Shukaku (True-Clown-Prince)

Shukaku (守鶴, Shukaku), more commonly known as the One-Tailed Shukaku (一尾の守鶴, Ichibi no Shukaku)

Backround
Shukaku first came into being in the waning days of the Sage of the Six Paths' life; to prevent the Ten-Tails' resurgence, the Sage split up its chakra and used his Creation of All Things (万物創造, Banbutsu Sōzō) ability to create nine separate, monstrous constructs of living chakra, which would become known as the tailed beasts. It was revealed that some time after being created, the Sage of the Six Paths sat down with all the young tailed beasts and told them that they would always be together even when separated and that one day they would become one entity again with different names as well as forms than they did then when the time came for them to understand what true power was.

Citizens of Sunagakure came to believe that Shukaku was a living ghost (生霊, ikiryō) of a corrupted Suna priest, and was originally sealed inside a tea kettle.

Shukaku had two jinchūriki in the past, one of which inspired the Third Kazekage to create the Iron Sand technique. Shukaku was eventually removed from their bodies, resulting in their deaths.

Appearance
Shukaku is a sandy-brown coloured tanuki, with black (dark blue in the anime) markings all over its face, body, and tail. It has a jagged, concave mouth and the sclera of its eyes are black, containing yellow irides with pupils that each takes the shape of a black four-pointed star with four black dots around it. During the last remaining days of the Sage of the Six Paths, Shukaku in its youth looked the same as it does presently, only much smaller.