Board Thread:Naruto Discussions/@comment-31278419-20170309233927/@comment-734582-20170310223136

Ancladar wrote: All are fair points it just irks me to see the "Whorf" effect used so often in anime now. Naruto doesn't do it as bad as other shows like Bleach Worf effect and Red Shirts are different things. Everything has Redshirts (nameless people who exist to die), but Worf effect is specifically about guy who is powerful but gets his ass kicked just to show how powerful the enemy is (to the point they only get defeated).

Every action movie has redshirts. Hell almost every movie with fights has redshirts. Anime, manga, tv shows, books, everyone does it. it's a necessary evil.

The Worf effect is far worse, because someone is supposed to be powerful but doesn't have a track record for it. Hiruzen definitely got Worf'd: a very powerful hokage, but the only living fight we saw of him, he lost. Every time they talk of his legacy, it's about his failure (IE the Uchiha Massacre when Sasuke talks to the Hokage). As an Edo Tensei he didn't contribute to the first fight, was put on a bus only to briefly reappear, didn't contribute again and then his part ended. He's supposed to be powerful (and i don't doubt that he is).

Anbu don't have it that bad in the Manga. It's mostly the Anime who uses them as redshirts (leading to the Worf Effect).