Rock Lee (Rokku Rī?) is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Naruto created by Masashi Kishimoto. He is a member of Might Guy’s Team Guy, consisting of himself, Neji Hyuga, and Tenten.

According to an interview with Masashi Kishimoto in Shonen Jump’s Naruto Anime Profiles Episodes 1-37, Rock Lee is his most fun character to draw. He also has stated that Sakura and Rock Lee were meant to symbolize human weakness (at least in the beginning). Like Guy, Lee is modeled after the martial artist Bruce Lee and even has the same birthday.

In Shonen Jump’s character popularity polls, Lee consistently ranked in the Top 10 in the first four polls, even making the Top 5 once. In the more current polls, however, Lee has fallen out of the Top 10 due to his lack of recent appearances. Despite this, he still ranks at a relatively high position.

Background

Since a young age, Lee has been unable to mold his chakra, leaving him unable to use any ninjutsu or genjutsu. This lead his fellow Academy students to tease him for his handicap, though Lee ignored their words and began specializing in taijutsu, hoping to become a powerful ninja despite his inability. Upon being assigned to Team Guy, Might Guy took a personal interest in Lee’s attempts to prove himself and began to help him in his dream of excelling in taijutsu. With Guy’s assistance Lee began to learn many advanced taijutsu abilities, bringing him ever closer to achieving his goal of becoming a splendid ninja.

Personality

Lee is best known for speaking respectfully to others and never using contractions. He also uses formal Japanese, applying proper titles (”-san”, “-kun”, etc.) to anyone he meets. His relationship with Guy has also caused him to acquire many of Guy’s traits. Lee’s green jumpsuit and shiny bowl haircut, having already had Guy’s distinctive thick eyebrows, are direct results of his modeling himself in his sensei’s image. In Part II he even begins wearing a tactical vest like Guy, the only difference being that Guy leaves his unzipped. Guy’s influence has also caused the reshaping of Lee’s personality, and his dedication to his promises as well as his belief that one cannot dislike food are also characteristics of Guy.

Lee has a number of other odd personality traits, though whether or not they are results of Guy’s mentorship is unknown. One such trait is his apparent lack of common sense, believing at times that he can get what he wants by not wanting it and other times he is made aware that he will be unable to check his notes during a fight, a fact he notes for reference. He also has a sense of honor, refusing to hold grudges against those who have defeated him and returning favors to those that have helped him.

Lee’s attempts to prove and better himself are recurring themes for his actions throughout the series, which is initially most evident with Neji Hyuga. Neji, a “genius,” at the series’ start finds Lee’s efforts of bettering himself to be in vain, believing Lee to be stuck as a “failure” for the rest of his life. As such, Lee resolves to prove Neji wrong, and confronts another “genius,” Sasuke Uchiha in an attempt to test his worth. While Lee maintains the desire to defeat Neji in a fight throughout the Chunin Exams, Neji’s eventual defeat by Naruto Uzumaki, another “failure”, seems to make him lose interest in this particular goal.

During his battle with Gaara during the Chunin Exams, Lee’s attempts to prove himself go awry. Gaara’s abilities make all of Lee’s attacks ineffective, and Lee’s attempts at using his more powerful techniques to defeat Gaara leave his body broken. After Gaara’s attacks further damage his body, Lee is left in an incurable state where he can no longer pursue life as a ninja. When Guy finds an operation for him that will return him to his former state, though carries the possibility of causing his death, Lee is hesitant to accept the operation. While he can’t stand the thought of not living as a ninja, he also can’t stand the idea that he will die before he can fully prove himself. Through Guy’s encouragement and words of dedication to him, Lee goes through with the operation and survives, causing his resolve to get stronger to only increase.

Soon after his introduction, Lee reveals that he likes Sakura Haruno. While she does not share these feelings for him, Lee maintains these feelings throughout the Chunin Exams, even coming to her rescue and using forbidden techniques in an attempt to protect her. After the Exams’ conclusion, however, Lee’s interest in Sakura goes largely unaddressed, the only other exhibition of these feelings being seen during the anime’s filler arcs where he is unable to attack Naruto while he is disguised as Sakura. Likewise, unlike all of the other crushes seen throughout the series, Lee has yet to give a reason for his interest in Sakura.

Abilities

Guy’s influence has also influenced Lee’s training habits, which, coupled with with his hard-working resolve, has allowed Lee to rapidly get stronger. When making a promise, for example, Lee assigns himself arduous tasks to complete in the event that he doesn’t provide, such as running 500 laps or having races over extremely long distances. Since Guy began training him, Lee has worn heavy weights on his ankles, increasing his strength and improving the force of his kicks at the cost of inhibiting his speed. Upon removing the weights, Lee’s speed greatly increases, making it almost impossible to see his movements and allowing him to catch fast-moving objects in midair. As such, the removal of his weights is a huge trump card for Lee, and in regular situations doing so can all but guarantee victory. Lee has also been trained to run and even fight in his sleep, using nothing but pure muscle memory. Over the timeskip he becomes a Chunin, indicating his training has paid off well.

Through Guy’s teachings, Lee has learned many powerful taijutsu techniques. The most basic of these is his Strong Fist style of combat, which allows his punches and kicks to do considerably more damage than they would ordinarily. Lee has also learned how to open the first five chakra gates, a feat that is difficult for even the most talented ninja. Because opening the gates and using the jutsu that require their opening is dangerous for the user, Lee is only permitted to use them in life-or-death situations or when protecting someone dear.

Lee has manifested a natural predisposition towards the Drunken Fist (酔拳, Suiken?), a unique battle style that can’t be learned or taught and is reminiscent of the actual Zui Quan martial art. When he drinks as little as one drop of alcohol, he becomes an unpredictable and unstoppable force of destruction and chaos. His actions while drunk are usually a combination of misguided attempts to impress Guy, regardless of whether or not Guy is around, and he drunkenly attacks any friend or foe that is near him. When drunk, his moves have an extra edge of unpredictability to them, which when coupled with his already formidable taijutsu skills makes him a force to be reckoned with. Guy explains that after Lee accidentally drank a small amount of sake during a congratulatory dinner, he proceeded to lay waste to the pub they were in, and it took the combined efforts of Guy and Neji to hold him down.

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