Both Avatar: The Last Airbender and Naruto/Naruto Shippuden are critically acclaimed animated series with inspiring and complex lead characters in Avatar Aang and Naruto Uzumaki.
Although they come from entirely separate universes that are vastly different from each other, Aang and Naruto both have a surprising number of traits in common. That said, they also have several differences that create key divisions between their characters. From childhood upbringing to power levels, this list will break down the critical similarities and differences between Naruto and Aang.
10 Alike: Air/Wind-Based Power
Although Aang is the Avatar and can bend all four elements, he was born as an Airbender and so his initial abilities all revolve around air-based techniques. Similarly, Naruto's chakra nature through his early development is that of Wind, which eventually leads to him being able to throw his signature move "Rasengan".
Both characters have a wide range of skill sets, but Air/Wind is one that they both share during the growth of their talents.
9 Different: Aang Is A Pacifist
Naruto is known for his strong, sometimes unpredictable, emotions that lead to him getting angry and picking a fight with any number of characters throughout his series.
Aang, on the other hand, is level headed and stoic, avoiding confrontation whenever he can and refusing to kill anyone. His desire for peace and non-violent resolution is so strong that it is even a weakness for him at several points through Avatar: The Last Airbender, most famously during his fight with Fire Lord Ozai.
8 Alike: Mentors And Guides
One major similarity between Aang and Naruto is the number of mentor/mentee relationships they have with several characters in Avatar: The Last Airbender and Naruto/Naruto Shippuden, both acting as guides and being guided by various important figures in their lives.
From Jiraiya "The Pervy Sage" and Kakashi Sensei to Avatar Roku and King Bumi of Omashu, Aang and Naruto both have many people they meet along the path of their personal journeys that help them grow as both students and teachers.
7 Different: Parental Relationship
Unlike Aang, Naruto was able to meet his parents during his series. Naruto's father Minato, "Konoha's Yellow Flash", and his mother Kushina Uzumaki both play vital roles in Naruto Shippuden.
From vital character backstory to helping shift the tide in the major battle against Madara Uchiha, Naruto's parents are critically important to the series. This is a key difference between Aang and Naruto as characters that marks a large divide between the dynamics of their development.
6 Alike: Spiritual Beings
In Avatar: The Last Airbender, Aang is a reincarnated spiritual being known as the Avatar. The Avatar can bend all four elements and serves as a beacon of peace and hope through the history of the planet, reborn as a new person every time the current Avatar dies.
Naruto has a connection to the Sage of the Six Paths Hagoromo and his son Asura, being the possessor of Asura's reincarnated chakra. Although these two forms of reincarnation are very different, they still link Aang and Naruto together as spiritual beings.
5 Different: Upbringings
A big difference between Aang and Naruto is how they grew up as young children. Naruto was seen as a wild child and treated like a social pariah, while Aang grew up as part of a community at his home the Southern Air Temple.
Once Aang is discovered to be the Avatar, he starts receiving special treatment and is trained privately from several Airbending and spiritual teachers. These early stages in Aang and Naruto's lives are drastically divergent from each other.
4 Alike: Look For The Best In People
Aang and Naruto are both caring and empathetic people who try and understand their companions and enemies, learning why they are the way that they are as individuals. It's a character-defining trait that helps establish them both as leaders in their universes.
Whether it's the compassion that Naruto shows Gaara or Aang wanting to connect with Zuko as a friend, both of these characters always try and look for the best in people over the course of their shows.
3 Different: Reincarnation Sibling
As the Avatar, Aang has connections to his previous lives and can even communicate with them. The important difference here between Aang and Naruto though is that Aang's past lives are all just that, disconnected lives that Aang has no true link to other than him and his predecessor are both Avatars.
On the other hand, Naruto and Sasuke both hold the reincarnated chakra of Asura and Indra, the sons of the Sage of Six Paths. This creates a powerfully unique bond between Naruto and Sasuke that Aang lacks with another living person.
2 Alike: Tragic Pasts
In Avatar: The Last Airbender, Aang's fellow Air Nomads are all killed by invading Firebenders, and by pure luck, Aang is able to escape and become the last living Airbender in the world. He then freezes himself and Appa and is lost the world for 100 years.
Naruto's parents both die when he's a child (although as discussed above, he's still able to meet them through various means) and he's left to live alone for the rest of his life, wanted by no one. Naruto and Aang both have complex histories that ultimately help shape them as people.
1 Different: Naruto Is More Powerful
Naruto and Aang are incredibly powerful, if not the most powerful, characters in their shows. Capable of unleashing massive destruction on their enemies, these two both wield mighty strength that very few characters from their universes can compete with.
That said, the immense cosmic-like power that Naruto can tap into from his classic Shadow Clone Jutsu to the Sage of the Six Paths chakra puts him on another level over Aang or any Avatar for that matter. Naruto Shippuden episode "The Final Battle" is a perfect showcase of Naruto's true power that would quickly overwhelm Aang.