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The Naruto series is vast and there are a ton of characters that were introduced during the course of the series. While some of the characters enjoyed a steady growth rate, some of the characters were either cast aside or lost their charm eventually.
There are a number of reasons for a character’s decline in popularity, but one of the most common reasons for this to happen is the lack of screen time. Let’s take a look at some of the characters who lost their charm over the course of the series.
Some of the characters in Naruto that lost their charm
1) Rock Lee
Rock Lee was a popular character in Naruto who trained in taijutsu under the tutelage of Might Guy. Given how the series progressed, fans expected Rock Lee to be just as strong as Might Guy since he was Might Guy’s favorite student and showed flashes of brilliance from time to time. However, by the time Boruto began, Rock Lee didn’t really have the same amount of screen time that he could have enjoyed, considering he was portrayed as someone as strong and as influential as Might Guy. While fans believe that he is capable of opening all Eight Gates, there are no feats to suggest that at the moment.
2) Neji
When Neji was first introduced as a character in Naruto, many fans believed that he would be someone who could rival the likes of Naruto and Sasuke towards the end of the series. However, he didn’t really receive much screen time and didn’t enjoy a level of character development that could be compared to deuteragonists such as Sakura. Neji’s death was used by Kishimoto to catalyze Hinata and Naruto’s relationship, which wasn’t the ending fans expected for a character of his caliber. Neji’s charm slowly declined for these reasons, which could have been avoided since he was a great character with a lot of potential for character development.
3) Tenten
Tenten is a character that is popular for the wrong reasons. She is a bit of a meme among the community and ignored by the writers quite often. Given her combat style, she is an interesting character on paper because the series didn’t have weapons experts capable of wielding a variety of weapons depending on the situation. She is someone who also had a level of versatility that few had in the beginning solely because of the range she covered with her attacks. She was capable of utilizing swords for close range combat and long range projectiles to fight characters from a distance. However, she was ignored by the writers and didn’t receive much screen time at all. She also didn’t go through much of character development which led to the decline in her popularity and her charm in the series.
4) Anko
Anko as a character was quite mysterious and Naruto fans knew that she was connected to Orochimaru in the past. She was quite strong and an able shinobi who assisted several shinobis including the protagonist on missions. The series continued to provide a build-up for this character and fans assumed that it would include a fight after she learnt the truth as well. She was happy after locating the lab because she realized that he didn’t abandon her, and that she left him because of his devious plans. While the ending was happy, the payoff was not satisfying and this character lost her charm as well. This character seemed quite unfit in the Boruto series as well, which certainly led to the decline of this character’s popularity.
5) Shizune
Shizune was a character that was introduced during the earlier parts of the Naruto series. She assisted Tsunade with her administrative work and all the tasks that she had to perform during her tenure as a Hokage. Fans expected Shizune to be a strong and able shinobi since she was appointed by the Hokage to assist her with her tasks. However, this character didn’t really have the opportunity to engage in combat or play an important role during tough situations which would have indicated the abilities and traits of a well-written character. Naturally, this character lost her charm and her popularity declined gradually towards the end of the series.
6) Kiba
Kiba was a character that was introduced early in the Naruto series and was in the same team as Hinata and Shino. Kiba was quite hard working and he saw the protagonist as someone he wanted to rival. When a character harbors this feeling, usually the fanbase expects such a character to become as strong or comparable to the protagonist after a few training arcs. However, Kiba didn’t really grow much as a character or as a shinobi. This character’s popularity declined at a steady rate and became irrelevant after a point in the series.
7) Shino
Shino Aburame was a character whose introduction raised a lot of eyebrows because he had a unique fighting style. He utilized insects in combat and the reason why fans loved this character was because of the fact that his abilities would complement all aspects of being a shinobi. It was great for combat, had very good reconnaissance utilities and was used to retrieve objects as well. However, Shino didn’t really have much character development over the course of Shippuden and his popularity declined. However, he became an instructor at the academy in the Boruto series.
8) Yamato
Yamato, during the earlier parts of Naruto, replaced Kakashi as the team leader for Team 7. He was asked to head the team because he had Hashirama’s cells and therefore could contain the Nine Tailed Beast chakra if it got out of hand. He used Wood Release and when he first did that, the series had the entire fanbase’s attention. However, Yamato didn’t really get much screen time after a point since he was captured by Kabuto. He was encased within Tobi’s body and was then caught in the Infinite Tsukuyomi shortly after being freed. Since that was the case, Yamato lost his charm and his popularity also declined.
