Background
Age:: 15
Rank:: Fifth Kazekage
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. Because a sacrifice was needed, Gaara's mother, Karura, was used. Before she died, Karura 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 - in his case, dark rings around his eyes resembling those of the Shukaku. These rings are also indicative of his insomnia--he cannot sleep, or else the Shukaku will consume his personality.
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; when he 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 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, his father asked Yashamaru to kill Gaara. As a result, Yashamaru tried to assassinate Gaara, though Gaara's abilities defeated him with ease. 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 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 detonated a number of explosive tags covering his body, asking Gaara to "please die". Gaara survived the blast without injury and lost the only person he thought had cared for him. From the ages of six to twelve years old, Gaara would encounter many assassins sent by his father.
As the host of Shukaku, Gaara possesses the ability to manipulate sand at will, 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 minerals in the ground to create more sand. While he can control any sand (assuming it isn't wet), ordinary sand requires that he exert 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 he carries on his back, though this gourd is itself made of sand. 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 (砂縛柩, Sabaku Kyū) to capture, immobilize, and potentially suffocate an opponent with sand. Once the opponent is subdued, he uses Desert Funeral (砂漠送葬, Sabaku Sōsō) to cause the sand to crush the opponent with varying intensities. In time he is able to increase the scale of these attacks; by first using Quicksand in the Style of a Waterfall (流砂瀑流, Ryūsa Bakuryū), Gaara covers a large area in an ocean of sand, and then uses Desert Imperial Funeral (砂漠大葬, Sabaku Taisō) to compress the sand and crush all that it covers. If Desert Imperial Funeral fails to kill an opponent, he can use Prison Sand Burial (獄砂埋葬, Gokusamaisō) to loosen the ground beneath an opponent and allow them to sink hundreds of feet underground, where the sand compresses to such an extent that the opponent is no longer able to move. A variation on this theme of "capture and crush" is Flowing Desert Dragon (Ryū Sabakuryū) which creates a wave of sand that collapses in a sphere over the opponent.
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 (砂の盾, Suna no Tate), 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 (砂の鎧, Suna no Yoroi). 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. If need be, Gaara can protect himself before being put into danger by using Desert Prison (砂漠牢, Sabaku Rō), which dedicates a desert's worth of sand to containing a single opponent.
In addition to these basic methods of offensive 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 (砂分身, Suna Bunshin) of himself, Gaara can have an ally to be used in battle or 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. Sand Drizzle (砂時雨, Suna Shigure) allows him to collect sand in the air that rains down on the opponent at high speeds in potentially harmful shapes. With Desert Suspension (砂漠浮遊, Sabaku Fuyū?) Gaara can use sand as a platform to allow himself and others to float in the air. His Third Eye (第三の眼, Daisan no Me) also allows him to 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. The first that is seen is Ultimate Absolute Defense: Shield of Shukaku (最硬絶対防御・守鶴の盾, Saikō Zettai Bōgyo: Shukaku no Tatte), which creates a toy-like replica of Shukaku that is roughly twice the size of Gaara. 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": Ultimate Absolute Attack: Shukaku's Halberd (, Saikō Zettai Hōgeki, Shukaku no Hōkō). The attack creates a spear under the same conditions as the replica, only the blade resembles one of Shukaku's claws. Like the shield, this attack has yet to meet a defense it can't break.
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, increasing Gaara's homicidal tendencies. 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 form Gaara can use Sand Shuriken (砂手裏剣, Suna Shuriken) or Sand Halberd (砂戈, Suna Hōkō) to hurl sand-based forms of the weapons at an opponent. Shukaku also gives him the ability to utilize wind-based attacks such as Wind Release: Infinite Sand Cloud Great Breakthrough (風遁・無限砂塵 大突破, Fūton: Mugen Sajin Daitoppa), which spews large amounts of sand from his mouth, devastating both the enemy and a large area around him.
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 through his Feigning Sleep Technique (狸寝入りの術, Tanuki Neiri no Jutsu), which forces 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. 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. By the time Part II begins, Gaara is even capable of using numerous Shukaku arms for attack without losing control of himself.
In Part II, Gaara is captured by 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 to revive him. While he no longer possesses the Shukaku, Gaara is still able to manipulate sand, though to what degree has yet to be seen.
