Minato Namikaze ranked No. 1 in NARUTOP99, Naruto’s official worldwide character popularity vote. Itachi Uchiha placed second and Sakura Haruno third. The ranking below follows the official global results—not a measure of who is strongest or best written.
How the Naruto character ranking was decided
NARUTOP99 ran from December 17, 2022, through January 31, 2023, Japan Standard Time. The Naruto Official Site described it as the franchise’s first worldwide character popularity vote and reported approximately 4.6 million votes. Its archive lists 488 character entries and says fans could vote once per day for any character. The official results announcement gives the vote dates and total; the NARUTOP99 archive provides the entries and poll rules.
“Popular” here means how characters placed in that particular fan poll. The results are a snapshot from late 2022 and early 2023, not a live ranking or a measure of combat ability, screen time, sales, or narrative quality.
The 35 highest-ranked Naruto characters
- Minato Namikaze
- Itachi Uchiha
- Sakura Haruno
- Shisui Uchiha
- Kakashi Hatake
- Naruto Uzumaki
- Madara Uchiha
- Sakumo Hatake
- Sasuke Uchiha
- Jiraiya
- Obito Uchiha
- Hinata Hyuga
- Shikamaru Nara
- Tobirama Senju
- Hashirama Senju
- Gaara
- Deidara
- Neji Hyuga
- Rock Lee
- Kurama (Nine Tails)
- Might Guy
- Sasori
- Orochimaru
- Izuna Uchiha
- Tobi
- Hidan
- Fugaku Uchiha
- Ashina Uzumaki
- Nagato
- Kushina Uzumaki
- Tsunade
- Zabuza Momochi
- Kaguya Otsutsuki
- Iruka Umino
- Teuchi
What the top results show
Minato took first place, followed by Itachi and Sakura. The official announcement says Minato led in every region and age group. That is the specific cross-group distinction established by the published results; it does not mean every region or age group produced identical rankings below first place.
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The list also includes characters from across the franchise, from central figures such as Naruto and Sasuke to supporting characters including Iruka and Teuchi. Their positions reflect votes in this poll, rather than a shared metric such as strength or time on screen.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to read the ranking
The order is the official global ranking from NARUTOP99. It answers which characters received the highest placement in that vote; it cannot settle who is any individual reader’s favorite. Different questions—such as strongest character or best-written character—would require different criteria and evidence.
Quick Recap
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- Look for more characters from the Ultimate Legends series and grow your collection
- Ages 4 plus
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