Naruto Uzumaki (Japanese: うずまき ナルト, Hepburn: Uzumaki Naruto ) is a fictional character in the anime and manga Naruto, created by Masashi Kishimoto. The eponymous protagonist of the series, he is a teen ninja from the fictional village of Konohagakure. The villagers ridicule Naruto on account of the Nine -Tailed Demon Fox—a malevolent creature that attacked Konohagakure—sealed in his body; despite that, he aspires to become the village 's leader, the Hokage. His carefree, optimistic and boisterous personality enables him to befriend other Konohagakure ninja, as well as ninja from other villages. Naruto appears in the series ' films and in other media related to the franchise, including video games and original video animations (OVA), as well as the sequel Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, where his son, Boruto Uzumaki, is the protagonist.
When creating Naruto for the initial part of the series, Kishimoto kept the character "simple and stupid," while giving him many attributes of an ideal hero. Kishimoto gave Naruto a dark side by adding tragedy to the character 's past. He has revised Naruto 's image many times, providing the character with different clothes intended to appeal to Western audiences and to make him easier to illustrate. Kishimoto changed his design for Part II of the storyline, which starts two-and-a-half years after Part I. Naruto is voiced by Junko Takeuchi in the original animated series and Maile Flanagan in the English adaptations.
Merchandise based on Naruto includes figurines and keychains.
