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| “ | The world is wonderful... | „ |
| ~ Gaara. |
| “ | In the name of gain and profit for one's nation and village... Shinobi have hated and hurt each other for many years. From the first to the third ninja war and conflicts in between. All of that hatred cried out for power, thus I was born. In the past I was hatred, and power, and a Jinchuuriki.. And I hated this world, and all its people...and thought about destroying both. That's exactly what the Akatsuki is trying to do now. But a single shinobi from The Hidden Leaf Village stopped me. He cried for me. I was his enemy, yet still he cried for me! He called me his friend even though we battled! He saved me! We were on different sides, but we were both Jinchuuriki. Between those who have experienced the same pain, there can be no hatred. There are no enemies here now because each one of us has bared the pain of being hurt at the Akatsuki's hand! The Sand...the Stone...the Leaf...the Mist..is no more. NOW THERE IS ONLY SHINOBI! And if you are still unable to forgive the Sand, you can come back and face me after this war is over! The friend I spoke of who saved me; is the target of our enemies! If he falls into their hands, our world is finished! I want to protect my friend, and I want to protect this entire world too! But I'm too young and inexperienced to do that. So I ask you, all of you, please lend me your strength for this fight! | „ |
| ~ Gaara's speech before departing for the Fourth Shinobi World War. |
Gaara is a major character in the manga/anime series Naruto and a supporting character in its sequel series Boruto. He is the younger son of Fourth Kazekage Rasa, younger brother of Temari and Kankurō, and the adoptive father of Shinki, Yodo and Araya.
He was formerly a villain in the early part of Naruto, being a threat in the Chunnin Exams. He was a misanthrope due to discrimination and isolation he experienced in childhood because the Shukaku, or the One-Tailed Demon sealed inside of him. His hatred was extinguished by Naruto Uzumaki upon his defeat and he became the Kazekage of Sunagakure (Hidden Sand Village) in Naruto Shippuden. As the current Kazekage, he administrates and protects his village.
Gaara is also the youngest person ever to become Kazekage. He occasionally assists Naruto or the Hidden Leaf in general. He can control sand and his ninja techniques are mainly sand based. He was captured by the Akatsuki and extracted Shukaku by using the Gedo Statue as result of his death until he was revived by Chiyo with the reincarnation ninjutsu in exchange for her to die.
While forming the Allied Shinobi Forces, Gaara became commander of the Fourth Division as well as the commander-in-chief of the forces. After the Fourth Shinobi War, he remained as the Kazekage and adopted Shinki as a son to control his Iron Sand that was created by the Third Kazekage.
He is voiced by Akira Ishida in the Japanese version of the anime, and by Liam O'Brien in the English version of the anime.
History[]
Past[]
Before he was born, Gaara's father, the 4th Kazekage Rasa, had Chiyo make Gaara into the Jinchuriki for the tailed beast Shukaku the One Tail while he was still in his mother's womb before she died giving birth to him. Though believed at the time to be Shukaku's power in action, Gaara can manipulate sand, which subconsciously protects him. Rasa intended to use Gaara as the village's personal weapon, but Shukaku's bloodlust proved too much for Gaara as he suffered night terrors brought about by the tailed beast's influence. With Gaara's sand adding to his inability to control Shukaku, the boy became feared to the point his father decided to have him assassinated. Gaara had the belief that he could only rely upon himself and Shukaku, after Yashamaru, the only person who he thought loved him, tried to kill him, on the order of his father; he felt he had to kill others to confirm the value of his own existence. He thus became narcissistic, even permanently scarring his left temple with the kanji for "love" for his new drive.
Part I[]
Gaara first appears in the series when he is sent to Konohagakure, an allied ninja village, to take part in the Chunin Exams alongside his older siblings Kankuro and Temari. In truth, he is sent in order to infiltrate Konohagakure in preparation for an invasion by Sunagakure and its ally, Otogakure. There, he and Kankuro and Temari easily pass both the first and second phases. In the third phase, Gaara is set to fight against Rock Lee. Lee is able to pass Gaara's defenses, who, enraged, breaks Lee's arm and leg, claiming victory. Sasuke Uchiha gives Gaara the first injury he has ever received, causing Gaara to suffer a mental breakdown and nearly manifest his Tailed-Beast powers. This begins the invasion, with his older siblings carrying him off. Both Sasuke and Naruto Uzumaki confront him, with the latter defeating him. Later, Sunagakure sends Gaara to help prevent Sasuke from defecting to Otogakure, which had become an enemy of Sunagakure once it was revealed that Orochimaru had murdered Rasa prior to the attack. While he helps Lee fight Orochimaru's servant Kimimaro, Gaara is unable to prevent Sasuke from leaving Konoha. He makes amends with the many characters he had alienated, apologizing to those he hurt and improving his relationship with his family. At the same time, Gaara's fundamental characteristic becomes the desire to protect as many people as he can, as in doing so he believes, like Naruto, he will be able to find true strength. This culminates in his replacing his father as the Fifth Kazekage during Part II of the series.
Part II[]
In Part II of the series, three years after his mission, Deidara, a member of the criminal organization Akatsuki, is sent to Sunagakure to capture Gaara. Gaara fights Deidara to protect the village, but is defeated. The members of the Akatsuki then kidnap him and extract Shukaku from his body. Gaara dies in the process but an elder from the village named Chiyo sacrifices her own life to revive him. Sometime later, he attends the Five Kage Summit, and the Akatsuki's leader, Tobi, breaks into the meeting and announces the Fourth Great Ninja War, to capture the last two Tailed-Beasts. Gaara later joins the new Shinobi Alliance as its field commander to protect Naruto and Killer Bee, using Naruto's philosophy of love against the Akatsuki's philosophy of hatred to unite the army, which had nearly imploded from internal strife. On the second day of the war, Gaara encounters his reanimated father. Rasa reveals the truth to Gaara: that Yashamaru's final action was his doing, and that Gaara's mother always loved him, and Gaara is moved to tears after learning his mother's will is the force behind his sand. Rasa recognizes his son has surpassed him and entrusts Sunagakure to him after being defeated. Gaara later defeats and seals the revived Second Mizukage, and joins the other Kage to fight Madara Uchiha, who was reanimated by Kabuto, nearly getting killed as a result. Later healed by Tsunade, Gaara moves to assist in the battle against the Ten-Tails. Before Shukaku is absorbed by the Gedo Statue again, Gaara makes his peace with the tailed beast, thanking it for ensuring that he would meet Naruto. Gaara helps rescue Naruto and briefly holds off Madara before Naruto is successfully revived. Once the Infinite Tsukiyomi is activated, Gaara is caught in the illusion before being freed by Naruto and Sasuke. By the series epilogue, having the Hidden Leaf Village's Nara Clan as in-laws through Temari, Gaara remains active as the Kazekage.
Physical Appearance[]
Gaara has fair skin complexion, green eyes, and short auburn hair; for most of his life, his hair was spiky and set in a messy style, but by adulthood it is combed and parted to the right. He lacks distinctive pupils or eyebrows, the latter of which others sometimes make fun of. He's had tanuki-like black rings around his eyes his whole life, which Gamabunta attributes to insomnia. As a child, he carved the kanji for "love" (愛, ai) on the left side of his forehead, which his hair is parted in order for it to be kept visible. In Part II, many girls in Sunagakure start to consider Gaara handsome.
At the start of Part I, Gaara wore a black body suit with an open neck, t-shirt-like sleeves, and almost full-length leggings. With this, he wore a white cloth over his right shoulder and the left side of his hips. He had a wide leather band from his left shoulder to his right hip with which he carried his sand gourd and around which he wraped his forehead protector. In early chapters of the Naruto manga, he was also shown having several earrings. His appearance is mostly the same at the end of Part I, though he switches his previous black body suit to a reddish-brownish one with longer sleeves and an upright collar, and wears mesh armour on his wrists and ankles. In Part II, Gaara wore a long-sleeved crimson coat and full-length dark trousers with a pair. Over the coat he wore two buckled belts, a grey vest held in place by a single strap over his left shoulder, and two buckled belts which he also used to carry his gourd. On certain occasions he wears the typical Kazekage garb and during the Fourth Shinobi World War he wears Suna's typical flak jacket.
In The Last: Naruto the Movie, Gaara dons a crimson long-sleeve shirt with several buttons and pants that match the colour of his shirt. He also wears a brown belt and now has a smaller sand gourd which is strapped to his left side. By adulthood, Gaara starts wearing a trench coat.
Personality[]
Gaara was consistently affable to others during his early life. Although most of Suna's villagers feared and despised him, he was able to persevere due to the love that he felt from Yashamaru and his mother. His father, Rasa, believed these niceties were impeding Gaara's development as a jinchūriki and as such had both taken from him: he ordered Yashamaru to try and kill Gaara and, if he were to fail, to tell Gaara that neither he nor Gaara's mother had ever loved him. Rasa's plan succeeded, as following Yashamaru's death Gaara stopped trying to connect with people. Rather, Gaara focused on himself, driven solely by his own desires and his own survival.
During his years of caring only about himself, Gaara becomes infamously known as "Gaara of the Sand Waterfall" (砂瀑の我愛羅, Sabaku no Gaara, English TV:Gaara of the Desert). Though he outwardly appears calm, "Gaara of the Sand Waterfall" is deeply unbalanced, completely unmoved by others' pleas for mercy and, in certain situations, driven mad with bloodlust. This behaviour is partly due to Shukaku, whose voice Gaara alone can hear in his head, who encourages violence at every opportunity, and who torments Gaara with threats to take control of his body if he falls asleep, thus making Gaara an insomniac. But Shukaku is not wholly responsible: Gaara simply hates other people for existing, believing that so long as they are alive they are a threat to his own life. His purpose, therefore, is to kill anyone who is strong or whom he perceives as similar to himself, as only by killing them can he assert his own existence. With those who do not interest him, Gaara is typically withdrawn and silent. When he must interact with them, he does so with open disregard for their feelings and often threatens to kill them, even his own siblings, if they become too much of a nuisance to him. Due to the sand's automatic defense preventing Gaara from suffering any real pain, when he first sustained his first true injury at the hands of Sasuke Uchiha's Chidori, Gaara became even more unstable at the time, completely losing control of himself to Shukaku.
Gaara's background is very similar to that of Naruto Uzumaki: both have been jinchūriki since the day they were born, both were hated and scorned by almost everyone in their village, and both were raised without a parent's love. But whereas Gaara eventually gave up on other people, Naruto continued trying to win the acknowledgement of his peers and village, pursuits he eventually succeeds at. Whereas Gaara seeks strength only in protecting himself, Naruto seeks strength in protecting the friends he makes. When the two fought during the Konoha Crush and Naruto defeats Gaara, Gaara took this as proof that his own choices in life were wrong; he had surrendered to his difficult circumstances too easily. From that point onward he starts moving away from "Gaara of the Sand Waterfall" and started emulating Naruto instead, improving his relationships with his siblings, making friends within Suna and without, and finding something that he's willing to give his life to protect. His relationship with Shukaku did improve somewhat when he told the tailed beast he used to hate it, but was grateful to the beast because he was able to meet Naruto due to the painful life Shukaku made him endure. He also developed more sympathy for even enemies, as he pitied Kimimaro's emptiness and loneliness as a motivation to serve someone as evil as Orochimaru.
Gaara becomes Suna's Kazekage by the start of Part II, signalling the success of his emulation of Naruto. As Kazekage, Gaara becomes much wiser than most people his age when he took on the role. He forgave his father for trying to assassinate him as he was only trying to protect the village. Gaara also gains a new purpose in life by dedicating all his energy towards serving the village and those who live there. Although he retained some detractors, most of the villagers adore him and will do what they can to help him reform Suna and the rest of the world. Even this reform is very much inspired by Naruto, as he wishes for the Five Kage and their hidden villages to cooperate and benefit from each other in the same way that he has benefited from Naruto's influence. Gaara believes in forgiving past differences and strife, abandoning antiquated concepts of "honour" that only promote isolation, and serving a purpose greater than one's self. As in Suna, this unity that Gaara advocates is slow to catch on, for a time only gaining support from Naruto's own Konohagakure. By the time of the Fourth Shinobi World War, however, the Five Kage are convinced by Gaara and this in turn starts trickling down into the larger Allied Shinobi Forces. Despite his history of cruelty and young age during his ascent to Kazekage, Gaara attains the love of his people by showcasing his idealism, compassion and willingness to reform himself. A man of few words, Gaara leads by example, an assertive, thoughtful and collected presence in the heat of diplomacy and battle, who willingly puts his life on the line for his friends and allies. Gaara's way with words, astuteness and integrity earn him the respect of the older, more experienced Kage. Gaara's touching speech before the Allied Shinobi Forces produces a resounding response and is able to mend the rift between the Five Great Shinobi Countries. Gaara's superlative leadership abilities lead to his posting as Regimental Commander of the Allied Shinobi Forces.
Gaara feels indebted to Naruto for how significantly he's changed since his time as "Gaara of the Sand Waterfall"; he considers Naruto his closest and first friend and believes all the tragedies of his childhood were worthwhile since they led him to meet Naruto. He takes part in the Fourth Shinobi World War not simply because he believes Akatsuki must be stopped, but because by doing so he can keep Naruto safe. Gaara's desire to protect Naruto, at times, means acting against Naruto's wishes: he knows Naruto would want to participate in the Fourth Shinobi World War to protect his loved ones, but feels Naruto would be safer if he were forbidden from doing so. Just like before, however, Naruto's desire to protect his friends gets through to Gaara, as he does not argue with his participation in the war after accepting he made an error in judgement. Gaara often cites his own experiences as "Gaara of the Sand Waterfall" during his interactions with Sasuke and others who suffer hate and loneliness, explaining the missteps that he didn't realise he'd made until he met Naruto so that they, in turn, might realise their own. His words do not always convince them, but Gaara is able to empathise with their choices and, as with Sasuke, he even wonders if Naruto could get through to them, just as Naruto got through to him. Despite his stoic demeanour, Gaara is empathetic and in touch with his emotions, freely shedding tears at Sasuke's refusal to change his ways, and at the revelation of his mother's love for him.
Powers & Abilities[]
Gaara is an extremely powerful shinobi, becoming Kazekage by the time he was 15, and later during the Fourth Shinobi World War, he was appointed the Regimental Commander, and leader of the Allied Shinobi Forces' Fourth Division. His power and status have now become well-respected and praised by everyone in the Allied Shinobi Forces, including other Kage, both the current and previous ones.
Even the Second Mizukage called Gaara the "golden egg amongst the Kage", and his father acknowledged that he had surpassed him in more ways than he could have hoped for. He was also praised by his enemies such as Deidara, who commented on his power after he captured him, losing an arm to Gaara's attack in the process. Even though he had lost his tailed beast Shukaku, he was still powerful enough to remain Kazekage. Another testament to Gaara's power at his young age is that he could hold his own against five of Madara Uchiha's Susanoo-clad wood clones for a long period of time.
Born as the former jinchūriki, Gaara gained Shukaku's immense reserves of chakra and stamina. In addition, his chakra was noted to be very strong as noted by Kiba and thus is able to use many chakra-taxing sand-based techniques, sometimes in quick succession, before becoming exhausted. Despite the removal of Shukaku from inside him, Gaara's chakra reserves and strength remained just as powerful.
Ninjutsu[]
Nature Transformation[]
As a host of Shukaku, Gaara possesses the ability to freely manipulate sand, through the beast's Magnet Release, to serve various purposes. The focus of his fighting style, Gaara's control and cunning in using this ability is formidable, able to control immense amounts one time for feats such as fully transforming into Shukaku and create a tsunami of sand to fight four reincarnated Kage.
During battle, Gaara rarely moves, attacking with his sand from a single location, and rarely uses taijutsu. His most basic attack method is to first capture and immobolise his target, and then implode the sand to crush the target. Taking advantage of the malleable nature of sand, Gaara has come up with various "catch and crush" tactics. As the second element of his combat style, Gaara has various sand-defences should opponents gets too close. His primary defence is his Shield of Sand, forms a barrier to surround and protect Gaara on its own.
While automatic, Gaara can control its strength-level to steel-like quality or make it completely encase himself. While an effective defence, the shield can be overcome with high-speed attacks or simple enough sheer force. Should this happen, Gaara has a secondary layer of sand covering him called the Armour of Sand. Although useful, the armour requires large amounts of chakra to remain active, and also has the side-effect of weighing Gaara down. The defences offered by his sand are so powerful, they have been named the "Absolute Defence" (絶対防御, Zettai Bōgyo). It is unknown whether or not Gaara's automatic sand defence was ever truly Shukaku's doing as according to the Fourth Kazekage and Yashamaru, Gaara's mother, Karura, was the true source she loved him and vowed to always protect him.
In addition to these basic methods of offence and defense, Gaara also has a number of miscellaneous techniques. By making a sand clone of himself, Gaara can have an ally to be used in battle. Unlike most clone techniques in the series, the sand clone can retain its shape after being hit, able to reform itself or capture an opponent upon being dispersed. With his Desert Suspension, Gaara can use sand as a platform, to allow himself and others to float in the air. He can also ride his sand faster than Ōnoki can fly to a location. Using the Third Eye technique allows him to create a floating eyeball of sand in any location, which he can see through as a means of spying or guide his attacks while his sight is obstructed. His sand can also be used as a sensing device: Gaara can detect when others come into contact with it, even from far away. The sensing of his sand is so great, it was able to repeatedly find the disappearing Mū and the Second Mizukage's Giant Clam.
In Part II, Gaara's prowess can gather enough sand to shield the entire village of Sunagakure from Deidara's C3, as well as assist in stopping a giant meteorite. If sand is lacking in abundance, Gaara can break down the earth minerals in the ground to create more sand. He is able to manipulate the sand even when it's saturated with water. While he can control normal sand, it requires more chakra to manipulate, tiring him at a rapid rate. As a result, Gaara keeps his own chakra-infused sand with him at all times, in a calabash gourd also made out of sand on his back, which also gives Gaara a greater attack-rate. Furthermore, Gaara can crush the hardest minerals in the ground together to create a shield in shape of Shukaku's body or, in the anime, a spear in the shape of its arm for combat. He was able to integrate gold dust, a feat previously only usable by his father, into his sand.
Despite the removal of Shukaku, Gaara can still use his sand like before. According to Sasuke at the Kage Summit, Gaara's Absolute Defense is still alive and well, as well as its previous speed and sheer attack power as it protected Gaara and others from a cave-in, block the attacks of A and Amaterasu (without being burned from the latter). During the Fourth Shinobi World War, Naruto expressed belief that Gaara retained the best defense of anyone, later able to block a barrage of strikes from Madara Uchiha's complete Susanoo's sword. Gaara's sand powers were so strong that his father believed he had fully transformed into Shukaku and was later surprised to see that was not the case. Gaara was able to quickly maneuver his sand above his father's Gold Dust, despite its superior weight and stop an enormous meteorite. Gaara's sand is also seemingly the only ninjutsu-based substance that cannot be absorbed. He can even block powerful explosions the instant they explode despite their enormous power, protecting his village and the division respectively.
He has also shown the ability to use Wind Release nature transformation, though this was only seen while he transformed into Shukaku. Gaara has also displayed some collaboration techniques with Shukaku. After using Shukaku's Wind Release, Gaara can also insert his sand into an opponent's body and use it to control and restrict their movement. Pooling their powers, Gaara and Shukaku can use a juinjutsu empowered seal, which required a senjutsu-bearing Madara Uchiha to use complete Susanoo in order to escape.
Jinchūriki Transformations[]
In desperate situations, Gaara was able to take on the form of Shukaku by layering sand on his body, making him many times more powerful than he already is. Shukaku's personality grew more dominant during this transformation, increasing Gaara's homicidal tendencies. Once finished, Gaara assumed a human-sized version of Shukaku, wherein he relied on his brute strength to destroy everything around him.
If need be, Gaara could almost instantly create a life-sized version of Shukaku, should the human-sized form fail. In this form, he remained deep within the copy of Shukaku, safe from harm, though unable to move. When in need of Shukaku's full power, Gaara would use his Feigning Sleep Technique, which forced him to sleep, and allowed Shukaku to take full control. To do so, however, Gaara must emerge from within the copy, leaving him open to attack for the duration of the technique.
Over time, he began gaining better control over Shukaku, such that he could suppress its personality by himself towards the end of the anime's pre-Shippūden filler arcs. By the time Part II began, Gaara was even capable of using Shukaku's arms to attack numerous times, without losing control of himself. However, this could have merely been his improved control over sand in action.
Other Skills[]
Though he almost never uses taijutsu as a fighting element, Gaara has displayed incredible reaction speed against regular users of taijutsu as he was able to instantly react at moment's notice to Rock Lee closing his eyes and completely escape from his high-level taijutsu attacks while having enough precision to position himself directly behind Lee. He has also shown considerable stealth skill and proficiency in the Body Flicker Technique, able to sneak up on Sasuke during their first encounter without the Uchiha noticing. Gaara has also shown some measure of physical strength, even without transforming into Shukaku as he was able to easily repel Temari with a single punch, despite being wounded.
He has also shown to be a skilled teacher in the anime, teaching Matsuri how to use the jōhyō when he learned she was afraid of weapons. In Part II, Gaara has also shown to be a highly analytical and very skilled tactician. This is proven when he was able to defeat the Second Mizukage by formulating a way to counter the Mizukage's exploding clone. Like many Suna shinobi, Gaara is skilled with the Sealing Tag, using his sand in place of cloth.
Quotes[]
| “ | I am a relic they want to get rid of, so why do I exist and live? In order to exist, you need a purpose. To exist for no reason is the same as being dead... Then I came to the conclusion that I would love only myself and fight for only myself. If all other people exist to magnify that love, then there is no more a splendid universe than this one… My existence will not vanish. | „ |
| ~ Gaara explaining his motives after trying to kill Rock Lee. |
| “ | AAAAAHHHHHHH!!! BLOOD!!! IT'S MY BLOOD!!! | „ |
| ~ Gaara's breakdown when he realizes he's bleeding for the first time, as well his infamous quote. |
Trivia[]
- The tattoo on Gaara's left forehead means love.
- Correction: Gaara scarred his forehead with his sand after having a complete emptional breakdown after killing his uncle at a young age.
- Gaara has grown much thanks to Naruto's influence, but unlike him Gaara was able to balance work as a Kage with parenting.
- As an adult, Gaara is usually reprimanding Shinki for being arrogant and encouraging him to make bonds.
External Links[]
- Gaara on the Villains Wiki
- Gaara on the Naruto Wiki
- Gaara on the Boruto Wiki
- Gaara on the Near Pure Good Wiki
- Gaara on the Shonen Heroes Wiki
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