5 overrated female characters in Naruto (& 5 who were underrated)
Shonen animes have always mostly cast the spotlight on male characters, but Naruto certainly stands out. The female characters in Naruto are full of zeal and are shown to always stand toe-to-toe with their male counterparts and friends. In fact, it is easily one of the best shonen anime showcasing female characters' struggles and the emotional hurdles they face.
Naruto is one of the longest-running shonen with its successor, Boruto, now ongoing. Mangaka Masashi Kishimoto does great to bring to light the journey of the female ninjas and the difference in struggles in contrast with the male characters.
As such, let’s take a look at the 5 most overrated female characters in Naruto and 5 characters who were terribly underrated.
Note: This article reflects the personal opinion of the author and does not adhere to official power levels. Sportskeeda holds no copyright over the images used and they belong to the original creators.
The 5 most overrated female characters in Naruto
5) Tenten
Tenten made her debut as a kunoichi from Konohagakure during the Chunin Exams arc in Naruto. She was a part of Team Guy and definitely had a good first impression on viewers. However, following her loss against Temari, Tenten was never seen pushing herself beyond her limits and coming close to the power levels of her teammates, Neji and Rock Lee.
Her feats are at their most, decent, and her prowess comprises of being a “master of weapons”. Lacking a real niche that utilizes her full potential is her biggest flaw, which is why Tenten easily becomes one of the most overrated females in the Narutoverse.
4) Ino Yamanaka
Ino is probably one of the female shinobis of Konoha who has access to a tremendously powerful skill. But her weakness lies in her character, where she always falls for the strongest or cutest-looking guys.
The Mind Body Switch Technique, the signature jutsu of her clan, is without a doubt overrated and we can only imagine what a genius like Shikamaru could have done with it. Despite possessing this skill, being good at chakra control, and also being able to perform medical ninjutsu, she fails to make any notable dent during the entire course of Naruto. Definitely overrated!
3) Karin
Karin is a female character who can easily become a top-tier kunoichi with the skillset she possesses. But her lack of training to increase her power, unfortunately, puts her on the list of overrated female characters in Naruto.
For instance, Karin possesses great sensory defensive abilities and amazing healing powers which she displayed by healing an almost dead Sasuke during his fight against Killer B. Her chains can also bind down bijuu strength opponents, yet all of these skills become useless when Karin is put in a one-on-one fight against any strong opponent.
Being a descendant of the Uzumaki clan, if Karin put more heart into training herself and not running after Sasuke, she would have undoubtedly become one of the strongest kunoichis.
2) Sakura Haruno
Putting Sakura among the list of overrated female characters is a tad bit controversial, considering she is not at all weak. But overrated? Definitely. From the onset of the anime, she spends all her time running after Sasuke and it is only his absence that pushes her to train herself.
After being trained by Tsunade, she reached the Hokage’s level of strength during the 4th Great Ninja War. But Sakura’s con is her lack of versatility and originality. She has mastered everything she was taught, but cannot outperform the original users. Sakura also never tried to master anything which she was not taught. This shows her dependent nature and makes her one of the most overrated female characters since she self-proclaimed to be on the same level as Naruto and Sasuke.
1) Hinata Hyuga
Hinata is undoubtedly the most overrated kunoichi in the Narutoverse. This doesn’t mean she is weak by any means. But her character development falls shorter than any other Konoha girl. All we see from her is her obsessive love towards Naruto despite failing to get noticed by him and only striving to be better to be on Naruto’s radar.
She did become successful in her venture during her fight against Pain. But if she had trained herself more, and striven to become a strong personality, that would have probably saved Naruto a lot of pain instead of seeing a friend being tossed around.
The 5 most underrated female characters in Naruto
5) Kurenai
This kunoichi deserves way more recognition than she does. Kurenai is a Konoha genjutsu specialist and although she barely appears on the screen during fights, her deadly genjutsu could trap both Uchiha Itachi and Kisame.
Now, Itachi, the master of genjutsu, could reverse it only thanks to his Sharingan. If not for him, Kisame would have been in serious trouble since Kurenai’s technique made him completely immobile. Unfortunately, she was matched up against Itachi, but if this kunoichi appeared in more fights, we are sure we could have witnessed some amazing feats!
4) Temari
Temari is undoubtedly a great Kunoichi who deserves a lot more attention than she gets. Her mastery over the Wind Release makes her one of the best Wind Style shinobi in existence. Temari even managed to land a perfect hit on the reanimated Madara during the 4th Great Ninja War.
Her fearlessness could be seen right from her chunin days as she displayed great motherly affection towards Gaara. Shows why someone with a great intellect like Shikamaru would end up loving a woman like her!
3) Konan
Konan is the only female member of Akatsuki and almost managed to take down Obito Uchiha by herself. Not only is she intelligent, patient, and calm, but her mastery over Paper Ninjutsu puts her in a whole different league.
This kunoichi managed to surprise Obito, who went against her with the full intent of killing her and came out gravely injured despite being successful in his ordeal. Konan became the right hand of Akatsuki’s leader which means she was recognized by Nagato. This character deserves far more recognition and only suffers due to her lack of screen time.
2) Guren
Guren was an anti-protagonist who trained under one of the Three Legendary Sanins, Orochimaru. She was able to perform the very unique ‘Crystal Style’ ninjutsu which made Orochimaru gain interest in her. As a kid, this kunoichi destroyed a whole town single-handedly under the Sanin’s order.
In Naruto: Shippuden, Guren took on a tailed beast by herself and even managed to defeat it temporarily. She could perform ninja seals using only one hand and even her taijutsu skills are on par with Kakashi! The copy-ninja also mentions how the earth, water, and wood styles are powerless in front of her, and Guren’s Crystal Style ninjutsu shows how dangerous of an opponent she is! A significantly underrated female character in Naruto!
1) Chiyo
Lady Chiyo appears when Gaara ends up getting captured by Akatsuki. A retired and super-old Chiyo managed to fight on par with Sasori and she is the only reason both Sakura and Gaara are alive now. Her skills are also not just limited to combat powers alone.
She also helped Sakura in creating the antidote, which was vital against Sasori’s lethal poison. Chiyo was one of the only figures capable of taking down Sasori and is one of the most underrated female characters in Naruto without a doubt.
In summation
Numerous characters, both male and female, from the lively world of Naruto give the story depth and complexity. It's important to acknowledge and value the wide variety of characters since they all contribute to the engaging and dynamic storytelling that makes the series a favourite among viewers.
Follow us for more updates on Naruto as the anime returns after more than a decade. The studio is re-releasing four episodes of the anime, which will start running in September 2023 for all fans to watch, in honour of the 20th anniversary of the original anime's debut.
This article was modified on Sunday, August 10 at 12:00 AM.
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Shreya Das