Ryomen Sukuna is easily the most recognizable villain in Jujutsu Kaisen. His overconfidence and excitement toward slaughtering humanity, combined with his powerful cursed techniques, create the perfect contrast to Yuji Itadori’s rather innocent displays of power.
Despite Sukuna’s immense power, his current predicament forces a few other villains to steal the spotlight in Jujutsu Kaisen. Although the primary antagonist was introduced in the first episode, there are several other powerful villains who eventually make their debut. The King of Curses has his work cut out for him if he wants to maintain his title while trapped inside of Yuji’s body.
Updated on June 7, 2023, by Kennedy King: The release of Jujutsu Kaisen’s second season is closer than ever, so as fans excitedly anticipate its debut, it’s worth reexamining the best — and strongest — villains that have appeared in the franchise thus far.
10 Junpei Yoshino
Junpei Yoshino is the tragic character who teaches Yuji Itadori the depths of evil Curses are willing to go. He befriends Yuji shortly after Itadori becomes a Jujutsu Sorcerer. However, because of Mahito’s evil influence, Junpei is ultimately transformed into a living Curse before his friend’s very eyes.
It’s tough to call Junpei a villain because of the tragic nature of his character arc. Regardless, he becomes one of the main obstacles Yuji faces at the outset of his Jujutsu Sorcerer career. The frequently bullied high schooler isn’t impressively powerful, but if not for Yuji’s intervention, Junpei may have had even more blood on his hands.
9 The Special Grade Finger-Bearer
The first Special Grade Curse Yuji faces after his encounter with Sukuna is powered by one of Sukuna’s fingers. Even though the Curse is only in possession of a single finger, it overcomes the combined efforts of Yuji, Megumi, and Nobara.
Ryomen Sukuna’s fingers appear to amplify cursed energy, giving even minor curses the power to defeat Jujutsu Kaisen’s protagonist. Even though the cursed spirit was no match for Sukuna himself, it highlights the gap between Gojo’s students and the monsters they’re fighting.
8 Eso & Kechizu
Even though Yuji and Nobara brutally defeated Eso and Kechizu, the fight still gave the brotherly duo a chance to show off their skills. It was one of the best anime fights of the past decade, thanks to its intense choreography and non-stop action.
While they aren’t as strong as Choso, Eso and Kechizu are special-grade cursed spirits. Thus, their Innate Techniques are powerful and deadly. Eso can shoot blood out of his back to poison his enemy. When he activates Wing King, Eso doubles his mobility and area of attack. Kechizu, on the other hand, uses his Decay to infect his enemy with a pattern of flowers that decomposes their body.
7 Yoshinobu Gakuganji
It may be a bit questionable to call Yoshinobu Gakuganji a villain, but the way he seems to demand Yuji Itadori’s death is difficult to overlook. Despite his status as one of jujutsu society’s most elite figures, he refuses to side with the show’s protagonist.
This leads most viewers to perceive Yoshinobu Gakuganji as an outright villain. Although fans have yet to see Gakuganji truly display his power, his age denotes an impressive amount of experience with Cursed Techniques. He may be bested by the strongest cursed spirits, but anything that falls beneath the top tier probably couldn’t challenge him.
6 Jogo
Prior to Gojo’s battle with Jogo, Ryomen Sukuna was the only curse that appeared even remotely capable of keeping up with the limitless Jutsu Sorcerer. Although Satoru Gojo makes quick work of Jogo, even using him as a training exercise for Yuji, Jogo demonstrates an aptitude with Cursed Energy that few other characters are capable of.
Jogo is arguably the weakest of the villains plotting throughout Jujutsu Kaisen’s first season, but he has the experience his peers lack. Other than Suguru Geto, Jogo appears to have the most knowledge of jujutsu sorcery among the anime’s current group of villains.
5 Hanami
Hanami doesn’t get the chance to truly demonstrate their strength until the most recent episodes of Jujutsu Kaisen. When the Joint High School Team Battle is interrupted by a plot to steal Ryomen Sukuna’s fingers, Yuji Itadori and Aoi Todo face off against Hanami in an epic battle.
While it isn’t exactly clear who won this two-on-one matchup, Hanami proves their fortitude in the end by surviving an attack from Satoru Gojo. Few other curses have put on a display as powerful as Hanami did, and even fewer have inspired both chills and empathy from viewers.
4 Mahito
Mahito has one of the most terrifying Cursed Techniques introduced in Jujutsu Kaisen. Idle Transfiguration allows Mahito to change the shape of a human’s soul and morph their body into whatever shape he sees fit, spawning a variety of grotesque creatures that blur the line between human and Curse.
Furthermore, Mahito is one of the few Curses that’s demonstrated the ability to create a Domain Expansion. If it hadn’t been for Sukuna’s intervention, Mahito would’ve defeated both Yuji and Nanami — a Grade 1 sorcerer — in battle.
3 Toji Fushiguro
As Jujutsu Kaisen’s second season inches closer, manga readers are excited to see Toji Fushiguro’s debut on their television screens. Some argue he may even become more popular than fan favorites, like Satoru Gojo.
Toji earned the title “Sorcerer Killer” after plying his craft as a notorious hitman. If the price is right, he’ll get the job done for his clients with no questions asked. Part of what makes him so scary is that, since he doesn’t have cursed energy, he can sneak up on any jujutsu sorcerer — including the powerful Satoru Gojo. This gives Toji a major advantage that complements his tremendous physical abilities.
2 Suguru Geto
Suguru Geto is one of the few Jujutsu Sorcerers who’ve earned Satoru Gojo’s respect. His Cursed Technique allows him to control cursed spirits by consuming them, similar to how Megumi Fushiguro’s powers function. In Jujutsu Kaisen 0, Geto harnesses the power of four thousand curses to attack Yuta. It takes everything that the young sorcerer has to stop the villain’s onslaught.
The fact Suguru Geto is powerful enough to barter with three special-grade curses is impressive. However, the most dedicated “Suguru” fans recognize the man in the main series isn’t actually Geto — it’s someone using his corpse as a puppet.
1 Ryomen Sukuna
The King of Curses is easily the most powerful villain in Jujutsu Kaisen. It seems that every time Sukuna or Gojo make it on-screen, the limits of Jujutsu Sorcery expand. Fans should remember it was Sukuna who first introduced Domain Expansion in order to defeat a Special Grade Curse.
On a completely separate occasion, Sukuna proves to be a thorn in Mahito’s side without even having to take over Yuji’s body. If the King of Curses is untouchable even when caged inside Yuji’s body, there may be no limit to his strength when he is finally released.
