Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto has quite a number of villains that we can't help but root for. As evident throughout the story, most villains in Naruto are driven by a motive which adds so much more to their character. Consequently, we end up relating to some of these characters, and even though they're the bad guys, we just can't help but feel bad for them.
That's not to say there aren't any purely evil guys in Naruto. Kishimoto has written his fair share of evil characters and we've made a list of five villains who we felt bad for and five others we simply couldn't help but hate.
10 Felt Bad For: Madara Uchiha
Madara Uchiha was born in a war-torn era and he dreamt of creating a peaceful village, along with Hashirama. Unfortunately, Madara found himself getting swayed by the Uchiha Stone Tablet, which was overwritten by Zetsu to achieve his own goals. In truth, Madara's goals were just and he too wanted peace. However, he believed what he was doing was simply what the Sage of Six Paths wanted. Little did he know Zetsu had used him in his little trick. At the end of the day, one can't help but feel bad for Madara, who was used by evil forces like Zetsu.
9 Hated: Zetsu
As mentioned above, Zetsu is one character we can't help but hate, but the way he was written makes it hard to hate him as he barely had any personality. Zetsu sprung forth as a main character in the Fourth Great Ninja War and was revealed to be the will incarnate of Kaguya Otsutsuki. It was he who had been manipulating Indra's reincarnations all along, just to achieve his goal of reviving Kaguya Otsutsuki. Needless to say, he succeeded in his goals. However, lots of lovable characters lost their lives became of him and for that, he can't ever be forgiven. For now, he's dead.
8 Felt Bad For: Pain
Pain, or Nagato Uzumaki, was born in Amegakure, orphaned by the Second Great Ninja War. To bring peace, Nagato and the Akatsuki went to great lengths, that is, until Yahiko was murdered, triggering a vicious cycle of hatred, as he himself would put it. Pain was a victim of hatred and a character even Naruto couldn't answer to initially.
Although what he was doing was not right, one could clearly understand why he was driven to do what he did. Thankfully, Naruto asked him to entrust everything to him and brought about the peace that he promised.
7 Hated: Danzo Shimura
One of Konoha's Root, Danzo Shimura was one conflicted character. Although Danzo wanted the safety of the Leaf Village, the way he went about it wasn't right at all. He led to the Uchiha coup and even killed Shisui, someone who could've stopped it from happening. From there onwards, he forced Itachi to butcher his own clan. That's certainly not all.
Danzo even led experiments in secret and allied with Orochimaru, an enemy of the Leaf, on countless occasions. He lay low during Pain's invasion just to strike when Tsunade was weak. Truly, he was a despicable man and we're glad Sasuke got rid of him.
6 Felt Bad For: Itachi Uchiha
Where do we begin with Itachi Uchiha? Itachi was quite a unique person right from when he was a child. Having been exposed to the horrors of war at a young age, Itachi wanted to achieve peace using his power. At age 7, he was said to have achieved the wisdom of a Kage. Ultimately, he failed in his goals because he forced every responsibility on himself, something he later warns Naruto against doing. Itachi was forced to kill his entire clan for the safety of the village and even made into a member of the Akatsuki so he could spy on them from the inside. Circumstances made Itachi into a villain, but we love him to bits.
5 Hated: Kaguya Otsutsuki
Masashi Kishimoto's final villain for Naruto was, simply put, weak. Not in terms of strength, mind you, as Kaguya was probably the strongest in the entire Naruto series, however, when it comes to character writing, she was weak. It was painfully obvious that Kishimoto wanted to get the series over with and thus Kaguya turned out into an boring final villain. Her sudden appearance, just for the sake of shock value, at Madara's price was the wrong decision and we believe many fans feel the same way. Kaguya herself was a brooding character who just wanted chakra and when she couldn't do anything, she would set off like a bomb, creating a new space-time. Truthfully, we don't even hate her as she's too bland to even hate.
4 Felt Bad For: Zabuza Momochi
Naruto's first major antagonist, Zabuza Momochi was a lethal ninja who could even fight against Kakashi Hatake. His powers and abilities were outstanding, but what was even more dangerous about him was the fact that he was known as a demon. Yet, Haku's death moving a demon to tears is what makes us love Zabuza Momochi.
The raw emotion he shows upon the death of Haku, a person who was a mere tool to him, is precisely why we love Naruto. Characters in the world of Naruto are redeemable, as are people in real life, and we believe this is what sets the best example of it just a few episodes into the series.
3 Hated: Orochimaru
Orochimaru's case is very different from the rest of the villains in Naruto. Although we don't exactly hate him, we don't feel bad for him either. Orochimaru's ambition saw him butcher everything that was precious to him, such as his very own teacher in Hiruzen Sarutobi. Even though he was somewhat redeemed as a character, he was just pushed to the background and never given the attention he deserved. Orochimaru was truly a character wasted by Kishimoto and his handling of him is partially why we don't love him. Nonetheless, he is a lot better than he used to be, and who knows, maybe Boruto: Naruto Next Generations will give us an Orochimaru arc that we desperately want.
2 Felt Bad For: Sasuke Uchiha
Sasuke was a victim right from the beginning of his journey, right from when his brother butchered the entire clan without letting him in on anything. He was forced to bear a grudge against his brother who was actually doing everything for his own safety, tragic as it may be. Sasuke eventually learned the truth and swore to destroy Konoha, only to develop further as a character and develop his own sense of Justice. His final clash against Naruto made him realize the importance of a friend and he was redeemed. We don't think there's any better redemption story that Kishimoto had written, and he's written quite a lot of them. Sasuke is one character we can't help but love.
1 Hated: Indra Otsutsuki
Indra Otsutsuki, the son of Hagoromo, was a genius and also a fool. He was a prodigy right from the very beginning and he simply couldn't accept his father passing power to Asura. For that, he started a war that would continue even ages after his death. Although he was manipulated as well, Indra should instead have accepted the fact that he wasn't the chosen successor and moved on with life. We're sure that Asura would've done so had he not been chosen. Indra kept on being reincarnated until Naruto and Sasuke settled the score for good. Regardless, he is someone who we think was too naive and we don't see ourselves liking, ever.