Summary

Rock Lee's character arc promise in Naruto was never realized, leading to missed opportunities.
Lee's unresolved rivalry with Neji was sidelined, leaving fans unsatisfied with his impact on the story.
Rock Lee's unique role as a ninja without chakra abilities could have preserved later in the series with enough creativity.

In the original Naruto anime, the goofy and corny Rock Lee ended up becoming a fan-favorite character. Early in the series, he was the first character to really put Sasuke in his place, and his fight against Gaara is still one of the most hype moments of the show. Viewers identified with his hard-working mentality, rooting for him despite his self-professed lack of ninja talent. His character was set up to be a major player as the show elevated to bigger and bigger threats.

However, as the Naruto progressed into part two , Rock Lee did not have the same kind of impact on the story as he did before. Instead , Rock Lee took a back seat to many other characters, including Might Guy, the similarly looking and dressed older mentor. It seems unfair that the promise of Rock Lee’s character was never realized and his character felt like a missed opportunity in the story.

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By Rei Penber

Unresolved Rivalry

Rock Lee Never Got To Beat Neji

rock lee neji look — Rock Lee stares at Neji while wearing a backpack.

Rock Lee’s rivalry with Neji paralleled the friction that existed between Naruto and Sasuke. Lee was born without many of the talents that make a successful shinobi but he worked hard to try to overcome his faults with sheer willpower and never giving up. Lee was put in the same genin squad with Gentle Fist genius Neji Hyuga and the two immediately clashed.

Neji would constantly defeat Lee whenever they sparred, belittling Lee for trying so hard despite not having the talent to back it up. Lee would take his defeats personally, using it as motivation to continue to train and improve, though would occasionally get disheartened and question where his efforts were worth it. The narrative had set up these characters to resolve their conflicts as the story went on, paying off the rivalry in some way as these genin advanced in age and ninja rank.

"My motto is to be stronger than yesterday, if I have to I'll be stronger than half a day ago, even a minute ago!" - Rock Lee

However, this resolution would not come to pass. Lee and Neji ended up sidelined for much of the later parts of the Naruto storyline. They slowly fade away into background characters until Neji is eventually killed before Lee can defeat him in battle. The death of Neji was unsatisfying for some fans, feeling it was a cheap way to increase stakes in the story and ruined his character arc by leaving it unfinished.

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By Ritwik Mitra

Rock Lee’s Unique Role

A Ninja Without Chakra Abilities

rock lee punching — Gaara receives a direct hit from Rock Lee during the Chunin Exams.

"A hero is not the one who never falls. He is the one that who gets up, again and again, never losing sights of his dreams." -Rock Lee

As Rock Lee’s role in the story was replaced by Might Guy, Naruto lost an important draw of the series. In the beginning, some characters were just normal people trying to survive in this world of ninjas, without special powers or bloodline techniques. Part of the charm of the beginning of Naruto was watching these types of characters struggle and overcome powerful opponents despite humble origins.

Rock Lee exemplified this character archetype, being a ninja who could not use the cool ninjutsu or genjutsu powers. If worked into later parts of the story, he could have stopped the series from changing from what it once was into a plot where only characters with special powers mattered. He would be the example that someone who only had hard work could overcome any adversity, a theme which became somewhat muddled and lost by the end of Naruto.

While Might Guy focused on taijutsu in his fights, he could still use summons and ninjutsu. Rock Lee’s character's sole focus on taijutsu could have granted him access to new abilities to contrast with Guy’s. Perhaps Lee could have fine-tuned the Lotus and 8 Gates techniques to eliminate many of their drawbacks, overcoming the limitations of the forbidden ninja technique with his sheer hard work.

Ultimately, Lee could have been a character who, if given screen time, would have been the best representative of the taijutsu style of the ninja power trinity. Instead, characters without unique powers, like Lee, were pushed into the story's background, which is a shame given the powerful themes that were prominent earlier in Naruto.

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