Background
Eighty years before the start of the series, Madara grew up in constant competition with his younger brother, Izuna Uchiha, who were both known as the most gifted members of their clan. Their competition led to both gaining the Mangekyō Sharingan, and, with it, they were able to take control of the Uchiha clan, Madara acting as its leader. Even by his clan's standards, Madara's chakra was unusually strong. Under his leadership, the clan conquered all they came across, but, over time, he began to lose his sight because of the Mangekyō Sharingan. To regain his vision, he took his brother's eyes (an act Madara said his brother had consented to), allowing him to continue to lead the Uchiha to prosperity.
In the years that followed, the Uchiha constantly clashed with the equally powerful Senju clan. To bring an end to the constant fighting, the leader of the Senju, Hashirama Senju, approached the Uchiha with an offering of peace. Although Madara never wanted peace with the Senju, the rest of the Uchiha wanted to end the fighting, and Madara had no choice but to go along with their decision. The Senju, the Uchiha, and all the clans they had conquered came together to form the village of Konohagakure. Against Madara's wishes, the villagers selected Hashirama as the village's First Hokage. Madara feared that Hashirama would oppress the Uchiha, and tried to rally support for challenging his leadership. Rather than help him, however, the Uchiha turned their backs on him, believing his only motives were due to pride and the desire for more power.
Abandoned by his clan, Madara left the village, later returning in order to challenge Hashirama in battle. They fought at the site that would someday be called the Valley of the End, where, although Madara called upon the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, he was defeated, and was believed to have died. Madara faded into memory, and, in time, would found Akatsuki and become Kirigakure's Mizukage. He also appears to have fought Ōnoki, the Third Tsuchikage at one point in his life as noted by Ē, the Fourth Raikage, although the results of that battle were left unclear.
Twelve years before the start of the series, the Nine-Tails attacked Konoha. Although Madara denied having had any involvement in the attack, Itachi Uchiha and Minato Namikaze said that the Nine-Tails was under Madara's control at the time. A few years later, he infiltrated Konoha to try and rekindle the flames of war. He was found by Itachi first, who convinced Madara to spare the village in exchange for helping to wipe out the Uchiha clan for deserting him decades earlier. Madara complied, training Itachi and providing assistance. Itachi never truly trusted Madara, however, and kept an eye on him for the rest of his life. Madara also met with Danzō around the time of the massacre, but did not see each other again until after Danzō fled the Kage Summit.
Tobi
To keep in Akatsuki's shadow, Madara eventually took on the disguise of Tobi, giving orders to Pain in secret. He wears an orange, swirl-patterned mask that reveals only his right eye. When he trained Itachi, he wore a slightly different mask with black stripe-like patterns on it, and he had a longer hair cut than he does now. His hair is cut down completely from the days of Konoha's founding, and he wears a uniform consisting of a number of bolts and pins, which is usually concealed by his Akatsuki cloak.
While acting as Tobi, he is carefree and goofy, something that annoys most of the other members. Deidara, who believed all within Akatsuki should be serious and calm, was not pleased with Tobi's childish personality, and frequently attacked the latter in a comedic fashion when annoyed. Apparently, Madara is very committed to keeping his identity secret, as he has been seen keeping up his goofy appearance even when no-one was around (at least during the anime's filler arc). Kisame and Zetsu, on the other hand, somewhat appreciate Tobi's ability to brighten up a gloomy organization such as theirs. However, once his identity is revealed to everyone in Akatsuki, "Tobi" has abandoned his goofy nature and adopted Madara's personality.
Personality
Compared to his Tobi personality, Madara's true personality is considerably calmer and much more serious, but he still has a habit of joking around and disrespecting everyone around him. Despite his current limitations in battle, he is extremely arrogant, insulting even the strongest ninja to their faces and treating Akatsuki members as mere tools. He even spoke derogatively to Pain, who was recognized as the strongest in the Akatsuki and possessed the Rinnegan. There are only a handful of exceptions that he admires, the most prominent being Hashirama Senju.
Madara has shown great ability in manipulating others to do his work for him. Minato believed that he was using Pain's ideology against him in order to control him. He similarly befriended Sasuke in order to get him to join Akatsuki by telling him about Itachi's past, even though he has an apparent interest in Sasuke and his abilities. He appears to have a somewhat twisted outlook with respect to this, often avoiding responsibility by claiming that people acted voluntarily when they were really coerced or manipulated by him.
Madara possesses an extreme hatred towards the Senju clan and Konohagakure, as he is a descendant of the elder brother who was passed over being the successor of the Sage of the Six Paths. This hatred was compounded when the Senju stripped the Uchiha of their powers and subdued them after the founding of the village, which chose Hashirama Senju to be Hokage over him. Madara admired Hashirama the most for his power, but still hated him for being a member of the Senju Clan. This hatred led Madara to a life dedicated to revenge. Madara believes that all Uchiha are destined to walk the same path of revenge against the Senju and Konohagakure, and that Naruto, who has inherited the Senju's Will of Fire, is fated to battle Sasuke, who has inherited the Uchiha's hatred, even if Madara himself must force them to do so.
Perhaps as a consequence of his old age, Madara seems to enjoy sitting down and taking his time with things, especially when telling stories, just like he told Itachi's story to Sasuke and his Moon's Eye Plan to the Kage and the samurai.
Trivia
- The phrase "Tobi is a good boy" has proven to be very popular among the Naruto community. Although not said by Tobi himself (Zetsu's white half actually uttered the phrase to his black half after stating Tobi's intentions of joining Akatsuki wasn't so simple to accomplish), many have found the comment to be rather hilarious and, as such, Tobi is depicted as a carefree child or a good-natured character in many fanmade art and videos on YouTube while incorporating the phrase or a parody of it.
- Madara (斑) can be translated as "spots". Tobi can be translated as "jump" (飛), or as "kite" (鳶). The latter translation connects Tobi with Taka through the Japanese proverb "a hawk born from a kite" (鳶が鷹を生む, tobi ga taka o umu), meaning that an extraordinarily gifted child can be born from ordinary parents.
- Tobi's first two video game appearances are in Naruto Shippūden: Narutimate Accel 3 and Naruto Shippūden: Ryujinki.
- Tobi's mask made a cameo appearance in the ending omake of Shippūden Episode 129 along with Baki's face and Haku's mask.
- Tobi appears to have a liking for dango as seen in episode 99.
- Madara makes a brief appearance at the end of the third Naruto OVA special, Naruto: The Cross Roads with Sasuke wearing an Akatsuki cloak.
- According to the third Naruto databook (despite Tobi and Madara being the same person, the databook gives them separate entries):
- Madara's hobby is falconry. As Tobi, his hobby is accompanying "Deidara-senpai".
- Madara's favorite food is inarizushi, while his least favorite is roe.
- Madara's favorite phrase is "beating someone hands down" (鎧袖一触, Gaishū Isshoku). As Tobi, his favorite phrase is given as "secret (?)" (秘密 (?), himitsu (?).
- ONE MORE THING! TOBI IS MADARA! NOT OBITO!
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