Jiraiya

Jiraiya (自来也?) was a Konohagakure ninja, being not only Naruto's teacher but also his god-father. Kishimoto has commented that out of all the master-pupil relationships he has created in the Naruto series, the bond between Naruto and Jiraiya is his favorite, noting that it makes drawing them "worthwhile". As a child, Jiraiya was under the tutelage of Hiruzen Sarutobi, along with his teammates, Tsunade and Orochimaru. Jiraiya is known throughout the Naruto world as the "Toad Sage" (蝦蟇仙人 Gama Sennin?) due to his toad-related jutsu and learning Sage Jutsu. Prior to Naruto, due to a prophecy he heard that his pupil would be great man, Jiraiya also trained a few others like Minato and Nagato. Although still affiliated with Konoha, Jiraiya spends much of his time traveling to watch over potential threats to his home. Jiraiya's personality is openly lecherous, proudly describes himself as a "super pervert" while authoring a series of best-selling adult romance novels. He also wrote the epic "Tale of the Gutsy Ninja", with Naruto named after its protagonist. During Part I, he takes Naruto as his student, and returns him to Konoha in Part II before leaving to investigate the Akatsuki. However, finding Nagato leading the organization, Jiraiya dies fighting his former student's Paths of Pain while sending a message of them to the village. In the Japanese anime, Jiraiya is voiced by Hōchū Ōtsuka, and his English voice actor is David Lodge.

Minato Namikaze

Minato Namikaze (波風 ミナト Namikaze Minato?), the Fourth Hokage (四代目火影 Yondaime Hokage?), is the father of Naruto Uzumaki and spouse to Kushina Uzumaki. Although Naruto and Minato are noted to have a number of similar traits throughout the series, their familial relationship is not revealed until Part II of the series. He was the student of Jiraiya and the teacher of Kakashi Hatake. Minato was a prodigy among ninja, such that enemy villages issued flee-on-sight orders if ever he appeared on a battlefield. He developed a jutsu that was in essence a teleportation jutsu, allowing him to wipe out whole armies in the blink of an eye, thus earning him the title of "Konoha's Yellow Flash" (木ノ葉の黄色い閃光 Konoha no Kiiroi Senkō?). Before the start of the series, he gave his life to seal Kurama, the nine-tailed fox, into Naruto's body, saving Konoha from destruction and giving Naruto access to its great strength. Years later during the Fourth Great Ninja War, Orochimaru releases Minato's soul from the Reaper and reanimates him. After Sasuke learns his answers, Minato and the other Hokage decide to fight alongside Sasuke on the battlefield and defeat Madara Uchiha once and for all. Minato is the first to arrive and meets his son Naruto the moment of his arrival. Kishimoto has expressed desire to make a spin-off series with Minato as the protagonist, but much younger. His Japanese voice actor is Toshiyuki Morikawa and his English voice actor is Tony Oliver.

Naruto Uzumaki

Naruto Uzumaki (うずまき ナルト Uzumaki Naruto?) is a fictional character in the anime and manga franchise Naruto, created by Masashi Kishimoto. The central protagonist and title character of the series, he is a young teenage ninja from the fictional village of Konohagakure. The villagers ostracize Naruto because of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox—a malevolent creature that attacked Konohagakure—sealed in his body. To be recognized, he aspires to become the village's leader, the Hokage. His cheerful and boisterous personality lets him befriend other Konohagakure ninja, as well as 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.
When creating Naruto in the initial part of the series, Kishimoto kept the character "simple and stupid", while giving him many attributes of an ideal hero. Kishimoto added a harsh past to give him a side of darkness. Many times he has revised naruto's image, providing the character with different clothes to appeal to Western audiences and make him easier to illustrate. Kishimoto changed his design for Part II of the storyline, which starts two-and-a-half years after Part I. Naruto is voiced by Junko Takeuchi in the original animated series and Maile Flanagan in the English adaptations.
Naruto's character praised by anime and manga has been. Although some saw him as a stereotypical manga and anime protagonist comparable to those in other shōnen manga, they have praised his personality and development as he avoids stereotypes. Naruto has remained popular with the Naruto fan-base, placing high in popularity polls. Merchandise based on Naruto has been released, including figurines and keychains.

Naruto

Naruto (NARUTO—ナルト— NARUTO?) is an ongoing Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. The plot tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, an adolescent ninja who constantly searches for recognition and dreams to become the Hokage, the ninja in his village who is acknowledged as the leader and the strongest of all. The series is based on a one-shot comic by Kishimoto that was published in the August 1997 issue of Akamaru Jump.

The manga was first published by Shueisha in 1999 in the 43rd issue of Japan's Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine. Currently, the manga is still being serialized; sixty-three tankōbon volumes have been released so far. The manga was later adapted into an anime, which was produced by Studio Pierrot and Aniplex. It premiered across Japan on the terrestrial TV Tokyo network and the anime satellite television network Animax on October 3, 2002. The first series lasted 220 episodes, while Naruto: Shippuden, a sequel to the original series, has been airing since February 15, 2007. In addition to the anime series, Studio Pierrot has developed eight movies for the series and several original video animations (OVAs). Other types of merchandise include light novels, video games and trading cards developed by several companies.

Viz Media has licensed the manga and anime for North American production. Viz has been publishing the series in their Shonen Jump magazine, and as well as the individual volumes. The anime series began airing in the United States and Canada in 2005, and later in the United Kingdom and Australia in 2006 and 2007, respectively. The films, as well as most OVAs from the series, have also been released by Viz, with the first film premiering in cinemas. The first DVD volume of Naruto: Shippuden was released by Viz in North America on September 29, 2009, and it started broadcast on Disney XD in October of the same year. Viz Media will begin streaming both series on their upcoming streaming service Neon Alley this fall.

Naruto is one of the best-selling manga series of all time having sold more than 126.5 million copies in Japan alone. Serialized in Viz's Shonen Jump magazine, Naruto has become one of the company's best-selling manga series. The English adaptation of the series has also appeared in the USA Today Booklist several times and volume 7 won the Quil Award in 2006. Reviewers from the series have praised the balance between fighting and comedy scenes, as well as the characters' personalities, but have criticized it for using standard shōnen plot elements.