Cliches can be unavoidable even in the best stories, but many of them happen to appear repeatedly among shounen anime. Even Naruto and Naruto: Shippuuden, two series that broke the mold in a number of ways, have plenty of cliches and tropes, especially among its main characters.
Granted, some of these character tropes worked in adding to the story and creating some of the most impactful and memorable anime moments, but others were just a huge disappointment and should have either been tweaked or removed entirely. Whatever Kishimoto was thinking when he thought up these characters, he probably should've thought a little harder with some of them.
10 Rock Lee Is The Powerless Character That Fights Anyway To Prove Himself
In a world run by the power of chakra, Rock Lee is a bit of an enigma, unable to utilize the supernatural energy himself, he's treated like a joke and underestimated every time. It's just a good thing the Ninja Academy didn't ban him from graduating because of his lack of ninjutsu since he does prove himself to be an exceptional fighter.
The powerless character trope has been used in anime for decades, seen in the characters Chi-Chi and Hercule from Dragon Ball. Rock Lee shares the same struggles as they do, being the character that should stay out of the fight, but chooses not to.
9 Naruto Is The Clueless Underdog Who Manages To Rise To The Top
Unlike Rock Lee, Naruto has the ability to use jutsu, he just has a hard time knowing how to control it and has proven to be a bit of an idiot when it comes to understanding the concept. He's one of the many clueless underdogs who rise to the top through sheer willpower, always shocking those around him when he manages to succeed.
Most shounen anime have the "idiot hero" trope and Naruto is definitely on that list, at least until he grows up. As the series progresses Naruto does show less and less cluelessness and grows in maturity, becoming less of a joke than he was when younger, but his intellect doesn't change all that much.
8 Sasuke Is The Silent Genius With A Tragic Backstory
Every upbeat hero needs a brooding rival to balance things out, which happens in Bleach, Yu-Gi-Oh, Dragon Ball, and many other anime, typically shounen anime. Granted, Sasuke is a rival with his own individual story and purpose within the plot rather than just existing as an obstacle for the hero, but his personality checks off a lot of common tropes.
Sasuke is serious and the center of attention, being considered "the coolest" or "a natural genius," but what people don't see, or at least aren't focusing on, is his tragic backstory. Even though this type of character is given so much love and admiration, they never stray that far from their serious, brooding character throughout the series.
7 Madara Is The Arrogant Villain Who Belittles The Heroes' Efforts
Granted, Madara is an all-powerful God of a Ninja who was strong enough to singlehandedly defeat all five Kage during the Fourth Ninja War, so some gloating is justified. However, his arrogance becomes more of a villain trope when the heroes are holding their own and making impressive feats.
This is a lot of villains in anime, they love to monologue on how futile the heroes' efforts are, but in the end, they wind up shocked to see how powerful the heroes can be. Madara does tone down on the belittling after a while, but he's still way too full of himself.
6 Kurama Is The Terrifying Beast Who Winds Up Becoming A Tsundere
It seems like there's always some sort of tsundere in an anime, but Naruto was without this character trope for so long until the Kyuubi's true name, Kurama, was introduced. At first, he was the monster that challenged the hero's humanity, but that quickly changed in Shippuuden when Naruto started befriending him.
Full of hatred, Kurama once stood as a daunting threat, but after a while that turned into a joke. This type of character is seen in Soul Eater with the demon weapon Ragnarok, and jokes aside, the "inner demon" trope has been seen in popular series like Bleach and Inuyasha.
5 Kakashi Is The Hero's Badass Teacher Whose Name Is Known Everywhere
For whatever reason, the main characters are always the ones with the coolest, most famous teachers. In Yuyu Hakusho, it's Genkai, in Jujutsu Kaisen it's Gojou-sensei. For Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura, their mentor throughout the series is the famous copy ninja Kakashi.
As young ninja in training, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura notice very quickly that their sensei has a great history behind his rather serious but caring exterior. Like most of these mentor characters, Kakashi has the best fight scenes as well as some of the funniest moments.
4 Hinata Is The Love Obsessed Character That The Hero Is Oblivious To
Sweet, innocent Hinata had some issues with stalking a certain spiky-haired hero early on in the series, and even when there was no time for stalking, she was so overwhelmed by her crush on Naruto that she'd pass out whenever he was near. Even when Naruto did something completely dumb or just acted without any tact, Hinata's feelings never wavered.
The worst part is how Naruto is completely clueless, again, of Hinata's feelings for him to the point that it's painful to watch certain scenes with them together. Like most female anime characters, Hinata's personality is centered around the boy she likes.
3 Jiraiya Is The Perverted Adult Who Happens To Be One Of The Most Powerful Characters
Another common cliche among shounen anime is that there always has to be at least one pervert in the series and they happen to be one of the strongest fighters as well. Jiraiya was a promising young ninja, but spent a little too much time chasing after women to be taken seriously in Konoha. It wasn't until he was much older that he rose to become one of the three legendary sannin, a name given to him and his teammates Tsunade and Orochimaru during the Third Great Ninja War.
Like Master Roshi from Dragon Ball and Ma Kensei from History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi, Jiraiya starts off as a bumbling pervert but winds up being incredibly strong and wise.
2 Tonton Is The Useless, But Adorable Animal Mascot
Way too many anime have an adorable animal character who does nothing except act cute and bring in some comic relief. Tonton is a prime example of this in Naruto. In a world where animals can talk, fight, and take crucial roles in the story, Tonton is a bit of a disappointment.
Granted, not every animal sidekick can be a ninja, but Tonton doesn't even share that many moments with the main characters to warrant any sort of importance. He appeared for a few scenes with little interaction and just disappeared because he just wasn't needed, not even for emotional comfort.
1 Sakura Is The Useless Heroine Who's Defining Trait Is Her Lovesickness
From the very moment she's introduced until the very end of Shippuuden, Sakura is a little too outspoken about her deep love for Sasuke who, both as a boy and a teen, never appeared to care for her that much. Her only dream was to be with Sasuke and that hope continues throughout her development.
Sakura confesses her love for Sasuke twice, and Sasuke attempts to kill her on more than one occassion, becoming more inhumane and abusive with each passing moment, but Sakura still loves him and waits for him to come to her. Even her big goal of becoming a medical ninja has a lot to do with Sasuke, being her only means of becoming useful in the efforts to bring him home.
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