The most memorable deaths in JJK

Deaths in Shonen anime are usually only saved for a few main characters during a season's run. Often no main character dies at all. This makes sense, assuming the target demographic is teenage boys who are taught the power of friendship, morals and not giving up. But Jujutsu Kaisen's author, Gege Akutami, finds almost pleasure in killing his characters.

With a show that doesn't shy away from killing off its actors, some deaths will be more impactful than others. Here are the most memorable and shocking deaths in Jujutsu Kaisen, from characters no one expected to die, to characters who had death flags, but died in a way that made fans feel bad.

Needless to say: spoilers ahead!

8

Nanami Kento

Nanami's death might not be the most shocking on the list, but it was certainly one of the saddest. He didn't want to continue being a wizard, abandoning his desires to a sense of responsibility. In his final moments, he was too exhausted to even think straight and instead fantasized about taking a vacation in Malaysia.

The death accelerated Yuji's mental breakdown, and such a fan favorite of many dying set a standard for how serious the Culling Games arc would become.

7

Ryomen Sukuna

Sukuna dying wasn't shocking at all. Being the main antagonist, him dying at the hands of Yuji was more a matter of when than if. Still, the actual death came as a surprise because of how it was handled. This was mainly because the damage done to Sukuna was not fully visible, instead targeting the connection between his and Megumi's souls.

Where other bosses get progressively bloodier and weaker visually, it seemed like Sukuna went straight from holding her own to being reduced to a puddle. Sukuna's final statement about destroying everything Yuji holds dear also made his sad state just a single chapter later much weaker. There was never a single moment where you could feel that Yuji might lose.

A few more chapters might have allowed Akutami to flesh out the climax better, but Sukuna's disembodied state at the end is still a shockingly pathetic display of the greatest wizard of all time, and is a very fitting end to someone as hedonistic as the King of Curses.

6

Junpei

Jujutsu Kaisen was always a dark manga, but being a shonen, fans were led to believe that character deaths would not be a big part of the series. Although Junpei initially seemed like a good person driven to commit evil acts when he asked Mahito to get revenge on his bullies, it still seemed like he would eventually join our main cast as a powerful sorcerer. But Mahito killed him on a whim in front of Yuji.

There were a lot of red herrings that made you think Junpei would be a recurring character. Everything from him having his own cursed technique to the Jujutsu Kaisen opening showing Junpei joining our cast in the Jujutsu High uniform was done on purpose to make his eventual death hit hard. Junpei was the first person Yuji failed to save after becoming a wizard, and his death was the beginning of many of JJK's integral themes.

5

Nobara Kugisaki

Nobara isn't exactly dead, we saw her come back in all her glory in the series finale. But she still died most of the time, shocking not only Yuji, but Jujutsu Kaisen fans everywhere. Mahito killed her right in front of Yuji after the latter had already witnessed Nanami's death, driving Yuji into a deeply troubled state until he recovered due to Todo's help.

What makes Nobara's death hit so hard is that no one expects any of the main trio of protagonists to die before the final battle. She didn't even have a full battle with Mahito, and he diverted his attention between Nobara and Yuji. Nobara's death was one of the saddest and most well executed in JJK and worked wonderfully to make you hate Mahito even more, just like Yuji.

4

Tsumiki Fushigoro

The reason Megumi, one of the protagonist trio that the story follows, considered herself a wizard was for the sake of her sick sister. This drive for his character was one of the plot points fans were most looking forward to seeing resolved.

Tsumiki's body was still alive after Yorozu possessed her, but she died along with Yorozu during her battle with Sukuna.

However, the resolution came very abruptly, and it was the opposite of what was expected. Instead of Tsumiki reuniting with Megumi in a candid moment or displaying her own cursed technique, it was revealed that her body had been overtaken by the reincarnated sorcerer and Sukuna's admirer, Yorozu. Although anticlimactic to some, this death escalated Megumi's mental downfall, eventually leading to his being taken over by Sukuna.

3

Yuki

This is where the deaths start to become more controversial. Where the previous entries were all well received, from here on out they were shocking in part because of how disappointing they were. While still well written, some of the character resolutions seem like Gege just finished them and didn't want to explore their ideas further.

It took all of Yuki's will and concentration and the full power of Tengen's barrier to stop Yuki's ability from consuming the entire world.

Yuki is such a character. Despite being a special class like Gojo and Kenjaku, she wasn't properly introduced until much later. Even then, despite being hyped as one of the strongest alive, she only had a single fight before she was killed. Adding to the damage is that she has an ability stronger than even Gojo's Hollow Purple, where her black hole is stated to have the ability to destroy the entire world if Yuki so desired.

Also, Kenjaku surviving against such a strong ability only because he just happened to have the perfect opposite of it makes her loss even harder to accept.

2

Kenjaku

While Sukuna held the title of main antagonist in the series due to her sheer power, Kenjaku was technically the mastermind behind every accident experienced by the cast in the show. From cultivating Mahito to bringing the Disaster Curses together for a plan, and even taking hundreds of years to organize the Culling Games, not to mention creating Yuji as a vessel for Sukuna, it's not easy to say that the series wouldn't have existed without him.

Many expected him to eventually betray Sukuna and end up as the final villain the cast must defeat, but it never came. Kenjaku didn't even survive as long as Sukuna, nor did he get any proper fighters against the main cast. He was killed by a sneak attack made by Yuta, and his literary character was massacred along with his in-universe body, leaving fans shocked and even disappointed.

1

Goodbye

Gojo vs. Sukuna, the battle between the strongest wizard of today against the strongest wizard of the past. This was the highest stakes in all of Jujutsu Kaisen, causing even those unaware of the series to keep up with each new chapter release.

Although it was mostly even, Gojo had a clear upper hand. He reset all the damage he took, got his healing back, and was even able to cast his domain expansion after hitting a Black Flash, where Sukuna was on her last legs. The fight seemed to be over, with Gojo a clear winner. The narrator even said that Gojo had won.

Sukuna killed Gojo by using a binding vow that allowed him to target the very world with his cursed technique, negating Gojo's Infinity.

And then Gojo was cut in half. Whether or not the surprise was welcome is another debate entirely, but no one can disagree that it was one of the most shocking moments in all of anime. The strongest may lose, and they may even die in other series, but Gojo's off-screen death after being named the winner will forever be Gege's most controversial decision.