riel 😮

Sukuna's backstory remains a mystery. Most of the information revealed about Sukuna comes from other characters, so others tend to shape how readers view his backstory. The most objective depiction of Sukuna's past comes from Yorozu's flashback, when he sits alone with Uraume by his side. Even then, Yorozu's own memories shape his attitude and the scenario Gege depicts of this past event. Honestly, he looks bored.

My analysis will be dedicated to Yuji, Yuta, and Maki respectively. I will demonstrate the ways that the three of them act as foils to Sukuna, and explore what they may reveal about him and his true nature.

Yuji is Sacrificial Love

Similar to Sukuna, people other than Yuji shape the way readers understand his past. Kenjaku and Wasuke have revealed all the information readers knows about Yuji's past as a child made to house Sukuna.

Throughout the story, Yuji repeatedly demonstrates his willingness to sacrifice himself for others. Yuji ate Sukuna's finger to save Megumi, he accepted death by Sukuna to save Megumi, and he planned to let Angel kill him to save Megumi. Each scenario was meant to kill Yuji, yet he acted without fear each time.

Yuji's sacrificial love, seemingly targeted directly to Megumi, reveals his fatal flaw. His resignation to death can be read as a coping mechanism for giving up early. For example, after Shibuya, Yuji was ready to quit right there due to the guilt of what Sukuna had done. Todo's speech gave him new hope to fight, yet Yuji relapsed after meeting Hana. His readiness to kill himself to save Megumi reflects his desire to do the "easy thing."

Yuji's sacrificial love also marks him as a hero. Sukuna has tried to break his spirit, but Yuji remains steadfast in his beliefs that love prevails.

Yuji's love for others shapes his steadfast will that motivates him to fight, despite his painful losses. Yet, Yuji has a strange discernment for his own responsibility that's informed by his inclination to self-sacrifice. He places the blame of Sukuna's actions onto himself; instead of advocating for his own autonomy that obviously challenges Sukuna's, he readily accepts a death sentencing from Judgeman. Yuji's selfless nature, as opposed to Sukuna, actually makes him too eager to take responsibility for others' actions. In return, Sukuna's selfishness grounds him in reality and informs his awareness of his own responsibility. Sukuna would never think of feeling responsible of anything Yuji does.

Yuji's extreme selfless nature represents why he and Sukuna directly oppose each other. Sukuna refers to himself as human in the past tense, meaning he sees himself as having evolved beyond that condition. Uraume echoed something similar to Hakari. Yuji's fears that lead him to immediately choosing his own death over others' shape his humanity, and according to Sukuna and Uraume, shackles him from his own growth. To put it simply, Yuji is willing to go down without a fight if it means saving others. This attitude is what marks him as the sacrificial hero.

I wager that Yuji's story will end as a tragedy. He will likely sacrifice himself to stop Sukuna, as he planned to do for Megumi anyway. Kenjaku declared that as long as Yuji and Sukuna exist, bad things will keep happening. Since birth, Yuji has been tied to Sukuna and remains the only person who can host him without immediately losing control. Even if circumstances may not demand it from him, Yuji would likely jump to the opportunity to sacrifice himself for Megumi and everyone else.

Sukuna is someone who only takes responsibility for himself and no one else; his disregard for love reflects this attitude.

This juxtaposition between himself and Yuji leads to his disgust at the hero willing to sacrifice himself at every chance he gets.

Yuji loves to a fault. He cannot discern his own autonomy apart from Sukuna's which only reinforces his own self-sacrificial nature until it reaches extremes.

In opposition to Yuji, Sukuna demonstrates complete selfishness, isolation, and lovelessness.

Yuta and Harmonious Love

As established above, Sukuna represents isolation and lovelessness. Uro warned Yuta that for him to gain power and transcend, discarding love and becoming a calamity would be an inevitable step in his path. Yet, Yuta disagreed and regards himself as being blessed.

There are two main implications to Yuta's blessed distinction:

Yuta's willingness to love and be loved makes him blessed.

The use of the word "blessed" directly juxtaposes Sukuna, who is called the disgraced one.

Just after Ryu says he doesn't understand why he's blessed, Yuta continues with the plan he and his friends made to save Tsumiki.

Gege uses Yuta and Rika to represent an idea of harmonious, mutual love via wedding motifs. To activate his true power where he harmonizes with Rika, Yuta dons a ring on his fourth finger, which is commonly considered the finger for a wedding band. His domain expansion has even more wedding themes that accentuate this motif.

Yuta's power comes directly from his love for his friends and Rika. It's unquestionable and true; Gege uses Yuta to show an idea of true love rooted in adolescent bonds. While he and Rika were only kids when they promised to marry one another, Yuta felt so powerfully about this promise that it still affects him years later.

Uro's warning to Yuta was useless, because his true power relies on love. Yuta can't "awaken" any kind of powerup that would force his story to resemble Sukuna's or become a calamity in the same way as him. Sukuna's loveless nature directly contradicts the source of Yuta's power. Yuta will not become a calamity like Sukuna because it contradicts his story's foundation and the literal source of his power.

Uro's comments reveal that somehow, and at some point, Sukuna's growth caused him to cast away his "humanity" and become a calamity.

Yuta and Rika's love boosted her power so much that even Sukuna refers to her as the Queen of Curses, in recognition of her strength.

Maki is a Rational Love

Maki is the one of the three that resembles Sukuna the most, in terms of characterization and sensibilities. I have already gone into great detail about the ways Gege has tied their characters together since Hidden Inventory, so I will casually reference information such as their paralleled connection to Gojo and Toji.

While the backstab in 251 cemented the connection between the Toji -> Gojo and Maki -> Sukuna, the fight in 253 developed the more immediate motivations within the narrative between the two. The art and Sukuna's monologue demonstrated how tied these two have become. Toji and Gojo act as a narrative vehicle to foreshadow the events of this final duel. Yet, the events of 253 finally give both Maki and Sukuna a reason between the two of them to fight with everything on the line. 253 provides the appropriate stakes for their clash.

Sukuna seeks to prove the might of jujutsu sorcery over a power that rejects it, and ultimately him as the greatest sorcerer in history.

Maki must end this now. Yuta has been cut down and Maki feels it's now her responsibility to kill Sukuna or things will only continue to get worse.

Throughout the chapter, Gege depicts both Maki and Sukuna with shadows obscuring their faces and bodies, demonstrating a shared darkness within them.

Both monsters seek to eliminate the other, creating a drastic scenario for Maki to end the battle so her injured friends don't have to fight anymore. Sukuna has finally found an opponent that makes him excited and has pushed him to use more of his power. The difference in their motivations exemplify their relationship to love and their own egos.

Maki represents someone who refuses to allow love to hold her back from her own potential.

Sukuna casts love aside and seeks only power, from himself and others.

Both Maki and Sukuna put themselves and their own power first. While Sukuna discards love, Maki holds onto her bonds with her friends and sees herself as a protective force. Her desire to protect Yuta from Sukuna exemplifies her obvious capacity for love, and her role as a protector.

___

What do Yuji, Yuta, and Maki reveal about Sukuna?

Uraume distinguishes a human from whatever they represent. When they acknowledge Hakari's powerful reverse cursed technique as being above Gojo and Sukuna, Uraume no longer sees him as human. Not only is it Hakari's rct that makes Uraume respect him, but also his willingness to sacrifice his body to fight. The ascension, or change, that Uraume describes requires both power and the will to use it.

Sukuna's title as "the fallen/ disgraced one" will likely be tied to Uraume's idea of a being who transcends their own inherit humanity. Sukuna sees himself as someone who stands alone as the greatest, and he reached that peak with a purpose to maintain it. Yorozu, Gojo, and Kashimo's sympathy for him reads more like projection rather than a real understanding of Sukuna. Uraume and Sukuna both describe themselves as something better and other than human; this distinction may be apart of Sukuna's real cursed technique and his hidden past.

Notes:

Since joining jjk reddit, I realize many people already assumed Yuta or Yuji would be tasked with ending Sukuna. I truly am in the minority here LMAO.

Since Maki's arc began, Gege always begins her big fights with two prerequisites: she starts off with confidence against her opponent, but then they overwhelm her. At the end of the chapter, she's seemingly killed off. She always gets back up and fights even harder than before after an awakening of some sort.

Maki also proved to be a protective force over Mai. Even though they had yet to truly make up for Maki abandoning the clan, Maki still returned with the intent of saving Mai from them. She refused to stay with the Zenin and be belittled, but she also refused to allow them to kill her sister.