Naruto Uzumaki, the main character of the 2002 anime Naruto, had a habit of running with his arms stretched behind him. That pose became a meme, and now knowyourmeme.com has traced its 24-year history online. The site’s entry shows how a cartoon running style became a real-world phenomenon, complete with YouTube tutorials, global flash mobs, and even a military briefing slide.
Origin of the Naruto Run
The pose first appeared in the anime, which premiered on October 3rd, 2002. Naruto is often shown sprinting with his arms angled behind his body. The pose existed before Naruto, but the show popularized it, and the name stuck.
On September 6th, 2006, YouTuber mfbrice uploaded a video titled “Anime Run,” mimicking the style. The video helped spread the image beyond the anime itself.
From WikiHow to Global Flash Mobs
On March 10th, 2008, a WikiHow page titled “How to Run Like Naruto” was created, offering instructions for the pose. That page became the blueprint for a wave of imitators.
On September 24th, 2014, AppStoreVn uploaded a video titled “Naruto in Real Life,” featuring a stuntman dressed as the character performing parkour moves with his arms outstretched. The video showed the pose could be performed in real life.
RealApollo uploaded a video on May 31st, 2016, attempting to follow the WikiHow guide. Joe Inoue uploaded footage of a Naruto Run event in Porto Alegre, Brazil, on July 11th, 2017. The ManimeTV channel uploaded a video titled “Does the Naruto Run Really Work?” on August 27th.
A Facebook page for a Naruto run event in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was created on August 8th, 2017. Kotaku published an article on August 25th, 2017, reporting on various Naruto Run Facebook event pages from around the world.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 2002 | Naruto premieres |
| 2006 | mfbrice uploads “Anime Run” |
| 2008 | WikiHow “How to Run Like Naruto” created |
| 2014 | AppStoreVn uploads “Naruto in Real Life” |
| 2016 | RealApollo attempts the WikiHow guide |
| 2017 | Joe Inoue posts Porto Alegre footage |
| 2017 | Philadelphia event page created |
| 2017 | Kotaku reports on global event pages |
The Storm Area 51 Twist
The meme crossed genres in 2019. Storm Area 51 was a satirical Facebook event suggesting attendees “storm” the American airbase Area 51, long rumored to hold secret information about aliens. The event’s description urged participants to perform the Naruto Run to “move faster than bullets.”
On July 19th, 2019, Redditor PerturbedPython posted photographs of a man dressed in military uniform giving a presentation on the Naruto Run titled “Actual Air Force Brief My Cousin Had to Sit Through.” The post gained over 124,700 points (96% upvoted) and 2,500 comments on /r/memes within 24 hours.
The meme’s arc shows how a simple visual detail can travel from a cartoon to a global cultural reference, with each step building on the last. The fact that it survived 24 years speaks to its persistence.
Source material: “24 Years Of The Naruto Run,” Know Your Meme.
Get the Notebook.
The day's best stories and every fresh verdict, in plain English, in your inbox by seven. One email a day, no more.