Gaara

is a main protaganist in the anime and manga series Naruto. He is a shinobi of Sunagakure and is the '''. Gaara is also the youngest child of the late Fourth Kazekage, and the younger brother of both Kankuro and Temari. Being raised as a tool of Sunagakure, Gaara gained the nickname.

Background
Gaara is the son of the Fourth Kazekage, and the younger brother of Temari and Kankuro. Before Gaara's birth, his father ordered Chiyo to seal the One-Tailed Shukaku within him, in hopes that Gaara would become the ultimate weapon for Suna. Because a sacrifice was needed, Gaara's mother, Karura, was used. Before she died, Karura cursed Sunagakure, hoping Gaara would avenge her death. Gaara was trained by his father, but raised mainly by his maternal uncle, Yashamaru.

Because of the power of Shukaku, the villagers of Suna hated and feared Gaara, seeing him only for the monster sealed within him. For a time, Yashamaru seemed to be the only person who cared about Gaara. When Gaara would mistakenly harm others due to the subconscious abilities granted to him by Shukaku, Yashamaru would be the only one who understood that Gaara hadn't intended to harm anyone. Gaara's father, however, did not see Gaara in the same light, and viewed Gaara's frequent attacks upon villagers as a result of a failed experiment that was a threat to Suna.

Because of the danger Gaara imposed, his father began sending assassins to kill him, though when all attempts were met with failure, the Kazekage requested Yashamaru to kill Gaara. As a result, Yashamaru tried to assassinate Gaara, only to fail just as those before him. Gaara dealt a lethal blow to him. But when Gaara realized that it was Yashamaru, he was horrified, and screamed, before bursting into tears. Although Gaara tried to dismiss Yashamaru's 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 Gaara would avenge the death of his sister, who had named Gaara after the phrase, a sign of her intense hatred for Suna, not as love for her son. In the last ditch effort to kill Gaara, Yashamaru detonated a number of exploding tags covering his body, asking Gaara to "please die". Gaara survived the blast, and lost the only person he thought had cared for him. Since this incident, Gaara became an aloof and cruel person who would kill anyone to prove his existence and to obtain recognition from the village.

Personality
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, as a symbol of a "demon loving only himself", and to live up to his name, as Karura intended. Gaara became emotionally withdrawn, all but silent, and consumed with a bitter loathing for everyone but himself and "Mother", the voice of Shukaku in his head. 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. This was only worsened by the occasional demand by Shukaku for blood to sate its blood lust. Gaara's insomnia, forced upon him by the fear that the demon inside him would eat away at him if he were to fall asleep, only furthered his instability and desire to kill. In fact, his hatred extends to his siblings, as he never saw them as such, and was fully willing to kill them were they to cross him. In time, Gaara's father would come to appreciate Gaara and the uses he could serve, and canceled all assassination orders in the hopes that Gaara would become an effective tool.

Gaara's childhood was, in many ways, similar to Naruto Uzumaki's, though more unfortunate due to his lack of anyone to call a friend. Both were lonely and desired to be liked, loved, and acknowledged as an individual, free of others' prejudices — they were themselves, not the demons they were forced to "contain" — and both were driven into a desperate state. While Naruto consequently developed the misconception that pranks and mischief would bring him the attention he sought, Gaara came to the conclusion that he could preserve and confirm his own existence by killing any and all who challenged it, securing an extreme form of existentialism as his key personality trait. In the absence of others' acknowledgment, he could compensate by valuing only himself to the exclusion of everyone else. Furthermore, while Naruto eventually had Iruka Umino and Team Kakashi to acknowledge him, Gaara never had anyone to bond with, not even his father or siblings, as they all despised and feared the Shukaku that dwells within him. The person who was closest to being friendly with Gaara was the deceitful Yashamaru, who ultimately betrayed him, which turned Gaara into a lonely sociopath. As such, Gaara did not understand the concept of fighting for anything other than himself until his confrontation with Naruto.

After being defeated by Naruto, Gaara was shocked to find that Naruto knew very well the pain that Gaara had endured all his life. He was even more surprised that Naruto never gave up hope on being acknowledged as a person and ultimately found friends who truly cared for him. Seeing the determination that Naruto had to protect his friends made Gaara question his own path in life. Realizing that he gave up too easily, Gaara decided to follow Naruto's path, wishing to become Kazekage of Sunagakure so he could be connected to his people, and hopefully have them finally acknowledge his existence as a person. Over the next few years, Gaara's determination to find happiness became apparent from his decision to rely on his own power rather than his inner demon's. Gaara eventually formed a close friendship with Naruto. Although he remained ruthless against his opponents, Gaara appears extremely protective of his allies and innocent people, as seen when he protected his village from Deidara; and his siblings, Darui and even the Raikage against Sasuke. He also appears to deeply understand those who have suffered from loneliness and hatred in the past by the look in their eyes, such as Naruto, or even Sasuke.

Appearance
Like Naruto, Gaara is a little shorter than the average males of his age. He has pale skin and short, straight hair that is brick-red. Gaara's eyes are light turquoise. In the manga and the anime, the pupils of his eyes are mostly invisible. Gaara has no eyebrows either. He has two very notable traits in his outward appearance: firstly, he has tanuki-like black eye rings, having them since his birth due to insomnia caused by the Shukaku. Secondly, he has created the kanji on the left side of his forehead, having it since Yashamaru's betrayal. Gaara's forelocks are parted from the left side, making the kanji more visible. Gaara is often seen to stand straight, with his arms crossed over his chest.

In Part I, Gaara has been seen in three different costumes. When he was seen for the first time, he wore black full body suit with t-shirt-like sleeves, ¾-length legs, and an open neck. With this, he wore a white cloth over his right shoulder and the left side of his hips, and a wide leather band system over the left shoulder and right side of his hips. With this leather band, he carried around his gourd containing his sand. He also wrapped his forehead protector over the band. In his childhood flashbacks, he was seen wearing beige poncho-like clothing with full-length blue trousers and a short-sleeved black t-shirt. In the Sasuke Retrieval arc, and in the final pre-Shippuden filler arc, he switched his previous black overalls to a reddish-brownish one with longer sleeves and an upright collar. He used this costume in Naruto the Movie 2: Legend of the Stone of Gelel, too. In Part II, battling against Deidara, he wore full-length dark trousers, a long-sleeved red coat with a flaring hemline, and a purplish grey vest. He is also seen wearing Kazekage robes, and a simple black tunic-trousers suit, the latter one greatly resembling Kankuro's suit, and worn for the memorial of Elder Chiyo. All the time, he has been seen wearing black shinobi shoes.

Chunin Exam arc
Gaara participated in the Chunin Exams, where he was quickly identified as a skilled competitor. He was able to pass the first phase without giving any indications that he was cheating (the objective of the test). During the second phase, he demonstrated his thirst for blood by killing Team Shigure, who Gaara claimed had looked at him the wrong way. Gaara wanted to continue searching for people to kill, but Kankuro told him that it was enough. However, Gaara said that he didn't care for them, and didn't consider Temari and Kankuro as his siblings. Gaara and his team finished this phase in an hour and thirty-seven minutes, beating the previous record by over four hours, with Gaara not getting so much as a speck of dust on his clothes, a feat that would be very difficult even for an experienced ninja.

In the preliminary matches, Gaara was matched against Rock Lee. Lee's formidable speed and strength were enough to bypass Gaara's Shield of Sand completely, forcing him to rely on his secondary Armour of Sand. Despite Lee's best efforts, Gaara's sand protected him from even Lee's Reverse Lotus, which left Lee in no condition to fight after its use. Gaara used his sand to crush the weakened Lee's arm and leg, critically injuring him. Gaara tried to kill Lee, but Might Guy intervened before he could harm Lee any further. For the finals, Gaara was matched against Sasuke Uchiha. In the month before the finals, Dosu Kinuta tried to kill Gaara in order to ensure that he could fight Sasuke. Gaara promptly killed him with the power of Shukaku.

In the final round matches of the Chunin Exams, Gaara was to play a major role in Orochimaru's invasion upon Konohagakure, by releasing Shukaku within the center of the village. Prior to his battle with Sasuke, he brutally killed Tsuba and Midori, both of whom tried to threaten Gaara to lose the battle for a bet. During his match with Sasuke, however, Gaara was wounded by Sasuke's Chidori, disabling him from serving his role in the invasion. With Gaara no longer in a condition to join the battle, Gaara and his siblings fled the village, while the invasion proceeded without them.

Gaara was pursued by the members of Team 7, along with Shikamaru Nara and Shino Aburame, which forced Gaara to begin transforming into Shukaku. As his transformation progressed, Sasuke tried to use Chidori two additional times, but when both proved ineffective at stopping Gaara, he was left exhausted. Gaara tried to kill Sasuke, but was stopped by Naruto and Sakura's arrivals. Intrigued by Naruto's abilities, Gaara pinned Sakura to a tree, in order to force Naruto to fight. When Naruto began gaining the upper hand, Gaara completed his transformation, and put himself to sleep to bring out Shukaku's personality. With the help of Gamabunta, Naruto woke Gaara up, and broke the transformation. With the last of their energy, the two exchanged final blows, Naruto ending up claiming victory. Gaara was puzzled by Naruto's undying devotion to his friends, causing Gaara to realise that Naruto's strength came from the desire to protect those close to him. As Gaara and his siblings fled the scene, Gaara openly apologized to Kankuro and Temari, which surprised and confused them. Thanks to Naruto's influence, the defeat proved to be a major turning point for Gaara.

Sasuke Retrieval arc
Team Baki was called by the Fifth Hokage to assist the Sasuke Retrieval Squad in retrieving Sasuke when he defected from Konoha. Gaara arrived to save Rock Lee in time from preventing Kimimaro's final blow. Though, Lee tries to attempt to continue, Gaara stops him, and volunteers he will handle it, and that Lee is in no condition to fight since Gaara injured Lee during the Chunin Exams. This showed Gaara's new personality. In the fight, Gaara showed off several new abilities, though he proved unable to defeat Kimimaro. In the end, Gaara and Lee were almost killed from Kimimaro, only to be saved by Kimimaro's deseased, which killed him right before drilling his bone into Gaara's eye. In the end, Gaara explains even a person who works for the bad has someone precious in them, and explains Lee was like Naruto Uzumaki. Later, the two returned to Konoha. After this, Gaara and the rest of the Sand Siblings returned to Sunagakure.

Pre-Shippūden filler arcs
The Sand Siblings would later appear when they became teachers at a Konoha-style ninja academy at Suna. As an instructor, Gaara took on the only student who was willing to train under him, Matsuri. Because of Matsuri's fear of weapons, Gaara trained her to use a jouhyou. When a group of people called the Four Celestial Symbols Men kidnapped her in order to get to Gaara, Suna called for aid from the Konoha 11 to repay their help during the Sasuke Retrieval arc. Gaara first fought Suiko, then he caught and attacked the Four Celestial Symbols Men leader, Hoki, but was captured. Naruto tries desperately to save Gaara, though nothing would work. To escape, Gaara did a partial Shukaku transformation, reviving the Takumi Village's ultimate weapon, Seimei. Gaara later destroyed Seimei with Ultimate Absolute Attack: Shukaku's Halberd, and killed Jin with a Sand Waterfall Imperial Funeral.

After this, Gaara rests in the Konoha hospital, and overhears Naruto's conversation with Jiraiya. Gaara and the rest of the siblings, including Matsuri, leave Konohagakure.

Rescue Gaara arc
Having become the Fifth Kazekage during the gap in time between Part I and II, Gaara was targeted by Akatsuki, who sought to extract Shukaku from within him. Gaara proved highly capable of holding off Deidara, even managing to crush one of his arms, and had him on the run for most of the battle, but his inevitable duty to protect Sunagakure was taken advantage of by Deidara, by threatening to drop one of his most powerful bombs on the village. Gaara prevented any damage being inflicted by summmoning a vast amount of sand to cover it entirely, albeit at the cost of practically all of his remaining chakra, which left him open for capture. Being unconscious, he was taken to Akatsuki's hideout by Deidara.

Although Team Kakashi did their best to save Gaara, they did not arrive in time to stop Akatsuki's extraction of Shukaku, resulting in Gaara's death. Naruto Uzumaki cries in front of him, regretting not saving only Sasuke, but Gaara as well. He blames the rest of the Sand Shinobi because of putting such a demon inside of him in the first place, and letting him feel so much pain as a child. However, Chiyo resurrected Gaara with the help of Naruto's chakra using her life-restoring technique, in the hopes that it would make up for her sealing of Shukaku into Gaara years earlier, and hoping Naruto and Gaara will both change the world, by bringing Gaara back to life at the cost of her own. Gaara awoke, shocked by being surrounded by his friends from Konoha and the Sunagakure villagers that had gone looking for him, all relieved that he was alright. This was the first time Gaara truly felt loved and not so alone. Gaara later orders everyone to pray for the hopes of Chiyo.

Before Naruto went back home, he tried to say goodbye, but admitted that it wasn't something he was good at. Gaara used some sand to encourage and guide Naruto's hand, and the two shook hands, symbolizing Gaara and Naruto's friendship, and Gaara's new characteristics. Even with Shukaku removed, Gaara still retained the ability to control sand and went on to continue his work as Kazekage.

Five Kage Summit arc
Because of Akatsuki's increasing activity, the Raikage calls for a meeting of the five Kage. When Gaara left for the summit his hair had grown a little longer, he still wore his sand gourd on his back, and the traditional Kazekage hat and gown were attached to it. Temari and Kankuro accompany him for protection, but Kankuro notes that he doesn't need bodyguards.

Gaara is the first Kage to arrive in the Land of Iron. When the other Kage arrive and the meeting starts, Gaara is the first to speak. He indicates that, because he was captured by Akatsuki and almost died when Shukaku was removed from his body, he considers the organization very dangerous. He adds that he had previously requested collaboration between the villages against Akatsuki, but that only Tsunade of Konoha responded. Gaara is repeatedly interrupted by the other Kage for the rest of the meeting and his input is dismissed because of his young age.

When Sasuke is revealed to have infiltrated the meeting and the Raikage goes to fight him, Gaara has a chance to speak with the remaining Kage. He voices his concern with the others' lack of ethics and says that a world without faith and understanding would be a world with only fear. Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari then leave to join the Raikage's battle with Sasuke. When they arrive, Gaara uses his sand to stop Sasuke and the Raikage from attacking each other, demonstrating that despite the loss of Shukaku, Gaara's sand manipulation powers were still strong. While the Raikage recuperates, Gaara tries to convince Sasuke to stop living in the darkness, citing past experience by saying no good will come of it. Sasuke cannot be convinced so, with a tear in his eye, Gaara joins Kankuro, Temari, and Darui in their attack.

Sasuke is able to elude their combined efforts. They follow him back to the room where the Kage met and find Sasuke with Madara Uchiha. Madara sends Sasuke away and tells everyone in attendance about his Moon's Eye Plan. Because Madara concludes by requesting that the Kage give him Naruto, Gaara refuses. The other Kage agree, so Madara declares the start of the Fourth Great Shinobi World War.

Immediately after Madara teleported away, Gaara brought the group's attention back to the need of an alliance, now more than ever. After agreements were made, Gaara offered to relay the news to Konoha through ninja he trusted such as Kakashi as Danzo proved himself untrustworthy. He also pointed out the importance of not playing into Madara's hands by carelessly putting the remaining Jinchuriki out in the open as mere weapons, and thereby risk them being captured.

Mifune agrees to let the Raikage to lead the alliance. Gaara and the rest of the Kage accept the offer, and, as the first objective, must inform all the Daimyo about the incident.

Legend of the Stone of Gelel
In the second Naruto movie, Gaara and Kankuro came to the aid of a band of Suna villagers who came under attack. A group of seemingly invulnerable armored warriors attacked the shinobi, and it was only Gaara's sand manipulation abilities that saved the group from certain defeat. The Suna ninja then destroyed the warship that brought the warriors, only to come under attack from knights wielding the power of the Stone of Gelel. Gaara engaged one of these warriors, called Ranke, who wielded lightning powers, and was able to thwart her using his sand. When Ranke transformed into a monstrous form of greater power, she seemingly outmatched Gaara, until he crushed her using Sand Waterfall Imperial Funeral. By doing this, he made lightning rods to drain her lightning; the jutsu was called Thunder God of Sand. He is later seen amazed by the destruction the Gelel caused. It is unclear whether Gaara met Naruto after the incedent. Later, he and Kankuro safely return to Sunagakure.

Sand Control
As the host of Shukaku, Gaara possessed 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 break down the earth 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 also made out of sand on his back. Because this sand is already infused with his chakra, Gaara has a great deal more control over it, enabling stronger and faster attacks with it.

During battle, Gaara rarely moves, attacking with his sand from a single location, and rarely using taijutsu. When first introduced, his basic means of attacks is to first use Desert Coffin to capture, immobilize, and potentially suffocate an opponent with sand. Once the opponent is subdued, he uses Desert Funeral to cause the sand to crush the opponent with varying intensities. Though he comes up with other means of attack throughout the series, the "catch and crush" tactic remains at the center of his fighting style, as he attempted to use it four times on Kimimaro but Kimimaro's hardened layer of bone under his skin prevents Gaara from killing him, in Part 1, despite having new jutsu.

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 his Shield of Sand, 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 called the Armor of Sand. Although it's a useful secondary defense, the 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. By making a Sand Clone of himself, Gaara can have an ally to be used in battle, or as a mere distraction to be used to buy him time. Unlike most other clone jutsu in the series, the Sand Clone can retain its shape after more than one attack, and can even reform itself or capture an opponent upon being dispersed. With Desert Suspension, Gaara can use sand as a platform, to allow himself and others to float in the air. His Third Eye also allows him to create a floating eyeball of sand in any location, which he can see through as a means of spying, or to guide his attacks while completely enclosed by his defenses. Also, Gaara has mentioned being trained in various ninja arts and can efficiently use weapons such as a rope javelin, or jouhyou.

In Part 2, Gaara can still control sand, even without the Shukaku.

Jinchūriki Transformations
In desperate situations, Gaara could 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 Shukaku copy, safe from harm, though unable to move. Gaara could also unleash the spirit of Shukaku through his Feigning Sleep Technique, which forced him 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.

In time, he began gaining better control over Shukaku, such that he could suppress its personality by himself towards the end of the anime's 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.

Creation and Conception
Masashi Kishimoto created Gaara to be a foil to Naruto, giving him a similar background to Naruto, where he was rejected by his peers and fellow villagers for being the host of a tailed beast, a situation that Kishimoto refers to as being "very much like Naruto's. He was universally rejected and ignored, living a superfluous existence". Gaara's development from this state into a highly withdrawn, sadistic character was intended to induce sympathy for him from readers, as it was contrasted against Naruto being a cheerful troublemaker.

Gaara's initial attire, along with the costumes of his siblings, were difficult for Kishimoto to draw, resulting in a change of costume during the Sasuke Retrieval arc, with Gaara receiving an outfit with an upright collar. As well as being easier to draw, it was used to show the change in relationship between Gaara and Naruto following their previous fight. Kishimoto cites The Matrix, one of his favorite movies, as an inspiration for Gaara's new costume, and he considers it to be his favorite costume of the three siblings.

Trivia

 * Naruto and Gaara share a few similarities. Both Gaara's father and Naruto's father were the Fourth Kage of their respective villages, both are or were jinchūriki, and both possess the Wind Release as their chakra nature.
 * At age fifteen, Gaara is the youngest Kage shown thus far. However, it is unknown if he was the youngest person ever to be elected Kage.
 * Gaara is one of two jinchūriki known to have been a Kage, the other being Yagura, the Fourth Mizukage.
 * He is one of the few major characters in Naruto to experience death and be brought back to life. The others to have experienced this are Shizune, Kakashi Hatake, and Fukasaku. He was also the first to experience this.
 * Before the Five Kage Summit, many people believed Gaara cannot control sand anymore since Shukaku is not inside him. This was proven wrong after Gaara protected the Raikage from Sasuke Uchiha's black flames.
 * In the Naruto character popularity polls, Gaara was placed in 7th in the first, second, and third, 8th in the fourth, 10th in the fifth, and 7th in sixth.
 * According to the Naruto databook:
 * Gaara's hobby is cultivating cacti.
 * Gaara's favorite foods are salted tongue and gizzard, whilst his least favorites are sweet bean jelly and marron glacé.
 * Gaara and Naruto are both the same weight and height by Part 2.
 * Gaara's registration number is 56-001.
 * Gaara has completed 34 official missions in total: 0 D-rank, 9 C-rank, 8 B-rank, 14 A-rank, 3 S-rank.
 * Gaara's favorite words are both "love" and "future".

Quotes

 * (To Yashamaru) "What does pain feel like?"
 * ( To Naruto and Shikamaru) "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."
 * "I finally understand... I'm alone. I won't believe in anyone, or love anyone. I'm alone."
 * "Perhaps the companionship of an evil person is preferable to loneliness."
 * "The corpse's bitter crimson tears flow and mingle with the endless sand, filling the chaos within me - and making me stronger."
 * "I am a relic they want to get rid of, so why do I exist and live?"
 * (To Naruto) "I shall kill you. I will not cease to exist."
 * (To Kankuro) "Up until now, my bonds with others have only been ones of hatred and murder. But, seeing him fight so hard made me wonder what a bond really is. I think I understand a little now. Suffering, sadness... and joy. To be able to share it with another person. Naruto Uzumaki... when I fought him, I feel that is what he taught me."
 * "You're the same then. When you feel the honor of your idol under scrutiny... you become enraged, as if it were your own honor being questioned. The more precious your idol is to you... the harder you fight for him."
 * "Peace under an illusion is not true peace. It's only meaningful if the real world manages to accomplish it."
 * (To Madara) "I won't let you take Uzumaki Naruto."