We all know Shikamaru Nara is a genius and excellent with strategies. Mangaka Kishimoto didn’t waste any time in showing Shikamaru's intellects. His brilliance was shown right from the beginning of the series. By the end of the Chunin exams arc, we all are familiar with what he is capable of. But with the Sasuke’s retrieval mission he showed us what his potential as a squad leader was. Even though the mission failed, it didn’t fail to amuse us and make us love Shikamaru even more. But there are some very interesting facts lesser known to people about him. Please go through them and let us know if you already knew any or all of these.
He is a Virgo
Yes, Shikamaru Nara is Virgo as he was born on September 22nd. We don’t know what year Shikamaru was born though as no proper information was given in databooks too. It suits him too as Virgos are usually great analysts and thinkers. They tend to be loyal and we’ve seen Shikamaru's loyalty towards Naruto every now and then. He even at the verge of dying thinks of Naruto and wants to be his advisor as he is aware of Naruto's intellect and that alone made him survive. His wife Temari is also a Virgo and we know that she is a strategist too.
His association with deers
Shikamaru Nara has a lot of references with deers, for starters, his name, Shika means Deer, Maru means Happy in Japanese. So Shikamaru in Japanese refers to a Happy deer. Further his clan's name Nara, is a place from Japan in which Deers and Humans live in harmony. This relationship was used in the Anime where it was shown in his fight with Hidan, where he buries the immortal Akatsuki under the ground and the deers appear from the forest.
His appearances in Manga and Anime
In Anime Shikamaru appeared in the first episode, however, it is very different in the Manga. Shikamaru didn’t make an appearance in Manga until volume 4
where Chunin exams begin, in the chapter titled “intruders?!”. Another interesting thing is that in the Anime it was shown in filler episodes and few other episodes where he was seen hanging out with Naruto in his academy days, however, in Manga there isn’t any reference to those moments. Infact, it was shown that they started to gel with each other from Sasuke's retrieval mission. In any case, Shikamaru is one heck of a loyal friend to Naruto and we all love him for that as well.
He is a lot like his Father
Shikaku Nara, not be confused with Shukaku the one tail, Father of Shikamaru Nara has made some appearances in the anime. Whenever he appeared on screen he managed to steal the show from his son. Be it advising Shikamaru to hang out with Naruto even though he knew about Kurama, or educating his son that women are the ones who humble men and keep them in check, or planning strategies in 4th great Ninja war, every time we see this man, we like him as a character even more. Shikamaru Nara is a lot like Shikaku. For starters, he is an excellent strategist, highly intelligent and possesses Nara clan's shadow possession Jutsu like his Father. His appearances aren’t much different from his father too. He even picked up smoking and drinking like his Father. So he’s more like his old man than he knows.
His number of missions completed
Unlike other Ninja from the hidden leaf village, Shikamaru didn’t have to go through a lot of missions and exams to achieve Jonin level and then advisor of the Hokage. Infact he was an advisor to two Hokage, both Kakashi and Naruto. He helped Tsunade many times too. Spending more time with the Hokage, advising and planning, Shikamaru had very less time for missions. He completed 8 D rank missions, 3 C rank missions, 9 B rank missions and 19 A-rank missions. He never completed an S rank mission. I’m honestly not surprised on this fact as we all know what he would say if offered any S rank mission. “What A Drag!”
As we love you all and Shikamaru Nara, here’s a bonus fact about him.
He was always meant to be a genius
When a character is made, we initially give that character a certain personality. This may differ when the story progresses as many things affect the character's personality. However, in Shikamaru's case, he was always meant to be a genius. Kishimoto initially planned Shikamaru to be the winner of Chunnin exams without the attack of Orochimaru on Hidden Leaf village. Even though the plan was changed, he did become the only person that year to qualify as a Chunnin, for the fight, he gave up and let Temari win. Seems funny right? Yes, facts are facts!
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