Naruto Fans Are Simultaneously Inspired And Disappointed By Temari's Strength

The majority of principal characters in mega-hit shonen anime and manga franchise "Naruto" are members of organized groups, be they squads like protagonist Naruto's Team 7 — easily the strongest team in all of "Naruto" — or larger organizations like the villainous Akatsuki. Temari is initially a member of a three-person team from the sand village Sunagakure, alongside her siblings Kankuro and Gaara. While briefly serving somewhat villainous roles upon their introduction, Temari and her squad soon join the series' main cast as heroes.

On the "Naruto" subreddit, one user started a popular thread about Temari, pointing out that she's the only female "Naruto" character who isn't the weakest member of whatever team she may be a part of. In the thread's title, they describe this as "a cool but unfortunate fact." Subsequent comments either dispute or elaborate upon this proposition, praising Temari while exploring this larger trend of female characters that are weaker than their male counterparts. Ino being the weakest Ino-Shika-Cho member is one such example of this phenomenon.

While the most-upvoted comment in the thread argues that the Akatsuki's Konan might at least count as one other notably strong woman team member in "Naruto," another popular comment by OjamasOfTomorrow proposes Tsunade as another possibility, while decrying the overall state of the series. "Tsunade is debatable," they wrote. "But d*** that's sad."

While this thread about Temari's unique status relative to the rest of the "Naruto" cast sparked a lengthy discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of women throughout the series, some users simply shared their appreciation for Temari as a character. For example, user Hot_Promotion_1258 wrote, "I love Temari. She's easily the best female character in Naruto." A few users who then replied to that comment shared that they named various pets after Temari.

In another Reddit thread dedicated to her character, one commenter wrote a lengthy post about just why she likes Temari so much, and even highlighted why they she thinks Temari stands out compared to some of the other women in "Naruto." "Temari's development in the story is more focused in that she's already a strong ninja, but she's slowly learning to become more 'like a girl' (or more human-like in general)," they wrote. Virtually every other female character, they went on to argue, is conversely confident in their femininity but still learning to become strong in battle.

So, while the idea that Temari is the sole female "Naruto" character not weaker than her male teammates may be contentious for various reasons, the "Naruto" fanbase nevertheless seems to be united in their appreciation of Temari overall.