Might Guy: The Sublime Green Beast of Konoha

Might Guy is one of the most prominent and powerful characters in the anime Naruto Shippuden. He is a jōnin-level shinobi of Konohagakure and the leader of Team Guy, which consists of Rock Lee, Neji Hyūga, and Tenten. He is also the self-proclaimed eternal rival of Kakashi Hatake, whom he challenges to various contests of skill and endurance. In this article, we will explore the personality, abilities, and achievements of Might Guy in the anime Naruto Shippuden.

All about Might Guy

• Birthdate: January 1
• Sex: Male
• Age: Part I: 26–27/Part II: 30–31
• Height: Part I: 184 cm
• Weight: Part I: 76 kg
• Blood type: B
• Occupation: Academy Teacher
• Affiliation: Konohagakure/Allied Shinobi Forces
• Team: Team Choza/Team Guy/Third Division

Might Guy’s Background

Guy is the son of Might Duy, who was known throughout Konoha as the “Eternal Genin”. Duy was not bothered by this moniker and instead was grateful that other people cared enough to know him at all.

Duy encouraged this same kind of optimism in Guy, as well as his belief that one always has youth and that they could both become taijutsu masters through diligent training.

Guy did his best to embody his father’s teachings, but had doubts that Duy’s words were devoid of meaning. He nevertheless loved his father and fought others when they called Duy the “Eternal Genin” mockingly when one of these fights landed him in the Konoha Hospital, Duy encouraged Guy not to be upset by this loss and to instead remember that victory is achieved by defending things that are important.

Guy applied to enter Konoha’s Ninja Academy, but did not pass the entrance exam. Kakashi Hatake was not surprised due to Guy’s lack of talent in ninjutsu and genjutsu, which Guy chose to take as a supportive observation.

This strength of character convinced Kakashi’s father, Sakumo, that Guy was not handicapped by his shortcomings and that he might be offered a position as an alternate in the year’s Academy class.

Guy was indeed allowed to enter the Academy with Kakashi, and upon graduation he was added to a team that, in the anime, was led by Chōza Akimichi.

The team at one point entered Konoha’s Chūnin Exams and passed to the final stage; Guy himself advanced to the exams’ last one-on-one match, where he lost to Kakashi.

Later, while on a mission with Genma Shiranui and Ebisu, Guy and his team were attacked by the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. They were rescued by Duy, who used the Eight Gates Released Formation to fight off the Seven Swordsmen. Duy died from opening all Eight Gates, but it satisfied his one rule for its use: giving his life to protect something precious, namely Guy.

Guy at some point (still in the academy in the anime) decided that Kakashi was his lifelong rival, driven by a desire to prove his perseverance could be just as good as Kakashi’s natural genius.

He would constantly challenge Kakashi to contests of skill, from eating contests to Rock, Paper, Scissors. Kakashi was indifferent to these contests, which only fuelled Guy’s desire to defeat him.

In the anime, Kakashi prevailed in the earlier of these competitions, but Guy soon started catching up, eventually achieving only a one point difference in their scores that has remained consistent over the years.

Guy is proud of his score despite the fact that, because of how varied the contests are, it is hardly representative of anything. Through their competition, Kakashi and Guy became good friends they were hanging out together on the night of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox’s Attack, yet were prevented from helping defend the village, instead being confined within a barrier to keep them safe.

In the anime, Guy was aware of the losses Kakashi experienced during and after the Third Shinobi World War and tried to help him deal with them. Following the death of Obito Uchiha, Guy filled in for Obito while Team Minato was on a mission into Iwa-territory.

When they were surrounded, Guy tried giving his life to allow Kakashi to escape, but they were able to fight off their enemies until reinforcements arrived. Following the death of Rin Nohara, Kakashi’s teacher, the Fourth Hokage, sent Guy to tail Kakashi on a mission in case memories of Rin started to get to him.

This proved wise: when Kakashi began hyperventilating from using the Chidori – the same jutsu that killed Rin – Guy intervened in time to save Kakashi and take him home.

Following the Fourth’s death during the Nine-Tails’ attack, Guy requested to be admitted into the Anbu so that he could help Kakashi through his growing depression.

The Third Hokage refused his request, which Danzo Shimura seconded, explaining that Guy lacked the necessary darkness for Anbu-service. Guy witnessed this “darkness” when Kakashi provided backup for him during a meeting with the Land of Woods, wherein Kakashi mercilessly killed all the Land of Woods’ forces.

Guy asked the Third Hokage to remove Kakashi from the Anbu because these kind of acts didn’t become him. When the Third eventually complied, Guy suggested that Kakashi try leading a team of genin to help him regain his lost kindness.

Guy at some point heard about a boy in the Academy who was unable to use ninjutsu or genjutsu. Guy approached this boy, Rock Lee, and encouraged him to use his youth to keep training.

Lee was eventually added to Guy’s Team Guy, along with Neji Hyūga and Tenten in the anime, before accepting them, he required them all to demonstrate a desire to succeed no matter the odds.

Guy took a particular interest in Lee after the team’s first meeting, as Lee wished to become a splendid ninja who could only use taijutsu. Guy decided to dedicate his life to helping Lee achieve his dream, teaching him all he knew of taijutsu, telling him the same keys to self-improvement his father had taught him, and encouraging him to use a rivalry with Neji to push him to new heights. Lee developed well under his guidance, as did Neji and Tenten, though Guy felt it was best to have them wait a year before entering the Chūnin Exams.

Might Guy’s Personality

Guy is perhaps most fully represented by his “nice guy” pose: a thumbs up, wink, and winning smile – complete with the proverbial ping. The pose captures his optimism and confidence, as by striking the pose he is promising that whatever words accompany it are either true now or will become true in time.

It represents his energy, as he will, through his understood-only-to-himself-and-select-others “Power of Youth (青春, seishun)”, enthusiastically seek to live up to his promise no matter the personal investment doing so will require of him.

It plumbs his deep emotional well because he only reserves it for the most important promises to the most important people for the most important reasons, and as such tears frequently stream down the face of somebody (inevitably Guy) when the pose is struck.

He is a very driven and committed man, both to his principles and his training, constantly pushing himself to go beyond his limits. He believes strongly that one must acknowledge their own strengths and weaknesses and work to improve what you can to make up for what you cannot, something he learned from his father.

In the anime, it was shown that even after gaining effective use ninjutsu and genjutsu, he makes it a personal choice to rely solely on taijutsu whenever possible, even prefers unconvincing disguises rather than the Transformation Technique. He prefers weapons without blades.

Guy can be serious at times despite his odd mannerisms, usually when engaging an enemy who threatens Konoha or one of his comrades. But even his serious moments can be undermined by one of his eccentricities: Guy has faced Kisame Hoshigaki on three separate occasions, yet on each occasion he’s been fairly confident that he never met Kisame before – Guy is aware that he has a poor memory for faces.

From observing the vibrancy of youth that his students possess, Guy may, in a moment of thoughtful self-reflection, wonder if his own youth has passed him by, only to immediately dismiss this as impossible because youth can never fade if his student, Lee, should break one of his tenets of conduct, Guy will discipline him with a physical strike, only to then immediately start crying at the realisation of the harm he’s inflicted and the well-intentioned passion that led Lee astray in the first place.

Guy refers to himself as “Konoha’s Sublime Green/Blue Beast of Prey” (木ノ葉の気高き碧い猛獣, Konoha no Kedakaki Aoi Mōjū). Like many of Guy’s traits, the moniker may be fitting.

Lee wholeheartedly approves of Guy, modelling his own appearance and personality after Guy’s so that he can become as beautiful a man as Guy is. For these similarities and their common backgrounds, Guy is in turn dedicated to Lee, doing all in his power to help Lee achieve his dream of becoming a master of taijutsu.

Their almost father-son bond is so powerful as to sometimes be disturbing to others. In later years, Guy even developed a similar relationship to Lee’s son Metal, becoming like a surrogate second father/uncle to him.

Neji and Tenten, though they also benefit from Guy’s teachings, are only willing to join in on Guy and Lee’s antics up to a point, and will either rein them in or leave them to their devices if their patience has been exhausted.

Kakashi shares Neji and Tenten’s reservations with Guy, and is often only an unwilling or indifferent participant in their contests. Rather than discourage Guy, this further motivates him, as he wants to defeat Kakashi’s “cool, hip, and trendy” personality.

There is no animosity to their rivalry, however, and Kakashi in fact considers Guy to be one of his closest and most reliable friends: they work well together in the field, can understand what the other is thinking without anything being said, and are concerned for each other’s well-being.

At the start of Part I, Kakashi’s score is 50 wins and 49 losses, though even when Guy takes the lead the score difference remains the same; considering that their competitions range from eating contests to Rock, Paper, Scissors, the score isn’t truly representative of anything. By the end of the Fourth Shinobi World War, Kakashi acknowledges that Guy has surpassed him.

Might Guy’s Abilities

Might Guy is a master of taijutsu, which is the art of hand-to-hand combat. He has trained himself to such a degree that he can match or surpass even the most skilled ninjas in physical strength, speed, stamina, reflexes, and durability. He can also use various weapons, such as nunchaku, kunai, or shuriken, with great proficiency.

Might Guy’s most notable ability is the use of the Eight Gates, which are eight specific points on the body that limit the flow of chakra. By opening these gates, Might Guy can temporarily increase his physical abilities to extraordinary levels, at the cost of damaging his body.

He can open up to seven gates without much difficulty, but opening the eighth gate requires a special technique called the Evening Elephant (Hirudora), which unleashes a series of powerful air blasts that can destroy anything in their path.

Might Guy’s ultimate technique is the Night Guy (Yagai), which he can only use after opening the eighth gate. This technique allows him to move at such a speed that he distorts space and creates a dragon-shaped shockwave that can pierce through anything. However, this technique is also fatal, as it consumes all of Might Guy’s life force and leaves him on the verge of death.

Might Guy’s Achievements

Might Guy has participated in many missions and battles throughout his career as a shinobi. Some of his most notable achievements are:

• Defeating Kisame Hoshigaki, one of the members of the Akatsuki organization and a former member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. Might Guy fought Kisame twice: once in Part I of the anime, where he used the sixth gate to overpower him; and once in Part II of the anime, where he used the seventh gate to defeat him for good.
• Saving Kakashi Hatake from being killed by Itachi Uchiha’s Tsukuyomi genjutsu. Might Guy intervened in time to prevent Kakashi from falling victim to Itachi’s illusionary technique, which could have driven him insane or killed him.
• Fighting Madara Uchiha, one of the main antagonists of the series and one of the strongest shinobi in history. Might Guy fought Madara during the Fourth Shinobi World War, where he used all eight gates to unleash his Night Guy technique. He managed to inflict a serious wound on Madara’s chest, but he also nearly died from using the technique. He was saved by Naruto Uzumaki, who used his Six Paths chakra to heal him.
• Surviving the use of the Night Guy technique. Might Guy is one of the few shinobi who have survived using the eighth gate technique, which is normally fatal. He was able to recover from his injuries thanks to Naruto’s healing power and Sakura Haruno’s medical ninjutsu. However, he lost the use of his right leg permanently as a result of using the technique.

Might Guy’s Abilities

Despite a poor start in his ninja career, Might Guy’s potential growth was openly acknowledged by the famous Sakumo. He ultimately proved himself a late-bloomer, becoming recognised as one of Konoha’s strongest ninja.

His extreme power has been acknowledged by the likes of Itachi Uchiha, warning the entire Akatsuki not to underestimate him, and even Kakashi, who completely trusted Guy to aid him in battle.

During the Fourth Shinobi World War, he fought off the Six-Tails alone and with his fullest capacities unlocked, nearly defeated Madara Uchiha as the Ten-Tails’ jinchūriki (who compared Guy’s performance to the First Hokage), albeit this very nearly cost his life.

Despite his permanent damage from the Fourth Shinobi World War officially ending his ninja career, after continued rehab, Guy was able to adjust to this apparent handicap to remain as powerful as ever. Ultimately, Guy became recognised as a legendary shinobi.

Taijutsu

Because Guy had little talent in ninjutsu and genjutsu as a child, he dedicated himself to perfecting his taijutsu. By adulthood, Guy is a taijutsu master with advanced skill in several styles and likewise equal knowledge in styles that he does not.

He specialises in Strong Fist style to effectively adjust his attack patterns and battle tactics to best handle the situation with various unorthodox yet effect strikes.

Ultimately, his fighting skills allow him to almost never has to rely on weapons. His skill has even been acknowledged by Madara himself as unsurpassed in physical combat.

After losing usage of his right foot, Guy’s style became more stationary, balancing on his left leg and position himself so his natural weight works with him. He will use his remaining limbs to battle, even strike with his right knee, and employ flips and handsprings to move about quickly.

Guy conditioned himself to the absolute peak of physical prowess by constantly challenging himself through various arduous training means. Without the aid of chakra enhancement, Guy can perform various seemingly inhuman feats.

With a single hand, he can casually plough opponents deep into a rock wall, and with even more effort, launch the foe clear through it and a great distance away.

Likewise, his sheer speed is consistently able to attack an opponent before they are fully aware of his presence, if at all. His stamina and recovery rate lets him continue fighting for extremely long periods of time or return to battle-ready in extremely short periods of time.

Eight Gates

Taught by his father at a young age, Guy is able to utilise any and all of the Eight Inner Gates. Guy’s mastery can instantly open up the first seven gates, without the need of opening previous gates.

With each gate he opens, different physical and mental attributes are unlocked to their fullest potential, enhancing Guy’s physical, mental and chakra capacities by considerable amounts.

Consequently, his body can take on more damage the more gates he opens and the longer he maintains them, with using all eight gates near-certainly causing eventual death.

For this reason, Guy only opens a single gate as a last resort in order to protect something or someone precious. At the same time, Guy’s extreme training allows him to handle opening the gates for longer periods of time, able to endure the sixth gate with only noticeable exhaustion, as well as resist the after-effects of the seventh gate to continue fighting for a short period.

By the Fourth Shinobi World War, Guy became able to withstand using the seventh gate repeatedly before succumbing to its effects as well as immediately adapt to the immense pain of the eighth gate.

Guy created several different techniques that he can perform once opening certain gates: with the first gate, he can use the pile-driving Front Lotus; with the third gate, he overwhelms opponents with punches through the Reverse Lotus with the sixth gate, Guy can use the Morning Peacock to unleash a series of rapid punches that ignite through air friction with the seventh gate, he can use the Daytime Tiger to launch concentrated air pressure at opponents that violently expands on contact for what he calls a one-hit kill; with the eighth gate, he can use the Evening Elephant to punch from a distance powerful shockwaves of air.

His ultimate technique with all eight gates is Night Guy, a single kick of such speed that the space around him is distorted. Night Guy, though it almost kills Madara Uchiha as the Ten-Tails’ jinchūriki, is responsible for the irreparable damage to Guy’s right leg.

Ninjutsu

While rarely performing any ninjutsu or genjutsu, Guy is still capable in them. He can summon tortoises, such as Ningame. Additionally, he has a chakra nature of fire and lightning. Guy is at least knowledgeable about other ninjutsu, recognising the Four Red Yang Formation and speaking informatively about its power and difficulty. He is also able to dispel a high-level genjutsu.

Other Skills

Guy is a master in various weapon styles, having trained Tenten extensively in using her various ninja tools. His preferred weapon in battle is nunchaku, and with his personal pair, Sōshūga, he can smash through rock and trade blows with Obito’s gunbai.

He at times make herbal remedies to help Lee with his training, though their benefits are unclear. In his mostly-one-sided rivalry with Kakashi, Guy device a way to predict an opponent’s their movements by focusing on their feet, effectively negating the Sharingan’s eye-contact-based genjutsu.

Might Guy is a remarkable character in the anime Naruto Shippuden. He is a master of taijutsu, a user of the Eight Gates, and a loyal friend and teacher. He has shown his courage, determination, and willpower in many occasions, and he has inspired many people with his positive attitude and spirit. He is truly one of the most sublime green beasts of Konoha.