Orochimaru

was one of Konohagakure's Sannin. He later became a member of Akatsuki and the leader of Otogakure. He was the primary antagonist for most of Part I.

Background
Orochimaru was originally a student of Hiruzen Sarutobi as a part of a three-man team consisting of himself, Jiraiya, and Tsunade. From a young age, Orochimaru stood out as a prodigy. His talents, knowledge, and determination were considered by his sensei a sight seen once a generation. Orochimaru was kind as a child and for much of his adult life, but later grew to become aloof, arrogant, and somewhat sadistic. His sadistic attitude was presumably due to the death of his parents, which led him to study kinjutsu. Jiraiya theorized that Orochimaru went down this path in an attempt to forget about his painful memories. Sarutobi in particular had very high hopes for Orochimaru, often berating the clumsy Jiraiya and telling him he should be more like his teammate. After becoming the Third Hokage, Sarutobi hoped that one day Orochimaru would succeed him.

While Orochimaru's ambitions did include becoming the Fourth Hokage, his eyes were set upon goals quite alien to the ideals traditionally associated with the title and emphatically embraced by his teacher. Hiruzen knew that "a shinobi's true strength will manifest when protecting something important," and the Hokage's role is to love and protect the people of the village as if they were a family. For Orochimaru, however, Hokage was nothing more than a potential conquest on the way to what truly interested him - power.

Hiruzen had hoped to make his student see the error of his ways, but as more time passed, it became evident that Orochimaru was a lost cause. When Hiruzen finally retired years later he chose a student of Jiraiya's, Minato Namikaze, over Orochimaru as his successor, thus making Minato the Fourth Hokage. Realizing that he had hit a dead end in his quest to become the ultimate being and therefore had nothing to gain from staying in Konoha, Orochimaru began to be less discrete with his actions. Over the years he had been kidnapping his fellow Konoha shinobi as human guinea pigs. He experimented on them to develop techniques that would grant him immortality, as he had already decided that he would settle for no less than to learn all jutsu in the world (a task that would take much more than one human lifetime). When the many disappearances were finally traced back to Orochimaru, Hiruzen knew that it was his duty to kill him. At the time however, Hiruzen was unable to bring himself to kill his prized student for whom he had had such high hopes.

Orochimaru defected from the village and joined the elite criminal organization of Akatsuki. His old teammate, Jiraiya, tried to convince him to reconsider, but to no avail. Although the role Orochimaru played in Akatsuki is unclear, it is known that he was partnered with Sasori prior to his defection (the two apparently had great respect for each other when they were partners; Sasori also claimed that Orochimaru and him did a lot when they were partners in the organization). It was around this time that Orochimaru tried to steal Itachi Uchiha's body. Orochimaru tried to use his Living Corpse Reincarnation, but Itachi used his Sharingan to reverse it and damage Orochimaru's body, causing him to leave Akatsuki to acquire a new body. He eventually founded his own village, Otogakure.

Personality
Orochimaru's various human experiments take place so as to serve two purposes, most prominent of which was his desire to learn every jutsu in the Naruto world. Jiraiya speculates that this was due to the fact that his parents died when he was at a very young age, and flashbacks shown during his battle with the Third Hokage speak to this effect. Perhaps because he wanted to see his parents or as a means of avenging their deaths, he experiments on others to see what kind of modifications the human body can endure and to otherwise harness a subject's unique abilities for himself. Once accomplishing this goal, Orochimaru had hoped to be worthy of the title of "ultimate being". Because a human's lifespan does not allow enough time to learn every jutsu, Orochimaru also experimented on others so as to achieve immortality. By living throughout the ages, Orochimaru needed to never worry about death and thus all the knowledge he gained would never be lost.

Above all else, Orochimaru cares only for himself. He grows bored when there is no conflict or violence in the world, and immediately strikes fear into others when they first meet him. Though he has a number of followers who would do anything for him, Orochimaru treats them as mere pawns. He does not hesitate to send them to their deaths for his own personal benefit, and only finds remorse in their loss if they are unable to properly complete a task. To win over these followers to their disposable status, Orochimaru approaches them with promises of making their dreams come true. He applies a cursed seal to many of his stronger subordinates in order to corrode their body and mind, making them more susceptible to his influence and control.

Chunin Exams arc
For a while, Orochimaru left Konoha alone, plotting to destroy them when he was ready. The opportunity presented itself with the start of the Chunin Exams. With this, Orochimaru saw both a chance to destroy his former home and acquire Sasuke Uchiha, Itachi's little brother. Having Sasuke's body would give him the Sharingan, which would aid him greatly in his ultimate goal. To this end, Orochimaru enlisted the help of Sunagakure, since his own village lacked the necessary strength to defeat Konoha. Although the village gladly accepted, Orochimaru later killed the Fourth Kazekage and assumed his place to make controlling Sunagakure easier. He also had the Kazekage's bodyguards killed off and had the Sound Four impersonate them.

During the second part of the Chunin Exams, he killed the members of Team Shiore and impersonated them so that he could infiltrate the Forest of Death. During a confrontation with Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura, he sealed Naruto's Nine-Tailed Demon Fox chakra and branded Sasuke with his Cursed Seal of Heaven. Orochimaru was discovered by Anko, but the exams continued due to his threat of retaliation. His Genin team was sent to kill Sasuke, but the three were unaware that they were just measuring posts for Sasuke's power. They failed in their effort, as Sasuke proved compatible with the cursed seal and used its power to drive them off.

During the preliminary rounds of the Chunin Exams, Orochimaru disguised himself as the leader of his Genin team. There he watched Sasuke's performance against Yoroi Akado. While initially hoping Sasuke's emotional state would further release the Cursed Seal, he instead watched in shock at Sasuke's will being strong enough to suppress it, ironically making Orochimaru become awestruck and desire Sasuke even more. After Kakashi was able to seal way the mark on Sasuke, Orochimaru confronted him. He made no attempt to hide his envy of Kakashi's Sharingan, and noted before leaving that despite Kakashi's best efforts, Sasuke will eventually come to him seeking power.

Invasion of Konoha arc
During the final round matches Orochimaru disguises himself as the Fourth Kazekage so that he can sit next to the Third Hokage. When the invasion of Konoha begins this gives him an easy opportunity to grab his former master. He isolates the Third from the other Konoha ninja and has his Sound Four erect a barrier to prevent any interference. The Third, regretting letting Orochimaru escape years earlier, agrees to fight. Exhilarated that he can finally fight his former teacher, Orochimaru uses Impure World Resurrection to revive the First and Second Hokage to give Hiruzen the same feeling.

In his old age the Third is little match for Orochimaru and two Hokage, something made all the more difficult when the Hokage regenerate from any damage they receive. in the end, the Third decides to use the Dead Demon Consuming Seal to seal away the souls of the Hokage before turning on Orochimaru. Sensing what is happening, Orochimaru, stabs the Third in the back with his Kusanagi Sword. Unconcerned with the wound since he will die anyway, Hiruzen struggles to seal Orochimaru's soul as well, but after an hour only has the strength to seal his arms. To do what little he can, he robs Orochimaru of the use of his arms, in turning taking away his ability to jutsu. The Third dies and Orochimaru curses him. Unable to proceed with his plans, Orochimaru and the invaders retreat. Afterwards, Sunagakure broke ties with Orochimaru after discovering that he killed the Fourth Kazekage.

Search for Tsunade arc
Initially, Orochimaru planned to have his condition healed by appealing to his old teammate, Tsunade, a legendary medical ninja. He offered to revive her brother and lover in the hopes that it would persuade her to cooperate. Though it looked as though he had succeeded at first, it turned out that Tsunade had actually intended to kill him rather than heal him to prevent another attack on Konoha. Kabuto interfered before she could do so, and Orochimaru expresses disappointment in the betrayal, even going so far as to say that he "would have kept his promise". Kabuto engages Tsunade in an attempt to capture her and force her to help, but Jiraiya and Naruto soon arrive to help her.

Orochimaru and Jiraiya (having earlier been drugged by Tsunade and thus unable to properly perform jutsu) face-off, but can do little to each other. Kabuto, meanwhile, deals with Naruto and Tsunade. When Naruto defeats Kabuto, Orochimaru, concerned that Naruto and the demon fox might become a problem in the future, tries to kill him. Tsunade stops him, having decided to become the Fifth Hokage, and teams up with Jiraiya against Orochimaru. Despite summoning Manda, Orochimaru is defeated. Healing his arms no longer being an option, Orochimaru retreats with Kabuto, deciding it is time that he take a new host body.

Sasuke Retrieval arc
Even though he had hoped to wait for Sasuke to get older, Orochimaru sends his Sound Four to retrieve and bring Sasuke to him. He holds out for as long as he can, anticipating Sasuke's arrival, but the pain in his arms becomes too much and he is forced to switch to the body of Gen'yumaru, a host Kabuto had earlier prepared. Stuck in the body for the next three years, Orochimaru decides to start training Sasuke once he finally arrives, hoping to shape him into the ideal host.

Anime filler arcs
Orochimaru's background is expanded upon in the anime, delving into parts of his past not addressed in the manga. During the Fuma clan arc he is shown to have recruited some of the members of the Fūma clan by promising to restore them to their former glory. Later in the arc Arashi Fuma disguises himself as Orochimaru, killing his fellow clansmen to gain power before being killed himself.

In the Land of the Sea arc, Orochimaru's time with Anko Mitarashi is expanded upon. Orochimaru, Anko, and nine others came to the Land of the Sea, where he branded them with cursed seals. When Anko was the only one to survive, he arrived at the 10% survival rate of the process. Anko lacked the personality to properly utilize its power so could not prove very useful to Orochimaru. Although she believed he had abandoned her, she remembers during the arc that she chose to leave him. During this arc he is also shown to have previously had an interest in creating an army capable of breathing and operating underwater. Realizing it would take too much time on his own, Orochimaru contracted with a rogue scientist named Amachi and began experimenting on the country's citizens, notably Isaribi. He eventually lost interest in the program and demanded it discontinued, but Amachi continued anyway.

Sasuke and Sai arc
Two-and-a-half years later, Team Yamato, hoping to find Sasuke, learns of an opportunity to meet with a spy in Orochimaru's organization. Kabuto turns out to be this spy, having come to meet with Sasori, Orochimaru's former partner who had been keeping tabs on Orochimaru. Yamato disguises himself as Sasori and meets with Kabuto, but Orochimaru soon interrupts. Having switch sides, Kabuto attacks Sasori, finding it to be Yamato. He call the rest of his team for back up and they face off with Orochimaru and Kabuto. Although he is surprised to see Yamato, a former test subject of his, he shows more interest in Naruto. He expresses interest in seeing if Naruto is as strong as "his Sasuke", angering Naruto into a three-tailed state.

In this form, Orochimaru is able to elude Naruto, finding the battle very enjoyable. When Naruto progresses to a four-tailed transformation, however, Orochimaru takes the battle seriously, recognizing that Naruto's Four-Tailed Fox Menacing Ball could kill him. After evading the attack he uses his Kusanagi to force Naruto away while he collapses, his body beginning to reject him. While he briefly recuperates he is approached by Sai, who makes an offer on behalf of Danzo to work together in destroying Konoha. Intrigued, Orochimaru and Kabuto take him back to their base.

Later, after the rest of Team Yamato arrives at the lair and Sai teams up with them, Orochimaru confronts Sai and Naruto to question Sai about his loyalties. He flees before he can be drawn into another fight, and later keeps Sasuke from killing the team, noting that they might kill another Akatsuki member like they had done with Sasori.

Three-Tails Arrival filler arc
In the anime, sensing that the time was close approaching to change vessels, Orochimaru sent Kabuto find Guren so that she can help with preparations for the process. During this time Orochimaru was also going experimenting on a child named Yukimaru with unusual powers. Orochimaru eventually decides its time to test Sasuke's abilities, and watches in awe as he defeats an army of ninja without killing any and without receiving a scratch. As Sasuke walks off, Orochimaru admitted that while he used to be recognized as a genius, Sasuke's powers far surpasses his own when he was Sasuke's age.

Noticing that Guren was watching, he offered her another chance to prove herself worthy as Orochimaru's next vessel, to which she was delighted. Orochimaru teams her up with Yukimaru, noting that their two abilities should work well together. Later, it is revealed that Orochimaru also chose Guren because he knew she would eventually grow attached to Yukimaru, which he appears to have a use for. He ordered Kabuto to be ready to eliminate her should she betray him.

Hunt for Itachi arc
On the verge of being rejected by his current body, Orochimaru contemplates how best to take Sasuke's body. Before he can formulate his plan Sasuke attacks him, having decided that Orochimaru is unworthy of having an Uchiha's body. Orochimaru proceeded to reveal his true body, a large white snake made of several smaller snakes, in order to initiate the body-switch process. Sasuke stops the process like Itachi had done years earlier, but takes it a step further by turning the switch against Orochimaru, absorbing him into his body. Sasuke gains access to some of Orochimaru's abilities, but at the same time must dedicate some of his chakra to suppressing Orochimaru.

During his battle with Itachi, Sasuke runs out of chakra and Orochimaru is able to emerge. He marvels at the fact that he will finally have the chance to take Sasuke's body, but is immediately struck down and permanently sealed away by Itachi's Susanoo, as well as the cursed seal. In a separate encounter, Kabuto meets with Naruto and reveals that he had integrated some of Orochimaru's remains into his body, hoping to surpass his former master.

Shippūden the Movie 2: Bonds
Orochimaru makes a small appearance in the second Shippūden movie. Feeling that his time was running out before he had to transfer his soul again but fearing that the repeated use of his jutsu was starting to be to taxing, Orochimaru ordered Sasuke to retrieve a man named Shinnou who had developed his own immortality jutsu. At the end of the movie, Sasuke failed to get the main but did retrieve the scroll containing the jutsu's information. Orochimaru noticed that Sasuke's demeanor seemed shakened from the mission.

Abilities
Being one of the Sannin as well as a former member of Akatsuki, Orochimaru is an extraordinarily powerful ninja. His power is so great that around the time of of his invasion of Konoha, the Third feared that no one alive in Konoha could defeat or even fight on equal footing with him, even the Third himself. Orochimaru was also able to fight on equal footing with a Four Tailed Naruto Uzumaki in Part II while his body was in a weakened state, and despite the danger Naruto imposed, he found the battle highly entertaining. Due to him rarely being shown fighting, he has only displayed a limited amount of techniques, although it stands to reason that in his efforts to learn all existing jutsu, his array of abilities has probably become larger than any other single character. He has a vast knowledge in all forms of jutsu.

Ninjutsu
One of the few techniques he was seen using is the Earth Clone Technique, which creates a copy of himself out of mud that can attack on his behalf. He was also able to utilize Wind Release: Great Breakthrough, through which he can level a wide area with a powerful gust of wind. In terms of defensive techniques, Orochimaru uses both Summoning: Rashomon and Triple Rashomon, in which he summons a varying number of large demonic gates that are capable of enduring the most intense forms of damage. If need be, he can also place a Five Elements Seal on an opponent, sealing off their access to chakra and thus rendering them useless in battle.

Immortality Jutsu
In his quest to gain immortality, Orochimaru has made a number of modifications to his body, resulting in his natural form taking on the appearance of a giant, white snake composed of many smaller snakes. This form has the advantages of allowing him to stretch any part of his body to great lengths, regenerate any wound inflicted upon him, and otherwise use the snakes that he is composed of for attack. The primary use of the form is with his Living Corpse Reincarnation, which allows him to transfer his soul to another's body and extend his life indefinitely. To use this jutsu, Orochimaru leaves his former body, revealing his true form. Once he has done this, he swallows the new body and transports its current inhabitant to a dimension within himself where he absorbs them, thus allowing him to use their body.

Orochimaru can only perform this technique once every three years, which is also around the time that his new body begins to reject him and forces him to find a new host. Although he might leave their bodies behind, the souls of those whose bodies he has taken always remain within Orochimaru's subconscious, causing some of their traits to affect the choices he makes, even if only slightly. While within another's body, Orochimaru uses Vanishing Facial Copy Technique to assume his original appearance. This ability also allows him to take the identities of others by forcefully peeling off their face for his own use, killing them in the process.

Kinjutsu
Orochimaru can use Summoning: Impure World Resurrection, which allowed him to revive the dead. To perform the technique, Orochimaru must sacrifice a living human so that the soul of the deceased person can be tied to the living world. The sacrificed body is then surrounded with dirt and dust that compacts into the shape of the summoned soul's original body. Although the revived retain their original memories and personalities, thus leaving them out of the control of Orochimaru, he can suppress their free wills with his own special seal to force them to do his bidding. The bodies of the resurrected are also able to regenerate any wound, meaning the only way to defeat them is to remove the soul within them.

Snake Techniques
Orochimaru has an apparent affinity with snakes that, in addition to impacting the appearance and composition of his true form, has caused him to learn a number of snake-related abilities. One such ability is being able to summon giant snakes to fight alongside him in battle, made possible by the summoning contract tattooed to his arms. With Hidden Shadow Snake Hands, Orochimaru can call forth snakes from his sleeves and mouth to attack opponents in large numbers with poisonous bites. Another usage of snakes comes in the form of his Kusanagi Sword: Long Sword of the Heavens, the Kusanagi of Japanese legend. The sword, kept within a mouth of a snake within his own throat, is able to extend to great lengths and can be controlled remotely by Orochimaru. Although he was capable of using the sword normally with great proficiency, it was not uncommon for him to wield it without ever removing it from his mouth.

Creation and Conception
As one of the villains in the story, Kishimoto created Orochimaru as an antithesis to the protagonists' values. His snake-like appearance and related features were intended to make it easier for the reader to recognize that he is a villain. In an interview, Kishimoto asserted that making the villains "flamboyant" was one of his "guiding principles", and attributed this to his desire to have the villains have a "powerful aura".

Following this theme of distinguishing villains, Kishimoto attempted to make Orochimaru's face appear "pasty and sickly," which serves to emphasize the "scary looks" that Kishimoto frequently has Orochimaru performing in the manga. As these occurrences are his "trademark," Kishimoto modifies Orochimaru's appearance and the scene to focus on Orochimaru's face; for instance, highlights that are normally added to Orochimaru's hair are removed and the background is blanked out to create a "creepy atmosphere."

Trivia

 * Orochimaru borrows heavily from Japanese literature — his name (meaning: Eight-forked serpent circle), as well as those of Jiraiya and Tsunade come from the . The Orochimaru in that story was originally a student of Jiraiya's called Yashagorō, until he was corrupted by snake magic and took on the name Orochimaru.
 * Orochimaru also borrows heavily from the Japanese myth of the, a giant eight-tailed, eight-headed snake killed with the Totsuka Sword by the god Susanoo-no-Mikoto, who found the Kusanagi Sword in one of its tails. This mirrors almost exactly how Orochimaru, while in his Yamata form, wielding the Kusanagi Sword kept inside of him, was sealed into the Totsuka Sword by Itachi Uchiha using Susanoo.
 * Before the Eight-Tailed Giant Ox was revealed, many fans thought it would be a giant eight-headed snake, like the Yamata-no-Orochi. Because of Orochimaru's preexisting connections with the Yamata-no-Orochi of legend, they assumed he was somehow connected to the tailed beast.
 * For some reason, after the preliminaries conclude, he is never shown again wearing a Sound headband.
 * Orochi means "Great Snake" and Maru is a common suffix in male names.

Quotes

 * "Sasuke...you will be mine!"
 * "It's too late to do anything now. I win."
 * "I want to obtain all the jutsus and gain a true understanding of everything in this world. The first one to mix blue and yellow called the new color "green". I want to do something similar to that. If blue is the chakra then yellow is the seal, and green is the jutsu...just as there is no end to the variety of colours, there are so many thousands...tens of thousands of jutsu in the world as well. But in order to obtain every possible jutsu and truth, it would require an eternity. Only one who understands everything after spending such time on this can be fittingly called the Ultimate Being.''"
 * "This child...intrigues me to no end!"
 * "I refuse...to let this happen! I am Orochimaru! I am immortal! I will not die here! Destined to discover the true meaning behind everything! Destined to take control of everything in this world!!"