Naruto Uzumaki is a young ninja who is outcast by his village but desperately wishes for their approval and dreams of one day becoming Hokage. Naruto, at the start of the anime, is a little brat who is sure of his goals to the point it pushes others in the village away. By the end of Naruto Shippuden, however, he has gained the respect of both his peers and enemies forever.
The Naruto anime series began in 2002 and ran for 220 episodes. Following the original series, Naruto Shippuden began in 2007 and lasted a decade, finishing in 2017. The spin-off/sequel series Boruto began in 2017 and tells the story of Naruto's son, who has mixed feelings for his father. Over the years, Naruto has popped up in various other media, from video games to other anime, and is no stranger to being mentioned or parodied in many forms of popular media.
6 Yu-Gi-Oh!
A popular anime and manga based on the story of Yugi Mutuo, a young boy who often gets picked on and loves games. Yugi manages to solve an ancient puzzle called the Millenium Puzzle, and this causes a spirit to enter his body. Eventually, it turns out that this spirit is an ancient Egyptian pharaoh who had lost his memories. Any time Yugi was in trouble the spirit came forth to challenge anyone who endangers Yugi or his friends to Shadow Games.
Episode 187 of the original Yu-Gi-Oh! series titled Let The Games Begin part one, featured the KC Grand Prix. This is a tournament where participants are randomly drawn one by one to see who faces one another. It is during the tournament that Naruto crosses into the world. During the match in the crowd Choji Akimichi, Shikamaru Nara, and Ino Yamanaka can all be seen watching.
Apex Legends is part of the Titanfall universe and one of the most popular battle royale games on the market. The game developers very obviously have a love for Naruto, one of Revenant's death totem animations that had him perform a summoning Jutsu from the show. As well as the Jutsu animation for Revenant, Wattson had a skin called the legendary lightning spirit that was also based on Naruto.
Naruto crops up several times in Apex Legends, most famously with the character Wraith. Removed for giving an unfair advantage, Wraith could do the Naruto run, a style of running with arms behind as the character leans forward to run. Iconic but nerfed, all the same, the Naruto run was sadly too unbalanced to remain as it was.
4 Karate Island
He may live in a pineapple under the sea, but SpongeBob is no stranger to martial arts. In Season 4, Episode 11, SpongeBob is invited to karate island to be crowned king of all karate. Traveling to the island, Sally suspects something is not quite right as she knows SpongeBob is not as strong as herself.
She was right, and SpongeBob was imprisoned, leaving it up to Sally to rescue her yellow porous friend. Fighting her way through floor after floor with a nod to Kill Bill along the way, Sally too ends up captured and put into a cage. Here viewers see Sally use Naruto hand signs to perform what appears to be some form of Jutsu. After the hand signs, Sally manifests the power to break out of the cage and ends up saving SpongeBob, all thanks to a little Naruto influence.
3 Lars Alexandersson
nara skin fortnite
Naruto has had several video game adaptations over the years across many console generations. None are quite so highly spoken of as the Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm series, a successful quadrilogy charting Naruto and his friend's path from the start of the anime to Boruto.
The second title in the series, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2, featured one of the greatest crossovers in Naruto history. In this game, players could play as Lars Alexandersson from Tekken 6 as a crossover with the Tekken series. Lars can use electrical attacks such as lightning release by flowing chakra through his body at the point of contact. Lars even had his own Naruto costume design in Tekken 6 from Ultimate Ninja Storm 2, even though his appearance in the Naruto universe was never addressed.
2 Pokemon
Everyone in the world knows of Pokemon, the famous video game series that goes from strength to strength with no signs of stopping. Pokemon anime is very popular and still runs alongside each game entry to boost the popularity of new Pokemon to the audience.
Ninja arts are not the go-to defense for Pokemon trainers as they use their companion monsters to do the fighting instead. In the episode Battle Royal 151, there's a very cool reference to the Naruto universe. The trainer Pikala has her own Pikachu, which is named Bolt; this Pikachu has a hairstyle any keen-eyed anime fan would recognize. Bolt shares the same haircut as Naruto's son Boruto, giving the electric mouse Pokemon a unique look and personality.
1 Fortnite
The premier battle royale video game is notorious for its huge crossover events. From Star Wars to Indiana Jones and even Dragon Ball, Fortnite attracts players back time and time again with these high profile collaborations. Some of these skins must be unlocked by completing quests, while others must be purchased in the item shop menu.
Naruto Uzumaki, the ninja who never goes back on his word, entered the arena hoping to achieve his victory royale. Accompanying Naruto on his adventure were his friends Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and Kakashi Hatake. Quests would unlock items from across the Naruto universe and even allow the final valley and chunin exam arena to be visited. Players could even explore the hidden leaf village while this event was running, making for the greatest Naruto crossover of all time.
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