Gaara

Gaara
Naruto character
Gaara Gaara by Masashi Kishimoto
First appearance	Naruto manga chapter 35 Naruto anime episode 20
In-universe information
Relatives	Fourth Kazekage (father, deceased) Temari (sister) Kankuro (brother) Yashamaru (maternal uncle, deceased)

Gaara (我愛羅) is a fictional character from the Naruto universe created by Masashi Kishimoto and developed into a media franchise, which consists of a series of manga, anime, soundtracks, OVAs, movies, video games, and other collectibles. He was created as a foil to the series' titular character, Naruto Uzumaki, with both having similar backgrounds yet widely different personalities.

In the anime and manga, Gaara is a ninja from the village of Sunagakure, and the son of the Fourth Kazekage, the leader of Sunagakure, and brother to Kankuro and Temari. Due to his traumatic past, Gaara is a ruthless killer, slaying others without remorse and acting cold and distant even with his allies and siblings. His abilities in controlling sand earned him the moniker "Gaara of the Desert" (砂瀑の我愛羅, Sabaku no Gaara). His battle with Naruto in the series changes his outlook on the world; in Part II, he becomes Sunagakure's Fifth Kazekage as a result of Naruto's influence pushing him to aid others. Gaara has appeared in several pieces of Naruto media, including the second featured film in the series, the third original video animation, and several video games.

Numerous anime and manga publications have praised and criticized Gaara's character. His initially sadistic mentality was noted by reviewers; IGN labeled the disparity between Naruto and Gaara as "emotional" and "a tad creepy." The battle between him and Naruto at the conclusion of the Invasion of Konoha arc was particularly celebrated by reviewers, with Anime News Network referring to it as the high point of the entire series. Amongst the Naruto reader base, Gaara has been popular, placing high in several polls. Numerous pieces of merchandise have been released in Gaara's likeness, including plush dolls and key chains.

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Character outline

Background

Prior to Gaara's birth, Sunagakure saw a series of budget cuts that made it difficult for the village to operate. As a result, Gaara's father ordered Chiyo to seal the One-Tailed Shukaku within Gaara during his birth in the hopes that he would become the ultimate weapon for the village. As a sacrifice was needed, Gaara's mother was used. Before she died she cursed Sunagakure, hoping Gaara would avenge her death. As with the other demon hosts, Gaara acquired a physical trait of the tailed beast inside him (tanuki, the animal which the Shukaku is based on). The dark rings under as well as above Gaara's eyes are from him getting no sleep. This is caused by the fear of having the Shukaku take over him when he sleeps, therefore he never sleeps.

Gaara was trained by his father, but raised mainly by his maternal uncle, Yashamaru. Because of the power of Shukaku, the villagers of Sunagakure hated and feared Gaara, seeing him only as the monster sealed within him. For a time, Yashamaru seemed to be the only person who cared about him, being the only person who understood that Gaara could not control his powers. Gaara's father, however, did not see him in the same light, and viewed his frequent attacks upon villagers as a result of a failed experiment that was a threat to the village. Because of the danger Gaara represented, the Kazekage asked Yashamaru to kill Gaara. Yashamaru complied though ultimately failed in the attempt. Although Gaara tried to dismiss this attack as an order of the Kazekage, Yashamaru corrected him by saying that he had willingly accepted the mission. Having never truly loved Gaara, Yashamaru hoped that killing him would avenge the death of his older sister, who had named Gaara after the phrase "a self loving carnage" (我を愛する修羅, Ware wo ai suru shura), a sign of her hate for Gaara. In a last effort to kill him, Yashamaru blew himself up in the hopes that it would kill Gaara too. Gaara survived the blast without injury and lost the only person he thought had cared for him.

Personality

File:Sand Siblings.png

Temari, Gaara, and Kankuro in Part II

While Gaara had initially tried to be friendly towards others despite their fear of him, Yashamaru's actions and words changed him. Realizing that nobody loved him, Gaara used his sand to create the kanji on his forehead (愛, "Love") as a symbol of a "demon loving only himself". He became emotionally withdrawn, all but silent, and consumed with a bitter loathing for everyone but himself. He learned to find pleasure and eventually a reason to live in annihilating the numerous assassins sent to kill him – and by extension, anyone who threatened his existence. Gaara's insomnia, forced upon him by the fear that the demon inside him would eat away at his personality if he were to fall asleep, only furthered his instability and desire to kill. In time, Gaara's father came to appreciate Gaara and the uses he could serve, and canceled all assassination orders in the hopes that Gaara would become an effective tool for Sunagakure.

While he enjoys the opportunity to kill others for much of the Chunin Exam's early stages, he is eventually pitted against Rock Lee during the preliminaries of the Third Stage. Gaara's sand allows him to survive each attack Lee throws at him and eventually gain the upper hand. Their match allows Gaara a change in ideals; rather than determine his own existence by killing anyone he meets, Gaara finds a drive to kill those strong enough to defeat him, and begins to long to find a formidable opponent.

Gaara's wishes are soon realized when he is matched against Sasuke Uchiha who is able to injure Gaara's shoulder so much that Gaara ends up unconscious. Despite this setback, Gaara's wound magnifies his desire to kill Sasuke and the two soon resume their battle. When Sasuke is no longer able to battle, Naruto Uzumaki arrives to save him and defeats Gaara. Realizing that Naruto's strength stems from his desire to protect others, Gaara abandons his prior ideals and decides to acquire strength by caring for others. The first sign of this is that he apologizes to Temari and Kankuro for his actions towards them.

Gaara's new disposition is first seen when he comes to Rock Lee's aid during the Sasuke Retrieval arc. Upon seeing that the injuries Lee received during their last battle have yet to fully heal, Gaara repeatedly stops him from fighting, concerned that Lee will only harm himself further. These new ideals are seen again during the anime's filler arcs, where Gaara acquires a student named Matsuri. As the two begin training, Gaara worries that all of the potential training weapons might cause Matsuri injury, so he has her train with the least harmful weapon present.

Over the timeskip, Gaara's personality changes a great deal. While in the past he was fairly hostile to his siblings (to a point which they were both scared of him), he has since come to hold them in a higher regard, and talks to Kankuro about his problems and dreams. As a result of becoming the Fifth Kazekage (五代目風影, Godaime Kazekage), Gaara now acts as the villager's source of protection and values their lives over his own. The villagers in turn have also begun to hold Gaara in a more admirable regard, especially amongst the younger generation and females. However, much of the Elder population, especially with the higher ranks, still holds malice towards him and call the younger generation fools for believing in him. This begins to change following the Rescue Gaara arc.

Abilities

File:GaaraShieldofSand.jpg

Gaara using his Shield of Sand to block a needle technique.

As the host of Shukaku, Gaara possesses the ability to manipulate sand, typically moving it through the air to serve various purposes. The amount of sand he can control at one time is fairly immense, as in Part II he is able to gather enough sand to cover Sunagakure as a shield. If sand is lacking in abundance, Gaara can use what little sand there is to break apart the minerals in the ground to create more sand. While he can control any dry sand, ordinary sand requires more chakra to manipulate it, tiring him at a rapid rate. As a result, Gaara keeps his own chakra-enhanced sand with him at all times in a calabash gourd (which is also made out of sand) on his back. Because this sand is already infused with his chakra, Gaara can control it more easily to perform stronger and faster attacks.

When first introduced his basic means of attacks is to capture, immobilize, potentially suffocate an opponent with sand and to crush the opponent with varying intensities. In time he is able to increase the scale of these attacks; by first using sand to cover a large area, and then compressing the sand and crushing all that it covers.

As the second element of his stationary combat style, Gaara has a number of sand-based defenses to be used in case an opponent gets too close. His primary defense is an automatic sand shield that surrounds and protects him from damage whether he wants it to or not. Gaara can control the shield to some degree, strengthening it to steel-like quality or calling upon it to completely encase himself. While an effective defense, the shield can be overcome with high speed attacks or simply be broken through with incredibly forceful strikes. Should this happen, Gaara has a layer of sand covering his body. Although it's a useful secondary defense, the sand armor requires large amounts of chakra to remain active and also has the side-effect of weighing Gaara down.

In addition to these basic methods of offense and defense, Gaara also has a number of miscellaneous attacks that, while capable of being an attack or a shield, are not limited to such purposes. Gaara can use sand as a platform to allow himself and others to float in the air. He can also create a floating eyeball of sand in any location that he can see through as a means of spying.

At some point in time Gaara begins to be able to form weapons in Shukaku's likeness. Because the replica is formed under extreme pressure and is built of the strongest minerals it is virtually indestructible, having yet to be penetrated by any force. The anime expands on the idea of having an "ultimate defense" by creating an "ultimate attack". Like the shield, this attack has yet to meet a defense it can't break.

File:Gaarashukakureupload.jpg

Gaara in his half Shukaku form.

In desperate situations, Gaara can 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 grows more dominant during this transformation. Once finished, Gaara assumes a human-sized version of Shukaku wherein he relies on his brute strength to destroy everything around him. While in this sand-based form Gaara has the ability to use wind based attacks.

If need be, Gaara can almost instantly create a life-sized version of Shukaku should the human-sized form fail. In this form, he remains deep within the Shukaku copy safe from harm though unable to move. Gaara can also unleash the spirit of Shukaku forcing himself to sleep to allow the Shukaku copy to operate at its full potential. To do so, however, Gaara must emerge from within the copy, leaving him open to attack for the duration of the jutsu. While Gaara is initially dependent on waking independently or through someone else's intervention to regain control of his body, he begins to be able to suppress Shukaku by himself towards the end of the anime's filler arcs.

In Part II, the Shukaku is extracted from the body of Gaara by Akatsuki. While he no longer possesses the Shukaku, Gaara is still able to manipulate sand, as proven when he uses it to pull Naruto's hand towards his for a handshake, though greater degrees of control has yet to be seen.

Plot overview

Gaara is sent to the Chunin Exams in order to help in the invasion in Konoha. Gaara, Temari and Kankuro are organized into a team under the supervision of Baki. During his fight in the third stage of the exams, Sasuke is able to badly injure Gaara near his shoulder, so much so that Gaara is unable to participate in Konoha's invasion as planned. Despite this setback, Gaara's wound magnifies his desire to kill Sasuke and the two soon resume their battle. When Sasuke is no longer able to battle and Gaara goes in for the kill, Naruto Uzumaki arrives to save him. Naruto meets Gaara in battle and is eventually able to defeat him. After Konohagakure and Sunagakure make an alliance, Gaara is sent to protect the Konoha genin in their mission to retrieve Sasuke with his siblings. Gaara would fight against Kimimaro who dies before killing him because of his terminal illness.

In Part II, Gaara is captured by Deidara of Akatsuki and the Shukaku is extracted from his body, causing his death. Chiyo, regretting the life she gave Gaara when she sealed Shukaku in his body years earlier, gives up her life, using her life-transfer technique, to bring him back to life.

Appearances in other media

Gaara has made several appearances outside of the Naruto anime and manga. He is present in the second Naruto featured film, Naruto the Movie 2: Great Clash! The Illusionary Ruins at the Depths of the Earth, in his post-Sasuke Retrieval arc costume. He protects the Land of Wind from an assault by Haido's troops and later battles the lighting user Ranke, defeats her by draining her of her lighting. Gaara is additionally present in the third original video animation released in the series, where he participates in a tournament of various characters from across the series. Naruto video games commonly feature Gaara, including the Clash of Ninja and Ultimate Ninja series. In some games, he uses his half-Shukaku form for combat, as well as other moves not seen in the anime or manga. Naruto Shippūden: Gekitou Ninja Taisen EX marks the first appearance of Gaara in his Part II appearance in a video game, with the second one being Naruto Shippūden: Narutimate Accel.

Character reception

Gaara has ranked highly in the Shonen Jump popularity polls for the series, continuously placing in the top ten and reaching seventh place once. There has not been another poll as of 2005. Several pieces of merchandise based on Gaara have also been released, including key chains of his Part I and Part II appearance,, plush dolls,, and a limited edition figurine.

Several publications for manga, anime, video games, and other related media have provided praise and criticism on Gaara's character. IGN noted that Gaara was an "anti-Naruto," possessing a "dark, solemn character" as versus Naruto's continuous cheer and excitement. IGN also labeled Gaara's background as "emotional" and "a tad creepy" due to the disparity between the development of Naruto's and Gaara's personalities. Anime News Network celebrated how Naruto's and Gaara's similarities added "depth and emotion" to the plot, and commented that "nowhere in the entire series run does Naruto shine brighter than in the peak period of [Naruto's] battle against Gaara." They additionally complimented Kishimoto's visual presentation of Gaara in the manga, referring to "chilling [glimpses] of Gaara's crazed, exposed face." Liam O'Brien, Gaara's voice actor in the English adaptation of the anime, has been praised, with IGN claiming he did an "excellent job" of making Gaara sound terrifying to the viewer.

See also

• List of Naruto characters
• List of Naruto manga volumes
• List of Naruto episodes
• List of Naruto media
• List of fictional characters who can manipulate earth