Chouji Akimichi

Chouji Akimichi is a character from the Naruto anime and manga.

Chouji is a member of Konohagakure's Akimichi Clan. Though sensitive about his weight, Chōji is nevertheless dedicated to his friends, especially in Team Asuma.

In the Heroes Coalition fics, Chouji is a member of the Heroes Coalitions and is part of the Full Force Guerilla.

Appearance
Like other Akimichi, Chōji has a rotund build and markings on his cheeks in the form of swirls. He has spiky, brown hair that sticks upward in Part I and grows to waist-length in Part II. In The Last: Naruto the Movie, Chōji cuts his hair short and sports a goatee, both of which grow further when he becomes an adult, with his hair slicked back and braided.

During Part I, Chōji donned a green, short-sleeved haori with a long, white scarf over a light-green shirt (white in the anime), with the kanji for "food" (shoku) on it. He also wore black shorts, hoop earrings, and bandages around his legs and forearms. His blue forehead protector was styled in a manner that allowed two tufts of hair to poke out at each side. In Part II, Chōji sports a red suit with plated armour on his torso, arms, and upper legs, having the same kanji for "food" (shoku) on the front. He switches to a standard red forehead protector and replaces his hoop earrings with studs, a gift from Asuma Sarutobi. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, he wears the standard Konoha flak jacket over his outfit.

In The Last: Naruto the Movie, Chōji's overall appearance slims down somewhat, being more plump as he considers himself. His outfit is mostly the same, but he wears larger wrist-guards and his boots reach his calves. Years later, Chōji's attire consists of elements from Parts I and II: a green haori over chest plate armour, brown pants with a red belt, bandages around his arms, and black sandals. He seems to have stopped wearing a forehead protector.

Personality
Chōji is a very kind, polite, and caring person. These characteristics are said to be his greatest strength by both his father Chōza and his former teacher Asuma Sarutobi while his greatest weakness was his lack of self-confidence. He is easily motivated by the prospect of food, and becomes highly agitated when somebody calls him "fat" (he refers to himself as "big-boned", "chubby") Asuma would say that he is just "pleasantly plump". However, he does not hide his love for food and his near constant hunger is also an annoyance to his teammates, as eating often comes before other necessities such as stealth and teamwork. Food can also make him over-react about silly things, such as who gets the last chip, or when Akamaru tried to take his chips, and he refuses to let anyone else eat the last chip in the bag, even in battle-situation. Chōji also tends to eat a lot when he's angry. Since Part II of the series, however, his eating habits are more controlled and no longer interfere with his duties as a shinobi.

Chōji has a long-standing friendship with Shikamaru. The two have complete trust in each other, with Shikamaru being one of the few people to look past Chōji's lack of athleticism, and see that he had a kind heart; recognising Chōji's true strength. Because of this, Chōji has unwavering faith and loyalty to Shikamaru and, if necessary, would give his life for him, which nearly happened during his battle with Jirōbō. Chōji also cares deeply for his mentor, Asuma, and had a difficult time in fighting him during the Fourth Shinobi World War, due to not wanting to hurt his own teacher, even when Asuma called Chōji "fat" in an attempt to anger him.

As stated by his father and teacher, Chōji greatly lacked confidence in himself and his abilities which often times hindered his actions or even progression in some aspects. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, however, Chōji was able to overcome these issues and become one of the major contributing factors in the Allied Shinobi Forces turning the tide of the battle in their favour.

As an adult, Chōji is shown to be very laid back and jovial. He is also shown to be a loving husband towards Karui, and an extremely doting father towards his eccentric daughter Chōchō. However, he maintains a competitive side, with Chōchō frequently challenging him to eating contests. During her Chūnin exam, Chōji is shown to gleefully cheer her on while also expressing concern for her well-being when she faces the skilled genin Shinki.

Abilities
Chōji's low self-confidence belied his great strength; he became agitated to fight an opponent mainly if they insulted him or his friends. It was during these instances that he proved to very strong, enough to defeat the Sound Four member, Jirōbō. His father Chōza, Shikamaru, and Asuma Sarutobi all believe that Choji's greatest strength is his kindness and concern for his friends, which the latter states could someday make him stronger than anyone. Chōji helps fight members of Akatsuki such as Kakuzu and Pain, though his self-confidence reaches its peak during the Fourth Shinobi World War: Chōza states Chōji is now worthy of being the Akimichi clan's sixteenth head, every ally and foe on the battlefield become astonished at his display of strength, and he defeats the reincarnated Kakuzu and Hizashi Hyūga.

Ninjutsu

Akimichi Clan Techniques

As an Akimichi, Chōji converts the calories he consumes into chakra, hence his husky physique and frequent eating habits. He uses the chakra he stores to perform the body-expanding Multi-Size Technique, allowing him to use the Human Bullet Tank to run down his opponents. He can increase the damage by wrapping spikes around his body, using either kunai or, in Part II, his long hair after he sharpens it. Chōji can expand other parts of his body to enhance his physical strikes, grab and crush targets, or make himself gigantic to smash them from above.

Three Coloured Pills

The Three Coloured Pills, when eaten, convert Chōji's own body fat into chakra, increasing his physical attributes and facilitating the use of his clan's more advanced techniques. After consuming the red pill, the large amount of chakra manifests into two massive butterfly wings on Chōji's back, making his power a hundredfold. Taking each pill damages Chōji's body, with the red pill not only emaciating the user's body, but also causing eventual death. Therefore, the pills are considered a last resort to use. However, Chōji survived thanks to the Nara clan's medical book and Tsunade's medical expertise. He overcomes these issues by Part II, using his own chakra to perform his clan's techniques without consuming the pills. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, he becomes able to form the butterfly wings on his own, bypassing the pills' dangerous side effects.

Nature Transformation

Chōji's nature transformations include Fire and Earth Release, though he almost exclusively uses the Yang Release for his body-expanding techniques.With Earth Release, he could erect a rock wall to protect against attacks.

Physical Prowess

Naturally, Chōji has massive physical strength that he can combine with his clan's techniques to inflict powerful strikes on his opponent. When he manifests chakra butterfly wings, he can compress the chakra into his fist to use the Butterfly Bullet Bombing, powerful enough to kill a Cursed Seal Level 2-enhanced Jirōbō in one strike. His strength is necessary for important tasks, being selected as a member of the Sasuke Recovery Team and helping to restrain the Deva Path during Pain's Assault. Aside from strength, Chōji has great durability and speed, enough to survive being hit by the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path's chakra blasts and save Shikamaru from being stomped by the statue.

Trivia

 * The name "Chōji" is made up of the kanji for "butterfly" and "second" (二). Butterflies are insects known to eat sweets. Chōji also manifests butterfly wings made of chakraafter eating the third red pill during his fight against Sound Four ninja Jirōbō. His family name "Akimichi" literally means "autumn road", referring to the time of harvest as well as the streets where vendors sell food.
 * Chōji was the only member of the original 15 genin to not be ranked within the top 30 characters in the sixth and most recent Naruto character popularity poll. He was not ranked among the top 30 in the fifth poll either. The only poll he placed in was the fourth where he was ranked 21st most popular character.
 * According to the databook(s):
 * Chōji's hobby is buying and eating snacks.
 * While Chōji doesn't wish to fight anyone in particular, Chōji will fight anyone as long as there is food involved.
 * Chōji's favourite foods are Korean barbecue and junk food, whilst his least favourite food is anything inedible.
 * Chōji has completed 39 official missions in total: 17 D-rank, 13 C-rank, 6 B-rank, 3 A-rank, 0 S-rank.
 * Chōji's favourite word is 'meat' (niku).
 * Chōji is the only character to have a stat go down between databooks: his hand seal score goes down by half a point between the second and third databooks.
 * In Naruto: Uzumaki Chronicles 2, it is revealed that Chōji has a fear of lizards after he sees Ibushi's puppet lizard.
 * In the omake of Naruto: Shippūden episode 163, Chōji seemingly uses Wind Release by sucking up Potato chips, calling it "Wind Release: Great Absorption" (Fūton: Daikyūin, English TV: Wind Style: Great Suction) which angers Naruto questioning what kind of Wind Release was that.
 * In a 2012 Shōnen Jump interview, Masashi Kishimoto stated that Chōji and Killer B were currently his favourite characters in the Naruto series.
 * Despite Chōji using Earth Release: Practice Brick Technique in the manga, Earth Release is omitted from his list of natures in the fourth databook.
 * On the back of Hyō no Sho, Choji's hair colour is blond in colour.