Shikamaru Nara

Background

Shikamaru is the only child of Yoshino and Shikaku Nara. When he was young, he once played "ninja" with other children his age. Chōji Akimichi wanted to play with them, but the other children refused to allow him to do so, claiming he was too stupid and bad to participate. When Shikamaru couldn't convince the others to let Chōji join, he left the game and went to his favourite spot to watch clouds. Chōji happened to be sitting in the same spot when he got there, so Shikamaru introduced himself, and invited Chōji to watch the clouds with him. Chōji asked Shikamaru if he wanted some snacks. From that point onward they were best friends; upon entering Konoha's Ninja Academy, they'd usually sit together in class and hang out afterwards. Shikamaru had very little interest in the class itself, preferring to spend his time sleeping rather than listen to Iruka Umino's lessons. Shikamaru showed the same lack of enthusiasm for the tests he was given and couldn't be bothered to actually answer the questions, leading to his poor grades.

Personality

Shikamaru is naturally a lazy person and his inclination is to do as little work as possible. As an Academy student and even during his early career as a genin, Shikamaru is able to get away with this, spending his days sleeping, watching the clouds, or playing games of shōgi and Go. Even when told by many that he could be a great Hokage, he stated that he didn't want to deal with such responsibilities. His goal is to live unremarkably, free of anything of noticeably good or bad, and then to die just as unremarkably as he lived. When he is faced with the potential for conflict or commitment, he responds first by saying, "how troublesome," and then by trying to find some way out of it, either by pretending to be indisposed or even outright saying that he doesn't want to do whatever it is. Although Shikamaru describes himself as "the number one coward", he has a strong moral compass and dedication to his friends. It is these qualities that earned Chōji Akimichi's friendship, as Shikamaru was one of the first people to look past his weight and find value in who he naturally was It is also these qualities that force Shikamaru to move away from his lazy pursuits, as he finds himself volunteering to do work or to sacrifice himself if it will in some way benefit his allies. Such selflessness, once displayed during the Konoha Crush, exacerbates his "troublesome" situations: he is given the responsibility of leading his friends into battle, for which reason he does everything that he can to keep them safe, for which reason he is given even more responsibility over even more of his friends, and so on. He still clings to his lazy origins as much as he can; even if he can't spend his entire day being idle, he at least avoids having long-term goals or confessing any particular pleasure in the duties he's assigned.

Appearance

Shikamaru has narrow brown eyes and a typical expression suggesting he is either bored or irritated. He has shoulder length black hair tied in a spiky ponytail. During Part I, he wears a short-sleeved grey jacket with green-edged sleeves and the rudimentary Nara clan symbol on the back, under which is a green-lined mesh armour T-shirt. He also wears brown pants, a pair of his clan's traditional silver hoop earrings, and wears his blue forehead protector around his left arm. When he becomes a chūnin, he adds a flak jacket over this usual clothing. In Part II, he trades most of his personalised wardrobe for the standard Konoha-nin outfit, the only customisations being green-lined mesh armour on his wrists and ankles and the plate of his forehead protector sewn into his left sleeve. He also replaces the hoop earrings for studs, a gift from Asuma Sarutobi. In The Last: Naruto the Movie, Shikamaru's attire remains largely the same as in Part II, with the flak jacket being updated with Konoha's new design. He also wears taller sandals that reach more past his calves. In adulthood, Shikamaru finally abandons the normal infantry's attire, instead wearing a cream-colored coat and black pants very similar to what his father, Shikaku, used to wear. He also grows a short goatee and wears brown gloves while no longer having the earrings or studs in his ears. He also has a necklace that he wears, one that appears to be an enlarged size of the earrings or studs he wore during his time as a jōnin. Overall, he is noted to greatly resemble his father. Three years after Boruto left Konoha, Shikamaru wore a dark, button-down shirt with a turtleneck and light pants. As the Eighth Hokage, similar to Naruto during his reign, Shikamaru wears a light cape with high collars that has a dark flame pattern around the hem, held together by a rope.

Abilities

Despite his poor grades in Academy, Shikamaru's potential quickly showed itself, as demonstrated when he was the only member of his graduating class to become a chūnin during Part I. Despite being a newly made chūnin, he could hold his own against jōnin-level opponents like Tayuya of the Sound Four. In Part II, he could defeat Hidan of Akatsuki after leading the latter to a trap. His skills led to him being offered a position as one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja in the anime, being made deputy-commander of the Fourth Division and chief-strategist of the entire Allied Shinobi Forces, as well as the right-hand man of the Seventh Hokage years later. For years, since childhood, he has been told he possessed qualities befitting the Hokage by Asuma Sarutobi, Temari, and Boruto Uzumaki, and became selected as the Eighth Hokage, thereby being recognised as one of Konoha's greatest ninja.

Ninjutsu

Shikamaru's nature transformations include Yin Release, which he commonly uses to perform his hiden techniques, as well as Fire and Earth Release. In the anime, he has shown to be able to use fūinjutsu, as seen when he tried to seal Kakuzu's lightning technique into a scroll, and when he unsealed water from a scroll to use as a medium to electrocute Kakuzu. He is also able to use the Flying Swallow, and can create clones of himself, either by flowing chakra into his shadow and shape them, or by using the Shadow Clone Technique.

Nara Clan Techniques

As a member of the Nara clan, Shikamaru is able to manipulate his own shadow. His signature move is the Shadow Imitation Technique, which in the anime he learned before even entering the Academy. By connecting his shadow to a target's, Shikamaru can use the Shadow Imitation Technique to restrain their movements and force them to mimic his own. When used against opponents, they may be able to resist his control, requiring that Shikamaru exert additional effort to keep them bound; when used for whatever reason on allies or others who have been incapacitated, no resistance occurs and the process is accordingly much easier. Throughout Parts I and II, Shikamaru must perform the appropriate hand seals in order to use his shadow, but in later years, he is able to manipulate it without them. By adulthood, his speed with the technique allowed him to capture the Five Kage and their bodyguards before they could react, with only the Hokage having the capabilities to free himself. As such, he had the opportunity to kill them if he chose to. However, he later realised that his skills had became quite rusty due to long term of office duty, when he failed to crush a tree trunk.

Nara Clan Techniques

After he becomes a chūnin, Shikamaru is taught the Shadow–Neck Binding Technique, which allows him to use his shadow to strangle those who have been bound with the Shadow Imitation. Like the Shadow Imitation itself, the Shadow–Neck Binding can only be used on flat surfaces, for which reason opponents can resist it if they're strong enough. In Part II, Shikamaru is able to use his shadow independently off surfaces, using his shadows to pierce targets and pick up giant things. He could even channel his chakra into his late mentor's chakra blades to pierce a target's shadow and bind them from a distance. By adulthood, Shikamaru's prowess with his clan techniques enabled him to perform them without hand seals.