NarutoUzumaki 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 ofNaruto Shippuden,however, he has gained the respect of both his peers and enemies forever.
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TheNarutoanime series began in 2002 and ran for 220 episodes. Following the original series,Naruto Shippudenbegan in 2007 and lasted a decade, finishing in 2017. The spin-off/sequel seriesBorutobegan in 2017 and tells the story ofNaruto’sson, who has mixed feelings for his father. Over the years,Narutohas 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.
6Yu-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 ofthe originalYu-Gi-Oh!seriestitled 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.
5Apex Legends
Apex Legendsis part of theTitanfalluniverseand one of the most popular battle royale games on the market. The game developers very obviously have a love forNaruto, 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 onNaruto.
Narutocrops up several times inApex Legends, most famously with the character Wraith. Removed for giving an unfair advantage, Wraith could do theNarutorun, a style of running with arms behind as the character leans forward to run. Iconic but nerfed, all the same, theNarutorun was sadly too unbalanced to remain as it was.
4Karate 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.
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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 toKill Billalong the way, Sally too ends up captured and put into a cage. Here viewers see Sally useNarutohand 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 andends up saving SpongeBob,all thanks to a littleNarutoinfluence.
3Lars Alexandersson
Narutohas had several video game adaptations over the years across many console generations. None are quite so highly spoken of as theNaruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Stormseries, a successful quadrilogy chartingNarutoand his friend’s path from the start of the anime toBoruto.
The second title in the series,Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2, featured one of the greatest crossovers inNarutohistory. In this game, players could play as Lars Alexandersson fromTekken 6as a crossover with theTekkenseries. Lars can use electrical attacks such as lightning release by flowing chakra through his body at the point of contact. Lars even had his ownNarutocostume design inTekken 6fromUltimate Ninja Storm 2,even though his appearance in theNarutouniverse was never addressed.
2Pokemon
Everyone in the world knows ofPokemon, the famous video game series that goes from strength to strength with no signs of stopping.Pokemonanime is very popular and still runs alongside each game entry to boost the popularity of newPokemonto the audience.
Ninja arts are not the go-to defense forPokemontrainers as they use their companion monsters to do the fighting instead. In the episode Battle Royal 151, there’s a very cool reference to theNarutouniverse. The trainer Pikala has her own Pikachu, which is named Bolt; this Pikachu has a hairstyle any keen-eyed anime fan would recognize. Bolt sharesthe same haircut as Naruto’s son Boruto, giving the electric mousePokemona unique look and personality.
1Fortnite
The premier battle royale video game is notorious for its huge crossover events. FromStar WarstoIndiana Jonesand evenDragon Ball,Fortniteattracts players back time and time againwith 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. AccompanyingNarutoon his adventure were his friends Sasuke Uchiha,Sakura Haruno, and Kakashi Hatake. Quests would unlock items from across theNarutouniverse 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 greatestNarutocrossover of all time.
