What does Gaara’s tattoo mean in ‘Naruto?’

Warning: contains Naruto spoilers.

Naruto follows the seemingly endless quest of Naruto Uzumaki to become Hokage – undisputed leader of his village. In his travels he meets Gaara, one of the most tragic and misunderstood characters in the show.

Gaara was born premature in Sunagakure (the Hidden Village in Sand). During the birth, Gaara’s mother Karura died from complications. His father was Rasa, Fourth Kazekage of the village. As a baby, Gaara was so tiny that he could fit in the palm of his father’s hand. Rasa despised the young infant, in part blaming him for the death of Karura, but also because Gaara proved small, weak, and sickly. Most of the people in the village assumed the infant would be dead inside a year.

But Gaara proved them all wrong, growing into a dangerous warrior infused with the powers of Shukaku the One-Tail. Rasa mentally abused his son, deceiving him into believing that no one loved him so that Gaara might draw on the powers further. When Gaara became too much for the village to handle, Rasa attempted to assassinate his own child a total of six times – all of which obviously proved failures.

After the village turned on him and made another botched attempt to kill him, Gaara decided to tattoo his own forehead with sand. The meaning of the tattoo simply means “love.” If no one would ever love him then he would have to love himself.

Because of his troubled childhood, Gaara became something of a sociopath, and would think nothing of killing anyone over the slightest insult. He used his considerable powers for evil until his epic fight with Naruto. This set Gaara on the path to redemption, and saw him realize the true value of love and friendship.