Naruto Character Heights

Four databooks, three eras

Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto ran in Weekly Shōnen Jump from September 1999 to November 2014, filling 700 chapters across 72 volumes. Wikipedia describes the story's two halves: Part I, in Naruto's pre-teen years (volumes 1–27), and Part II, in his teens (volumes 28–72). That split is the key to understanding Naruto heights, because almost every character has more than one official figure.

The numbers come from Kishimoto's official character databooks, which Narutopedia catalogs in detail:

Each book contains detailed character profiles, and each recorded heights and weights as they stood at that stage of the story. The first two describe Part I; the last two describe Part II. Narutopedia also lists a third era for many characters, the "Blank Period" after the war, and a separate movie guide, Retsu no Sho (December 2014), was produced for The Last: Naruto the Movie.

What the databooks contain

The databooks are more than height charts. Narutopedia describes the first, Rin no Sho, as a 271-page book of detailed character profiles, articles on individual techniques and how they work, concept art, notes on how characters and scenes were developed, and a glossary of terms from the series. Tō no Sho (317 pages) and Sha no Sho (357 pages) follow the same pattern for later chapters. Sha no Sho is also the only one of the four with an English edition listed on the wiki, released on January 10, 2012.

The last databook, Jin no Sho, runs to 391 pages. According to Narutopedia, it includes an interview with Kishimoto about how he created his characters and techniques and a 33-page special chapter, and its first edition came with a ninja identification tag for use with an official Naruto app. Because it covers chapters 403 to 691, it holds the final Part II profiles for most of the cast.

That publishing history explains why the numbers look so precise. Heights like 191.2 cm for Jiraiya or 166.1 cm for Gaara are not conversions from feet and inches; they are the figures as printed in Japanese databooks, measured to a tenth of a centimeter.

Naruto heights compared

The site's Naruto list stores one height per character. For the young cast, that's the Part II figure; for the adults, it's their main databook height. The table shows all of them, tallest first.

Kakashi and Guy share the same age range in Part I (26–27), and Guy is 3 cm taller. The wiki doesn't give them a separate Part II height.

Team 7 through the years

The clearest way to see how Naruto heights work is to follow Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura through all three eras. Part I figures are ranges because the databooks recorded the characters at slightly different points in the first part.

Three things stand out:

1. Naruto was the shortest of the three in Part I. At 145.3 cm he was about 3 cm shorter than Sakura and 5.5 cm shorter than Sasuke.
2. He grew the most. From the start of Part I to the Blank Period, Naruto gained almost 35 cm, against 31 cm for Sasuke and under 17 cm for Sakura.
3. Sasuke stayed ahead. He is 2 cm taller than Naruto in both Part II and the Blank Period.

Naruto's adult height has its own story. Narutopedia's trivia notes that Kishimoto's concept art for The Last tried out three different heights for the grown-up hero: first 170 cm, then 173 cm, and finally 180 cm. The final choice put him 14 cm above his Part II figure.

Naruto's weight is listed at 40.1–40.6 kg in Part I and 50.9 kg in Part II, exactly the same as Gaara in Part II. The two jinchūriki also differ by just 0.1 cm in height.

The Konoha 11: growing up in Part II

The rest of Naruto's generation shows the same big jump between Part I and Part II. Narutopedia lists Blank Period heights for several of them as well.

Shikamaru is a striking case: in Part I he was exactly as tall as Sasuke at the start of the series (150.8 cm), but by Part II he was 2 cm taller, at 170 cm. Rock Lee and Neji, a year older than Team 7 (13–14 in Part I), began taller and finished Part II level with each other at about 172 cm.

Gaara, who later serves as Kazekage, started out as one of the smallest in the group at 146.1 cm. Even with a Blank Period height of 172.5 cm, he ends up shorter than Naruto, Sasuke, Shikamaru and Lee.

The adults: Sannin, jōnin and the Uchiha

The Legendary Sannin

Jiraiya is the tallest character in the site's list at 191.2 cm and 87.5 kg, as recorded for Part I. Tsunade, who becomes Hokage, is 163.1 cm and 48.9 kg in both parts, with no change between them.

Orochimaru's entry is the most complicated in the series, because he moves between bodies. Narutopedia lists 179.4 cm at one point in Part I, 172 cm later in Part I and throughout Part II, and 179.5 cm in the "New Era." The site uses 172 cm. His weight drops from 63.9 kg to 57.3 kg along with the height change.

Kakashi, Guy and the Uchiha

Kakashi Hatake is 181 cm and 67.5 kg, listed for Part I when he was 26–27. Might Guy is 184 cm and 76 kg at the same age.

Itachi Uchiha is one of the few adults who grew between databooks. He is 175.2 cm and 57.1 kg in Part I (age 17–18) and 178 cm and 58 kg in Part II (age 21). Even at his taller height, he is notably slight: 9.5 kg lighter than Kakashi, who is only 3 cm taller.

Madara Uchiha, recorded in Part II, is 179 cm and 71.3 kg, 1 cm taller than Itachi and 11 cm taller than Sasuke's Part II figure.

Light builds: what the weights reveal

The databooks record weights as carefully as heights, and they describe a remarkably light cast. Nearly every ninja in the list is slim for their height by everyday standards.

Take Part II Naruto: 166 cm and 50.9 kg works out to a body mass index of about 18.5, right at the boundary between the "underweight" and "healthy weight" categories the CDC uses for adults aged 20 and over. Sasuke (168 cm, 52.2 kg) and Gaara (166.1 cm, 50.9 kg) are almost identical. Itachi, at 178 cm and 58 kg in Part II, comes out near 18.3. Sakura (161 cm, 45.4 kg) and Hinata (160 cm, 45 kg) are both around 17.5.

The adults are heavier but still lean. Kakashi (181 cm, 67.5 kg) is about 20.6, Madara (179 cm, 71.3 kg) about 22.3, and Guy (184 cm, 76 kg) about 22.4. Jiraiya is the heaviest at 87.5 kg, which at 191.2 cm gives roughly 23.9, comfortably in the healthy range for a tall man.

The CDC describes BMI as a screening measure, and its adult categories apply from age 20, not to growing teenagers, so these numbers shouldn't be read as a judgment on anyone's health, fictional or real. What they do show is a consistent pattern across four databooks: Kishimoto's ninja are recorded as slim, and even his tallest characters are light for their frames.

How Naruto heights compare with real people

Because many figures describe teenagers, comparisons with adult averages need care. The NCD Risk Factor Collaboration's 2016 eLife study, which estimated adult height in 200 countries for people born between 1896 and 1996, gives Japanese men born in 1996 a mean of 170.8 cm and women 158.3 cm, as shown on the site's average height in Japan page.

As teenagers in Part II, Naruto and Sasuke are a little below the adult male average, which is normal for boys of 15–17. Their Blank Period heights put them comfortably above it. Sakura and Hinata end up a few centimeters taller than the average Japanese woman. Jiraiya would be tall in any country.

Which Naruto height should you use?

When comparing characters, match like with like:

• Same era. Compare Part II with Part II and Blank Period with Blank Period. Mixing a Part I height with an adult one exaggerates the gap.
• Ranges are real data. A Part I range such as 145.3–147.5 cm reflects two databook entries, not uncertainty in the conversion.
• Bodies matter for some characters. Orochimaru's height depends on which body he is using.

The site's figures are the Part II heights for the young cast, which the third and fourth databooks, Sha no Sho and Jin no Sho, cover. To see Blank Period Naruto against Part II Naruto, or against yourself, try the 3D height comparison tool or the height difference calculator.