A fan-favorite villain in the Naruto universe just came out as non-binary, reports PinkNews.
In a recent episode of the Boruto: Naruto Next Generations anime, Orochimaru—a powerful shinobi who has taken many forms throughout the course of the long-running and popular anime and manga series—revealed to their son Mitsuki that they don't identify as a man or a woman exclusively.
"Are you my father or mother?" Mitsuki asks.
"That’s a silly question. There have been times when I was a man and times a woman," Orochimaru replies. "Outside appearances don’t matter. The will to uncover all truth, that is the core of my being."
Obviously, fans had all sorts of feelings with a reveal of this magnitude.
\u201cSo uh...I guess Orochimaru is canonically non-binary now? #BORUTO\u201d— Jetzero @ Snobby Black Weeb\u270a\ud83c\udfff\u270a\u270a\ud83c\udffe (@Jetzero @ Snobby Black Weeb\u270a\ud83c\udfff\u270a\u270a\ud83c\udffe) 1533209521
\u201corochimaru is gender fluid and i\u2019ve decided to stan\u201d— promiscuous boy (@promiscuous boy) 1533453872
None— Rid Kock (@Rid Kock) 1533518145
\u201cshoutouts to non-binary Orochimaru with the high end parenting skills, between this, the millennial struggle, and game dev employee crunch mistreatment this show has had some legit topical writing on top of that INSANELY AMAZING FIGHT EPISODE\u201d— Ryan Price (@Ryan Price) 1533775832
\u201cOrochimaru is mf non-binary Lmao thank you Naruto for giving us this.\u201d— Non-binary Baddie (@Non-binary Baddie) 1533367415
