Every Tailed Beast in Naruto: A Complete Guide

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Anime expert Ishaan Kaushal explains the Tailed Beasts and where they came from

Co-authored by Ishaan Kaushal and Amy Bobinger, BA

Last Updated: August 4, 2026 Fact Checked

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10 Tailed Beasts

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What are the Tailed Beasts?

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Tailed Beast Origins

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What are jinchuriki?

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Strongest Tailed Beast

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In Naruto, the Tailed Beasts (also called Chakra Monsters or Bijuu) are monstrous creatures made of chakra. Naruto himself has one of these creatures—Nine-Tails, or Kurama—sealed inside of him. They’re crucial to the story of Naruto, but the audience rarely sees them. We chatted with anime experts to break down everything you need to know about these elusive beasts, including all 10 Tailed Beasts, what they are, and where they came from.

All the Tailed Beasts in Naruto: A Visual Guide

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An illustration of all the Tailed Beasts in Naruto.

Anime expert Ishaan Kaushal explains that the Tailed Beasts are beings with immense chakra, ranging in strength according to how many tails they have. They were created by the Sage of Six Paths when he divided the chakra from Ten-Tails into 9 separate beasts. Here are all the Beasts:

One-Tail: Shukaku
Two-Tails: Matatabi
Three-Tails: Isobu
Four-Tails: Son Goku
Five-Tails: Kokuo
Six-Tails: Saiken
Seven-Tails: Chomei
Eight-Tails: Gyuki
Nine-Tails: Kurama

Section 1 of 5:

All 10 Tailed Beasts in Naruto

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Ten-Tails Ten-Tails is the original chakra beast that the other Tailed Beasts were split from. Kaguya’s sons, Hagoromo and Hamura Otsutsuki, sealed the beast inside a wooden husk—the Demonic Statue of the Outer Paths—and sealed that inside the moon.^{[1]
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Research source} Hagoromo sealed the beast’s power inside himself, then eventually divided that power into the nine Tailed Beasts, explains anime expert Ed Erskine.^{[2]
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Ed Erskine
Anime Expert

Expert Interview}
- Kaushal agrees and explains that when Hagoromo (known as the Sage of the Six Paths) divided the Ten-Tails, he created 9 separate beasts, each with its own distinct personality.^{[3]
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- While the other Tailed Beasts seem to have some autonomy, the Ten-Tailed Beast was a mindless monster whose only goal was the destruction of Earth.^{[4]
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- We’ll talk more about the origin of the Ten-Tails in our section on the origin of the Tailed Beasts.
Meet the wikiHow Expert

Ishaan Kaushal is a content creator based in Washington, D.C. He’s a part of the TikTok established creator program, and his content mainly focuses on analyzing anime, TV, and movies.

Ed Erskine is an anime expert based in London, UK. He has been watching anime for over 20 years and founded the Suuuper Anime Podcast, the #1 anime podcast in the UK, in 2020.
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One-Tail: Shukaku The One-Tailed Beast, Shukaku, is a giant tanuki (Japanese racoon dog) made of sand, with blue curse seal markings all over its massive body. Shukaku developed a deep-seated hatred for people, and he often tormented his jinchuriki Gaara, taking over his body when he slept.^{[5]
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Research source} But after Gaara stands up for Shukaku, the relationship between the two improves.
- Chakra nature: Magnet Release, Wind Release, Earth Release
- Village: Hidden Sand Village
- Known Jinchuriki: Gaara
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Two-Tails: Matatabi The Two-Tailed Beast, Matatabi, is a bakeneko, or mythical cat spirit. Her graceful body is made of blue and flames, and she’s particularly dignified. In fact, she might be the most polite and respectful of any of the Tailed Beasts.^{[6]
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- Chakra nature: Fire Release
- Village: Hidden Cloud Village
- Known Jinchuriki: Yugito Nii
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Three-Tails: Isobu The Three-Tailed Beast, Isobu, is a large turtle-like creature with a spiky shell and three tails. He’s able to control water and can disappear at will into a pocket dimension.^{[7]
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Research source} Despite its fearsome appearance, this Tailed Beast is somewhat shy and timid.
- Chakra nature: Water Release, Yin Release
- Village: Hidden Mist Village
- Known Jinchuriki: Yagura
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Four-Tails: Son Goku The Four-Tailed Beast, Son Goku, is an enormous red monkey demon inspired by the monkey king, Sun Wukong. He can create volcanoes and has complete control over lava—to the point that he can make his own armor by covering himself in lava. Son Goku is known to be prideful but still respectful of his fellow Tailed Beasts. He prefers to be called by his name rather than referred to by the number of his tails.^{[8]
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- Chakra nature: Lava Release, Fire Release, Earth Release
- Village: Hidden Stone Village
- Known Jinchuriki: Roshi
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Five-Tails: Kokuo The Five-Tailed Beast Kokuo is a unique monster that looks sort of like a horse with a dolphin head and five horns—and, of course, five tails. She’s incredibly strong, and her ability to turn water into steam makes her a formidable opponent, but she’s surprisingly polite and peaceful.
- Chakra nature: Boil Release, Fire Release, Water Release
- Village: Hidden Stone Village
- Known Jinchuriki: Han
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Six-Tails: Saiken The Six-Tailed Beast, Saiken, looks like a giant two-legged slug with stubby arms and six tails. Saiken is an oozing, sticky beast, and it uses corrosive slime or gas to fight its opponents.^{[9]
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Research source} It looks pretty gnarly, but it’s actually very polite and helpful.
- Chakra nature: Water Release
- Village: Hidden Mist Village
- Known Jinchuriki: Utakata
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Seven-Tails: Chomei The Seven-Tailed Beast, Chomei, looks like an enormous six-winged rhinoceros beetle. It’s the only tailed beast that can fly—it uses six of its tails like wings—and it also grants its jinchuriki the power of flight. It’s one of the most cheerful of the Tailed Beasts.
- Chakra nature: Unspecified
- Village: Hidden Waterfall Village
- Known Jinchuriki: Fu
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Eight-Tails: Gyuki The Eight-Tailed Beast, Gyuki, is a unique purple beast that looks like an octopus with a muscular torso and the head of a sheep. It gets most of its strength from the relationship it has with its jinchuriki, Killer B. Their mutual respect and shared training make them incredibly powerful. In fact, Killer B’s mentorship even helps Naruto learn to have more control over his Tailed Beast.^{[10]
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- Chakra nature: Unspecified
- Village: Hidden Cloud Village
- Known Jinchuriki: Killer B
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Nine-Tails: Kurama The Nine-Tailed Beast, Kurama, is a reddish-orange fox-like beast. He was sealed inside baby Naruto after attacking Hidden Leaf Village. Kurama is notoriously grumpy, but Naruto gradually taps into his power, and the two eventually become friends thanks to a shared respect.^{[11]
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- Chakra nature: Fire Release, Wind Release
- Village: Hidden Leaf Village
- Known Jinchuriki: Naruto

Section 2 of 5:

What are the Tailed Beasts?

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Tailed Beasts are monsters made of chakra. They’re also known as Chakra Monsters or Bijuu. They’re creatures with immense chakra, explains Kaushal.^{[12]
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Expert Source

Ishaan Kaushal
Anime Expert

Expert Interview} Each has a unique number of tails, and the power of the Tailed Beast roughly corresponds to the number of tails it has—more tails mean more power.^{[13]
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- Tailed Beasts are intelligent. They can use telepathy to communicate with humans and other Tailed Beasts.
- They each have unique chakra abilities, called a chakra nature. These abilities generally give them the ability to control an element. For instance, Fire Release allows the Tailed Beasts to generate flames.
- They also have shared abilities, like massive chakra reserves. They can’t be permanently killed—they’ll eventually revive, although it can take a while. They can also share their chakra power with others, and they can create a Tailed Beast Ball, which is a powerful sphere made of chakra.^{[14]
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Section 3 of 5:

How were the Tailed Beasts created?

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Hagoromo Otsutsuki divided Ten-Tails into the Tailed Beasts. Ten-Tails was created when Kaguya Otsutsuki fused with the God Tree that grew from the Chakra Fruit. Her sons Hagoromo and Hamura fought the beast for months, eventually sealing it inside its wooden husk. Hagoromo—also known as the Sage of the Six Paths—also sealed the beast’s power inside himself, which made him the first jinchuriki.
- Before Hagoromo’s death, he was inspired by his son Asura to divide the chakra of Ten-Tails into nine Tailed Beasts using his “Creation of All Things” technique. This would prevent Ten-Tails’ immense power from falling into the wrong hands.
- Hagoromo treated the Tailed Beasts like his children. He gave them names, explained the world to them, and built temples for them where they could live peacefully.
- Over time, the world came to see the Tailed Beasts as demons, and many villages began using them as weapons of war. They sealed them inside jinchurikis to harness their power.
- During the course of Naruto, an organization called the Akatsuki starts capturing the jinchuiki to extract the beasts, putting them into the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path to try to revive the Ten-Tails. Ultimately, Naruto and his allies defeat the Akatsuki, and the Tailed Beasts are freed to live as they wish.

Section 4 of 5:

What are jinchuriki?

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Jinchuriki are ninjas with a Tailed Beast sealed inside of them. Many villages attempted to harness the power of the Tailed Beasts by sealing them inside a person. This is often done before the jinchuriki is born or while they’re an infant. As they grow, they develop the ability to use the Tailed Beast’s chakra powers in battle.
- In some villages, the jinchuriki are celebrated, but in others, they’re shunned. Anime and manga enthusiast Brandon Riley explains that Naruto is ostracized by his own village because he has the Nine-Tailed Fox demon sealed inside of him.^{[15]
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Section 5 of 5:

Which Tailed Beast is the strongest?

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The Nine-Tailed Beast is the strongest Tailed Beast. Kaushal says that the Tailed Beasts power corresponds to the number of tails they have, slowly ascending from 1 to 9.^{[16]
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Expert Source

Ishaan Kaushal
Anime Expert

Expert Interview} That said, there are definitely strong opinions about the power scaling of different beasts—some fans argue that Four Tails is stronger than Five Tails, for instance.
- Of course, the Ten-Tailed Beast is the strongest of all—it has the power to destroy the world, and each of the nine Tailed Beasts only represents a fraction of its power.
- Despite its strength, Ten-Tails is not as powerful as it could be. Kaguya Otsutsuki was intended to be a sacrifice to the God Tree, but she betrayed her partner Isshiki and fed him to the tree instead. But she only fed him Isshiki’s dead lower half (rather than a living sacrifice), which somewhat limited the God Tree’s power.