13 replies to this topic

[CloudedMemories]

Some of you may remember me or not. Doesn't matter.

Lately I've been reading fanfiction again, and is it just me or does it seem that people make Naruto stronger and more intelligent just for the sake of having him fight stronger people and have him defeat them? Am I the only person that gets annoyed that Naruto takes Zabuza/Kisame's Zanbato and then becomes incredibly strong by a mysterious mentor that trains him in many arts that seem to have no disadvantages?

Because it seems that, that's all there is. Intelligent Naruto -was- cool for a bit, before they took away all the things that made him Naruto and simply gave him Shikamaru's intelligence without any quirks.

What I'm really asking, is that when you read fanfiction. When you come across a Powerful/Intelligent/Advanced!Naruto is it usually justified with progress that is conceivable within the Narutoverse?

Even if it is, do you still cringe and try to keep on reading or do you stop?

[Vespar]

Only if the writing is exceptional, or at least has a concept that draws me in. If it only has the concept, but the writing's not up to par, then I usually won't stay for the full duration.

[Denim88]

I think if you're going to make Naruto more intelligent than he is in the canon, and give him greater powers, than you should at least let him retain a good amount of his personality. As always, if the story's a good read, than I can deal with it...but for Naruto to advance so quickly with no effort just bugs me.

[Leney]

The Naruto fandom sometimes boggles me because of its apparently dislike towards the main character. People want him to be this super strong guy that wins all his battles with awesome jutsu. The fact that Naruto has two modes of attack: Rasengan and Kage Bunshin is apparently horrible writing on Kishimoto's part. (And first off, both jutsu are A-B ranked...does he really need anything else?)

IMO, Naruto has been established as a pretty good tatician (as opposed to Shikmaru being a genius strategist). He thinks well on the fly and can improvise (which means he doesn't need 1000 jutsu, he can make do with the only two jutsu he seems to know lol).

What authors need to do is not write Naruto smarter or more powerful, but to write battles smarter.

Although there is this one story where at the age of four, Naruto starts a multimillon dollar business. By the time he's twelve his a kazillionare and working with the Akatsuki. I left a review to the author saying that this is extremely unrealistic, especially when said author claimed that Naruto couldn't even read (seriously at four, Naruto's probably busy wetting the bed...not wheeling and dealing like a veteran hustler).

I got a "OMG do you hate Naruto? He's not stupid you know!" as a response.

o.O He's not the ninja version of Artemis Fowl either.

and now I gotta get back to work, I'll probably post something else later on.

[True]

I love Strong! Naruto fics. We all know that he is the main character and that in the end he is going to be god like! He's the hero!

And Naruto can be smart if he wants to. Anyone remember the Neji vs. Naruto fight where he made a fake clone to look like he lost, then came out of nowhere to uppercut Neji to high hell?

I guess it's just my pet peeve because I see way too many fics where Naruto is dumb/emo/retard/loser/pushover/weakling/gets rapped/moron/(insert derogatory term here) and it makes me really really angry. Stop destroying my favorite character!

I love seeing Naruto become super powerful and do these amazing jutsus. As for intelligence, it only depends on the situation. If he is fighting them I'm cool with it, but he has to remain some of his normal personality as well.

In my story he is amazingly powerful and smart in battle and it's totally conceivable. How else is he going to fight the most powerful shinobi such as Itachi, Pein, Uchiha Madara? With shadow clones and rasengans? He'd die in 5 minutes!

As long as he remains in character and isn't a pushover I'm cool with it!

[CloudedMemories]

Maybe I'm confusing Clever and Intelligence. Naruto is extremely clever I know that for a fact, but in terms of Intelligence maybe that's where we have our disagreements. I think most of us can I agree we loved Naruto because of his ability to be clever, use misdirection, layering basic skills, and using an enemy's assumption against them. That makes the battle interesting, fun, exciting, and still makes the last blow landed give the entire battle an uncertainty of who comes out on top. Best example is the fight during Zabuza or Neji.

When I speak of Intelligence, I meant his pre-battle mind being analytical. He doesn't do that very often and it annoys me when people have him stand back watching his allies fight while he himself stands back and does some thinking. Not very Naruto in the sense of mind or the sense of his loyalty to his allies, simply using them isn't his style.

I can understand a powerful Naruto. The NaruIno story "Foxhound" is the best example I've ever seen of strong/intelligent/advance!naruto. His powers slightly borrowed and then remixed with his own useful flairs gives it a distinct Naruto-vibe that seems canon, Intelligent but light hearted and not over-thinking. That's Naruto, and that's the sort of level I feel keeps the story very good. Challenging, unclear, and most of all fresh.

Most fanfiction stories take his powers far beyond, like killing Orochimaru or Itachi with a single punch and not having the enemy counter whatsoever. Intelligence that has him out think Shikamaru or Zetsu which are extremely intelligent fighters. Thinking thousands of steps ahead, but not well written.

[Kamina-Yoshi]

I hate those fanfics. Blech on them. Intelligant Naruto, I can understand, but not THAT smart that Shikamaru looks like someone from Scary Movie 3 :|


Also, what is everyone's deal with super uber swords?! I have yet to see a single fanfiction out of 5 NOT have Naruto with some uber Kyuubi sword! I mean, my freaking god! They are NINJA, not Demigods! Ninja have no use for super weapons! Ninja are for SNEAKING, not for uber destroying! (That's DEIDARA'S JOB >:O)

But they do it anyway! They give him a freakin' sword out of Kyuubi Hell, and allows him to sweep enemies to death in seconds! I want a Naruto who has to fight to win, like in the manga! Not some uber demigod of all pwnage things sweeping the floor with all of Akatsuki, and an army of sound ninja with Kabuto, uber Sasuke, Orochimaru, all at once!

Think NINJA, people. -Sneak sneak, assassinate, run. Not BLOW UP THE NEAREST TOWN.-

[True]

I hate those fanfics. Blech on them. Intelligant Naruto, I can understand, but not THAT smart that Shikamaru looks like someone from Scary Movie 3 :|
Also, what is everyone's deal with super uber swords?! I have yet to see a single fanfiction out of 5 NOT have Naruto with some uber Kyuubi sword! I mean, my freaking god! They are NINJA, not Demigods! Ninja have no use for super weapons! Ninja are for SNEAKING, not for uber destroying! (That's DEIDARA'S JOB >:O)

But they do it anyway! They give him a freakin' sword out of Kyuubi Hell, and allows him to sweep enemies to death in seconds! I want a Naruto who has to fight to win, like in the manga! Not some uber demigod of all pwnage things sweeping the floor with all of Akatsuki, and an army of sound ninja with Kabuto, uber Sasuke, Orochimaru, all at once!

Think NINJA, people. -Sneak sneak, assassinate, run. Not BLOW UP THE NEAREST TOWN.-

Just so you know, Naruto has never been a manga about real ninjas. There more like wizards then shinobis.
Do ninjas know elemental techniques? Can they place people under illusions? Do they have eyes with magical powers? Can they summon large creatures to fight for them? The 3rd Hokage had a freaking crystal ball in the beginning! Remember when Naruto did his RasenShuriken? That attack is like a freaking nuclear bomb! So Naruto is totally different from your typical ninja story.

And I love Naruto doing uber destroying with amazing jutsus. That's how it is in my story

[Kamina-Yoshi]

Shh, True. -Activates two mile long Kyuubi sword and sweeps you away.-


At least the RasenShuriken has setbacks, the Kyuubi Swords turn him into the freaking Kyuubi's pet, giving him more orange hair in the... well... Let's just say 'Armpits' and leave it at that.

Oh, and he spawns a tail from his butt.


(By the way, Naruto is a special case. It's awesome. <;' )

[Shana]

I've read a few good ones, and Naruto can be clever, but he is not uber-intelligent. That is one of his charms. He just isn't that..smart. Sakura and Shikamaru are the smart ones.

[margaret]

Powerful Naruto are always overrated...

[Broken Figurine]

If the writer is a GOOD writer, Naruto's growth can be made believable. I don't believe in certain kinds of growth, where Naruto gets too mature for his own personality, or he becomes an analyst vs a tactition, or that he can do a mass amount of new jutsus. Going ahead with his strengths and weaknesses is what authors should do. Is it realistic that Naruto might work on dispelling genjutsu and contolling his chakra? I think so. Will he become uberly great at that? Not really, that's Sakura's feild I would think.

Although this might not be completely on topic, but do you notice how most fics don't focus on Naruto's and Sakura's growth together? Regardless of if it's NaruSaku or not, you'd think with team dynamics they'd be interested in learning from one another. Maybe if Sakura and Naruto shared their opposite strengths and worked on their respective weaknesses, maybe a more intellegent, more powerful Naruto, more advanced Naruto could be made believable? Same with Sakura. =P Heck, while they're at it they could teach Sai social-ness and he could provide... A tactical brain? Good art? I dunno.

So yeah. As someone mentioned, either extreme is never good. Making him out to be too stupid or too smart doesn't stay true to the character. I love Naruto as much as the next Naru-lover, but he's not THAT great. XD
Which just makes me love him more....

[True]

Although this might not be completely on topic, but do you notice how most fics don't focus on Naruto's and Sakura's growth together? Regardless of if it's NaruSaku or not, you'd think with team dynamics they'd be interested in learning from one another. Maybe if Sakura and Naruto shared their opposite strengths and worked on their respective weaknesses, maybe a more intellegent, more powerful Naruto, more advanced Naruto could be made believable? Same with Sakura. =P Heck, while they're at it they could teach Sai social-ness and he could provide... A tactical brain? Good art? I dunno.

I've also noticed that as well. In the fics I read where Naruto is uber powerful usually his friends can't match up with him. I like the idea of how Sakura is intelligent, super strong, and has her medic powers. That's why in my Super! Naruto story I made sure that he did have setbacks that required help from other people such as Sakura's healing abilities. The whole Heaven and Earth thing where Naruto is Sakura's strength and she is his mind works perfectly!