How do I think, what major differences would follow if Madara did become second hokage? He's such a difficult character for me to understand to be honest, and I can't even imagine what his time as Hokage would look like. Many say he would be very agressive/militaristic and insist on attacking other villages, but they also say that Uchihas are genetically evil so... Any thoughts?
Hello there, anon, thank you for your question!
First of all, don't feel bad about having a hard time understanding Madara, it's completely okay that you find some characters harder to "relate to" or hard to understand. We all have our own way of thinking, and some characters just don't have to be our cup of tea!
Second of all, dear anon, I’m not sure I will be able to give a good answer. This is also why this answer took a while, because no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t come up with good headcanons for this. Perhaps someone else on this website has a better imagination than me (which is very much possible, there are wonderful people on this website), but I personally cannot imagine a scenario where Madara becomes the second Hokage. I just...I cannot imagine how it would be possible. Please, allow me to explain why I think so:
Madara, at the point Hashirama became the first Hokage, already overheard the conversation between Hashirama and Tobirama and therefore knew about Tobirama’s distrust and dislike of Uchihas. He also knew Hashirama didn’t stop Tobirama at all, he let him talk...and this probably broke Madara’s trust in the village and also in Hashirama.
Then we of course have the stone tablet that Madara read. To make Madara second Hokage, we would have to somehow make him not read the stone tablet or make Hashirama (because who else would Madara even listen to at this point?) somehow convince him. But how would Hashirama convince him, when he didn’t even fight to make him the first Hokage? How would Hashirama convince Madara when he knew what Tobirama is saying and doing, and did nothing to actually stop him? Hashirama failed Madara’s trust, he wouldn’t be able to do anything.
We saw Hashirama tell Madara he’ll make him the first Hokage, but then, when Tobirama talked to him, Hashirama didn’t defend Madara, plus when Tobirama asked him, Hashirama said he has no objections to becoming Hokage and doing things the way Tobirama wanted. Then, when Madara and Hashirama talked in front of the stone tablet, Hashirama clearly knew Madara heard them, yet from his reaction, it seems he never talked to Madara about it. Why would Madara believe him, when Hashirama didn’t even talk to him?
As for Tobirama, he would have to become a lot more open-minded, he would also have to face his own hatred towards the Uchiha clan. And at no point in the story, do we see him do that. He didn’t seem to regret that he put Uchihas on the outskirts of Konoha, he also didn’t seem to be bothered by the fact he deprived them of power in the village.
I am by no means saying the Uchihas are perfect (because who or what is?), but I certainly don’t believe they are “genetically evil”. This, if I’m not mistaken, was mainly Tobirama’s hypothesis.
I don’t agree with the idea of the “curse of hatred” (COH) at all, even though some people claim it’s canon and that we (pro-Uchiha part of the fandom or anyone who simply disagrees with the premise of COH) should just accept COH and “stop overreacting when it’s just a fiction”. And while yes, COH is part of the canon, I can still choose whether or not I agree with it, and whether or not I like it. And I most certainly don’t agree with it or like it, and I simply cannot and will not accept the idea that the members of the Uchiha clan are born “genetically evil”. And while the story is fictional, it is still based on our real world, as probably any piece of media is, so I certainly can and will criticize COH.
Like I said above, I truly don’t see a chance for Madara to become the second Hokage. I do realize that there probably are fanfictions that explore this scenario, but realistically, I don’t see it happening.
Many say he would be very agressive/militaristic and insist on attacking other villages
I want to address this part you mentioned, anon. I haven’t really seen anyone saying that, granted I don’t read any anti-Uchiha or anti-Madara posts, but I understand where this idea comes from, as Madara certainly showed that he can be very dominant and even arrogant when dealing with other villages (his encounter with Ohnoki is a good example of that). If you want to know more about the fight between Madara and Ohnoki, I highly recommend reading this post by @persephones-darkness. Wonderful post that will certainly give you a lot of insight!
My guess? I’d say Madara would be militaristic, had he become Hokage, he might even be aggressive, yes. Why do I think so? Because both Hashirama and Tobirama (and later on also Hiruzen, Minato, Tsunade, Kakashi, and Naruto) were militaristic (and aggressive). Because they are all soldiers and Konoha is a militaristic village.
At the times Madara lived in, war was everywhere, Madara lived in war, it’s what he knew the most probably, so there is a chance he would be militaristic and aggressive, but why do we treat this as something unusual? Every shinobi in Warring States Period was like that because that was the best way to survive, so why should we look down on Madara for being a product of the times he lived in? Both Hahsirama and Tobirama were militaristic and aggressive, perhaps even more than Madara, and yet I have to wonder, how many of the “many” you mentioned, anon, would glorify their actions as heroism.
All of them were products of the times they lived in and all of them were militaristic and aggressive.
About attacking other villages: I have to disagree on this one. I don’t think Madara would mindlessly attack other villages if he didn’t have a reason to do so (for example if the other village threatened Konoha). I also have to point out that Madara desired peace so much, he was even willing to put everyone into a fake dream world. Do I agree with the way he wanted to achieve peace? No. Was he cruel in his actions? Yes. Were Hashirama and Tobirama any better though? No.
What I’m trying to say with this, is that Madara wasn’t some crazy monster that had to be tamed or caged for the peace to exist, no, he wanted peace, a true peace, and he tried to achieve it.
I probably could go into more headcanons, but I’m very unsure how to go about them, as if I’m not mistaken, we don’t even really know what Madara was like as a clan head and clan leader, so it’s hard for me to headcanon what he would be like as a Hokage.
KONEC aka THE END
Thank you again for sending me this ask, I had a great time writing this. I hope you liked my answer and that I didn’t sound too harsh. Please believe me that none of this was meant as an attack on you, dear anon!
I mean, look at them; with their annoying fake plastic smiles and their annoying hipster glasses and their annoying plait shirt, sleeves rolled up to reveal really really annoying arms and that annoying, “What’s your name, pretty lady?” Don’t call me ‘pretty lady’, I could wrap my hands around your skull and squeeze your brains out of your head and you wouldn’t even notice, probably, because baristas lack brains, so you’d just continue existing without a brain. “Line,” I say instead, and the barista smiles a cocky smile at me. Just fucking comment on my hi-la-rious name, dude, I tell him mentally and he says “Okay,” and scrawls a name on the cardboard cup, but it isn’t mine; it’s his. Douchebag.
If you're 'literate' and talk shit about 'illiterate' people -- you're a douche.
If you're 'illiterate' and talk shit about 'literate' people -- you're a douche too.
Let's just put it like that and shut up, because the next person who throws shit about people who put letters after each other in a different form than them (on the dash or wherever else) -- I will personally approach and smack up the head.
