Naruto might just be the worst character inNaruto—but there’s more to the story than that. The simple fact is thatthe shinobi world Kishimoto constructed forNarutois patently awful. SinceNarutois such a character-driven story, it’s only natural that a lot of the nuance and complexity that goes into building out that same world appears in the way that the characters themselves are written.
The problem is that these issues aren’t always obvious:Kishimoto has his own motivations, preferences, and drives,and in writingNaruto, those often appear unconsciously. As a result,Narutohas the regrettable tendency of using its writing to tear apart the themes and messages which stitch it together. Deep within that chasm,Narutohides its most glaring—and complicated—problem: its own protagonist.
Like It Or Not, Naruto Is A Deeply Flawed Character
Naruto’s Character Development Is Questionable, Regardless Of Fans' Love For Him
Saying Naruto is the series' worst character would be a controversial statement, to be sure, but there’s plenty of evidence to support that. In a handful of ways, Naruto has some serious flaws as a character. These could be divided into thematic flaws and ethical flaws.
On the side of thematic flaws, it’s easy to argue that Naruto isn’t the “underdog” he’s painted to be from the beginning of the series. More specifically, atNaruto’s start, he’s claimed to be untalented. Throughout Naruto’s growth and development, this is a central theme; it’s supposed to be the engine that pushes the series along and provides momentum as Naruto overcomes his lack of natural talent by slowly mastering several different facets of ninjutsu.
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However, he also has power coming from his bloodline, on top of the chakra well emerging from his being a jinchuriki. In hindsight, there’s no real reason to portray Naruto as untalented. If nothing else, it leads major twists like the reveal ofMinato being Naruto’s Hokage fatherto poke holes in the fact that he’s intended to be a character overcoming his circumstances. While this isn’t fatal and can be chalked up to the series shifting priorities as it plays out, it’s worth acknowledging that the first part of the series is based around Naruto being positioned as an underdog and that later changes undermine that.
On the side of ethical flaws, Naruto makes a lot of promises he doesn’t keep. He promised to reform the Hyuuga clan and the Kage system, to ensure peace in the future, and to stabilize minor villages like Amegakure. None of that ended up playing out. What’s more, his dogmatic idealism actually undermines his empathy. In the story which brought attention and gave a name to the “Talk no jutsu” trope, one would expect that empathy plays a major role. However, again and again, Naruto only empathizes with opponents in superficial ways, demanding that they submit to the Will of Fire.
It goes without saying, butNaruto’s story is purposely set up how it is. Kishimoto wanted to create a series that would be able to provide an empathetic narrative to those who arose from less fortunate circumstances. Nonetheless,this would also be at odds with Kishimoto’s desire to depict a very specific kind of society: one that, despite taking place in a fantastical world, isn’t all that different from our own—built on warfare, international disputes, espionage, black ops, andexploitation of underprivileged regions (like the Hidden Rain Village). Every character who wishes to resist that order, for one reason or another, is positioned as an enemy or, at the very least, a threat.
Hence why Naruto’s superficiality stings so much. He fails to fully seehowthe village he unrelentingly supports is the cornerstone of a world order that is, actually, quite unforgiving, dangerous, and horrible. Although he’ll passively acknowledge things like Konoha’s role in repressing the Uchiha (creating figures like Madara in the first place) or the Hidden Rain, and even make non-committal promises to do something about those situations—revealing the truth behind the Uchiha massacre and providing more aid to underprivileged villages respectively—these never actually play out. The end result is that Naruto seems to be a liar.
Butishe a liar? More likely than not, the answer would be no. He probably made such promises with every intention of following through, as it would be in character. The problem, though, is that he’s unremittingly beholden to an ideology when it comes to how the shinobi world should look. The fact that this prevents him from empathizing with those who are against it is revealing: if he can’t imagine why one might be against it in such a way that it’s gravely serious and unforgettable, he’s not actually able to understand why that world is wrong in the first place,nor to conceptualize how to change it for the better.
He’s not actually able to understand why that world is wrong in the first place,nor to conceptualize how to change it for the better.
To make matters worse, the twist at the end which immortalizesNaruto’s characterization as an eternally reincarnated brotherisa decision that makes the political order of Naruto’s world seem natural and inevitable. Most likely without ever intending to, Kishimoto affirms the social and political status quo of the real world by creating an idealized version of it withinNarutoand portraying it as something to which there’s no real alternative.
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The end result is thatNaruto effectively acts as a political tool for Konoha. He acts only to defend its interests,just like his teacher, Jiraiya. There’s a tension between Naruto uncritically parroting the ideology of his hometown, his initial status as an outcast, and the series' own obvious preference for a certain way of organizing society: it makes Naruto seem opportunistic, becoming Hokage under the guise of “the right ideals” when, really, he just wanted power and recognition. This power, too, is somethingNarutowas all too happy to hand him, with its fatalistic hints that he would have become Hokage no matter what.
Despite His Flaws, Naruto Still Represents Something Important
The Ideals At The Core Of The Beloved Manga Have Value Nonetheless
Regardless of his shortcomings,Naruto still represents something rare in his world: an earnest desire to recognize that, well, things can have problems. InNaruto, there’s practically no outside resistance to the Kage system. Even if, out of the alternatives presented in the series,Sasuke’s revolution was a particularly enticing possibility, it’s difficult to imagine how precisely the shinobi world could be refigured to be less cruel.
On the other hand,it’s so hard to imagine becauseNarutowithholds the means to do so. Literally no character who stands against the Kage system is given time and treated seriously. Aside from Sasuke, all the alternatives are, frankly, ridiculous to the extent it seems unconsciously intended to make the Kage system feel inevitable. Perhaps that’s intentional, though: a sacrifice Kishimoto made in order to emphasize the political potential of love over violence, even if in the process “love” seems to be pretty malicious from time to time.
At the very least, there’s something valiant about the way Naruto represents that ideal of love over everything else. In today’s world, a bit more love and understanding certainly doesn’t seem like such a bad thing. That’s Naruto’s value as a character:he shows that—despite the contrivance of the shinobi world’s lack of any rigorous opposition—the principles of love, hope, and idealism can have value against destructive intentions. The whole story ofNaruto’s spunkiest jinchuriki might raise eyebrows, and there’s plenty of reason to criticize him.
Whether or not he’sNaruto’s worst character, though, must be left up to the beholder.
