List of major Naruto characters
The Konoha 11 is a group of rookie ninja from Konohagakure in the anime series Naruto, which is based upon the manga of the same name. The Konoha 11 consists of the members of the four central teams in the series: Team 7, Team 8, Team 10, and Team Guy. Although these teams are present from the start of the series onwards, the Konoha 11 only appears in the anime's filler arcs to accomplish extremely important tasks that a regular team could not complete by itself. Shikamaru Nara is assigned as leader of this group when it goes out on missions, as he is the highest ranked member and ninja with more experience are never available to lead in his place.
The members of the Konoha 11, as well as Sasuke Uchiha, are entered in the Chunin Exams that take place at the start of the series. This event serves as a proper introduction for the members of Team 8, Team 10, and Team Guy, as Team 7 is the only group to receive any attention beforehand. The members of Teams 7, 8, and 10 are often referred to as the Rookie 9, as the nine members become Genin shortly before the start of the exams. The members of Team Guy are not included in the Rookie 9 because they graduated a year before the other three teams, having instead been held back from participating in the previous Chunin Exams so that they could hone their skills. Once the Chunin Exams are completed, Shikamaru Nara is the only one of the group to advance to the rank of Chunin. Over the timeskip all members, except for Naruto Uzumaki, retake the Exams and advance as well, with Neji Hyuga even becoming a Jonin.
Team 7
The members of Team 7, led by Kakashi Hatake, are the series' main protagonists. Sasuke Uchiha defects at the end of Part I, causing the team to split up over the timeskip. The remaining members reassemble into a new team in Part II, with new team member Sai acting as Sasuke's replacement.
Naruto Uzumaki
Sakura Haruno
Team 8
Team 8 is led by Kurenai Yuhi. The team specializes in tracking, causing its members to be called upon when something or someone needs to be found.
Hinata Hyuga
- Age: 121-132 in Part I, 15 in Part II
- Seiyu: Nana Mizuki
- Voice actor: Stephanie Sheh
Hinata Hyuga (日向ヒナタ, Hyūga Hinata) is the eldest daughter of the Hyuga clan's main branch. "Hyuga" (日向) means "toward the sun" while "Hinata" is a pun, as it is another way to read this kanji and means "a sunny place". Hinata was trained by her father, Hiashi Hyuga, to become the clan's heiress, though in time he came to deem her a lost cause. Believing her to be of lesser skill than her younger sister, Hanabi Hyuga, her father left Hinata in Kurenai Yuhi's care once she was assigned to Team 8, claiming he didn't care what happened to her. This abandonment by her father gives Hinata a lack of self-confidence and an unwillingness to fight. Although she would train to improve her skills, she would immediately give up when faced with competition and failed every mission she was assigned as a result.
In an attempt to change herself, Hinata enters the Chunin Exams, where she is pit against her cousin, Neji Hyuga, in the exam's preliminary matches. Neji is quick to ridicule Hinata for her personality traits and attempts to convince her that she is a failure who will never be able to change herself, bringing her to tears. Naruto Uzumaki's encouragement, however, empowers her to fight her cousin despite the injuries she has sustained. Although she is defeated, Naruto's words have a lasting effect on Hinata and she becomes more confident in her abilities, and even sticks up for herself by telling Neji that he is the failure who will never be able to change. After her recovery, Hinata continues training to prove herself to her father and Naruto. Her efforts are successful in both regards, as she is eventually able to acquire a better relationship with her father. Naruto has also come to hold her in a higher standing, and he tells her that while he had considered her timid and weird before, he now views her as a likable person.
Hinata has a long-standing crush on Naruto, which has been present since their time in the Academy. Her feelings for him are rooted in his determination, confidence, and strength, all of which are traits nonexistent in Hinata. Despite the rather obviousness of her feelings, Hinata has yet to openly admit that she likes Naruto, though many characters have shown to be aware of her feelings. In a similar fashion, Naruto has remained completely oblivious to Hinata's feelings. With her affection for Naruto, Hinata is constantly willing to break away from her normal personality traits in order to help him. She also becomes more assertive for Naruto, and also doesn't hesitate to defend him, even to himself. Her feelings for Naruto are one of the driving forces in her self-improvement, as she tries to gain strength in an attempt to both impress him and become a better person. When they meet again in Part II, Hinata is unable to bring herself to greet Naruto and passes out when he comes to greet her, her feelings for him having apparently been amplified during his absence. Despite this, she is able to work with him without difficulty once the two are teamed together.
As a member of the Hyuga clan, Hinata possesses the Byakugan, which gives her an almost 360° field of vision. During the Chunin Exams, she displays the ability to focus the Byakugan's sight, increasing the distance that her eyes can see. She also specializes in the Gentle Fist fighting style, which allows her to damage her opponent's chakra circulatory system and inner organs directly with even a slight tap. In her quest to get stronger, Hinata creates a new ability during the anime's Bikochu arc called Protection of the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms (守護八卦六十四掌, Shugohakke Rokujūyon Shō), a combination of the Hyuga clan's most powerful techniques. With it Hinata emits streams of chakra from her palms to create extremely sharp blades that she can use to hit any target in her field of vision. Due to the speed at which these blades move, the amount of control she has over them, as well as her ability to manipulate their size, Hinata can use this technique to attack and defend simultaneously.
Kiba Inuzuka
- Age: 121-132 in Part I, 15 in Part II
- Seiyu: Kōsuke Toriumi
- Voice actor: Kyle Hebert
Kiba Inuzuka (犬塚キバ, Inuzuka Kiba) is characterized by his almost symbiotic relationship with his dog Akamaru, as the two are always seen together. "Kiba" means "fang", while "Inuzuka" shares a number of connections with dogs. In Part I, Kiba usually carries Akamaru on his head or in his jacket, though by Part II he is able to ride atop Akamaru (a difference Kiba doesn't notice due to the amount of time they spend together). Kiba's devotion to Akamaru runs very deep, and he is more than willing to risk his own life if it means saving Akamaru's. Kiba himself has acquired a few dog-like qualities from the time he has spent with Akamaru, such as being able to understand Akamaru's barking and disliking any food that he can't chew on. Kiba has also acquired extremely loyal tendencies, and despite thinking highly of himself and being fairly headstrong, he cares deeply for his teammates' well-beings. This is most evident in his attempts to remove his teammates from harm's way as well as his constant attempts to avoid hampering his teammates' progress.
In addition to finding a friend in Akamaru, Kiba also uses Akamaru as a valuable ally in battle. Because Akamaru is naturally better equipped for combat, Kiba typically starts a battle by using Four Legs Technique (四脚の術, Shikyaku no Jutsu, English TV "All-Fours Jutsu") to make himself more animalistic. Predominately, this jutsu increases his speed and strength, lengthens his nails to claw-like quality, and, as the name suggests, causes him to travel using his arms and legs. In addition, Kiba can gather chakra to his nose to exponentially increase his sense of smell, allowing him to pick up on the faintest of scents. Once doing this, however, Kiba is forced to endure whatever odors he comes across, and something as simple as a fart can leave him paralyzed due to his heightened senses.
Once he has prepared himself for battle, Kiba has a number of ways to proceed with a battle. He can use Beast Human Clone (獣人分身, Jūjin Bunshin, English TV "Man Beast Clone") to transform Akamaru into himself, allowing the two to take away an opponent's ability to focus on only one of them. With Double Piercing Fang (牙通牙, Gatsūga, English TV "Fang Over Fang") Kiba and Akamaru can charge at opponents at high speeds in a spinning maneuver to increase damage, or perform the same action by themselves with Piercing Fang (通牙, Tsūga). The two can even combine efforts with Man Beast Combination Transformation: Double-Headed Wolf (人獣混合変化・双頭狼, Jinjū Konbi Henge: Sōtōrō) to transform themselves into a single, large, two-headed wolf. While in this form their Double Piercing Fang is renamed Double Wolf Fang (牙狼牙, Garōga) due to the increased speed the transformation allows them, and the attack itself becomes capable of severing a person in two. The attack, however, is not without its drawbacks; its speed leaves the two unable to see their target, forcing them to rely on their sense of smell. The sheer impact of the attack leaves them both badly injured, and after using it twice neither is able to continue fighting.
Shino Aburame
- Age: 121-132 in Part I, 15 in Part II
- Seiyu: Shinji Kawada
- Voice actor: Sam Riegel (Episode 23-24), Derek Stephen Prince (Episode 34+)
Shino Aburame (油女シノ, Aburame Shino) is a rarely seen character who has a fascination with bugs; most of his spare time is spent watching bugs, he often making analogies to bugs when talking, and even the name, "Aburame Shino", bears a close resemblance to the Japanese word for cockroach油虫 (aburamushi). In addition to liking bugs, Shino is characterized by his emotionless, solitary, and collected way of doing things. He speaks very bluntly and never allows emotion to interfere with his judgment, sometimes offending people in doing so. Shino seems to be aware of these odd personality traits and even seems to be proud of them, as during the anime's filler arcs he threatens Naruto Uzumaki to make sure nobody ever know he laughed (a result of some poison slipped into his food). These odd traits have caused people to identify Shino as "creepy" and tend to dislike being in his company.
Despite his odd persona and occasionally arguing with Kiba, Shino has a very strong sense of connection with his teammates and allies, first seen when he regrets being unavailable and therefore unable to help with retrieving Sasuke Uchiha. From that point further he resolves to work on his teamwork skills with Kiba and Hinata. He even helps Hinata to improve her abilities, and is one of the few people besides Naruto who openly professes confidence in her. The fruits of his efforts are seen throughout the filler arcs where Shino is able to carry out a mission successfully while also keeping others safe. He also proves to be able to understand his teammates' inner workings, being able to sense when the slightest of things is wrong with either of them. Shino becomes team leader when Kurenai is hospitalized, and Kiba and Hinata respect his leadership.
In battle, Shino is able to take great use of his intelligence, being able to use his analytical and observational skills to make shrewd judgments with pinpoint reasoning. Like Shikamaru Nara, Shino prevails in battles by systematically staying steps ahead of the enemy. Because of this, Shino is fairly confident in his abilities and that he will win a battle, and tends to try to communicate this to an opponent for their own well-being. Still, Shino enjoys fighting and dislikes being denied a chance to battle a skilled opponent, and while fighting tends to use very cruel methods of fighting, going as far as to even severe someone's arm in one case. As a member of the Aburame clan, Shino was infused at birth with a special breed of insects that feed on chakra. In return, the insects attack and do other tasks as he commands. Shino has found a number of uses for these bugs, and as such has devised a number of jutsu that utilize them for varying purposes, such as creating copies of himself or using bugs for defensive purposes.
Team 10
Team 10 was led by Asuma Sarutobi. Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji are the second generation of the "Ino-Shika-Cho" Trio, their fathers having been on a team when they were young. As such, the three get along very well. After Asuma's death in Part II, the three stay together and keep the name of "Team 10", though they now function without a leader.
Choji Akimichi
- Age: 121-132 in Part I, 15 in Part II
- Seiyu: Kentaro Ito
- Voice actor: Robbie Rist
Choji Akimichi (秋道チョウジ, Akimichi Chōji) is a childhood friend of Shikamaru Nara. While many of his early years were spent trying to play with his peers, his fellow children felt he was unworthy of playing with them and always refused to allow him to join them. After another failed attempt to play with them one day Shikamaru stuck up for Choji, though Choji was still forbidden to join them. As a result Choji left, though was soon joined by Shikamaru and the two spen the rest of the day enjoying one another's pastimes. Because of Shikamaru's willingness to look past Choji's athletic deficiencies and recognize his true strength, Choji came to view Shikamaru as his best friend. The two have since developed complete trust in one another, with Choji willing to give up his life to defend Shikamaru, and considering the act of insulting him unacceptable.
Choji has a love for food, his favorite being Korean barbecue, general snacks and sweets, and basically anything that is edible. He openly displays this love of food by wearing the kanji for "eat" in Part I and "food" in Part II on his outfit, and is commonly seen eating from a bag of chips. His nigh-constant hunger is a constant annoyance for his teammates, as sating himself often comes before other necessities such as stealth and teamwork. Because of this, his teammates often use food against him, such as offering him food as a reward for accomplishing a task or simply using his favorite foods as a form of blackmail. Despite his open display for his love of food, Choji is very sensitive about his size and becomes highly agitated when somebody calls him "fat" (he refers to himself as "big boned", "chubby", or "pleasingly plump"). Once called "fat", Choji's resolve to fight is elevated to new levels and he becomes much more hostile to his opponents than he would otherwise. Just as they use food against him, Choji's teammates use this personality trait against him as well. Should Choji be reluctant to fight, one of them need only comment on his size to spur him into combat form. In Part II he starts to look more muscular than obese, causing him to look like he always claimed he did: big-boned. Even with this new look, he is apparently still sensitive about his size, and others make it a point to avoid using the word "fat" around him.
As an Akimichi, Choji's style of combat focuses on increasing his size. At the series' start he uses Multi-Size Technique to serve this purpose, reshaping him into a large, round form. Once in this form he can use Human Bullet Tank (肉弾戦車, Nikudan Sensha, Viz "Human Juggernaut", English TV "Human Boulder Jutsu") to tuck his limbs inside his increased mass and roll at opponents at rapid speeds. With the Spiked Human Bullet Tank (肉弾針戦車, Nikudan Hari Sensha, English games "Human Needle-Boulder") variant he can increase the amount of damage this technique does to a target, either by wrapping himself in a cloak of kunai or, as seen in Part II, by lengthening and sharpening his hair. Choji sees a number of other advancements in Part II; the Multi-Size Technique, while still increasing his size, no longer makes him round. Because of this he has developed the Mega Palm Thrust (超張り手, Chō Harite), and after increasing his size with the Multi-Size Technique he can funnel chakra into his enlarged hands to cause extensive crushing damage to anything caught under his palms. While he is seen using the Partial Multi-Size Technique in Part I, Choji also becomes more adept with it in Part II, and is now able to use it with little effort and with a better reaction time.
Ino Yamanaka
- Age: 121-132 in Part I, 15 in Part II
- Seiyu: Ryōka Yuzuki
- Voice actor: Colleen O'Shaughnessey
Ino Yamanaka (山中いの, Yamanaka Ino) is a childhood friend of Sakura Haruno. Sakura was often picked on due to her sensitivity about her large forehead, though through Ino's influence she was able to overcome this and develop her own identity and self-worth. As Sakura's confidence in herself grew, she developed a crush on Sasuke Uchiha, who Ino also had a crush on. When Sakura found out about this, she ended their friendship so that the two could properly compete for Sasuke's affection, beginning a bitter rivalry between the two. The two maintain this rivalry until the end of their match in the Chunin Exam, after which they begin to rekindle their friendship. Nevertheless, the two maintain a competitive relationship and constantly attempt to outdo the other.
Ino is somewhat egocentric and superficial, apparently thinking highly of her looks and seeming to dislike "ugly" people. Although both of her teammates fit the profiles of people she wouldn't like for these reasons (Choji being overweight and Shikamaru being "uncool"), Ino actually cares very deeply for their well-beings and maintains a strong bond with both. As a member of the Yamanaka clan, Ino works in her family's flower shop and has become particularly talented in ikebana. The anime's filler arcs show that she has been able to find other uses for her time in the flower shop, and can tell a person's profession by simply looking at the condition of their hands. The anime has also shown that Ino, like Sakura, has developed her own inner-self named "Inner Ino".
In addition to becoming talented with flowers, Ino's membership in the Yamanaka clan has also shaped the mind-altering jutsu she uses. With the Mind Body Switch Technique, Ino can transfer to another's body and start using it as her own for a short period of time. In Part II, Ino is able to use this ability on a hawk, and flies into the air to perform reconnaissance. In the anime, Ino also learns the Mind Body Disturbance Technique, which she can use to force opponents to fight each other while still remaining in her own body. The anime expands upon Ino's abilities more than the manga; she develops the New Approaching Technique (Shin-dashin no Jutsu) to engulf a target in a puff of smoke and drag them to her location. The anime also addresses her learning of medical jutsu, as the manga leaves it unexplained. During the final filler arc, Ino finds herself unable to be of use for her teammates and becomes envious of Sakura's ability to heal others. As such, Ino becomes Tsunade's second apprentice in learning medical jutsu, hoping to be more useful to her friends.
Shikamaru Nara
Team Gai
Team Gai is named after and led by Might Gai. All of its members, including Gai himself, seem to have been inspired by various Chinese themes.
Neji Hyuga
Rock Lee
Tenten
- Age: 131-142 in Part I, 16 in Part II
- Seiyu: Yukari Tamura
- Voice actor: Danielle Judovits
Tenten (テンテン) is the least seen member of the Konoha 11. The only battle she has in the manga is almost entirely skipped, with the anime's rendition of the same battle being slightly more drawn out to fill the gap between the battle's start and her defeat. What is known of Tenten is that she strongly believes that female ninja can be just as skilled as male ninja. As such, her goal in life is to someday be as great as Tsunade. Because neither Tenten nor Neji can train on the same level as Guy or Lee, the two are usually seen together have more "normal" training session. As a result, Tenten has come to hold Neji's abilities in high regard.
Tenten specializes in weaponry, and according to Guy she can hit a bullseye 100 out of 100 times. Tenten's accuracy seems to have allowed her extra benefits, as the anime's Konoha 11 arc shows her to be a keen observer that can pick up on facts others overlook. In battle she summons varying types of weapons from the scrolls she carries with her. In Part I she has many scrolls that serve this purpose, but in Part II she has consolidated her arsenal into a single large scroll. The weapons predominately consist of steel projectiles and an assortment of close-combat weapons, though she is seen using a crossbow in the anime and even a spiked bomb in Part II. Tenten's most powerful weapon summoning technique is Twin Rising Dragons (双昇龍, Sōshōryū, English TV "Rising Twin Dragons"), which rapidly summons dozens of weapons that she can throw at opponents in quick succession. She frequently uses this ability to help Neji train with his Eight Trigrams Palms Heavenly Spin. Over the timeskip, she rises to the rank of Chunin.
Sources
- First Official Data Book (秘伝・臨の書キャラクターオフィシャルデータBOOK, Hiden: Rin no Sho Character Official Data Book)
- Second Official Data Book (秘伝・闘の書キャラクターオフィシャルデータBOOK, Hiden: Tō no Sho Character Official Data Book)
- Taken directly from the Naruto manga chapters and anime episodes.
Notes and references
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