Creation and conception ( Naruto )

When Kishimoto created Naruto's character, he incorporated a number of traits he felt made an ideal hero: a straightforward way of thinking, a mischievous side, and many of the attributes possessed by Goku from the Dragon Ball franchise. He also made sure to keep Naruto "simple and stupid." Kishimoto did not model Naruto after anyone in particular, instead conceiving him as childlike with a dark side induced by his harsh past. Despite this, he is always optimistic, a trait Kishimoto says makes him unique.[44] Naruto's personality is, by and large, childish in nature. Kishimoto frequently tries to show this when illustrating Naruto, such as depicting him mimicking a turtle like a child might do on the manga cover of volume 10.[45] As Naruto was his first published manga, Kishimoto was focused on designing Naruto's facial expressions in a difficult situation and tried to be consistent in each of them.[46]

Naruto's wardrobe is based on clothing Kishimoto wore when he was younger; according to Kishimoto, using a pre-existing design would not have made Naruto unique whereas something original would have made him stand out too much.[47] The orange coloring of his costume is used to make Naruto "pop," with blues often being used to complement the orange.[48] Because Naruto is associated with spirals, swirl patterns are incorporated into his costume.[49] Initial illustrations of Naruto had him wearing boots, but Kishimoto replaced these with sandals, because he enjoys drawing toes.[50] The goggles that Naruto used to wear were also replaced with a hitai-ite, or shinobi headband, because the goggles themselves were too time consuming to draw.[51] The colors of his outfit, however, were one of the most difficult to choose by him. Additionally, he commented he wants to apologize to the anime staff for Naruto's design, considering it too difficult to make.[52]

Kishimoto said he is glad his character has blond hair and blue eyes; it has become so common worldwide ever since his debut that it is utterly unquestionable whether or not the main protagonist is purely Japanese due to his appearance, therefore Naruto, along with the immense popularity it has gained, comes naturally to the readers and international audiences with blond hair and blue eyes. The complexity and diversity of Naruto and his friends was also noted and praised. The editor of Shonen Jump in the United States added that he implied that the traits may have led the character to appeal to a Western audience. Kishimoto said that he most identifies with Naruto out of all of theNaruto characters. When asked why Naruto's favorite food is ramen instead of kitsune udon Kishimoto said that he personally liked eating ramen.[53][54] In the Naruto: Clash of Ninja video game series, Naruto is playable in various stages of the demon fox's manifestation characterized by a red-colored chakra. Kishimoto took inspiration from the presentation of these forms, imitating one of them for the manga cover of volume 26.[55] When designing Naruto for his Part II appearance, Kishimoto drew Naruto's forehead protector wider to make his eyebrows easier to draw, something that had bothered him in his previous design. He also noted that Naruto's pants made the character look childish. To remedy this, Kishimoto designed a portion of Naruto's pants to roll up, giving the character a more mature appearance.[56]

In the original Japanese versions of Naruto, Naruto often ends his sentences with the addendum "-ttebayo" (which achieves an effect similar to ending a sentence with "you know?"). Kishimoto wanted to give Naruto a childlike catchphrase, and "dattebayo" came to mind. Kishimoto believes the phrase complements Naruto's character, and serves as a verbal tic that portrays him as somewhat of a brat.[47] Throughout the beginning of the English dub version, "dattebayo" and "-ttebayo" were replaced with the phrase "Believe it!", both to mirror the effect and to match the character's lip movements.[57]