Masashi Kishimoto's hit shonen series Naruto was once one of shonen's big three, alongside Bleach and One Piece, and it's all thanks to this series' fine worldbuilding, exciting combat system and of course, its energetic shonen lead, Uzumaki Naruto himself. There are a number of ways to analyze and assess Naruto's character, and that includes his moral alignment, gamer style.
Fictional characters can be nearly categorized according to Dungeons & Dragons' moral alignment chart, which has two axes -- one for Good Neutral Evil and the other for Lawful Neutral Chaotic. This makes for nine combinations, and among them, Naruto is best described as a Chaotic Good character. This often amazes but exasperates his allies and enemies alike.
The Basic Tenets Of A Chaotic Good Character
The Chaotic Good alignment describes anyone who seeks to accomplish good and heroic things for the benefit of others and confront evil characters their own way. A Chaotic Good character will make up their personal rules and resist orders or authority while on a mission or quest. Chaotic Good characters are not knights or soldiers -- they are vigilantes and/or lone wolves, fighting the forces of evil however they see fit.
Chaotic Good characters like Naruto value the individual more than society or civilization and the law, although this worldview doesn't necessarily translate into utter contempt or disgust for such things. Chaotic Good characters like Naruto simply have an independent mindset and like to accomplish good as their own bosses, spreading their version of goodness across the world with their efforts. Such characters also broadly believe that personal freedoms and independence are the best way to pursue a meaningful and good life, and they tend to be non-conformist and roguish at times too.
These characters will fight and risk their lives to promote their freedom and that of others, spreading goodness on their own terms but never on behalf of a lofty cause or higher authority, such as a king, empress or military general. These characters might even break the law during their adventures, although not for fun or to commit crimes -- it's all to save lives and uphold a personal sense of justice and charity.
Uzumaki Naruto As A Lawful Good Character In Naruto
Uzumaki Naruto began the story of Naruto as Chaotic Neutral -- someone who sought personal freedom for its own sake, with little regard for either helping or hurting others. Naruto was terribly frustrated as an orphan and a pariah, the hated living vessel of the nine-tailed fox. This drove Naruto to have an independent and roguish mindset, and this continued even after he graduated from the Leaf Village ninja academy and became a member of Team 7. Naruto's efforts then became more constructive -- he aimed to become the next Hokage and run the village as a respected and beloved shinobi -- someone everyone could look up to. Strictly speaking, becoming Hokage is a Lawful Good goal, but despite that, Naruto's attitude and methods are mainly Chaotic Good.
Naruto quickly developed a rivalry with the gifted Sasuke Uchiha to prove himself, and he didn't care if this rivalry interfered with the mission at hand or annoyed his superiors. He had his eyes on his own goals, and he wanted to help others and save the day on his terms. He went wild during the "Chunin Exam" arc, where he passed the written test without even doing anything, and he fought his many enemies by pure instinct in the Forest of Death.
Naruto also impulsively imitated Sasuke's lion barrage technique, then made up his unique combat style to fight Gaara of the Sand to a standstill. Later still, Naruto could barely stand learning from Jiraiya the Toad Sage and often questioned his sensei's methods, but still found his own unexpected way to master the Rasengan technique as a true Chaotic Good character.
Naruto's impulsivity, defiance of authority and creative ways continued to define him as a Chaotic Good hero in Shippuden, where he respected little authority except for Kakashi's, and even then, only barely. Naruto freely clashed with his new teammate Sai and rarely listened to Yamato, and when Sasuke was branded a wanted international criminal, he recklessly chased after the Raikage and pleaded with him to reconsider his stance on Sasuke. Finally, Naruto helped his reunited team take down the moon princess Kaguya, even impulsively using his reverse-harem jutsu to distract her and land a free blow. Only a prankster Chaotic Good hero like Naruto would think of that.
