On a whole, few series have as many memorable characters as Naruto does. Kakashi is one of the characters that stand in the forefront, one that took the typical teacher or mentor to the protagonist to another level. Not only did he continue to powerup right along with the heroes, but he stayed useful the whole series.
Not only that, he managed to avoid permanent death, something few characters in his position manage to do. For as great as he is, there are some head-scratching things about him, particularly in the latter half of the series.
10 Activating The Mangekyo Sharingan
The way that Kakashi achieved it is fine, falling in line with how others have, seeing the death of one that they loved dearly. In his case, it was when Rin ran in the way of the Chidori, killing herself to stop the three tails from ever rampaging in Konoha. What doesn't make sense is how it unlocked in both his and Obito's eyes as if they were interconnected by a tether.
Other people using Uchiha eyes has always never made a whole lot of sense, despite how cool a character Kakashi is because of it.
9 Paralyzed By Orochimaru's Killing Intent
Considering how young Kakashi was at the time, it shouldn't be that surprising that Orochimaru's malice could strike fear into him. Where that breaks down is that by this point in Kakashi's life, he's already lived through a war, one that caused him to lose everyone close to him, from his master to his friends.
Shouldn't he be used to dealing with people with high killing intent by this point? What made Orochimaru so special besides his creepy appearance?
8 Full-Bodied Susanoo
There's no doubting that the moment was incredible and was a necessary powerup that Kakashi needed to keep up in the ending battle. That said, him gaining Susanoo and instantly being able to skip to the final stage of its evolution felt a bit cheap.
With every other character, even Madara, training was necessary to get to that point. No amount of chakra boost or intelligence should have let Kakashi summon its full body in one go.
7 Obito Inhabiting His Body
If the full-bodied Susanoo wasn't enough, the circumstances around it made even less sense than him achieving it in the first place. Obito somehow manages to will himself out of the afterlife, allowing him to inhabit Kakashi's body, giving him two Mangekyo Sharingan and the chakra reserves needed to access its full capabilities.
Naruto's theme of friendship triumphing over all usually hit the mark, but this was one case that was just dumb and hokey.
6 Never Using Kamui Until Shippuden
Originally, this wasn't much of an issue as it just seemed like a new talent he developed during the time skip. It's not until it's revealed that he's had the Mangekyo Sharingan unlocked for years upon years that things start to lack sense.
Sure, it took a lot out of Kakashi, leaving him extremely vulnerable in the process, but there were some moments it's ability would have come in handy, especially when Itachi came to visit Konoha.
5 Vowing To Never Be Like His Father
Kids are impressionable at the age Kakashi was when his father returned home a disgrace for saving his comrades rather than allowing them to die. Understandably, he wouldn't want to live through the pain that his father did, especially considering it drove him to the point of suicide.
That said, it was still his father, someone who raised Kakashi since he was a baby. It's hard to imagine someone trying to mold their entire life in opposition to their dad when he'd done nothing wrong at all. Thankfully, Kakashi ended up following his dad's ideals in the end.
4 Never Figuring Out Who Tobi Was
Kakashi is one of the smartest characters in the entire series, the one who found the major weakness in Deva path's abilities and always seemed to get a leg up on his opponents. Why then couldn't he put two and two together with Tobi sooner than he did? He knew he had a Sharingan and not only that, had an ability that was strikingly similar to his own.
Sure, it'd be hard to come to terms with the fact that Obito was alive after all these years, but with so few Uchiha left alive, it had to be a possibility he considered.
3 Fear Of Responsibility
Much of Kakashi's personality makes sense, many of his fears stemming from both his father and what he went through while part of Minato's team. Seeing his friends die before his eyes, one even by his hand will change a person.
The one facet that never made a whole lot of sense is his lack of desire for responsibility when you consider that everything he did since becoming an adult was just that. He was both a leader in Anbu and a teacher in the academy, eventually even becoming Hokage. It made those words ring hollow.
2 Soloing Most Of The Seven Swordsmen
The anime did a little better in fleshing this out, one of the few instances where it outshined the manga in that regard and showing that sometimes filler isn't always a bad thing. The reason for that is that in the manga, Kakashi rampaged through the swordsmen and killed most of them as if they were fodder.
Considering they were some of the elite warriors of Kirigakure and that Kisame was a pretty big powerhouse, it never made sense that Kakashi could just mow through them, offscreen no less.
1 Always Hiding His Face
It became a running gag with the character for so long that his face would never get revealed, thankfully, that wasn't the case as Shippuden delivered the goods. It's still odd that a relatively normal looking guy would choose to cover himself at all times, to the point that most had no idea what he looked like beyond his usual appearance.
It's a level of dedication to a look that's rarely seen with a character, especially considering he's looked the same since he was a student.