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Naruto is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. It tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, a young ninja who seeks recognition from his peers and dreams of becoming the Hokage, the leader of his village. The story is told in two parts – the first set in Naruto's pre-teen years, and the second in his teens. The series is based on two one-shot manga by Kishimoto: Karakuri (1995), which earned Kishimoto an honorable mention in Shueisha's monthly Hop Step Award the following year, and Naruto (1997).
Naruto Uzumaki is a title character and main protagonist of the manga Naruto, created by Masashi Kishimoto. As the series progresses, he is a young ninja from the fictional village of Konohagakure. The villagers ridicule and ostracize Naruto on account of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox—a malevolent creature that attacked Konohagakure—that was sealed away in Naruto's body. Despite this, he aspires to become his village's leader, the Hokage, in order to receive their approval. His carefree, optimistic, and boisterous personality enables him to befriend other Konohagakure ninja, as well as a 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 by Ukyō Kodachi, where he is the Hokage and his son, Boruto Uzumaki, is the protagonist, later on, he adopts a boy named Kawaki and begins mentoring him in ninjutsu.
Sakura Haruno is a fictional character in the Naruto manga and anime series created by Masashi Kishimoto. Sakura is depicted as a kunoichi affiliated with Konohagakure and a part of Team 7, which consists of herself, Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and their sensei Kakashi Hatake. Sakura initially has an infatuation for Sasuke, praising him at every juncture, and heaps scorn upon the less-skilled teammate Naruto. Over the course of the series, she begins to shed this singularly driven persona and grows more appreciative and accepting of Naruto. Besides the main series, Sakura has appeared in several pieces of the Naruto media, most notably the spin-off Naruto: The Seventh Hokage and the Scarlet Spring (2015) and the sequel Boruto: Naruto Next Generations (2016) where she is portrayed as a doctor named Sakura Uchiha.
Sasuke Uchiha is a fictional character in the Naruto manga and anime franchise created by Masashi Kishimoto. Sasuke belongs to the Uchiha clan, a notorious ninja family, and one of the most powerful, allied with Konohagakure. Most of its members were massacred by Sasuke's older brother, Itachi Uchiha, before the series began, leaving Sasuke one of the few living. Despite becoming empathetic toward his teammates Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno, Sasuke's feelings of powerlessness force him to abandon his friends and his home in his quest to become stronger, and to find Orochimaru. Sasuke appears in several of the series' animated feature films and related media, including video games, original video animations (OVAs), and Boruto: Naruto the Movie (2015) and its manga sequel, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations (2016), in which he is depicted as a vigilante supporting his village and a mentor to Naruto's son Boruto Uzumaki.
Shikamaru Nara is a fictional character in the manga and anime franchise, Naruto, created by Masashi Kishimoto. In the anime and manga, Shikamaru is a ninja affiliated with the village of Konohagakure. He is a member of Team 10, a group of ninja consisting of himself, Choji Akimichi, Ino Yamanaka, and team leader Asuma Sarutobi. Shikamaru is portrayed as a lazy character, unwilling to apply his prodigious intelligence; Kishimoto has noted that he likes Shikamaru due to his easygoing nature. Outside the Naruto anime and manga, Shikamaru has appeared in several other media in the franchise, including video games, original video animations, and six feature films.
The Principality of Madripoor or Madripoor is a fictional island located in maritime Southeast Asia appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, mostly associated with stories from the X-Men series. Based on illustrations, it is in the southern portion of the Strait of Malacca between Singapore and Sumatra.
Orochimaru (大蛇丸) is a fictional character from Naruto, a manga series created by Masashi Kishimoto. In the anime and manga, Orochimaru is a former ninja from the village of Konohagakure who is well known for his abilities. He is one of the three Legendary Sannin and a former member of the terrorist organization Akatsuki. He sought to gain power, conducted inhumane experiments to find a means to cheat death, and built his own ninja village Otogakure. He succeeded to some extent in obtaining immortality by transferring between different host bodies, which became one of his driving motivations throughout the series as he targets Sasuke Uchiha for his genetic heritage. While he was the main antagonist in Part I of the series, Orochimaru's role was overshadowed by the Akatsuki organization prior to the Fourth Ninja War arc. By the events of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, he has seemingly redeemed himself and has sent his son Mitsuki to Konoha to become a ninja, while he himself occasionally works with Naruto and Sasuke. Orochimaru has appeared in media outside the Naruto anime and manga, including several video games.
Fantasy comics have been around as long as the medium itself. The classification "fantasy comics" broadly encompasses illustrated books set in an other-worldly universe or involving elements or actors completely outside the realm of our reality. Fantasy has been a mainstay of fiction for centuries, but the resurgence of fantasy in fiction around the late 1930s and early 1940s, spurred by authors such as C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien likely inspired comic book producers who were experiencing an explosion of interest at the time. Fantasy-themed books—driven by superhero comics gaining popularity through the 1960s—grew to dominate the field. In the 1990s, fantasy authors such as Neil Gaiman helped expand the fantasy comics genre to even greater heights with the critically acclaimed Sandman series.
The Wallenquist Organization is a criminal organization in the fictional universe of Frank Miller's Sin City. It is led by Herr Wallenquist, a German-American mobster shrouded in mystery. The organization has a broad base of criminal enterprise to its name, including drug smuggling, contract killing, racketeering, organ harvesting and human trafficking for the purpose of illegal adoption and slavery, as well as having many city officials on their payroll at one time or the other. They employ scores of mercenaries, including former IRA members, and implied Neo-Nazis.
Itachi Uchiha is a fictional character in the Naruto manga and anime series created by Masashi Kishimoto. Itachi is the older brother of Sasuke Uchiha, and is responsible for killing all the members of their clan, sparing only Sasuke. He appears working as a terrorist from the organisation Akatsuki and serves as Sasuke's greatest enemy. During the second part of the manga, Itachi becomes involved in attacks to ninjas possessing tailed-beast creatures until facing Sasuke in a one-on-one battle. Although Itachi perishes during the final duel, it is later revealed that Itachi had a secret reason for assassinating the Uchiha clan. Itachi is a playable character in most of the video games from the series.
Blade of the Phantom Master/(Korean: 신암행어사; RR: Sin Amhaeng-eosa) is a South Korean-Japanese manhwa series created by Youn In-wan and illustrated by Yang Kyung-il. The story takes place in a world reminiscent of ancient Korea, and follows the Korean-folktale-inspired adventures of Munsu, one of the few remaining guardians against corruption and tyranny, as he seeks to find those responsible for the destruction of his country. It was serialized from 2001 to 2007 in South Korea and in Japan, and was adapted into an anime theatrical-release film in 2004 in a first-of-its-kind collaboration between Japan and South Korea. In 2007, an English-language version of the film was released in the United States by ADV Films under the title Blade of the Phantom Master. In 2008, the anime became one of over 30 ADV titles transferred to Funimation.
Kakashi Hatake is a fictional character in the Naruto manga and anime series created by Masashi Kishimoto. In the story, Kakashi is the teacher of Team 7, consisting of the series' primary characters, Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno. He is initially portrayed as a detached and apathetic figure, but as the series progresses, his loyalty to his friends and students becomes increasingly apparent. Kakashi's past has been extensively explored in the series, resulting in a gaiden being devoted to his past experiences. Kakashi has appeared in several pieces of Naruto media, the featured films in the series, the original video animations, and the video games.
Obito Uchiha, also known by his alias Tobi (トビ), is a character in Masashi Kishimoto's manga Naruto. He is first introduced in a "Kakashi Chronicle" side story as a young ninja who sacrifices himself to save his friends from a rival group of ninjas. Although he was believed to have died, Obito is later revealed as the real leader of the terrorist organization, Akatsuki, mainly acting behind the scenes for a majority of the group's tenure. He uses the alias of his benefactor, Madara Uchiha, and conceals his true identity with masks as one of the primary antagonists in the series' second half. Obito and his varied personas have appeared in Naruto video games and animated adaptations.
Nagato, known primarily under the alias of Pain, is a fictional character in the manga and anime series Naruto created by Masashi Kishimoto. Nagato is the figurehead leader of the Akatsuki who wishes to capture the tailed beasts sealed into various people around the shinobi world. After acquiring and sealing most of the beasts within a statue, Nagato's superior sends him to capture the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox sealed inside the series' protagonist, Naruto Uzumaki. Before leaving to capture Naruto, Nagato engages in a mortal battle with his former mentor, Jiraiya. His past as a war orphan, and his loss of his best friend are explored. Due to his traumatic experiences, which stemmed from human conflict, Nagato aims to create a new world, free from the chaos of war. Nagato also appears in the series' video games.
Road to Ninja: Naruto the Movie is a 2012 Japanese animated film based on Masashi Kishimoto's manga and anime series. It was released in Japan on July 28, 2012. The band Asian Kung-Fu Generation performed the theme song "Sore de wa, Mata Ashita". Both the single CD and the film's soundtrack were released on July 25, 2012. The first 1.5 million people to see the film were given the Motion Comic: Naruto DVD.
Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers is a superhero anime television series produced by Toei Animation and The Walt Disney Company Japan, based on the Marvel Comics universe. The series began airing in Japan from April 2, 2014, on TX Network stations. The series was aimed at boys 6–12 and tied in with merchandising produced by Bandai.
Madara Uchiha is a fictional manga and anime character in the Naruto series created by Masashi Kishimoto. He appears for the first time in "Part II" of the manga and the Shippuden anime adaptation, as a major villain. He, along with its first Hokage Hashirama Senju, is one of the co-founders of Konohagakure village from the ninja world. Their power conflict over how to run the village, as well as the long-term feud between clans, leads to Madara's death. However, it is revealed later that Madara had used a man named Obito Uchiha as his agent. He transplants his Rinnegan eye power into a child named Nagato, the leader of the terrorist organization Akatsuki, to be preserved for his eventual revival years later. During most of the series, Obito uses Madara's name until a criminal named Kabuto Yakushi reanimates the real Madara who becomes one of the primary antagonists alongside Obito Uchiha during the Fourth Great Shinobi World War storyline. Madara has appeared in several pieces of Naruto media, including a Boruto feature film. Many Naruto video games have featured him as a playable character.