Highlights
- Sukuna's fingers contain his soul & power, attracting curses & posing a threat, leading to Yuji consuming them safely.
- The fingers were discovered at various locations, awaking dormant curses & yielding remarkable abilities for their bearers.
- Yuji consumes more fingers during Shibuya incident; regains control from Sukuna, who ultimately regains full power.
The manga and anime series Jujutsu Kaisen introduced viewers to the terrifying King of Curses known as Ryomen Sukuna. As an immensely powerful curse user from the Heian Era, Sukuna was able to live on after his death through 20 severed fingers that were transformed into special-grade cursed objects. Each of these fingers, known as Sukuna's Fingers, contains fragments of his soul and cursed energy, transforming them into threats equivalent to special-grade cursed spirits despite being sealed.
Spread out across Japan and increasing in power over a thousand years, these fingers have served as both a danger and an objective in the ongoing battle against curses. But what exactly are Sukuna's fingers, and how have they impacted events in Jujutsu Kaisen?
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The Origin of Sukuna's Fingers
Sukuna's Soul Divided
Over a thousand years ago, during Japan's Heian Era, the powerful curse user Ryomen Sukuna accepted an offer from Kenjaku to participate in an ancient death game known as the Culling Games. As part of their agreement, Kenjaku divided Sukuna's soul across his twenty severed fingers, transforming them into special-grade cursed objects. This allowed Sukuna's soul and immense cursed energy to live on even after his physical death.
For centuries, Sukuna's indestructible fingers have traveled across Japan. As they contain cursed energy equivalent to special-grade curses, the fingers attracted other curses seeking to feed on their power reservoirs. Over time, six of the fingers came into the possession of Tokyo Jujutsu High School, who stored them in their cursed warehouse due to being unable to destroy the objects. However, as the sealing talismans gradually weakened, the fingers drew more curses and grew even more hazardous.
The Discovery of a Sukuna's Finger
Students Unearth a Deadly Secret
In June 2018, one of the 20 severed fingers belonging to the ancient curse Ryomen Sukuna was found by the Occult Research Club at Sugisawa Municipal High School. This particular finger had long been stored and sealed within the shed of the school's thermometer to ward off nearby curses using its immense cursed energy. However, over time, the aging talisman sealing the finger weakened, losing its ability to contain the cursed object’s power.
Unaware of its cursed nature, the curious students removed the weakened talisman, unwittingly unleashing its sealed power. This sudden surge of cursed energy from the finger attracted numerous nearby curses, endangering club members Setsuko Sasaki and Takeshi Iguchi. First-year student Yuji Itadori consumed the finger to save his friends from the attacking curses. Remarkably, Yuji was able to ingest the finger without harming himself and suppress Sukuna's manifestation, gaining dominance over the ancient being.
Impressed by Yuji's rare ability, Satoru Gojo tasked him with hunting down and consuming all of Sukuna's remaining severed fingers to fully eliminate the threat posed by the king of curses once and for all. Yuji's safe consumption of a second finger confirmed his phenomenal power over Sukuna.
Interestingly, when Sukuna was incarnated, it seemingly awakened dormant fingers that had long been consumed by curses, transforming them into the newly observed "Finger Bearers." Distinctive in appearance with innate domains and devoured fingers in their chests, Finger Bearers exhibited vastly increased powers befitting their connection to Sukuna's enduring soul. This showed the lingering power that Sukuna's essence could possess over centuries.
Sukuna's Fingers: Awakening and Collection
Gathering the Scattered Pieces
Upon Yuji incarnating Sukuna, many of the fingers that had been consumed by curses over the years awoke. This transformed the curses into finger-bearers. One such curse had inhabited an abandoned juvenile detention center in West Tokyo. The first years struggled against this special grade threat until Yuji relinquished control to Sukuna, who destroyed the Finger Bearer and retrieved his third finger.
A fourth finger had been intentionally planted in the home of Junpei Yoshino, killing his mother. This was later recovered by Jujutsu High after the incident at Satozakura High. During the Kyoto Goodwill Event, Mahito and his group stole the six fingers in Jujutsu High's possession. They also collected four additional fingers, bringing their total to ten in preparation for the Shibuya Incident.
Another finger transformed the curse residing beneath Yasohachi Bridge. This finger-bearer killed those marked by the curse years prior. After an arduous battle, first-year Megumi Fushiguro engaged, emerged victorious, and absorbed the finger into his shadow, unintentionally causing Yuji to consume it.
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Consumption and Possession During the Shibuya Incident
Amplifying Power Through Fingers
As the death toll rose dramatically during the fierce battles raging through Shibuya, Nanako and Mimiko Hasaba came across an unconscious Yuji. Hoping to use Sukuna's power against Kenjaku, who had taken over Geto's body, Nanako fed Yuji one of the stolen fingers without his consent. Just then, Jogo sensed the surge of cursed energy from the finger and arrived. He revealed that, in addition to the six fingers stolen earlier from Jujutsu High, Mahito's group had collected a total of ten fingers. Jogo then forcefully fed all ten fingers to Yuji at once, increasing the number he had consumed to fifteen.
Consuming so many fingers in a single sitting caused Yuji's body immense stress, as it struggled to adapt quickly enough to the massive intake of cursed energy. Unable to sufficiently suppress Sukuna, Yuji temporarily lost control of his body as the ancient curse asserted dominance for a brief period. The stolen fingers played a pivotal role in drastically amplifying Sukuna's power within Yuji during the catastrophic events of Shibuya, allowing the king of curses to directly participate despite being sealed away for centuries. With this new abundant source of innate cursed energy, Sukuna wrought unprecedented destruction across the city until Yuji regained control of his body.
Sukuna regains his full power
Returning to Peak Strength
Over the course of the story, Uraume had managed to collect four of Sukuna's severed fingers, which had not been consumed. As Sukuna's long-awaited showdown with Gojo approached, Sukuna incarnated into Megumi Fushiguro's body and consumed these four fingers in order to restore more of his original power and strength.
The last remaining undiscovered finger was consumed by the cursed spirit Rika. This allowed Yuta Okkotsu to copy Sukuna's innate domain expansion technique, "Shrine," and store it as part of his arsenal. During his battle with Sukuna in Shinjuku, Yuta was able to activate the stolen cursed technique "Cleave" on Sukuna using a katana that contained the stored domain. This successfully slashed Sukuna's face.
Between the fingers consumed by Yuji, the four gathered by Uraume, and the final finger ingested by Rika, Sukuna had restored the full power and soul that were originally divided among his twenty severed fingers over a thousand years ago. With all twenty fingers accounted for through various means throughout the story, Sukuna was finally able to completely regain his original power and strength.
Jujutsu Kaisen is available to stream on Crunchyroll.
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Jujutsu Kaisen
Based on Gege Akutami's Jujutsu Kaisen manga, Mappa's battle shonen anime envisions a world where Jujutsu Sorcerers battle against entities born out of Cursed Energy. One day, a teenager named Yuji Itadori is dragged into this conflict when he eats a possessed finger.
- Release Date
- October 3, 2020
- Creator
- Gege Akutami
- Number of Episodes
- 47
- Streaming Service(s)
- Crunchyroll
