Is Minato a Psychopath? - Analyzing Naruto 

Thanks for watching :) (Side Note I forgot to say on the gaslighting section I didn't think what Minato was doing to Kushina fit the definition but even if you say it did it still would only make him a sociopath.) So yea my bad on that part lol.

I think Minato's deal is less about socio/psychopathy and more of compartmentalization, where you're just able to bury certain things deep into your mind to really focus on a task, like he can't be a kind man and an efficient ninja at the same time, he gotta switch one off.

Yahiko took his own life thinking it would mitigate the situation when an actually made it so much worse

Minato died young and didn't get a long enough career as a Hokage but he would have been an excellent Hokage. There are three types of leaders: Madara, Hashirama and Tobirama. Madara was a dude who wanted power over any potential enemies. He saw the Stone Village as a weaker village but also a potential enemy, so he saw it acceptable to barge into and threaten the Stone that they should just give up and surrender to the Leaf. Hashirama was the opposite as he wanted to make friends with the Stone and talk things out with words. He even offered all the other villages free Tailed Beasts as gifts and weapons to ease their minds on any potential attacks. Then there is Tobirama. Tobirama was far more strategic than Hashirama and Madara. Hashirama was too naive and diplomatic. Madara was too aggressive and in your face. Tobirama understood that the Stone is a threat but wouldn't barge in and threaten them, and he also would not gift them a free Tailed Beast, he would sell them a Tailed Beast instead, thus making money to develop the Leaf. Minato is similar to Tobirama. Minato understood the potential threat of other nations and that the Leaf must always have a face of strength in uneasy times of potential war. However, he also understood that conquering other villages is definitely unacceptable. Minato could have solo killed A and Killer Bee. Minato wasn't as naive as Hashirama and wasn't as abrasive as Madara. He understood both sides of being Hokage similar to Tobirama. If Obito didn't attack and kill Minato, then Minato would have solved the Uchiha coup problem. Itachi trusted Minato and Minato was highly respected by Fugaku. It's a shame he didn't live long enough to listen to the Uchiha's issues.

Being a sociopath in the Naruto world is probably really common. Literally everyone has childhood trauma.

I think like Tobirama he is a product of his time. He tries to end the fight as quickly as possible and was trying to see the big picture.

As a psych dude, I can say Minato is not a psychopath or a sociopath. He doesn't display enough for any form of diagnosis. He is not anti-social by our standards, or the standards of the Naruto world. He is a soldier.

The realities of war, especially in very dramatic verses like Naruto often make people act in brutal ways. By our standards Minato or honestly many of the other Shinobi war vets would seem like sociopaths at the very least. How can you attach yourself to anyone when a 9 tailed demon may storm your village and kill everyone you love? Or a coup forms that destroys your clan?

Minato did not expect the village to see naruto as a demon. He expected them to treat him as a hero.

I don't think that he's a psychopath but I am amazed how he can instantly switch from being a friendly wholesome guy to a cold mass murderer and switch back like nothing happened.

Considering the fact that he and everyone else lives in a continent that not only deals with war and blood shed on a daily basis, but they thrive on it financially. I'm positive the large majority of the people in Naruto's universe have at some point have/had or faced several people that have/had a mental illness.

it’s acc interesting what u mentioned abt psychopath connotations and it’s very true. many ppl think psychopaths are crazy but in truth, they are acc some of the calmest sane ppl. they r calculated at times and callous in a nut shell. side note, what ppl rly picture abt when they say psychopath is more psychosis (disassociation with the outside world pre much)

I think it's important to look at other characters to establish context as well. Orochimaru is definitely a whole ass psychopath, Danzo probably as well(or maybe he's just a narcissist). Looking at the real evil guys can show you what good looks like in the context of the world characters are inhabiting.

Personally, I always felt like he was just sort of suicidal after Kurama was removed from Kushina. He knew she was going to die and he would be left alone to care for a baby, something he didn't seem to think he could really do. I'm not saying it was the right thing to do, but it does seem like Minato just wasn't entirely able to think as clearly as he normally would have.

The world of naruto is actually really fucked up😂. Child soldiers out here getting killed on the daily

People born in a war- torn era will always be viewed as cold uncaring psychopaths by people born in a peaceful era. Really depends on the perspective of the person judging the other person, and the environment they grew up in.

Danzō is a psychopath. Orochimaru is a psychopath. But Minato... isn't a psychopath. He's the Hokage.

Minato did nothing wrong. He simply put the Leaf Village first, before his family. Any Hokage would do that.

You forgot to mention the fact that Minato is so cold that the stone village had a flee on site order on him. He killed a lot of stone ninjas during a great ninja war. that's why he ended up building a reputation that led him to become the fourth Hokage.

Wouldn’t say minato is a sociopath, but he’s definitely near the top of the verse at being an extreme nationalist. What i mean is all decisions he usually makes are for the village as a whole rather taking individual lives into consideration. He chose village over wife and son. And ofc “two” of his students were killed off. You can say the same argument for other kage but minato’s decisions are way more emphasized.

I feel like the complimenting of B is a situation that’s very realistic he’s acknowledging a worthy adversary which was common for some soldiers

I think everyone in Naruto are pretty fucked up mentally since most of them are killers. I suppose the exception is Naruto because I don't remember him killing anyone. Maybe he has done it and I just don't remember it but even Kakuzu who Naruto destroys is still alive and finished off by Kakashi. Minato has killed many people, he has no problem with killing and kills without guilt. An example is when Obito appeared behind him when he teleported the bijuu bomb. He didn't know who it was, he just knew someone was behind him and his first instinct was to thrust a kunai in the strangers face. My theory is that Minato goes into a very dangerous mode when his family or friends are in danger. You don't want to threaten him at that time or you will die immediately. Then when the danger is over he becomes the positive and upbeat person who you can barely believe is one of the most effective killers of all time. I don't think he is a psychopath but as other people have said he does some serious compartmentalization. In the real world he would need to go to a psychiatrist, but then again so would every single person in the Naruto world.

calling minato a psychopath is like calling every soldier a psychopath thats what minato is a soldier he train to be a soldier at birth and thats all he ever was

The blood-type thing is a japanese superstition that Kishimoto threw into the manga. It's not an uncommon belief there that blood-type is linked to personality... even though it's empirically not. It's also sometimes used to dismiss people's feelings on a topic 🙃

These character analysis videos are a nice change of pace from vs. battles

Can you make a video about the Naruto universe but from the other villages’ perspectives? I can only imagine how the other villages saw the leaf village and their whole craziness. The senju vs the uchiha, the 9 tails attack, getting invaded twice at the chunin exams, the leaf having the strongest Kage in every generation and how crazy you have to be to want to go to war with a village who has the Senju AND Uchiha AND Hyuga, plus the other crazy clans. I honestly don’t know how any way lasted

I remember hearing a while back people saying minato was a terrible dad and kushina was a terrible mother, like what they both never got the chance

Calling my favorite character a psychopath? Dammit the click bait worked this time

Never thought id see something about MINATO of all people being a psychopath

This was fun. Great analysis of Minato's character. For future ideas, you could also do is obito or madara a psychopath?

The world of naruto raises child soldiers, no wonder everyone is crazy or has so many issues.

I think it's clear that he is not. He is calculating and fights without hesitation. That's just being a good warrior. It seemed he grew to respect Bee seeing how he was willing and able to do what he did.

If anyone is a psychopath, it would be orochimaru

It’s not fair to judge a world that has different values than ours, by using our own values and measurements for things such as this topic.

Orochimaru is the real Narutoverse psychopath. Obito is the highest example of a sociopath in the Narutoverse.

I thought minato was the most normal character there was in naruto and your wondering if he’s a psychopath?😂 what..

I mean... it's not exactly wrong, but it wasn't really his choice. He was pretty much indoctrinated at a young age by the other Hokage.

Never thought I’d hear “gaslighting” when discussing Naruto 😂😂😂😂

You've used an interesting interpretation of psychopath. I've always thought of psychopaths as people who are unable to feel human emotion. "Merriam-Webster defines a psychopath as " a person having an egocentric and antisocial personality marked by a lack of remorse for one's actions, an absence of empathy for others, and often criminal tendencies."" Minato can clearly feel emotions and shows empathy so would be outside of the psychopath diagnosis using a DSM-5. I think what we have to take into account is that Minato has killed thousands of people. At some point you kill so many people that it stops effecting you. There are only so many throats you can flying raijin too until your brain becomes desensitised. At that point you would seem like a psychopath to a casual observer. I do however think that if Minato lived he would have had major PTSD. The dude killed too many people to not have been affected by it.

I think Orochimaru and Sasori are Psychopaths

great video once again. so many people are quick to judge people like minato or especially tobirama for their actions (which are reasonable and justifiable) yet never can provide any other logical solution that would have worked

He's not a psychopath but like he is a fucking butcher, with the way he's presented just decimating units with like that kind of speed and efficiency is terrifying I wouldn't be surprised if he has the highest confirmed kill count of any shinobi. Like if he touches you he can kill you any time any place. That being said, Minato is presented as this very conscientious and self less person who is just terrifyingly good at compartmentalizing his emotions, and not letting them get in the way of his job. The whole reason why he was paralyzed during the war arc was because he felt like a total piece of shit for his high handedness and seeing how it affected naruto, obito, and kakashi. The fact that he had that remorse, means he's not a psychopath. He was like compartmentalizing is what fucked up their lives but I can't do shit unless I compartmentalize. Like people who are good at this IRL often just come from brutal circumstances and they usually have periods where they just crack, they're usually also psychotically precise and organized perfectionists. Though like honestly a lot of people like this do end up becoming total pieces of shit. The most famous example of a person like that is Stalin, it doesn't really matter that he wasn't a psychopath now does it.

I don’t believe so because when Minito realized in the 4th great ninja war he fail obito for not knowing it was him he cried so I’m pretty sure he’s sane

Now six let's be honest here, every last character In Naruto who's a ninja, is a psychopath 🗿

They had to kill off Minato!!! After all he marked Obito with the Flying raijin. If he lived the series would’ve ended early!

Nice video and a good assessment at the end. The theory was always taken with the least charitable interpretations in my opinion. As a veteran myself, I sympathise a lot with Minato. There is a lot of compartmentalizing he does, just like I do. It doesn't mean we don't feel it, it just can't get in the way of getting the job done. Obviously, I don't have to deal with any combat anymore, but it can look a certain way to normal people. If you aren't careful, everything can and will catch up to you, unless you truly are a psychopath. I think Minato did a great job as both a hokage and a father. He was immovable in his conviction and loyalty to the Leaf, but he absolutely showed that he cared and wanted to see the bigger picture.

He was a soldier that had to kill for his land. Of course he's going to compartmentalize things, and maybe not be the type of person to ask how you are feeling, or to console you when going through loss. There are a lot of people that do that in the real world, and I would have to assume that the writers for this story were aware of it, and wrote characters relatively close to how their "real world" counterparts would be. Good people out there that were forced to make hard decisions are sometimes hard to get along with...But when you understand they why, then you can empathize or partially relate. I'm probably looking too deep into it, but it's good writing to me whether or not it was intentional. Head cannon is awesome!

If someone says Minato is a phycopath than every shinobi is a phycopath

Yall forgot these guys are basically soldiers fighting a constant war and Minato is basically the highest level of special forces command. In war their is almost never a right answer. No matter what you do someone dies, innocents get hurt. If you carry that weight on your shoulders it will destroy you. That's why the Shinobi training teaches them to put the mission first because that is what the leader had decided is the best possible outcome for their village. Watching Naruto after serving a long time in the military gave me a different perspective I guess than your average viewer. I started Naruto as a kid but the series didn't finish until I was 30 and had been in the army a long time. Your perspective changes drastically once you have actually experienced war. The things we did over there haunt us for the rest of our lives but we have to come home to our families and put on a happy face. You can look at Kakashi and the trauma and obvious ptsd he has and see that despite it all he keeps going and for the most part you would never know about the blood he can't wash off his hands no matter how hard he tries. Anyways have a good day 😊

Give it three years and they will change the definition and we will have to revisit this.

Anyone who suspects MINATO of being a PSYCHOPATH doesn't understand the show at all, lol.

My aunt is a phycologist and a retired criminal profiler perhaps I should have her look at anime characters and tell me if they're psychopaths or what conditions they may have mentally.

He's no Psycho... He is just a warrior and also hardened by war... You can see how he treats those who he cares about that he is very caring person, He puts his village and his loved ones first.. That alone should tell you he can't be one

If he's a psychopath, literally everyone in the anime is, and I think is is a irrelevant discussion.

Oh NOOOO! It’s “Mario is Mental” all over again!

Six must have a degree in anime psychology

I think he’s so smart, he just knows what has to be done

is Minato a Psychopath Yes and No going by our world's definition and morality yes, in his world no. while I highly disagree with the choice Minato made seeing it as the least effective option of the choices, he could have made it is still a valid option

Six please make a tobirama vs akatsuki video he has all the tools to counter all their abilities and stomp them collectively.

Fun video! You should do one on if Minato was Boruto's father, would he have killed him after losing Kurama.

Minato is obviously not a psychopath. He just does what’s right no matter what he might be feeling. He’s a true warrior and a good man.

I’v always wondered why Minato really does’t hesitate when it comes to killing at all, he is a very efficient Shinobi that does’t even take his time with his enemies. always looking at the bigger picture despite the consequences, guess who is coming close to that character, Obito!!… thats why they had a short edgy insta kill type of fight, good match.

I'm surprised to know there are people who think Minato, of all people, is a psycho. I think the closer we get to psyco/sociopathy in Naruto is people like Orochimaru and Hidan. There could also be made an argument for Sasori and Shikamaru, at least pre-Asuma's death, and Chunin Exams Gaara, although his issues probably went beyond that. But that whole discussion depends on how are those terms being defined.

I think this video would've been better if it was more general and talked more about the world and multiple characters instead of focusing as much on Minato. I think it should've been a discussion of where the line of being a psychopath vs a regular Shinobi is.

What? Six hating on minato?! Unseen

This was a good video bro. Like, you actually handled this very well.

I've studied psychopaths for quite a while and the fact of the matter is no one's a psychopath.

Notice that Orochimaru is blood type B as well. He may be uninhibited but he's definitely still manipulative in when and how he chooses to express himself. I think the more deeply one comes to understand what psychopathic behavior can be, the more the question of Minato being one becomes blurry in a really interesting way. The comparison is honestly more to the psychiatric definition than the colloquial one. The world is full of psychopaths, and they can often live morally upstanding lives with real connections to people they care about. Doctors and leaders often score high on psychopathy tests. We should bear in mind that Minato doesn't seem to have come from a prominent shinobi clan; it's entirely possible that he chose to pursue the soldier's life from a very early age, rather than just being a normal kid. I'm not sold on the notion that Minato is a psychopath, but I'm not against it either. But I think either way, he absolutely scores high in psychopathic traits.

Anybody would probably need to get mentally evaluated after taking out 1000 ninjas in a single day, know that man got a thousand yard stare.

Minato is more of a pragmatist, an efficient leader, a benevolent ruler yet ruthless if required to especially toward outside element who threatenbthe nation

I honestly believe this theory is a result of Minato just not being that interesting of a character (aside from his abilities which are really cool) with very little in the way of innate character flaws (he does fail but those failiures were outside and unfair circumstances, not a result of his own character) so people want to add layers to him that aren't really there. Hes a really cool character though!

Thank you for another video king 🙏

Do you think cursed mark users would be effective on juubito since orochimaru studied and based it off of sage mode? That or the six path tools

Minato does give off killer murderous vibes and the things that make him a good guy are external(loyalty to the village, kushina, villagers). Minato just looks so detached from what he's doing. The guy seems to be glad that he gets to eliminate his foes, and doesn't ever consider otherwise.

I think he’s just a very matter of fact guy…but of course someone on tumblr would diagnose him as psychopathic

1:30 Bro, he comparison had me dying.

Can you do Michael Myers Vs Jason both cannon versions of themselves

I don't think psychopaths automatically means they are danger or crazy. Edit: Reason one of my friend's studies psychology and comments that psychopath is not the word a lot of people think it does.

But, it’s all about the friends we made along the way

Minato and Itachi were the best shinobi. They put their village before anything. Even their own family.

Imagine how confused kushina was watching her husband get ripped out of the pure lands

What this video should have been... Is Minato a Psychopath? No...

Bro they were all child soldiers...cut em some slack lol

Uhhh… no look how he was acting after being revived when he got to meet naruto in the real world as a reanimation with sakura. He was acting totally normal xD

I think most Shinobi's are psychopaths, but not when it comes to their family and village

Everyone who’s a shinobi is a psychopath

Ur next video should definitely be a breakdown of the psychology and reasoning for madaras plan since you already touched on the broken shinobi world it would be cool to hear ur take on the rational of madara

Before he was a hokage he was pretty much a soldier before he was a soldier he was just a man before he was a man he was a kid he just hardened as he got older that's all he still had a soft side

Aren’t all Shinobi psychos since they were all child soldiers?

Great video six, love you lots

I’ve been waiting for this one

HotBoySpicy punching the air rn

answer is no, but in reality yes. probably one of the reasons my fav moments in shippudden was when sasuke was hardcore unstable before and after five kage summit arc. Same with itachi. Finally the chance of actually portraying characters as unhinged rather than "cool" or "smooth" even for villians. GAVE ME THE CHILLZ

Watching before it gets taken down!

I’d say hiruzen fits the definition of a psychopath! Check out the 2nd video on my channel.

Man's said quick english lesson

for me what this really comes down to is that among the „good” guys, minato has tk have one od the highest kill counts in the series, yet he maintains this cheery and kind persona, almost as if mass killing doesnt affect his conscience at all

He more of a sociopath on how he able to come back from wars and not have PTSD or how he can easily make a decision as put the nine tails and his newborn son and pretty much abandoned him

This sounds like it’s gonna be a good vid. Edit: This is not a good video. This is an amazing video

Seeing a video with this title was not what I expected today