YES HE IS!

Deidara was originally from Iwagakure, although he readily abandoned the village for the opportunity of using his "art" more frequently. Deidara became an assassin bomber for hire, not caring who he worked with so long as he could use his artwork. Sometime after Orochimaru left the organization Akatsuki, Deidara was located by Itachi Uchiha, Kisame Hoshigaki, and Sasori, who were under the orders of the leader Pain to recruit him. Although, at first, Deidara refused, he quickly got into a small confrontation with Itachi, where Itachi forced Deidara to join by almost fooling Deidara into killing himself with his own clay explosives via genjutsu. Deidara, having been forced into Akatsuki and taking a huge blow to his ego, carried a loathing for Itachi throughout all of his time in Akatsuki, though he was intelligent enough to recognize Itachi as a more powerful opponent.

Quick to anger and annoy (if the right buttons are pushed), Deidara is a very hot-headed man. Something of a sadistic arsonist, he is not above relishing a good fight, and he often blows up his opponents in a very brutal fashion. Deidara's most distinctive trait, however, is his love of art. He will respect any form of it, even if it disagrees with his own. Deidara also has a habit of ending his sentences with nasal "un" sound, roughly translated as "yeah".

Deidara refers to his explosive ninjutsu as art, believing each bomb he makes to be a significant accomplishment. He refers to his style as superflat (refering to certain types of manga), and claims pop (another manga style) is dead. One of Deidara's catchphrases, "Art is a bang!" (or variations therein), was originally coined by famous Japanese abstract artist Tarō Okamoto (several of Deidara's explosives have resembled Okomoto's works too). Deidara is very proud of his art, to the point that he is simply unwilling to accept that anything could defeat it, leading to frequent overconfidence in battle.

Deidara refers to his partner Sasori as Master Sasori (サソリの旦那, Sasori no Danna) out of respect for him as a fellow artist. He also admits, at least outwardly that Sasori was more powerful than he was due to the respect he had for him. In spite of this, Deidara wasn't above goading his partner, and they frequently squabbled over the nature of true art (Deidara holding that art is transient and departing quickly; Sasori believing fine art is something wonderful that's left long into the future). This reflects their individual natures (Deidara makes clay sculptures that explode; Sasori makes long-lasting puppets out of humans). Deidara outwardly seems to respect Sasori's beliefs, but couldn't resist getting a final jab in after Sasori's death: "Like anything that is left for the future as a thing of eternal beauty... He got killed straight off!"

Deidara's partnership with his second partner Tobi, however, was very different. Tobi apparently held a great respect for Deidara and frequently called him "senpai" (senior). Tobi's carefree and goofy personality did not please Deidara, who believed that all Akatsuki members should be serious and calm. Tobi frequently and unintentionally angered Deidara, which usually resulted in him attacking Tobi in a comedic fashion (e.g., blasting him with his exploding clay or strangling him with his feet). In battle, however, the two easily set aside their differences and worked well together. Deidara also seems to have a minor respect for Tobi, as shown when he apologizes to his partner in his thoughts before he initiated his Self-Destruction.