What is Shikamaru Nara’s IQ?
Stated in the manga and repeated by the official site — and still not a test score.
Shikamaru’s IQ is stated as “over 200” in Naruto itself, by his sensei Asuma Sarutobi in volume 12, and the official Naruto site still heads a section on him “The 200+ IQ Ninja.” That is an author’s statement, not a test result: a real score of 200 would sit about 6.7 standard deviations above the average.
Shikamaru Nara’s estimated IQ
- The only participant in his Chunin Exams promoted to Chunin, even though he surrendered his match against Temari when his chakra ran too low; Tsunade, the fifth Hokage, was impressed by the insight and intelligence he showed during Orochimaru’s invasion of the Leaf village.
- Reported by his sensei, Asuma Sarutobi, as having an IQ “over 200” after Asuma tested him in secret with puzzle and logic games (Naruto, volume 12, chapter 107).
- Rated 5, the top mark, for Intelligence in the second databook; the official Naruto site says his intellect, built through shogi and go, far surpasses that of his teacher.
- Becomes the main advisor to the Seventh Hokage, Naruto Uzumaki, after his father Shikaku Nara, killed in the war, hands him one last strategy and the reins of the Allied Shinobi Forces.
This range rates the portrayal, not the in-story figure. A shonen manga establishing a character as its strategist does not require, or receive, a number that behaves like a real test score — see below.
- First appearance
- Naruto chapter 34 (Volume 4, 2000)
- Created by
- Masashi Kishimoto
- In-story IQ
- “Over 200,” per his sensei Asuma Sarutobi (Volume 12, chapter 107)
- Official site, September 22, 2024
- Section headed “The 200+ IQ Ninja”
- Databook Intelligence stat
- 5, the top mark
- Known for
- The Shadow Possession Technique; the only participant promoted to Chunin in his exams
- Sensei
- Asuma Sarutobi
- Canonical IQ
- Stated in-story; not a psychometrically meaningful figure
What an IQ of 150–170 actually means
Set the claim aside for a moment. If someone genuinely scored in this range, here is what that would represent.
Average is 100 by construction, and about two-thirds of people fall between 85 and 115. Take the test to place your own score on this scale.
| Score range | Classification | Share of people | What it indicates |
|---|---|---|---|
| 85 – 114 | Average | ~68% | The range most people fall into. |
| 115 – 129 | Above average | ~13.6% | Roughly one person in seven. |
| 130 – 144 | Gifted | ~2% | The threshold most high-IQ societies use. |
| Above 144 | Highly gifted | ~0.1% | Figures above this range are extrapolated from the curve rather than measured. |
Percentages are approximate and describe a normal distribution. The same number means different things on tests with different standard deviations.
Thirty questions gives you a measured position on this exact scale — your score, your percentile and the ability breakdown behind it.
Find out in 30 minutes →Who Shikamaru Nara is
Naruto was written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto and serialized in Shueisha’s Weekly Shōnen Jump from September 21, 1999, to November 10, 2014. Its 700 chapters were collected in 72 volumes, and a sequel series, Boruto, followed.
Shikamaru Nara, introduced in chapter 34, belongs to the Nara clan and uses its Shadow Possession Technique. He is written as lazy and unwilling to apply his intelligence; at the Ninja Academy, the official Naruto site says, his marks were only a step above Naruto’s famously poor grades.
In the Chunin Exams he faces Sand ninja Temari, who works out the limits of his technique. A hair’s breadth from victory, his chakra runs too low and he surrenders, yet he is the only participant promoted to Chunin. According to Wikipedia, Tsunade, the fifth Hokage, was impressed by the insight and intelligence he showed during Orochimaru’s invasion of the Leaf village.
His father, Shikaku Nara, is killed in the war when the revived Ten Tails attacks the Allied headquarters with a Biju Bomb; with his final communication he passes one last strategy and the reins of the Allied Shinobi Forces to his son. Shikamaru later becomes the main advisor to Naruto Uzumaki, the Seventh Hokage, and with Temari has a son, Shikadai, a main character of the sequel Boruto.
By Elora Mercer, Celebrity Research WriterFigures checked by Leon Falkner, Data & Research AnalystReviewed by Aarav Vardhan, Editor-in-Chief · Last reviewed October 2026
Shikamaru Nara: the documented record
The estimate above rests on this record. Every entry here is a matter of public fact, which is more than can be said for the number itself.
- 1999Naruto begins serialization in Weekly Shōnen Jump on September 21, 1999.
- 2000Shikamaru is introduced in chapter 34, collected in volume 4 (released in Japan October 4, 2000).
- 2002Volume 12, which holds Asuma Sarutobi’s “over 200” statement in chapter 107, is released in Japan on May 1, 2002.
- 2006Viz Media publishes the English edition of volume 12.
- 2014Naruto serialization ends on November 10, 2014, after 700 chapters.
- 2024On September 22, 2024, the official Naruto site’s birthday column on Shikamaru carries the heading “The 200+ IQ Ninja.”
Where the 200 figure came from
Following a claim back to its first appearance is the part almost nobody does — and it is what most people are actually asking.
Shikamaru’s IQ is “over 200,” stated by his sensei Asuma Sarutobi in Naruto volume 12, chapter 107. In the scene, Asuma tells Kurenai Yūhi the result while Shikamaru fights Temari in the Chunin Exams, after testing him in secret with puzzle and logic games. The figure is canon, but it is a statement written into a story, not a score from a test anyone sat.
Almost everyone profiled on this site is let down by a number nobody measured. Shikamaru’s problem is the opposite: the number is stated outright in the source text, and it still does not hold up, because no real test is built to return a result like “200.” Being canon makes the figure easy to cite; it does not make it a measurement.
Compare L, profiled on this site alongside Shikamaru: L has no stated figure at all, and fan estimates for him scatter across a sixty-point range with no shared source. Shikamaru’s fan citations, by contrast, converge tightly on “200” precisely because there is a real line in the manga for everyone to point back to. The presence or absence of a canon anchor, not the character’s actual cleverness, is what determines how consistent the online numbers are.
The underlying lesson matches Nikola Tesla’s page elsewhere on this site: a number can be stated confidently, in a primary source or otherwise, and still fail the moment it is checked against how real tests actually work.
How we read a number →Source of the “IQ over 200” statement by Shikamaru’s sensei Asuma Sarutobi; chapter and page location as cited in Wikipedia’s article on the character.
Section headed “The 200+ IQ Ninja”; says his intellect was cultivated through shogi and go, that he is the only participant in the exams promoted to Chunin, and that he became the main advisor to the Seventh Hokage.
States that Asuma determined Shikamaru’s IQ was over 200 (citing volume 12, chapter 107) and that Tsunade promoted him after Orochimaru’s invasion (citing chapter 172).
Describes Asuma testing Shikamaru through puzzle and logic games and estimating an IQ above 200.
Places the reveal in Asuma’s conversation with Kurenai Yūhi while Shikamaru fights Temari, and says Asuma ran the tests in secret.
Reports Shikamaru’s databook Intelligence stat as a perfect five out of five.
Fan-translated databook entry listing Nara Shikamaru with Intelligence 5.
Stat table listing Uchiha Itachi with Intelligence 5 (row: 5, 4.5, 5, 5, 3.5, 5, 2.5, 5; total 35.5).
Identifies Shikadai as the son of Shikamaru and Temari and cites the databook for his 180 in intelligence.
Modern tests are normed to a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15; the WAIS-IV can generate a Full Scale IQ in the range of 40 to 160; reports of IQ much higher than 160 are considered dubious.
Contrasts a stated-but-unreal fictional figure against both an unstated fictional figure and a real, unsourced inflated figure elsewhere on this site.
The sources behind our estimate
The figures that circulate for Shikamaru Nara, what we were able to confirm, and where the two diverge.
Naruto states, through Shikamaru’s sensei Asuma Sarutobi, that his IQ is “over 200” — the result of tests Asuma ran in secret, using puzzle and logic games.
The figure appears in the primary text, in Naruto volume 12, chapter 107, and the official Naruto site repeats it as “The 200+ IQ Ninja” (September 22, 2024); it was not invented by a fan wiki after the fact. It is presented in-story as though it were a measured result. On any real, normed IQ scale, “over 200” is not a meaningful figure. Standardized tests are normed so that 100 is the population average and each 15-to-16-point step is one standard deviation; on the common 15-point scale, 200 sits about 6.7 standard deviations out — territory no real test is built to measure or distinguish between. The manga states a dramatic number, not a psychometrically possible one.
The population average, the top of the reporting range of the widely used WAIS-IV (160), and the number the story assigns for effect.
Want a number that does hold up? Every figure on this page is somebody’s claim. Take the 30-question test and get a percentile you can check rather than a figure you have to trust.
Shikamaru Nara — frequently asked
What is Shikamaru’s IQ?
Shikamaru’s IQ is “over 200” according to the Naruto manga, where his sensei Asuma Sarutobi states it in volume 12 (chapter 107). It is the figure the story assigns, not the result of a published test, and a score of 200 is far beyond what real IQ tests report.
Is Shikamaru’s “IQ over 200” real or fan-invented?
It is canon, not a fan-wiki invention. Wikipedia cites it to pages 159–160 of the English edition of volume 12, and the official Naruto site repeated it as “The 200+ IQ Ninja” in a birthday column dated September 22, 2024.
Did Shikamaru take an IQ test in Naruto?
Not a published one. Asuma Sarutobi tested him in secret with puzzle and logic games, according to Screen Rant’s account of the manga, and reported the result as “over 200.” The accounts of the scene name no standard test such as the WAIS, and the official Naruto site says his intellect was cultivated through shogi and go.
Does an IQ of 200 make sense on a real test?
No. Modern IQ tests are normed to a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of about 15, so on a normal curve 200 sits roughly 6.7 standard deviations above average, about 1 person in 76 billion. Wikipedia’s summary of IQ research notes that reports of scores much higher than 160 are considered dubious. See what an IQ of 200 means and the highest IQ score a test can report.
Is Shikamaru smarter than Itachi?
Canon does not say. Only Shikamaru has an IQ figure stated in the story; none for Itachi Uchiha appears in the sources behind this profile. The databook tables give both the top Intelligence rating of 5 (Shikamaru’s in the second book, Itachi’s in the third), so the official stat sheets tie them. Fictional IQ numbers are author statements, not test results; this article traces where celebrity IQ numbers come from.
Who is Shikamaru’s sensei?
Shikamaru’s sensei is Asuma Sarutobi, the teacher who reported his IQ as “over 200.” The official Naruto site notes that at the Ninja Academy Shikamaru’s marks were only a step above Naruto’s famously poor grades.
What are Shikaku Nara’s and Shikadai Nara’s IQs?
No IQ figure is stated for either in the sources behind this profile; the “over 200” line is about Shikamaru alone. Shikaku is Shikamaru’s father, and Shikadai is his son with Temari. For Shikadai, CBR reports that the Boruto databook gives him 180 in intelligence, a stat-sheet rating rather than an IQ result.
What is Shikamaru’s IQ in Boruto?
The sources behind this profile show no new IQ figure for Shikamaru in Boruto; the one number remains the “over 200” from the original manga. What the sequel adds is his role as father of Shikadai.
How does Shikamaru compare to L on this site?
The opposite case: L has no stated figure at all and a wide, unanchored spread of fan guesses. Shikamaru has one figure everyone agrees on, because there is an actual line in the manga to point to.
What is Shikamaru Nara known for?
Being the only participant in his Chunin Exams promoted to Chunin despite surrendering his match against Temari, and later serving as the main advisor to the Seventh Hokage, Naruto Uzumaki. His signature technique is the Nara clan’s Shadow Possession Technique.
How does my IQ compare with Shikamaru Nara?
You can find out in about fifteen minutes. The IQ Metrics assessment is 30 questions, scored on the same 100-mean scale used throughout this page, so your result and the estimate above are at least expressed in the same units — one measured, one inferred. Once you have a number, the leaderboard shows where it would sit, and how we score and norm it explains the benchmarking.
Where does this estimate come from?
From the documented record rather than a test — the method is named above and set out in full under how we read a number. Compare it against the other fictional profiles, starting with Sherlock Holmes.
- Take the 30-question IQ test — get a measured score and percentile of your own
- Average IQ by country — how the scale behaves across populations
- How IQ Metrics scores its assessment — the method behind our own number
- More on how IQ testing works — reliability, error and what a score can and cannot say
- More fictional profiles — same field, same method
More fictional
Photograph of a cosplayer as Itachi Uchiha by BrokenSphere (2010), CC BY-SA 3.0. Cropped from a two-person photograph; background removed for the portrait above. The character is the creation of Masashi Kishimoto. · Photograph of a cosplayer as Edward Elric by Farhan Ahmad Tajuddin (2014), CC BY 2.0. Cropped from a wider photograph; background removed for the portrait above. The character is the creation of Hiromu Arakawa. · Photograph of a cosplayer as Rick Sanchez by Nicholas Moreau, CC BY-SA 4.0. Cropped from a wider photograph; background removed for the portrait above. The character is the creation of Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon.
.jpg){kind=link}
An estimate is an inference.
Yours can be measured.
Thirty questions, scored against general-population benchmarks. Your score, your percentile, your ability breakdown and a printable IIF certificate.
Find your IQ score now! →