When it comes to the most successful anime series Naruto and its array of distinctive, complex, and engaging antagonists, the name Pain (or Pein, depending on your spelling preference) is usually pretty high on that list. And for good reason too.
But before we delve any further into why exactly that is the case, it’s worth taking a brief look at the redhead’s extensive background as a quick reminder, or even an initial summary for those not that familiar with the Naruto story, as it is good to keep in mind the fact that there is always more than meets the eye.
Pain, as fans would know, appeared on the scene many, many years after the tragic story was revealed that a group of three homeless friends who were fighting in Rain Village Amegakure were mentored and taught the essentials of ninjutsu by Jiraiya for the purpose. survivors, who eventually went to leave the trio once they felt no further guidance was needed. These three close friends; Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan were the survivors of a long-lasting war that left their home village devastated, almost uninhabited, and destroyed. They vowed to return and change everything that was possible once one of the three Legendary Sannin of the Hidden Leaf Village taught them enough.
Nagato at some point ‘developed’ her Rinnegan, which as you may know is widely debated as the strongest of the three Eye Powers (Doujutsu) within the Ninja universe at that point in the series. This, however, will later be shown as a ploy at the end of Madara Uchiha; implanting his awake eyes on Nagato (an Uzumaki containing abnormally high levels of chakra) to be used as a kind of investment for the future, once he has successfully won the shinobi over to his side. A large part of this plan rested on Obito Uchiha, who had spent much of the series under the alias of Tobi and later Madara. It turns out that Madara’s plan worked flawlessly well through Obito and they had managed to persuade Nagato Yahiko and Konan to start the Akatsuki movement.
While Akatsuki’s conception was based on causes more noble in the eyes of the trio, this all changed once Yahiko was assassinated in cold blood after being sabotaged by another leading shinobi in the middle of peace negotiation talks. Nagato was not shown to be too emotionally strong since her debut. Yahiko was the support pillar and lifeline for the other two. His death resulted in a complete emotional breakdown and psychosis for the redhead, who had then turned his hatred towards all bitter loss towards the shinobi world once again.
All of this resulted in the birth of Pain as we know him. The cold and calculated leader of the Akatsuki possessor of Rinnegan. Behind all this is actually Nagato Uzumaki with her revenge against the corrupt Shinobi world.
Pain Yahiko was the product of Nagato’s Rinnegan powers and vengeful mentality put into action; Rods of chakra-receiving nature were strategically planted in the corpse of his dear friend in an attempt to keep him and his memory alive. Konan seemed to be more complicit in the matter than the main schemer.
Looking more specifically at Pain, his design scheme is interesting; largely bearing Yahiko’s appearance with some major alterations. The piercings that receive chakras are embedded all over her face and body, giving it a slight punk-like design. However, the most notable of all her accessories is the chakra harness necklace that is worn at all times.