Shino Aburame is a cool, collected, and solitary Chunin from Naruto's graduating year (originally from Kurenai Yuhi's Genin team 8 along with Hinata Hyuga and Kiba Inuzuka) who is quite mysterious and always wears sunglasses. He is portrayed as being somewhere between being merely stoic and matter-of-fact, but behind his reserved demeanor, Shino places a lot of value on his friends and teamwork. He also has a tendency of holding grudges, such as seen when Naruto fails to recognize him in Part II, but easily recognizes Kiba and Hinata. To be fair, Shino's style of clothing makes recognizing him somewhat difficult. As a part of Aburame clan tradition, Shino was infused at birth with a special breed of insects that feed on chakra. In return, the insects attack and do other tasks as he commands.

Shino's favorite food is vegetable salad, and his least favorites tofu balls and strong-smelling foods. His hobby is observing bugs, and his favorite phrase is "Trump card" (In the English version, it's "Ace in the hole").