Highlights
- Gojo's status as the strongest in the jujutsu world has had profound effects on his childhood and personality.
- His friendship with Suguru Geto was a significant part of his life, but their failure to protect and deliver Amenai led them down different paths.
- Gojo's loneliness stems from his responsibility as the strongest sorcerer and his belief that jujutsu sorcery is a solo sport. He is burdened by his power and inability to make the changes he desires.
There's no doubt that Satoru Gojo is the strongest, both for fans of Jujutsu Kaisen and for the characters within the show itself. However, it gets lonely at the top, and the honored one is no exception to the rule.
When Gojo was introduced in the series, he was an instant hit with the Jujutsu Kaisen fandom. He is a charismatic sensei with an absolutely broken ability in Limitless and the Six Eyes, and there are few things the anime community loves more than overpowered characters with captivating personalities. As the series has progressed, the negatives of Gojo's status as the strongest have slowly become more apparent as more aspects of his story have been told.
Tipping the Scales Since Birth
Being the first Limitless and Six Eyes user born in 400 years, Gojo's birth immediately shifted the scale of power in the jujutsu world. Many curses went into hiding, many curses became stronger because of his mere existence, and bounties north of 100 million were placed on his head by those who wanted things to stay the way they were. While this is impressive, the effects this can have on someone's childhood need to be considered.
The best way to understand how this affected Gojo is to look at his personality in the current events of the show. Gojo is arrogant, saying he's the strongest with zero hesitation and even going as far as to say he can defeat the King of Curses, Ryomen Sukuna, at his full power. This confidence doesn't come from nowhere; it comes from the experiences he had growing up with a constant target on his back. The fact that he made it to adolescence and didn't end up dead before he could even speak, considering that both curse users and curses wanted him dead since birth, is enough of a reason for anyone to think they're the strongest.
Being able to intimidate assassins as a child just by staring them down after noticing their presence is the type of power that no one has, and Gojo definitely knew that. Gojo likely knew he was different from everyone else from the moment he gained consciousness, and that's the type of realization that creates solitude. Luckily, though, he would make a friend that he would consider his equal.
Jujutsu High
Gojo's teenage years at Jujutsu High are the ones he considers the best years of his life. After all, here is where he met his best friend, Suguru Geto. Geto was the first person in Gojo's life who could actually challenge him, and Gojo respected him greatly for that. They were constantly placed on missions together and were collectively known as the strongest. Their strength was so unique and great that Master Tengen assigned them to protect and deliver the Star Platinum Vessel, Riko Amenai, to him so that he could merge with her.
They would fail in their mission to protect and deliver Amenai to Master Tengen, a failure that would influence their morality and life paths forever. Having awakened in his battle against Toji Fushiguro, Gojo would achieve a new level where no one was his equal, not even Geto. This led to the pair being placed on missions alone as Gojo was sent out to deal with Jujutsu High's biggest problems. Geto, meanwhile, kept consuming more and more curses. The disgusting process of consuming cursed spirits and his failure to protect Amenai started really taking its toll on him. Eventually, Geto reaches his breaking point and goes down an extreme path to end all non-sorcers to get rid of curses permanently.
The loss of Amenai and his failure to prevent his best friend from going down a dark path heavily influenced Gojo's life choices and the way he expresses himself. Amenai was someone he saw a lot of himself in. She was someone who had been assigned a specific role since birth without a choice despite never having asked for it, similar to how he just happened to be born with his abilities and status. Geto was his best friend, and yet he could do nothing to steer him back on the right path. Ultimately, his teenage years showed that Gojo was essentially a god incapable of changing the outcome of the events he wished to change most, and this fact would haunt him even into the current day.
Gojo Sensei, The Strongest Sorcerer
Gojo becomes an unstoppable juggernaut, and he uses his power to create the change he wishes to see in the jujutsu world. He enacts the change he wants to see by cultivating the next generation of jujutsu sorcerers. As a teacher, he has executed his mission as successfully as he can despite the higher-ups trying to impede him at every turn. Despite this, it's made clear that Gojo is painfully alone. For starters, every time something goes wrong, he and he alone has to shoulder the responsibility given to him by the higher-ups to solve the issue. Likewise, if he chooses to go against the higher-ups, the responsibility is on his shoulders as he usually has to stake his life on his decisions.
His loneliness also comes through in the way he teaches. For example, he explicitly tells Megumi Fushiguro that jujutsu sorcery is a solo sport and that when one dies, they are always alone. He never bothers to hide his worldview when telling this to Megumi, and it's shown just how different he is from Megumi when Megumi claims that he would never be able to reach his level in his fight against the finger bearer. The fact is that this perspective is that of a man who has achieved the pinnacle and is alone at the summit.
When fans are introduced to Satoru Gojo, he is just a character with an extremely satisfying and powerful ability. However, over time, he has become much more than that, and in a sad way. Gojo is one who is cursed with being the strongest. He is an inept god incapable of making the changes he wants with his power. Gojo may be the strongest, but he is also burdened with loneliness few others understand.
Jujutsu Kaisen is available to stream on Crunchyroll.
