Rens Databook: Rens Mindset

The question has been presented as to what is going on with who Ren is as an individual.

Is he a whole new incarnation of the baby that was Hyuga Ren?

Is he still Nedd?

The answer is really more up to you as a reader than it is to me as an author believe it or not.

The whole debate here with Ren is similar to a person with amnesia.

He has general functions and knowledge that make up who he was. What is missing is his sense of self as Nedd. The set of key memories that would attach him to the identity of Nedd. Again similar to someone who has amnesia.

In this case the semi blank identity of Hyuga Ren began to form. He's capable of mature thought but psychologically the body he's in limits him for several years. The result being that a younger identity set in. That's not to say his maturity completely diminished but he is basically just a kid.

A lot of schemes are intended to be included in his actions and that will slowly become apparent. Are they effective? No.

The point being he's not exactly as simple or naive as I like to make him appear. To be fair he is still also a complete idiot, prone to childish mistakes. Aka thinks himself smarter than he is.

Overall the main point is that the question of is someone with amnesia still the same person? Or did the original die? How much of our memories determine who we are as a person? is very relevant to why he is what he is at the start of the story.

The questions are a series of what could be an interesting philosophical debate. In reality I don't think there's a right answer. ( Also when I say amnesia I mean full on TV trope amnesia, which is extremely rare in real life.)

Either way these questions are relevant when it comes to Ren because I believe having adult memories does not make one a functioning adult. As a character he is not supposed to be an Aizen level schemer from the get go. He's nothing more than a well read kid.

Now let's go over his clear reluctance to change canon. Again he's an asshole little schemer who thinks he is smart. What he wants is simply things he cannot acquire just because he says so.

For example Ren has no idea where the previous locations of Jugos clan is. It's not something ever discussed in canon and Jugo basically lived in a series of caves until he met kimimaro. Where exactly? Who knows. So Ren cant just go steal his bloodline and get super sage mode. It makes no sense. He also can't guarantee Obito will acquire Kamui should he start making changes arbitrarily.

Again he's not dumb enough to not realize this but not smart enough to find a different way to make it happen.

His lack of action is more to guarantee he acquires certain things from the timeline. He is highly complacent, a conformist, and a more or less unmotivated individual. Ironically he does have certain goals based on his delusion of a "smart plan" but its not exactly going to work out for him.

In effect he's a salary man through and through. Willing to take shit from his superiors in order to cash in and step over them later while moving up the corporate ladder. Which in reality few people can actually do. Ren in that sense is a bit of a dreamer and utterly delusional.

This will become clearer the more chapters we go through but a lot of his development will stem from this mindset.

Now his personality isn't set in stone and will change over time, but I'd like to think I'm conveying this mindset for the current Ren.

If things could be conveyed better please let me know.