Tailed Beast

The nine Tailed Beasts and their most recent jinchūriki.

The Tailed Beasts (尾獣, Bijū) are nine giant demons that serve to drive the plot of the Naruto series. They are differentiated by the number of tails they have, ranging from one to nine. The tailed beasts are large, living forms of chakra, sometimes referred to as "Chakra Monsters" (チャクラのバケモノ, Chakura no Bakemono), giving them power that far outmatches most shinobi. However, this immense strength is tempered by their bestial nature, which restricts them from being intelligent enough to use it effectively. As such, when the tailed beasts are sealed within humans, they are able to benefit from the knowledge of their hosts, giving them the ability to better utilise their powers.

Due to their strength, the beasts are usually treated as mere tools to be used or taken, a sentiment they detest; although they have knowledge of the Sage of the Six Paths and seem to be aware of their origin as pieces of the Ten-Tails, they view themselves as individuals with their own personalities and emotions, and a good portion of their rage stems from being treated as mere "pets" of the Shinobi. However, their relationships with each other are little better. Although they are able to communicate telepathically with each other and their jinchūriki, and know each other on a personal level, there is a significant amount of friction between them due to the Nine-Tails belief that their strength is determined by their number of tails.

History

See also: Jinchūriki

File:Ten Tails and Sage of Six Paths.png

The Ten-Tails and the Sage of the Six Paths.

In the beginning of ninja history, centuries before the founding of the ninja villages, there existed one demon, the Ten-Tails, that plagued the world until the Sage of the Six Paths defeated and sealed the beast within himself, making him the first jinchūriki. However, knowing that his death would release the Ten-Tails back into the world, the Sage used his ability, the "Creation of All Things", to divide its chakra into the nine other Tailed Beasts, before using Chibaku Tensei to seal its body away in what would become the moon.

By the time of the formation of the shinobi villages, Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage, used his Wood Release techniques to capture and give several tailed beasts to the other shinobi villages as peace treaties, in order to stabilise the balance of power between them. However, after Hashirama's death, the villages had trouble containing these giant demons themselves and they began to run wild, so the villages instead moved to seal the tailed beasts within humans. In order to ensure that the jinchūriki wouldn't turn traitor, it has been common practice to choose the jinchūriki from the village's Kage family, such as a sibling or a spouse. The strength of the jinchūriki would then be used to protect the village and be a living display of the Kage's power. Throughout history, very few people have ever gained full control over a tailed beast. Despite this, many have been able to use the power of the Tailed Beasts outside of actually becoming true jinchūriki. Both the legendary Gold and Silver Brothers and Sora became pseudo-jinchūriki for the Nine-tails; the Gold and Silver Brothers were once devoured by the Nine-tails, but managed to survive by consuming some of its own normally-deadly flesh, while Sora was infused by his father with the residual chakra left behind after one of the Nine-tails' rampages. A Kumogakure ninja once attempted to replicate the Gold and Silver Brothers stunt with tentacle meat from the Eight-tails, but died as he was not a relative of the Sage of the Six Paths, like they were. In the present day, the Four Celestial Symbols Men were also able to siphon Shukaku's power in order to revive their leader, Seimei. However, the most influential use of the Tailed Beasts, jinchūriki or no, are the times that Madara Uchiha and Tobi have used the Summoning Technique to control the Nine-Tails and force it to attack their enemies; oddly enough, only the Nine-Tails is known to have been controlled with that technique.

Akatsuki has been capturing the Tailed Beasts and their jinchūriki, and as of the Fourth Shinobi World War, possess seven of the nine tailed beasts.

The Tailed Beasts

One-Tailed Shukaku

Main article: One-Tailed Shukaku

Two-Tails

Main article: Two-Tails

Three-Tails

Main article: Three-Tails

Four-Tails

Main article: Four-Tails

Five-Tails

Main article: Five-Tails

Six-Tails

Main article: Six-Tails

Seven-Tails

Main article: Seven-Tails

Eight-Tails

Main article: Eight-Tails

Nine-Tailed Demon Fox

Main article: Nine-Tailed Demon Fox

Ten-Tails

Main article: Ten-Tails This Ten-Tails (十尾, Jūbi) is the Tailed Beast incarnation of the God Tree previously cultivated by Isshiki Ōtsutsuki and Kaguya Ōtsutsuki; the latter having eaten its chakra fruit and later merged with the God Tree in a battle against her sons, Hagoromo and Hamura. It is regarded as the progenitor of chakra according to legend, and is tied to the tale of the Sage of Six Paths and the birth of shinobi.

Trivia

• In the anime, Akatsuki does not gain their seventh beast, the Six-Tails, until after Taka joins them.
• Several non-jinchūriki shinobi, such as Kisame Hoshigaki and the Fourth Raikage, have been said to hold chakra levels comparable to that of a tailed beast. In fact, the former has been given the moniker of Tailed Beast without a Tail (尾を持たない尾獣, O o Motanai Bijū, English TV: Tailless Tailed Beast)
• In Naruto Shippūden 2: Bonds, it features a creature called the Zero-Tails. Despite having a numerical tail name, it is not an actual tailed beast and it has characteristics that are quite different from them.