Though a lot of Naruto fans will spend their time debating whether Naruto Uzumaki or Sasuke Uchiha is the most powerful character of the franchise, there’s another debate that’s been raging for over a decade: which character in the series is really the best? Different fans will always have their favorites, but sites like Ranker allow those fans to see just where their favorites sit amongst thousands of votes.
When it comes to the Naruto franchise, nearly one million votes have been tallied to determine the best characters in the franchise. While some of the results are expected (it’s hard to imagine Naruto not in the top characters), others might be surprising. Sasuke doesn’t have enough votes to make it into the best, so who does?
Might Guy
Of the teachers in the franchise, Might Guy is certainly a fan favorite. After all, he doesn’t have access to the same powerful abilities as everyone else in the series, but he still holds his own by utilizing hand-to-hand combat against more powerful enemies.
His enthusiasm for life, his community, and his colleagues is pretty infectious. It’s clear that he’s instilled that same enthusiasm into Rock Lee. Fans enjoy watching him turn nearly every meeting with Kakashi into a competition. He’s incredibly fun to watch, and his abilities are no joke.
Kurama, The Nine-Tailed Fox
When the audience is first introduced to Kurama, a clear picture of the nine-tailed fox isn’t given. He’s portrayed as an out-of-control enemy that some of the strongest jinchuriki have contained, but that’s not entirely true. Kurama isn’t inherently evil, but he has been controlled by evil people in the past.
As the series progresses and Naruto actually develops a friendship with Kurama, the audience gets to see him as more of a protector than a destroyer. It’s a long journey for Naruto to get there, but it actually makes Kurama one of the most interestingly developed characters in the franchise.
Pain
Orochimaru might be the longest-running villain in the franchise, but Pain is the more compelling of the two. The arc involving his confrontation with Jiraiya, and later Naruto, includes some of the most popular episodes in the series. His story, from a young boy orphaned during a war to one of the founding members of the Akatsuki, is one of the most fascinating in the series.
What’s great about Pain’s episodes is that the fight scenes are just as engrossing to watch as Naruto’s “talk-no-jutsu” attempting to reason with him. Pain even eventually comes to his senses and restores most of the people and places he’s damaged as he gives his life in pursuit of peace.
Gaara
One of the reasons fans love Gaara so much is because he’s a mirror version of Naruto. While Naruto was raised without parents and ostracized by his community as a result of the tailed beast inside of him, Gaara was made into a weapon by his community, surrounded by family who didn’t know how to deal with him.
The result is that Gaara and Naruto became very different teenagers with abilities they couldn’t entirely control. It’s not until they meet (and fight) that Gaara realizes Naruto has somehow become a more well-adjusted shinobi than he has, and he resolves to change. It’s one of the show’s best and quickest character turns as Gaara and his siblings become incredibly powerful allies for Naruto’s community.
Shikamaru
When it comes to anime characters, those that are smarter than everyone else in the series combined always find a legion of fans who love them. The same is true of Shikamaru — especially since he goes through such a transformation in the series.
His initial laziness makes Shikamaru an incredibly relatable character. He’s also not shy about the fact that he’s smarter than all of his friends. It takes a tragedy in the village to make him step up as a leader, but he becomes the best strategist in the show, even advising the Hokage and an entire army as a teenager.
Jiraiya
Some fans are conflicted about Jiraiya simply because his characterization reflects a style of humor not looked favorably on by all audience members. Jiraiya, however, is still beloved because of his theatrical nature and his commitment to helping change the world for the better through Naruto.
Though Jiraiya seems like a mentor who could care less about his students when he first begins teaching Naruto, it becomes clear that’s just a tactic to get his student to try a little harder. His fight against Pain, and his subsequent demise, is one of the saddest deaths in the Naruto franchise.
Minato
Minato doesn’t get nearly as much screen time as other characters do. That’s largely because the Fourth Hokage is already dead and gone when the series begins and because his identity as Naruto’s father isn’t made clear right away since Naruto’s parents are only hinted at initially.
Minato’s skills are often referenced, though, as he’s one of the fiercest fighters, which certainly makes him intriguing to fans. The flashbacks to him sacrificing himself for his family and his village are definitely tear-jerkers as well.
Naruto
He might be the hero of the series named after him, but that doesn’t necessarily make naruto the best character. Though he has a great arc, becoming more mature as the story progresses and learning what it truly means to be a hero, many fans consider him to be just too powerful of a character, and that can hold him back from being a favorite.
A lot of the feats Naruto accomplishes are expected because he’s the titular character. The best parts of Naruto’s characterization are those of emotional development, but it takes a long time for the audience to get to those.
Kakashi
The leader of Team 7 is a fan favorite from almost the moment he begins training them. His bell test, really a test of teamwork, is one of the most entertaining team bonding sessions in the series. Kakashi is smart and powerful, just like Jiraiya, but the audience gets to see him progress from someone who doesn’t want to show his emotions to someone who cares deeply for his students and becomes the village leader.
Questions surround Kakashi throughout Naruto, and bits and pieces of his story are slowly revealed over the course of the franchise, from his history with his father to his friendship with Mighty Guy. He’s a great character.
Itachi
If Kakashi has an air of mystery around him, Itachi is shrouded in it. The audience spends more time hearing about his part in Sasuke’s childhood than they do with the actual character. He’s portrayed as the villain for much of his story, and it’s the turn that tells the audience the truth that makes his character so compelling.
Itachi cares about his little brother so much that he’s the only member of the Uchiha clan he spares in a bloodbath that wipes them out. His time with the Akatsuki is undercover work to protect his village. He’s, quite possibly, the most tragic hero in the entire franchise.