In any Japanese anime series, even the best ones like Naruto, some characters get much better and deeper writing than others. The best-written Naruto characters have thought-provoking and emotionally complex things to say and do, which often makes them the most popular characters, such as Itachi Uchiha, Kakashi Hatake, Tsunade, and Naruto Uzumaki himself.
Meanwhile, some of the worst-written Naruto characters might have a cool visual design and may even take part in some great fights, but their character design is missing something. These badly-written characters are often boring, generic, or annoying to the point of being unlikeable. However, many of them could have been better if Naruto had a smaller cast of characters and could deepen these characters a bit more.
10 Asuma Sarutobi
Some Naruto characters feel badly written not because of what’s in the anime’s script but because of what’s missing. There’s nothing wrong with liking Konohamaru’s uncle Asuma Sarutobi since he really does have charisma as Team 10’s leader and protector, but that’s all he’s got.
Asuma felt pretty cool at first, but far too soon, he hit a plateau, and his character’s writing didn’t have much else to offer. He did have some heartfelt parting words and used to play shogi with Shikamaru, but otherwise, Asuma’s writing made him feel like a half-finished character.
9 Kurenai Yuhi
Kurenai Yuhi is, in many ways, Asuma Sarutobi’s counterpart in Naruto. Like him, Kurenai is a likable and responsible jonin who leads a Konoha 11 team, and she also has some cool genjutsu and is a caring mother for Mirai Sarutobi.
Kurenai’s writing is pretty generic and forgettable, though, and the Naruto anime never found much time for her as a person or as a shinobi. Naruto fans respect her as one of the series’ best moms, which is great, but she lacks strong writing that would make her much more than that.
8 Shizune
When the kunoichi Shizune first appeared in Naruto, she was moderately interesting as Lady Tsunade’s friend and emotional pillar. She also mediated between Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Naruto to help keep the peace. Shizune still felt a tad generic, though, and then she became even less interesting.
Naruto fans don’t dislike Shizune, and they don’t typically criticize her character much, meaning she’s at least tolerable in the story. However, her weak and half-baked character writing leaves a lot of room for improvement for this character, and she never became anything more than Tsunade’s gal-pal.
7 Shino Aburame
Up to a point, writing Shino Aburame as an aloof man of few words actually makes him cool. He’s a calm, confident kuudere with a cool bug-based hiden jutsu, which made him moderately popular in the pre-Shippuden days, but then his character writing petered out.
Shinbo may be cool, but his character writing was just serviceable and little more, and he didn’t have much thematic or personal depth to explore beyond his careful planning and fondness for having an “ace in the hole.” After a point, Shino and many other characters like him were left behind so the story could focus on the real heroes.
6 Rin Nohara
In the Kakashi Gaiden flashback, fans were treated to some cool character writing concerning Kakashi Hatake and his teammate Obito Uchiha. In contrast, their third teammate, Rin Nohara, was written to be a token girl and little more.
Rin was pleasant enough; she even nobly gave her own life to ensure the Hidden Leaf Village was saved. Otherwise, Rin’s characterization, dialogue, and actions were plain and forgettable, and fans might interpret this as yet another example of female characters in shonen anime being underutilized as obligatory inclusions.
5 Kiba Inuzuka
Kiba Inuzuka is a member of the unofficial Konoha 11 team, but he’s often seen as one of the weakest links for a good reason. The best thing about Kiba is his strong bond with his dog Akamaru, but otherwise, he is a brash and boring boy who’s just a typical shonen action hero.
Kiba has little to say that other Naruto characters haven’t already said, and Kiba’s personality and goals feel so uninspired. He’s redundant around characters like Naruto Uzumaki and Rock Lee, though it was mildly amusing to see him realize his dream to become Hokage in the infinite Tsukuyomi.
4 Suigetsu
Suigetsu is a water-based rogue ninja who joined Sasuke Uchiha’s team in Naruto Shippuden, but fans didn’t really warm up to Suigetsu and his weak writing. He was a punk with an attitude, but shonen anime fans can take character designs like that for granted.
Suigetsu said and did very little to stand out, so he was really just Sasuke’s swordsman friend and a token rival for Karin at best. His writing left a lot of room for development and nuance. Still, the story of Naruto Shippuden had much better characters to focus on, from Jiraiya to Pain to Obito Uchiha.
3 Tenten
The kunoichi Tenten trained hard to master a wide variety of ninja weapons, which could have been an impressive calling card of hers. Unfortunately, Tenten never scored any major victories, and her weapon-based style always felt underwhelming, especially as the power creep continued.
Tenten’s personality didn’t keep up, either. She was a typical Leaf kunoichi, a smart and responsible but otherwise unremarkable shinobi who didn’t have any unique insights or comments to share. Her character writing didn’t even include a compelling backstory to match Neji’s.
2 Sakura Haruno
Sakura Haruno stands as one of the most disliked anime characters of all time because of her writing, though she still has some redeeming qualities. As a central Naruto character, Sakura was expected to have stellar writing, but she fell short, and fans were bitterly disappointed.
On the plus side, Sakura had a glow-up when Shippuden started and became a much better friend for Naruto and, later, Sai. Her character’s bad writing still holds her back, though, from her obnoxiously self-centered and petty ways to her constant complaints and criticisms, among other issues.
1 Karin
Sasuke’s new teammate Karin had a talent for sensory jutsu. Still, otherwise, she managed to be an even worse Sakura Haruno because she had many of Sakura’s negative traits, with practically no positive traits to balance things out. Aside from being Sasuke’s chakra sensor, Karin hardly served any purpose in Naruto.
Karin was unlikable right from the start, from her weak characterization to her mean-spirited tsundere personality to her ill-advised romantic pursuits of Sasuke, plus her mutual antagonism toward Suigetsu. Karin later abandoned Sasuke and became somewhat nicer, but the damage was done, and her weak writing made her one of Naruto‘s worst characters of all.