Naruto Uzumaki

Creation and conception

Original concept and influences

During the 1990s, new manga author Masashi Kishimoto sought to write a one-shot chapter that would feature Naruto as a chef, but this version never made it to print. Kishimoto originally wanted to make Naruto a child who could transform into a fox, so he created a one-shot of Naruto for the summer 1997 issue of Akamaru Jump magazine based on the idea. When comparing both the Naruto one-shot and his other work, Karakuri, Kishimoto realized that the former's title character was more appealing than the lead of Karakuri. Kishimoto reflects that Naruto's "honest" smile was well received in contrast to the sly look the main character from Karakuri had. Following the success of another one-shot, Mario, Kishimoto started working on the Naruto series, where he wanted to reuse the title character from his earlier one-shot. Kishimoto wrote the first two chapters to show his appeal to the readers and then focus on the other protagonists despite difficulties. Following the second chapter, Kishimoto introduced the other protagonists, but with bad relationships, including with Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto's constant rejected affections for Sakura Haruno. The manga story was planned to show Naruto's coming-of-age through multiple fights, and he looked forward to seeing the conclusion.

For the serialized version, Kishimoto incorporated traits he felt made an ideal hero in the creation of Naruto: a straightforward way of thinking, a mischievous side, and attributes possessed by Goku from the Dragon Ball franchise, aiming to keep Naruto "simple and stupid". Although Goku was a major influence to Naruto, Kishimoto was more attracted by Dragon Ball character Krillin, as he comes across as more human than the protagonist for displaying flaws that made the readers easier to accept in a similar fashion to his mentor Iruka Umino. Kishimoto avoided modeling him after anyone in particular, instead conceiving of him as naïve with a dark side resulting from his harsh past. Despite this, he is always optimistic, a trait Kishimoto said makes this character unique. By and large, Naruto's personality is childish; the creator tried to convey this trait in his illustrations. Kishimoto notes the cover of volume 10 as an example of this, where Kishimoto depicts Naruto mimicking a turtle as a child might do. Naruto was Kishimoto's first published manga, and he focused on making Naruto's facial expressions consistent in difficult situations. He commented, "It's rather awkward to talk about what makes Naruto appealing to audiences, but I think his being a knucklehead gives him an appeal". He believed it was Naruto's losses that made readers identify with him, although he wanted Naruto not to feel defeated again, which was his primary aim when writing the series. Kishimoto has said that Naruto's burning desire to be a ninja was based on his own ambition to succeed as a manga artist. As the series went on, Kishimoto wrote the older incarnations of Naruto to be naïve idealists due to how Naruto was written to continuously avoid repeating previous mistakes. However, at the same time, Kishimoto wrote him as a sign of hope, something important in regard to the series's audience.

Development

After fans likened Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura to the three main characters from the Harry Potter fantasy books, Kishimoto noted that both trios began their careers in a classroom, though he added that the similarity was unintentional. During the series's publication, Kishimoto married and had children. This influenced how he viewed Naruto's character. Naruto met his parents and learned of their sacrifices to help him to control the Nine-Tailed Fox inside him so that he could protect their world. As a result, Naruto appreciated his life more and learned that his parents loved him, something the author wanted the character to feel based on his own experience as a father. In the first chapters of the series, Kishimoto did not conceive the idea that Naruto would be the son of Minato Namikaze. However, as time passed on, the manga author made touches to Minato's face shown in the Hokage Mountain in Konoha to make them more similar to Naruto with an emphasis on their spiky hairs. However, to reduce too many similarities, Kushina Uzumaki's character was made to look like Naruto's face.

Out of all the student-teacher relationships Kishimoto has created in the Naruto series, the one between Naruto and Jiraiya is his favorite. Right before Jiraiya's death in his fight against Pain in his last moments, he discovers the origin of Pain's multiple bodies and uses his last forces to send that message as a piece of advice to Naruto so that Naruto could defeat him in his place. This arc was the most difficult one to write; he felt this because Naruto truly forgave his enemy. Instead of having the protagonist kill the enemy he hates, as it happens in other series, Kishimoto found the idea of the two characters interacting and settling their differences more challenging. This had a major impact on the writer, and he decided to have Naruto forgive Sasuke during their final fight in a similar manner as he interacted with Nagato. Kishimoto felt the need to create a story arc that would emphasize the tragedy of wars, leading to the final arc, which would include a war. The principal reason for this was a significant difference between the two main characters, Naruto who had no knowledge of wars, and Sasuke who was a victim of one; his entire clan had been annihilated to avoid a potential civil war. As a result, Kishimoto created Nagato as a war victim who would kill Jiraiya, and act as Naruto's nemesis so he would understand the tragedy that Sasuke had experienced. As a result, Naruto's coming-of-age would have been completed in this arc and the final arc, where Naruto deals with world war and develops a vision of the shinobi world as well as how he should handle the conflict.

In the 2015 film, Boruto: Naruto the Movie, Kishimoto developed Boruto and Naruto's relationship from his relationship with his sons. In portraying the adult Naruto, Kishimoto did not want to make the character give a cool impression in contrast to his younger days as a war hero because Naruto being a strong father figure to Boruto would be too boring for the narrative. Similarly, Chengxi Huang wanted to properly display Naruto's facial expression during this scene, stating that while Naruto has grown up ever since his introduction, his gentle smile was the same. Manga author Mikio Ikemoto claimed the scene in which Naruto helps his son to create a Massive Rasengan was his favorite at the time of drawing Boruto, as across this moment, he had to draw Naruto's past to the point he "felt the weight of NARUTO series and its long history behind it."

Design

Although a real ninja wears blue to be inconspicuous, Kishimoto gave Naruto an orange jumpsuit to fit the shōnen genre. His wardrobe is based on clothing that Kishimoto wore when he was younger. According to him, a pre-existing design would not have made Naruto unique, whereas something original would have made him too distinctive. Because Naruto is associated with spirals in terms of objects he uses, the designer incorporated swirl patterns into the costume. Initial illustrations depicted Naruto in boots, but Kishimoto replaced these with sandals because he enjoys drawing toes. The goggles Naruto used to wear were replaced with a hitai-ite, or shinobi headband, because they were too time-consuming to draw. One of the most difficult design choices was the color palette of Naruto's outfit. The orange in his costume makes Naruto pop, and the blue parts are complementary. Kishimoto apologized to the anime staff for Naruto's design, as he considered it too difficult to animate.

Kishimoto was satisfied with his character having blond hair and blue eyes, something rarely seen in Japanese anime or manga. This also appealed to an international readership, something the editor of the American magazine Shonen Jump has noted. Of all his series' characters, Kishimoto most identified with Naruto. When asked why Naruto's favorite food was ramen instead of kitsune udon, Kishimoto said that he himself likes eating ramen. In the Naruto: Clash of Ninja video game series, Naruto is playable in various stages of the Demon Fox's manifestation, characterized by a red chakra. Kishimoto took inspiration from the games' presentation of these forms, imitating one of them for the manga cover of volume 26.

When designing Naruto for his Part II appearance, Kishimoto changed his character's clothing to an orange and black top, orange pants, and black sandals. He also gave him a red cape with black flames at the bottom when fighting Pain, a member of the Akatsuki. He drew Naruto's forehead protector wider to make his eyebrows easier to draw, something that had bothered him with his previous design. He also noted that Naruto's pants made the character look too childish. To remedy this, Kishimoto designed them to roll up, giving him a more mature appearance. He gave Naruto this look to make him stand out during action scenes.

For the events of the film The Last: Naruto the Movie (2014) as well as the final episodes of Naruto: Shippuden, Naruto was given a young adult appearance. His hair was made shorter, while his height was expanded notably in contrast to his Part II design. He was given two different outfits, a casual look consisting of an orange shirt as well as a design consisting of a black shirt with orange pants specifically meant for his missions. Due to his growth, Naruto wears a different headband, while his new ninja appearance was created with the purpose of being able to carry weapons more easily. Nevertheless, both looks keep the character's spiralling logo that was carried from his late mother's gone group, the Uzumaki clan.

Voice actors

Although a male voice actor was sought for the role of Naruto in the Japanese adaptation, actress Junko Takeuchi was chosen instead over many male applicants. Before recording the first episode, Takeuchi noticed several lines from the script that ended with exclamation marks, which helped her to define Naruto's voice. She noted difficulties in transitioning from the young Naruto to the older Naruto in the animated adaptation of Part II. She had to record the first episode of Part II when Naruto's character was older and more mature, only one week after voicing the younger, immature character. Nine years after first voicing the character, while still finding it tough to voice Naruto, Takeuchi's opinion of him changed, with her feeling he was "a very reliable young man" compared to the "loud-mouthed obnoxious brat" he was before. She admired his ability to prioritize and calmly make important decisions and believes these traits will inspire viewers worldwide.

In regard to Naruto's growth, Takeuchi was happy with the story and had hoped that Naruto would end up in a relationship with Hinata. Takeuchi was reminded of Naruto's late godfather, Jiraiya, when she read the script. She thought that although Naruto's declaration of love was the most important part of the character's growth, his true nature had not changed at that point. Satisfied with the story, Takeuchi thought that the audience would agree with her view. For the film Boruto: Naruto the Movie, Takeuchi was surprised with how Naruto has grown up ever since she first voiced him, not only in the idea of age or new job but also the fact that he has become a father. As a result, she befriended Yūko Sanpei, the voice actress behind Boruto. Takeuchi felt the writing for the adult Naruto was different from his younger days, as his mannerisms had changed too, joking that she never saw such growth in the story when first voicing him. As a result, she mentions having had some inner complications with how she should show the character's growth.

The producers of the English version of the anime stated that Naruto was the most difficult character to cast, adding that Maile Flanagan "has Naruto down, from the mischievous side, that precocious 12-year-old we learn to love, to the serious side." Her performance has been praised for showing Naruto's brashness and later growth in confidence. In a 2014 interview, Flanagan claimed she had never heard of Naruto before her audition. She looked the show up after being chosen and felt the release of the English dub would be popular. She is recognized more for her work voicing Naruto than from the other roles she has done in her career, although some fans did not expect that Naruto would be voiced by a woman. Flanagan and Amanda C. Miller (the voice actress of Boruto) found the two family members similar in nature despite having different backgrounds. Flanagan was surprised by how her character changed across the years but felt he was still the same for her, finding it challenging to voice Naruto again when coming back to voice the younger Naruto. In regard to the change of tone, Flanagan was surprised by the fact that the dubbers did not replace her despite Naruto's age but felt it was something common in Japanese series.

Synopsis

Introduced as a 12-year-old orphan boy with blond, spiky hair and blue eyes, Naruto Uzumaki graduates as a ninja from Konohagakure while bonding with his teacher, Iruka Umino. Naruto seeks attention as he was ridiculed during his childhood. To be accepted and respected, he resolves to become Konohagakure's Hokage and surpass all previous leaders, no matter the difficulties. While becoming a ninja, Naruto forms friendships that he initially lacked, linking some of them to family relationships. Although Naruto sometimes finds himself unable to accomplish the tasks he proposes to do, other characters believe that he will be an excellent Hokage because of his positive impact on their lives. As an adult, Naruto claims that the Konohagakure village became his family due to his job of being the Seventh Hokage, something he learned from the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. As a result, he initially suffered a poor relationship with his son, Boruto, due to the little time he spent with his bloodline family.

Appearances

In Naruto

Naruto is an orphan who has a dangerous fox-like entity known as Kurama the Nine-Tailed Fox sealed within his body by his father, the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze, the leader of the Hidden Leaf Village, at the cost of his own life and that of his mother, Kushina Uzumaki. This possession led to Naruto being ridiculed frequently by the rest of the Leaf Village; being associated with him was considered taboo. As a youth, Naruto makes jokes and plays pranks to attract attention. Desiring what he lacked in his early life, Naruto dreams of becoming a Hokage himself with the hope that it will bring him the villagers' recognition and respect. In an attempt to become a ninja, Naruto is horrified to learn of his Jinchuriki nature by Mizuki but finds acceptance from his teacher, Iruka Umino, whom he views as a father figure. After learning the powerful Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu, an ability to create physical copies of the user, Naruto becomes a ninja rank Genin. He joins a ninja group under the leadership of Kakashi Hatake, where he makes friends with Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno. These are his classmates who are also assigned to Team 7: Sasuke Uchiha, with whom he has had a rivalry since they first met at the ninja academy, and Sakura Haruno, who he has a crush on, which is not reciprocated by her as she is infatuated with Sasuke.

While being examined to increase his ninja rank to Chunnin, Naruto meets the Legendary Sannin Jiraiya and learns how to summon toads to aid him in battle and to control part of Kurama's chakra energy. The exams are interrupted by the invasion of Hidden Leaf Village by the criminal Orochimaru and the ninja of Hidden Sand Village. Naruto defeats the Sand Village's One-Tail jinchuriki, Gaara, and convinces him there is a better way to live. Shortly afterward, Naruto discovers the Akatsuki, a criminal organization that seeks to extract Kurama from his body. Though Jiraiya drives them off during this first meeting, he learns that one of its members, Itachi Uchiha, is both Sasuke's older brother and the man who killed their family, and that the Akatsuki plans to kidnap him. While accompanying Jiraiya to find a new village leader, Naruto also learns the Rasengan (螺旋丸), a sphere of chakra for offensive purposes. When Sasuke leaves the village to join Orochimaru's forces to obtain the power to kill Itachi, Naruto, on his insistence and promise to Sakura, becomes part of a rescue team to retrieve him. Naruto and Sasuke ultimately have a one-on-one battle on the Valley of the End, and after a close battle, Sasuke comes out as the victor. He, however, can not bring himself to kill Naruto and instead leaves. The two go their separate ways, but Naruto does not give up on Sasuke, leaving with Jiraiya for two and a half years to prepare himself for his next encounter with Sasuke and the Akatsuki.

In Boruto

In the spin-off manga Naruto: The Seventh Hokage and the Scarlet Spring, Naruto and his allies go to defeat a new Akatsuki organization led by the so-called Uchiha known as Shin Uchiha, as Sasuke fears Kaguya's allies might try to attack them. In Boruto: Naruto the Movie (2015), which takes place after the series' epilogue, Naruto's Hokage status strains his relationship with his son Boruto as his duties often kept him from his family. During the ninja examinations, Naruto is abducted by Kaguya's clanmates, Momoshiki Ōtsutsuki and Kinshiki Ōtsutsuki, and then saved by his son Boruto, Sasuke, and the Kage, before helping his son to destroy Momoshiki. Across this fight, Naruto and Boruto reconcile. In Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, the manga starts in a distant future where Naruto is implied to be dead or missing in action by an enemy of Boruto, Kawaki. In the anime, before Boruto became a ninja rank Genin, Naruto often made appearances with his new family. In the manga, a young Kawaki is adopted by Naruto when the teenager becomes a fugitive from the group Kara. Naruto clashes with the members from Kara to protect his children, to which the village fears the Ōtsutsuki clan is planning to attack again through Kara's members as well, like Boruto and Kawaki, who share a cursed mark known as Karma. In the fight against Kara's true leader, Isshiki Ōtsutsuki, Naruto and Kurama combine their chakra together at the cost of their possible death. In the aftermath, Kurama reveals that he lied to Naruto about this combination, knowing that he would refuse to use their newfound power if it meant that Kurama would die, and he goes to the afterlife. Naruto continues to fight against the remaining Kara members. Kawaki's desire to protect Naruto results in sending him alongside Hinata to timeless dimension where the two will be trapped without aging until he believes the current fights are over.

In light novels

Naruto also appears in the epilogue light novels of the series. In the first one, despite still not having obtained his prosthetic arm, he goes on a mission with his friend Sai to capture a dangerous ninja named Garyō. In the second one, he allies with Hidden Sand Village ninja Temari's team to find the missing Shikamaru Nara, who made a promise to him to work together once Naruto became the Seventh Hokage. He makes a brief appearance in Sakura Hiden, where he and Hinata try to aid Sakura from a group of enemies. In Sasuke Hiden, he sends a message to Sasuke, which convinces him to return to Hidden Leaf Village. In the final one, Konoha Hiden, Naruto marries Hinata after asking his former mentor, Iruka Umino, to take the place of his father for the wedding. A novel by Mirei Miyamoto focuses on Naruto's life as a father. Another novel, Naruto Retsuden, explores Naruto having fallen ill as a result of relying on Kurama's chakra across his entire life.

In other media

As the series's title character, Naruto appears in every movie in the series. He typically appears as the lead character on a mission with comrades from Hidden Leaf Village. Naruto: Shippūden the Movie marks the first appearance of Naruto in his Part II form. In Road to Ninja: Naruto the Movie, an alternate version of the character named Menma appears as the main antagonist of the film. In The Last: Naruto the Movie, which takes place after the events of the series, Naruto faces Toneri Ōtsutsuki; at the movie's climax, Naruto and Hinata enter a relationship that eventually leads to their marriage. Kishimoto, the film's chief story supervisor, admitted that he was embarrassed writing romance scenes in the series. However, upon watching Naruto and Hinata share their first kiss, he felt a mixture of satisfaction and sadness due to the two characters' growth since Naruto's beginning; they had become like his own children.

Naruto also appears in all four OVAs produced for the series: helping his friend Konohamaru Sarutobi find a four-leaf clover in the first, escorting a ninja to his village and fighting the criminal who stole the village's "Hero's Water" in the second, participating in a tournament in the third, and working with Team 7 in the fourth. He appears as a supporting character in the spin-off manga titled Rock Lee and his Ninja Pals, where his fellow Hidden Leaf Village ninja Rock Lee is the main character.

Naruto is a playable character in the Naruto video games. In several titles, it is possible to access a special version of him enhanced with the power from the Nine-Tailed Fox. In several games from the Ultimate Ninja series, he is playable with his own versions of Rock Lee and Might Guy's techniques while wearing their costumes. Naruto Shippūden: Gekitou Ninja Taisen EX marks the first appearance of Naruto in his Part II form in a video game. For the series' 10th anniversary, Masashi Kishimoto drew an illustration of Naruto as Hokage. This portrayal of Naruto later appears as a secret character in the game Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2. Naruto also appears in the iOS and Android mobile game Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Blazing. Outside Naruto, he appears in several crossover video games that feature Naruto fighting against characters from other manga; these games include Battle Stadium D.O.N, Jump Super Stars, and Jump Ultimate Stars. A Naruto avatar made a guest appearance in the MMORPG Second Life for a Jump Festa promotion titled Jumpland@Second Life. In Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z, Naruto's costume appears as an alternate costume for Goku. Naruto was added to Fortnite Battle Royale in November 2021 as an alternate skin.

Reception

Characterization and themes

Naruto's character has received mostly positive critical response in printed and online publications. Praise was given by Joseph Szadkowski of The Washington Times, who noted that Naruto "has become a pop-culture sensation". Naruto's character was analyzed by GameSpot's Joe Dodson, who noted that despite having an "ideal" life, he still suffered from severe isolation, although he was praised for his optimistic personality by Carl Kimlinger of Anime News Network (ANN). Writers for Mania Entertainment labeled him a "good lead character" with good overall development despite certain problems at the beginning. Christina Carpenter of T.H.E.M. Anime Reviews disagreed with other writers, noting that while Naruto is a "likable enough scamp," his type of character has been done before in many anime and manga series. Yukari Fujimoto, a professor at Meiji University, sees Naruto himself as the manga's weakness. Manga author Nobuhiro Watsuki compared Naruto with Himura Kenshin and Monkey D. Luffy due to how they follow the ideals of not killing their opponents. My Hero Academia author Kōhei Horikoshi praised the portrayal of Naruto in the manga for his parallels with Sasuke, with an early example being the protagonist's inferiority complex over his teammate for feeling weaker, which leads to him stabbing himself in the hand to remember not to run away from his fears.

Writing for Popular Culture in Counseling, Psychotherapy, and Play-Based Interventions, Lawrence Rubin states that while Naruto has an optimistic and hyperactive personality, the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox (Kurama) within his body symbolizes his negative emotions. He comments that Naruto has a malevolent attitude when dealing with intense conflicts and emotions. He also states that Naruto would use Kurama's chakra for battles he can not handle with his own chakra. Rubin further notes that the more Naruto uses Kurama's chakra, the more he puts his comrades and himself in danger. Rubin feels the reason Naruto is a troublemaker is because some villagers avoid him and others mistreat him. He states that children growing up in the real world who have development issues can relate to his character. Rubin states that the search for acceptance and being acknowledged by his peers is what motivates Naruto to keep going until he reaches his life's goal, becoming the Hokage. Rubin feels that Naruto's fights with enemies who try to bring harm to the Leaf Village further motivate him to become a powerful shinobi and a "complete and mature person." Rubin concludes that Naruto's character development is similar to that of a modern American hero, the type who accidentally becomes better during a series and is able to build or restore peace.

Cultural impact

Several journalists, including Guinness World Records, have rated Naruto among the most popular characters. In a poll from Anime! Anime!, Naruto and Sasuke were voted as one of the best rivals turned into allies. Ramsey Isler from IGN lists Naruto's "unshakable persistence" as his strongest trait, "and although he is a flawed and somewhat limited character by himself, that stubborn optimism of his makes for some great storytelling with other characters." In a Japanese TV special from August 2017, Naruto was voted as the 13th "strongest hero" from the Heisei Era. In the 2009 Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation Awards, Junko Takeuchi won Best Voice Actress (Japanese) for her work as Naruto.

The character has inspired other works, including .hack's protagonist, Kite, Yuta Okkotsu and Yuji Itadori from Jujutsu Kaisen; its author, Gege Akutami, enjoyed the story of how Naruto deals with a demon-like creature inside his body and decided to give Yuta and Itadori a similar aura when eating the remains of the demons Rika Ryomen Sukuna, with whom they have a poor relationship.

CyberConnect2 CEO Hiroshi Matsuyama also participated in the 2012 Paris Marathon while cosplaying as Naruto to celebrate the release of a new video game. Matsuyama also said that Naruto's Rasenshuriken was his favorite technique in the entire series due to its sounds as well as how the character executes it. Upon seeing the final fight between Naruto and Sasuke in Storm 4, Matsuyama felt emotional over seeing the final fight between Naruto and Sasuke. Voice actress Mariya Ise, famous for Killua Zoldyck from Hunter × Hunter, stated Naruto was one of her favorite characters, to the point she often would try cosplaying as him.

The Shanghai New World mall made an announcement in the beginning of 2019 that it planned on opening an indoor theme park on its eleventh floor, which would be called "Naruto World". The theme park was 7,000 square meters in size and would be based on the Naruto manga. As part of an official Naruto Ramen Takeover, Viz Media has partnered with Los Angeles' Silverlake Ramen to create Ramen Ichiraku. In June 2019, a life-size statue designed by Tetsuya Nishio was developed for display at the Wonder Festival 2019 Shanghai event. For the 2020 Summer Olympics, Naruto's image was used as a character to represent the event. In 2025, Google created an easter egg showing the character and his shadow clones in 8-bit performing the Naruto run when users search "Naruto" to celebrate the 25th manga anniversary.