10 Naruto Characters Fans Judge Too Harshly

Every anime fandom has that one hobby everyone secretly shares, blaming characters for everything like they personally ruined the plot on purpose.

Naruto is full of characters fans love to roast, meme, or blame for entire story arcs, often before finishing their character development. Look a little closer, though, and many of these so-called “worst characters” were just making impossible choices while the audience judged safely from the couch.

Turns out some fans skipped character growth faster than they skip filler episodes.

1. Sakura Haruno

Life-or-death missions fell onto a twelve-year-old with almost no real combat training to rely on.

Sakura began weak, yes, yet she grew into one of the strongest medical ninjas in the entire shinobi world. During the war, she hit with chakra-boosted strength and kept teammates alive with elite medical ninjutsu.

Calling her useless ignores the grit required to evolve from fangirl to battlefield powerhouse.

Her journey reflects what real shinobi growth looks like when strength starts from absolute zero.

Chakra-fueled super-strength behind that signature punch can shatter rock and crater the ground with a single chakra-loaded strike.

2. Sasuke Uchiha

Losing an entire family at the hands of an older brother would break almost any young shinobi.

After experiencing that nightmare throughout his life, Sasuke learned that the village he trusted had covertly orchestrated the massacre. His anger made perfect sense.

Many fans expected him to simply move on and become Naruto’s teammate again, yet trauma never follows a clean redemption arc.

Grief and betrayal consumed him, leading to reckless choices shaped by pain he never learned how to process.

3. Naruto Uzumaki

Early Naruto came across loud, reckless, and intentionally irritating, almost like a ninja pulling constant academy pranks just to be seen.

Life in the village felt colder than a failed genjutsu, since he carried the Nine-Tails without ever choosing that burden himself.

Obnoxious behavior masked loneliness, resembling a young shinobi shouting for acknowledgment rather than revealing any real flaw in character. Trust from others eventually unlocked the same unwavering loyalty and determination that later inspired an entire generation of shinobi to follow his path.

4. Hinata Hyuga

Silence never equals weakness in the world of shinobi. Knowing that the fight could be fatal, Hinata took on Pain, one of the series’ most formidable foes.

Through steady determination instead of loud declarations, she reshaped her clan’s understanding of strength and personal worth.

Many fans mistake her gentle nature for passivity, yet she fought her cousin, challenged her father, and refused to abandon her pursuit of growth.

Courage simply appeared differently from Naruto’s flashy heroics, and that difference remains completely valid.

5. Shikamaru Nara

Labeling Shikamaru as lazy overlooks the real strategy behind his character. His mind always operated several moves ahead, making meaningless busy-work feel as draining as an endless D-rank mission.

Serious moments like avenging Asuma or coordinating plans during the Fourth Great Ninja War revealed a shinobi who never hesitated when stakes were real.

True intelligence often means conserving chakra for battles that actually matter, and his tactical brilliance saved more lives than any flashy jutsu ever could. What looks like a drag turns out to be efficiency worthy of a top-tier strategist.

6. Rock Lee

Fans mocked his bowl cut and goofy enthusiasm while completely missing his revolutionary impact.

Lee proved you could become an elite ninja without any natural talent for ninjutsu or genjutsu.

His taijutsu skills were so refined, he pushed Gaara to the brink and proved taijutsu could challenge terrifying power. That relentless optimism was not naivety but the fuel that powered his impossible dream.

Every underdog who ever felt inadequate saw themselves in his story.

7. Neji Hyuga

Being inferior in the Hyuga clan structure from birth, Neji had every reason to harbor resentment.

Anger toward the main branch grew from watching his father die protecting people who still treated their side as servants. Many fans labeled him arrogant, yet resentment came from genuine injustice rather than ego.

After Naruto helped him see another path, he became one of the most selfless shinobi in the series, ultimately sacrificing himself to protect the same system he once despised.

8. Gaara

Fear followed the monster everyone saw, while the frightened child beneath went unnoticed. Life for Gaara resembled a cursed jinchūriki origin story, marked by a tailed beast sealed inside him and even assassination attempts ordered by his own father.

Isolation from villagers turned him into a weapon in their eyes, pushing a traumatized child to believe violence proved existence.

Kindness finally broke through that loneliness, much like Naruto reaching another lost shinobi who understood pain firsthand.

Transformation followed as Gaara grew into one of the most compassionate and capable leaders in the entire ninja world.

9. Itachi Uchiha

The biggest plot twist in Naruto revealed Itachi as a tragic hero, not a villain.

He murdered his entire clan to prevent a civil war, then spent years as a spy while letting his little brother hate him. Every cruel thing he did to Sasuke was meant to make him strong enough to survive.

Plenty of fans still argue about him, but the story frames him as someone who carried an impossible burden. His sacrifice saved thousands of lives at the cost of his own soul and happiness.

10. Obito Uchiha

Seeing the person you loved die at the hands of your closest friend would shatter almost anyone.

Obito transformed from an optimistic dreamer into a villain after grief and manipulation reshaped his entire worldview. Madara exploited a traumatized teenager and forged his pain into a weapon.

His redemption arc revealed that even those who commit serious harm can still find a path back. Reducing him to pure evil ignores the complicated truth of how trauma and manipulation can create people capable of awful choices.

Note: Information and interpretations here reflect common fan debates and story themes in Naruto, and details can vary by translation, adaptation, or personal reading; the content is provided for general informational and entertainment purposes and is not legal, financial, or professional advice.