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Satoru knows he is the strongest. Even from a young age, he understands this. He also likes being strong. He genuinely enjoys being able to fight at such a high level.

But although he's always had pride in his strength, as we see whenever he declares, "We're/I'm the strongest" unwaveringly, and although he teases others about his strength in comparison to them, as we see when he calls Utahime weak and tells Ijichi to stop trying to be a sorcerer and get a driver's license or else he'll smack Ijichi, he doesn't take glee in it. It might amuse him, but it doesn't satisfy him to be "above" others. He is satisfied and pleased with his strength in and of itself. Not about having strength over others.

This is in direct contrast to Sukuna. A perfect example of this contrast is during the Shibuya Incident when Sukuna tells Kusakabe, Panda, Suda, and Negi not to move as Jogo's Maximum Meteor is coming down on them. He knows they need to flee in order not to die. He knows he has no interest in whether they live or die. He knows he has no interest in fighting them. But he also knows that he is strong and they are weak.

If he tells them not to move or else he'll kill them, they will freeze and not move. Because they want to live. And they cannot stop Sukuna from killing them if he so chooses. And yet... They are standing still as death in the form of a meteor inches closer and closer by the second. They freeze and ignore their human instinct to run away because they know they have a higher chance of survival even if they run at the last second than they do against Sukuna. So they desperately wait for his permission to move.

But why does Sukuna do this? What purpose does this serve Sukuna?

None. Absolutely none. He does it simply because he can.

He is the boy who holds the magnifying glass over the ants on a sunny day.

I'm strong, you're weak. And that brings me glee.

Satoru does not do things like this. He gets no satisfaction or enjoyment from such a thing. So who he is to his strength is a matter of pride. Not arrogance. The difference between being proud or being arrogant is how you use what it is you have on others. Satoru uses his strength to defend, to help, to protect, to achieve a better world. He may not do it solely from a place of altruism, he may weigh the benefits of his choices between the individual and the whole, the immediate and the future, and he may make choices that are morally grey, but he uses his strength for others.

Sukuna uses his strength for himself. He uses his strength to oppress and subjugate others. That is arrogance.

But when we look at how Satoru perceives and understands the impact of his strength? That is where his hubris lies. And we see it over and over again.

This is why I call it "imperceptible" hubris. It is not something Satoru ever sees in himself. We know this because he never corrects himself. Never does anything to stop the hubris from making him complacent. It is also not something others usually see in him because Satoru's strength is a protector, a defender, a mentor for them. They don't see that being the strongest doesn't mean complete control. In their minds, if Satoru is handling it, then all will be handled.

As soon as GG introduces Satoru, he shows us what he intends with this character. He shows us Satoru's hubris by first showing us how Satoru expects things to happen when he decides to act, and then he shows us how things can happen outside of Satoru's expectation even when he does act.

Satoru has good reason to have his expectations. He is the strongest. I've stated this before, but if Satoru chooses to act, his will will be done. Just like Sukuna with the meteor example. Who can stop him? Who can go against him? Who can overpower him? Who even wants to attempt that? Satoru is well aware of his power. Of his physical strength and his political might. He is a Gojo. He is a Gojo who has the Six Eyes and Limitless. He is a Gojo who has the Six Eyes and Limitless and meets the prophecy of what that means in the jujutsu world. He is The Honored One.

There is a reason that as a teen, he easily considers letting Amanai choose not to merge with Tengen. Even knowing that that could mean fighting against Tengen herself, he suggests this to Suguru. There is a reason that as a teen he is flippant and at ease during the majority of that mission. There is a reason that even when Toji catches him off guard and stabs him through the back, he lifts his hand and dismisses Suguru to continue on ahead. Says he'll catch up. He'll handle Toji alone.

It's because Satoru knows that if he chooses to act, his will will be done. Because he is just that strong. But this is only true on the surface. True in what Satoru can control. While Satoru is just that strong, he is not a god. He cannot control everything. He cannot be everywhere at once. He cannot be privy to all information. He cannot overcome reality. So what develops in response to this overwhelming strength is an insidious complacency.

I believe the Star Plasma Vessel mission and its fallout was the first time in Satoru's life when things did not go as he expected even though he took action. He whisks Amanai away from the city. He overexerts himself by using Limitless constantly day and night so no one can dare get close. Even when Toji attacks, Satoru attacks back, using his strongest ability at the time - Maximum Output: Blue. But what happens?

Amanai is killed. The mission is a failure. Tengen doesn't merge with her. The seed of disillusionment is planted in Suguru.

Why? Why does this happen when Satoru is the strongest?

Now, for us readers, we see Satoru for the first time after he has already experienced that moment in his youth. We don't yet know about it. We don't yet know that Satoru has experienced this failure. We see him as an adult first, handling the unexpected issue of the King of Curses appearing in a random boy.

Satoru sent Megumi on the mission to deal with Sukuna's finger. Clearly, he deemed Megumi capable of handling it, or, at the very least, wanted to see how well Megumi would do before he intervened. When Satoru does intervene, this is the first time we see Satoru's strength. It is striking how concerned Megumi is about what Sukuna can do because Satoru behaves as if Megumi's concern is a silly thing. There is no cause for concern. Of course Satoru won't be hurt by Sukuna. Of course this mission isn't out of control. Of course whatever is happening can be easily solved.

Because Satoru has decided to act.

Satoru tests out Yuji's ability to control Sukuna and has a little fun slapping Sukuna around while doing it. He knows he can deal with whatever this is. No problem. Satoru can deal with anything. So we, the reader, believe this too.

This is further cemented when we're informed that Satoru has gotten the Higher Ups to agree to let Yuji live. The highest power in jujutsu society, a body of sorcerers from the Three Big Families who work in tandem with the Prime Minister of Japan, a group comprised of members who are older and more experienced than Satoru agree to listen to Satoru and completely change their decision/ruling. Satoru comes in and waves his hand at them:

No. Postpone the boy's execution.

And they do. Because Satoru said so. Again, Satoru chose to act, and so his will was done.

But... This is where GG shows us his hand.

Because the Higher Ups don't actually agree. They agree to Satoru's face. And then they turn around and create a plot to have Yuji killed anyway while Satoru is away.

Now, the logical and sensible thing that we all know to be true is that not everything goes your way. That you cannot control other people. That people will try to accomplish their goals regardless of you trying to stop them. That even if they're met with an immovable wall, people will just find the tiniest opening to slip through. This is reality. Satoru is subject to this same reality, regardless of his strength. And Satoru knows that.

... Doesn't he?

Let's look at Satoru's response to the Higher Ups attempting to kill Yuji. His anger in the morgue with Ijichi and Shoko is twofold. That Yuji, a kid that he's already incorporated into his plan for the future, is suddenly dead. But another part of this anger is that his action with the Higher Ups didn't prevent it.

Look at what he says at the beginning of this scene about stopping Yuji's execution:

"I did the impossible..."

He is well aware that his ability to get the Higher Ups to agree to indefinitely postponing Yuji's execution was unprecedented. But of course, as Gojo Satoru, he was able to accomplish it.

And then, "Shall I go ahead and kill all those guys at the top?"

This isn't a response of vengeance. This isn't a response of morality. This is the response of Satoru seeing that the Higher Ups have circumvented Satoru's will when he already acted to exert it, and so they will absolutely do it again. ...Unless they're dead. Then they can't. But, of course, Satoru does not do such a thing. Because he knows something very important about lasting change. He knows that the only way to make true change, to make the change last, and not be like what happened here with Yuji and the Higher Ups is for it to be a choice. He wants others to choose change for jujutsu society because they believe, just like him, that it's the right/best choice.

I want to return to Satoru's youth one more time. Because it is here where Satoru learns this lesson about the futility of exerting his will on others to achieve the lasting change he desires.

He learns this lesson because of Suguru's defection.

When Suguru becomes disillusioned after the SPV mission, it is a horrific shock to Satoru. He is stunned by Suguru's massacre of the village and his own parents. He is in denial about it even as Yaga tells him that Suguru's residuals were obvious at the scene. He even goes to Shinjuku to meet with Suguru to talk it out.

Satoru does not go to Shinjuku with the intent to apprehend or kill Suguru. He goes there to get Suguru to explain. He goes there to tell Suguru how stupid he's being and that he needs to stop. Satoru speaks to Suguru in Shinjuku as if Satoru has the ability to bring Suguru back into the fold.

But this is not true.

No matter what Satoru did in that moment, it wouldn't have made any difference. Suguru was gone from him. However, Satoru didn't accept that.

Satoru's response to Suguru during this brief conversation is initially one of confusion. He doesn't understand what Suguru is saying, what he's implying. It's as if Suguru is speaking riddles to him. Only once Suguru draws a line in the sand between them by asking that infamous question and turning his back does Satoru raise his hand to kill Suguru. And the way Gege draws Satoru's expression is so significant.

It's quite similar to the face he made when Toji stabbed him with the Inverted Spear of Heaven and he almost died.

Shock. Disbelief. Fear. Refusal to accept.

I don't think Satoru ever made a conscious decision to kill Suguru in Shinjuku. I think he held his hands up out of desperation. A fear response of, 'I need to make this stop' because the conversation spun out of Satoru's control. Out of Satoru's ability to fix. And although we know it was never in Satoru's control, he did not know that.

Satoru is used to his strength being the deciding factor if he chooses to step in. He can change whatever is happening in that moment just by deciding to exert his strength. To me, Satoru's raised hands here are like scrabbling at the edge of the cliff as you start to fall. Not even a real conscious thought. A startle response. A panic response.

But he doesn't release the attack. Why? Because he knows that what he wants is for Suguru to always stand beside him. If he exerts his strength onto Suguru, his will will be done. He can overpower Suguru. He can capture him. Kill him. But Satoru will not get what he wants. That lasting change of having Suguru back by his side forever? He cannot make that happen by exerting his strength on Suguru. Suguru has decided to leave, and only Suguru can choose to stay.

This is why Satoru intervenes so rarely as an adult. Because of Suguru's defection he has learned that it is best to use his strength for others instead of on others. He doesn't want to force others with his strength because it is only temporary. He wants this new generation of jujutsu to be built from everyone choosing a better future. That's his dream. His ideal. The one that was born from Suguru's defection.

"I can only save those who are already prepared to be saved by others."

What is accomplished if he forces others into a changed position with his strength? Nothing. Nothing truly changes. Not systemically. It only "changes" so long as Satoru exerts that force. Once he stops, it reverts. So he realizes he must be selective with when he chooses to act.

This is a great thing. It is an amazing thing for someone like Satoru to realize and understand. As we've already done, if we compare this aspect of Satoru to Sukuna, we clearly see the difference between Sukuna's arrogance and Satoru's pride.

The interesting part with Satoru is when he does choose to act and it doesn't go his way.

"Hubris often indicates a loss of contact with reality and an overestimation of one's own competence, accomplishments, or capabilities." I'm quoting the wonderful person who put this in the Wikipedia article about hubris because I think it's perfect.

The reality is that the Higher Ups went behind Satoru's back to kill Yuji. The reality is that Toji waited Satoru out and attacked him, overwhelmed him, and killed Amanai. The reality is that Suguru wasn't okay and lost himself more and more over the following year until he broke.

Satoru believed that he did everything to prevent these things/stop these things from happening.

I am not blaming Satoru for these things happening. That is not what this about. My point is exactly the opposite. That Satoru cannot control these things. He cannot control the Higher Ups plotting. He cannot control someone's else's ability to attack him. He cannot control his friend's emotional wellbeing.

But he has acted as if he can. In each situation, he actively chose to behave as if he had solved the problem and nothing further could happen.

This is his hubris. The complacency. The knowledge and understanding within himself that he is so strong, so powerful, so capable of altering the very balance of the world he was born into just by deciding to act, that he does not ever believe that his action will fail or be successfully challenged.

This is his "loss of contact with reality." Reality is that no one, not even the strongest, can control all things. But Satoru overestimates the impact of his strength when he chooses to exert it. So he often misses opportunities to act.

I do not think Satoru is ever aware of this hubris in himself. I wonder if it's even something he could gain awareness of. Is it the natural weakness of being the strongest? Because if it is all so easy for you, you begin to expect that it will all be so easy for you. How can you not? Maybe it's an inevitability? Perhaps a paradox? Satoru is so strong that his confidence in his ability is merited, but that exact same confidence is what leads him to becoming blind to the possibility of something happening regardless. I believe this is what GG chose to explore with Satoru.

As I stated, JJK repeats this pattern with Satoru throughout the entire manga. We are shown again and again how Satoru can choose to step in and alter the course of what's happening with the ease of lifting one finger.

Look at his first fight with Jogo. He toys with Jogo. He runs off to grab Yuji and bring him to the fight as a spectator so he can learn through observation. Look at the Goodwill Exchange arc. When the cursed spirits put up the curtain to block Satoru and attack the students, everyone, including Gakuganji and Utahime, are fighting hard. Satoru, on the other hand, enters calmly and attacks who he wants to with ease while the other enemies flee because of his entrance.

GG makes a conscious effort to draw Satoru's expressions and movements as calm and minimal even while he attacks. Everyone else is incredibly dynamic, facial expressions dramatic, poses and scratch lines indicating their quick and harsh movements. It gives them the impression of intense exertion in comparison to Satoru. Where Satoru can walk and lift a hand to attack, they must thrust their entire body into it.

Even look at how he initially navigates the Shibuya Incident. No matter what they throw at him, no matter how much pressure they put on him, no matter how thoroughly they try to target him specifically, Satoru is able to overcome it all and best them. I want to stress that even here, Satoru is not breaking a sweat.

He overwhelms Hanami and Jogo easily. It is not close. They are barely making him work. Even when Mahito joins, it's not Mahito that proves challenging. The challenge comes from Satoru having to navigate what to do about the large volume of non-sorcerers in the way/getting slaughtered. Even then, he just chooses to exert a heightened burst of strength to put an end to it all within seconds. He makes it stop because he chooses to make it stop.

But then, GG will turn around and show us something that Satoru could not control. That a potentially preventable issue has turned into a horrifying, monumental issue even though Satoru was certain that his decision to act ensured that it would not be an issue.

Yuji died that day during the Cursed Womb mission. Satoru made the Higher Ups postpone Yuji's execution, so Satoru thought Yuji would not be killed. And yet...he was. This then leads to Sukuna being able to gain access to Megumi during the Culling Games.

Satoru was overwhelmed by Toji during the SPV mission. As discussed above, Satoru takes Amanai to Okinawa, constantly uses Limitless, and attacks Toji with all his might. He believes he can handle it all. And yet...he fails. This then leads to Toji killing Amanai, the merge with Tengen never happening, and Suguru becoming so disillusioned that he becomes the worst curse user in history.

The biggest example of this, of course, is what happens with Suguru's body.

We are never given the full picture of what Satoru does with Suguru's body after he kills him. We only know that he does not cremate the body, he does not give the body to Shoko, and he must leave the body somewhere it can be found and accessed.

We know Satoru is the one who last had access to Suguru's body upon his death because Satoru is the one who killed him. No one else was even around. When Satoru meets up with his students after, where is Suguru's body at this point? We don't know. But Satoru must've placed it somewhere. Why was Suguru not cremated upon his death? It could make sense for it not to happen immediately if Shoko was "making use" of Suguru's body. This is what Satoru told Shoko to do with Yuji when he died. To "make use" of Yuji's body by examining it through dissection. Why did the same not happen with Suguru's body?

So this must mean that Suguru's body was stored somewhere. Why? For what purpose? Satoru didn't return to it, or else it was stored in a way that he couldn't look at it directly if he did return because he would've realized when Kenjaku took it. Kenjaku had to have taken Suguru's body quickly after death in order to get it before decomposition made it unusable for his purposes. Plus, we know that Suguru was killed Christmas 2017, and by July 2018, Kenjaku is already in cahoots with Jogo, Hanami, and Mahito.

Now, I don't say any of this to blame Satoru for Kenjaku's actions. Just as I mentioned with the Higher Ups trying to kill Yuji, it is a universal truth that things don't always happen the way we want them to, even when we take action to make them happen the way we want. Satoru didn't know about Kenjaku's existence or Cursed Technique. It's not like he intentionally left Suguru's body available while knowing that there was a curse user capable of doing such a thing.

He wasn't thinking about the possibility of someone being able to use Suguru's body in this way. But...that's precisely it. He wasn't thinking about anything happening to Suguru's body because he already acted to keep Suguru's body where/how he wanted it. Satoru chose not to cremate Suguru. Chose not to give Suguru's body to Shoko. If Suguru had been killed by any other sorcerer, they would have done that.

Japan has the highest cremation rate in the world. 99.9% of people who die are cremated. Not only is this due to space limitations preventing burial from being logistically possible, but it is also a deeply ingrained cultural practice.

Satoru killed Suguru in isolation and secretly took his body somewhere. He made that choice. It wasn't negligence, it was a purposeful decision.

Because he never believed that anything could happen because he exerted his will to keep Suguru's body.

This decision has large reaching ramifications, as we know. Arguably, this one has the biggest ripple effect. I would say it's the one that illustrates Satoru's hubris the best.

For 10 years, Satoru chose to do nothing about Suguru. Satoru was the only one capable of killing Suguru during this time. Even Yuta didn't kill Suguru with Pure Love. Severely wounded him, yes, but didn't kill him. Suguru was able to get away and was muttering about what he'd do "next time." Granted, that could have been delusional, but we have no reason to believe he was on death's door after his fight with Yuta. He could no longer fight and needed to retreat and heal, but he wasn't taking his last breath. Otherwise, why would Satoru need to step in and take him out?

So Satoru chose to finally take action and kill Suguru. Killing Suguru meant that his body was then capable of being used by Kenjaku. Kenjaku was unable to use Suguru while he was still alive. Kenjaku did not have the strength to kill Suguru, or else he would've done it. He needed Suguru to die somehow, and Satoru killed him.

And then Satoru used his strength to do something else. He kept Suguru's body.

The greatest curse user in history attacks all of jujutsu society in 2 cities simultaneously. All sorcerers are on alert and involved in defending against the attack. Thousands of curses are released. The sorcerers even meet in advance to come up with a plan of defense. And yet... they all just take Satoru's word for it that Suguru's been killed? Yes, they have no reason to believe Satoru would lie or protect a curse user, but did no one question what he did with the body?

The impact of this is cataclysmic.

Kenjaku gains access to Suguru's CT. Satoru is sealed in the Prison Realm. This then leads to the Culling Games.

I want to be clear once more that I do not do this analysis to blame Satoru or claim that he could have prevented any of these things we've examined from happening and becoming issues. This analysis is only for one purpose. It is to cast a spotlight on what I believe GG wanted to convey:

To show how human Satoru is.

The strongest has the exact same weakness as everyone else. He is human.

I believe that is the purpose of Satoru's hubris. You can be the -est, but you are still human. Satoru is the strongest, so he should be able to do anything, to make anything happen. But he doesn't. He can't. And it's not because he isn't truly the strongest.

It is simply because he is human.

Why did Satoru not do better due diligence with Yuji after he convinced the Higher Ups not the execute him? He knows the Higher Ups. He's butted heads with them for years at this point. He knows the jujutsu world. He, himself, calls them cowards because they want to kill Yuji because they're afraid of Sukuna. Why did he not keep a better eye on Yuji or put better safety measures in place to protect Yuji when he went on his business trip?

Why did Satoru suggest spending an extra day in Okinawa to make Amanai happy when he knew it was exhausting him? Why did he dismiss Suguru to keep going ahead with Amanai rather than letting Suguru fight Toji alongside him?

Why did Satoru stop at merely asking Suguru if he'd lost weight? Why didn't he question his best friend further?

Why did Satoru take his time with Jogo the first time they fought rather than taking him out then and there since he was clearly a curse much stronger than any they had ever encountered before?

Why didn't Satoru cremate Suguru's body?

Because he didn't think he needed to.

That's it. It's that simple. He didn't think he needed to. That's hubris. That's complacency. That's the overestimation of the impact of his strength. That's the loss of contact with reality.

Because the reality is - Satoru is not all-powerful. Satoru is not a god. He is a man. So his one action may not be enough to prevent an issue.

This is what I mean by Satoru missing opportunities to take action.

He could have done more. He has the ability, the opportunity, and the knowledge to do more. It may not have changed any of these events...but it might have. It might have changed it a little. Again, this is not blame. These things didn't happen because Satoru did or didn't do something. They happened because they happened. But Satoru had opportunity to do something more, and yet we see him choose not to again and again because he believes he has already handled it.

And this is exactly why Satoru dies. It's why GG knew from the very beginning that he was going to have Satoru die. Because he knew that he was creating a character who would be the strongest and that a significant part of his thematic exploration of that would be about the humanness that still exists even in such strength.

Satoru's imperceptible hubris is the sole reason why he dies.

He does not believe that he will die. He does not believe he will lose to Sukuna. So he acts as if he's already won before the fight is over.

An official Jujutsu Kaisen exhibition was held in Osaka and Tokyo in 2025. It featured behind-the-scenes material, GG's commentary, and both exhibitions also included Q & A sessions.

GG said:

He was in a unique position where he knows the consequences and weight of being the strongest but he was also pulled down to Earth when he couldn't become stronger like Gojou did with each passing day after his own defeat by Toji.

Getou could understand Gojou and that wasn't enough, because Gojou would never know what it feels like to fall and stay on the ground, sinking deeper and deeper, because he'd never been in that position before and the mere thought is inconceivable.

His sheer confidence and belief in himself is what pushes people away from him when he inadvertently expects others to be as solid as he is, never considering that no one else has the solid foundations he stood on that worrying becomes less of a rational response to chaos but more like a waste of his time and emotions.

It's not to label apathy when Gojou's certainty in his own capacity to be the strongest makes him neglects to consider other conditions at play, even if it may come across as that.

He truly cares about other people's lives, to the point where he has a rule in his youth to never kill anyone without purpose.

Though, instead of pushing back against how people perceive his status and position, he steps away from any chance of it because he knows it deep in himself that once a situation comes up where he remains standing and they fall down... they'll resent him for it again.

Gojou makes fun of the weak because he doesn't trust them to be stable the way he can be. If he trusted them, he would have risked forming relationships and understanding with those around him.

He subconsciously set that boundary between himself and everyone, perhaps after Suguru's defection, or it's possible it was already there before then.

The only ones ever coming close to seeing him the way he wants to be seen were Yuta and Yuuji. Both were his students whom he had placed enormous hope and trust in their future, all because of their potential for strength, perseverance, and humanity.