When talking about the hit anime series Naruto and its array of distinctive, complex, and engaging antagonists, the name Pain (or Pein, depending on your spelling preference) frequently ranks pretty high on that list. And for good reason too.
But before delving further into why exactly that’s the case, it’s worth taking a brief look at the redhead’s extensive background as a quick reminder, or even an initial rundown for those not as familiar with Naruto’s lore, as it is good to take into account the fact that there is always more than meets the eye.
Grief, as fans know, came onto the scene many, many years after the tragic story of a group of three struggling homeless friends from Rain Village was revealed. in leaving the trio once he felt no further guidance was necessary. These three close friends; Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan were the survivors of a long-running war that left their hometown devastated, nearly uninhabited, and destroyed. They swore to return and change everything that became possible once they were sufficiently instructed by one of the three legendary Sannin of the Village Hidden in the Leaves.
Nagato at some point ‘developed’ his Rinnegan, which as you may know is widely debated as being the strongest of the three Eye Powers (Doujutsu) within the Ninja universe at that point in the series. This, however, is later shown to be a plot on Madara Uchiha’s end; implanting his awakened eyes into Nagato (an Uzumaki containing abnormally high levels of chakra) to use as a reversal spell for the future, once he has successfully won the shinobi to his side. A large part of this plan fell to Obito Uchiha, who had spent much of the series under the alias of Tobi and then Madara. It turns out that Madara’s plan worked flawlessly well through Obito and they managed to persuade Nagato Yahiko and Konan to start the Akatsuki move.
While Akatsuki’s conception was based on nobler causes in the trio’s eyes, this all changed once Yahiko was killed in cold blood after being sabotaged by another leading shinobi in the midst of peace negotiations. Nagato was not shown to be too strong emotionally since his debut. Yahiko was the pillar of support and lifeline for the other two. His death resulted in a complete emotional breakdown and psychosis for the redhead, who then turned his hatred for all the bitter loss onto the shinobi world once more.
All of this resulted in the birth of Pain as we know him. The cold and calculated leader of the Akatsuki who possesses the Rinnegan. Behind the face of all this is actually Nagato Uzumaki with his vendetta against the corrupt world of Shinobi.
Pain Yahiko was the product of Nagato’s Rinnegan powers and vengeful mentality set in motion; chakra-receiving nature rods planted strategically in the corpse of his dear friend in an attempt to keep him and his memory alive. Konan seemed to be more of an accomplishment in the matter compared to the scheming boss.
Looking more specifically at Pain, his design scheme is interesting; largely bearing Yahiko’s appearance with some major alterations. Chakra receiving piercings are embedded all over his face and body, giving him a slightly punk-like design. However, the most notable of all his accessories is the chakra harness necklace that he wears at all times.
