Tenten would make a Great Female Main Character

[Bad Touch Yakushi]

Having Tenten as the lead would have changed the plot of Naruto, which to a large extent does revolve around and emphasize the characters' personal growth and relationships with one another—and by extension this includes the love triangles/romantic feelings of characters, however much some people want to deny it. That isn't to say it couldn't have been done, but this is what Kishi wanted to write and somewhere in there, something must have worked.

Tenten is barely developed in the manga as it is (granted, he has a lot of characters to work with) so she probably would have just ended up with Sakura's role and personality anyway. Maybe more people would have liked her still because she doesn't have pink hair and a dress, though. Who knows? And IMO, Tenten only comes across as more likable and less 'weak'(?) than most of the other females because she hasn't had enough panel time for Kishi to destroy her. But to be fair, losing fights off-panel is almost worse, isn't it?

This thread is totally figurative so imagine Tenten doesn't have to conform to usual anime female love interest position and imagine how the Team 7 drama could work with a girl who instead grows to respect both of the guys on her team and doesn't have to be constantly saved or be a mary sue. And jesus christ I wish Kishimoto could just write for females. To be fair if you're struggling to imagine Tenten's personality from fillers and SD just imagine Tsunade but a bit more quirky and tomboy-ish.

 

[xcoyote]

TenTen along with the whole team Gai are wasted characters IMO,so much potential for development.

 

[Bad Touch Yakushi]

TenTen along with the whole team Gai are wasted characters IMO,so much potential for development.

All so true. Thank god we had Naruto SD for the short amount of time it was around.

 

[Bad Touch Yakushi]

Also, if we're going to rally around a strong, independent female role model (at least in ninja form...) out of the younger generation, why not Temari? She's actually demonstrated qualities outside of filler episodes and spin-off shows. She has flaws and room for growth, too, just of a different variety.

I guess she wouldn't work for a lead, seeing as she's from Suna... but still.

Temari would also be a great example. Personally I see her as a little too condescending and mean to be a main character and that could get old quick from a storytelling viewpoint but she's still a cool character.

 

[Bad Touch Yakushi]

This thread became even more accurate with the existence of the God Tools. Imagine if it were Sakura in the cocoon right now and Tenten in the Susanoo with the rest of her Team 7 team? She could literally be on par of usefulness with both Naruto and Sasuke if she got good at using them.

UGH WHY KISHI WHY

 

[RicardoA]

Agreed.
The potencial was definetly there. Although making her a protagonist would be overkill imo.
I actually liked her until the moment i discovered what i was watching was a bunch of filler. Sadly, filler Tenten >>>>> Canon Tenten.

 

[Jowy Atreides]

lol! op tell me, what 'well developed' naruto female have we seen without love/fangiring??

that one tenten's filler ep with lee was great though. felt sad for her when she lost to temari and saw tsunade in the hospital..

Tenten from what we see of her in part 1 and Naruto SD actually is a lovely character who doesn't need to be dependant on a boy crush, is a weapon expert,has the best design, has lots of potential, has a strong female role model she aspires to and doesn't have that many feminine attributes.

sorry to burst your bubble

Spoiler

You must be registered for see images

The breakup of Team 7 doesn't have to be some romantic love triangle, it can still just have as much impact if Sasuke leaves the village away from a team and a girl who respects him. Tenten could've been a great choice for main female protaganist...to be simple, Tenten is kind of awesome.

agree

 

[Bad Touch Yakushi]

lol! op tell me, what 'well developed' naruto female have we seen without love/fangiring??

Tsunade, Temari, Mei, Chiyo, Kurotsuchi, Tayuya, Tenten and Kushina would be the only ones. And I think they're badasses.

sorry to burst your bubble

Spoiler

You must be registered for see images

agree

a.) I know about that panel, but there's nothing wrong with Tenten saying something like that. Sasuke is an attractive character apparently and Tenten doesn't have to be a robot, making a casual statement like that is fine. It's DEPENDENCE on a male character that makes Tenten somewhat likeable and unique (which you can't say for the old Ino, Sakura, Konan or Hinata)

b.) I'm saying a hypothetical version where Tenten didn't have feelings for either of them, so it wouldn't matter anyway.

 

[Jowy Atreides]

Tsunade, Temari, Mei, Chiyo, Kurotsuchi, Tayuya, Tenten and Kushina would be the only ones. And I think they're badasses.

i think they're badasses too, but you're kidding yourself if you see no theme of 'love' in those underlined. out of those left do you really think they're well developed? i love kurotsuchi too and wished she shown more of her backstory with deidera-nii but there might be more love bullshit so it's okay.

a.) I know about that panel, but there's nothing wrong with Tenten saying something like that.

yeah there's nothing wrong with her blushing and saying that one-liner like freaking temari but would you bet ten bucks that infatuation wouldn't be used in her development if she's in sakura's place? take ino for example, her father even encourage her in sasuke-kunning in his death. wtf is with that.

 

[Bad Touch Yakushi]

i think they're badasses too, but you're kidding yourself if you see no theme of 'love' in those underlined. out of those left do you really think they're well developed? i love kurotsuchi too and wished she shown more of her backstory with deidera-nii but there might be more love bullshit so it's okay.

She clearly calls him bro. They have a seriously interesting relationship but it's not lovers. Not every character has to be developed in detail to understand the core basics of their character.

Tsunade and Temari had love in their life at one point but that's not 'love bullshit' or 'dependence on a male' - that's called acting like an actual human being :') Mei is a flirtatious character but is not in love with anyone and shipping BS never holds her character back, if anybody genuinely paired her with Sasuke then they're an idiot- she was about to kill him.

yeah there's nothing wrong with her blushing and saying that one-liner like freaking temari but would you bet ten bucks that infatuation wouldn't be used in her development if she's in sakura's place? take ino for example, her father even encourage her in sasuke-kunning in his death. wtf is with that.

and that's why i'm being hypothetical. Clearly Kishi WOULD because he used Sakura as his female lead and thinks relationship issues are important in Naruto. I'm saying a version where the emphasis is taken away from it. And yeah that was a little weird. I can safely say Ino has matured though, I don't think she really would as she was sad but willing to kill him a while back if the occasion arose. Her comrades and real things are more important to her. She saw things Shikamaru's way.

 

[FemmeFatale]

Don't get to hyped, let's not forget about Sakura possible connection to lady mito, a powerful if not the most powerful sealer.
And she has the reserves to use the weapons

 

[Bad Touch Yakushi]

Don't get to hyped, let's not forget about Sakura possible connection to lady mito, a powerful if not the most powerful sealer.
And she has the reserves to use the weapons

Good luck with that one. We're at the very end, Kishi should've got to that years back, he failed her.

 

[Joseph Gomes]

Tenten is cool, better than all other K11 girls

 

[Bad Touch Yakushi]

Tenten is cool, better than all other K11 girls

Damn right.

 

[WalksInShadows]

i agree that the sum of her character didn't revolve around crushing on a boy, but idk about her character being awesome.

 

[SUPERDEADLYKING]

yes tenten = 10/10 LOL