For the most part, forehead protectors inNarutoconsist of a simple cloth headband with a metal plate at the center, featuring the crest of a hidden village engraved on it. Worn as an emblem of allegiance to their hidden village, shinobi generally place a great deal of importance on their forehead protectors. Moreover, forehead protectors also had a major symbolic role to play in theconflict between Naruto and Sasukewhich defined a large part of the series.
Apart from the political connotations they come with, forehead protectors arealso an integral part of many distinct characterdesigns inNaruto, where the shinobi wearing them have chosen to forgo the traditional method in favor of customization. Since shinobi generally wear their village’s military uniform on most occasions, their forehead protectors provided a means for self-expression, yielding several unique variants that are now immediately associated with certain characters from the series.
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10Kakuzu’s Triangular Headband
While only a minor deviation from the norm — as it is still worn on the forehead and featured Takigakure’s emblem on a standard metal plate — Kakuzu’s headband took on a more triangular profile across his forehead, almost in the style of a napkin. He was only seen wearing it after his defection from Takigakure, and usually had it tied on top of the hood he wore to conceal hishair during his time in the Akatsuki.
9Guy And Lee’s Belts
Konohagakure’s residenttaijutsu experts Rock Lee and Might Guyboth wear their forehead protectors around their waists as belts, which is fitting as the standard headband would naturally detract from their iconic bowl cut hairstyles. Rock Lee’s son Metal Lee continued the tradition and followed in his father’s footsteps. Ino Yamanaka similarly wore her forehead protector around her waist in Part I, but opted to remove it after the time skip.
8Zabuza’s Long Cloth Protector
This may not be the most inventive of the bunch, but it definitely played a part in elevating Zabuza Momochi’s character design to project the image of a powerful and ruthless rogue ninja, which fell perfectly in line with his personality. A brilliant blade wielding shinobi and former member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, Zabuza wore his forehead protector in anoff center manner with the Kirigakure emblemfacing sideways.
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7Neck Warmers
During Part I, both Hinata Hyuga and Temari wore their forehead protectors in a less traditional manner in the style of a neck warmer. This was one of the simpler customizations seen in the series where the band still faces forwards but is worn around a different part of the body. While Temari opted for the standard headband after the time skip, Hinata continued to wear the protector around her neck in Part II and only stoppeddoing so during the Fourth Shinobi World War.
6Shikamaru And Fu’s Armbands
As a genin,Shikamaru Nara wore his forehead protectoraround his upper left arm — a practice mirrored by Fu of Takigakure, the jinchuriki of the Seven-Tails Chomei, who wore it on her right arm. Later on in Part II, once he had risen to the rank of chunin, Shikamaru opted to have the metal plate of his forehead protector sewn directly into the left sleeve of his standard Konohagakure military uniform. In a way, this was a fitting move for the lazy genius, who now had one less thing to worry about when donning his shinobi attire.
5Sakura’s Hairband
In one of the most prominently featured variations of the headband in the series,Sakura Haruno’s hairband protector was only a slightdeparture from the standard way of donning forehead protectors, as the metal plate with Konohagakure’s insignia was made to face upwards rather than forwards. At first, she used the standard blue headband, although this was changed to a red one in Part II to better adhere to the rest of her color scheme.
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4Kakashi’s Eye Patch
The Copy Ninja Kakashi Hatake wears one of the simplest yet most iconic variations of a traditional shinobi forehead protector, where he uses it as a makeshift eye patch to conceal the Sharingan that he inherited from Obito Uchiha. Generally worn in a slanted manner where the headband runs diagonally across the left side of his face to hide his dojutsu, Kakashi only raises the cloth from above his eye when fighting against worthyopponents who warrant the use of his Sharingan.
3Jiraiya’s Horned Protector
By far one of the more unique variations of a forehead protector in the series, Jiraiya’s version was composed entirely of metal and featured two short horns at its corners. It also seemed to have no cloth headband, appearing almost like a crown atop his head. As opposed to the standard Konohagakure emblem, Jiraiya’s forehead protector had the kanji for “oil” inscribed at its center, denoting his connections to the toads of Mount Myoboku,where he learned the secrets of Sage Mode.
2Bandanna Protectors
Despite being only minor characters in the larger story ofNaruto, Hayate Gekko, Ebisu, and Ibiki Morino wear one of the most well-known variants of the forehead protector in the series, which takes the form of a bandanna. The aforementioned trio of shinobi wear their bandannas with the metal platefeaturing Konohagakure’s insignia facing forwards, which is the commonly observed version of this style. Alternatively, Genma Shiranui wore his bandanna with the metal plate facing backwards.
1Tobirama’s Happuri
Conveying an air of regality befittinga shinobi as decorated as the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senji’s forehead protector is another variant that discards the headband in favor of a fully metallic design. With clear inspiration derived from the happuri — a type of facial armor traditionally worn by samurai in feudal Japan — Tobirama’s forehead protector extended downwards along his face to cover his cheeks, but still featured Konoahakagure’s emblem at the center of his forehead.
