Naruto Character Rankings

How the Rankings Are Organized

Data current as of the compilation date 2026-08-06Character "rankings" often blur popularity with battle strength, so this article separates the two: the main chart uses the official global vote NARUTOP99(roughly 4.6 million votes); it is cross-referenced with earlier Weekly Shonen Jump reader polls and MyAnimeList's Naruto Shippuden character Favorites; battle strength gets its own separate list based on this site's editorial criteria (the Fourth Great Ninja War peak before and after the original manga's conclusion), not as an official verdict.

NARUTOP99 Global Top 15

This was the first global character poll in Naruto history. Minato Namikaze took first place with 792,257 votes, ranking first in every region and age group; Itachi Uchiha came in second with 505,014 votes; Sakura Haruno surged to third late in the voting (489,619), pushing Shisui Uchiha down to fourth. Kakashi Hatake overtook Naruto Uzumaki to take fifth and sixth, respectively. Sakumo Hatake placed seventh, with a vote count slightly higher than Sasuke Uchiha's.

Masashi Kishimoto later added Might Guy (21st) and Kurama (22nd) to the commemorative illustration—his original plan was to draw only the Top 20. The first-place winner, Minato, also received a special short manga from the author.

Early Jump Reader Poll (Poll 1)

The first character popularity poll from the early serialization (revealed around Chapter 60) saw Kakashi take first place with 22,692 votes, followed closely by Naruto and Sasuke. Mizuki ranked fourth, showing how heavily the "teacher storyline" weighed in at that point; Itachi, Obito, and Shisui had yet to enter the main cast. Comparing this with NARUTOP99, it's clear how much popularity shifts depending on the story arc.

MAL Shippuden Favorites Top 10

MyAnimeList character Favorites reflect longer-term bookmarking habits among English-speaking users. At the time of scraping, Naruto led with 87,921 favorites, followed by Itachi at 67,795, Kakashi at 49,195, and Sasuke at 30,329. Minato ranked around 10th on MAL (11,379), well below his first-place finish in the global NARUTOP99 vote—the two lists are answering different questions.

Popularity vs. Power (Quick Reference)

Quick Overview by Site Editors

Popularity tiers are based primarily on NARUTOP99, with input from early Jump polls and MyAnimeList; power tiers only cover the original series up to its conclusion, excluding the major power-ups seen later in Boruto. Don't mix the two sets of tiers in arguments.

Online ranking

Below is the site's embedded Naruto character template (100 characters). You can drag one version sorted by popularity and another by battle strength, but don't expect a single table to satisfy both sides at once.