Origin
Ino Yamanaka is a lovely and headstrong ninja from the Hidden Leaf Village in the Land of Fire. Though she grew up with Sakura Haruno has close friends, the bond was broken through their rivalry for the affections of Sasuke Uchiha. Popular and head strong in her class of kunoichi ninja. She inherited the charka techniques of her family to project and control the minds of her enemies, and became the Medical Ninja of her squad.
Creation
Ino Yamanaka is a supporting character of the Naruto series that was created by Masashi Kishimoto, Her primary intention was to be the rival of Naruto regular Sakura Haruno. Though the two are hostiles toward each other, they were at one time friends as children. She is a blond character with long hair in a pony tail. Her personality tends to be hostile and superficial. Her outfits always colored purple. She wears her branded forehead protector around her waist.
She first appeared in Naruto Volume 4, CH. 34 "Intruders?", and her first anime appearance was in Naruto - Episode 1 He Appears! Naruto Uzumaki. Her character in the Japanese series is voiced by Ryouka Yuzuki, and the U.S. dub produced by VIZ Media is done by Colleen O'Shaughnessey. Not only is she an expert in mind control techniques, but she also is well trained in hand to hand combat and had the highest overall grades from her class at the Ninja Academy.
Ino's favorite food is cherry-blossom pudding. Her name is short for 猪 (inoshshi) which mean "wild boar". Sakura uses this meaning when insulting Ino to call her a "pig". In the first character poll taken on the popularity of the series characters, Ino placed 30th, but in following polls she would peak at 14th.
Character Evolution

Early Ino Yamanaka appearance
Ino's personality started as hostile and confrontational with her rival Sakura. As a child, she had short hair by grew it out long after she heard the boy she was interested in liked long hair. It was Ino's rivalry for Sasuke that would be the the cause of their friendship deteriorating. She began in the Naruto series at the age of 12 or 13 years old. Her outfit design as of a sleeveless shirt and high-cut hem shirt. Her mid-drift and legs were covered in bandages. Though arrogant and superficial, Ino has also shown a caring for Sakura when she was put in mortal danger. In her ninja squad with Shikamaru Nara and Choji Akimichi, Ino established herself as the boss, but Shikamaru is one of the most brilliant characters in the series.
Affiliation: Hidden Leaf Village
Rank: Chunin
Registered Ninja #: 012604
Date Of Birth: September 23rd
Age: 16
Zodiac Sign: Libra
Height: 162.2cm
Weight: 46.0kg
Blood Type: B
Completed Assignments:
- D-Rank 23 / C-Rank 9 / B-Rank 6 / A-Rank 2 / S-Rank 0

Ino Yamanaka after time skip
After a two year time skip in the manga series, Ino is now at the age of 15 or 16 years old. Though the design of her outfit has changed, she is still wearing a deep purple color. She has a button up top, a skirt, she still uses lag wrappings, but has an exposed mid-drift. At each elbow and knee joint she wears bands in a fishnet pattern. Her hair style was changed slightly so the bangs now cover her right eye. It was after the time skip that Ino's skills were expanded past her mind control techniques and into the field of medical ninjitsu.
Ino's favorite foods are cherry tomatoes and custard pudding, her least favorite is sashimi, and her hobbies include shopping.
Recently
Ino is one of the ninja in the nationwide coalition to oppose the forces of the Akatsuki. During the war, her and the rest of Team 10 had to face the resurrected version of their own teacher, Asuma Sarutobi. They were victorious in sealing him.
Major Story Arcs
Chuunin Exams 1
Ino's team in the Chunin exam was Shikamaru, Choji,and herself. Ino seemed kind of nerves when she got their. The first exam came, and the proctor was explaining the rules. Everyone finds the rules to be very hard. They had to take a quiz and it wasn't even on Chuunin level. Then only way to get the answers is to cheat , but not get cough. People used jutsu to get the answers from people. Ino used her mind transfer jutsu on Sakura and gets the answers from her. Ninja were quitting because they didn't they had to use jutsu to cheat. Then Naruto has nothing on his paper and is so nervous. But, Naruto encourages everyone and no one else seemed like they wanted to quit. So, they all passed. Everyone was surprised because they thought it was about the test. But, it was to see if you can gather information from your squad, you will need it in mission.
Chuunin Exam 2
The next exam was in the forest of death. The proctor was explaining the rules and everyone got a little scared. As the exam begun, and everyone was zooming off. Shikamaru was the smart one setting traps every where. That's how they got their scroll. Then when the time came, Ino ,and her team helped Sakura defend the unconscious Sasuke and Naruto. She used her mind transfer Jutsu on the girl Sound ninja. Choji then used his Human Boulder right when no released from the girl's body.
Chuunin Exam 3
The third Chunin Exam is were she had more friendship with Sakura. When it was Ino's turn to fight, she had to fight Sakura. The battle was long, because they both had a flashback of being kids and they were friends. Then Sakura really wanted to fight her and see who was the better ninja. They both gave it their all using their best jutsu. Ino used her mind transfer jutsu on Sakura but her "Inner Sakura" beat Ino out of her body when Naruto began to talk. With one punch from each of the lovely ladies ,both were knocked out ending the fight in a draw.
Abilities
Ino's Jutsu
- Chakra Hair Trap
- Mind Body Switch Jutsu
- Mystical Palm Jutsu
- Formation: Ino-Shika-Cho
Anime Only:
- Four-Corner Sealing Barrier
- Mind Body Disturbance Jutsu
Jutsu Stats
Ninja's
are ranked by their proficiency with the various types of jutsu and
other statistics. The score rates as a best out of five and are added
up in a total score. (source: First, Second, and Third Third Naruto Databook)
| Ninjutsu | Taijutsu | Genjutsu | Intelligence
| Strength | Speed
| Stamina | Hand Seals
| Total
|
|---|
| 2.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 2 | 0.5 | 2.5 | 2 | 2.5 | 15 |
3
| 1.5
| 1.5
| 2.5
| 1.5
| 2.5
| 2.5
| 2.5
| 17
|
3.5
| 1.5
| 3
| 3
| 2.5
| 2.5
| 2.5
| 2.5
| 21
|
Other Media
Anime
In the Naruto anime series, the continuity of Ino's appearance drastically changed. She was first seen in Episode 1 and several episodes following, but by the canon manga story shouldn't of appeared until Episode 20.
Films
Despite several anime movies based upon the first series of Naruto, Ino would not appear in any of the movies until Naruto Shippuden 3: Inheritors of the Will of Fire(2009).
Games
Ino has appeared in a cameo appeareance in the Naruto series games, but she would have her first appearance as a playable character in Naruto: Clash of the Ninja 2.