Jinchūriki

The are humans that have a tailed beast sealed within them. They exhibit extraordinary powers, and in some cases are wiser than their tailed beasts, because they have the intelligence to use the beast's powers effectively.

The Second Kazekage of Sunagakure was the first to research the jinchūriki, with the other villages following soon after. Each village has used a different seal when creating their jinchūriki, resulting in different levels of access to the beast's chakra. For example, Konohagakure used the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, while Akatsuki, an organization whose role in the series is to capture the jinchūriki, uses the Illusionary Dragon Nine Consuming Seals to extract the tailed beasts, and seal it away for future use. They have so far captured seven of the tailed beasts, the first through the seventh.

In the case of Sora, an anime-only character, he only had a tailed beast's chakra sealed within him, not an actual beast. This made him a "pseudo-jinchūriki". Even though he was granted similar advantages to a real jinchūriki, his were vastly inferior.

Personality
Jinchūriki are typically lonely people, viewed by those around them as the beast that has been sealed within them, leading to prejudice and being hated and feared. According to Akatsuki, the first two jinchūriki they captured loathed humanity, and their villages were in fact glad to be rid of them. However, certain villages treat their jinchūriki with respect, thus leading them to have different personalities than those who are shunned. Such examples are Yugito and Killer Bee.

As the jinchūriki draws on more of their beast's power, their personality tends to corrode into animalistic instincts. Because their survival depends on the safety of their hosts, the tailed beasts are very protective, and will act whenever their hosts' life are in danger.

Abilities
Jinchūriki have access to a unique fighting style, depending on their tailed beast: Gaara controls sand, Yugito controls fire, and Rōshi controls lava. By training, they can gain additional access to their tailed beast and its chakra, such as Killer Bee being able to synchronize with his beast, and transform himself into it. Not all jinchūriki can retain control when transforming into their tailed beast; when Naruto taps into his four-tailed transformation, he loses the ability to discern between friend and foe, and attacks anything in sight. A tailed beast can also provide its host with constant advantages, such as Gaara's self-activating Shield of Sand which automatically protects him, even from self-injury and Naruto's healing factor that immediately activates as soon as he incurs wounds.

Known Jinchūriki

 * Gaara
 * Beast: One-Tailed Shukaku
 * Affiliation: Sunagakure
 * Status: Captured and extracted by Akatsuki; later resurrected


 * Yugito Nii
 * Beast: Two-Tailed Monster Cat
 * Affiliation: Kumogakure
 * Status: Captured and extracted by Akatsuki; deceased


 * Yagura
 * Beast: Three-Tailed Giant Turtle
 * Affiliation: Kirigakure
 * Status: Extracted under unknown circumstances; deceased


 * Rōshi
 * Beast: Four-Tailed Monkey
 * Affiliation: Iwagakure
 * Status: Captured and extracted by Akatsuki; deceased


 * Han
 * Beast: Five-Tailed Dolphin Horse
 * Affiliation: Iwagakure
 * Status: Captured and extracted by Akatsuki; deceased


 * Utakata
 * Beast: Six-Tailed Slug
 * Affiliation: Kirigakure
 * Status: Captured and extracted by Akatsuki; deceased


 * Fū
 * Beast: Seven-Tailed Horned Beetle
 * Affiliation: Takigakure
 * Status: Captured and extracted by Akatsuki; deceased


 * Killer Bee
 * Beast: Eight-Tailed Giant Ox
 * Affiliation: Kumogakure
 * Status: Active


 * Naruto Uzumaki
 * Beast: Nine-Tailed Demon Fox
 * Affiliation: Konohagakure
 * Status: Active


 * Sora (Pseudo-Jinchūriki; Anime only)
 * Beast: Nine-Tailed Demon Fox's chakra
 * Affiliation: Land of Fire
 * Status: Inactive; chakra absorbed by Naruto Uzumaki

Trivia

 * Four of the known jinchūriki (Naruto, Gaara, Killer Bee, and Yagura) each have some relation to a Kage; Naruto is the son of the Fourth Hokage, Gaara is the son of the Fourth Kazekage and is the Fifth Kazekage, Killer Bee is the brother of the current Raikage, and Yagura was the Fourth Mizukage.
 * Gaara is the only jinchūriki known to have lost their tailed beast and lived. Although he did die during the extraction, he was revived shortly after by Chiyo.
 * Takigakure is the only village, not belonging to one of the Five Great Shinobi Countries, known to have had a jinchūriki.
 * Naruto Uzumaki and Yugito Nii are the only two jinchūriki to have known surnames.
 * Only two of the jinchūriki are said to have full control of their tailed beasts: Yagura and Killer Bee.
 * Yugito and Fū are the only known female jinchūriki.
 * In second Shippūden movie, a girl named Amaru was possessed by the Zero-Tailed Masked Leech for several years before the the film. However, just as the Zero-Tails wasn't referred to as a tailed beast in the film, Amaru wasn't referred to as a jinchūriki, though her relationship with the Zero-Tails remains unclear.