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The Naruto run is eternal. Join Ashley as we look over the times where Naruto showed up outside its own anime
Transcript
00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at the most notable times the knuckle-headed
00:10ninja made his way into other shows, games, or merchandise.
00:27The apple fell very, very far from the tree on this one.
00:31Thanks to one of Rick's wild experiments, Morty and Summer's kid isn't exactly what
00:35you'd call the spitting image of his parents.
00:38Instead, he's ginormous, capable of mass destruction, and lives in the depths of space.
00:45But despite all that, Summer looks up at her kid, and decides there's only one name that
00:51Honestly, we aren't sure whether Naruto should be flattered or offended.
01:02At the very least, she seems to think it's a term of endearment, but the jury's still
01:06out on everyone else.
01:11In the Naruto universe, Rock Lee's the guy to look for if you want to see some slick
01:26hand-to-hand combat.
01:27In the real world, though, there's another Lee to keep your eyes on – Keith Lee, to
01:31be precise.
01:32If the wrestler's Instagram is any indication, he's quite the anime fan.
01:37And even better, he's brought that passion into the ring on more than a few occasions.
01:42Whether you've seen Naruto or not, watching a wrestler make their entrance in an Akatsuki
01:46hoodie is just plain cool.
01:54Thankfully, Keith Lee usually makes the franchise proud by coming out with a win, and that's
02:04without any jutsu.
02:16As quite the line-up of songs in this Donkey Kong spin-off, amid all the covers, Naruto's
02:21third ending theme, Viva Rock, also snuck its way in.
02:32People clearly liked it too, since the next game doubled down on the crossover.
02:36There, you could tap to the beat of two more Naruto songs, and despite the hardware limitations,
02:42they sound pretty damn great.
02:47Don't go rushing to boot up your old copy, though.
02:54The first Naruto track only appeared in the Japanese copies of Donkey Konga 2, and the
03:00third game never even got a worldwide release.
03:24An artist's inspiration can come from the strangest of places, like, for instance, an
03:29anime villain.
03:30In Pokemon Black 2 and White 2, a trainer on Route 5 starts a battle by claiming that
03:36art is explosions.
03:38Anyone who's ever seen Naruto Shippuden will recognise that as being a homage to Deidara's
03:44iconic catchphrase.
03:57Although in this case, the Akatsuki member means it a bit more literally.
04:01See, despite the trainer's words, his Pokemon doesn't even know the move, Explosion, which
04:07feels like a major missed opportunity.
04:09But all things considered, Deidara should just be happy he made it into a Pokemon game
04:14in the first place.
04:24This episode sees the Brown family go to Comic-Con.
04:40A convention means cosplay, and cosplay means a whole load of unofficial cameos.
04:45The most obvious one of all comes from a group of nerds waiting in line for a panel.
04:50Smashed right between an Ewok and Chewbacca, someone's dressed up as the one and only
04:56Naruto Uzumaki.
05:01The outfit itself is pretty good, but that's where the similarities between him and Naruto
05:06end.
05:07When the cosplayer has to choose between staying with his pals or getting the last seat at
05:11the panel, he abandons his friends faster than you can say Rezengan.
05:15Guess Naruto's ninja way doesn't apply to cosplayers.
05:27He's fought in actual Shinobi Wars, and this still might be the biggest battle royale
05:31Naruto's ever taken part in.
05:33Luckily, he isn't alone.
05:42When the Hokage-to-be finally dropped in Fortnite, he brought the whole Team 7 with him, as just
05:47nothing better than shooting through an enemy as a four-man squad of Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi
05:53and Naruto.
05:54Especially since you can teabag with custom Naruto emotes too.
06:04The collaboration was such a hit that, a year later, Fortnite dropped a second wave of skins,
06:11featuring Hinata, Gaara, Orochimaru and Itachi.
06:14Who knew ninjas would be so handy with guns?
06:22Gaara, step aside.
06:36There's a new Kazekage in town, and his name is Jamal Williams.
06:40While he probably doesn't have the power of a tailed beast, he was a pretty solid running
06:45back for the Detroit Lions.
06:47But instead of calling himself a mere athlete, Williams used his 2023 player intro to announce
06:53that he'd become the first swag Kazekage.
07:00In or out of universe, that's a pretty bold claim to make.
07:04But Williams had nothing to sweat about, considering he'd go on to break the Lions' record
07:08for touchdowns in a single season, he really might be a kage on the football field.
07:29Just like in the source material, this satirical interpretation of Naruto just wants to lead
07:34his village.
07:35But this version gets there a whole lot quicker.
07:38Rather than a decade-spanning anime series full of action, heart and character growth,
07:43Robot Chicken throws Naruto into a totally original and copyright-free ninja exam.
07:54He still fails, but because his dad's a big donor to the school, Naruto gets to command
08:00Konoha anyway.
08:01That's it.
08:02That's the whole scene.
08:03It's only a few minutes long, but it still manages to land some seriously funny blows
08:14to the franchise.
08:15Although, from Robot Chicken, we shouldn't have expected anything less.
08:23The Boondocks.
08:32To this day, Orochimaru's first encounter with the vengeful Uchiha is one of the franchise's
08:38coolest fights.
08:39It's spawned an endless number of homages and rip-offs, including all the way in The
08:44Boondocks.
08:45Although this version is a two-on-two, entire bits of the original scene are still recreated
08:51with painstaking attention to detail.
09:00At a certain point, it feels like Naruto music should be playing in the background.
09:04Unfortunately, the remake doesn't go that far, but on the bright side, this masterfully-crafted
09:10action scene is still plenty entertaining the second time through.
09:39Gintama.
09:41Turns out Gintoki is a massive otaku.
09:43In particular, he likes the manga about a young, immature ninja who stops a villainous
09:49group of shinobi from taking over the world.
09:52No, not Naruto.
09:54It's the legally distinct Beruto.
10:01Surprisingly, that cheeky gag isn't even the most overt Naruto reverence in the series.
10:12In fact, it's practically an outlier.
10:14More often than not, Gintama makes fun of Naruto right to its face, name drops and all.
10:26Some of it is innocent fun, some of it is biting criticism, and some of it is blink-and-you'll-miss-it
10:33easter eggs.
10:34Either way, it's a good thing that Naruto knows how to take a joke.
10:43Where do you want Naruto to do a teleportation jutsu to next?
10:47Let us know in those comments below.