Height: 170 cm
Rank: Genin (I); Chuunin (II); Hokage (III)

Shikamaru is an extremely unenthusiastic person, and as such lives his life avoiding work. This is partly due to him seeking paths of least resistance, as he often chooses to do things he would otherwise not do if people nag him enough. In his free time he typically takes naps, watches clouds, and plays strategy games such as Shogi and Go. When put into a situation where he potentially needs to put effort into something, he attempts to try to find a way to avoid it such as forfeiting a battle or by pretending to be preoccupied with something else. In the instances where he can not avoid these situations, Shikamaru tends to remark "how troublesome."

Despite his lazy tendencies, Shikamaru is extremely intelligent. His teacher, Asuma, found Shikamaru to have an IQ of over 200, and learned that Shikamaru's poor grades were a result of him finding lifting a pencil to be too much work for him. Nevertheless, Shikamaru works very well with his teammates, as their fathers were teamed together in their youth.

One of Shikamaru's more distinctive characteristics is that he finds all women to be bossy and "a pain." Contrary to this opinion, he has expressed a notably mature interest in marriage and raising a family with a son and daughter. Ironically, Shikamaru seems to constantly find himself surrounded by the very same strong-willed and bossy women he dislikes. In addition to his own mother, and being surrounded by bossy females, he usually ends up fighting against such women. Shikamaru has had a number of his appearances coincide with those of Temari. When they make their Part II debut together, Naruto Uzumaki asks if they are on a date, though both Shikamaru and Temari state that this is not the case.

When the need arises, Shikamaru is quick to abandon his lazy nature and act appropriately to complete a mission or save his teammates. Using his Shadow Imitation Technique, the signature technique of his clan, he can capture the shadow of an opponent to either keep them immobilized or force them to mimic his movements.