Of all the beloved shonen anime that debuted in the 1990s and 2000s, arguably none has had a bigger influence on the genre than Masashi Kishimoto's flagship series, Naruto. The ninja-centric franchise quickly became an international hit after its debut in September 1999, due in large part to its exciting action sequences and larger-than-life characters, none of whom are stronger than the Kage — the individuals who lead each ninja village seen in the series.

Given Naruto Uzumaki's goal of becoming the next Hokage, it should come as no surprise that the Kage featured throughout the Naruto franchise are some of the most memorable characters in the entire series. However, while every Kage that appears during Naruto's adventure is impressive, some of them are notably weaker than others. In fact, in each of the Five Great Shinobi Nations has produced at least one Kage that is notably weaker than their peers.