History EnsembleDarkhorse / Naruto

* [[DarkActionGirl Tayuya of the Sound Four]] is a minor villain who's only prominent during one arc, but is the most popular of the Ninjas from Otogakure shown in fanart or in stories (save for main characters Kabuto and Orochimary). For instance on Platform/FanFictionNet, she is the focus of more fanfictions than the three other members of the Sound Four and the three Sound Genins ''combined''. Being one of the few females in Part One who could actually fight and do stuff greatly helped make her popular among fans. For instance, most stories have her doing a HeelFaceTurn.

* Iruka Umino appears rather infrequently, and in fact went without an appearance in the manga (save for appearing on a couple covers) for over ''four years''. Yet he has consistently placed within the ''top ten'' characters in popularity polls. Iruka hardly gets any screen-time, but he arguably makes one of the most important contributions to the plot in that, after Hinata, he's one of the few people to genuinely and openly accept Naruto. Also, the [[YaoiFangirl girls]] like him. Lots. Especially when he shows up with a certain Jonin--it doesn't take much work to uncover the phenomenon of [[PortmanteauCoupleName KakaIru]].

* [[DarkActionGirl Tayuya of the Sound Four]] is a minor villain who's only prominent during one arc, but is the most popular of the Ninjas from Otogakure shown in fanart or in stories (save for main characters Kabuto and Orochimary). For instance on Website/FanFictionNet, she is the focus of more fanfictions than the three other members of the Sound Four and the three Sound Genins ''combined''. Being one of the few females in Part One who could actually fight and do stuff greatly helped make her popular among fans. For instance, most stories have her doing a HeelFaceTurn.

* Teuchi, the chef and owner of Ichiraku Ramen, and to some extent his daughter Ayame. They both are never shown to have ever discriminated Naruto and Teuchi would give Naruto some free ramen once in a while. ''LightNovel/{{Konoha Hiden|ThePerfectDayForAWedding}}'' all but confirms that Teuchi was the first person who ever openly showed kindness to Naruto by offering him a bowl of ramen when he was a toddler, which makes him really sympathetic towards fans.

* [[DarkActionGirl Tayuya of the Sound Four]] is a minor villain who's only prominent during one arc, but is the most popular of the Ninjas from Otogakure shown in fanart or in stories (save for main characters Kabuto and Orochimary). For instance on Website/FanFictionNet, she is the focus of more fanfictions than the three other members of the Sound Four and the three Sound Genins ''combined''. Being one of the few females in Part One who could actually fight and do stuff greatly helped make her popular among fans. For instance, Most stories have her doing a HeelFaceTurn.
* As the Uchiha clan as a whole became more and more [[BaseBreakingCharacter base-breaking]], Shisui remained fairly popular, hailed as one of the decent Uchihas due to his all-around kindness and being willing to do anything for the village and his comrades, as well as his willingness to resolve the issues between the Uchiha and the village peacefully.

* Teuchi, the chef and owner of Ichiraku Ramen, and to some extent his daughter Ayame. They both are never shown to have ever discriminated Naruto and Teuchi would give Naruto some free ramen once in a while. ''[[LightNovel/KonohaHidenThePerfectDayForAWedding Konoha Hiden]]'' all but confirms that Teuchi was the first person who ever openly showed kindness to Naruto by offering him a bowl of ramen when he was a toddler, which makes him really sympathetic towards fans.

* The Fourth Hokage is a PosthumousCharacter who has only appeared in a few photos and flashbacks, yet he has a following of whoa, probably for being the manga's epitome of a badass {{Bishonen}}. It might also be that in a series best described as a WorldOfBadass he's ones of the closest things to a BadassNormal among the Kages. He has no {{story break|erpower}}ing eye powers, no combination of elemental styles/releases (e.g. wood style) and no special clan lineage. Still, [[AsskickingLeadsToLeadership he was the youngest Hokage so far]] and generally considered [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking one of the stronger characters in the universe.]]

* [[DarkActionGirl Tayuya of the Sound Four]] is the most popular of the Ninjas from Otogakure shown in fanart or in stories. Most stories have her doing a HeelFaceTurn. Being one of the few females in Part One who could actually fight and do stuff [[DracoInLeatherPants greatly helped make her sympathetic in the minds of fans]].

* The Fourth Hokage is a PosthumousCharacter who has only appeared in a few photos and flashbacks, yet he has a following of whoa, probably for being the manga's epitome of a badass {{Bishonen}}. It might also be that in a series best described as a WorldOfBadass he's ones of the closest things to a BadassNormal among the Kages. He has no {{story break|erpower}}ing eye powers, no combination of elemental styles/releases (e.g. wood style) and no special clan lineage. Still, [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority he was the youngest Hokage so far]] and generally considered [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking one of the stronger characters in the universe.]]

* ''Naruto'' features a character that may well be the ''ultimate'' Ensemble Darkhorse: [[http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Hayate Hayate Gekko]], the [[IllGirl Ill Boy]] Jonin with the IncurableCoughOfDeath. He placed ''eighth overall'' in his first popularity poll despite his only actions being overseeing the third round of the Chuunin Exams, stumbling onto the Sand and Sound villages' plan to invade, being found out, and ''dying instantly''. Even long after his death, he still remained a popular character, surpassing Orochimaru and even ''Minato'' in Polls 4 and 5.

* The Fourth Hokage is a PosthumousCharacter who has only appeared in a few photos and flashbacks, yet he has a following of whoa, probably for being the manga's epitome of a badass {{Bishonen}}. It might also be that in a series best described as a WorldOfBadass he's ones of the closest things to a BadassNormal among the Kages. He has no {{gamebreaker}} eye powers, no combination of elemental styles/releases (e.g. wood style) and no special clan lineage. Still, [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority he was the youngest Hokage so far]] and generally considered [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking one of the stronger characters in the universe.]]

* Teuchi, the chef and owner of Ichiraku Ramen, and to some extent his daughter Ayame. They both are never shown to have ever discriminated Naruto and Teuchi would give Naruto some free ramen once in a while. ''[[KonohaHidenThePerfectDayForAWedding Konoha Hiden]]'' all but confirms that Teuchi was the first person who ever openly showed kindness to Naruto by offering him a bowl of ramen when he was a toddler, which makes him really sympathetic towards fans.

* Teuchi, the chef and owner of Ichiraku Ramen, and to some extend his daughter Ayame. They both are never shown to have ever discriminated Naruto and Teuchi would give Naruto some free ramen once in a while. Teuchi being probably the first person who ever showed kindness to Naruto (even before Iruka) makes him really sympathetic towards fans.

* Iruka Umino appears rather infrequently, and in fact went without an appearance in the manga (save for appearing on a couple covers) for over ''four years''. Yet he has consistently placed within the ''top five'' characters in popularity polls. Iruka hardly gets any screen-time, but he arguably makes one of the most important contributions to the plot in that he's the first person to genuinely and openly accept Naruto. Also, the [[YaoiFangirl girls]] like him. Lots. Especially when he shows up with a certain Jonin--it doesn't take much work to uncover the phenomenon of [[PortmanteauCoupleName KakaIru]].
* Shikamaru placed as high as ''fourth and fifth overall'' in popularity polls despite appearing no more than any other side character. Perhaps due to this popularity, he is one of the few non-main characters to get significant CharacterDevelopment and regularly appear post-TimeSkip. A couple fans have since argued that Shikamaru is Naruto's true best friend, unlike [[BaseBreakingCharacter Sasuke]].
* Shikamaru's father Shikaku and [[spoiler: future wife]] Temari are popular, as they're both pretty badass in their own rights - Shikaku's the Jonin Commander of the Leaf forces, and Temari's pretty much the series' most consistent ActionGirl. Being easy on the eyes doesn't hurt either.
* Rock Lee enjoyed quite a fair bit of popularity for being one of the most badass characters in Part I despite having [[BadassNormal absolutely zero aptitude for the ninja magic]] that almost every other character heavily utilized. Even though he somehow got ''less'' screen-time after the TimeSkip, he still remained popular enough to get a spin-off, ''Manga/RockLeesSpringtimeOfYouth''.
* Lee's sensei Might Guy is beloved for being a complete goofball who had his occasional moments of badass (and like Lee, he did it without any ninja magic). While he was already popular in mid-2000s thanks to his high tier status in ''VideoGame/NarutoShippudenUltimateNinja4'' video game, his popularity grew even bigger towards the end of the manga as he ''really'' broke out the badass, single-handedly defeating [[spoiler:Kisame]] and performing a [[spoiler:HeroicSacrifice]] in order to give a major beatdown to [[spoiler:Madara]].

* The ''Fourth Hokage'' is a PosthumousCharacter who has only appeared in a few photos and flashbacks, yet he has a following of whoa, probably for being the manga's epitome of a badass {{Bishonen}}. It might also be that in a series best described as a WorldOfBadass he's ones of the closest things to a BadassNormal among the Kages. He has no {{gamebreaker}} eye powers, no combination of elemental styles/releases (e.g. wood style) and no special clan lineage. Still, [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority he was the youngest Hokage so far]] and generally considered [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking one of the stronger characters in the universe.]]

* Fuu and Yugito, the female Jinchuriki, are the most popular Jinchuriki after Gaara, Killer Bee and Naruto himself. Perhaps they are just a way to look at a female version of Naruto, perhaps its because one has a flaming cat in her, or the other green hair....

''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' is a LongRunner with LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters, resulting in many of them getting quite popular despite a dearth of screen time.

* Tobirama Senju, the Second Hokage [[spoiler: because he happens to be the OnlySaneMan and DeadpanSnarker, who has a good sense of humor and is highly intelligent. He also knew what to do with a near AlwaysChaoticEvil group of people--without, say, adovcating ''genocide'' against them unlike another character, and has been giving a lot of the spotlight even fighting alongside Naruto, Minato, and Sasuke on the front lines against Obito Uchiha. A few popular memes have been 'We should have listened to Tobirama' with a picture of Hashirama above it, or 'Tobirama was right'.]]

* As the Uchiha clan as a whole became more and more [[BaseBreakingCharacter base-breaking]], Shisui remained fairly popular, hailed as one of the decent Uchihas due to his all-around kindness and being willing to do anything for the village and his comrades, as well as his willingness to resolve the issues between the Uchiha and the village peaceful.

* Tobirama Senju, the Second Hokage [[spoiler: because he happens to be the OnlySaneMan and DeadpanSnarker, who has a good sense of humor and is highly intelligent. He also knew what to do with a near AlwaysChaoticEvil group of people, and has been giving a lot of the spotlight even fighting alongside Naruto, Minato, and Sasuke on the front lines against Obito Uchiha. A few popular memes have been 'We should have listened to Tobirama' with a picture of Hashirama above it, or 'Tobirama was right'.]]

* As the Uchiha clan as a whole became more and more [[BaseBreakingCharacter base-breaking]], Shisui remained fairly popular, hailed as one of the few decent Uchihas due to his all-around kindness and being willing to do anything for the village and his comrades.

* Teuchi, the chef and owner of Ichiraku Ramen, and to some extend his daughter Ayame. They both are never shown to have ever discriminate Naruto ever and Teuchi would give Naruto some free ramen once in a while. Teuchi being probably the first person who ever showed kindness to Naruto (even before Iruka) makes him really sympathetic towards fans.

* A, the Fourth Raikage, has a lot of fans despite his limited screentime, appearing most during the Kage Summit and then the attempt to keep Naruto out of the Fourth Shinobi war. [[note]] Most of the commanding of the war is done by Shikaku, the strategist. [[/note]] This is because he is a CrazyAwesome [[WrestlerInAllOfUs ninja-wrestler]] who could keep up with [[FastestThingAlive Minato]]. He also benefits from synergy with his brother, Killer Bee, who is himself a popular character and more prominent in the series, being one of Naruto's mentors and a Jinchuriki. It doesn't hurt that each of their first fights consists of them utterly kicking the ass of [[BaseBreakingCharacter Sasuke Uchiha]], a character who is [[AmericansHateTingle widely despised outside of Japan]].

** Prior to the reveal that he was alive and was Tobi (leading to his infamous base-breaking status), Obito in ''Kakashi Gaiden'' used to fit this trope as well for being a AllLovingHero that was a sharp contrast to the Uchihas seen so far ([[GenocideFromTheInside Itachi]] and [[FaceHeelTurn Sasuke]]).

* [[ShrinkingViolet Hinata]] [[NiceGirl Hyuga]] has limited screen-time in the manga, but is still ''the most popular female character of the whole franchise''. Then there was the massive freak-out over both her LoveConfession and DisneyDeath. The animation studio are all fans of her and noticed her popularity enough to increase her screen-time in {{filler}}s.
** Her sister, Hanabi Hyuga, is also very popular despite only appearing ''twice'' in the manga and not having much relevance other than [[InformedAttribute being stated to be stronger than her]] despite being younger.
** On the subject of Hinata, her AlternateUniverse counterpart from ''[[Anime/NarutoTheMovieRoadToNinja Road To Ninja]]'' has a lot of fanart.
** Her popularity would later result in her becoming more prominent by the end of the manga's run, and becoming a main character in the [[Anime/TheLastNarutoTheMovie film]] that serves as the {{canon}}ical epilogue of the main story [[spoiler:and shows how she and Naruto became an OfficialCouple]].
** [[spoiler:Her and Naruto's daughter, Himawari Uzumaki, has a sizable fanbase]].
** [[WordOfGod Kishimoto confirms]] Hinata as a BreakoutCharacter and her new status as "eventual" heroine of the series. She also happens to be [[CreatorsFavorite his favorite female character]].

* Another example in ''Naruto'' is Shikamaru. He placed as high as ''fourth and fifth overall'' in popularity polls despite appearing no more than any other side character. Perhaps due to this popularity, he is one of the few non-main characters to get significant CharacterDevelopment and regularly appear post-TimeSkip. A couple fans have since argued that Shikamaru is Naruto's true best friend, unlike [[BaseBreakingCharacter Sasuke]].
** By extension, his father Shikaku and [[spoiler:his future wife]] Temari also get this. Helps that they're both pretty badass in their own rights - Shikaku's the Jonin Commander of the Leaf forces, and Temari's pretty much the series' most consistent ActionGirl. Being easy on the eyes doesn't hurt either.

* Lee's sensei Might Guy is also this, initially for being a complete goofball who had his occasional moments of badass (and like Lee, he did it without any ninja magic). While he was already popular in mid-2000s thanks to his high tier status in ''VideoGame/NarutoShippudenUltimateNinja4'' video game, his popularity grew even bigger towards the end of the manga as he ''really'' broke out the badass, single-handedly defeating [[spoiler:Kisame]] and performing a [[spoiler:HeroicSacrifice]] in order to give a major beatdown to [[spoiler:Madara]].

* Anko is also really popular, despite only appearing in the Chuunin Exam arc before she disappeared from the manga for ''seven years'' before finally showing up again. This is probably why she had several brief appearances and a filler arc in the anime.

* ''Naruto'' also features a character that may well be the ''ultimate'' Ensemble Darkhorse: [[http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Hayate Hayate Gekko]], the [[IllGirl Ill Boy]] Jonin with the IncurableCoughOfDeath. He placed ''eighth overall'' in his first popularity poll despite his only actions being overseeing the third round of the Chuunin Exams, stumbling onto the Sand and Sound villages' plan to invade, being found out, and ''dying instantly''. Even long after his death, he still remained a popular character, surpassing Orochimaru and even ''Minato'' in Polls 4 and 5.

* The Masked Man/[[spoiler:[[EvilCounterpart Menma]]]] only appears in the {{Filler}} movie ''Road To Ninja'' yet is well regarded in the fandom. The movie itself is devisive, but he himself the is the most popular out of all the antagonists from the movies.

** The Ninjas of Otogakure in general (not counting main characters Orochimaru and Kabuto) are fairly popular compared to their relatively brief screentime. Mostly Tayuya (as mentioned above) who is, along with Temari, one of the series' most consistent {{Action Girl}}s and Kimimaro (for being a badass and an interesting AntiVillain, with [[NobleDemon honorable qualities]] and a [[TragicVillain tragic backstory]]). But all the Sound Five and the Sound Genins qualify to some extent, especially before ''Shippuden'' aired.
* Deidara. In one poll he was more popular then the titular character himself (this was his ''first'' poll ever and he ranked #3, higher than any Akatsuki member then or since). In the last poll he was still a very high #6.
* As the Uchiha clan as a whole became more and more [[BaseBreakingCharacter base-breaking]], Obito (prior to TheReveal) and Shisui were fairly popular, hailed as the few decent Uchihas due to their all-around kindness and being willing to do anything for the village and their comrades.

* Another example in ''Naruto'' is Shikamaru. He placed as high as ''fourth and fifth overall'' in popularity polls despite appearing no more than any other side character. Perhaps due to this popularity, he is one of the few non-main characters to get significant CharacterDevelopment and regularly appear post-TimeSkip.

* A and his brother Killer B, the Fourth Raikage and Eight Tails jinchuriki respectively. Both of them are utter badasses who verge on being CrazyAwesome, with A occasionally doing something akin to either a Super Saiyan transformation or a [[WrestlerInAllOfUs Pro Wrestling move]], and B having a fighting style that involves breakdancing and using seven swords ''at the same time''. It also doesn't hurt that each of their first fights consist of them utterly kicking the ass of [[BaseBreakingCharacter Sasuke Uchiha]], a character who is [[AmericansHateTingle widely despised outside of Japan]].
* Out of all the antagonists from the movies, The Masked Man/[[spoiler:[[EvilCounterpart Menma]]]] from the {{Filler}} movie ''Road To Ninja'' is the most popular.
* Tobirama Senju, the Second Hokage has became one during the current arc. [[spoiler: Doesn't hurt that he happens to be the OnlySaneMan and DeadpanSnarker, who has a good sense of humor and is highly intelligent. He also knew what to do with a near AlwaysChaoticEvil group of people, and has been giving a lot of the spotlight even fighting alongside Naruto, Minato, and Sasuke on the front lines against Obito Uchiha. A few popular memes have been 'We should have listened to Tobirama' with a picture of Hashirama above it, or 'Tobirama was right'.]]
* [[DarkActionGirl Tayuya of the Sound Four]] is the most popular of the Ninjas from Otogakure shown in fanart or in stories. Most often have her doing a HeelFaceTurn. Being one of the few females in Part One who could actually fight and do stuff [[DracoInLeatherPants greatly helped]].

* A and his brother Killer B, the Fourth Raikage and Eight Tails jinchuriki respectively. Both of them are utter badasses who verge on being CrazyAwesome, with A occasionally doing something akin to either a Super Saiyan transformation or a [[WrestlerInAllOfUs Pro Wrestling move]], and B having a fighting style that involves breakdancing and using seven swords ''at the same time''. It also doesn't hurt that each of their first fights consist of them utterly kicking the ass of Sasuke Uchiha, a character who is [[AmericansHateTingle widely despised outside of Japan]].

* Tayuya of the Sound Four is most often the popular of the Ninjas from Otogakure shown in fanart or in stories. Most often have her doing a HeelFaceTurn. Being one of the few females in Part One who actually could fight and do stuff probably helped.

* Lee's sensei Might Guy is also this, initially for being a complete goofball who had his occasional moments of badass (and like Lee, he did it without any ninja magic). His popularity grew exponentially towards the end of the manga as he ''really'' broke out the badass, single-handedly defeating [[spoiler:Kisame]] and performing a [[spoiler:HeroicSacrifice]] in order to give a major beatdown to [[spoiler:Madara]].