Naruto Uzumaki

Naruto Uzumaki (Japanese: うずまき ナルト, Hepburn: Uzumaki Naruto) (/ˈnɑːrətoʊ/) is a fictional character in the anime and manga Naruto, created by Masashi Kishimoto. Serving as the eponymous protagonist of the series, he is a young ninja from the fictional village of Konohagakure. The villagers ostracize Naruto on account of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox — a malevolent creature that attacked Konohagakure — that was sealed away inside Naruto's body. Despite this, he aspires to become his village's leader, the Hokage. His carefree, optimistic and boisterous personality enables him to befriend other Konohagakure ninja, as well as ninja from other villages.

Why He Rocks

 * 1) Naruto's a very inspirational character who never gives up, even when the odds are against him.
 * 2) Both Junko Takeuchi and Maile Flanagan do a very good job voicing him.
 * 3) He develops well as a character as the series progress, going from a trouble-making kid to a mature leader and strong warrior.
 * 4) He tolerates all of Sakura's abusive behavior towards him and puts his life on the line to protect her countless times.
 * 5) He may be a handful to his teachers (Iruka, Kakashi and Jiraiya), but he has enough patience to master the jutsus that they gave him.
 * 6) His rivalry with Sasuke Uchiha is what made the franchise great.
 * 7) He's also a kind person as he tries his best to be kind to everyone, even Obito Uchiha, who murdered Naruto's parents and his friend Neji Hyuuga.
 * 8) He became one of the strongest anime characters of all-time, along with Goku from the Dragon Ball franchise.
 * 9) Even though he isn't quite as strong as he used to be; he, along with Sasuke, is still one of the strongest characters in the anime.
 * 10) He happens to be a very iconic character in fiction, even recognizable to those who aren't anime fans.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) He kind of got derailed in Boruto, where he turned into a stereotypical workaholic father who neglects his family.
 * 2) * Naruto isn't much of a great father, although this is understandable since he had to take his work as Hokage seriously in order to protect his home village. Still, he could've used Shadow Clones to take his place while the real Naruto spends time with his family.
 * 3) He's sometimes too forgiving, such as forgiving his cousin Nagato "Pain" Uzumaki, who murdered a ton of people (including Jiraiya, Shizune, Kakashi and Hinata) in his twisted pursuit for "peace". However, it's important to note that Nagato ended up sacrificing his own life to revive everyone he'd killed in the Hidden Leaf Village, including Shizune, Kakashi and Hinata.
 * 4) Like Sakura, Naruto was a bit too obsessed with Sasuke throughout the series. While Naruto did have more positive interactions with Sasuke, he still wasn't exactly friendly or open with Naruto while they were teammates, and their relationship still wasn't developed enough to show they were true friends, but rather rivals. It's only later in the series that flashbacks are shown that give a bit more background into their relationship, but even then, there were barely any moments showing Naruto and Sasuke acting as friends. Because of that, it can be slightly exasperating for some fans to see how desperate is for Naruto to get Sasuke back to the village while Sasuke completely ignores Naruto.