Naruto Uzumaki

Naruto finally graduates from the Academy and learns the secret the village kept from him: the Nine-Tailed Fox, which attacked the Leaf on the day he was born, is sealed inside him. He lands on Team 7 with Sasuke Uchiha, the prodigy he sees as his rival, and Sakura Haruno, whom he has a crush on, under Kakashi Hatake.

Their first real mission is escorting bridge builder Tazuna home to the Land of Waves, where Zabuza Momochi and young Haku show up. On the bridge, Sasuke goes down shielding Naruto, and for the first time the fox's chakra bursts out of him. Haku dies for Zabuza, and Naruto learns a ninja can have a heart. The bridge is named after him.

In the Chūnin Exams, Team 7 survives the Forest of Death, where Orochimaru attacks them and tampers with the seal on Naruto's stomach. In the preliminaries, Naruto beats Kiba. During the month of training before the finals, he meets Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin, who teaches him to draw on the fox's chakra and summon toads. Naruto ends up calling Gamabunta, the toad boss.

In the finals he faces Neji Hyūga, who says no one escapes their fate. Naruto takes a beating, gets back up and wins, proving fate can be changed.

During the Sand and Sound invasion, Naruto defeats Gaara, another jinchūriki who grew up as alone as he did, and the Third Hokage dies fighting Orochimaru. Then he travels with Jiraiya to find Tsunade, learns the Rasengan and wins her grandfather's necklace. Along the way he learns Itachi Uchiha and the Akatsuki are after the beast inside him.

Sasuke leaves the village to seek Orochimaru's power, and Naruto heads out with Shikamaru and other genin to bring him back, after promising Sakura he would. Their friends drop off one by one, each holding off an enemy. At the Valley of the End, Rasengan meets Chidori, Sasuke wins and leaves. Naruto wakes up in the hospital and renews his promise.

After two and a half years training with Jiraiya, Naruto comes home, helps save Gaara, now Kazekage, and creates the Rasenshuriken. Then the news hits: Jiraiya died fighting Pain, the Akatsuki's leader. Naruto goes to Mount Myōboku and learns Sage Mode from the toads.

Pain invades the Leaf and levels the village in a single blow. Naruto arrives and takes Pain's bodies down one by one. When Hinata throws herself in front of him and confesses her love, he loses control and the fox nearly breaks free, until Minato, the Fourth Hokage, appears inside him: he's Naruto's father. Naruto wins, talks with Nagato, the real Pain, and convinces him to bring the dead back. The village that scorned him welcomes him as a hero.

Hidden on a turtle island with Killer Bee, Naruto has to beat his own dark side and then the fox. Just as it's about to swallow him, Kushina, his mother, appears, tells him how he was born and says she loves him. With the fox's chakra under control, he slips away to join the Fourth Great Ninja War.

On the battlefield, he and Bee take on the jinchūriki the masked Tobi brought back. There Naruto truly makes peace with the fox, which finally tells him its name: Kurama. Together they gain Tailed Beast Mode and free the other tailed beasts. At the end of the arc, Tobi's mask breaks.

In the war's final stretch, Naruto shares Kurama's chakra with the whole Alliance, reaches Obito's heart and receives half of the power of Hagoromo, the Sage of Six Paths; the other half goes to Sasuke. With Team 7 back together, they seal Kaguya Ōtsutsuki.

Then Sasuke announces he'll kill the Kage, and Naruto too. The two fight at the Valley of the End until there's no chakra left, and each loses an arm. Sasuke gives up and admits defeat. Kakashi becomes the Sixth Hokage, promotes Naruto to jōnin and sends him to study so he can take the job one day.

Masashi Kishimoto took the name from the Naruto whirlpools in Japan to match the boy's restless energy, and gave him the author's own favorite food: ramen. Before the series, he drew a one-shot whose hero was a boy who could turn into a fox. Junko Takeuchi voices Naruto in Japanese and Maile Flanagan in English. His catchphrase "dattebayo" is a verbal tic with no exact translation, and every dub came up with its own.