Highlights
- Cursed Spirits are supernatural entities born from negative human emotions and evil energy, and their hierarchy of superiority is based on intelligence and ego retainment.
- Some Cursed Spirits, born out of intense emotions or undergoing emotional evolution, achieve a sense of self and critical reasoning, making them highly intelligent and strategic.
- Many Cursed Spirits in the series possess exceptional intelligence, battle tactics, and awareness, making them formidable opponents for Jujutsu Sorcerers.
The concept of curses is foundational to the entirety of the Jujutsu Kaisen series, and with Curses come the existence of Cursed Spirits. According to the series, Cursed Spirits are a race of supernatural entities born from negative human emotions and the evil energy humans give off.
Like every other race, there exists a hierarchy of superiority among these Spirits, mainly attributed to the ability of intelligence and ego retainment. While Cursed Spirits are usually born without an intact perception of self, there exists some who, either through being born out of an intense emotion or by undergoing an intense emotional evolution, achieve a sense of self and can reason critically. Summarily, here are some of the series' most ingenious cursed spirits.
9 Rika
Due to the circumstances of her creation, Rika does not possess a strong sense of individuality like Mahito or Jogo. This is because she was created from remnants of Orimoto Rika's feelings to protect Yuta Okkotsu. Rika's intelligence, however, is evident through her cooperative partnership with Okkotsu Yuta.
Despite her ferocity, her priority is always ensuring Yuta's safety at all times; she is obedient to the sorcerer and is calm and concise when following his orders. Rika can use her discretion in the absence of her partner to determine what takes priority over the other, as was the case when Yuta left her to protect the civilians of the Sendai colony during the Culling Games.
8 Dagon
Born from the fear of water-based natural disasters, Dagon is an unregistered special-grade Cursed Spirit affiliated with Mahito's group of Cursed Spirit. Before his evolution during the Shibuya Incident, Dagon was essentially a Cursed Womb infant curse.
Although capable of human speech, Dagon was docile, unlike his allies, until after his evolution, when he took on a more aggressive personality and his intelligence capacity grew immensely. After evolving, Dagon displayed more competent comprehension and battle tactics, which helped him against sorcerers like Maki before Toji Fushiguro exorcised him.
7 Eso
Eso is the second Cursed Womb Death Paintings reincarnated in the series. In the series, Eso displays emotional intelligence and awareness in an unprecedented manner for a Cursed Spirit through his thoughts of his brothers.
Not particularly interested in the affairs of sorcerers or even humans, Eso is intelligent enough to recognize and understand the familial bond between himself and his brothers. This leads him to put his life on the line to protect what he holds dear. However, this does not compromise his excellent tactical acumen, as seen in his battle against Yuji and Nobara. Unfortunately, tactical acuity meant little in the face of superior strength.
6 Naoya
Formerly a human Jujutsu Sorcerer and potential heir to the Zen'in clan, Naoya became a vengeful Cursed Spirit after his reincarnation. As a human, Naoya had always possessed an intellect comparable to a genius. Because of this, he quickly surpassed other members of the Zen'in clan as sorcerers, including his brothers.
His technique and intellect made him a problematic opponent to all who faced him while he was human. After reincarnating, Naoya could retain his personality, and by becoming a Cursed Spirit, he grew exponentially stronger due to the knowledge of his past life and battle adaptability. While he was far stronger and more intelligent than a Cursed Spirit, his pride would ultimately be his end.
5 Jogo
Jogo is an unregistered special grade Cursed Spirit affiliated with Mahito. Born out of the fear and negativity associated with volcanic and fire-related disasters, Jogo is a fearsome character compared to most sorcerers. Jogo is a conscious being with high intelligence and awareness, like his allies.
Despite his arrogant and irritable demeanor, he is also firmly committed to his ideals. He believes in the purity of Curses and how they are made to inherit the earth. While lagging in power to the strongest Jujutsu sorcerers in the series, Jogo is still a more than capable Cursed Spirit whose battle perception outstrips most Jujutsu sorcerers.
4 Hanami
Hanami is another unregistered Cursed Spirit, born from the fear of land-based natural disasters, and is also Mahito and his group of Cursed Spirits. Hanami is also self-aware and has an idealistic personality.
His goal of wanting to cleanse the earth of humans because they abused nature makes him ally himself with Mahito. As a Cursed Spirit, Hanami surpasses the average cursed spirit by a distance and is highly intelligent, especially in infiltration and combat. This makes a deadly opponent for most Jujutsu Sorcerers.
3 Choso
The first of the Cursed Womb Death Paintings, Choso is the older brother to Eso and Kechizu. Reincarnated alongside his brothers by Kenjaku, Choso is more potent than the average Cursed Spirit. Even before reincarnation, Choso was already self-aware and more intelligent than his brothers.
His choices in the events after the Shibuya Incident would further highlight his intellect. Like his brother, ESO, Choso also holds dearly his familial bonds, as was the case in his battle and interaction with Yuji just after the sealing of Gojo Satoru. In addition, Choso is a brilliant combatant and can use his skills very cleverly, as was the case against Naoya Zen'in, a feat that further alludes to his intellect.
2 Mahito
A primary antagonist of the series, Mahito is an unregistered Cursed Spirit who allies himself with Pseudo-Geto, known as Kenjaku. Due to the specific emotion of his birth, Mahito has a fully developed personality, is highly intelligent, and has an explosive rate of potential. Born of human hatred, Mahito is sadistic and enjoys toying with humans as cleverly as he did with Junpei and Nanami.
For a Cursed Spirit, Mahito is exceptionally clever. He can accurately surmise the level of his opponent after only a few exchanges. In addition to his intellect, he is highly skilled in combat and possesses a very dangerous cursed Technique, making him a rightfully disturbing opponent.
1 Ryoumen Sukuna
Regarded as the King of Curses, Sukuna is the series' primary antagonist. Like Naoya, Sukuna was a human Jujutsu Sorcerer before dying and becoming a Cursed Spirit. Rightfully titled as the "strongest sorcerer in history," he is a knowledgeable and experienced Cursed Spirit. The overwhelming gulf between himself and other sorcerers and Cursed Spirits alike is a testament to his power and intellect.
Despite being an utterly sadistic and selfish individual, his intellectual acumen shines the brightest on the battlefield, as seen in every encounter of his throughout the series, where he's constantly pointing out the weaknesses of his opponents before destroying them. Having an incomparable understanding of Curses and Jujutsu, Sukuna is rightfully unrivaled in the wit of combat.