Which Shonen MC is more relateable to the average person?

He obviously wouldn't be later on but Naruto back in Part 1 would have been somewhat relatable considering he had to work hard for whatever he wanted. That being said I haven't seen Bleach or One Piece yet(I need to) so keep that in mind as I say that. Those two might be more relatable.

None of them, shounen mc have negative intelligence level

Naruto.

Ichigo lives on a version of Eartg tbf

Ichigo lives in the modern world so...

Ichigo

I’m not sure what living in the modern world has to do with whether Ichigo is relatable as a character... His personality is pretty bland.

Idk enough about Luffy, so I guess I’ll go with Naruto by default, but I don’t find shonen protagonists to ever be that relatable in the first place. A lot of them usually have some of the same default character traits.

Ichigo. Most people are by definition average.

Naruto reminds me of Sonichu or some creepy aspergers guy.

Luffy doesn't remind me of a real person at all.

Ichigo is just like some bland guy that would work at Starbucks.

Lol its true

Didn't read whatever the red head is in but I relate to naruto more than to luffy. I never understood why luffy was so motivated, and what set him apart from others. Different from nsruto, I don't think luffy deserves to be the best compared to others in his verse, like zoro who trains everyday, robin who endured a lot as a kid etc

You never understood why Luffy was so motivated? A bunch of guys came to his village and befriended him --> they saved his life --> the leader saves his life again and sacrifices his arm in the process and instills in him his pirate values. I mean if a guy you looked up to as your hero saved your life and gave up his arm then gave you his prized possession then asks you to become a great pirate and bring it back to him, wouldn't you be motivated? Probably, but even if you weren't, Luffy's motivation is clear.

I'm also really not sure what you mean about Luffy not deserving to be the best. He was given extremely unorthodox training when he was a child by the best h2h fighter in his universe: his Grandfather. He and his two brothers willingly fought off animals for years in the forests in preparation for setting sail, this type of survival training led to him becoming highly proficient in improvising ways to win, adapting to situations and coming up with new techniques. This combined with the fact that he was exposed to life or death situations on a daily basis since he was a child, means he got a very strong combative grounding and mental fortitude, he was thrown into a pit of wolves when he was little older than a toddler so there isn't much that scares him. In fact the only thing that scares Luffy is losing his friends. Even when he was about to get his head chopped off he just grinned.

Zoro on the other hand had formal training at a dojo and didn't experience life or death situations until he was in his late teens and started bounty hunting. His method of becoming skilled was completely different from Luffy's however neither methods have en edge over the other. It's essentially quality experience vs quality training.

As for the Robin point, I'm not sure where you're going with that. Sanji and Law also endured a lot as a kid but they aren't 'the best' because they're not the main character. We can flip it and ask the same, no offense- pointless question in regards to Naruto and ask why Gaara wasn't 'the best' because he also endured a lot as a kid or why Lee wasn't 'the best' because he trained every day.

OT: if anyone can relate to Luffy then they must either have an extremely charismatic and interesting personality, the most exciting past ever or both.

No, lol.

None of them, really

Ichigo's kind of a thug, if I'm being perfectly honest lol. He's a thug with a heart of gold in there somewhere, but he's still a thug. How he managed to get Orihime to marry him, I'll never know. Girls like bad-boys I guess.

I haven't watched all of Naruto, but he was definitely made to be more relatable than Luffy. I can't relate to Luffy whatsoever, and if there's anybody who can, that's probably not a good thing lmao

The heart of gold underneath that you mentioned is probably more important to her than Ichigo being a 'bad boy.'

If I had only watched opening of Bleach I would have said Ichigo but Ichigo not that interesting to me, the most relatable person on this is Luffy

Ichigo easily for starters he actually attended school and was a top tier student the other guy is a pirate or a child soldier.

One's a ninja, one's a pirate, and one's a high school kid....

Depends how often he shows it. He was more gentle with her than 95% of the other characters when I think about it, but he's still kinda shady.

Naruto has the fullest range of emotion. He feels inadequacy, fear, lonliness, jealous, anger, pettiness, sorrow and pride.

Ichigo is bland as white bread and Luffy processes things... differently.

Luffy is easily the least relateable here

Naruto however, has a backstory in which thousands can relate to. He is literally not liked by anyone, not having any friends, and his parents died. Thats brutal but unfortunately isn't uncommon with average human beings. Hell, I've had depressions for the same reasons as Naruto quite a few times in my life. Granted, my parents are alive and well, but just like Naruto, I felt alone and misunderstood by everyone. But what ultimately made him unrealistic is his huge passion for saving Sasuke. And while I give him props for caring about him like a brother no matter what, most people IRL would immediately kill off and forget Sasuke if he ever tried to hurt their family or friends. In which Sasuke did.

But the reason why I pick Ichigo is for one reason: He is the definition of a young man taking on responsibilities that he didn't have to take. He didn't complain or give a damn that his life changed forever when he found Rukia because all he cared about what his sister's safety. He's the type of person that all boys can take a lesson from when it comes to growing up and being able to take care of themself. So many things happen in Ichigo's life due to him being involved with the Shinigami, and just like Spider-Man, Ichigo never complained or wishes that he never met Rukia. It can get frustrating lol, but he always stuck with his actions and never regretted it. He only lives so that he can protect his family and friends, something that his Mother always wanted ever since she died when he was young. Ichigo just rocks as a character when it comes to being a young adult.

Naruto definitely

@socajunkie: thanks for the lesson, I didn't know that much happened in luffys early life besides for the shanks part. I guess these are good reasons why he has a mind of steal in dangerous situations, although I am not convinced with the way they are represented because I've never heard of them even though I watched/read a lot of one peace and there weren't like flash backs or deep conversations with luffy who talks about something mature other than saving his friends. I admit that I can be wrong tho

Naruto wants to become the head of a city full of super ninjas

Luffy wants to find a mystery treasure and become the king of pirates

Ichigo just wants to have a (relatively) normal life and protect his family and friends as well as ordinary civilians should the need arise.

sounds like a no brainer to me.

also lol at ichigo being bland. just cause he lacks an unrealistic goal and a goofy look doesn't make his bland. it makes him human.

This

@godren: Ichigo is bland and you never really see him doing stuff that HE PERSONALLY WANTS TO DO, Ichigo is definition of bland for shounen along with natsu. When first saw ichigo I thought he was going be on clothing and being a vigilante but nope turned bland as small fart that has no smell

@staticdwanyemcduffie: we never see ichigo do things he personally wants to do?!

Really?😕

Not sure, Naruto and Luffy want to be respected by everyone, and will thus aspire for a high status. I don't remember much of Bleach, probably the anime fillers making me forget. I think Ichigo didn't want to be weak and let others like his mom or family get hurt or killed by that which he couldn't stop or take on. He was even willing to go to another world to save a friend he met for quite a while, even if it meant certain death, and trained hard to save her just like Naruto and Luffy's attempts at saving their friends.

This. The only issue I have ever had with Ichigo's character is that he mops too much at times and repeatedly goes through this cycle of despair/depression in every arc

Ichigo.

I would say Ichigo is the most relateable cause he is just a normal kid. The I would say, Naruto is the most relateable after Ichigo and Luffy is the least relateable.

If it wasnt for the ninja background Naruto would stomp easily. But Naruto imo.

If someone can relate to Naruto and Luffy a lot, that'll be weird.

Ichigo is BY FAR the most relatable. You would be just lying to say you never could relate to Ichigo (unless if you never read/watch Bleach.)

Seriously, Naruto and Luffy want to be "kings", Ichigo just wants his friends and himself to live regular lives.

That's the main reason why I have always preferred him over the other two in terms of protagonists (although he's still a Mary Sue)

Also lol @Ichigo being bland.

No one bashing Ichigo for not acting like a cartoon caricature of a real person or fighting for his friends, the problem is that.

A. Let's be blunt, shonen manga has NO shortage of main characters who fight for their friends.

B. Outside of that sole motivator, Ichigo has little to no actual stake or agency in the plot of the story. He's just sorta there until the villain shows up and when they fight it's purely because the villain attacked a friend or just attacked him. There's never any real clash of concepts, ideologies, or sometime even malice. A lot of Ichigo fights are fight for the sole purpose of fighting; they're either stalling or distractions for the next big fight or just to stop Ichigo from getting to point a to point b. Ichigo never really fights for something he stands for, or anything to do with the Soul Society. He doesn't seem to care about their past or why they fight the Quincies or Hollows, he never even cared to ask, people just sorta tell him.

Honestly he has so little agency and stakes to the plot that I always ask myself: If Aizen could have had gotten the Hogyoku without harming Rukia or kidnapping Orihime, would Ichigo had known, or better yet, would he have cared?

Ichigo

@kroczilla: I worded that so wrong, I meant Ichigo doing more things that he went to do not just plot taking control and him having to go it is within his control

Ichigo is probably closest.

Naruto is up there.

I hope there are no people like Luffy in this world.

Anyone who has experienced bullying, prejudice and lonliness can relate to Naruto. Kids and adults alike looked down on him and he was naive as to why. And at the end of the day he didn't let the adversity get to him, he still strove after his dream, achieved it and proved so many people wrong. Very human and very relatable

@narutobleachfan: Luffy Wants To Be A King. Naruto Wants To Be More Of A President/Governor.

@vlad123plasmius: And..? Both still want to achieve that "top dog" spot.

@narutobleachfan: What Do You Mean By And.

@vlad123plasmius: Because you stated something so obvious.

@narutobleachfan: Oh. Nothing, That Was It.

None. In terms of manga characters you would have better luck looking at characters from Yotsuba, Solanin, and Silver Spoon.