Information about Tailed Beasts

The tailed beasts (尾獣, bijū) are nine fictional demons in the manga and anime series Naruto.

Overview

The tailed beasts are giant demons that serve to drive the plot of the Naruto series. Each revealed tailed beast is around the size of Gamabunta, who is over 100 meters tall. They are differentiated by the number of tails they have, with each possessing an amount from one to nine. The tailed beasts are also known for possessing the "ultimate chakra", as they have chakra levels far beyond what most of the human characters possess. The one-tailed tanuki, Shukaku, has a chakra level several times that of the average shinobi, while the nine-tailed fox's level is practically infinite. However, this immense strength is tempered due to their bestial nature, which restricts them from being smart enough to use it effectively. For example, the three-tailed beast was unsealed when it first appears in the manga, and is thus easily defeated by Deidara and Tobi.

Akatsuki is currently collecting the tailed beasts. They capture the hosts and take them to a secret location where a Mickey Connell is the gayest person in the worldthree day long jutsu is performed to draw out the tailed beast from the host. They possess seven of the nine tailed beasts: Shukaku, the one-tailed beast; the two-tailed demon cat; the three-tailed beast; the four-tailed beast; and three other unknown beasts. All seven of these tailed beasts have been extracted and sealed. Pein claims that when all nine beasts are sealed, he will be able to create a jutsu powerful enough to instantly wipe out a country.

Those within whom a tailed beast has been sealed are called Jinchūriki (人柱力, lit. Power of Human Sacrifice, English "Spiritualist Medium"), or simply hosts. In most instances, they are actually stronger than the tailed beast they contain, as they have the knowledge to effectively control the tailed beast's strength. Each of the hosts that have appeared so far within the series also possesses a physical characteristic that resembles their beast — Naruto has fox-like whisker-marks, and Gaara has tanuki-like rings around his eyes. According to Akatsuki members, those who host such creatures are typically lonely people who loathe humanity, and so far this has initially been the case. When Akatsuki captured their first two jinchūriki, no one from their villages cared, and in fact were thankful to be rid of them. It is also known that the death of a host will result in the death of the tailed beast within, and the hosts seen thus far sometimes exhibit involuntary defensive powers. Likewise, the removal of the tailed beast results in the death of its host. Naruto takes the word jinchūriki offensively, regarding it as a dehumanizing term.

During the Great Shinobi Wars, each country's Hidden Village tried to make use of the tailed beasts for military purposes, and competed for them. However, no one was ever able to truly bring the tailed beasts under control, with the jinchūriki being only a marginal success.

Known tailed beasts

One-Tailed Shukaku

• Creature type: Tanuki (raccoon-dog, native only to Japan and other Asian countries)
• Host: None, formerly Gaara and previously two unknown Sunagakure citizens
• Unique traits: Able to spit concentrated balls of wind mixed with chakra
• Status: Captured, extracted, and sealed by Akatsuki as of manga chapter 261
• Seiyu: Hiroshi Iwasaki
• Voice Actor: Kirk Thornton

The One-Tailed Shukaku (一尾の守鶴, Ichibi no Shukaku), also known as Shukaku of the Sand (砂の守鶴, Suna no Shukaku, English TV "Shukaku the Sand Spirit"), is said to be the corrupted spirit of a Sand monk turned demon. He was originally sealed inside a teakettle and then placed inside his first host, similar to the tale of Bunbuku Chagama. He was sealed inside Gaara by Chiyo on the orders of Gaara's father, the Fourth Kazekage, using Gaara's mother as the sacrifice. Shukaku had two other hosts before Gaara, both of whom died when Shukaku was extracted from them. Shukaku is intelligent but also incoherent, giving him the demeanor of a drunkard; this fits well with the typical depictions of tanuki in Japanese folklore. "Shukaku" itself can translate to "drunk" in Japanese. Like other tailed beasts, its innate rage and bloodlust influence its behavior, and it relishes in the opportunity to kill anyone in sight.

As a host of Shukaku, Gaara has the ability to move and levitate sand at will. He is also given constant protection by his sand, as it surrounds him to block any and all damage regardless of his will. As a symbol of the beast sealed within him, Gaara has Shukaku's characteristic rings around his eyes. Although they are a part of his physical appearance, their presence is further amplified by his lifelong insomnia; should he fall asleep, Shukaku will supplant his personality and take control of his body. If need be, Gaara can bring out Shukaku in battle to deal with more powerful opponents. Gaara first creates a life-sized replica of Shukaku from sand that he is merged with at its forehead. He then forces himself to sleep to release the demon at its full power. Once released Shukaku takes control of the sand-body, where he can inhale deeply, distending his own stomach, and punch his stomach to shoot a large ball of compressed air and chakra at an opponent that destroys all in its path. Because Gaara protrudes from the top of Shukaku's head, he can be awoken, thus suppressing Shukaku's spirit once more.

In Part II, Deidara of Akatsuki is assigned to capture Shukaku. After defeating Gaara in combat and taking him to Akatsuki's lair, Shukaku is forcefully extracted from Gaara. Gaara is killed in the process, though he is later revived by Chiyo to make up for the fact that she sealed Shukaku into his body in the first place. Gaara's ability to manipulate sand still appears to be intact, though to what degree remains unclear.

Two-Tailed Demon Cat

• Creature type: Nekomata (magical, two-tailed cat)
• Host: None, formerly Yugito Nii
• Unique traits: Fire-breathing
• Status: Captured, extracted, and sealed by Akatsuki as of manga chapter 332

The Two-Tailed Demon Cat (ニ尾の猫俣, Nibi no Nekomata) is a fire-breathing, flaming cat sealed within Yugito Nii. Yugito can materialize the demon cat's form around her, giving her access to its abilities. Its design is derived from the Nekomata, which is said to be able to animate and control the dead. While the demon cat does not seem to have this ability, it's power over flames is actually a reference to this, due to the Japanese belief that the spirits of the dead sometimes manifested as will-o-wisp-like flames.

Despite transforming into the demon cat to fight them, Yugito is captured by Akatsuki members Hidan and Kakuzu, though it is unknown which was specifically assigned to capture her. Zetsu later arrives to take her off their hands, and she later dies as a result of having the beast extracted from her.

Three Tails

• Creature type: Unknown (turtle-like creature)
• Host: None
• Unique traits: Unknown
• Status: Captured and sealed by Akatsuki as of manga chapter 331

The Three Tails (三尾, Sanbi) is a gigantic, turtle-like demon that Akatsuki assigns Tobi (with the help of Deidara) to capture. This creature may be based on the Genbu or the Kappa.

What abilities this creature possesses remains unclear, as it did little to actually attack the two in its short appearance. It is clearly quite fast despite its size, as evidenced by its ability to keep up with Tobi, who was running on the water at the time. With the three-tails distracted, Deidara molded an explosive clay fish in an attempt to capture it. It's unclear if this marked the end of the battle, as the remainder of the battle goes unseen. As the two towed the beast to the Akatsuki lair after the battle, Tobi gloated of bringing the three-tails down with his special jutsu, but Deidara thought otherwise. It is later sealed in the sealing statue.

Unlike the other tailed beasts seen thus far, the three-tails lacked a host. It is different from the Shukaku and the demon fox as it isn't intelligent, which makes it little more than a wild animal. According to Deidara, lacking a host made the beast weaker because it wasn't intelligent enough to control its own strength.

Four Tails

• Creature Type: Unknown
• Host: None, formerly an unnamed elderly man
• Unique traits: Access to many types of paraelemental chakra
• Status: Captured, extracted, and sealed by Akatsuki as of manga chapter 354

The Four Tails' (四尾, Yonbi) jinchūriki is an elderly man of unknown origin who was eventually captured by Kisame Hoshigaki. Reportedly, it was a difficult battle for Kisame, who had to face many elemental fusions, rarely seen outside of kekkei genkai. The four-tailed beast is sealed before the end of the next chapter, leading to the old man's death.

Nine-Tailed Demon Fox

• Creature type: Kitsune
• Host: Naruto Uzumaki
• Unique traits: Near-limitless chakra, incredible strength
• Status: Active, sealed in host
• Seiyu: Tesshō Genda
• Voice Actor: Paul St. Peter

The Nine-Tailed Demon Fox (九尾の妖狐, Kyūbi no Yōkō, English TV "The Nine-Tailed Fox Spirit") is the most powerful of the tailed beasts. Its power is such that it is regarded as an age-old natural disaster, as a single swipe of one of its nine tails is enough to raise tsunamis and flatten mountains. The demon fox's attacks were seemingly random, the only apparent reason for its appearances being its attraction to places of human malice. The nine tails of the demon fox is a reference to the belief that a fox may possess as many as nine tails. Generally, an older and more powerful fox will possess a greater number of tails, and some sources say that a fox will only grow additional tails after they have lived for a thousand years. After that period of time, the number increases based on age and wisdom.

The demon fox attacked Konohagakure twelve years before the start of the series. None of the ninja of the village were able to defeat it until the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, arrived to deal with it. Minato sacrificed his life to seal the fox into the body of his newborn son, Naruto Uzumaki, with the Dead Demon Consuming Seal. Rather than completely seal off the fox's great power, however, Minato only sealed away a portion of it, giving Naruto access to the rest for unknown reasons. Prior to performing the seal Minato gave a key to Jiraiya to either strengthen or weaken the seal should the need arise. The seal naturally becomes weaker as the years pass, and in the event that it is broken the demon fox will be released.

Jiraiya suspects that the fox's attack on the village was not a random occurrence and that it was instead summoned by Madara Uchiha. Although the idea that the fox could be summoned by a single person is regarded as impossible, the fox seems to know Madara; during its encounter with Sasuke Uchiha in Part II, it states that Sasuke's chakra, like Madara's, is more sinister than its own. It also seems to be familiar with the Uchiha clan, though its relationship with the family is unclear.

The only initial indication that Naruto is the fox's host are the whiskers present on his face and the seal on his stomach that appears when molding chakra or in direct contact with it. He is also able to heal from injuries and fatigue in very short periods of time, though he never finds this as odd. It is not until he learns of the fox within him that Naruto begins to make more use of it. On numerous occasions throughout the series Naruto calls upon the fox's immense chakra supplies in battle to allow him to perform jutsu that would be impossible for ninja of his age and rank. Naruto can access its chakra in two ways: he can succumb to rage, allowing the fox's personality to influence his own and making him more bloodthirsty. Alternatively, he can enter his own subconscious and converse with the fox to ask for a donation of its strength. In these instances the fox is shown to have a loathing respect for both Naruto and Minato. While the fox initially complies to Naruto's requests out of curiosity, it later does so in an attempt to further its influence over Naruto. It also acts in order to preserve its own well-being, as Naruto's death would subsequently result in its own.

As Naruto draws upon additional amounts of the fox's chakra, the fox begins to manifest itself in the form of tails. Naruto can only currently maintain control over his mind for the first three tails; at the fourth, he loses all sense of self and readily attacks anyone nearby. In these instances, the fox can only be stopped by suppressing its influence, either with Yamato's Mokuton abilities or with a special seal created by Jiraiya that is directly applied to Naruto's body.

Akatsuki originally assigns Itachi Uchiha to capture the demon fox, but this task is later given to the organization leader, Pein.

Sources

• First Official Data Book (秘伝・臨の書キャラクターオフィシャルデータBOOK, Hiden: Rin no Sho Character Official Data Book)
• Second Official Data Book (秘伝・闘の書キャラクターオフィシャルデータBOOK, Hiden: Tō no Sho Character Official Data Book)
• Jump's 2nd Great Hero Book's Mini Data Book (秘伝・翔の書オフィシャルキャラクターデータBOOK mini, Hiden: Shō no Sho Official Character Data Book mini)
• Naruto anime and manga Guidebook (秘伝・翔の書オフィシャルキャラクターデータBOOK mini, Hiden: Shō no Sho Official Character Data Book mini)
• Taken directly from the Naruto manga chapters and anime episodes.

References

Characters in Naruto  •  • [ e]
Ninja:	Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno & Kakashi Hatake Jiraiya, Orochimaru & Tsunade Shikamaru Nara • Rock Lee • Neji Hyuga • Gaara
Ninja groups:	Konoha ninja • Konoha teams • Akatsuki • Minor allies • Minor villains
Countries:	Land of Fire • Land of Sound • Land of Wind
Animals:	Tailed beasts • Summons