10 Facts You Didn’t Know About Naruto’s Haku

Haku is one of the most beautifully written characters by the Naruto manga creator Masashi Kishimoto. We can also say that he’s the only character who, even with a brief appearance, managed to gain an enormous fan following. One of the earliest arcs of Naruto introduced us to Haku, making him a fan favorite for life. Despite having a shorter screen time, the impact he left is massive. And there are several lesser-known facts about Haku that his admirers sometimes overlook. So, keep reading to discover 10 facts we bet you didn’t know about Haku in Naruto.

1. Haku Is In the One Hand Sign Club

Only a handful of individuals, including Haku, are able to make jutsu hand signs with just one hand. He can rapidly and precisely make any sign with just one hand. He has this feat in common with Naruto, Minato, Zabuza, and a few others. As this technique can be performed by his master Zabuza, thus, Haku must have learned it from him at some point in his training.

2. Haku’s Official Stats in Naruto

We never got to see Haku’s full potential due to his premature death in the anime series. But we have Haku’s official stats, ranging from Intelligence to Genjutsu, that were revealed in the Naruto Secret: Scroll of People Character Official Databook. This clearly reveals to us how strong Haku actually was in each aspect of a Ninja and amazed everyone. We believe not many fans know this fact about Naruto’s Haku.

3. Haku’s Name; Connection with Kekkei Genkai

Many of us either don’t know what Haku’s clan is or we forgot about it. But it has an amazing connection (a wordplay) with Haku’s powers. Haku belongs to the Yuki family, and the literal meaning of Haku is “White” whereas Yuki translates to “Snow“. And well, “White Snow” resembles the clan’s Kekkei Genkai “Ice Release” technique. It is indeed a clever wordplay from Kishimoto, and like Oda’s wordplay which we saw in our facts about Shanks article, he has secrets for almost all of the characters in the show.

4. Haku’s Appearance was a Big W

Many people, both in the show as well as outside (the viewers), have been perplexed by Haku’s bishonen appearance for a long time. But Haku has been able to use this to his advantage so that he appears to be an ordinary citizen in the eyes of Shinobis. He can travel wherever he wants as no one will suspect that he is a highly adept ninja with potentially lethal abilities, thanks to his attractive appearance.

5. Haku Heavily Influenced Naruto’s Life

“When a person has something important they want to protect. that’s when they can become truly strong.” – Haku

Haku was introduced in the first and most important arc in Naruto, i.e. Prologue – Land of Waves arc (see the complete list of Naruto arcs here). Naruto met Haku and thought he was a girl (like many of us). But we all know how that went. But if you are still wondering whether Haku is a girl or a boy? Learn about Haku’s gender in Naruto right here.

Later, it turns out they are enemies and an intense battle ensues, making this one of the fan-favorite arcs in Naruto. Throughout this arc, Haku serves as the first and foremost influential person to Naruto in his life. He taught him the way of Shinobi and becoming a better person and wished him to become a great Ninja in his life. Even when he has reincarnated, Haku and Zabuza asked about Naruto and were happy to see the progress he had made to become a legendary Ninja.

6. Haku’s Character Was Going to Be a Bear at First

Yes, you didn’t read that wrong. In an interview with the creator Masashi Kishimoto in 2019, he confirmed that he initially sketched Haku’s character as a bear. But that didn’t develop so well to reach the final plans as his editor proposed that they can maybe change that character into a human. Huge thanks to this editor, as if not for him, we would have missed out on a great character like Haku. Meanwhile, I am still curious about the plans Kishimoto sensei had for that bear.

7. Haku’s Mask and Its Connection with Naruto

The first time Haku made his appearance, he was seen with a mask. During Haku’s fight against Naruto, Naruto will break this mask into pieces in a certain way. This same thing was repeated when Naruto shattered Obito Uchiha’s mask in the final Shinobi war. It was a major throwback to Haku’s arc and made us remember him, and how far we have come after everything that has happened.

8. Haku’s Death Foreshadowed One of the Major Events

When Haku noticed that Zabuza was about to be killed by Kakashi, he threw himself in front of him to save his master. As a result, he got pierced in his heart by Kakashi’s Chidori attack. This is a major foreshadowing and a parallel to the scene where Kakashi accidentally kills his friend Rin in the same manner.

Technically, the Rin accident happened before this, but it was only revealed later to us (as a flashback) in the Naruto Shippuden Kakashi Gaiden arc. Who knew that Kakashi’s Chidori could hurt not only their hearts but also us, that too twice in the show?

9. Haku’s Popularity Among Fans Is Insane

Haku is the perfect example of a character who despite his short screen time won over the hearts of many, and it was proved in the Naruto Popularity Polls too. In the first-ever poll, he was ranked 8th, and well, 11th in the next poll.

And what’s surprising is that Haku managed to stay in the top 20 in the next popularity polls that were conducted. It’s quite astonishing to see that the fandom has high regard for Haku in their hearts. However, he grabbed 34th place in the latest Naruto popularity poll that was conducted to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the anime.

10. Haku’s Unnoticed Cameo After His Death

We all know that Haku died in the same arc (Prologue – Land of Waves, Episode 18) he was introduced. But what if we said, he along with Zabuza, made an unexpected cameo after that? No! We aren’t talking about the time he was reincarnated by Kabuto. This happened in the Naruto Shippuden anime series before the reincarnation.

In Naruto Shippuden filler episode 183, exactly at the 9:50 runtime, you can see Haku’s cameo amidst a group of people. We don’t know if this is an easter egg or a mistake by the animation team. But we stick with the former one!

That’s all the 10 facts you probably didn’t know about Naruto’s Haku. We hope we were able to present you the facts that fans often fail to notice, but you get to know them. In the meantime, tell us why Haku is your favorite character in the comments below.

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