Top 10 Times Naruto Appeared In Other Media

WatchMojo

The Naruto run is eternal. Join Ashley as we look over the times where Naruto showed up outside its own anime

Transcript

00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at the most notable times the knuckle-headed

00:10ninja made his way into other shows, games, or merchandise.

00:27The apple fell very, very far from the tree on this one.

00:31Thanks to one of Rick's wild experiments, Morty and Summer's kid isn't exactly what

00:35you'd call the spitting image of his parents.

00:38Instead, he's ginormous, capable of mass destruction, and lives in the depths of space.

00:45But despite all that, Summer looks up at her kid, and decides there's only one name that

00:51Honestly, we aren't sure whether Naruto should be flattered or offended.

01:02At the very least, she seems to think it's a term of endearment, but the jury's still

01:06out on everyone else.

01:11In the Naruto universe, Rock Lee's the guy to look for if you want to see some slick

01:26hand-to-hand combat.

01:27In the real world, though, there's another Lee to keep your eyes on – Keith Lee, to

01:31be precise.

01:32If the wrestler's Instagram is any indication, he's quite the anime fan.

01:37And even better, he's brought that passion into the ring on more than a few occasions.

01:42Whether you've seen Naruto or not, watching a wrestler make their entrance in an Akatsuki

01:46hoodie is just plain cool.

01:54Thankfully, Keith Lee usually makes the franchise proud by coming out with a win, and that's

02:04without any jutsu.

02:16As quite the line-up of songs in this Donkey Kong spin-off, amid all the covers, Naruto's

02:21third ending theme, Viva Rock, also snuck its way in.

02:32People clearly liked it too, since the next game doubled down on the crossover.

02:36There, you could tap to the beat of two more Naruto songs, and despite the hardware limitations,

02:42they sound pretty damn great.

02:47Don't go rushing to boot up your old copy, though.

02:54The first Naruto track only appeared in the Japanese copies of Donkey Konga 2, and the

03:00third game never even got a worldwide release.

03:24An artist's inspiration can come from the strangest of places, like, for instance, an

03:29anime villain.

03:30In Pokemon Black 2 and White 2, a trainer on Route 5 starts a battle by claiming that

03:36art is explosions.

03:38Anyone who's ever seen Naruto Shippuden will recognise that as being a homage to Deidara's

03:44iconic catchphrase.

03:57Although in this case, the Akatsuki member means it a bit more literally.

04:01See, despite the trainer's words, his Pokemon doesn't even know the move, Explosion, which

04:07feels like a major missed opportunity.

04:09But all things considered, Deidara should just be happy he made it into a Pokemon game

04:14in the first place.

04:24This episode sees the Brown family go to Comic-Con.

04:40A convention means cosplay, and cosplay means a whole load of unofficial cameos.

04:45The most obvious one of all comes from a group of nerds waiting in line for a panel.

04:50Smashed right between an Ewok and Chewbacca, someone's dressed up as the one and only

04:56Naruto Uzumaki.

05:01The outfit itself is pretty good, but that's where the similarities between him and Naruto

05:06end.

05:07When the cosplayer has to choose between staying with his pals or getting the last seat at

05:11the panel, he abandons his friends faster than you can say Rezengan.

05:15Guess Naruto's ninja way doesn't apply to cosplayers.

05:27He's fought in actual Shinobi Wars, and this still might be the biggest battle royale

05:31Naruto's ever taken part in.

05:33Luckily, he isn't alone.

05:42When the Hokage-to-be finally dropped in Fortnite, he brought the whole Team 7 with him, as just

05:47nothing better than shooting through an enemy as a four-man squad of Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi

05:53and Naruto.

05:54Especially since you can teabag with custom Naruto emotes too.

06:04The collaboration was such a hit that, a year later, Fortnite dropped a second wave of skins,

06:11featuring Hinata, Gaara, Orochimaru and Itachi.

06:14Who knew ninjas would be so handy with guns?

06:22Gaara, step aside.

06:36There's a new Kazekage in town, and his name is Jamal Williams.

06:40While he probably doesn't have the power of a tailed beast, he was a pretty solid running

06:45back for the Detroit Lions.

06:47But instead of calling himself a mere athlete, Williams used his 2023 player intro to announce

06:53that he'd become the first swag Kazekage.

07:00In or out of universe, that's a pretty bold claim to make.

07:04But Williams had nothing to sweat about, considering he'd go on to break the Lions' record

07:08for touchdowns in a single season, he really might be a kage on the football field.

07:29Just like in the source material, this satirical interpretation of Naruto just wants to lead

07:34his village.

07:35But this version gets there a whole lot quicker.

07:38Rather than a decade-spanning anime series full of action, heart and character growth,

07:43Robot Chicken throws Naruto into a totally original and copyright-free ninja exam.

07:54He still fails, but because his dad's a big donor to the school, Naruto gets to command

08:00Konoha anyway.

08:01That's it.

08:02That's the whole scene.

08:03It's only a few minutes long, but it still manages to land some seriously funny blows

08:14to the franchise.

08:15Although, from Robot Chicken, we shouldn't have expected anything less.

08:23The Boondocks.

08:32To this day, Orochimaru's first encounter with the vengeful Uchiha is one of the franchise's

08:38coolest fights.

08:39It's spawned an endless number of homages and rip-offs, including all the way in The

08:44Boondocks.

08:45Although this version is a two-on-two, entire bits of the original scene are still recreated

08:51with painstaking attention to detail.

09:00At a certain point, it feels like Naruto music should be playing in the background.

09:04Unfortunately, the remake doesn't go that far, but on the bright side, this masterfully-crafted

09:10action scene is still plenty entertaining the second time through.

09:39Gintama.

09:41Turns out Gintoki is a massive otaku.

09:43In particular, he likes the manga about a young, immature ninja who stops a villainous

09:49group of shinobi from taking over the world.

09:52No, not Naruto.

09:54It's the legally distinct Beruto.

10:01Surprisingly, that cheeky gag isn't even the most overt Naruto reverence in the series.

10:12In fact, it's practically an outlier.

10:14More often than not, Gintama makes fun of Naruto right to its face, name drops and all.

10:26Some of it is innocent fun, some of it is biting criticism, and some of it is blink-and-you'll-miss-it

10:33easter eggs.

10:34Either way, it's a good thing that Naruto knows how to take a joke.

10:43Where do you want Naruto to do a teleportation jutsu to next?

10:47Let us know in those comments below.

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