Happy Birthday, Kankuro!

by **Hiro Onoyuga** Fri May 28, 2010 3:15 pm

Often birthdays are family affairs: there's nothing like celebrating your special day with that older brother or sister who made you who you are today (or scarred you for life!). As an older sibling myself, I can say there's always a bit of pride when you watch the young pup in your clan grow up and achieve more than you ever dreamed about.

So as we close in on May 15 we wanted to pay our respects to a particular older brother who you could say is the man behind The Man -- The Man in this case being Gaara, one of Naruto's most popular characters. Check out the new Kankuro character data wallpaper, and give it up for Kankuro, older brother extraordinaire!

---

Happy Birthday, Kankuro!

Sand Ninja Party!

Well, would it be much of a party? Kankuro and his Sand siblings aren't the happiest bunch of people. In fact, you could say they err on the side of being just a little intense. But I'd like to think that there was a time when little Kankuro had a birthday party and maybe his big sister Temari performed, I don't know, fan tricks for the family --- but all while their little red-haired brother got into his mom's make-up and discovered eye-liner...

Though, more than likely, birthdays were a quiet affair at the house of their dad, the Kazekage. With, you know, speeches and stuff...Because while they may be intense, the Sunagakure ninja are also incredibly loyal. For all his puppetry and other bizarre arts, Kankuro never lets anyone mess with that little red-haired brother (you know who I mean) who now is actually Kazekage himself!

When Gaara is kidnapped, it's Kankuro who sets the record straight that no matter what anyone thinks of his lil' bro, he's the Kazekage, and they better recognize [Episode 4, "The Jinchuriki of the Sand"]. Or else. And you don't want Kankuro thinking he needs to stop you from bothering his brother. Way back when the Chunin Exams first kicked into gear, we got a glimpse of how powerful Kankuro was as a Puppet Master when he made a fake proctor out of The Crow to help him cheat on the exams and get info [Original Series Episode 20, "A New Chapter Begins: The Chunin Exams!"].

Happy Birthday, Kankuro! Getimage

And then, even though his three awesome puppets, including The Crow, were busted up by Sasori of the Akatsuki, [Episode 8, "Team Kakashi, Deployed"] Kankuro was instrumental in that battle, setting the stage for Sakura to take Sasori down once and for all [Episode 27, "Impossible Dream"]. And that helped set up getting Gaara back from his kidnappers [Episode 31, "The Legacy"].

Kankuro's puppets may not be entertaining at parties, but they certainly can rock out some of the best battles in Naruto. And that's more than enough reason to be glad Kankuro is part of the ninja world -- and that he's a year older and wiser. He's shown that being the Kazekage's big bro does not mean hiding in the Kazekage's, well, kage.