Nagato

, also known as, was the recognised leader of Akatsuki and Amegakure and was a major antagonist in the series. Referred to as "Leader" by all Akatsuki members, except for Konan, he directed the actions of the rest of the members and maintained authority over them. However, he had secretly collaborated with Madara Uchiha.

Background
According to Madara, Nagato is a descendant of the Uzumaki clan. During the Second Shinobi World War, Nagato lived with his parents in a village near Amegakure. One day two Konoha shinobi broke into their home looking for food, unaware that the place was still inhabited. Nagato's parents, believing they were going to be killed, attacked the two so that Nagato could escape. Having mistaken them to be enemy ninja, the Konoha ninja killed his parents. In his grief, Nagato awakened his Rinnegan for the first time and killed the assailants. He would come to consider this incident the first great pain of his life.

With his family gone, Nagato wandered the country, going from house to house asking for food. In time he met a dog named Chibi and, later, Konan and Yahiko, who began travelling with him in his search for food. One day, Chibi was killed in the crossfire from Hanzō's fight with the soon-to-be Sannin. Nagato mourned his death and promised himself that he would change the world. When the war ended, the three orphans ran into the Sannin. Rather than return to Konoha with his team-mates, Jiraiya decided to teach the three how to look after themselves.

Soon after Jiraiya began living with the orphans, Nagato and Yahiko were attacked by an Iwagakure ninja. Nagato reactivated his Rinnegan to defend Yahiko, killing the ninja. When Jiraiya found out about this, he decided to train them in ninjutsu. Nagato was very emotional about killing the ninja, and asked Jiraiya for help so he could protect Konan and Yahiko. Jiraiya's response was for Nagato to grow up and to use his eyes to find the peace that they both desired for the world. Three years later the orphans had become competent ninja, so Jiraiya returned to Konoha.

Over the years, news of the three's exploits would reach Jiraiya which often consisted of the death of someone who opposed them; eventually he received word that they had all died. In truth, Nagato, Konan, and Yahiko began a quest to find peace, by forming the organisation Akatsuki with Yahiko as its leader. They became full-fledged Amegakure ninja and gathered followers who shared their philosophies of an end to war. Hanzō, the leader of Amegakure, viewed the group as a threat to his rule and schemed with Konoha's Root to eliminate them. Claiming to want to discuss peace, Hanzō lured Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan to an ambush. There he forced Nagato to choose between killing Yahiko or Konan. Not wanting to force Nagato to make the choice, Yahiko impaled himself with a kunai that was placed in Nagato's hand. With Yahiko's dying breath, he told Nagato to survive, because he believed in Jiraiya's words that Nagato would become the world's saviour. This would become the second great pain of Nagato's life.

Devastated, Nagato retrieved Konan and Yahiko's body and launched an attack against Hanzō's men. With the Summoning: Demonic Statue of the Outer Path he was able to kill all but Hanzō. However, the technique left Nagato emaciated, with numerous chakra rods embedded in his back. He severed his loyalties with Amegakure by scratching through the symbol of his Amegakure forehead protector, resolving to teach the village and the world his pain. Yahiko's body would later be incorporated into the Six Paths of Pain as the Deva Path. Nagato took over as leader of Akatsuki in Yahiko's stead.

Upon adopting the alias "Pain", Nagato led the rebelling forces in the Amegakure civil war, and took control of the village by assassinating Hanzō while using his Six Paths of Pain. He then solidified his leadership by systematically killing anyone who had ties to the former leader.

Appearance
Nagato was a fair-skinned man with chin-length red hair (a colour which is a trademark of the Uzumaki clan) with his most noticeable trait being his Rinnegan eyes. As a child, his hair would regularly hang off his face blocking the view of his eyes; his normal eyes are never seen. Nagato grew into a tall man, but after subjecting himself to the Summoning: Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, Nagato was reduced to an emaciated version of his former self with chakra receivers implanted into his back, one in each of his shoulder joints, smaller ones in his forearms and two metal-like screw under his collar bones, near his shoulder joint. Nagato uses a mechanical walker for mobility, which could fire Chakra Disruption Blades for personal defence. He was the only Akatsuki member never seen wearing the organisation's uniform, until after his death, and he ceased wearing a slashed out forehead protector after defeating Hanzō. However, his Six Paths of Pain wore both in his stead. After Nagato used the Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique to revive all the Konohagakure citizens that had been killed during his invasion, his red-hair turned pure white due to the overexertion of his chakra. When resurrected by Kabuto, Nagato was left in the exact state as he died - emaciated and with white hairs. The only exception were black rods that are no longer attached to his body. However, after Nagato uses his ability to absorb chakra from B Version 2 form, this chakra seemingly revitalises Nagato's body, restoring his muscle mass and restoring his hair colour from white back to the Uzumaki clan's characteristic red colour.

Personality
Nagato was a sensitive, but kind boy, prone to crying, and was traumatised by the idea of killing others, even if it was to save his friend Yahiko. Scared and unsure of his place in the world, he desired to help those he cared about, but never knew how. He was consistently respectful and kind to Konan, who he claimed to be his "angel" in Amegakure. He was shown protecting her, without request or hesitation from Jiraiya before his battle with his former teacher. Apparently, she was the only Akatsuki member that addressed him by name. He was aware of Konan's feelings towards Yahiko and left them alone to have personal time together.

As Pain, his personality was very different, having become a calm, serious, aloof, and detached man. Apparently believing traumas he experienced in his youth had enlightened him to the true meaning of pain and suffering, he considered himself a deity, and believed he had evolved beyond a mere human being. He sought to show the world the meaning of pain by using an ultimate weapon to deter future wars, by means similar to "mutually assured destruction", and showed no moral qualms about his actions. He was willing to kill Jiraiya to ensure the completion of his plans. He even went so far as to proclaim himself a "god of peace", that had to guide the world to maturity through pain. Finally, he felt that no-one could understand true peace unless they understood "true" pain, something his childhood friend Yahiko believed. Minato Namikaze believed Madara Uchiha to have been using this philosophy in his favour, in order to manipulate Nagato.

In the anime, Nagato is shown to be sensitive when it comes to talk about "pain"; when Ibiki Morino used a special summoning technique that "linked them by pain" Nagato got furious (through the Animal Path) and stated that he had no idea of what true pain was releasing itself from the technique and attacked Ibiki violently.

Nonetheless, he was seen to be quite respectful, particularly to the fallen and the dead. Given the Akatsuki members' frequent bickering, he often quelled them and encouraged better relations among members. He even suggested that they mourn for Deidara after his passing, and reprimanded Kisame for calling Hidan and Kakuzu the "Zombie Combo". After his battle with Jiraiya, he held a moment of silence for his former teacher, out of respect for his power.

Because Konohagakure was partly responsible for the tragedies in his life, he held a great deal of animosity towards the village. Although Jiraiya's influence improved his opinion of the village during their time together, he eventually came to believe that Konoha profited from the tragedies of others and hated it and his former teacher.

After his resurrection, Nagato has shown to be more kind and carefree to the point he was even willing to start making jokes, something that surprised Naruto. His opinion of Naruto also strengthened after he last saw him, pointing out to Itachi Uchiha that he wasn't surprised that Naruto was able to advance his control over the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox since they both had studied under the same master.

Abilities
As the leader of Akatsuki, and one of the two sides of the Amegakure Civil War, Nagato was an extraordinarily powerful shinobi, and recognised as the most powerful member of Akatsuki. It has been noted at several points in time that Nagato possessed an unusually large amount of exceptionally strong chakra, to the point of after he decimated Konoha and fought Naruto Uzumaki, he still had enough strength to revive all of the people he had killed in Konoha. His partner, Konan, had stated that he had never lost a single battle, and that he is "unbeatable". Even Fukasaku stated that without understanding Pain's power, no one could beat him. Madara even noted that Nagato was invincible while praising Jiraiya. Nagato even defeated Jiraiya with ease, after revealing all six of his bodies. Nagato attributes his ability to defeat Jiraiya to the secret of his Six Paths of Pain and the fact that he underestimated Jiraiya's level of genjutsu usage, stating he might not have won if Jiraiya had uncovered the secret behind his Six Paths of Pain technique. Zetsu expressed shock that Nagato could even be defeated in a weakened state, stating he never thought he would ever lose. After being resurrected by Kabuto Yakushi, he was able to easily overwhelm Naruto Uzumaki - despite his subjugation of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, and Killer B at the same time without any effort. He would have killed both of them simultaneously if not for Itachi Uchiha attacking while Kabuto was preoccupied with them. It took the combined efforts of Naruto, B and Itachi to defeat Nagato. As a member of the Uzumaki clan, he also possessed the potential for incredible longevity.

Nagato's legs were greatly damaged in a battle against Hanzō. As a result, even though he can stand up by himself, he can't move as quickly. To make up for this while alive, Nagato used the Six Paths of Pain to fight for him while he stayed in one place in a mechanical walker. When he was revived by Kabuto, he uses various summons to move around and to keep himself out of range of the opponents' attacks.

Rinnegan


Nagato's incredible power stemmed mainly from his kekkei genkai, the legendary Rinnegan. This was originally possessed by the Sage of the Six Paths, the world's first ninja, and the founder of modern ninjutsu. Even as a child, Jiraiya noted that Nagato had mastered every ninjutsu he taught him. He mastered all six nature transformations, something that was completely unprecedented. Nagato was also well versed in all the mainstream ninjutsu, and at age 10 mastered them all. According to Ibiki, the Rinnegan allows Nagato to use any technique he wishes. Nagato was shown to be adept at the use of genjutsu. He used it to install mental barriers and traps in his minions' minds to prevent others from accessing secret information.

The Rinnegan also enhanced his vision of chakra in a similar manner to the other great dōjutsu, allowing him to see the chakra of barrier techniques around the perimeter of his location, and the chakra gathered at a shinobi's feet.

Six Paths of Pain
Nagato's most powerful and most used technique was the. This technique allowed Nagato to control six separate bodies as though they were his own. Each of these bodies were reanimated corpses that were both kept mobile by and made use of Nagato's chakra. By using these six bodies for combat rather than himself, Nagato avoids the unlikely risk of being killed in battle by a stronger opponent as well as having six different fields of vision, virtually making it impossible to attack any of the bodies without being seen. While controlling them, Nagato used the alias "Pain", yet still regarded them as separate entities from himself. The Paths can't feel physical pain since they are just controlled corpses, as Ibiki Morino discovered when he tried torturing the second Animal Path.

In order to use the technique, Nagato remained in a machine that moved with six relatively small mechanical legs and used several large chakra rods on his back to transmit chakra. From his location, the chakra was picked up by the numerous receivers, modelled as body piercings on each body. To control them, Nagato had to be close by, and ideally at the highest possible point, so he could have the best possible range.

Based on the six Buddhist paths of Reincarnation, each body was named after one of the different "paths": Deva, Asura, Human, Animal, Preta, and Naraka. The only common feature shared by these bodies was their bright orange hair and their Rinnegan. Each also had a vast number of body and facial piercings of various shapes, sizes, and patterns. Each body seemed to serve a specific purpose in battle, such as summoning, repairing, and defensive capability. He himself was regarded as the seventh Pain, the "Outer Path", with control over the forces of life and death. Fukasaku stated, the best way of fighting Pain is to take out the paths one at a time as they were most formidable when fighting together in combos.

As stated by Konan, Nagato is able to use all the powers of the Paths himself, as they are all powers of the Rinnegan. This is later demonstrated after his resurrection by Kabuto Yakushi. With all the Six Paths abilities in one body, Nagato proved to be a formidable opponent. He was capable of using several of the Paths techniques simultaneously. Naruto noted that since he was using his real body, the strength and speed of his techniques were on a much higher level. Using the Blocking Technique Absorption Seal, he was able to restore his body after absorbing Killer B's chakra while in Version 2.

Part II
Pain appears frequently as a hologram during the early arcs of Part II, convening the Akatsuki members whenever a tailed beast needs to be sealed. As Part II progresses, portions of his face are shown before culminating in his full début alongside Konan.

Itachi Pursuit Arc
Jiraiya, Nagato's former master, enters the village through a frog. The moment Jiraiya fully releases himself from the frog, Nagato feels a disturbance in the rain. Nagato then orders Konan to search for the intruder, and stops the rain. As Konan transforms into many pieces of paper, and folds herself into butterfly-like figures, Nagato switches from the Deva Path to the Animal Path. Nagato then searches for Jiraiya as well.

Jiraiya, now hidden inside of a body, heads more into Amegakure, and Konan catches him. Jiraiya comes out of the body, and begins to battle Konan. Konan ends up being covered in oil; unable to battle. Nagato comes to Konan's rescue and cleans off the oil with foam with his Summoning Technique. Nagato then summons a chameleon, and camouflages himself. Jiraiya sets off the Barrier: Canopy Method Formation, after summoning the clumsy toad: Gamaken. Nagato summons again, but this time, a multi-headed dog. Jiraiya has a very hard time fighting these as it would escape most of Gamaken's attacks, and somewhat regenerate. Jiraiya finishes off the dogs by trapping them in a toad's stomach and digesting them. Nagato then summons a drill-beaked bird. The bird follows Jiraiya and makes many attempts to kill him, though fails and ends up getting burned. Nagato then summons a rhino, though it quickly gets finished off by Gamaken. Nagato then summons a giant ox, and manages to hit Jiraiya. The shield set off by Jiraiya self-destructs, sending the ox flying. Soon after defeating the ox, he completes his Sage Mode activation and summons Fukasaku and Shima. They both easily dispose of the chameleon, revealing the Animal Path. The Preta Path and the Human Path are both summoned, in order to face Jiraiya.

The Human Path attempts to kill Jiraiya, though it gets blinded by Jiraiya's kick to its head. Jiraiya then attempts to burn all three Paths with Sage Art: Goemon, though it gets absorbed by the Preta Path. Jiraiya then uses Ultra-Big Ball Rasengan, though it also gets absorbed. The Human Path attacks once again, and blinded, blocks Jiraiya's punch. The Animal Path gets distracted by a toad, and gets attacked by Jiraiya's Sage Art: Hair Needle Senbon. The Animal Path blocks the attack by summoning a giant panda. Jiraiya analyses their attacks, and escapes into the pipes. While in the pipes, he concludes that genjutsu will give him an opening against the Rinnegan.

The Paths then followed Jiraiya, and while doing so, get caught in genjutsu. Jiraiya then kills the paths. As Jiraiya leaves, he lets his guard down. One of the Paths manages to sneak up behind him, and removes his arm. The other paths come together, including the ones that got killed (which were rejuvenated by the Naraka Path). Jiraiya manages to kill the Animal Path, though ends up being brutally killed by Nagato, through the Six Paths of Pain. As Jiraiya sinks into the deep depths of the sea, Nagato holds a moment of silence in respect for his former master.

Tsuchigumo Kinjutsu Arc
In the anime, after getting a replacement for the Animal Path, Pain is shown to have been assigned to capture the Six-Tails, which was sealed within Utakata, a missing-nin from Kirigakure. During his search, the Animal Path had his Giant Multi-Headed Dog scout the area, where it found and killed a group of Kirigakure hunter-nin led by Tsurugi. When Utakata later sought out Tsurugi and his men to turn himself in, he instead found Pain; Pain told Utakata that he would be needed to create his world, and informed the jinchūriki that he would be taking the Six-Tails. The Six Paths of Pain quickly captured him.

Invasion of Pain Arc
With only the Nine-Tails and Eight-Tails remaining, Pain and Konan set out for Konoha. After eliminating the border guards upon their arrival, they infiltrated the village and dispersed, with each of the six Paths having a specific task: the Asura, Preta, and Animal Paths served as diversions, while the Deva, Human, and Naraka Paths looked for Naruto, with Konan aiding the latter team. While exploring and laying waste to the village and its inhabitants, the Deva Path was confronted by Kakashi Hatake. The Asura Path came to its aid and together they overwhelmed Kakashi and his allies, but the Asura Path was destroyed.

Across the village, the remaining Paths continued their tasks, fighting whatever Konoha ninja they came across. The Deva Path met with Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage, who refused to reveal Naruto's location. Elsewhere, the Human Path used its unique interrogation technique on Shizune to learn that Naruto was at Mount Myōboku. Declaring that he would teach Tsunade the pain that Konoha had been so ignorant of, Nagato had the Deva Path use Shinra Tensei to obliterate the village while Konan and the other Paths withdrew.

As the smoke cleared, the Deva Path found that Naruto had returned with his toad allies. In retaliation for the village's destruction, Naruto swiftly crushed the newly-restored Asura Path and began his fight with the remaining Paths of Pain. The Animal Path called upon its summons to attack Naruto, who parried them with the aid of his toads and proceeded to defeat the Preta Path. Soon afterwards, Naruto eliminated the Human Path with his Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, and then teamed up with Gamabunta to defeat the Animal Path.

With four of the Paths gone, the temporarily powerless Deva Path protected the Naraka Path, which restored the Preta Path. The Preta Path absorbed a second Rasenshuriken, but it had only been a diversion to give Naruto an opportunity to finish off the Naraka Path. The Deva Path, its power returned, detained Naruto so that the Preta Path could capture him and absorbed his chakra to immobilise him. Doing so caused it to absorb senjutsu chakra, which had the side effect of turning it to stone. Naruto escaped its clutches, but was seized once again by the Deva Path, who pinned him to the ground with chakra disruption blades. The Deva Path lectured Naruto about the chain of hatred, pain, suffering, and war that the ninja system brought to the world, and how he planned to use the tailed beasts' power to achieve peace and end conflict. He asks if Naruto can think of a better solution, but Naruto does not respond.

Before the Deva Path could take Naruto away, Hinata Hyūga came to his defence. When she is apparently killed, Naruto became enraged and entered his six-tailed form, with which the Deva Path could not compete in its current condition. The Deva Path retreated to a location closer to Nagato, who had secluded himself nearby in order to control the Six Paths of Pain. This allowed the Deva Path to use Chibaku Tensei, trapping Naruto in a massive orb of earth and debris. This victory was short-lived, as Naruto soon progressed to an eight-tailed form and broke free of the Chibaku Tensei. Realising that he would have to make the sphere larger, it suddenly began to crumble and Naruto, reverting to his normal form, emerged from the ruins.

Reflecting on the earlier lecture, Naruto demanded an opportunity to speak with Nagato, but was denied and attacked by the Deva Path. After failing to use Wind Release: Rasenshuriken twice, by taking advantage of the five second gap between the Deva Path's ability, Naruto was able to defeat it with a well-timed Rasengan. He removed one of its chakra receiver and inserted it into his skin to track the signal back to Nagato. Naruto goes to see him, but when he arrives Nagato fires another chakra receiver at him to try and control him. Naruto resists it despite his close proximity to Nagato. Although angry with Nagato for killing Jiraiya and destroying Konoha, Naruto asks how, as a fellow student of Jiraiya, he could have strayed so far from their master's teachings. Hoping that Naruto would come to agree with his solution for peace, Nagato told him his past, of his two great sorrows and how he came to believe pain would save the world.

Although Naruto agreed with Nagato's ultimate conclusion, he rejected it for differing with Jiraiya's ideals. In doing so, he answered Nagato's earlier question about how to attain peace: by "breaking the cycle of hatred". He decided not to attempt to kill Nagato, as that would only perpetuate the cycle of revenge. Amazed by Naruto's resolve and remembering Jiraiya's teachings, Nagato decided to put his faith in Naruto's answer. Nagato used the Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique to revive all the Konohagakure citizens that had been killed during his invasion, causing his red-hair to turn pure white due to the overexertion of his chakra. The strain of the technique cost Nagato his life. With his final breath he wished for Naruto's dream of peace to come true and said that in regards to Naruto and Jiraiya's book, he felt like it was "the work of a true god". Like his teacher, Nagato died with a smile.

Confining the Jinchūriki Arc
Nagato is resurrected by Kabuto in an attempt to convince Madara to accept an alliance. His hair was visibly white as it was upon his death, as opposed to the red that he had sported during his lifetime and his body was likewise emaciated. Despite this, he lacked the chakra transmitters that were formerly embedded in his back.

Shinobi World War Arc
Nagato is summoned again by Kabuto, as he and Madara march out for war. As he headed out to war with both Itachi and Kakuzu with the latter carrying him because of his inability to walk. When fighting ceased during the night, he is seen alone with Itachi who supported him as they walk. While talking about Akatsuki, Nagato noted how they were both being used due to their powerful dōjutsu as well as how Itachi was truly a shinobi shrouded in darkness. After stopping at a shrine, they continue to discuss Madara's plan and his strategy. Nagato and Itachi continue to walk in the woods approaching some mountains. Nagato notes having a nostalgic feeling when they encounter Naruto and Killer B. He then laments the fact that he would have to fight Naruto again, as Itachi looks on.

Visibly pleased to see Naruto again, Nagato questions him about his form and congratulates him on gaining control of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox and overcoming his hatred. As they are forced to attack the two men, Nagato warns them of Itachi's impending attack and is later shocked at the partial revelation of the truth behind the Uchiha Clan Massacre. As Nagato attacks using the Banshō Ten'in drawing both Naruto and a huge rock onto a collision course he marvels at how Naruto was able to deflect the attack. He then tells them to pull him and Itachi apart, as on his own, he was not able to walk and then summons his dog and bird, and jokingly states that he could fly.

As he and Naruto clash, Nagato reminds Naruto that the dog summon couldn't be defeated using brute force and to attack him instead. When Nagato senses a change in Itachi, he warns Naruto that Itachi was about to use Amaterasu. However as he watches his summons get attacked, he asks Itachi what that crow was. As Itachi turns to him and surprisingly attacks him with Amaterasu, he states that he realises what had happened and he falls to the ground wrapped in the flames. He then uses Shinra Tensei to push them off his body.

After Kabuto removes Nagato's personality, he regenerates, summons his chameleon and hides in its mouth. Surprising his opponents with a large-scale Shinra Tensei he moves in to assault B, but is instead attacked by B in his Version 2 form with a Lariat. Nagato uses his ability to absorb chakra and strips B of his form. This chakra seemingly revitalises Nagato's body, returning him to his youthful form before being emaciated by the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. He then uses his invisible chameleon to capture Naruto and proceeds to remove his soul.

As Nagato summons the King of Hell to take their bodies and souls back to Kabuto, B tries to cut Nagato to save Naruto, but he stops him using two extra arms that grows from his shoulder and almost succeeds in removing Naruto's soul until Itachi intercepts him using his Susanoo. Nagato proceeds to use Chibaku Tensei to trap the three but is stopped by the combined effort of Itachi's Yasaka Magatama, B's Tailed Beast Ball and Naruto's Wind Release: Rasenshuriken that destroy the sphere at the centre of the technique. As the smoke clears, Nagato finds himself impaled by Susanoo's Sword of Totsuka and his personality returns. Itachi then seals him but not before Nagato gives his last words to Naruto telling him that he was part of a trilogy that included Jiraiya who was brilliant, himself whom he deemed a failed work, and finally Naruto who he asked to correct the wrongs that he had done during his lifetime. As the sword seals him he says farewell and tells them that he would now rejoin Jiraiya in the afterlife.

Legacy
With Nagato's death, Konan left Akatsuki, no longer having a reason to work with the organisation. She took his body and the Deva Path (Yahiko) back to Amegakure with her for burial. Both of their bodies were dressed in Akatsuki cloaks, and laid in a large body of flowers within a shrine. Because Nagato gave his life to help Naruto achieve peace, Konan vows Amegakure's allegiance to him in this pursuit.

Madara was surprised by news of Nagato's death and, more so, his "betrayal", having wanted Nagato to save the Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique for him. He later confronted Naruto about this, wishing to know how he could have swayed Nagato. Naruto remarks that Nagato truly did aspire to bringing peace, whereas Madara is solely obsessed with power.

With Nagato's death, Madara decided to take the Rinnegan for his own purposes. He went to Ame and confronted Konan to find out where she put his body. She refused and battled him to keep Nagato's body safe, but was defeated. Madara placed her under a genjutsu to force her to tell him, and stated that she would die after it was finished.

After finding Nagato's corpse, Madara stated that he was the "third of the Six Paths". When he saw that Nagato was smiling even in death, Madara interpreted it as his continued betrayal. He then proceeded to absorb Nagato into his own personal dimension. One of his Rinnegan was removed and inserted in Madara's left eye-socket.

Video Games
Nagato himself is not playable in any video games, but rather one or more of the Six Paths of Pain. In Naruto Shippūden: Shinobi Rumble and Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2, only the Deva Path is playable, though the remaining paths all play roles in his attacks.

Creation
In Naruto Hiden: Sha no Sho Character Official Data Book, Kishimoto briefly explained the philosophy behind Pain's design, stating, "He's Akatsuki's leader, so he has to look fairly cool, but I still wanted him to look dangerous. Since his name is 'Pain', I decided to add some piercings to his body, like he's the kind of guy who would inflict pain upon himself". Notable among the few unused concept designs is a small sketch in which he appears to wear a partial face mask and feather, or horn-like accessories fitted to his forehead protector.

When first appearing in the anime, Pain's eyes were depicted with an incorrect colour scheme the two centre rings of the Rinnegan were coloured separate shades of grey, while the outermost ring was flesh-coloured, and the ring in between was white. Following his appearance in chapter 377 of the manga, which featured the first official colour illustration of his face, the colour scheme was corrected.

Several of Nagato's abilities were inspired by Buddhist beliefs and terminology, and he thought that enlightenment was reached through experiencing and understanding pain and suffering, similar to a path the Buddha took but then later rejected.

Trivia

 * His name means "long-lasting gate".
 * The original Six Paths of Pain were composed of individuals whom Jiraiya met during his search to find the "Child of Prophecy".
 * As Nagato's Six Paths of Pain were all deceased ninja, it could also be assumed that Animal Path's summonings were reanimated corpses as well, as they too had several body piercings and Rinnegan, meaning that Nagato could see through their eyes as well.
 * When he was young, Orochimaru offered to kill Nagato and his friends so they would not have to suffer the horrors of war (at least, any more than they already had), but many years later he let Orochimaru join Akatsuki. It is unknown if Orochimaru is aware that two of the three orphans he proposed to kill became his superiors.
 * To play along with his belief in being a "God", in the anime when the scene is focused on him, haunting holy chanting music is played; the name of this song is listed as "Girei" in the OST.
 * According to the Third Databook:
 * His hobby was practicing ninjutsu.
 * His desired opponent was anyone in order to protect his friends.
 * His favourite food was grilled fish and stew.
 * Nagato's favourite phrase was . As a child, "Growing up".
 * He wished to fight Naruto Uzumaki (or more specifically the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox).

Quotes

 * (To Jiraiya) "But someday I'll break the curse. If there's such a thing as peace, I will find it! Faith is better than any plan!"
 * (To Hanzō, through the Deva Path, before killing him) "Have you forgotten my face? Danzō, who we had allied with, had betrayed us. You, who completely focused on your own protection, are trash. There was a time when I respected you. But now, you've changed. And you can't even figure out why you've lost to me… Vanish, Hanzō."
 * (To Akatsuki) "We're both of the same breed, after all… motives for war are of no concern. Religion, ideology, resources, land, grudges, love, or just because… No matter how pathetic the reason, it's enough to start a war."
 * (To Jiraiya) "We are Pain! We are God!"
 * "Those who do not understand true pain can never understand true peace."
 * (To Tsunade) "You think you're the only ones who matter. You think you can put off death. But that peace made you foolish and thoughtless. If you kill someone, someone else will kill you… this hatred binds us together."
 * (To Tsunade) "I want you to feel pain, to think about pain, to accept pain, to know pain."
 * (To Jiraiya) "Even a foolish child can grow up in a right way, when he learns what pain is. Knowing pain controls ones thoughts and decisions."
 * (To Naruto) "I see… That is noble of you. That is justice indeed. However… My family… My friends… My village… They suffered the same fate as this village by you ninja of Konoha. How is it fair to allow only you people to preach about peace and justice?"
 * (To Naruto) "We are but men, drawn to act in the name of revenge we deem to be justice. But when we call our vengeance justice, it only breeds more revenge… forging the first link in the chains of hatred."
 * (To Naruto) "Out of love, sacrifice is born… Hate is born… and we are able to know pain!"
 * (To Naruto) "If you don't share someone's pain, you can never understand them. But just because you understand them doesn't mean you can come to an agreement. That's the truth."
 * (To Naruto) "You are an odd kid… You remind me of myself when I was young… I couldn't believe in what Jiraiya believed in… nor believe in myself… but you chose a different path. In you I can see another future. I… will believe in you…"
 * (Last words to Naruto before dying) "Dying like trash… never ending hatred… pain that never heals… that is war… Naruto… this… is what you must face… The book… and you… It's like… someone… set this all up… Or… maybe… this… is… the hand of the real God… My role is over now… Naruto… you… can really—"
 * (Last words to Naruto before being sealed)