Gaara reflects Egyptian Myth

[Morumoto-nin]

This may contain spoilers for those who haven't seen too far into the series, so be warned.

It seems that Kishimoto created Gaara with the ancient Egyptian god Set in mind, because they have a lot of similarities.

Set is the god of chaos, the desert, foreign lands, and storms (thunder and lightning). Gaara is from the Sand Country, a foreign land, and his father is Kazekage (kaze = lightning, for those who don't know).

Set is portrayed as having pale skin and red hair. It was believed that people born with red hair were followers or even children of Set, and many children were sacrificed because they were supposedly evil. Gaara's own father fears him so much that he has repeatedly tried to have him killed. Also, Egyptian gods were always depicted with dark black outlines around their eyes, as is Gaara.

Set was the 3rd child born to the goddess Nut, and was said to have been evil from birth because instead of being born in a normal manner he violently tore himself from his mother's womb. Gaara is the 3rd child of his family, and at birth his poor mom was unfortunately ripped apart by the sand.

At one point Set was also a god of love (don'task me how that happened), and he was popular on many amulets. The red character on Gaara's forehead is the character for "love".

If anyone else knows of anymore similarities, please feel free to post them.

[Cosmo_Rainy]

i thought kaze means wind?
and rai means lightning?

[Hyuga 4 Eyes]

Also, Egyptian gods were always depicted with dark black outlines around their eyes, as is Gaara.

Thats because both men and women wore a lot of make up in ancient Egypt.

I like your theory though, but Cosmo Rainy is right, Kaze = Wing and Rai = Lightning hence the "Raikiri/Lightning Edge" a.k.a. the Chidori.

Set was the 3rd child born to the goddess Nut, and was said to have been evil from birth because instead of being born in a normal manner he violently tore himself from his mother's womb. Gaara is the 3rd child of his family, and at birth his poor mom was unfortunately ripped apart by the sand.

I like that example though, nice one.

[4thokage]

Your theorie is pretty cool Gaara the god lol

[Princess Ari]

yeah, i thought rai meant thunder and kaze means wind, but that matters little because in the early days Set was worshipped as the god of sand and wind ^^ But other than that I have to say that as I have been studying some Egyptology on my uni course I really enjoyed reading your post. You really seem to know your stuff, and its certainly is and intersting comparison. Hee hee, Gaara doesn't grow lettuces though...at least I don't think he does :P I really enjoyed reading this though ^__^

[Hyuga 4 Eyes]

Yeah to clarify something.

He (Seth) is also a god of war, deserts, storms (sand), and foreign lands.

...In other versions he went to live with the sungod Re, where he became the voice of thunder. In the Book of the Dead, Seth is called "Lord of the Northern Sky" and is held responsible for storms and cloudy weather.

http://pantheon.org/areas/mythology/africa/egyptian/articles.html

So he is/was both.

[natsuke]

This may contain spoilers for those who haven't seen too far into the series, so be warned.

It seems that Kishimoto created Gaara with the ancient Egyptian god Set in mind, because they have a lot of similarities.

Set is the god of chaos, the desert, foreign lands, and storms (thunder and lightning). Gaara is from the Sand Country, a foreign land, and his father is Kazekage (kaze = lightning, for those who don't know).

Set is portrayed as having pale skin and red hair. It was believed that people born with red hair were followers or even children of Set, and many children were sacrificed because they were supposedly evil. Gaara's own father fears him so much that he has repeatedly tried to have him killed. Also, Egyptian gods were always depicted with dark black outlines around their eyes, as is Gaara.

Set was the 3rd child born to the goddess Nut, and was said to have been evil from birth because instead of being born in a normal manner he violently tore himself from his mother's womb. Gaara is the 3rd child of his family, and at birth his poor mom was unfortunately ripped apart by the sand.

At one point Set was also a god of love (don'task me how that happened), and he was popular on many amulets. The red character on Gaara's forehead is the character for "love".

If anyone else knows of anymore similarities, please feel free to post them.

Good stuff! Love the theories :)
But I agree with everyone else here about Kaze. I'm pretty sure that it does mean Wind.

[Arilou]

Kaze does mean wind. Which incidentally fits Set even better (he was the god of storms and tornadoes)

[Morumoto-nin]

Alrighty, my mistake. It was late, I was tired.... Anyways, being that Set was god of storms, and kaze = wind, it's still keeping with my theory. Thanks to you all for correcting that mistake.

[Insipidipity]

I mean, it goes along with his brother hiding in the wrappings like a mummy.

[Morumoto-nin]

Ahhhh, good point. Didn't even think of that.

[Omote Renge]

Finally a theory that makes sense! I salute you for your research.

[Morumoto-nin]

Thanks, Omote Renge! I was listening to a friend talk about Egyptian mythology and the similarities were uncanny. I wonder if any other characters were based on other mythological figures.

[Sawako]

Rep for you, this is a theory that actually has some sense behind it!

[Arilou]

Thanks, Omote Renge! I was listening to a friend talk about Egyptian mythology and the similarities were uncanny. I wonder if any other characters were based on other mythological figures.

Enma is quite clearly based on the Monkey-King (forgot his name in chinese, he's pretty similar to the indian Hanuman) But that's obvious.

[Insipidipity]

Yea, a lot of Asian mythology references, but only the sand seems to have one outside of that.

[Omote Renge]

Enma is quite clearly based on the Monkey-King (forgot his name in chinese, he's pretty similar to the indian Hanuman) But that's obvious.
The Monkey King from Journey to the West? His Chinese name is Sun Wukong and his name in Japanese is Son Goku. I know the name Enma is from another person but I can't remember who at the moment. Anyway I'm off topic so I'll stop now.

[Code]

The Monkey King from Journey to the West? His Chinese name is Sun Wukong and his name in Japanese is Son Goku. I know the name Enma is from another person but I can't remember who at the moment. Anyway I'm off topic so I'll stop now.
Well in Dragonball Enma is the guy who decides wether someone should go to hell or heaven. I believe that's his role in the Monkey King legend when Son Goku ripped out his name out of Enma's book he became immortal. But I'm not 100% sure. I read some of the Journey the West a few years ago.

[Arilou]

There's a lot of snake symbology with Orochimaru, not that strange, but what is interesting is that he is presented as offering temptation...

[☠]

If I remember correctly, Enma is the name of the ruler of Hell.

[Edit: Darn! Looks like a few people beat me to the punch!]

I've noticed the Kishimoto uses a lot of symbolism with names and such in this series. I wonder if there's already a thread on this somewhere...

[Polalion]

There are more.

The Sannin have the powers of the Gama-Sennin off a Japanese mythological being.

He's always with a toad, can appear as a snake, has the secret to immortality, and make himself look young.

And there are many references to many things, like the InoShikaCho combo, is actually something off an old Japanese card game.

[Insipidipity]

Anymore non Japanese/Chinese mythology references?

[ChaochroX]

Orochimaru is based on Orochi the 7 headed snake demon
Sarutobi is based on an actual ninja named Sarutobi who was known for climbing trees like a monkey (hence Enma).
And obviously Enma=monkey king and Kyuubi is well just a kyuubi.

[Last of the Uchihas]

This may contain spoilers for those who haven't seen too far into the series, so be warned.

It seems that Kishimoto created Gaara with the ancient Egyptian god Set in mind, because they have a lot of similarities.

Set is the god of chaos, the desert, foreign lands, and storms (thunder and lightning). Gaara is from the Sand Country, a foreign land, and his father is Kazekage (kaze = lightning, for those who don't know).

Set is portrayed as having pale skin and red hair. It was believed that people born with red hair were followers or even children of Set, and many children were sacrificed because they were supposedly evil. Gaara's own father fears him so much that he has repeatedly tried to have him killed. Also, Egyptian gods were always depicted with dark black outlines around their eyes, as is Gaara.

Set was the 3rd child born to the goddess Nut, and was said to have been evil from birth because instead of being born in a normal manner he violently tore himself from his mother's womb. Gaara is the 3rd child of his family, and at birth his poor mom was unfortunately ripped apart by the sand.

At one point Set was also a god of love (don'task me how that happened), and he was popular on many amulets. The red character on Gaara's forehead is the character for "love".

If anyone else knows of anymore similarities, please feel free to post them.

Dude, that is a kick ass solid theory you got there. I will rep you for that. :)

[Last of the Uchihas]

Sarutobi is based on an actual ninja named Sarutobi who was known for climbing trees like a monkey (hence Enma).



His name was Sarutobi Sasuke and Kishimoto's Sasuke not Sandaime is based on that famous ninja, as he was one of the Sanada's Ten.

[Dejablue]

it sounds really farfetched but at least it makes some sense!

[clouded_fate]

screw you, necrophilia n00b

[Azurite]

uhhhhh...... the dark lining in his eyes repersent the racoon within him....

[Kagemane No Jutsu]

Im not sure but i read somewhere that there was a japanese folktale about a ninja named Jiraiya who used magic to turn into a toad. He had a wife named Tsunade who used snail magic and a former student turned enemy named Orochimaru who used snake magic. Oro also ripped off one of his own tails and it turned into the sword Kusanagi, which happens to be the name of Oros sword in naruto smile-big

[BW879]

Nice find. Most anime and manga creators tend to base their characters off of legends of famous real people. Considering how much I know about Egyptian mythology, I'm surprised I didn't notice this earlier.

[Luckyday]

There's a lot of snake symbology with Orochimaru, not that strange, but what is interesting is that he is presented as offering temptation...

Maybe the creator using some christianity symbologism.:wink

[FrostXian]

Orochimaru is based on Orochi the 7 headed snake demon
Sarutobi is based on an actual ninja named Sarutobi who was known for climbing trees like a monkey (hence Enma).
And obviously Enma=monkey king and Kyuubi is well just a kyuubi.
Eight headed.
And the other guy was named Sarutobi Sasuke.

[AZIZ_FROST]

ooohhhhh.....so thats why one of his jutsu's in the 2nd movie was

SUNA RAISHIN (THUNDER GOD OF SAND) O_o

[The Pink Ninja]

Oooooooooooooooooooooooold threeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeead buuuuuuuuump

Nice to know. Hardly a definitive link but intresting. I already knew they had an Egyptian theme but this quite specific.

[DrunkenYoshimaster]

Thats wassup. Good ass theory. I think Gaara might really be based off of Set with all the other characters taken from Mythology.

[wapy]

this really makes sence and I can see the similarities now... good point

[Shisui]

Some cool new insights to Gaara's character. Awesome. I always said those black rings around his eyes reminded me of something.

[HinataHyuuga123]

What about being reborn?That was part of an God and Gaara