----- ADS-----
Naruto and Naruto Shippuden have no shortage of amazing powers and creatures, but the pinnacle of the Narutoverse is undeniably the bijū, or Tailed Beasts. The Tailed Beasts are the physical manifestations of chakra that were split apart from the original ten-tailed beast that was on Earth. The nine core Tailed Beasts were seen as great weapons and calamities that played major roles in the history of the ninja world and were eventually captured and split up between villages by the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju. Much of the narrative of Naruto revolved around Naruto himself having the nine-tailed fox sealed inside of him, and the Akatsuki tracking down and collecting the Tailed Beasts to execute a grand plan.
With all of that in mind, there was a surprisingly low number of episodes in which these chakra beasts were featured. However, when they were featured, they were all incredibly notable in terms of their overwhelming size and power, but also their unique designs. Each of the Tailed Beasts has intense features, and many of them blend multiple features from other animals to make overbearing chimera-esque designs. This list will take a look at the design notes of each Tailed Beast and rank them from least compelling to most.
10) Ten-Tails
A living incarnation of the God Tree itself, the Ten-Tails is the most powerful of the Tailed Beasts seen throughout all of Naruto. The ten-tails was the penultimate step in Madara’s grand plan and was capable of facing down all of the Allied Shinobi Forces with little to no difficulty. Despite all of the Ten-Tails’ power, their design was relatively lackluster.
As a living monstrous tree, the beast does convey a wood-like exterior with a large gaping mouth, but that is the extent of their design. The Ten-Tails is incredibly simple and almost amorphous in color and shape, making it the weakest design of the group. Now, was it intentional? Likely, but this list is about design, and in line with the Ten-Tails’ lack of agency and personality, its design is just as drab.
9) Chōmei (Seven-Tails)
A small nitpick of Chōmei is that it has six wings and one tail, making up its seven tails, which is the first of many design choices that have led to it landing at number nine on the list. The giant insect concept is novel and is done fairly well later on down our list, but overall, the stag beetle features don’t blend very well with the dragonfly wings and body.
The armor theming is fun and has moments where it really drives home the large horns featured on their head, but overall, the armor gradient blends poorly with the green and yellow scale style gradient of the remainder of the body, making the design feel disjointed. However, the Seven-Tails isn’t without some noteworthy design choices, and if we were making this list based on their baby forms, Chōmei would likely be number one; the little larval design with tiny nub tails is undeniably adorable and was a great design note to show how they would grow.
8) Matatabi (Two-Tails)
Truth be told, the list becomes full of stiff competition going forward, and many of these Tailed Beasts can be exchanged with anyone directly above or below them. For Matatabi, there are plenty of strengths to their design, such as the color scheme, the intense blue flames are dynamic, and their heterochromatic eyes are striking.
The big issue with Matatabi is that the flames that are seen as one of their key strengths are also a feature that makes the Two-Tailed Beast appear to be less of an overbearing beast and more like a jutsu in use. The blue flaming cat is in no way a boring design, but everything ranked above them have far more interesting color schemes or design beats.
7) Isobu (Three-Tails)
Isobu is another instance of a Tailed Beast that appears to haunt the narrative and is often seen sans-Jinchūriki, which means we get to take in Isobu’s overall design. The three-tailed turtle design is simple enough, but it has several factors that make it aesthetically appealing aside from being just a giant turtle.
Firstly, Isobu has a strong complementing color design with a smokey gray shell filled in by stark red-pink inner carapace. All of the colors are complemented by their spikey shell-centric design, and the final point of note is Isobu’s missing eye, which gives the Tailed Beast a touch of narrative-focused design as it allows them to feel like a living being, and it has the scars to show it.
6) Saiken (Six-Tails)
The slimy, six-tailed slug is out sixth entrance on this list, and as mentioned previously, is an example of bringing the bug-like features to life on a grandiose scale while also keeping consistent with the color design of the creature. Saiken is presented as large and slimy, which pulls on its slug-based design beats. Much like a slug, Saiken features two eye stalks atop its giant head and a consistent slime-covered writhing body.
Including the basics of their design being well developed and not overdone, there’s also the fact that much of the design lends itself to how Saiken uses their abilities. Saiken often bubbles up slime off of its body or spits slime from its mouth, utilizing its slug-like design to accentuate and empower itself in combat. Saiken is a simple and elegant design and stands out impressively in a world that had already featured another giant slug years before in Lady Katsuyu.
[RELATED: Gary Oak’s 10 Best Pokemon in the Anime]
5) Kokuō (Five-Tails)
Fifth on our list and halfway between the best designs and worst designs is the chimeric equine-looking Five-Tailed Beast, Kokuō. The Five-Tails follows similar coloring patterns as many of the previous Tailed Beasts in a consistent and cohesive color throughout the entire body, with accents on its horns, hooves, and eyes. The five-tailed beast stands out for its large and sleek horse-shaped body ending in five tails and beginning with what appears to be a horned dolphin’s head.
Portions of this design that are of note are their uncanny dolphin eyes and teeth, which give off an unsettling predatory appearance in combination with a horse’s body. On top of that, much like its six-tailed sibling, Kokuō also has features of its body that directly match its capabilities in battle. Specifically, they were shown to have immense ramming power by knocking Gyūki over with a direct charge. Any fan familiar with Gyūki understands just how impressive that is, and the design of the Tailed Beast itself makes the attack all the more in character.
4) Son Goku (Four-Tails)
This next entrance, along with the last three, is close to perfect, and there’s a lot to be said about each one. For Son Goku, the first design choice of note is his regality; he is labeled as a Great Sage, and the design denotes that while also paying homage to the Son Goku of mythology, wrapping this character into a neat bow of cross-media designs. The four-tailed ape is shown with sharp, deep red fur and an intense, almost angry-looking humanoid face.
Along with his humanoid face, there are the remaining humanoid and primate features and the stature of the beast that bring him closer to a humanoid than what might be comfortable. A note on his stature is that he is notably the smallest of the Tailed Beasts, which he, however, makes up for with his access to a body that allows for superior taijutsu. But again, pulling away from his humanoid features, the design reminds us that he is bestial with a regal-looking crown made of horns, long blunted mandrill-like teeth, and spines going down his back and each of his four tails. This design is tight and has enough going on to make it stand out, but not take fans’ eyes away from the greater picture.
3) Gyūki (Eight-Tails)
Gyūki, the eight-tentacled giant Ox, is a fan favorite, and for good reason. Gyūki is another one of our chimera-style designs that combines the features of a hoofed land mammal with a sea creature. In this case, the eight-tails has the bottom half of an octopus, which gives it a spin on classic tails as tentacles attached to a large oxen body. Earlier, we did rank the Seven-Tailed Beast fairly lowly because of its untraditional tails, however, Gyūki takes from that concept and expands upon it.
Firstly, an octopus is known for having eight tentacles, making the tail-to-tentacle ratio, not random wings and one tail; it is a specific design choice. Additionally, the tentacles are repeatedly used in battle through grappling and swimming, and fans even get to see the Eight-tailed Beast use ink as a visual impairment for enemies. Gyūki is also shown to have a missing horn that it lost in a battle with the previous Raikage, giving further narrative weight and lore to the design. Overall, this Ushi-oni is a fantastic anime adaptation of existing yōkai
2) Shukaku (One-Tail)
The one-tailed tanuki is our second-best-ranked design and was also the first Tailed Beast introduced after the Nine-Tailed Fox. Shukaku’s design is another instance of simplicity and sweetness. The coloring of the One-Tailed Beast is a sandy brown, as the beast itself is made up of and can control sand through magnet release. Above the sandy outer color, black cursed seal marks line the entirety of his body and accentuate his spikey, bushy tail. Shukaku’s eyes are also yellow star-shaped irises surrounded by black sclera.
Again, a note for design into abilities is that Shukaku is heavily sand-based and, therefore, frequently uses sand-based attacks, allowing fans to see the basis of his powers through design alone. Another notable ability is Shukaku’s sealing jutsu, which is represented by the same curse seal markings lining his body.
1) Kurama (Nine-Tails)
The final entrance into our list hardly needs an introduction; the nine-tailed fox is the first tailed Beast we meet, and he sets the tone as a ferocious demonic entity before we learn anything more about his siblings or the matters of his creation. This design is as simple as it is that of a traditional kitsune, aside from a handful of features that make Kurama all the more imposing. Kurama’s fur is a reddish-orange that matches the overarching aesthetic of Naruto and his mother, Kushina, making the three of them a clear trio design choice narratively.
Kurama is notably larger than a majority of the other Tailed Beasts and also features ragged and jagged fur, denoting an intense standoffish nature. If all of that wasn’t enough, Kurama also has a black-lined mouth that is almost always seen in a smile-like snarl, truly denoting how much disdain the nine-tailed fox carries around. His design is simple and intense, and it will echo through anime for years to come, a powerful blend of storytelling transforming cultural icons. The kitsune featured in Naruto wears its existence upon its design.
