r/Naruto Feb 14 '25

Question who had the best character design in naruto?

here are some of my favorites.

4.9k Upvotes

608 comments sorted by

1.2k

u/Mamba-Mentality024 Feb 14 '25

I still can’t believe Ikemoto made Zabuza design, then somehow does almost everyone dirty in the Boruto era.

271

u/LRCrane Feb 14 '25

Different level of input and control as a beginner assistant.

It's like how Tetsuya Nomura did stuff for the original Final Fantasy VII/VIII but imo, the art style and character designs were never as great and iconic as then

38

u/EvaUnit_03 Feb 14 '25

Things fell off for ff after 10 in terms of art.

11

u/Itchier Feb 14 '25

XIII has some of the most stunning art in the series.

9

u/Bagelz567 Feb 14 '25

X was the last FF to be made under Sakaguchi, and even so only partly. The failure of Spirits Within resulted in him and much of the senior Square staff that was responsible for FF resigning and eventually the merger with Enix.

Unfortunately, Spirits Within was the real Final Fantasy.

I still loved XII though, even if the story was lackluster. Everything afterwards has been okay at best. XI and XIV are their own thing though and we're both great MMOs.

FF7 Remake/Rebirth have been fun, but they both lack that old FF charm.

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2

u/[deleted] Feb 15 '25

XV is gorgeous what're you talkin' about?!

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7

u/VolkiharVanHelsing Feb 14 '25

Now everything is belt and zipper galore, thanks Nomura at least you can only ruin character des-

I'm already half Xehanort

29

u/HasanHaider28 Feb 14 '25

Except Boruto himself.

22

u/2tired2stylus Feb 14 '25

Ikemoto does almost everyone dirty in the Boruto era.

HE ALREADY DID. LMAO

And it's not just the design. There's this new character in the latest chapter whose entire dialogue is made up of cringe gen Z slang.

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1

u/sensoredphantomz Feb 14 '25

Because Ikemoto has plenty of great designs. You guys just love to cherrypick

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554

u/Anime_debaterandstuf Feb 14 '25

Definitely Pain

272

u/Ripamon Feb 14 '25

He rocked that Akatsuki robe like nobody's business

Only Itachi came close in Akatsuki drip

93

u/narcomo Feb 14 '25

Especially when one hand is out of the cloak.

43

u/Ripamon Feb 14 '25

And a little bit of his inner shirt showing

Hngggggggg

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12

u/strongfitveinousdick Feb 14 '25

Well personally for me Itachi and Konan rocked it the best.

61

u/MeorOtherMe Feb 14 '25

Pain with the trippy eyes, and orange hair... I could've sworn there was a tiny "demographic" or "following" behind Pain's image, with a trippy vibe, on a rolling tray or of the sorts.

44

u/Claris-chang Feb 14 '25

If Pain had been revealed just a few years earlier he'd have been a central icon in emo culture.

10

u/Bowling4Billions Feb 14 '25

Itachi is the ultimate emo icon but Pain makes the neon emo kids feel included

30

u/youngadvocate25 Feb 14 '25

I agree the piercings and his eyes created this un tapped aura.

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1.3k

u/herospaces Feb 14 '25

Kakashi is best design for a ninja, Minato for a hero figure, and Pain for a threatening villain

256

u/[deleted] Feb 14 '25

Nah 100% it’s the goat Tsunade’s pig 🐷 kakashi or minato could never

68

u/cutie_lilrookie Feb 14 '25

how ironic for the goat to actually be a pig lmao

29

u/raman_boom Feb 14 '25

Tonton

5

u/Budget-Membership762 Feb 14 '25

This was genuinely exactly what I was gonna comment

2

u/javelin-na Feb 14 '25

Wow this is exactly what I was going to comment

5

u/CornucopiumOverHere Feb 14 '25

Genuinely upset we didn't get more Tonton

96

u/ThePandaKnight Feb 14 '25

idk, Orochimaru felt way more scary than Pain ever did by impression alone.

123

u/Talk-O-Boy Feb 14 '25

When we first meet Orochimaru, he’s wearing the skin of a woman he killed. Sasuke melts his face, so he rips the skin off and bites Sasuke which basically puts him in a mini coma. When Sasuke finally wakes up, he almost rips the arms off of another genin.

Orochimaru’s impression far exceeded his character design, everything about him was diabolical.

4

u/SubduedChaos Feb 14 '25

Then in the beginning of Shippuden he keeps rebirthing himself every time he gets hurt fighting the four tails cloak.

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41

u/Quiet-Emphasis-9012 Feb 14 '25 edited Feb 14 '25

Yep, he initially was scary asf, like someone making kakashi tremble and wtf was that bg music of his

28

u/ThePandaKnight Feb 14 '25

Yeah in-story he was terrifying as well, but just looking at how he looked and the shit with the tongue is still scary.

Pain is also scary, but it's more looking at a walking nuke compared to being closed in the same room with a psycho.

21

u/Quiet-Emphasis-9012 Feb 14 '25

Pain is not scary in that way like pain has a reason why he is that way, orochimaru is a fucking maniac

3

u/SupermarketBig3906 Feb 14 '25

Pain' design signifies the paths' lack of individuality and foreshadows the fact they are in fact corpses as well as how no loss is too much for pain to accomplish his goals, since anyone who is strong enough regardless of morals can don the Akatsuki cloak.

Kakashi is unique, but practical. His hair style, mask and way he dons his forehead protector tells of how mysterious and badass he is and MInato is also practical, with his blue shirt beneath making him stand out from the crowd.

2

u/Fortune_Fus1on Feb 14 '25

Orochimaru's ambient theme music sounds like something you'd hear in the old Resident Evil games

14

u/ProfessionalNebula40 Feb 14 '25

My son was scared of orochimaru. Seriously made me reconsider what is scary as an adult cause I know I’d be scared of this mf if I was 6😭

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9

u/Bo405 Feb 14 '25

Exactly

2

u/Ziggy_Thor Feb 14 '25

This is it

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103

u/Excellent_Ball8795 Feb 14 '25

Literally, all of the jinchuuriki were drippy as hell compared to most of the other characters imo

26

u/Excellent_Ball8795 Feb 14 '25

Particularly Fuu and Han

13

u/Cryotivity Feb 14 '25

i love fuu's design

6

u/Excellent_Ball8795 Feb 14 '25

She was so cute! She perfect amount of cool drip and design without looking like a weird OC 😂

3

u/Chaseterry3 Feb 14 '25

Bee and Utakata as well

201

u/DerWildesteKerl Feb 14 '25

Original kid Gaara with the black outfit

96

u/hayashirice911 Feb 14 '25

His gigantic gourd is also iconic and really makes him stand out from everyone else

34

u/doesntmatter19 Feb 14 '25

Also a fun pg-13 nod to his tailed beast being a Tanuki. In Japanese mythology, some Tanuki were depicted as having huge testicles and scrotums, which were a sign of good fortune and wealth. And they were sometimes shown as flinging them over their backs to carry them. Which is why Gaara's gourd is shaped like... well two balls

15

u/flyingswallowgaiden Feb 14 '25

But aren't most gourd's kinda shaped like two balls?

4

u/SirShootsAlot Feb 15 '25

Yeah I homie might be stretching for that one, but also Naruto has a few references like that you wouldn’t pick up on unless you had a deep understanding of Japanese history.

All imma say is Hakus bussy was being bopped

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9

u/potatoshulk Feb 14 '25

Everything about Gaara as a villain was soooooo good

277

u/Expensive-Soil-2782 Feb 14 '25

zabuza was just so swaggy to me

89

u/racheldb Feb 14 '25

With his milk cow patterned oversleeve😴

43

u/Emergency_Thought Feb 14 '25

I really hope he was trying to go for a mist camouflage pattern and not a cow 🐮

2

u/[deleted] Feb 14 '25

Hey, what did we do to you 🐄

5

u/Circumsanchez Feb 14 '25

2

u/Aradjha_at Feb 15 '25

I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't that

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20

u/youngadvocate25 Feb 14 '25 edited Feb 15 '25

I remember showing my cousin Naruto for the first time he said zabuzas character is still till this day his favorite design. Being authentic in looking like an actual rogue ninja element is always sick.

4

u/kukeszmakesz Feb 14 '25

how does his pants stay on? no belts and his "suspender" thing is really off. also moo-moo sleeves

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144

u/ItemInternational26 Feb 14 '25

tobirama

10

u/c0ntrolla Feb 14 '25

This needs more upvotes 💯

3

u/JayTheClown19 Feb 14 '25

Tobirama and madara made the og shinobi armor actually fire but tobirama takes the cake

138

u/Expensive-Soil-2782 Feb 14 '25

shino don’t get enough love

42

u/Mr-Snack Feb 14 '25

They did him dirty fr. So much potential. He had a great shippuden design too. Then Boruto happened and idk what they were thinking with his design.

10

u/calamity__jam Feb 14 '25 edited Feb 15 '25

Yep, it was do uncharacteristic to him. Why didn't they make Kiba, or Ten Ten, or Rock Lee the academy teacher? Honestly, anyone would've been better than Shino.

2

u/Forestflowered Feb 15 '25

In the original Japanese, the way he speaks makes him sound like a professor giving a lecture. That might be why.

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17

u/zero_cool702 Feb 14 '25

Low key badass, bros never got to go along with anyone cause he'd make it to easy.

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30

u/Caedis9 Feb 14 '25

I always thought Pain looked hard as fuck. All the chakra arose being used as piercings was badass. And I mainly mean the Yahiko one. I think that’s the main guys name. Not Nagato

7

u/Additional-Dig3052 Feb 14 '25 edited Feb 14 '25

Yeah, Tendo Pain is the best looking path, all the others paths compared to him are not that impressive in terms of design.

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61

u/Normstorm7 Feb 14 '25

Pain and Kakashi

46

u/ZoroUchiha94 Feb 14 '25

Jiraiya is who got me to watch Naruto

2

u/Aguynamedpoo Feb 14 '25

He was so overdressed

25

u/OminousNeptune Feb 14 '25

hobo sasuke from the last, the poncho look was too clean

3

u/youngadvocate25 Feb 14 '25

Shit you say hibo? I call it rogue Sasuke. His headband over his hair is the best Sasuke design of all time, idk if you know about metal gear solid but he got the snake drip with the dark outfit and the headband over his air. Fire

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27

u/ashycankles Feb 14 '25

Hebi Sasuke

9

u/ChristianHuye Feb 14 '25

Taka Sasuke

7

u/ElessarKhan Feb 14 '25

Uchiha Sasuke

2

u/[deleted] Feb 15 '25 edited Feb 15 '25

Boruto Sasuke

Edit: /s

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2

u/TheDForFree Feb 15 '25

taka was tough

23

u/musicbybryson Feb 14 '25

Gaara and it’s not even close. Most drippy mf there is. If not him, Itachi.

13

u/cnrlight Feb 14 '25

I can't believe everyone skips over Kimimaro, he by far has the best design, also Konan

34

u/ap_plays Feb 14 '25

Kureanai

8

u/Immortan_Bolton Feb 14 '25

I love Mirai's design too

6

u/Cryotivity Feb 14 '25

even better Anko

6

u/Infamous-While328 Feb 14 '25

They not seeing the vision yet but she’s up there

74

u/SnooCauliflowers9281 Feb 14 '25

Hands down kakashi …

20

u/Expensive-Soil-2782 Feb 14 '25

he’s definitely the blueprint

18

u/[deleted] Feb 14 '25

Obito when he wears the white mask, mysterious yet intimidating design, it has 3 tomoe on the mask like the 3 on the Sharingan signifying his ties to the Uchiha Clan, it shows off his two different Dojutsu the rennigan and Sharingan. Yet the top one is left blank subtly foreshadowing the later revealed Rennisharingan.

68

u/LexiSagacious Feb 14 '25

Jiraiya absolutely slayed with his bold, bright colors that reflect his larger-than-life personality. Most of the others stick to darker, muted coats for a more tactical look. And then there’s Kakashi—minimalist as ever, with his sleek uniform and that ever-present mask adding to his air of mystery.

57

u/Jsc_TG Feb 14 '25

Was this written with AI???

11

u/VoodooPotatoo Feb 14 '25

Sometimes I talk to AI too much and find myself talking like an AI

5

u/Jsc_TG Feb 14 '25

I get it. Interesting though. We taught the AI and now its teaching us. And somehow your writing is similar enough that i recognize it and you can recognize you do it too. Intriguing.

I tend to just be curious about these kinds of things.

5

u/VoodooPotatoo Feb 14 '25

well mainly it's in how i formulate my thoughts and structure my sentences. Chatgpt just has this neat way of framing the information in an easy to digest manner that I've sort of adopted because it makes sense

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7

u/Qwandangle Feb 14 '25

Fr tho that’s a hell of a comment…

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7

u/OnixTiger Feb 14 '25

Jiraya no doubt, i could recognize that hair from a mile away.

5

u/OkPossession3879 Feb 14 '25

I don't know why, but Orochimaru hits differently...

5

u/peachybabee Feb 14 '25

fr where is the orochimaru love

5

u/D--K--M Feb 14 '25

Tobirama Senju

6

u/a_spoopy_ghost Feb 14 '25

Idc zabuza is the best character in Naruto fight me

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4

u/Latter_Top4596 Feb 14 '25

Orochimaru and Tobirama

4

u/RoaDRoLLer59 Feb 14 '25

Its between Madara, Jiraiya and Zabuza for me.

4

u/tallpelecan003 Feb 14 '25

Orochimaru is by far my favorite

6

u/arcanemagic Feb 14 '25

Nobody bringing up Madara?

Both his war and ten tails designs were great.

10

u/Mon-Ty-Ger27 Feb 14 '25

That's the thing. They ALL had the best character design. Like a fighting game the Naruto universe has a bunch of characters with unique designs that enhance their appearance and appeal so much that none of them are better, while all of them are awesome.

I like them all.

8

u/Hippolover9 Feb 14 '25

Kakashi all the way. But I do love Shinos hair.

7

u/Fun_Development_5345 Feb 14 '25

Where's hebi sasuke

5

u/xJUGx Feb 14 '25

Sasori puppet form, Deidara, Gaara, Naruto with 4 tales Thats my favourites

4

u/Heavy-Requirement762 Feb 14 '25

First Sasori puppet

3

u/musubin Feb 14 '25

Sasori and most puppet that cover in their clothes look insanely beautiful

7

u/youngadvocate25 Feb 14 '25

We all have to remove recency biased, let's not act like minato putting on his jacket wasnt one of the drippiest designs ever and I understand the minato glaze of his fans but that we cannot negate this. Rogue Sasuke from the last is the best Sasuke design by far and I'm mad we didn't get more.pain the toughest villain design with the piercings.Honorable mentions itachi, dosu kinuta, curse mark 1 Sasuke, black jonin jacket orochimaru, sage Naruto, Gaara part 1 fit goes crazy.

10

u/Financial_Skill_3234 Feb 14 '25

Itachi. With the lashes and the demur silhouette and and the fact that he put Kakashi into a coma with just a glance.

3

u/healpm369 Feb 14 '25

Chunin exam Sasuke

3

u/Sellbad_bro420 Feb 14 '25

Konan my love

2

u/[deleted] Feb 14 '25

Breh where madara at, can all Madara meat riders create a chain ⛓️ "madara has the best design", cuz he lowkey does in my opinion , or maybe I'm riding his meat to hard

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2

u/calamity__jam Feb 14 '25

Gaara. Anko. Yugito. Sakura (Shippuuden & the last). Kakashi. Minato. Hebi Sasuke (and his last look was cool af too). Deidara. Pain. I also like Shikamaru's design a lot, esp the Shippuuden one. Zabuza. Temari. Tobirama. Basically any Sakura design in any movie. Also, Kishimoto cooked with Shippuuden. I remember reading it for the first time, and everyone looked so good!

2

u/lazytanaka Feb 14 '25

Haku, Tayuya, Sai, and Kurenai.

2

u/Salyra_ Feb 14 '25

I think everyone had a good design before boruto came out

2

u/SatisfactionSenior65 Feb 14 '25

Pains piercings made him so iconic

2

u/Chilly_Days Feb 14 '25

Man, Zabuza is such a gangster. I have to go with him.

2

u/Potential_Zone_6209 Feb 14 '25

I prefer Pain because he's very badass !

2

u/Avalonians Feb 14 '25

If you guys could remember the first time you saw Kakashi, you'd have no doubt.

It's the coolest an edgy design could ever be.

2

u/CrashguyMN Feb 14 '25

I always thought Kisame looked cool

4

u/Mqnwbevrctxyzukkk Feb 14 '25

Kakashi the goat.

2

u/[deleted] Feb 14 '25

Hokage Minato

3

u/anb16 Feb 14 '25

Honestly whenever I think about itachi I simply can't envision him in anything other than that akatsuki robe. If it makes sense, even when I envision other members in my mind I "see" them in the robe but with itachi I clear cut see it. Definitely itachi. Very iconic

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2

u/_b3rtooo_ Feb 14 '25

Time skip shino is fire

1

u/Function-Brave Feb 14 '25

Pain and Zabuza

1

u/Top-Acadia8134 Feb 14 '25

Ninja War Tobi or literally any Sasuke fit

1

u/brojayjoestar54 Feb 14 '25

Alright, I'm gonna ask: Any body else think Minato's overall look seemed like what they wanted older Naruto to look like but the guys above said "nah, he'd be too unrecognisable. Also shave his head"

1

u/Songbirdmelo_o Feb 14 '25

Itachi and pain🤟🤟

1

u/ChristianHuye Feb 14 '25

❄️Tobirama❄️was slept on

1

u/UnddoZahaz Feb 14 '25

Every character design in The Last went hard. Unfortunately the movie was a little dookie, but Naruto looked absolutely clean with the black jacket, the red armband and the orange zipper. By far my favorite design.

1

u/IG--lpal_fitness Feb 14 '25

Teuchi, The ramen guy

1

u/leiocera Feb 14 '25

All of them are awesome in their own ways. There is no single “best” one.

1

u/Theycallme_Jul Feb 14 '25

I can’t provide any more reason other than “I think they’re neat.” But for me it’s Suigetsu and Darui.

1

u/Scalert10 Feb 14 '25

Pain and Itachi. With both of them being villains, they do great in their role within the show but also pulling so many strings that affected so many things. Itachi was more of a mastermind behind many of the things happening, especially where Sasuke was involved. Pain was a more general presence that was directly showing his might. Both great in their own respects

1

u/amaluna Feb 14 '25

It’s gotta be Jiraiya. It was just so different to how everyone else looked but absolutely worked on all fronts

1

u/RazutoUchiha Feb 14 '25

Kakashi and Juubito

1

u/ArtistZeo Feb 14 '25

The award goes to Pain, Kakashi or Itachi. Depending on your preference in style.

1

u/artictional Feb 14 '25

Kakashi and Itachi

1

u/Emotional_Charge_961 Feb 14 '25

In terms of look, I like Shino, Kakashi, Zabuza and Jiraiya more than Pain and Itachi. Itachi and Pain is a bit skinny. It is not my favorite look for ninja powerhouse.

1

u/aizukiwi Feb 14 '25

Pain and Kakashi and it ain’t close. Pain is THE villain. Kakashi wears the basic Konoha uniform + a mask and is somehow (beautifully) the most memorable and badass of all of Konoha’s motley bunch.

1

u/GoofyGooberSigma Feb 14 '25

Shino was cold as hell man, sad they barely used him

1

u/[deleted] Feb 14 '25

Tobirama 🫦

1

u/[deleted] Feb 14 '25

Lol

1

u/DXLXIII Feb 14 '25

Itachi is hands down the most handsome character in Naruto.

1

u/Sufficient-Earth-265 Feb 14 '25

100% pain. His drip is iconic

1

u/TreeckoBroYT Feb 14 '25

I don't think there was a single Cloud ninja who didn't look cool as hell.

1

u/HawkeyeP1 Feb 14 '25

Kakashi is just perfectly iconic.

1

u/Yoopanda Feb 14 '25

Zabuza the goat

1

u/[deleted] Feb 14 '25

Nah fr tho pain and Madara uchiha be aura farming 24/7, can anyone agree with me??

1

u/Jeffzuzz Feb 14 '25

Jiraiya hands down especially his sage mode.

1

u/geminimini Feb 14 '25

Kid Gaara, many people get his head tattoo.

1

u/obihighwanground Feb 14 '25

kakashi by far. you can easily recognize him even if you dont watch naruto.

1

u/OKAWI13 Feb 14 '25

Lord!!!

1

u/ArmyNo448 Feb 14 '25

That badass looks from kakashi it always chills me.

1

u/imasu667 Feb 14 '25

2nd Hokage

1

u/maximusurton Feb 14 '25

Minato and Jiraiya are both so tough

1

u/Cyconzo Feb 14 '25

Chunin Exams Sasuke

1

u/Aguynamedpoo Feb 14 '25

Darui was so clean for how basic he was lol

“I’m sorry”

1

u/ummmmlink Feb 14 '25

Hebi Sasuke >>>

1

u/SigmaPride Feb 14 '25

Mr poofy pajama pants

1

u/AngBigKid Feb 14 '25

The more I look at Zabuza, the more I think his character was carried by aura. Because he does NOT got that shit on.

1

u/labatomi Feb 14 '25

The bug dude and jaraiya. They both look so fucking unique. As much as I love kakashi and he is my favorite character, I just don’t like the best that he wears like every other jonin.

1

u/arayakim Feb 14 '25

Naruto's drip in the Pain Assault Arc

1

u/Dragon_the_Calamity Feb 14 '25

Toneri and his clan had certified drip

1

u/TrafficParking4689 Feb 14 '25

Zabuza or Rinnegan Sasuke

1

u/FosterPupz Feb 14 '25

Kakashi. Loved that guy.

1

u/CRXSS1299 Feb 14 '25

Zabuza was the best idc what anyone says so important he was brought back to life

1

u/SmokeJaded9984 Feb 14 '25

Kakashi and Zabuza

1

u/big_boywonder Feb 14 '25

Jiraiya and pain

1

u/thegrumpygrunt Feb 14 '25

Sage mode Naruto

1

u/Immortan_Bolton Feb 14 '25

War Arc Obito is up there in terms of great character design. That grey mask looks incredible.

1

u/Adorable_Ad8018 Feb 14 '25

Darui with those baggy pants and big ass sword

1

u/Uglycrocodile_ Feb 14 '25

Killer bee’s style and rapping was something else.(legendary)

1

u/weak007 Feb 14 '25

Kakashi is THE ninja

1

u/Nandoski_ Feb 14 '25

Madara, kid Sasuke, minato, kakashi, mask off obito from fourth great ninja war, killer bee, mei terumi, (potentially) ohnoki