Naruto Characters Rundown

[philster]

Just for fun, and to help early Naruto readers know all the characters, I'm doing a kind of character run-down here, complete with avatars.

There may still be some spoilers because the profiles I wrote for everybody will discuss who they are, what they have done, etc. up to around chapter 65. (The series is at chapter 280 at present!)

So, keep that in mind while you read it.

[philster]

Might as well start with the primary characters.

Team 7:



Uzumaki Naruto
What do we know about him to this point?: He's loud, immature, and has a big aspiration to become the Hokage ("Fire Champion" or "Fire Shadow," the strongest shinobi leader of Konoha) in order to gain respect. He's also the host of the Kyuubi ("nine-tailed fox demon") which the Fourth Hokage bravely sacrificed his life in order to protect his people from its evil presence. The Kyuubi gives Naruto a great deal of chakra, but he has no talent in using it well. As a result of his connection to the Kyuubi, he has also been isolated for pretty much most of his life, until Iruka, his teacher, took him in. His best technique is creating shadow clones of himself that isn't mere genjustu, but actual blood and flesh. He has a background as a former prankster, as well, and can be capable of surprising his opponents.



Uchiha Sasuke
What do know about him to this point?: He's quiet, confident, and brooding. His entire clan is gone, and his older brother had something to do with it, so he considers himself an "avenger" and his dream is to kill his brother and take revenge. As a member of the prestigious Uchiha clan, he's also No. 1 in this year's graduating class of shinobi. He can breathe fire, a trademark Uchiha move, has very good control of his chakra, and is extremely fast. He also possesses the Sharingan dojutsu, the inherent special ability of his clan that gives him the ability to see through and copy any technique he sees, giving him a great advantage against most ninjustu- and genjutus-using shinobi. Right now he's cursed with a seal by Orochimaru, which has apparently made him even stronger, though suspectible to pain. Recently it has immobilized him in the middle of combat, which can't be good for him.



Haruno Sakura
What do know about her to this point?: She's got a huge crush on Sasuke, and is constantly distracted by it to the point where she's not really concentrating on becoming better at being a shinobi. However, she's extremely brilliant, has excellent control of her own chakra, and can be pretty tough when the occasion calls for it.



Hatake Kakashi
What do know about him to this point?: He's one of the elite jounin (upper level ninja) of Konoha village, but very easy-going and friendly. He's also a very formidable and confident opponent, and a genius innovator. For example, he created the "Chidori" (Thousand Birds) move, which transfers his chakra to his hand and emits a lightning blade that can cut through anything. Like Sasuke, he also possesses the Sharingan eye in his left eye, although at this point we don't know how, since he is not of the Uchiha clan. Regardless, he's taken advantage of it and he's now famously known as the "Copy Ninja" because of it, and has been said to have memorized over 1,000 techniques. He's also an avid fan of Come Come Paradise books, probably his only weakness.

[philster]

Asuma's Team



Yamanaka Ino
What do know about her to this point?: She's a long-time friend and rival of Sakura's. She also has a crush on Sasuke, which is actually typical of most young female shinobi at that age. Her best ability (apparently an inherent ability of the Yamanaka clan) is transferring her mind to control her opponent's body, but she has to leave her body in order to carry her jutsu out. When she is in somebody else's body, her teammates usually take care of the rest (capturing that shinobi, etc.) There are two risks: one, when her host body gets injured, her own body also gets injured as well - and two, when she misses transferring her mind to the other person's body, it takes a while before her mind can "find" and regain control back of HER own body.



Nara Shikamaru
What do know about him to this point?: He considers pretty much everything troublesome. He's lazy and always seems to wish he was doing something else. However, he's very macho in that he doesn't want women to look better than him in combat. His clan specializes in freezing and then causing others to mimic themselves with their shadows, which works very well when working with the Yamanaka clan, for instance, or when they want to manipulate their opponents into a terrible situation.



Akimichi Chouji
What do know about him to this point?: He loves food. A LOT. Especially potato chips. He also snaps and gets mad when somebody calls him a fatty. His best ability is to grow bigger and roll himself around like a huge boulder, but he can also lift himself up into the air. Not a guy you want landing on you when he's in that form.



Sarutobi Asuma
What do know about him to this point?: Not much yet. He's an elite jounin ninja like Kakashi, Gai, and Kurenai, however, and always seems to have a cigarette in his mouth.

[philster]

Kurenai's Team



Inuzuka Kiba
What do we know about him to this point? Not much yet, other than he has a little white puppy named Akamaru that he carries with him all the time (usually on his head), and he's almost as loud and brash as Naruto. He also has a keen sense of smell, like his dog. He also fancies himself the "alpha male" of this squad, and gets mad whenever he thinks he's being threatened by Shino.



Hyuuga Hinata
What do we know about her to this point? Not much yet, other than she obviously likes Naruto a lot, but is very shy. She possesses the Byakugan ("White Eye") ability, which has been shown to give her incredible telescopic vision.



Aburame Shino
What do we know about him to this point? Not much yet, other than he seems to have a bond with insects and is very unassuming and confident in his abilities. Doesn't talk much, but still gives "alpha male" Kiba fits anyway.



Yuuhi Kurenai
What do we know about her to this point? Not much yet. Though a jounin (elite ninja) like Kakashi, Gai, and Asuma, she's also relatively new to the rank.

[philster]

Gai's Team



Rock Lee
What do we know about him to this point? He's very powerful at taijustu (physical prowess and speed) and is possibly the hardest-working genin of them all. He's so good that he actually beat Sasuke in hand-to-hand combat. He also has a crush on Sakura and is willing to do anything to protect her. Calls himself the "Beautiful Azure Beast of Konoha," for no apparent reason, and his sensei, Maito Gai, is his hero. He wants to prove himself in the exams as a great shinobi, not only against Sasuke but also somebody on his own team as well who he believes to be the best shinobi currently participating in the Chuunin Exams. Most likely it is Neji.



Hyuuga Neji
What do we know about him to this point? Not much yet, other than he's extremely confident in his own abilities. He also possesses the Byakugan eye ability (which Viz translated as "Evil Eye" but actually literally means "White Eye") which we don't know too much about yet, other than it has incredible telescopic vision, 360 degree vision, and x-ray vision. Ino called him the number one ninja of the past genin class (these three graduated a year before Naruto's generation did), so it is likely Neji that Rock Lee strives to beat. However, they seem to be friendly rivals.



Ten Ten
What do we know about her to this point? Not much yet, other than she possesses amazing accuracy and has an obvious fondness for missile weapons. (Note from Phil - I feel I should warn that you shouldn't expect to learn much too much about this character at all. As interesting as she is, she is still easily the most under-developed character in the whole Naruto universe, unfortunately.)



Maito Gai
What do we know about him to this point? Not much yet, other than he can apparently summon a gigantic talking turtle (for fun, I surmise) and has incredible speed. As Rock Lee is his student, it's probably true that Gai is the best at taijutsu in the elite jounin group. Furthermore, Gai claims his eternal rival is Kakashi and that he has the lead in beating him in a fight by one. Rock Lee and Gai seems to share an almost parental bond, not unlike Iruka and Naruto.

[philster]

The Sand Nin



Gaara of the Sand
What do we know about him to this point? He has supreme control over a large mass of flowing, writhing sand that resides inside the gourd on his back. The sand can quickly engulf an opponent and crush him or her to death. The blood of the opponent usually merges with the sand (as Kiba noticed) making it stronger. It can also float the opponent in the sky if need be. This odd sand will also immediately protect him from all attacks automatically, even when Gaara doesn't know it's coming, giving him quite a formidable defense. He can also apparently conjure a third eye using sand to scout ahead. He has a nasty penchant for frightening his teammates (which happen to also be his siblings) by intimidation alone, probably because he has no qualms in killing anybody that dares to get into his way. He claims that his peculiar jutsu is the result of a bond with a "demon god" that he has to applease at all times. He's obviously the leader of this squad, but he's creepy as heck. Case in point - the kanji on his forehead means "love," which is definitely odd to see on such a vicious killer. And he's only 12 years old to boot (most of these kids are.)



Temari
What do we know about her to this point? Not much yet, other than we know she is Gaara's older sister. She also seems to be quite cold-blooded at times. She carries a fan on her back, which probably means she's adept at wind-creating jutsus.



Kankurou
What do we know about him to this point? Not much yet, other than he's a bully unless Gaara is around, and is also his older brother. He carries an odd-looking mummified puppet on his back, but we have yet to see its design. It's already been shown that Kankurou can use his puppet to masquerade as other people.



Baku
What do we know about him to this point? Not much yet especially concerning he just appeared in the series. He's obviously the sensei of the Sand Trio, however, being the only adult representative from the Wind Country present at the preliminaries.

[philster]

The Sound Nin:



Kinuta Dosu
What do we know about him to this point? He's very cunning and has the ability to radiate sound waves through his gauntlets. He also knows when he's beaten. LOL



Zaku Abume
What do we know about him to this point? He's very arrogant and likes to trash talk. He can create powerful air pressure blasts through his palms.



Tsuchi Kin
What do we know about her to this point? Not much yet actually. She didn't really reveal any skills she had in the fight with Sakura and Rock Lee, and was mind-controlled by Ino and subsequently injured by Zaku before she could do anything else.



Orochimaru
What do we know about him to this point? Not much, other than he has a reeeeally long tongue, can conjure a gigantic snake, and apparently has the destruction of Konoha village on mind, but is just recruiting new members for his Hidden Sound Village right now. He placed a curse seal on Sasuke for a yet undetermined reason, and he also seems to be from Konoha originally, having tutored Anko in the past. Obviously we'll learn more about him as the series go on.

[philster]

Kabuto's Team

Note: There are some spoilers for all these characters that go past chapter 65 so I'll just highlight them in white.



Yakushi Kabuto

What do we know about him to this point? Not much... After Chapter 65 SPOILERS: It can finally be said now: he's a spy for Orochimaru. Not only that, he's Orochimaru's favorite! Originally from an enemy country (unknown yet which one) and brought to Konoha as a child survivor of a battle at Kikyi Pass (also translated as 'Bellflower Pass'), it's probably obvious now that Kabuto intended to come to Konohagakure all along to serve as an intelligence-gathering spy for Orochimaru. He's befriended Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura in the Chuunin Exams, while all along inwardly he despised them for some as-yet-undetermined reason. The Chunnin Exams seem to have been his main priority, as he's entered it and failed it six times on purpose. The time may soon be coming that Kabuto finally drops his guise and leave Konoha for good...



Akado Yoroi

What do we know about him to this point? Not much... SPOILERS: other than he's a large, belligerent man who is jealous of Kabuto because Orochimaru favors him, even though Yoroi is his elder. Yoroi's ability is to absorb his opponents' chakra by touch, like a parasite.



Tsurugi Misumi

What do we know about him to this point? Very little at this point. He seems to be more submissive rather than belligerent like Yoroi. He has the ability to stretch his body and wrap it around his opponent to choke him; also he can get through any opening.

[philster]

Other Characters:



Umino Iruka
What do we know about him to this point? Naruto's mentor who shares a parental bond with him. He lost his parents to the evil of the Kyuubi, and was very lonely for most of his life. He took on a teacher's role at the Ninja Academy for Konohagakure after he became a Chuunin. Iruka can be protective of Naruto at times. He is also one of the Third Hokage's most trusted men.



Sarutobi Sandaime, Third Hokage
What do we know about him to this point? He's the third leader of Konohagakure and the current Hokage (Fire Shadow), the most powerful shinobi in the village. He had retired when the Fourth Hokage (Yondaime) took up the mantle, but had to resume his duties after the young leader's premature death against the Kyuubi. A very peaceful man, Sandaime is constantly worried and annoyed by Naruto's antics and the possibility the Kyuubi might re-appear, but can still be fond of him at times.


Konohamaru
What do we know about him to this point? He's the grandson of the Third Hokage, but dislikes being in his shadow. He wants to be the Hokage on his own terms. Early in the series, he begged Naruto to take him under his wing and has been both an admirer and rival ever since. He's tutored by Ebisu, a master jounin.



Momochi Zabuza
What do we know about him to this point? Once one of the legendary Mist Seven and a great jounin widely known as the "Demon", he had to abandon his country after he attempted an unsuccessful assassination on the Water Country's Mizukage. He took Haku along with him and began being a mercenary for hire so that he could amass enough money to make another attempt. His favorite technique was to become invisible in a mist that he conjured himself, and to draw on his ability as a "silent killer" to quickly dispatch of his enemies. In the end, he came far short of his goal but may have accomplished something more important for himself.



Haku
What do we know about him to this point? He was orphaned at a young age when his father killed his mother, and then was himself killed by Haku's own hands. A very lonely child, one hated by his village people because of his strange abilities, he was found and raised by one of the Mist's legendary seven shinobi, Zabuza. He had a very special ice-mirror ability that Zabuza treasured, and he could also do one-handed signs, and had amazing speed. Haku felt that his existence was valid as long as Zabuza had need of him, and he was willing to protect his master at any cost...

[Sir Ped of Ro]

thanks for the nice work/dedication Phil.
where do yout ake these pics?! are they from an animation series or from the manga(s) art?!

regards

[philster]

Konoha Examiners:



Morino Ibiki
What do we know about him to this point? The first examinator of the Chuunin Exams, he's a big, burly veteran who is remarkable for his torture and interrogation skills. Not a man you want to mess with...



Mitarashi Anko
What do we know about her to this point? The second examinator of the Chuunin Exams, she's a sassy and loud kunoichi (female ninja) who used to be a understudy of Orochimaru's. Very dangerous girl...



Gekkou Hayate
What do we know about him to this point? The third examinator of the Chuunin Exams, he's an eccentric shinobi who struggles with a chronic cough.



Shiranui Genma
What do we know about him to this point? He'll be the fourth and final examinator of the Chuunin Exams. He always has a toothpick in his mouth.

(--- Mostly from the manga and fan-colored stuff, some from the anime, Pedro. )

[philster]

That's it for now. Hope you enjoy!

[Gray Lensman]

Cool profiles, Phil.

[philster]

Thanks Steve

[Shan]

Great job Phil.

Cool pics and everything.

I really like what you have done. Makes a nice reference for me too. ;D

You've put alot of work into this and I for one really appreciate it.

Shan

[philster]

No problem
I would have liked to do more for all the latter characters, but I don't want to accidentally spoil anything for Sarah who should be on chapter 72 right now, plus any other readers who might come on board later.