Naruto Uzumaki (うずまき ナルト Uzumaki Naruto) is a fictional character in the Naruto universe created by Masashi Kishimoto as the main protagonist for the series and developed into other media. While creating Naruto, Kishimoto kept in mind to keep the character “simple and stupid” while giving him many attributes of Son Goku from the Dragon Ball franchise.
In the series, Naruto is a ninja affiliated with the fictional village of Konohagakure, and has ambitions of becoming Hokage, or the leader of the village. Due to being the host for the nine-tailed demon fox, a malevolent creature that attacked Konohagakure, he is ostracized by the other villagers. He compensates for this with his cheerful and boisterous personality, and over the course of the series, manages to befriend several other Konohagakure ninja, as well as ninja from other villages. He obtains an especially close relationship with Sasuke Uchiha, one of his fellow ninja in Team 7, and treats him as his brother. Naruto appears in all of the series’ films, as well as in other media related to the franchise, including video games and OVAs.
Several anime and manga publications have expressed acclaim and criticism of Naruto’s character. While many reviewers consider him one of the most memorable anime and manga characters in history, he has been viewed as a stereotypical manga and anime protagonist comparable to many other protagonists in other shōnen manga. Nevertheless, Naruto has remained highly popular with the Naruto reader base, placing high in several popularity polls. Merchandise based on Naruto has also been released, including figurines and plush dolls
Creation and conception
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When creating Naruto, Kishimoto incorporated into the character a number of traits he felt made an ideal hero: a straightforward way of thinking, a mischievous side, and many of the attributes possessed by Son Goku from the Dragon Ball franchise. He also made sure to keep Naruto “simple and stupid,” since he does not like smart characters. Naruto himself is not modeled after anyone in particular, being conceived as childlike with somewhat of a dark side as a result of his harsh past. Despite this, he is always positive, making him unique in Kishimoto’s eyes.
Naruto’s wardrobe is based on clothing Kishimoto wore when he was younger; according to Kishimoto, using a pre-existing design would not have made Naruto unique whereas something original would have made him stand out too much. The orange coloring of his costume is used to make Naruto “pop,” with blues often being used to complement the orange. Because Naruto is associated with spirals, swirl patterns are incorporated into his costume. Initial illustrations of Naruto had him wearing boots, but Kishimoto substituted these for sandals, because he likes drawing toes. The goggles that Naruto used to wear were also replaced with a forehead protector, because the goggles themselves were too time consuming to draw. Kishimoto said that he felt glad that his character had blond hair and blue eyes. The editor of Shonen Jump in the United States added that he implied that the traits may have led the character to appeal to a Western audience. Kishimoto said that he most identifies with Naruto out of all of the Naruto characters. When asked why Naruto’s favorite food is ramen instead of kitsune udon Kishimoto said that he personally liked eating ramen.
Character outline
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Background
Naruto was born the son of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki. Soon after his birth, the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox attacked their hometown of Konoha, leaving destruction throughout the village. In order to stop the fox’s attack Minato sealed it within Naruto’s body, giving Naruto access to its great power at the cost of Minato’s life. Before his death, Minato requested that Naruto be viewed as a hero of the village rather than a container for the fox. Many villagers chose to ignore this request, leading to the enactment of a law forbidding anyone to speak of Naruto as the fox’s host. With his father dead and his mother presumably sharing the same fate, Naruto has spent all of his life as an orphan, not knowing who his parents were.
Personality
With no family to speak of and the villagers of Konoha always showing him animosity for being the container of the demon fox, Naruto never had a source of love or attention during his early childhood. Desiring that which he has lacked all his life, Naruto’s dream is to become Hokage, the village’s protector, hoping that it will bring him the villagers’ recognition and respect. To assist him in gaining this title, Naruto possesses a fierce determination, always confident he can complete a given task with relative ease. Naruto’s efforts have proven successful as the series progressed, as many characters have reached the conclusion that Naruto will someday be an excellent Hokage.
Since his introduction, Naruto’s determination has resulted in some of his traits rubbing off on those around him, such that in Part II his teacher, Kakashi Hatake, notes this to be Naruto’s unique power.Gaara, after being defeated by Naruto in battle, discovers that true strength is found in fighting for one’s friends, not for oneself. These changes that other characters experience serve as the moral for the part of the story they take place in, and subsequently become the creed for the particular character’s life.
Through his ability to change others, Naruto has gained the friends that he lacked during his childhood. Among the many friendships he has formed, none are more prominent in the series than those he has with his two teammates: Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno. With Sasuke, Naruto shares a highly competitive relationship that he likens to brotherhood. Though Sasuke betrays Naruto and the rest of Konoha at the end of Part I, Naruto maintains his attachment to Sasuke, readily lashing out at anyone who speaks poorly of him. With Sakura, Naruto possesses a deep dedication to her, rooted in the crush he has had on her for years. Naruto’s commitment to Sakura is such that he will do anything to make her happy, vowing to someday return Sasuke to Konoha for her sake.
Abilities
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Because of the demon fox within him, Naruto has access to its great chakra reserves, allowing him to perform jutsu that someone of his rank would ordinarily be incapable of using. Though portions of the fox’s chakra constantly mix with Naruto’s own, Naruto can forcibly draw upon its reserves in one of two ways: by submitting to rage or by directly asking the fox for a donation of its strength. Once doing so the fox’s power begins to consume Naruto, eventually creating a fox-shaped shroud around him complete with a number of tails indicating his current level of strength. While each tail drastically increases his fighting strength, Naruto begins to lose his sense of self as more tails appear.[34] Because he can quickly become a danger to those he cares for in these situations, Naruto has begun to limit his usage of the fox’s power.
The Shadow Clone Technique, used to create solid, completely identical copies of the user, is Naruto’s most frequently used jutsu. In addition to using these clones to overwhelm his opponents, Naruto often uses them to help him form his preferred form of attack: the Rasengan, an attack that grinds into whatever it touches. By using the copies of himself to spin and mold his chakra into shape, Naruto can form the Rasengan without the hassle required to create it single handedly. In Part II, Naruto trains with his shadow clones to infuse the Rasengan with his wind elemental chakra. This culminates in his creation of the Wind Release: Spiraling Shuriken (風遁・螺旋手裏剣 Fūton: Rasenshuriken), which damages what it contacts on a cellular level. Though this massive level of damage is useful against opponents, the hand he is performing the technique with is damaged as well, making it a double-edged sword.