No name bears more weight in Jujutsu Kaisen than Satoru Gojo. Deemed as one of the most popular characters in the series, he is also unquestionably the strongest sorcerer humanity has ever seen. Time and time again, he has proven the world of his raw strength, incredible wits, and overpowered sorcery. But strength comes at a price, and an overwhelming one doesn’t come cheap.
In chapter 96 of the Jujutsu Kaisen manga, it was stated that Gojo’s birth altered the balance of the world. Given that the universe of Jujutsu Kaisen leans towards a balance between sorcerers and curses, Gojo simply existing on the side of sorcerers meant that curses had to grow stronger too. But now that the Strongest Sorcerer of the Modern Era has fallen, what becomes of the world?
Gojo’s Influence on the Strength of Curses
The greatest threats to sorcerers are curses—living for as long as our beloved Jujutsu heroes have. Curses were especially stronger during the Heian era, but their resurgence in the modern world meant they could do anything they wanted in the underworld. By their means and evil deeds, curse users were able to monopolize power before 1989. So what happened after 1989? Well, the birth of Satoru Gojo happened.
Imagine the state of panic curses had to go through once they knew that the first Limitless and Six Eyes user was born after 400 years. This, in turn, shifted the scale of power immensely and put curses into hiding. However, some wanted to become stronger to claim Gojo’s head and a massive bounty.
A bounty north of 100 million was placed on our beloved sensei’s head even as a kid, and every curse wanted a bite of this overpowered monstrosity. After a couple of decades (and some failed attempts to kill the blue-eyed sorcerer), Gojo still remained the unstoppable behemoth fans came to know and love—using his power and influence to change the jujutsu world for the better. To execute the change he wanted to see, he became a sensei to the next generation of jujutsu sorcerers, hoping to make them strong enough to combat the upscaling number of curses throughout Japan and the world.
But it wasn’t only the future of jujutsu he was changing. Remember, the world of jujutsu demands balance—and the mere existence of Gojo inherently pushes curses to become stronger. When Kenjaku’s group sealed Gojo, the students were apologetic for being unable to push off the curses and stop the innate calamity caused by Sukuna’s revival. Instead, Gojo apologized to his students for being born. He accepted that everything was his responsibility.
His birth alongside his overwhelming powers created a world welcoming strong curses. If anyone was to blame for the dilemmas concerning curses, you can only point your finger towards Gojo. This confirms that his birth set a new standard for how powerful modern-age curses and sorcerers have to be!
The Uneven Balance After Gojo Satoru’s Death
Though the battle between the Strongest Sorcerer of Modern Day and the King of Curses ended with the latter’s victory, Gojo’s defeat was not for naught. Without him fighting Sukuna initially, Itadori, Yuta, and the rest of the squad would not be fighting toe-to-toe with Sukuna like they are currently.
Now that Gojo Satoru has died, the balance of jujutsu society looks enormously uneven, the sorcerers will be desperate to grow mid-battle to fix that. If Gojo made curses stronger, the sole existence of an apocalypse-level threat such as Sukuna MUST be the secret ingredient needed for our sorcerers to level up.
Luckily, Gojo had some trump cards under his sleeve: his pride and joy, his students. The ones currently fighting in this seemingly endless fight are Yuta, Itadori, Hakari, and Maki—all entrusted by Gojo to surpass him one day. Yuta is believed to be the strongest sorcerer after his sensei, and that’s saying a lot.
Gojo believed Yuta would rival him in power one day, but now that he has complete mastery over his bottomless cursed energy, Rika, and his cursed technique (Copy), Yuta is next on the list of jujutsu GOATs. In fact, he has already taken over Gojo’s body in JJK Chapter 261 after using his CT on Kenjaku to fight against Sukuna.
Gojo also believed in Kinji Hakari to surpass him one day, despite running into trouble often and getting suspended from Tokyo Jujutsu High. Although skillful in fighting, Hakari’s cursed energy needs some work. However, he overly compensates for his rugged edges with extreme luck that allows him to have limitless cursed energy for a certain amount of time. Oh, and did I mention that he can also heal himself in this time… infinitely? Totally untouchable.
Speaking of untouchable, Gojo was always thought to be so too—until Toji came in. One character who’s poised to reach the same level as Toji Fushiguro is none other than one of the Zenin sisters, Maki. A non-sorcerer from one of the biggest sorcerer families in the series, Maki is definitely marking her territory in the next generation. She was born with a heavenly restriction that deprives her of cursed energy but grants her superhuman strength, durability, speed, and healing. With all these in hand, she can finally fulfill her potential of becoming stronger than Gojo.
Let’s now talk about the forgotten main protagonist of Jujutsu Kaisen, Yuji Itadori. If the world will once again come to a balance between sorcerers and curses, Yuji will be one of its main beneficiaries. He might be just an average joe to most. Still, his innate physical prowess and progress as a jujutsu sorcerer are unprecedented—especially in the latest chapters of the manga where he threw multiple Black Flashes onto Sukuna. In a fight where most sorcerers are either dead or unable to fight, Yuji stands tall amongst the rubble. If an awakening is bound to happen after Gojo’s death, this particular sorcerer might make the fight even again.
Sukuna Being a Master-Sensei and a Catalyst for Awakenings
Jujutsu Kaisen sees a trend of sorcerers and curses awakening through various means like Binding Vows and years of training. But if it’s the fastest route we’re talking about, then coming face-to-face with death is what you’re looking for. And, who better emulates fear and death than the King of Curses himself, Sukuna?
When sorcerers and curses are pushed to a corner, their choices slim down to fight or flight…or if they’re lucky enough, they’ll awaken their true potential during battle. Just like what Gojo’s birth meant to the strengthening of curses, Sukuna’s presence is destined to cause multiple awakenings in our sorcerers. In fact, you can even consider the King of Curses to be a master-sensei to everyone who tries to go toe-to-toe with him!
It was first shown in Megumi and Sukuna’s fight where Megumi’s cursed energy surged, reaching its limit trying to fight the King. This seemingly took him aback, thinking that the Jujutsu student was ready to go all out. In the later part of the series, Sukuna also took Jogo for a run and it was a true special-grade spectacle that brought the house on fire…quite literally.
During this high-octane battle, Jogo awakened into a different type of beast, even unleashing his most powerful technique,”Maximum: Meteor,” against the King of Curses. However, it only managed to burn down Shibuya, posing no real threat to Sukuna.
But, of course, how can we forget about the fabled battle between Gojo and Sukuna? If there ever is a fight that brought out almost all the trump cards from both parties, it would be this one. This battle brought forth some of the coolest tide-turning techniques you’d expect from a contest of this caliber.
Not only was Sukuna making Binding Vows left and right, but Gojo was also showing off some unheard feats like regenerating an exhausted technique with RCT and besting Sukuna in a domain battle only after a few tries. It clearly took Gojo all he had to take on Sukuna, even with some surprises up his sleeves. If it were anyone but the King of Curses, chants of Gojo’s name would resonate all over the country, if not the world. Apart from that, we all remember how he examined Higuruma’s potential moments before he died!
See? Sukuna is definitely a master-sensei, just a bit more violent and headstrong than usual. There’s no denying that he brings out the best in sorcerers. Heck, he even made Gojo, the Strongest Sorcerer of Today, whip out unbelievable feats unbeknownst to his fellow sorcerers. So, the message is clear, if becoming strong meant coming to death’s doorstep, then there’s only one doorbell sorcerers should ring!