The Perfection of Sukuna’s Character
How Jujutsu Kaisen’s Sukuna was written so amazingly, and why this is the perfect execution of the Demonic Possession trope.
The demonic possession trope has been used a lot and far across in any media you can find, Devilman Crybaby, Naruto, Black Clover, and many more. That’s just in Anime. I know you may be thinking to yourself, what’s so special about Sukuna? The fact that no media I’ve known executes this trope quite like JJK, and Sukuna as a character does this perfectly.
Let’s look at Naruto, specifically Kurama, and the relationship they have together. While watching the show, Kurama doesn’t have his own character for a while, he is just a power source that Naruto can draw from. Used as a plot device, it becomes a power that Naruto struggles with and is something he has to overcome, and when he does he has great strength. One key thing that JJK does differently is that Itadori can’t use Sukuna’s power. Whenever he can only somewhat control when he switches to Sukuna, and when he does, Itadori has no control. This lets the story for Idatori be for his personal growth as a sorcerer separate from Sukuna. The character growth for Idatori and Sukuna has so much greater potential now as the story can better flesh out their characters. Sukuna has his personal motives. He couldn’t care less for Yuji. When he’s in control of his body, he acts for his interests.
When Junpei is transformed by Mahito, Yuji pleads for Sukuna to use his power to save him, but he doesn’t and Junpei dies. Sukuna does later have a problem with Mahito when he tries to transform him because that affects him directly. Sukuna is not Itadori’s power source, nor ally. Near the end of the Shibuya Incident arc, Uraume shows up asking to escort Sukuna. Not much is known about Uraume, not even the gender, but Sukuna recognizes her and tells her he will be “completely free” soon. This foreshadows huge stuff on the way for Itadori and Sukuna.
The most important thing that makes Sukuna work so well is the writing of Itadori. He is a very “for the people” hero, he doesn’t kill, and he wants to be remembered as a good person who did things for others. That is what Sukuna doesn’t want. Once Yuji eats all 20 fingers, he is to be killed. When he dies, it will also kill Sukuna. Itadori knows this, he accepts it and wants it to happen as the death of the king of curses is the best thing that can happen for humankind. Sukuna also knows this, and as this involves the death of Sukuna, he doesn’t want this to happen. Gege Akutami is a fanatical mangaka and doesn’t care about the lives of many of his characters, no matter how popular they are, and you can see this through the Shibuya Incident Arc. This sets up many possibilities for the unfolding of Jujutsu Kaisen and the growth of Sukuna, Itadori, and the rest of the characters.
Sukuna is a fantastically written character. I love the different take on the classic demonic possession trope that Akutami did with him. Jujutsu Kaisen is truly a one-of-a-kind story, and I think that this is going to be one of the best new-gen animes we will see.
