Kakashi Hatake

Kakashi Hatake (Japanese: はたけ カカシ, Hepburn: Hatake Kakashi) is a fictional character and one of the main protagonists in the Naruto manga and anime series created by Masashi Kishimoto. In the story, Kakashi is the teacher of Team 7, consisting of the series' primary characters, Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno. Kakashi's past has been extensively explored in the series, resulting in a gaiden being devoted to his past experiences. Kakashi has appeared in several pieces of Naruto media, the featured films in the series, the original video animations, and the video games.

Kakashi is depicted in Naruto as an eccentric but highly skilled shinobi for the Hidden Leaf Village. Initially cold and calculated due to the suicide of his father, Sakumo, Kakashi eventually began to warm up in his youth with the help of his teammate Obito Uchiha, while they are under the tutelage of Naruto's father Minato Namikaze. It is through Obito that Kakashi obtains the Uchiha clan's Sharingan (which originally only contained 1 tomoe), which he uses to copy the abilities of his opponents and make his own, but also drains his energy. Following the deaths of all of his squadmates, unaware of Obito's survival, Kakashi is eventually given charge of Team 7 due to his connections with Minato and the Uchiha, and through them is able to finally have the family he never had. He is initially portrayed as a detached and apathetic figure, but as the series progresses, his loyalty to his friends, students, and the village becomes increasingly apparent. He is one of the strongest characters in the series and one of the only characters who was able to use Susanoo.

He was originally created by Kishimoto to be a harsh teacher but the author decided to avoid that. Instead, he made him more generous to calm his students in difficult situations to the point of giving him feminine traits. Kakashi's design gave Kishimoto difficulties as a result of having most of his face covered and as a result it was difficult to show his emotions. For the anime series, he is voiced by Kazuhiko Inoue in Japanese and Dave Wittenberg in the English dub.

Numerous anime and manga publications have praised and criticized Kakashi's character. Although he has been noted to be an echo of similar detached shōnen manga characters, the duality of Kakashi's apathetic and serious sides have been praised. Kakashi has been highly popular with the Naruto reader base, placing high in several popularity polls. Merchandise based on Kakashi has also been released, including key chains and plush dolls.

Masashi Kishimoto originally intended for Kakashi to debut in the second chapter of the Naruto manga, appearing prior to the other members of Team 7. This Kakashi was designed as a laid back but very skilled ninja that ended his sentences with the polite "de gozaru" in the Japanese versions of the series. After speaking with his editor, Kishimoto pushed this debut back, allowing him to better develop Kakashi and the rest of Team 7. Despite this, Kakashi retains many of his original personality traits, being easygoing, unfazed by the actions of others, and eyes appearing to be half-asleep. Kishimoto feels that this makes Kakashi a compelling leader and helps to keep the diverse members of Team 7 unified. Early in the making of the series, Kakashi was designed as a samurai but he was not sure what the character would do in the manga. Thinking about how the protagonists' teacher would behave, Kishimoto envisioned him as a rude adult. However, he was not happy with this type of personality so he rewrote it to a more laid back person. He found this portrayal funny but still made him hot-blooded for serious situations. As the manga continued, he changed his speech pattern and gave it a laid back touch, with kindness and a woman-like mien - at least, the Japanese idea thereof. There was no model for Kakashi; Kishimoto wanted to write a calm teacher who would help his students in complicated situations.

Because he acts as a link between the other main characters of the series, Kakashi is rarely featured prominently in promotional artwork, instead appearing in the background while his students are the focus. In an interview in Shōnen Jump's, Kishimoto said that if he were to make an extra story from the manga with a different character, such character would be Kakashi. In early 2014, Kishimoto commented he wanted to reveal Kakashi's face but was not sure whether it would be in the manga or an upcoming movie. The Raikiri, one of Kakashi's most common techniques, had a different name, but the author forgot it. Nevertheless, he found the name Raikiri fitting for this lightning-based technique. Kakashi's Sharingan (写輪眼; lit. "Copy Wheel Eye", English manga: "Mirror Wheel Eye") was introduced to give the character mystery as only members from the Uchiha clan could possess it. By chapter 16 of the manga, Kishimoto had already decided how Kakashi obtained the Sharingan. He also added that Kakashi's face was difficult to draw since it is covered by a mask. In April 2015, Kishimoto revealed Kakashi's face for the first time during an exhibition.

When deciding upon Kakashi's name, Kishimoto considered a number of possibilities: Kuwa (クワ, "hoe"), Kama (カマ, "scythe"), Botan (ボタン, "peony"), Enoki (エノキ, a nettle tree), and Kakashi (カカシ, "scarecrow"). He eventually decided upon Kakashi, and remains glad that he did to this day. In keeping with the meaning of his name, scarecrows are occasionally used to represent Kakashi; Naruto, for example, uses a scarecrow that is dressed like Kakashi to help him train for a combat test between the two. Likewise, scarecrows are at times added to the background of scenes in which Kakashi appears, as is the case with the cover of the Naruto manga volume three.

In animated versions of the manga, Kakashi has been voiced by Kazuhiko Inoue in Japanese. Inoue was surprised about Kakashi's popularity within the Naruto fans and expected people to continue supporting him. In an interview, Dave Wittenberg, who does the voice acting for Kakashi in the English dub, comments that he feels he is similar to the character since he tends to have one eye open at a time and he becomes angry if he is interrupted while reading. He also added that what he likes most about Kakashi is his relation with his students, noting him to be "a very nice person".