Naruto Characters Swap Color Palettes and Give Off Totally Different Vibes— Believe It!

Ely Bulnes • Writer and Editor

Jun 18, 2024 1:00 PM EDT

Let's play a game. Yellow, brown, red, and white-- what cartoon character is that? What about pink, lime green, and purple? And what about red sandwiched between honey-yellow? That was Spongebob Squarepants, Patrick Star, and Winnie the Pooh, respectively. Color schemes play a major role in character design. With the right unique color combination, a 2D character can become instantly recognizable even without seeing his shape or silhouette. We even come to associate certain color schemes with particular personality traits. So, if one were to swap the colors of one character with another, it might change our perception of those characters completely.

Naruto, being one of the most globally popular animes, has some of the most iconic, well-known, and nostalgic character designs. The images below were created by curious artists across the web-- artists who wondered how swapping the palette of their favorite ninjas could change their vibe. Seeing such a serious character like Sasuke colored like goofy Naruto or confident Rock Lee sporting shy Hinata's palette is actually quite jarring. While these characters have equally iconic line work, shapes, silhouettes that define them, changing their colors seems to change their personalities, too. It is hard to imagine that they would be the same characters if they looked like they do in these artists' renderings. It just goes to show how important color is when designing a character.