Bobs Beard
Over-analyzes things - sometimes this works out
- Joined
 - Feb 19, 2013
 
- Messages
 - 3,063
 
- Likes received
 - 11,201
 
You know, on that note...
If you squint a bit, Orochimaru's performance in canon could fit very well with him developing - and then later resolving - a drinking problem.
- Initially, he's Leaf's greatest researcher, a baller omnicompetent ninja, cool guy all around. Big, high-profile and high-stress position, that. Could drive a man to the bottle - particularly since he has to interact with idiots all day every day.
 - Then, when he has such a good thing, he looks for new cutting edge stuff in the flesh of his own peeps - grabbing whatever's sorta viable that's nearest to you is absolutely a drunken approach to experimentation/projects.
 - Rather than face the headache and nuisance of trying to make that up - and realistically if he'd surrendered, retaining Orochimaru's services could quite credibly been worth far more than the orphans he was expending - he said fuck this I'm out, and stormed off - a rather drunken way of handling a complex situation where you're at fault.
 - Thereafter makes his own home base like a child and tries to bull people into giving him shit he wants - again, like a drunk jackass.
 - He looses use of his arms, and becomes this huge asshole that just sits around doing nothing... but drinking.
 - He dies, and is finally forced to detox.
 - When he's revived all sober and shit, all of a sudden he's a thousand times more rational and reasonable, and seems to completely revert to pre-treachery levels of 'you're a fairly amoral guy, but dang do you know your shit' sort of guy.
 - Post-series Orochimaru willfully owns up to his prior insane bullshit and largely decommissions his crazy-ass, only-a-drunk-would-think-this-was-a-good-idea experiments.
 - He has a kid and tries to have a normal life, sorta - much like a recovered alcoholic trying to rebuild their life.