Hinata Uzumaki (nee Hyuga) is a skilled ninja and former heiress who used to be doubted for her meek disposition. Growing up surrounded by promising ninjas, Hinata’s father expressed doubts regarding her ability to lead a clan, much less life as a ninja, which led him to ultimately disinherit her.

Regardless, Hinata continued to persevere. Eventually, she would go on to join the infamous Team 8, become more assertive, and ultimately marry Naruto. With this autonomy, she stands out as one of the most beloved and strong characters of the series. Despite not being a main character initially, she quickly occupied the role of fan favorite, and stood to strive the other ninjas around her towards a promising future. Inspired by Naruto's obsession with becoming Hokage, Hinata was filled with determination, and grew immensely as her life changed.

Creator Masashi Kishimoto has displayed his affinity for Hinata in multiple interviews, intertwined with regrets of not making her the lead female protagonist from the get-go. In the long journey that is the story of Naruto, Hinata deals with a great amount of strife, anguish, and diligence as she surmounts all odds against her.

However, her story is not without bizarre twists that left readers and watchers scratching their heads in confusion or awe. Between years of striving for Naruto’s love, fighting in wars, and evolving through self-improvement, Hinata never lived a dull moment.

20 Hinata Almost Couldn't Handle The Title Of Heiress

Hinata was originally set to be the heiress of her Hyuga clan. Due to the fact that Hiashi was the head of the Hyuga clan, Hinata and her family expected a great future from her. Though, beginning at a young age, Hinata’s father began to believe that she was not suited for the role of heiress.

Despite this, Hinata still struggled under her father’s gruesome training regime.

Through this, her father was convinced that her timid personality would ultimately prevent her from truly excelling. Despite the odds, Hinata would go on to prove her father wrong, and demonstrated her persistence throughout the series.

Art by BlueDragonFan.

19 Hinata's Future Was Almost Changed Drastically

During the time that Hinata was still a child, she was almost stolen by the current Head Ninja of Kumogakure. As he was visiting Konoha, he utilized a deceptive guise that consists of him promising to sign a peace treaty between their two villages. Luckily for Hinata, Hiashi ended up ending him, and saving her.

This exchange caused the events that would soon be known as the “Hyuga Affair.”

Such a dramatic turn of events did not bode well on her father’s views of Hinata’s chances for success. Once again, Hinata’s fate looked futile and permanently damaged, although she would go on to hold one of the most prevalent and dominating roles within the series as a whole.

18 Hinata's Hair Changes Symbolize Her Evolution

Hinata and Naruto both share an official love song called The Last. This promotional song appears in The Last: Naruto the Movie, and contains Hinata sporting various different physical appearances.

Hinata's hair-length is the symbolic allegory of her evolution and growth throughout the Naruto series. 

Her hair begins short, and rather chin-length, framing her face. Her hair later reaches her lower back, and eventually grows to reach below her hips. When she is depicted in adulthood, she ties her long hair into a ponytail. She ends the movie with an extremely short, bob-style haircut that does not extend passed her shoulders. These transformations follow her complicated life cycle, and prove that Naruto considers her beautiful no matter what physical appearance she sports.

Art by Aikawaiichan.

17 Hinata Is Everyone's Favorite Character

Hinata appears in the Naruto ending song called “Jitensha.” Her involvement in the ending was not logical thematically, and served as a confusing addition. Though, it was later revealed that the only reason she was added was due to the fact that the Naruto staff contained a great deal of Hinata fans.

This trend seems to be common among those who make anime. They usually cannot help but latch to a favorite character who inevitably gets offered more screen time than subsequent characters. It is no surprise that Hinata’s sweet and docile exterior generate heaps of fans, especially considering the fact that this demeanor makes her stand out among the other ninjas she’s surrounded by.

16 Hinata's Obsession With Pressing Flowers

Hinata’s favorite hobby is pressing flowers. Various Naruto characters are tied to allusions of flowers, be in the etymology of their name, or the interaction with certain flowers themselves.

Hinata is certainly no exception, and her pursuit of this dainty hobby genuinely fits her personality.

This interest only added to her overly meek demeanor, and makes it evident why her family doubted she could eventually lead a clan of ninjas. The hobby accentuates her femininity, and adds to her sweetness. She can be seen placing flowers on the graves of her fellow ninjas later in the series, suggesting once again a frailty of spirit not often associated with a leader of Ninjas.

Art by JennyFireQueen.

15 Hinata's Favorite Saying

Hinata’s favorite saying is “I believe in you.” This saying is outwardly sweet and conflicting given her upbringing. Due to the fact that Hinata was judged heavily by her father, as it was not believed that she would surmount to success, it is evident that her staunch belief in others succeeding stems for her own insecurities.

While she did not contain that kind of confidence in herself, she was used to seeing others around her succeed, while she remained on the sidelines.

The lack of belief she holds for herself is evident during her formative years, though she ultimately has no reason not to also believe in herself considering what she is able to accomplish later in life, despite all odds against her.

14 Hinata And Her Daughter Don't Have Much In Common

Hinata and Nauto’s daughter, Himawari, possesses Byakugan. However, it is still unclear whether or not their son Boruto also contains the ability. Himawari's awakening of Byakugan at such a young age was incredibly uncommon, with even Hiashi commenting on how bizarre the instance was. Himawari unleashed the Byakugan in anger after Boruto tore away her favorite toy.

Due to the fact that Hinata never demonstrated that kind of anger as a child, Himawari’s reaction was particularly surprising.

Such an ability usually only manifested after intensive training, causing an uproar of confusion to amass within all others with the ability. At the age of 3, Himawari was already more promising than Hinata was in her formative years.

13 Hinata Was Out-Shined By Hanabi

Hinata’s sister, Hanabi, was projected to contain more potential as a child, and was ultimately perceived to be the eventual Hyuga class heiress. Traditionally, the eldest child would always inherit the role of heiress, but Hanabi showed a potential so strong that she was threatening Hinata’s eventual rule.

Her growth speed was incredibly high, which impressed her entire clan, and prompted questioning whether or not she should break a generation of rules.

The two sisters had completely juxtaposing personalities, which would eventually lead to their conflicting intentions and future outcomes. Despite all this, Hanabi always looked up to Hinata as a wise mentor.

12 Hinata's Inspiring Chakra

Hinata inherited some of Hamura Otsutsuki’s chakra when they first met due to the fact that she was a member of the Hyuaga clan’s main house. Eventually, it is the purity and strength of her chakra that ends up attracting Toneri Otsutsuki.

This event later prompts Hamura himself to transfer his own chakra to Hinata.

The entire Otsutsuki clan refers to Hinata as the “Byakugan Princess” upon taking interest in her, and this title allows Hinata to be immune to Toneri’s chakra drain. As she is the only individual with this title, she is ultimately the one responsible in defeating the Tenseigan. Once again, Hinata rises above the expectations set for her in prejudice.

11 Hinata's Name Mix-Up

Within the first databook, Hinata's name is mistakenly referred to as Pure White Lily. Late into the series, in Chapter 699, Hinata can be seen placing pure white lilies on Neji's grave. The mistaken name can be taken as a metaphor, but calls into question how long in advance Hinata's placing of the flowers was decided.

This very well could be covering the tracks of a mistake, and if so, does this quite effectively as it is imperceptible.

Neji and Hinata were extremely close. After his end, allusions to him are still brought up by Hinata, as a picture of him was displayed during her wedding, and as she takes her children to visit his grave regularly. Himawari, who had never met him, still regards Neji as her uncle given Hinata's deep sentiments for him.

10 Hinata And Naruto Were Together For A While Before Marrying

Hinata and Naruto were dating for several months before they got married, according to Sakura Hiden. Their relationship seemed to bloom incredibly quickly, though it’s needless to say that they had known each other for years before tying the knot.

When they first became acquainted, Naruto was extremely unimpressed by Hinata’s demeanor.

Although she began to like him almost immediately, Naruto described her as “timid” and “weird” due to her incessant blushing and nervous stutter. Little did Naruto know that those were signs of a crush, and that she would one day be much more to him. Thankfully for Hinata, and perhaps surprisingly for Naruto, they would end up happily together.

9 Hinata's Name Doesn't Really Fit Her Personality

Hinata’s name means “place in the sun”, and can be written out using the same kanji as her family name, Hyuga. All of the other Hyuga’s also share first names that have to do with the sun. The symbolism regarding her name isn’t clearly realized as her personality and accomplishments don’t share much correlation with the usual traits attributed to the sun.

If anything, she serves as a light that will eventually guide Naruto, but otherwise, contains a name that is underutilized. The similarities to the sun do shine through in her affinity for flowers, however, and it is the subtext of her name's meaning can shine clearly to true fans of Naruto.

8 Hinata Is Very Opinionated About Food

Hinata’s favorite foods consist of zenzai, which is sweet red bean soup, and cinnamon rolls. Such favorites blend well into Hinata’s personality given that she is quite saccharine herself, and exudes a sweet, all-encompassing personality.

Hinata's personality shines perfectly in the odd food choices she is seen to make throughout the show.

Her least favorite foods are crabs and shrimp, which are fittingly contrasting to her likeness. Fish are usually salty and appeal a very particular harsh palate, which is far from Hinata’s genuine personal traits. She is sweet, easily approachable, and beloved by creators and fans alike. While these opinions on food are quite on the nose, they do further reinforce Hinata’s distinct essence.

Art by 777luck777.

7 Hinata Is Excellent At Making Sakura Jealous

During the omake for Episode 165 of Naruto Shippuden, Sakura directly accuses Hinata of trying to become the main heroine of the series due to her popularity. Considering the fact that this altercation takes place during the omake, or bonus scene, it can very well be interpreted as a direct message to Hinata’s fans.

This exchange takes place outside of the Naruto Shippuden universe, and pokes jokes about Hinata’s immense popularity.

Although Sakura is clearly the main heroine in the narrative, she was generally disliked by viewers, while Hinata has always been a favorite. This fourth wall breaking commentary offers viewers the understanding that the creator knows their biases, and are able to lightheartedly make fun at it.

Art by Weissdrum.

6 Hinata And Naruto Are Overpowered When Together

Within the Ultimate Ninja Storm games, players can choose to build a team combined with various characters. When Hinata and Naruto are combined, their team is automatically titled “Joined Hands” or “Secret Lovers.”

There is also a story mode called “Mecha-Naruto” that features Hinata and Naruto constantly working together, and supplying fans with a combination of favorites.

They are some of the only characters that offer more than one title when combined. These fighting games are usually devoid from much plot, but thankfully, they don’t skip out on their fanbase’s most beloved couple working side by side.

5 Hinata Failed Miserably In A Fight Against Neji

Hinata deeply wished to rematch her cousin Neji, and ultimately match her father, Hiashi. Hinata works synergistically with Neji and Hiashi as they share combat similarities.

Though, during her first fight against Neji, she was defeated without much effort from Neji, despite his pleas to refrain from the fight.

It was incredibly clear before the fight began that she was no match for Neji, which brought her to tears when the confrontation was deemed unfair. Despite this, she agreed to battle, and collapsed of internal damage soon after. Even after this humiliating defeat and physical devastation, Hinata still wished to rematch Neji, despite the odds always being against her.

4 Hinata Was Almost Involved In A Love Triangle

During an interview from 2015, Masashi Kishimoto revealed that he had planned for Hinata and Naruto to end up together since the middle of the manga. Kishimoto was convinced that their marriage was inevitable after realizing that Hinata acknowledged feelings towards Naruto before even Iruka.

Their relationship, and ultimately their marriage, upset Iruka immensely.

Though he respected their love, he was envious of Naruto even during their wedding ceremony. Viewing their courtship eventually leaves Iruka wanting a life partner of his own, with Hinata and Naruto being a wonderful example of what love should look like. Hinata is more or less unaware of the extent to which Iruka still loves her, as he never tells her.

3 Hinata Is Beloved Over Sakura

In an interview in 2010, Kishimoto stated that various individuals who had worked on Naruto from an early point had personally mentioned that Hinata should have taken over the role of heroine.

It is a popular opinion that Hinata should have taken the lead female protagonist role over Sakura, but Kishimoto chose to keep Sakura in that position due to the fact that she had more humanistic qualities, and as such, was much more relatable.

Kishimoto, upon pleas with fans who voiced hatred toward Sakura, eventually apologized for keeping her at the forefront for so long. Although Kishimoto was convinced Sakura would appeal more to female viewers specifically, he came to regret the decision later on, much to the joy of Hinata fans.

Art by ddevs.

2 Hinata Tops The Charts

In the infamous Naruto character popularity polls, Hinata reached an all-time high of sixth most popular. When Naruto reached its tenth anniversary, Shonen Jump held a popularity poll for fans to quantify their favorite Konohagakura ninja.

In this poll, Hinata reached third place, being beaten only by Naruto and Shikamaru.

She and Sakura were the only female characters to make the top ten list of this poll, and Hinata managed to beat out subsequent fan favorites such as Rock Lee, Kakashi, and Neji. As more of a minor character in respect to the others she beat, it’s safe to say that Hinata bids well among fan favoritism.

1 Hinata Was Always Meant To Be A Main Character

Kishimoto has stated in interviews that he had been planning and building up Hinata to become part of the main cast since the Fourth Shinobi World War arc began. It is evident why she was being heavily considered as a main character following this event, given the fact that she was finally seen as a fully capable ninja.

For the first time, she could have been compared to her peers regarding fighting prowess, and dutiful ability in combat.

At this point, she was willing to put her life on the line for her friends, would protect even Neji, and proves to hold great interest in protecting Naruto at all costs. This kind of dedication was promising, and was the stepping stone to her eventual introduction as a major character.