Jujutsu Kaisen’s Strongest Character Is Actually a Disappointment

WARNING: This article contains major spoilers for the Jujutsu Kaisen manga, including plot points that have not been shown in the anime as of 2024.

The popular anime series Jujutsu Kaisen, created by Gege Akutami, is nearing the end of its manga run, bringing its most powerful characters together for a final battle. However, one of Jujutsu Kaisen’s presumably strongest characters has quickly proven himself to be a complete disappointment.

Who Is the Strongest Character in Jujutsu Kaisen?

There are a number of contenders for the strongest character in Jujutsu Kaisen, with some of the more noteworthy figures being veteran Jujutsu Sorcerer Satoru Gojo and the ancient living curse Ryomen Sukuna. However, pulling the strings for much of the series is the villainous mastermind Kenjaku, who is responsible for some of the greatest defeats and setbacks that the Jujutsu Sorcerers suffer over the course of the story. What Kenjaku lacks in raw power compared to some of the other characters in Jujutsu Kaisen, he more than makes up for with his sheer strategic cunning.

It was Kenjaku who imprisoned Gojo in the Prison Realm after recognizing that the sorcerer was more conventionally powerful than he was, a move that left the Jujutsu Sorcerers in total disarray. As the final battle lines were drawn, it appeared that Kenjaku was positioning himself to be the final antagonist for all of Jujutsu Kaisen. However, just as Kenjaku outsmarted Gojo and defeated the superior warrior, so too was Kenjaku completely fooled and killed before Jujutsu Kaisen’s climactic battle.

How Kenjaku Is Defeated

Kenjaku embarked on a bizarre showdown with Takaba, and, though Kenjaku emerged from this confrontation victorious, he was distracted long enough for Yuta Okkotsu to sneak up behind him and decapitate him with his sword. Aware that the death of one’s physical body is not enough to prevent a magical resurrection, especially for one as powerful as Kenjaku, Yuta destroyed Kenjaku’s brain by stabbing him in the head. Rika dealt with the living curses that were unleashed with Kenjaku’s death, countering Kenjaku’s final act of using his Cursed Spirit Manipulation technique to try to overwhelm the Jujutsu Sorcerers in one final bid at chaos and destruction.

With Kenjaku defeated and killed, his ultimate plan to corrupt all of humanity with cursed spirit energy falls apart while he is denied a chance at resurrection. This leads Sukuna to take the position of Jujutsu Kaisen’s final major villain, with the threat that Kenjaku presented to the world quickly dismissed as the heroes focus on the more pressing danger. In essence, Kenjaku and his grand plan become something of an afterthought as Jujutsu Kaisen moves into its final act.

Why Kenjaku Is a Disappointment

Kenjaku is established throughout Jujutsu Kaisen as an overarching villain behind much of the misery and evil across the story. If Sukuna is like Darth Vader, Kenjaku fills the Emperor Palpatine archetype, as the one pulling Sukuna’s strings and the cruel tactician who stays one step ahead of the heroes. Despite all of this setup, Kenjaku is taken out by somebody sneaking up behind him and chopping his head off without much fanfare. Adding insult to literal injury, Kenjaku is unceremoniously stabbed in the head like a piece of trash, cutting any grand aspirations and final plots he had in store for humanity.

Hubris is the downfall of many powerful figures in history and fiction, but the way that Kenjaku goes down is one of the most embarrassing of any major manga/anime villain in recent memory. Jujutsu Kaisen had built up Kenjaku to be the ultimate evil and someone who meticulously planned out how to triumph and outsmart the Jujutsu Sorcerers. Fresh off the heels of one of the series’ most bizarre showdowns, the character was just outmaneuvered by a simple “gotcha” moment that led to his death and humiliation.

Jujutsu Kaisen is available to read on VIZ and other platforms.