In Masashi Kishimoto’s Naruto franchise, it’s clear from the beginning that the titular character is going to be the hero. Many of the people around him are inspired by his commitment to do the right thing, even when he’s still young and inexperienced. Hinata Hyuga is one of those people.
She spends the bulk of her childhood with a crush on Naruto and a desire to prove herself. Often overlooked because of her shy personality, she becomes a powerful shinobi. She chooses a new path for herself as an adult, becoming a wife and mother, only taking on missions when absolutely necessary. Throughout her journey, however, she did some truly great things - and some that definitely weren’t so great.
10 GREAT: Standing Up To Pain
During the “Pain” arc of the series, quite a few people are decimated by Nagato and his Paths of Pain. Though Hinata knows that she has nowhere near the skills needed to defeat him, she stands her ground and takes him on.
Others discourage Hinata from taking a stand, but she wants to slow Pain down and give someone stronger the chance to defeat him. Hinata doesn’t think about herself when it comes to an impossible fight, but about the commitment to being a shinobi. She is determined to do the right thing and to protect her village.
9 NOT GREAT: Fainting At The Sight Of Naruto
While growing up, Hinata couldn’t simply be caught unaware when around Naruto. If he happens to startle her, she faints.
That’s not because she’s afraid of him, it's just that she’s painfully shy around him until well into their teen years. She becomes so overwhelmed that he’s paying attention to her that she just blacks out. Hinata, who grows up to marry Naruto and raise two children with him would likely be incredibly embarrassed to have stories of her fainting spells recounted.
8 GREAT: Becoming A Shinobi
To be fair, everyone in Naruto’s generation seems to officially become a shinobi. They go through the Academy, take on missions, and participate in the Chunin Exams. For their generation, with Orochimaru as a villain and the Akatsuki on the loose, everyone is expected to become a shinobi.
Hinata’s own father doesn’t believe she has what it takes when she first enters the Academy. She’s determined to better herself and be someone that can be counted on in the field. She does it, even without the support of her family as she’s essentially raised by her sensei for a few years. It’s a great accomplishment for someone so gentle and shy that everyone is afraid she won’t be able to fight.
7 NOT GREAT: Being Jealous Of A Scarf
During the events of The Last: Naruto The Movie, Hinata spends her spare time knitting a scarf. She intends to give it to Naruto as a gift - and as a way to explain her feelings for him. Unfortunately for Hinata, Naruto is given a scarf before hers and takes to wearing it all the time.
As it turns out, the scarf belonged to his mother, though Hinata doesn’t know that right away. She finds herself jealous that Naruto is wearing a scarf from someone else. Hinata doesn’t get angry, just sad. She also holds off on talking about her feelings for him yet again.
6 GREAT: Protecting Naruto During The War
Hinata gradually builds her skills over the course of the original series. She works hard, and by the time she’s an active participant in the Fourth Shinobi World War, her commitment shows. Hinata is aware that, despite all of the skills she’s developed, she might not be powerful enough to save her friends.
Knowing that Naruto is needed to end the war and inspire their allies, she shields him during the fight, intending to take the brunt of a lethal blow. Her cousin Neji shields her in turn, but Hinata’s decision is clearly not just born out of her love for Naruto, but her understanding of the fight at hand. She even makes him understand that, demonstrating that she has truly grown as a ninja.
5 NOT GREAT: Battling Neji In The Chunin Exams
During her first round of Chunin Exams, Hinata is still young and inexperienced and certainly not skilled enough to take on the majority of the other genin participating. While it’s admirable that she stands up for herself and wants to continue to fight, what she does during her match up with Neji is incredibly ill-advised.
Hinata doesn’t stand up to Neji because she’s trying to prove to herself that she can do it. She listens to Naruto’s encouragement from the stands, ignoring the fact that Neji has literally sealed off her chakra flow during the fight. Hinata refuses to back down and almost dies as a result.
4 GREAT: Taking On The Queen Bee
The “Bikōchū Search Mission” is a filler arc of the anime. While manga fans won’t consider it canon, it does a lot of good for Hinata’s character. Anime fans get to see how determined she is.
Over the course of the arc, Hinata perfects Protecting Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms. The technique allows Hinata to shape her chakra into sharp needle-like blades that can cut through anything. She uses it to take on the bees that are used to target her team during the arc, saving all of their lives. The skill becomes one she uses over and over again throughout the rest of the anime.
3 NOT GREAT: Losing To Her Sister In Combat
One of the reasons Hinata’s father doesn’t believe she’ll be able to make it in the shinobi world is that her younger sister progresses far more quickly in her master of ninja skills. Hanabi also shows better mastery over their secret family techniques.
Hinata probably wouldn’t care as an adult that her little sister beat her in sparring sessions as a child, as she is likely proud of her sister. That being said, she probably wouldn’t like to be reminded of just how long it took her to become a match for her little sister either.
2 GREAT: Preventing The Moon’s Fall To Earth
Despite surviving the World War, the shinobi find themselves in danger of their world ending all over again a short time later. During the events of The Last: Naruto The Movie, the villain’s plan is to bring the moon down to collide with the Earth.
Toneri kidnaps Hinata’s little sister to help make his plan a reality, which leads to Hinata making sure she gets to come along on the mission to rescue her sister. She doesn’t just help rescue Hanabi, however, but is instrumental in defeating Toneri and making him understand the error of his ways. Without her chakra, Naruto wouldn’t have been able to save the world at all.
1 NOT GREAT: Deciding To Marry Toneri
Of course, just because Hinata helps save the world doesn’t mean she makes the best decision to get there. She decides to give in to Toneri’s wish to marry her to save her sister, leaving the rest of the team behind to do it.
Hinata thinks with her heart, trying to protect everyone, which is sweet, but her team includes the best strategist in the franchise: Shikamaru Nara. She should have let things play out and, perhaps, she wouldn’t have wound up so close to being one of Toneri’s permanent puppets.