deidara Respects Sasori Despite Their Constant Bickering
Deidara is paired up with Sasori after entering the Akatsuki, and to say the two don't see eye-to-eye is an understatement. They're constantly bickering or becoming irritated with one another and act more like enemies than partners a majority of the time.
Despite this, Deidara holds a fair amount of respect for Sasori. This is mainly due to Sasori's fascination with creating puppets. Deidara views him as a fellow artist and respects his craft even if the two don't get along.
2 His Official Statistics Are Incredibly High, With All Of Them Marking Above Average
Thanks to the official Naruto databooks by Masashi Kishimoto, combat statistics exist for nearly every character in the series. Being an S-rank missing-nin, Deidara's incredibly skilled, and all of his statistics are at least above average.
His taijutsu, genjutsu, strength, and hand seals all come in at an impressive three-and-a-half out of five. His stamina is a four, while his intelligence and speed are both four-and-a-half. Finally, his ninjutsu is a stellar five-out-of-five.
1 He Ranked Third-Place In A Popularity Poll Shortly After His Debut
In the sixth official Naruto character popularity poll, Deidara ranked third-place out of all of the characters within the series. This put him above every other member of the Akatsuki, though to be fair, only about half of the organization had been properly introduced at the time.
This placement is even more impressive because Deidara actually beats out the titular character himself, with Naruto coming one spot behind him in fourth place. The only two characters to beat out Deidara in this poll are Kakashi and Sasuke.