Might Guy (Maito Gai?) is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Naruto created by Masashi Kishimoto. He is the leader of Team Guy, consisting of Rock Lee, Neji Hyuga, and Tenten.

Fansubs and scanlations have often dubbed his name as Maito Gai, a direct and unaltered transliteration of the character’s name, but the second official Naruto databook (Hiden: Tō no Sho) states his name as Might Guy. Viz Media initially rendered his name as “Mighty Guy” in some of the early chapters, though this was switched to “Maito Gai” in most of the graphic novel distributions. His name has since been corrected to “Might Guy” after the release of the databook.

The name “Might Guy” is a joke aimed at the “hot-headed hero” archetype that appears in many movies and anime. Guy’s appearance and mannerisms are similar to Bruce Lee’s.

Background

Upon becoming a squad leader, Guy took an immediate interest in Rock Lee due to the similarities between Lee and himself when he was younger. Because Lee is unable to mold chakra he can’t use many of the basic ninja abilities. As such, his goal in life is to master taijutsu and prove that someone who can’t mold chakra can still become a splendid ninja. To help him achieve this goal, Guy dedicates most of his time with his team as well as his free time training Lee, teaching him all that he knows about taijutsu.

To help Lee better reach this goal Guy has taught him a number of otherwise forbidden techniques that can endanger both Lee and those around him. While Guy is aware of the danger these jutsu impose, even limiting Lee to using them only to protect people close to him, Guy largely turns a blind eye to these repercussions in favor of Lee becoming a splendid ninja. Lee ultimately uses these techniques to excess in an attempt to prove himself, leaving him unable to continue life as a ninja. Guy regrets ever teaching Lee the techniques and does all that he can to find Lee a cure. When one is found that may result in Lee’s death, Guy convinces him to go through with it, citing that if Lee dies then he will too, as he has no reason to live if he can’t help Lee succeed as a ninja. Lee takes Guy’s advice and survives, returning to full health and allowing the two continue their unique student-teacher relationship.

Because of Guy’s dedication to Lee, Lee has likewise become dedicated to Guy, and models himself in his sensei’s image. In doing so he has reproduced Guy’s distinctive green jumpsuit and shiny bowl haircut, having already had Guy’s characteristic thick eyebrows. Lee has also acquired many of Guy’s personality traits and habits, and the two typically join together in carrying out odd methods of training. Because of this Neji and Tenten are for the most part left to find their own methods of training, both being unable and unwilling to take part in Guy and Lee’s training methods.

Personality

Guy has many mannerisms unique to him in the series that are meant to be seen as corny and old fashioned, a reference to common clichés of “youth” (seishun?) anime. He is best known for his “nice guy pose”, which consists of giving a thumbs up, winking, and smiling with teeth so white they give the proverbial “ping”. This action is often used by both Guy and Lee to indicate commitment to a statement they had just made, their highest form of a promise. Guy’s teacher-student relationship with Lee also carries distinct attributes, such as when Guy will punch Lee for a slight infraction of a rule. After Guy assigns Lee an arduous training task as punishment, meant to recapture Lee’s focus and discipline, the two may then burst into tears and embrace each other in mutual regret.

Guy, and by extension Lee, lives his life by his own “My Rules” philosophy, which involves setting tougher self-imposed penalties for failure so something good comes of it. For example, he vowed to walk 500 laps around Konoha on his hands if he lost a contest with Kakashi, and proceeded to do so upon losing, even though people stopped paying attention eventually. He also doesn’t hesitate to do things he doesn’t enjoy or that others might find embarrassing if it means his own self-improvement, as seen with his belief that one cannot dislike food regardless of its ingredients or taste. In addition, Guy values his youth to a great degree and dislikes the idea that he may not be as young as he once was. To help remedy this problem he spends large amounts of time with his younger teammates, hoping to acquire some of their youthful properties. Likewise, he often refers to himself as “Konoha’s Prideful Green Beast” (Konoha no Kedakai Aoi Mōjū?).

Guy is the self-proclaimed rival of Kakashi Hatake. Kakashi, however, is indifferent to their rivalry, which annoys Guy to no end. Guy randomly challenges Kakashi to contests of skill, and has acquired a record of 50 wins and 49 losses in doing so. Given that the contests that make up this figure are so varied (ranging from Rock, Paper, Scissors to sumo-wrestling), this it is not much of an achievement on Guy’s part. Nevertheless, Guy is proud of his record.

Abilities

Guy specializes in using taijutsu, though unlike Lee this seems to be a matter of preference on his part. Instead he simply chooses not to use ninjutsu or genjutsu, even going so far as to use a regular (albeit bad) disguise during one of the anime’s filler arcs instead of using the Transformation Technique. In the few instances that he has used ninjutsu, it has always been offscreen, such as when he summoned Ninkame prior to his first appearance. Through his mastery of taijutsu Guy specializes in the Strong Fist style of combat, increasing the potency of his attacks. Likewise, he can also open at least six of the Eight Gates, with each gate giving him more power for short periods of time.

Despite his apparent decision to only use taijutsu, Guy is a talented ninja. Itachi Uchiha has on multiple occasions warned others against underestimating Guy. Given that Itachi and his accomplices are extremely dangerous ninja, such a warning is an indicator that Guy is an excellent combatant. In his rivalry with Kakashi he has developed an effective counter against Sharingan users: by focusing on their feet, Guy can both predict the movements of the enemy and negate the Sharingan’s necessity of having eye-contact. Currently, Guy is the only ninja who can use this technique. His abilities seem to be great enough to allow him to lead other higher-classed ninja, as seen during the anime’s Konoha 11 arc where he leads all of Konoha’s available Jonin in case of an invasion by Takigakure.

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