(23) Rate the character: Gaara

[Kαmi]

Godaime Kazekage, Gaara of the Sand, gets a 10/10 from me. His massive character development and all the reasons people before me stated is the reason he's my top 5 in my favorite characters list =D

 

[uchihajaime]

Okay, I'll give him a 3
In Part 1, he had a lot of potential. He was one of the best villains on the show. He had an interesting mindset and a very good start of darkness flashback, and then talk no jutsu happened. It ruined this character.

First off, a character can not do a 180 in such a brief time. Seriously, one battle with Naruto and Gaara changes everything about his life? Seriously? Horrible writing! Character development has to be in stages. It has to be gradual for a change as dramatic as this to happen in order to feel realistic, it has to take months of years. For an example, see the character development of Ser Jaime Lannister in Game of Thrones or Dr. Gaius Baltar from Battlestar Galactica. That was perfect development. This was just way too sudden.

In part 2, he's just bland and boring. They only two things I cared about were his relationship with Naruto and the tear he shed for Sasuke. In other words, the only times I like Gaara are when he interacts with characters I care about. I didn't care about Gaara. I cared about other characters. When he "died," I simply did not care.

And what was with him becoming Kazekage? The elders made him Kazekage so they could better keep an eye on him. That's not how logic works. You do NOT make the guy, who want to keep an eye one, the most powerful man in your village, the man with seemingly absolute power over you. Talk about plot hole but whatever. the elders lucked out and he seems to be doing a good job.

Also, why does he just use sand? Have some variety. Sasuke has fire, lightning and Mangekyō Sharingan and had the Curse Mark. Naruto has wind, clones, sage mode, and Kurama. Gaara has just sand. So boring.

Gaara is just not that interesting.

 

[Cosman]

Full 10/10 from me. Very interesting battle techniques, love the sand! And I think he has the most clean and thorough character development in this entire series.

 

[Daruidull]

Good character. Sad past, violence and settling down after meeting naruto. He is also strong. 8/10 from me.

 

[EliteRamenNinja]

Dat Gaara!

 

[DarkWolf Nashoba]

Here's to my man Gaara! *raises his glass* An easy 10/10.

This character has some of the best character development, growth, and depth out of all of the characters in the series.
Some may argue against this. However, I shall propose a few rebuttals.

Okay, I'll give him a 3
In Part 1, he had a lot of potential. He was one of the best villains on the show. He had an interesting mindset and a very good start of darkness flashback, and then talk no jutsu happened. It ruined this character.

First off, a character can not do a 180 in such a brief time. Seriously, one battle with Naruto and Gaara changes everything about his life? Seriously? Horrible writing! Character development has to be in stages. It has to be gradual for a change as dramatic as this to happen in order to feel realistic, it has to take months of years. For an example, see the character development of Ser Jaime Lannister in Game of Thrones or Dr. Gaius Baltar from Battlestar Galactica. That was perfect development. This was just way too sudden.

In part 2, he's just bland and boring. They only two things I cared about were his relationship with Naruto and the tear he shed for Sasuke. In other words, the only times I like Gaara are when he interacts with characters I care about. I didn't care about Gaara. I cared about other characters. When he "died," I simply did not care.

And what was with him becoming Kazekage? The elders made him Kazekage so they could better keep an eye on him. That's not how logic works. You do NOT make the guy, who want to keep an eye one, the most powerful man in your village, the man with seemingly absolute power over you. Talk about plot hole but whatever. the elders lucked out and he seems to be doing a good job.

Also, why does he just use sand? Have some variety. Sasuke has fire, lightning and Mangekyō Sharingan and had the Curse Mark. Naruto has wind, clones, sage mode, and Kurama. Gaara has just sand. So boring.

Gaara is just not that interesting.

Regarding the portion in red:
Gaara was an unstable individual. He had nothing to cling to other than killing people to validate his existence. I feel that his mental instability made his "heel face turn" a bit more believable. It was only a matter of time before a catalyst caused him to settle into equilibrium. In addition, his transformation from a psycho-killer to self-sacrificing leader wasn't instantaneous, as suggested above. That fight with Naruto in Part One only marked the beginning of his self re-evaluation. Even throughout later portions of Part One, it is evidenced that Gaara still hadn't resolved to help others out of the goodness of his heart alone. Gaara's fight with Kimmimaro and saving Lee was merely a task he performed because he was ordered to.
His conversation with Lee after the battle with Kimmimaro revealed that he was still pondering how people like Kimmimaro fought so hard for "someone special to them" just as he had a flashback to Gai saving Lee during the Chūnin Exams. It was also implied that Gaara decided to become Kazekage and help other people during the timeskip.
So no, his "180-degree-turn" wasn't that fast. It was indeed developed over a period of years... as it should be.


Regarding the portion in blue:
Obvisously, the uchihajaime guy above has never heard of the political move known as being "kicked upstairs."
Being kicked upstairs is actually a common occurrence both in fiction and especially real life.
It refers to giving someone a new job which seems more powerful but is really less powerful, usually in order to stop them causing trouble for you.

You must be registered for see links

The office of being the Vice President of the United States was for the longest time viewed as powerless. Putting troublesome politicians and renegades in this position was common for two reasons. First, the position has little responsibility so it is a good way to neutralize someone. Secondly, presidential candidates will often choose a running mate who is very different than them (and possibly disagrees with them) in order to secure a broad base of support both within the party and the public.
Republican party bosses made Theodore Roosevelt vice president mostly to get rid of him; his incessant Progressive grandstanding as Governor of New York was incredibly embarrassing to the plutocrats who ran the GOP, and the VP position was thought to be a good way to shut him up. Then William McKinley was assassinated...

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Regarding the portion in green:
According to the databooks, Gaara is capable of more than just using sand. The fact that he doesn't use anything else indicates that his sand manipulation is merely his strongest and most useful skill set. If you had a particular set of openings for chess (both playing as white or black) and they tend to work most of the time (like the Giuoco Piano almost always works well for me when I play white), then why not do what you're comfortable with/good at? Not to mention, this unique ability is a fail-safe in opposition to almost any form of jutsu. It's not particularly strong against anything nor is it usually weak against anything (except oil and such). This makes it an ideal fighting style for opponents that he knows little about and allows him to be exceedingly adaptable, as shown in his battle with the troll-kage. Gaara's sand jutsus display a high level of versatility, and therefore they are quite practical.


Regarding the portions in orange:
Well, that is a fair opinion and I can respect it. Everyone is entitled to their own subjective preferences, so I can't argue with that. I may disagree and think that Gaara is far from being bland/boring, but there's nothing I can say to change your mind, nor do I have the right to do so.

 

[apple pie of doom]

He used to be cool during the chunnin exam arc ( just as Neji ) but he turned out to be a complete pushover.
Hence the 6, purely due to his old character.

 

[uchihajaime]

Here's to my man Gaara! *raises his glass* An easy 10/10.

This character has some of the best character development, growth, and depth out of all of the characters in the series.
Some may argue against this. However, I shall propose a few rebuttals.




Regarding the portion in red:
Gaara was an unstable individual. He had nothing to cling to other than killing people to validate his existence. I feel that his mental instability made his "heel face turn" a bit more believable. It was only a matter of time before a catalyst caused him to settle into equilibrium. In addition, his transformation from a psycho-killer to self-sacrificing leader wasn't instantaneous, as suggested above. That fight with Naruto in Part One only marked the beginning of his self re-evaluation. Even throughout later portions of Part One, it is evidenced that Gaara still hadn't resolved to help others out of the goodness of his heart alone. Gaara's fight with Kimmimaro and saving Lee was merely a task he performed because he was ordered to.
His conversation with Lee after the battle with Kimmimaro revealed that he was still pondering how people like Kimmimaro fought so hard for "someone special to them" just as he had a flashback to Gai saving Lee during the Chūnin Exams. It was also implied that Gaara decided to become Kazekage and help other people during the timeskip.
So no, his "180-degree-turn" wasn't that fast. It was indeed developed over a period of years... as it should be.


Regarding the portion in blue:
Obvisously, the uchihajaime guy above has never heard of the political move known as being "kicked upstairs."
Being kicked upstairs is actually a common occurrence both in fiction and especially real life.
It refers to giving someone a new job which seems more powerful but is really less powerful, usually in order to stop them causing trouble for you.

You must be registered for see links

The office of being the Vice President of the United States was for the longest time viewed as powerless. Putting troublesome politicians and renegades in this position was common for two reasons. First, the position has little responsibility so it is a good way to neutralize someone. Secondly, presidential candidates will often choose a running mate who is very different than them (and possibly disagrees with them) in order to secure a broad base of support both within the party and the public.
Republican party bosses made Theodore Roosevelt vice president mostly to get rid of him; his incessant Progressive grandstanding as Governor of New York was incredibly embarrassing to the plutocrats who ran the GOP, and the VP position was thought to be a good way to shut him up. Then William McKinley was assassinated...

You must be registered for see links

Regarding the portion in green:
According to the databooks, Gaara is capable of more than just using sand. The fact that he doesn't use anything else indicates that his sand manipulation is merely his strongest and most useful skill set. If you had a particular set of openings for chess (both playing as white or black) and they tend to work most of the time (like the Giuoco Piano almost always works well for me when I play white), then why not do what you're comfortable with/good at? Not to mention, this unique ability is a fail-safe in opposition to almost any form of jutsu. It's not particularly strong against anything nor is it usually weak against anything (except oil and such). This makes it an ideal fighting style for opponents that he knows little about and allows him to be exceedingly adaptable, as shown in his battle with the troll-kage. Gaara's sand jutsus display a high level of versatility, and therefore they are quite practical.


Regarding the portions in orange:
Well, that is a fair opinion and I can respect it. Everyone is entitled to their own subjective preferences, so I can't argue with that. I may disagree and think that Gaara is far from being bland/boring, but there's nothing I can say to change your mind, nor do I have the right to do so.

Okay, thanks for the logical rebuttal.

for red: I agree with you that saving Lee was just an order, which is why I didn't bring that up in my argument.
I also agree that is mental instability is a reason that he could be saved. However, insane people can go either way. Being insane, in and of itself, will not inevitably led to redemption
Probably the greatest disservice to the Gaara's characters development was him receiving his heel face turn, then as opposed to following his development, we skipped forward three years. Gaara presumably went thru gradual character development during that time but it was never seen. Thus, I did not take it into account in my rating.
This could have easily been redeemed thru a couple flashbacks. Maybe about Gaara losing his temper when something goes horribly wrong almost using sand coffin somebody, then snapping out of it and apologizing. These flashbacks could have shown him gradually overcoming his anger. There should have been flashbacks of his relationship with Chiyo. He should have forgiven his village but never forgave her and sent away up the mountain as his first act of Kazekage. This flashback would have made Chiyo's sacrifice better. But it never happened. Why Kishimoto? You have two good supporting character with a troubled backstory, but you just ignore that backstory's potential impact on character development. Gaara is not a bad character. He's a character with wasted potential which in some ways is worse.
Gaara seems to have very, very few character flaws in Part 2. In part 1, he had a ton of character flaws. This change without any explored character development led me to conclude that his development, though he had a lot of it, was poor.

blue:I had heard the phrase kicked up stairs. I think this is invalid for a number of reasons.
One, it is used to get political opponents to shut up. This is unnecessary with Gaara. When he came back, he could not possibly have had that much influence to warrant some a major action. Until very recently, he was killing people. Clearly not many would listen to him. Moreover, he is a jinchuriki and most poeple hate them. Thus, they wouldn't listen to him. Political power is measured in how many people you can get to listen to you. If no one listens (and I have argued few would listen to Gaara), you will not have that much political power. Gaara should not have had enough power to warrant getting kicked upstairs. To play devil's advocate with myself, Naruto is a very idealistic story. I guess that could have happened in Naruto but not in real life
Two, If memory serves "kicking opponents upstairs" is used to put political opponents into positions that look powerful but really they are just figureheads. Vice president is not that powerful, especially back in Teddy Roosevelt's days. It does not work if you put someone into a position of great power, which Kage is. You're supposed to just put then into a position that looks like it has great power but it really does not. Again I blame Kishimoto. We do not know how much power the Kage has and how many checks and balances the elders have.
Three, does anyone know when Gaara was made Kage? If it was right after, that is a major problem, Since Gaara wouldn't have had enough time to show that he has stopped or is trying to stop being a murderer. If it was years later, then it's a non-issue.

green: okay, I concede that point. I don't have the databooks, I didn't know that. I would just like to see something other than sand just to mix things up. However, I admit that was my weakest point.


edit: you did talk me up to a four or a five though. Unfortunately, I've already voted

 

[DarkWolf Nashoba]

Okay, thanks for the logical rebuttal.

for red: I agree with you that saving Lee was just an order, which is why I didn't bring that up in my argument.
I also agree that is mental instability is a reason that he could be saved. However, insane people can go either way. Being insane, in and of itself, will not inevitably led to redemption
Probably the greatest disservice to the Gaara's characters development was him receiving his heel face turn, then as opposed to following his development, we skipped forward three years. Gaara presumably went thru gradual character development during that time but it was never seen. Thus, I did not take it into account in my rating.
This could have easily been redeemed thru a couple flashbacks. Maybe about Gaara losing his temper when something goes horribly wrong almost using sand coffin somebody, then snapping out of it and apologizing. These flashbacks could have shown him gradually overcoming his anger. There should have been flashbacks of his relationship with Chiyo. He should have forgiven his village but never forgave her and sent away up the mountain as his first act of Kazekage. This flashback would have made Chiyo's sacrifice better. But it never happened. Why Kishimoto? You have two good supporting character with a troubled backstory, but you just ignore that backstory's potential impact on character development. Gaara is not a bad character. He's a character with wasted potential which in some ways is worse.
Gaara seems to have very, very few character flaws in Part 2. In part 1, he had a ton of character flaws. This change without any explored character development led me to conclude that his development, though he had a lot of it, was poor.

blue:I had heard the phrase kicked up stairs. I think this is invalid for a number of reasons.
One, it is used to get political opponents to shut up. This is unnecessary with Gaara. When he came back, he could not possibly have had that much influence to warrant some a major action. Until very recently, he was killing people. Clearly not many would listen to him. Moreover, he is a jinchuriki and most poeple hate them. Thus, they wouldn't listen to him. Political power is measured in how many people you can get to listen to you. If no one listens (and I have argued few would listen to Gaara), you will not have that much political power. Gaara should not have had enough power to warrant getting kicked upstairs. To play devil's advocate with myself, Naruto is a very idealistic story. I guess that could have happened in Naruto but not in real life
Two, If memory serves "kicking opponents upstairs" is used to put political opponents into positions that look powerful but really they are just figureheads. Vice president is not that powerful, especially back in Teddy Roosevelt's days. It does not work if you put someone into a position of great power, which Kage is. You're supposed to just put then into a position that looks like it has great power but it really does not. Again I blame Kishimoto. We do not know how much power the Kage has and how many checks and balances the elders have.
Three, does anyone know when Gaara was made Kage? If it was right after, that is a major problem, Since Gaara wouldn't have had enough time to show that he has stopped or is trying to stop being a murderer. If it was years later, then it's a non-issue.

green: okay, I concede that point. I don't have the databooks, I didn't know that. I would just like to see something other than sand just to mix things up. However, I admit that was my weakest point.


edit: you did talk me up to a four or a five though. Unfortunately, I've already voted

Again for red:
I will agree with the red portion. I think almost any Gaara fan and even non-Gaara fans like yourself would've enjoyed that additional development to be shown rather than implicitly exhibited via dialogue. This was indeed a bit of a disservice to his character. Over time, I've become desensitized to Kishimoto breaking the "show, don't tell" rule of writing fiction.
I've learned to "fill in the blanks" myself or simply ignore the holes in the story and accept the character growth as it has been given.
Ignorance is bliss, however foolish it may be. *lightly chuckles to self*


Regarding blue (point 1):
I'd say that it's debatable as to whether the reason for having an individual kicked upstairs is limited to "trying to shut them up." Perhaps "keeping an eye on them" is a valid reason for such an act as well.

Regarding blue (point 2):
You are quite correct in stating that we don't know a whole lot about the political structures involving the Kages. In fact, we don't even know whether every major village institutes the same methodologies. We can surmise that the Hokage of the Leaf Village acts much like an executive official with great authority and takes an active role in determining the village's policies, as evidenced by Tsunade's direct involvement. Conversely for the Sand Village, any time a Kazekage exhibits political involvement we've only seen the Kazekage attending a meeting with their council and taking a (seemingly) passive role. Perhaps claiming the title of Kazekage can still be considered being "Kicked Upstairs" to a position of limited authority due to unmentioned political checks and balances, as you've suggested.

Regarding blue (point 3):
True. I'd imagine it took about a year and a half for Gaara to have that little chit-chat with Kankurō as shown in a flashback early on in Shippuden. Unfortunately, this is just my way of justifying his development by "filling in the blanks" again.
It is well-known that Kishimoto cuts corners and uses shortcuts in his writing. I will admit that I couldn't perform a better job on a weekly basis; dreaming up material for the story so consistently for so long is beyond my capacity. To account for this, readers can adapt by reasonably lowering their standards as I have or see the story for what it is and rebuke its shortcomings as you have.


My personal sentiment:
In the end, what makes Gaara a 10/10 for me is the fact that his development is exceptionally well-writen for not being a main character.
As a supporting character (not even from Konoha!), he's been treated quite well and I have little to complain about.

Kishimoto has to juggle 901 characters. (

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)
I feel that I can forgive him for a few disservices to supporting characters here and there.

I also like him just because I think he's a badass, buuuuuuuuuut that's just my bias showing.

Off topic:
In addition to the flashbacks showing Gaara's progression as a person and his path to Kazekage over the timeskip, I'd also enjoy seeing the chūnin exams that took place over the timeskip. Wouldn't it be amazing to see how the other members of the Konoha 11 acquired their chūnin vests?

 

[EliteRamenNinja]

Reps for both of you, a nice debate on a mature level! Nice!

 

[KevinPJH]

9.

He's a boss.

Extremely powerful.
Smart.
Empathetic.
Naruto's friend.

 

[foxyladyland]

I gave him a 9, but I feel its either 8-10 @ least could have been 7 , but not likely.

Gaara was pretty much perfect in part 1... *_* & he didn't disappoint in part 2.

 

[KayaUzumaki]

10/10 for me! Gaara has one of the most interesting back stories in the series, in my opinion. His bond that he forged with Naruto over the pain of their childhoods is one of the most memorable moments for me. He really has developed from a psychopath into a man who wants to protect everyone. I have to respect that.

 

[paratise]

He is awesome and my 3rd favorite character; i will give him an 8.

I liked his development(even though it escalated quickly); but he is fanboying Naruto a little too much, just chillax bro. But he saved my favorite character, Lee's life so he will be ultimately good in my book.

 

[paratise]

He is awesome and my 3rd favorite character; i will give him an 8.

I liked his development(even though it escalated quickly); but he is fanboying Naruto a little too much, just chillax bro. But he saved my favorite character, Lee's life so he will be ultimately good in my book.