Looper's Exclusive Survey Uncovered Naruto Fans' Favorite Character

Although it might seem an impossible task to pick the best character in all of "Naruto" — that is, considering the sheer number of compelling heroes and complex villains that the series has to offer — it's quite easy to see which characters might be the front-runners for that honor. 

A few names that come to mind include Sasuke Uchiha (the childhood friend and later rival to the series' eponymous hero, whose arc concludes with perhaps the greatest fight sequence in the entire series) and the legendary shinobi Kakashi Hatake, who acts as the mentor and leader for Team 7 throughout their earliest days as ninjas. This is not even mentioning the series' protagonist Naruto Uzumaki (who is perhaps the strongest character in all of "Naruto") nor other important characters like Sakura Haruno and Shikamaru Nara.

In any case, it's clear that there are plenty of characters whom fans could consider the best in the entire series — though an exclusive survey by Looper recently revealed the true fan-favorite character amongst "Naruto" fans.

Looper's exclusive survey polled 613 "Naruto" fans throughout the US, asking who their favorite character was. Naruto Uzumaki himself pulled ahead as the clear number one answer, earning 25.45% of the vote, and beating out the next highest result by 5%. Notable runner-ups include Kakashi Hatake (who finished with 20.07% of the vote) and Sasuke Uchiha (who earned 16.97% of votes).

Although it shouldn't surprise fans that Naruto himself has emerged as the favorite character in the eponymous anime series, it's still worth noting that there are plenty of fans out there who have major gripes about his behavior, with some even claiming he is by far the worst character in his own show. These fans in particular cite the fact that Naruto encourages dangerous and violent ideologies, fails to resolve major issues while in a position of power, and ultimately fails in his goal to bring peace to the world — making him much less of a hero than he pretends to be.

That said, it's clear that the majority of "Naruto" are more than willing to forgive these numerous criticisms of his character, as he still emerged as the obvious fan-favorite character in our survey. Although Naruto Uzumaki still has plenty of flaws, there's no question that he remains the most beloved character in the entire series.