The Naruto franchise has become one of the biggest in the anime industry. With graphic novels, movies, video games, live shows, and its sequel Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Naruto's popularity is as significant now as it was when the character first debuted in the 1990s.
The titular character debuted as a preteen with no family. Two decades later, he's trained his spiritual successor and witnessed his own son become a hero. Despite being the protagonist of a massive franchise, there's still plenty for fans to learn about him or things they may have missed in his long history.
Updated November 2nd, 2021 by Claris Lam: There are other things about Naruto that fans could learn that weren't present in the original list. Five new entries have been added to make this list more complete.
15 Naruto's Height Grew Over Time
Naruto slowly but noticeably grew in height over time. During Part I, his height was about 145.3 to 147.5 centimeters. However, Part II revealed that he grew to about 166 centimeters. Considering that Naruto was only twelve when the show started and aged several years as time went on, a growth spurt was inevitable at some point.
His new growth in height also made him taller than characters including Ayame, Rōshi, and Sabu, much to the amusement of viewers. Unlike short protagonists such as Edward Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist, however, Naruto did not suffer from many jokes others made about his height.
14 Naruto's Birthday Is October 10th, A Birthday He Shares With Two Other Characters
Naruto's birthday is on October 10th. He also shares this birthday with two other characters: Menma Uzumaki and Menma Namikaze. Interestingly enough to fans, all three characters looked alike.
This is attributed to Menma Uzumaki coming from an alternate universe version of Konohagakure, making him his world's version of Naruto, while Namikaze came from Tenten's Infinite Tsukuyomi dream and is also descended from the Uzumaki clan. Namikaze also took after his father, unlike Naruto who took after his mother, while Uzumaki became an antagonistic force.
13 Naruto's Name Is Based On The Food Narutomaki
Naruto's name is based on the food narutomaki, which is a topping for ramen that has a pink or red spiral design in the middle. Narutomaki's spiral-shaped patterns are supposed to represent the Naruto whirlpools found in the Strait.
Coincidentally, ramen is also one of Naruto's favorite foods and he often went to Ichiraku Ramen, where he became a loyal customer and was well-treated by the people working there. Unlike many others in the village, the Ichiraku Ramen owners did not treat Naruto poorly during his youth.
12 Naruto Has Multiple Voice Actors
Naruto has two Japanese voice actors. One of them is Junko Takeuchi, who is experienced in voicing many young male characters such as Gon Freecs in the 1999 anime adaptation of Hunter X Hunter. Actress Ema Kogure voiced his "Sexy Technique" version whenever Naruto transformed into a female form to trick people.
However, the English-dubbed version of Naruto has many more voice actors. Four women voiced the English-dubbed version of his "Sexy Technique" version; namely, Stephanie Sheh, Jeannie Elias, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, and Kate Higgins. His normal English voice actor, however, is Malie Flanagan.
11 Naruto Has A Female Form He Can Transform Into
Naruto has a technique called the "Sexy Technique" to transform into a beautiful woman. By doing so, he can play pranks on various men, including Jiraiya, the Third Hokage, and many others. Not surprisingly, special attention is given to Naruto's chest, waistline, and overall figure during the transformation.
This trick also gave Naruto much longer hair to the point of him putting it up in two outrageously long pigtails. However, this trick has no effect on women whatsoever. This forced Naruto to develop the "Sexy: Boy On Boy Technique" to specifically appeal to women and trick them.
10 Konoha’s Orange Hokage Is A Reference To Naruto’s Parents
Once Naruto Uzumaki became the Hokage, he referenced himself as the "Orange Hokage." Fans may have thought this moniker was a reference to his penchant for orange clothing. However, that's not entirely the case.
The orange was actually a reference to his parents: Kushina, and the Uzumaki Clan, were known for their red hair. Minato, though fans don't know much about his family, had blond hair. Red and yellow, as anyone who has taken an art class will know, make orange.
9 He Is Not The Last Of The Uzumaki Clan
Growing up, Naruto was on his own. His parents sacrificed themselves to save him as an infant, and he seemingly had no family to speak of. Fans were led to believe there were no more members of the Uzumaki Clan, but that’s not entirely true.
Naruto and Lady Tsunade, after all, were distantly related as a result of their two clans intermarrying early in the founding of Konohagakure. Other characters could have been more direct relatives if fans had learned more about them. Both Karin and Nagato were descendants of the Uzumaki Clan.
8 Naruto Could Originally Turn Into A Fox
Fans of the Naruto series know that the title character has the power of the nine-tailed fox Kurama inside of him. That wasn't the original manga's plan. Instead, Masashi Kishimoto wanted to write a story where the titular character was studying to be a chef. That story didn't make it to print, but Kishimoto did keep the character name for a one-shot he created for Shonen Jump.
The idea was of a young boy named Naruto who could transform into a giant fox, though his father would be the fox that rampaged and destroyed a village.
7 He Met His Parents Because Of The Creator’s Children
In an issue of Shonen Jump, Kishimoto revealed a bit of his writing process for Naruto. He intended for Naruto to remain isolated due to never knowing his parents, but once he became a father, his views changed.
Kishimoto's relationship with his own children made him want Naruto to have a relationship with his parents as well. He decided to find ways to introduce Naruto to Minato and Kushina. In some cases, that involved time travel. Other storylines used remnants of their chakra to allow Naruto's parents to speak with him.
6 Naruto Appeared On A One Piece Cover
Like Naruto, One Piece has become a considerable part of manga and anime history. The manga actually honored Naruto as Kishimoto's series was coming to an end.
The 766th chapter of the One Piece manga depicted Monkey D. Luffy enjoying ramen, Naruto's favorite food. His face was hidden behind Nami, who also wore a changpao patterned with Konohagakure's symbol. Luffy's seatmate, based on his clothes and shoes, strongly hinted it was Naruto himself.
5 He Has Some Impossible Skills
Naruto’s databooks provide a lot of extra information about the main characters, including what Nature Types the shinobi can use. Interestingly, one specific Nature Type was missing from Naruto’s arsenal in the fourth databook.
Not listed amongst Naruto’s many Nature Types is Yin Release. While it’s clear that Naruto does eventually gain access to that particular Nature Type. The problem with it not being in the databook at that point is that Naruto was able to use Truth-Seeking Balls and the powers of Hagoromo at the time the book was released, both of which required him to use Yin Release. His being able to access those skills should have been impossible, according to the databook.
4 His Blood Type Is Type B
In Japan, there is a theory that says blood type can indicate personality traits. That's why the Naruto databooks include the blood types of characters as well.
According to the Naruto databooks, he's Type B. Those with Type B can be irresponsible, impatient, and selfish. They can also be passionate, creative, and friendly. The former traits go hand-in-hand with Naruto's immaturity early in the series, while the latter is exemplified during his many heroics.
3 Kishimoto’s Wife Believed Naruto Would End Up With Sakura
Naruto had a crush on Sakura during the early years of the series, while Sakura had feelings for Sasuke, and Hinata had a crush on Naruto. Eventually, Naruto married Hinata, and their son became the focal point of the Boruto series, while Sakura and Sasuke also had a daughter. There were some fans, however, who wondered if Sakura could have ended up with Naruto. One of those fans is pretty close to Masashi Kishimoto.
When he appeared at New York Comic Con in 2015, Kishimoto revealed even his wife was surprised when The Last: Naruto The Movie revealed that Naruto had fallen for Hinata. Kishimoto attempted to placate his wife by saying he modeled Hinata after her, though he actually got some of Sakura's personality traits from his wife instead.
2 He Gave Up His Goggles For A Time
When Naruto's manga was first released, he had a unique design. In addition to his orange outfit, he wore goggles on the top of his head. Those goggles, however, didn't last long.
Once Naruto achieved genin status, he swapped his goggles for a Konohagakure headband. The reason might seem obvious since Naruto wanted to show off his new status), but there was also a practical reason. Kishimoto found drawing the goggles too time-consuming and eliminating them saved him time while drawing his manga pages.
1 It Was Always The Plan For Sasuke To Fight Naruto
Most of the rivalry between Naruto and Sasuke was in Naruto's own head at the start of the series. By the time Sasuke decided to desert the village to train with Orochimaru, he had considered Naruto a true rival himself. Kishimoto always knew Naruto would reach its real climax when Sasuke accepted Naruto as his equal and the two battled.
Though he knew that's what he wanted, Kishimoto admitted in interviews that he was never quite sure how he would get there. He completed the process "little by little" until deciding if the two would battle as enemies - or as friends. Eventually, they even considered themselves brothers.