Spoiler Warning: This article includes heavy spoilers for the Jujutsu Kaisen manga.
Sukuna is one of those anime villains who can freak out anyone with his sinister aura, even in their dreams. Yeah, Jujutsu Kaisen author Gege Akutami made him that powerful. That’s what I believed until his final showdown with our beloved protagonist, Yuji Itadori, which resulted in his loss in the manga. In my opinion, Gege has failed Sukuna as a villain, and if you think so, bear with me as I tell you why I think so.
Did Gege Akutami Fail Sukuna in Jujutsu Kaisen?
There’s no universal opinion in regard to Jujutsu Kaisen. However, as an avid fan of the popular series, I feel that Gege didn’t do justice to Sukuna. Since the beginning of the series, the author has made us believe that there’s no other gruesome villain like Sukuna in this entire universe.
The King of Curses uses Yuji’s body and causes massive destruction, especially in the Shibuya Arc (aka Season 2) where he destroys half of the Shibuya and kills several innocent people within a few minutes. The curse who terrorized humanity and even the strongest sorcerers of Jujutsu High saw him as the most significant menace. So, obviously, the end of the Jujutsu Kaisen’s juggernaut does feel quite underwhelming.
Sukuna Had Great Potential, Which Was Never Used In JJK
Sukuna belonged to the Heian Era, and he was an exceptionally strong sorcerer who could easily surpass anyone, no matter how potent the opponents were. His powers and abilities enabled him to be someone who the people of the Heian Era would worship. No doubt, even after dying, he could make arrangements for his return.
He made a deal with Kenjaku and got his cursed energies split into twenty fingers, allowing him to stay on Earth for several centuries. Every finger on an individual level carried large cursed energies that could even outclass the special-grade curses.
The person who consumes any of his fingers allows Sukuna to take over his body and make him do whatever he wants. After Sukuna gets hold of the vessel’s body, he could use their innate techniques to defeat the opponent. During his final clash with Gojo, Sukuna initially made us believe that he would lose this time. However, we didn’t know that he saved his trump card for the final moment.
Half of the conflict in the manga saw Gojo dominating the fight; the sorcerer also attacked the curse with his potent technique, Hollow Purple. Sukuna survived the attack and killed Gojo once and for all in the end by using Megumi’s shikigami, General Mahoraga.
Of course, every time Sukuna was on screen, he was dominating the strongest sorcerers. However, let’s rewind a little bit – to the time when Yuji was Sukuna’s vessel.
When Yuji was a host for Sukuna, the boy was constantly mocking the King of Curses. Most of the time, Yuji was able to take back control from Sukuna anytime he wanted, which sort of made us laugh at Sukuna many times. Sure, some would argue that Sukuna was the mightiest when he took over Megumi’s body.
In fact, it was this when he was able to defeat Gojo, the strongest sorcerer of all. However, there’s one thing to note – Sukuna was able to beat Gojo using Megumi’s Ten Shadows Technique; he could only weaken or distract the sorcerer using his own techniques. In the end, it was Megumi’s body that helped Sukuna stand against the sorcerers.
Sukuna Gets An Underwhelming Death
Sukuna, the series’s main antagonist, deserved a horrifying death, but sadly, his end came as a huge disappointment. He overwhelmed opponents like Gojo Satoru and his disciple Yuta Okkotsu, who are considered two of the most powerful sorcerers, but, in the end, gets killed at the hands of Yuji Itadori, who is nowhere if compared to the aforementioned sorcerers.
In fact, Gojo once explained to Yuji that no other sorcerer except himself matches the level of Sukuna. So, that clearly meant that only the blindfolded sorcerer had the ability to kill the King of Curses. However, Gege couldn’t let that happen because Yuji was the main protagonist after all.
Yuji received several behind-the-scenes trainings, such as the simple domain, which allowed him to expand his domain during the final battle. Well, in my opinion, that doesn’t make any sense. Besides that, several instances during the conflict felt rushed, such as him copying Sukuna’s techniques, who previously took the boy as a puppet, or overwhelming the King with back-to-back Black Flashes. We have a dedicated guide on Yuji’s powers and abilities that you can check out for more details.
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Moreover, Sukuna always showed interest in taking Megumi as his host, and he somehow managed to achieve his goal in the Shinjuku Showdown arc. He made Megumi do several bad things such as killing his sensei and his sister alongside many other sorcerers. But, as the manga headed towards the final showdown, Megumi started fighting the curse from inside. Well, if Megumi can do that in the end, why did he not act when Sukuna killed Gojo?
Anyway, that’s a discussion for another day. What’s even more disappointing is that Sukuna was not even at his full potential. He couldn’t get hold of all his 20 fingers, which means he was weak that he was in the Heian Era.
My question is, why hype up Sukuna so much if we can’t even see him at his full power? In the end, Sukuna is like a parasite who takes control of Megumi’s body and uses the boy’s techniques to defeat even his strongest opponent, Gojo Satoru. It was trickery and planning that made him the strongest villain in JJK, not power.
Was Sukuna one of the greatest villains in anime history? Yes. Could Gege have written a better arc for Sukuna and a more fulfilling ending? Definitely Yes.
Aparna Ukil
