List of Naruto summons
In the anime and manga series, Naruto, summons are powerful entities conjured up by the user to aid him in battle or to perform a technique that the summoner cannot perform as easily by himself.
Typically called forth with Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique), the user gives bit of his own blood and his own chakra to summon a creature. The amount of chakra required to summon the creature is directly proportionate to its size, making summons such as Gamabunta a Kage-level feat, but such creatures can provide invaluable assistance in battle. Summons have their own abilities that they can use by themselves or in conjunction with the summoner. Some summons are so powerful that they may even challenge the summoner, or will demand something in order to contribute to the battle. Summons tend to be unique between individuals or groups of individuals, as they must sign a contract with the creature in order to summon it. This also makes it impossible for anyone else to summon the same creature.
Doki
The Doki ("Angry Demons") are three demons summoned by Tayuya. Their eyes, ears, and mouths are all covered, though they can hear just fine regardless. Tayuya uses her flute and Mateki: Genbuso Kyoku (Demon Flute: Illusionary Warriors Manipulating Melody) to control them. All three are incredibly strong, and rather fast despite their size. In addition, they can open their mouths to release a many-mouthed, snake-like creature that consists almost entirely of spiritual energy, making them impossible to hit. These "spirit snakes" are attracted to physical energy, and absorb it on contact, allowing them to weaken an opponent.
Trivia
- The overall look of the Doki seems to be inspired by the phrase "See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil."
Enma
Enma (猿猴王・猿魔, "Enkōō: Enma", literally "Monkey King: Enma") is the personal summon of the Third Hokage and king of the monkeys. He possesses great physical strength and fighting ability, as seen when he fights off both the First and Second Hokages. In addition, Enma is capable of transforming himself into a large staff that is as hard as diamond, which he can elongate at will. He can also produce various body parts, such as eyes or arms, from the staff.
Enma is fiercely loyal to Sarutobi, though he doesn't always approve of his actions. Sarutobi's actions in regards to Orochimaru is something Enma keeps reminding Sarutobi of. Enma would have preferred to kill him the first time. Enma is seen in a flashback of Orochimaru's defection, urging Sarutobi to kill Orochimaru, thus his current attitude. He's also quick to anger, as seen when he simply tries to strangle Orochimaru after Orochimaru injures Sarutobi.
Enma's first appearance was his summoning during the battle with Orochimaru to even the odds against the resurrected First and Second Hokages, now Orochimaru's minions due to his Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei (Summoning: Impure World Resurrection). With Enma on hand, Sarutobi was able to hold his own, until he realized that his resurrected opponents would never die. Therefore, Sarutobi decided to seal both their souls and Orochimaru's, ending their threats forever. As Sarutobi attempted to seal Orochimaru's soul, Orochimaru tried to plunge his Kusanagi sword through Sarutobi's chest. At the same time, he attacked Enma with some of his snakes. As such, Enma was only able to catch the sword after it had pierced Sarutobi. He held it back until Sarutobi sealed Orochimaru's arms, at which point he removed the sword before vanishing, claiming that Sarutobi died a "true shinobi".
- Enma's seiyu is Hiroshi Naka.
Trivia
- Enma (and his weapon form) bears resemblance to Sun Wukong, the Monkey King of classical Chinese literature Journey to the West.
Gama family
Gama
Gama (蝦蟇) is a mid-level toad that first appears when Jiraiya is introduced. He summoned it to tongue-whip Ebisu (because he annoyed him) at the hot springs. Later on, he's summoned once again to give the contract scroll for the Gama family to Naruto. His last summoning was to deflect Kisame's attack on Naruto Uzumaki. In this instance, he appears in samurai armor. Whether or not this was an entirely different toad is unclear, but it looks basically the same.
Gamabunta
Gamabunta is the boss of the toads that are summoned. He is huge (about 100 meters high) and is summoned for battles with the biggest of enemies. Naruto can only summon him with his Kyubi chakra. Without it, Naruto can only call upon some of Gamabunta's smaller children. Gamabunta is first seen in the premiere of the series, where he and the Fourth Hokage face off against the Kyubi. He is not given a speaking role until he is first summoned by Naruto in the month long training session with Jiraiya. Jiraiya pushed him over a cliff in order to induce life-threatening fear in Naruto so that the Kyubi chakra could come out, but never expected Naruto to summon Gamabunta. Given that Gamabunta wasn't happy about appearing at the bottom of a canyon, Jiraiya quickly fled.
Gamabunta is a grumpy and highly apathetic character. He doesn't like to take orders from anyone, unless the summoner is highly talented and earns his respect. Jiraiya and the Fourth Hokage are two of the few people that he has allowed to ride on top of his head without question (although Jiraiya admits that he can't completely control Gamabunta). He uses some Japanese words that only a yakuza gangster would use, but he is portrayed as an ultimately powerful and positive force. He is fiercely protective of his kin and he hates to be underestimated by anyone, both of which take precedence over his normal apathy. Often times, it is one or a combination of these two factors that entices him to fight. Overall, despite his grumpy exterior, he shows respect towards Naruto as if he were a son. He even explained to Jiraiya that he's aware of Naruto's talents and potential. He and Jiraiya seem to be good friends and, as implied in the series, drinking buddies, despite Jiraiya's admitted lack of control over Gamabunta. However, he will scold him on occasion.
When Naruto first summoned Gamabunta, Gamabunta didn't believe that a little kid like Naruto could summon him. Naruto, angry at the comment, claimed that, as Gamabunta's summoner, he was the toad's master. This made Gamabunta lose his patience with Naruto, and he threatened to kill him. This scared Naruto into submission and, after Naruto apologized, Gamabunta accepted him as a subordinate. The anime and manga differ on events at this point. Both, however, end with Gamabunta taking an exhausted Naruto to the hospital, leaving his footprint as a signature.
In the manga, Gamabunta didn't believe that Naruto summoned him until he saw the contract scroll left behind by Jiraiya. It's not until then that Gamabunta is really impressed by Naruto, claiming that no-one has ridden on his head since the Fourth Hokage.
In the anime, Naruto demanded to be recognized as Gamabunta's master if he could ride the toad until sundown. At first, the claim merely annoyed Gamabunta, and he tried to shake Naruto off for the better part of the day. As the day neared its end and Naruto remained, Gamabunta went to greater lengths to get Naruto to fall off. Though he never took the bet seriously in the first place, he didn't want to be underestimated, either. Naruto eventually falls off near sundown, too exhausted to remain conscious. Gamabunta was impressed, so he saves him from the otherwise fatal fall, and didn't need the contract scroll to believe that Naruto had summoned him.
During the attack on Konoha, Naruto summoned Gamabunta to save himself from being crushed by Gaara's Sabaku Soso (Imploding Sand Funeral). Gaara was in his full Shukaku form, though Gaara's personality was still dominant at the time. Gamabunta was his usual grumpy self, and told Naruto that they couldn't have a subordinate/mentor relationship until they shared sake, which was eight years away (currently five) because Naruto isn't old enough to drink. Gamakichi, who had been accidentally summoned by Naruto earlier, told his father that Gaara bullied him and that Naruto saved him. Gamabunta was very impressed with Naruto, and not only does he officially accept him as his subordinate, but he also tells Naruto he will show him all about "Jingi", which is a yakuza term describing a highly argumentative honor code (yet is portrayed as a completely positive thing here). At first, Gamabunta was able to hold his own, but this quickly changed when Gaara forced sleep upon himself, allowing Shukaku to take over. This unleashes Shukaku's full power, which is too much for Gamabunta to handle. However, Naruto and Gamabunta use a combination transformation to take on the form of the Kyubi, allowing Gamabunta to get Naruto close enough to Gaara to wake him up. Gamabunta was once again impressed with Naruto and even lamented that he would not be able to see the end of this battle because had reached his limit.
During the battle between Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru, Gamabunta is summoned along with Katsuyu to counter Manda, Orochimaru's giant snake. Gamabunta clearly hates Manda's guts and would love to just cut into him. He seems to have respect for Katsuyu, as he rescued her from Manda.
In the Sea Country filler arc, Naruto summoned Gamabunta to battle against Umibozu, the Sea Boss. Gamabunta wasn't happy about being summoned in seawater (toads are freshwater creatures), but fought anyway because he was underestimated by his opponent. He and Naruto defeat the otherwise indestructible water creature by evaporating it.
- Gamabunta's seiyu is Takeshi Watabe and his voice actor is Lex Lang.
Gamakichi
Gamakichi (ガマ吉 literarily "Propitious Frog") is one of Gamabunta's children. He was first summoned by Naruto because Naruto couldn't focus his chakra during the beginning of the battle with Gaara. However, he is intelligent enough (more so than Gamatatsu) to be aware of the situation around him and realize when it's time to flee. He was accidentally summoned again by Jiraiya while he was fighting with Orochimaru because Tsunade had secretly fed Jiraiya a chakra-disrupting potion. He was summoned again by Jiraiya for a scouting mission during the Orochimaru's Lair arc, as well as by Naruto during the Noroimusha and Sea Country arcs.
- Gamakichi's seiyu is Yuji Ueda.
Gamatatsu
Gamatatsu (ガマ竜, literally "Toad Dragon") is the weak, inexperienced, younger brother of Gamakichi, and another son of Gamabunta. He was summoned for the first time by Naruto while he was fighting with Orochimaru because he was unable to call on his Kyubi chakra. Gamatatsu fixates on snacks after a comment made by Gamakichi that made him think he'd get one. Gamatatsu was also summoned by Naruto during the events of the Bird Country and the Noroimusha arcs. Gamatatsu accidentally stumbled upon the black kites that the Noroimusha was using to appear as if he was floating like a ghost in the middle of the night. His overall personality is extremely dense, and he often has to be dragged away from danger by Gamakichi, who is always summoned before Gamatatsu.
- Gamatatsu's seiyu is Tomo Shigematsu.
Giant toad
During the attack on Konoha, Jiraiya summoned a giant, yellow toad with two hiltless katanas strapped onto its back in a crisscross manner (although it has never been seen wielding them). Jiraiya says something about it being a snake hunter. It is slightly smaller than Gamabunta. One can assume that its name begins with "Gama", given that the other toads have similar names.
Kamatari
Kamatari (カマタリ) is a human-sized, sickle-holding weasel with which it can cause a lot of destruction in a short amount of time. Its sickle is almost as big as it is. This mysterious weasel has only been seen once for a few seconds after its summoning. After it starts moving, it can't be seen by the human eye. It was summoned by Temari with Kuchiyose: Kirikiri Mai (Summoning: Quick Beheading Dance), after which it sliced down an entire forest which Tayuya was trying to hide in. The resulting collapse also had the secondary result of killing Tayuya with falling debris.
Trivia
- This weasel is a Kamaitachi (鎌鼬, "Sickle weasel"). This is the same name as Temari's Kamaitachi no Jutsu (Cutting Whirlwind Technique). It comes from the phenomenon wherein people claim to have been knocked down by a great gust of wind only to find they have been cut. Some say they have seen weasels wielding sickles that attack in groups knocking a person down and cutting them, even occasionally healing a wound so that they can attack again.
Katsuyu
Katsuyu (カツユ) is a slug queen summoned by Tsunade. Compared to Gamabunta and Manda, the summons of Jiraiya and Orochimaru, respectively, Katsuyu is quiet and more subservient to her master. She has the ability to create mini-clones of herself, as well as separate and reassemble into a large number of clones. She can also spit acid that can melt through rock.
She is summoned again in a filler episode to mess with a pair of outsiders impersonating Might Guy and Rock Lee. In this instance, she had a cold and the two impersonators, along with a clueless Naruto, were forced to help out.
- Katsuyu's seiyu is Mamiko Noto.
Kyodaigumo
Kyodaigumo (巨大蜘蛛, literally "Giant Spider") is a giant spider and the personal summon of Kidomaru. It has the ability to lay a seemingly-infinite number of spider eggs that hatch in under a minute. The hatched spiders are roughly the size of a small dog. Kyodaigumo can also explode into webbing if hit.
Ninkame
Ninkame (0忍亀, literally "Ninja Tortoise") is a large red tortoise and Might Guy's personal summon. Ninkame watches over Rock Lee when Guy isn't around. He hasn't been seen since his first appearance in the series, but he is seen on the front cover of Volume 10. Ninkame is the only instance in which Guy seems to use ninjutsu in the series (Ninkame is summoned off-screen, so Guy's not actually seen using ninjutsu).
- Ninkame's seiyu is Katsuhiro Kitagawa and his voice actor is Skip Stellrecht.
Ninken
The Ninken (忍犬, literally "Ninja Dogs") are eight ninja dogs that Hatake Kakashi summons. They are mostly used for tracking purposes, such as when Kakashi needed to find Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki during the Sasuke Retrieval arc. He can summon them separately, as he does with Pakkun, or together. He can also summon them for special purposes, like he does with his Kuchiyose: Doton: Tsuiga no Jutsu (Summoning: Earth Release: Tracking Fang Technique). With this technique, the dogs can actually travel through the ground, emerging when they find their target. This was used to track down Zabuza Momochi and immobilize him in the mist while he was battling Kakashi.
Pakkun
Pakkun (パックン) is a petite pug and the smallest of Kakashi's Ninken. Pakkun is seemingly the most intelligent of the ninken, and has the ability to speak. In the anime, he reveals that he uses Floral Green shampoo, which is also used by Sakura Haruno (Sakura is comically traumatized at the thought of using the same shampoo as a dog).
Also in accordance to the anime, Pakkun was able to say Kakashi's name at four months of age. This implies that Kakashi's Ninken may have been all raised from a young age by Kakashi.
- Pakkun's seiyu is Shinichi Kotani.
Trivia
- The face shaped design on the back of his shirt is referred to as Henohenomoheji (へのへのもへじ), which is the sound made when all the characters in the face are put together. Appropriately enough, children use this design as the face for their scarecrows, which is kakashi in Japanese.
- In episode 20, Pakkun appears in keychain form when Naruto locks his house.
Shiromari
Seen in episode 194, Shinomari is a summon that takes the form of a castle. It was summoned over fifty years earlier as a last resort by the dying lord of the castle. From then on, it devoured anyone who came close. During a mission to find a group of missing people, Hinata, Kiba, and Naruto stumble upon this summon. After being swallowed by it, they realize just what it is. While attempting to find the contract scroll that is keeping it summoned, the spirit of lord appeared and led them to it, because the lord of the castle felt sorry for the creature spending 50 years guarding his castle, and wanted to set it free. The summoned creature is very loyal to his summoner, protecting his summoners castle for 50 years. The scroll reveals that the summon is actually a chameleon. Naruto destroyed the scroll to disperse the summon.
Snakes
Kyodaija
The Kyodaija (巨大蛇, "Giant Snake") are giant snakes, often summoned by Orochimaru during battle. There are many different kinds of Kyodaija. For instance, the three Kyodaija that were summoned during the invasion of Konoha had marks on their skin similar to the Ten no Juin (Cursed Seal of Heaven), while the ones summoned by Orochimaru in the Forest of Death had no such marks. Mitarashi Anko also summoned a blue-colored snake of similar size during the Sea Country filler arc to protect Naruto, Shino, and Ino from a cave-in. The four took shelter within its mouth as it broke free of the cave.
Manda
Manda (マンダ) is Orochimaru's largest and most powerful summoned snake. He demands hundreds of human sacrifices ready for him after his help in combat. If he doesn't receive his sacrifices, or if the person who summoned him isn't Orochimaru himself, Manda will kill the person who called for him to fight. On top of that, it is only Orochimaru's power that Manda respects, not the summoner, as Yakushi Kabuto believed that Manda would have turned on Orochimaru had he learned that Orochimaru couldn't use techniques at the time. Some of his greatest abilities include his unbelievable speed, and the fact that he is able to shed his skin as a use of a Kawarimi no Jutsu (Change of Body Technique). He has a very poor disposition, and he clearly doesn't like either Gamabunta or Katsuyu, and only savors to kill the both of them. After Jiraiya and Tsunade teamed up to fight him, which resulted in Manda's mouth getting impaled by Gamabunta's sword, Manda disclosed to Orochimaru and Kabuto that he would most definitely eat them the next time he is summoned.
Trivia
- Manda is named after a Giant Dragon Kaiju from the old movie Atragon, who was the guardian of an ancient civilization. He was later introduced into the Godzilla series in Destroy All Monsters, and made cameos in Godzilla's Revenge, Terror of Mechagodzilla and Godzilla: Final Wars.
Umibozu
Umibozu (海坊主) is the boss of the sea. It was used by Amachi to terrorize the Sea Country. Umibozu itself is nothing more than water that has been gathered and held together by chakra, making it virtually indestructible unless it is completely evaporated. It was defeated by Naruto Uzumaki and Gamabunta.
Trivia
- Umibozu is named after a legendary Japanese sea monster.
Notes
- Strangely, some (but not all) summons wear headbands. With the exception of some, it is unknown how they came to hold the title of "ninja".
- As stated by Jiraiya, the hand seal sequence for the summoning technique is Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, and Sheep. This isn't always the case, however, as there are different methods of summoning. Temari places her blood on her fan before swinging it to summon Kamatari. The Kyodaija were summoned by six ninjas in a circle who took a great deal of time and ceremony to summon them, likely due to the large amount of chakra needed.
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")
- Jump's 2nd Great Hero Book's Mini Data Book (秘伝・翔の書オフィシャルキャラクターデータBOOK mini, "Hiden: Shō no Sho Official Character Data Book mini")
- Naruto manga chapters
- Based on character's ability and status
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