Deidara

was an S-rank missing-nin from Iwagakure's Explosion Corps. He was also one of the youngest members of Akatsuki, and was partnered with Sasori until the latter's death, and with Tobi consecutively before his own.

Background
During his days as a shinobi in Iwagakure, Deidara was a pupil under the Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki who possessed the Explosion Release kekkei genkai which enabled him to become a member of the Explosion Corps. Though praised highly for his clay sculptures, Deidara's desire to reach even greater heights resulted with him stealing a Kinjutsu that allows one to knead his chakra into substances. Using explosive clay to take out his pursuers, Deidara found the art he had desired: the. In the anime, Deidara left Iwagakure in shambles by causing great destruction to it. Remembering the first moment whenever he detonated his Explosive Clay since then, Deidara became a missing-nin and offered his services as a bomber to insurgents in various countries.

Deidara's exploits eventually caught the attention of the Akatsuki, with Itachi Uchiha, Kisame Hoshigaki, and Sasori sent to recruit him after Orochimaru left their organisation. Deidara refused at first until he accepts a challenge from Itachi on the condition that the Akatsuki let him be if he won. However, Deidara was easily defeated by Itachi's Sharingan and joined the Akatsuki as part of the deal. His ego crushed since then, though admitting to himself that the Sharingan is a work of art, Deidara carried a murderous loathing for Itachi and the Sharingan for the rest of his life. Knowing that Itachi as a more powerful opponent, Deidara took steps during his time with the Akatsuki to get revenge on Itachi, such as training his left eye to counter genjutsu or devising the means to create C4.

Personality
During his partnership with Sasori, Deidara usually showed a cool and relaxed attitude, never losing his smirk even while fighting an intense battle or when being blamed by his partner. However, his personality seemed to change to some extent after being partnered with Tobi, as he would easily get mad at his partner’s childish and sometimes disrespectful behavior. He also had something of a sadistic arsonist nature, rather he was not above enjoying a good fight, and he often blew up his opponents in a very brutal fashion. Deidara's most distinctive trait, however, was his love of art. He would respect any form of it, even if it disagreed with his own. Deidara also had a habit of ending his sentences with, roughly translated as "yeah" or "hm". The latter of which is used in the VIZ version. Deidara also seemed to respect the ideals of others as he allowed Gaara to move the sand he used to protect his village into the desert before kidnapping him, even going so far as to admiringly call him noble.

Deidara referred to his explosive ninjutsu as art, usually quoting and seeing each bomb he made to be a significant accomplishment. He referred to his style as superflat (referring to certain types of art), and claimed pop (another art style) is dead. Deidara's pride as an artist makes him simply unwilling to accept that anything could defeat it, leaving him to abandon strategy in favour of tactics that let him show off his work. He was able to recognize stronger opponents like Itachi, although he felt the Sharingan to be not artistic and despised back him and younger brother.

Deidara referred to his partner Sasori as, out of respect for him as a fellow artist. He also admitted, at least outwardly, that Sasori was more powerful than he was. In spite of this, Deidara wasn't above goading his partner, and they frequently argued over the nature of true art (Deidara holding that art is what lasts within a moment while Sasori believing fine art is something that lasts for all time). This reflected their individual fighting styles (Deidara made clay sculptures that exploded; Sasori made long-lasting puppets out of humans). Deidara outwardly seemed to respect Sasori's beliefs, but couldn't resist getting a final jab in after Sasori's death.

Deidara's partnership with his second partner, Tobi, however, was very different. Tobi apparently held a great respect for Deidara, and frequently called him. The idiotic front Tobi put up greatly irritated Deidara, who believed that all Akatsuki members should be calm, talking less and acting serious. This in turn resluts with unintentionally angered Deidara to attack Tobi in a comedic fashion (e.g. blasting him with his explosive clay or strangling him with his legs). But in battle, Deidara puts his issues with Tobi aside to worked well with him, telling him to get away when he was about to do a more dangerous attack. Deidara also seemed to have a minor sense of appreciation for Tobi, as shown when he apologised to his partner in his thoughts before he initiated his self-destruction technique.

Appearance
Deidara had slanted blue eyes and very long blond hair which he wore drawn into a half ponytail. The bang hanging over his left eye is what concealed his scope signifying that he was a long-range fighter, but, as shown in his fight with Sasuke, it was not permanently attached to his face. His left eye can see through genjutsu as he trained it to after his fight with Itachi. He also had mouths in each of the palms of his hands for shaping his clay and under his cloak he wore a utility belt with two bags where he carried all of his clay. Deidara had one of his arms crushed by Gaara's sand, and the elbow of his other arm was blown into another dimension by Kakashi's Kamui. Deidara had his arms restored by having Kakuzu sew what was left of his arms with what appears to be a transplanted arm. His transplant was dark brown and had several wrinkles on it. Under his cloak, he wore a V-neck, sleeveless, midriff shirt with mesh armour underneath it along with pants, stirrups, and sandals.

On his chest he had a large, stitched-up mouth for setting off his self-destruct technique. On his right index finger was his Akatsuki ring, which bore the kanji for and was teal in colour. He wears black nail polish on his fingers and toes.

After Kabuto reincarnated him, Deidara wore a black cloak with a red collar, or a red cloak with white collar, as in the manga. He ceased wearing his forehead protector (which resulted his hair being much looser, though still tied in a ponytail), and the whites of his eyes changed to a dark colour.

Abilities
Deidara was a very powerful S-rank missing-nin whose abilities earned him recognition within Akatsuki, even being praised by the leader, Pain, who openly admitted that he was something unique, and that his loss was a major blow to the group. Acting on his own, Deidara was able to fight and defeat Gaara, the host of Shukaku and Fifth Kazekage, one-on-one.

One of his strong points was his intelligence, often using tricks, misdirection, and calculated gambles to get his explosives in range of an opponent, like he did in the fight against Gaara, putting clay into Gaara's sand as it destroyed his arm; however, Deidara's obsession with his art can make him give up on strategics in exchange for tactics in order to show off. As a long-range specialist, he was weaker in close combat, but skilled enough to hold off a close combat battle with specialists like Team Guy, despite having lost both of his arms prior to their confrontation (albeit he was completely defensive), using only a kunai in his mouth and had a variety of techniques in his arsenal to escape close quarters when necessary. Deidara also had great endurance to pain, being able to keep focused after having both his arms torn off. Along with his endurance to pain, Deidara also had great physical strength, able to pull himself free from Gaara's chakra-infused sand and sever what was left of his arm at the same time.

Explosive Clay
Deidara possessed a kekkei genkai known as Explosion Release: this allowed him, by simultaneously using two (currently unknown) chakra natures, to give his chakra explosive qualities. Deidara also possessed special mouths in the palms of his hands and on the left side of his chest as a result of stealing a powerful kinjutsu from his village. By commonly using these two special abilities in unison, he could create explosive clay, clay infused with his explosive chakra that detonated with the command and a single-hand tiger/ram hand seal. This clay could be moulded into a wide variety of shapes and forms, growing to large sizes when infused with chakra (with Deidara performing the necessary hand seals), and could be controlled at will. This allowed him to create living explosives to attack opponents at long-range.

Deidara could even create clones from the clay and named Suicide Bombing Clones, that could be a deadly surprise for opponents. Deidara's clay creations ranged from microscopic to gigantic in size, allowing him to adapt to any situation. Deidara could also use the clay for other purposes, as he was frequently seen creating birds to be used for transportation. These birds could also be used to easily infiltrate villages on missions. It seemed he also knew standard earth-based techniques, as shown from his Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole Technique, which he used to avoid damage from one of his mass-scale bombs. However, he could potentially run out of clay if he used too much of it, leaving him vulnerable. Since all of his explosives were earth-based, they were vulnerable to lightning, and most could thereby be defused with lightning-based attacks.

Eye Enhancement
Deidara wore a scope on his left eye for long-range observation, and he had trained the eye itself to counter genjutsu, allowing him to see through and negate them. When he did this, his pupil would contract. This training was done in order to counter Itachi's powerful genjutsu skills, of which he had a considerable loathing, and wished to defeat if he got the chance. Deidara seems to be able to see long distances without his scope as after being reincarnated, he found enemy shinobi lurking near Tobi's hideout; he still needs to close his right eye in order to use his left eye for long distance vision.

Sasuke Retrieval Arc
At the end of Part I, Deidara made a cameo appearance as a silhouette during an Akatsuki gathering where they discussed Orochimaru's taking of Sasuke Uchiha as well as the capturing of the Nine-Tails and the furthering of their plans.

Kazekage Rescue Arc
Deidara, with Sasori, travelled to Sunagakure, to capture Gaara and extract the Shukaku within him. With the help of Sasori's sleeper agent Yūra, getting past security at the entrance was easy. Taking out the guards watching the sky, Deidara found that the village was artistic in taste, making it worthy of being blown up. Although he attempted a stealthy infiltration of the village, Deidara was quickly confronted by Gaara, who knew he was in the village due to the clay bird he was flying on not matching any species that lived in the Land of Wind. Deidara was then forced into taking up the defensive. Impressed with Gaara's abilities, Deidara saw him as an audience worthy of his artistic ninjutsu. Nearly being trapped in a prison of sand pulled from the surrounding desert, Deidara ended up losing his left arm trapped in some of the sand from Gaara's gourd, forcing Deidara to pull what remained of it off to prevent the sand from crushing the rest of him.

Seeing that he was nearly out of clay, Deidara hatched a plan on how to defeat Gaara; he dropped his C3 bomb on the village as a decoy. This was thwarted by Gaara's Air Sand Protective Wall technique. Deidara was then given enough time to detonate a clay bird bomb close to Gaara. Gaara's sand however rushes in to protect him. Deidara was still able to claim victory by mixing some of his clay into Gaara's sand when his left arm was crushed and destroying Gaara's ultimate defense by detonating several bombs from within it, effectively using Gaara's own weapon against him. Gaara passes out and Deidara kidnaps him.

When Kankurō came after them to get Gaara back, Deidara was sent on ahead by Sasori while he dealt with the young puppet master. After waiting for Sasori, Deidara headed out with him to one of their hideouts in the Land of Rivers to extract Shukaku with the rest of the Akatsuki. When Team Kakashi and Team Guy were announced to be on their way to save Gaara, Deidara couldn't help but feel embarrassed about his lack of stealth in capturing Gaara.

When Team Kakashi arrived at their location, Deidara was given a meagre clue from Itachi as to what the jinchūriki of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox is like - the one who barges in and barks first. To test Itachi's clue, he sat on Gaara's corpse while waiting for the team, to see which of the shinobi gave a response first. This worked and Deidara, taking advantage of this, left with Gaara's body in order to lead away the jinchūriki, leaving Sasori to deal with Sakura and Chiyo. He was set on capturing Naruto to help him in his quest for greater stimulation to his art sense as he found Naruto to be "a canvas worthy of my artistry". Deidara noticed that Naruto was an extraordinary jinchūriki and felt more interested in fighting him than Kakashi Hatake. He tried to separate Naruto from Kakashi so he could fight Naruto and capture him with several different tactics, but ended up failing each time.

Kakashi tried decapitating Deidara, but only managed destroying his other arm, giving Naruto a chance to retrieve Gaara and knock Deidara into the forest. Handicapped, Deidara was taken by surprise when Naruto appeared behind him and pushed him to the ground, repeatedly pummelling him without rest. Right before Naruto could kill him with a Rasengan; Deidara managed to switch himself with a clay clone and hid in a near-by bush. He watched in amazement as Naruto's anger caused him to enter a two-tailed form before Kakashi reverted it and Chiyo and Sakura arrived. Knowing Sasori must be dead, Deidara could only get in the last laugh about his partner as he prepared to leave. He was caught by Team Guy and forced to flee as he was now heavily outnumbered. Upon remembering his clay bird was still around, Deidara bit off some of it and used another substitution, allowing a Suicide Bombing Clone to take his place in an attempt to both kill his enemies and flee.

Some time later, he emerged from the ground, battered and weakened, but still alive. Lamenting that even his exploding clone failed, Deidara decided to seek out his severed arm before it began to rot. A bit later, he met Tobi and Zetsu who had found his severed appendage. Though Zetsu wondered why he did not capture Naruto, Deidara defended himself, saying that his quota had been fulfilled. He then comically tried to choke Tobi to death after being accidentally insulted three times by him.

At some point in time later, Deidara had what was left of his right arm sewn back on by Kakuzu along with a new left arm to replace the one Gaara had crushed.

Hidan and Kakuzu Arc
Deidara was present during the sealing of the Two-Tails.

Three-Tails Arc
Deidara appeared later, with his arms successfully reattached by Kakuzu. In the anime, he and his new partner, Tobi, found that their next mission was to capture the Three-Tails. Along the way, they took a break at a nearby dango shop. Deidara also showed an interest in what Tobi looked like behind his mask, only for him to be tricked by Tobi to look away for a moment. After a short fight between the two due to Tobi's antics, they split up to seek out the beast.

Later, Deidara snuck up on and killed two Konoha ANBU, who were sending a report on the Three-Tails back to the vilalge. Tobi congratulated Deidara, and they headed towards the lake. Deidara commented that, since Tobi was now a part of Akatsuki, he should be able to capture the beast himself. Frightened by the huge beast and its devastating powers, Tobi ran away with the beast chasing after him. Deidara sent an explosive clay fish into the lake which detonated, taking down the beast and allowing Tobi to capture it. Surprised by the defeated beast, Tobi gloated that he did it with a special technique of his, not realising that it was Deidara's explosive clay that did it. Tobi later fell asleep while Deidara was speaking to him, which prompted an angry Deidara to exploding clay next to Tobi, frightening him.

Itachi Pursuit Arc
After sealing the Four-Tails, Deidara learned that Naruto and the Eight-man Squad were searching for Itachi and Sasuke. When Naruto was mentioned, he openly said that he held a grudge against Naruto when he punched him in the face, and for disrespecting his art. He also heard about the death of former Akatsuki member, Orochimaru. Having wanted to kill Orochimaru himself, Deidara and Tobi sought out Orochimaru's killer: Sasuke Uchiha, the younger brother of Itachi Uchiha. When they finally found Sasuke, Tobi assisted in Deidara's assault against him.

Deidara attempted to attack from above using a bomb, but Sasuke used Hidden Shadow Snake Hands to wrap himself with a snake as a shield. Tobi also attempted an attack, but he was scared of Sasuke, and fled from him. Deidara told Tobi he was to handle Sasuke, and tested him with C1 grade fleas. Sasuke used the Chidori Senbon to stop the bombs. He then jumped behind Deidara, who used a bomb to distance himself. But Sasuke managed to avoid the bomb. Realising Sasuke's abilities were great, Deidara used C2 next, and summoned a clay dragon as a battle partner. The dragon then regurgitated a cluster of land mines to which Tobi said they were going with "that". Sasuke attacked with Chidori Sharp Spear, but Deidara was out of range. While Sasuke was busy with Deidara, Tobi planted the latter's mines around the field

Deidara sent a new C2 bomb after Sasuke, and he activated his Cursed Seal level 2 to block the blast (at the cost of one of his wings). He shot two giant shuriken at Deidara. Deidara avoided them, but Sasuke attached wires to them. They impaled Deidara's arms against the dragon, and Sasuke flew up with his Chidori sword and severed one of the dragon's wings off. Deidara fell to the ground toward his land mines which subsequently destroyed the dragon. Tobi cried out for Deidara, but Deidara (who earlier had dislodged the shuriken and was now safely atop one of his clay birds) told him to be quiet. He looked into Sasuke's Sharingan and remembered when he had first seen them in Itachi.

Angered that Sasuke, like Itachi, refused to acknowledge his art, Deidara used C4 — his most powerful explosive — ingesting the clay with his own mouth and spewing out a giant replica of himself. Believing himself to be victorious as Sasuke disintegrated into nothing, Deidara is shocked to realise that he had been placed under a genjutsu. Attacking Deidara with the Chidori, Sasuke seemingly pierces Deidara through the chest but this is revealed to be a clay clone as the real Deidara emerges from below and explains that he had trained his left eye to counter genjutsu.

Enveloping Sasuke in another clone, Deidara prepares a homing bomb to detonate his C4 creation while he falls through the air. Sasuke, however, is able to escape and protect himself with his Chidori Current. He then jumped right next to Deidara punched him. Realising that Deidara was out of chakra and could not get up, Sasuke asked where Itachi was but Deidara refused to answer, and attacked Sasuke again, but it was nullified and Sasuke collapsed of exhaustion. Deidara became enraged due to Sasuke's indifference to his art, and in a last, manic effort to defeat him, released the mouth located on his chest and turned himself into a bomb in a suicide attempt to kill Sasuke. However, Sasuke summoned the giant snake Manda, whom he used as a shield from the blast, and teleported himself to safety, at the cost of Manda's life.

Confining the Jinchūriki Arc
In an attempt to both impede Tobi and coerce him into joining forces during their initial encounter, Kabuto Yakushi demonstrated his capabilities by reincarnating many of the deceased members of Akatsuki, including Deidara, using Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation. Later, Kabuto transported himself atop of Deidara's clay bird, before placing a seal inside his head which, while granting Deidara a certain amount of free will, allowed Kabuto to maintain control over him. Deidara was pleased by the prospect of a further chance to create new art and seemed content with the idea of fighting Naruto again, because he had a score to settle.

On route to the island, they are ambushed by Ōnoki, with Akatsuchi and Kurotsuchi. However, both Kabuto and Deidara are revealed to be clay clones and were then blown but Ōnoki is also revealed to have been one of Akatsuchi's rock clones. By Kabuto's orders, they continue towards the island, rather than engaging with Ōnoki in battle. He is ordered by Kabuto to mould a big bomb, which takes the form of a jellyfish and explodes beneath the giant tortoise. Deidara offered to let Kabuto go ahead to look for Killer B and Naruto while he fought Ōnoki and his bodyguards. During the battle his explosives were blocked by Akatsuchi's rock golem. After being drawn away from the giant island turtle, Deidara challenges Ōnoki's Dust Release with his own explosive clay, but before he could attack he was placed back in the coffin, much to his dismay.

Shinobi World War Arc
Assigned to the Surprise Attack and Diversion Platoon, Deidara is tasked with disrupting the Allied Shinobi Forces using his explosives, as the Fourth Shinobi World War commences. After arguing with Sasori about art and telling him that they were both dead, their group mobilises atop Deidara's clay birds, where he locates the three remaining members of the Infiltration and Reconnaissance Party.

Complaining about Muta Aburame's insects, he bombards their position, until the group is eventually taken captive. Deidara then booby-traps Muta's jar, before Sasori manipulates him so as to attack the opposing Surprise Attack Division. The enemy uncovers the trap and evades the blast, forcing Deidara to engage them directly, where he tells them only one squad can emerge victorious, but that they can't lose as they're "immortal". Fooled into thinking Omoi was about to attack him, when he actually intended to free the Tokuma and Ranka, he becomes enraged. However, the earth beneath him is suddenly raised, making him collide with the falling Sasori. Deidara then resorts to detonating the clay placed inside of Shin, yet Kankurō manages to smother it.

Displeased that the blast was lessened, his remarks provoke Sai, by referring to Shin as "the bomb". Teasing him further as a weakling who couldn't even replace Sasuke, while reminding him that Shin could be made into a bomb again, Deidara then ridicules Sai's art when he starts to draw. However, struck from behind, both he and Sasori are contained by Kankurō's puppets. Threating to activate C0, despite its repeated use cheapening his art, Deidara is instead pierced by Omoi's lightning-infused sword, diffusing his clay. As Kankurō later lectures Sasori about how a puppet master could find true immortality in one's own work, Deidara becomes furious, telling Sasori not to listen to him as true art was found within a fleeting blast.

Still imprisoned when Chūkichi arrives with reinforcements, after Hanzō's remark halts his complaining, Deidara demands that the others release him. However, when the retreating division are met by a portion of the Fifth Division, he is secured by the samurai.

Still demanding that they release him before he exploded, he told Kankurō that in art there was no such things as duds before being taken by surprise by the release of the Impure World Reincarnation technique. With a bright light of sorts enveloping Deidara, he began to deconstruct and his soul later returned to the afterlife.

Legacy
When news of Deidara's death reaches the rest of Akatsuki, Pain comments that his loss is a huge blow to the organisation. He instructs the other members to mourn his death quietly amongst themselves.

Despite Iwagakure ridiculing his artistic values and his subsequent defection from the village, Deidara has earned some respect from certain high-ranking villagers, as Kurotsuchi called him "Deidara-nii" (an honorific meaning "big brother", either as family or a sign of respect), and wished to fight the person who defeated him: Sasuke Uchiha. The Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, also seemed displeased that someone like Sasuke could defeat Deidara.

Trivia

 * Deidara's catch phrase was originally coined by famous Japanese abstract artist Tarō Okamoto, whose words inspired many of Deidara's explosives.
 * Deidara ranked 3rd in one official character popularity poll shortly after his debut, just one rank above Naruto. He also ranked higher than any other member of Akatsuki (though at the point that poll was taken, only about half of Akatsuki's members were formally introduced).
 * Unknown to him, his second partner, Tobi, has the kekkei genkai he despised: the Sharingan.
 * Deidara was apparently very curious as to what was behind Tobi's mask, as when they stopped to eat dango during the Three-Tails Arc, he began to tense up when Tobi began to remove his mask to eat.
 * Deidara's characteristic, which he uses to detonate his explosive clay, is a type of shout that is used in Zen Buddhism to stop the discursive thoughts of practitioners, potentially helping them achieve an enlightenment experience. It is also used as a means of focusing energy.
 * According to the Third Databook:
 * Deidara had completed 82 official missions in total: 4 D-rank, 27 C-rank, 35 B-rank, 13 A-rank, 3 S-rank.
 * Deidara's hobby was experimenting with explosions.
 * Deidara wished to fight Itachi Uchiha.
 * Deidara's favourite food was bakudan, a pun on the actual food (boiled eggs in surimi) and the Japanese word meaning bombs.
 * Deidara's least favourite food was mixed rice/pilaf.
 * Deidara's favourite phrase was.
 * Tobi commented that Deidara would die from an explosion, while Sasori said that he was the type to die young. Both of them were right: Deidara would later self-destruct with a massive explosion, as a last ditch effort to kill Sasuke.
 * He referred to his previous partner Sasori as, but Sasori was not the only person that Deidara called with this title: in Naruto: Shippūden episode 18 and in an omake for this episode, Deidara referred Kisame as "Kisame no Danna" as well.
 * Deidara is not aware that Sasuke is still alive; he believes his final attack killed Sasuke and him together.

Quotes

 * (Catchphrase) "Art is an explosion!"
 * (Before killing the Suna guards) "Look at those fools. They have no appreciation for art. You have to feel art. And true art… is an EXPLOSION!"
 * (To Sasori) "Fine art is the beauty of that single fleeting moment of explosion."
 * (To Tobi, after he mocked how Deidara had lost his arms) "Tobi, after three times, even a Buddha's face… One more word and there'll be no doubt about the cause of your death."
 * (To Sasuke) "You think you're so cool! And those eyes make me sick!! Always judging me… and my art!! You have no appreciation of the beauty of my work… and it makes me want to kill you!!"
 * (Last words to Sasuke) "Tremble! Be afraid! Recoil in despair! Cower in awe! And cry your heart out, because my art… is an EXPLOSION!"
 * (To Ōnoki after being reincarnated) "Shut up! I killed Sasuke Uchiha! And you're next, you art-hating sack of wrinkles!"