Shikamaru Nara

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Shikamaru Nara
Naruto character
Shikamaru Nara by Masashi Kishimoto
First appearance	Naruto manga chapter 34 Naruto anime episode 1
Voiced by	Japanese Showtaro Morikubo[1] Nobutoshi Canna (Naruto episode 141 stand-in)[2] English Tom Gibis[3]
Profile
Age	12[4]-13[5] in Part I
Date of birth	September 22[5]
Ninja rank	Chunin[5]
Ninja team	Team 10

Shikamaru Nara (奈良　シカマル, Nara Shikamaru^?) is a fictional character in the Naruto universe created by Masashi Kishimoto and developed into a media franchise, consisting of a series of manga, anime, soundtracks, OVAs, movies, video games, and other collectibles. He is a member of Asuma Sarutobi's Team 10, consisting of himself, Choji Akimichi, and Ino Yamanaka. While Shikamaru is initially shown in the series as a lazy character, complaining about most things that happen, he later shows an remarkable intelligence during the Chunin Exams, which causes Shikamaru to become the first of the primary Konoha Genin to advance to the rank of Chunin. Shikamaru has additionally appeared in two of the featured movies in the series, Naruto the Movie 2: Legend of the Stone of Gelel and Naruto: Shippūden the Movie, as well as several other media relating to the series, including several video games and OVAs.

Numerous anime and manga publications have praised and criticized Shikamaru's character. While most publications praised the use of his intelligence in his battles,^[6] IGN praised his development in the series as he is noted to be a more deep and emotional character.^[7] Shikamaru has also been highly popular with the Naruto reader base, placing high in several popularity polls.^[8] Merchandise based on Shikamaru has also been released, including action figures, key chains and patches.^[9][10][11]

Contents 1 Creation and conception 2 Character outline 2.1 Personality 2.2 Abilities 3 Plot overview 4 Appearances in other media 5 Reception 6 References

[edit] Creation and conception

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The name of the trio "Ino-Shika-Cho" is derived from a hand that can be played in the card game Hanafuda, "ino" meaning "boar," "shika" meaning "deer" and "cho" meaning "butterfly." Shikamaru's family raises deer, and his family name, Nara, is the name of a park in Japan that is famous for its group of free-roaming deer.^[12] Masashi Kishimoto has noted that he "likes" Shikamaru due to his easygoing nature despite being a genius, and contrasted him against Sasuke Uchiha's intelligent but abrasive personality.^[13]

[edit] Character outline

[edit] Personality

Shikamaru is an extremely unenthusiastic person, and as such lives his life avoiding work. This is partly due to seeking paths of least resistance, as he often chooses to do things he would otherwise not do if people nag him enough. In his free time he typically takes naps, watches clouds, and plays strategy games such as Shogi and Go. When put into a situation where he potentially needs to put effort into something, he attempts to try to find a way to avoid it such as forfeiting a battle or by pretending to be preoccupied with something else.^[14] In the instances where he can not avoid these situations, Shikamaru tends to remark "how troublesome" (めんどうくさい, mendoukusai^?, English TV "what a drag" or "such a pain").^[15]

Despite his lazy tendencies, Shikamaru is extremely intelligent. His teacher, Asuma found Shikamaru to have an IQ of over 200, and learned that Shikamaru's poor grades were a result of him finding lifting a pencil to be too much work for him.^[16] Nevertheless, Shikamaru works very well with his teammates as their fathers were teamed together in their youth as well. Of his teammates, Shikamaru is closest with Choji, who repays Shikamaru's confidence in him with unyielding loyalty to Shikamaru.^[17] Shikamaru also has a strong bond with Asuma, often spending time with him playing strategy games. After Asuma's death, he even vows to protect Asuma and Kurenai's unborn child for his teacher's sake.^[18]

One of Shikamaru's more distinctive characteristics is that he finds all women to be bossy and "a pain."^[19] Contrary to this opinion, he has expressed a notably mature interest in marriage and raising a family with a son and daughter.^[20] Ironically, Shikamaru seems to constantly find himself surrounded by the very same strong-willed and bossy women he dislikes. In addition to his own mother, and being surrounded by bossy females, he usually ends up fighting against such women. Shikamaru has had a number of his appearances coincide with those of Temari. When they make their Part II debut together, Naruto Uzumaki asks if they are on a date, though both Shikamaru and Temari state that this is not the case.^[21]

[edit] Abilities

When the need arises, Shikamaru is quick to abandon his lazy nature and act appropriately to complete a mission or save his teammates. Using his Shadow Imitation Technique he can capture the shadow of an opponent to either keep them immobilized or force them to mimic his movements. This ability causes Shikamaru to frequently take the task of stalling enemies so that his comrades can get to safety or to simply buy time.^[22] Although this role puts him in a dangerous position once he can no longer stall the opponent, Shikamaru is willing to serve it, feeling that sacrificing his life to ensure the safety of his friends is worth it. He then considers every element that is relevant to the situation at hand and analyzes the information to its fullest and plan out a battle ten moves in advance and can devise over a hundred strategies to use against an opponent.^[23] This combination of intelligence and dedication to his teammates causes Shikamaru to become the first of the primary Konoha Genin to advance to the rank of Chunin.^[19]

Once becoming a Chunin, Shikamaru's father teaches him to allow him to use his shadow to have more interaction with an opponent by using it to choke an opponent.^[24] This more interactive capability with his shadow is put to great use over the timeskip, and by Part II Shikamaru becomes able to use multiple shadow-based techniques at once.^[25] He is also able to manipulate his shadow to lift from the ground and either grab and throw weapons simply by utilizing an opponent's shadow for the same purpose.^[26] After he comes into the possession of Asuma's brass knuckles, Shikamaru becomes able to channel his shadow into the knuckles, using them to immobilize opponents by throwing them at an opponent's shadow to capture them and save himself the energy.^[27]

[edit] Plot overview

Shikamaru goes to the Chunin Exams without a particular objective. Although he gives up in the finals he becomes a Chunin anyway, because of his incredible way of thinking through the match. During the invasion in Konoha, Shikamaru helps Naruto and Sakura to find Sasuke by staying behind and creating a diversionary ambush against the Sound Ninja who were pursuing them. As a result of his early advance to the rank of Chunin, Shikamaru plays a considerably more active role in the plot than most members of the Konoha 11, albeit more indirectly than the primary cast. His first assignment as a Chunin is to assemble a team to retrieve Sasuke Uchiha which forces him to defeat his escorts, the Sound Four. While his teammates defeat their enemies, Sasuke is able to escape despite their best efforts.^[28]

In Part II, Shikamaru is assigned to track down two members of Akatsuki.^[29] While he and his team manage to find their targets with relative ease, Akatsuki member Hidan is able to kill Asuma during the course of the battle.^[30] After Asuma's funeral, Shikamaru sets out with the surviving members of Team 10 to avenge their sensei.^[31] As his team deals with Hidan's partner, Shikamaru is able to defeat Hidan in memory of Asuma, and single-handedly weakening Akatsuki by one member.^[32]

[edit] Appearances in other media

Shikamaru appears in the second Naruto movie, in which, he, Naruto and Sakura deliver a lost pet to its village, where through a chain of events they eventually get involved with a war between Sunagakure and a mysterious clan that resides in a pre World War I dreadnought. In the movie Shikamaru fights Kamina, who can transform into a large bat. With the help of Kankuro, he is able to defeat her.^[33] He is also present in the third original video animation participating in a tournament^[34] and in the fourth Naruto movie fighting against a large group of stone soldiers.^[35] Shikamaru is a playable character in nearly all Naruto video games, including the Clash of Ninja series and the Ultimate Ninja series.^[36][37][38] In some games, he utilizes variations of his Shadow Imitation Technique not seen in the anime or manga. Naruto Shippūden: Gekitou Ninja Taisen EX marks the first appearance of Shikamaru in his Part II appearance in a video game, with the second one being Naruto Shippūden: Narutimate Accel.^[39]

[edit] Reception

Shikamaru has been featured consistently in the Shonen Jump popularity polls, commonly placing in the top ten characters and reaching 4th place once.^[8][40] The last such poll was in 2006, in which Shikamaru was in 10th place.^[41] Merchandise based on Shikamaru has also been released, including action figures, key chains and patches in both of his Part I and Part II appearance.^[9][10][11]

Several publications for manga, anime, video games, and other related media have provided praise and criticism on Shikamaru's character. IGN comments that Shikamaru is one of their favourite characters of the series and mention that he is the poster child for any card-carrying member of Generation X due to being perhaps the brainiest ninja in the current crop but he simply refuses to recognize his potential.^[42] In a review of episode 110 in the Sasuke Retrieval arc, they comment that his demeanor can often make him quite unpredictable as he starts showing surprising leadership qualities.^[43] The moment in which Shikamaru cries after the end of that mission has been praised since he becomes a more deep and serious character.^[7] Anime News Network comments that the strategic abilities of Shikamaru are one of the best things about the fights in the series.^[6] Animeondvd.com praises Shikamaru as one of the most fascinating characters in the series noting that his most powerful ability is his intellect.^[44]

[edit] References

v • d • e Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto Franchise Volumes (Part I & II) • Naruto episodes (Seasons 1-2 · 3-4 · 5-6 · 7-9) • Naruto: Shippūden episodes • OVAs • CCG Characters Naruto Uzumaki • Sasuke Uchiha • Sakura Haruno • Kakashi Hatake • Jiraiya • Orochimaru • Tsunade • Shikamaru Nara • Gaara • Antagonists Movies Naruto the Movie 1 • 2 • 3 • Naruto: Shippūden the Movie 1 • 2 Video games Clash of Ninja (series) • Ninja Council series • Ultimate Ninja series (Storm) • Rise of a Ninja • Path of the Ninja Other Jutsu • World of Naruto