Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
The Japanese tic means roughly "I'm telling you", a confident, slightly exasperated tag, and the dub needed something that fit the mouth movements. "Believe it!" was the answer, and it escaped the show to become a joke about the dub itself, usually shouted. It is the most quoted piece of Naruto's English voice, even though the dub dropped it fairly early.
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In context
Spoilers for NarutoShow the scene
Believe it is the English dub's rendering of Naruto's verbal tic "dattebayo", tacked onto the end of his sentences to emphasise a point. He inherited the tic from his mother, Kushina, who has her own version, "dattebane". The dub, which began airing in English in September 2005, used "Believe it!" whenever Naruto made a big statement, partly to match the lip movements of the Japanese, and it fell out of use around the start of the Chunin Exams.
Sources (2)
- Narutopedia: Catchphrases and Verbal TicsDattebayo sectionReference checked
- Narutopedia: Enter: Naruto Uzumaki!InfoboxReference checked
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