There are plenty of bizarre creatures in the world of Jujutsu Kaisen. After all, in a world where all kinds of Cursed Spirits roam the earth so freely, seeing one or two strange ones is simply par for the course. The same thing can be said about Jujutsu Sorcerers, because they too come in all kinds of sizes and shapes.
The overwhelming majority of Jujutsu Sorcerers are humans, but some of them certainly look so far removed from what you would consider to be normal. Mechamaru and Panda are great examples of this. Mechamaru is actually a Cursed Puppet that is controlled by a Jujutsu Sorcerer named Kokichi Muta from afar. As for Panda, well, who or what is Panda?
Who is Panda?
We are first introduced to Panda when Yuji Itadori enters Tokyo Jujutsu High. Panda is one of Yuji's upperclassmen at the time, including Maki Zen'in, Toge Inumaki, and Yuta Okkotsu, who was absent at the time. Needless to say, Yuji was bewildered when he first saw Panda. But since there are still so many things that he didn't know about the world of Jujutsu, Yuji simply brushes it off as one of those mysterious things that he has to accept.
Panda has an incredibly upbeat and positive personality, which makes everybody that knows him immediately feel comfortable talking and hanging out with him. As a sophomore in Tokyo Jujutsu High, Panda can be considered to be quite a skillful Jujutsu sorcerer. However, unlike Inumaki who uses a specific type of cursed technique, or Maki who fights using cursed weapons, Panda is more of a brawler who fights by using his incredible strength and punching power.
Panda has been seen to be able to change his appearance on numerous occasions. His normal Panda appearance is actually his default and most balanced mode. He can turn into a Gorilla mode whenever he wants to and that also changes his appearance to look like a massive Gorilla. Not only that, but this mode also increases his strength exponentially. In this mode, Panda can send Mechamaru flying with just one slap. Panda may be weird and mysterious, but he has a gentle soul and is certainly a reliable comrade.
What is Panda?
Both Panda and Mechamaru are considered to be cursed corpses. However, unlike Mechamaru who is just a Cursed Corpse controlled by a Jujutsu Sorcerer from miles away, Panda actually belongs to a category known as an Abrupt-Mutation Cursed Corpse.
There are no jujutsu sorcerers controlling how he moves and what he says from afar. Panda is a fully independent and sentient Cursed Corpse. Not only that, Panda can also generate cursed energy just like regular Jujutsu Sorcerers, which is unheard of in the Jujutsu world.
Panda was created by the principal of the Tokyo Jujutsu High, Masamichi Yaga. Yaga is the leading expert in Jujutsu Puppets technique and Panda is his magnum opus. And unlike other cursed corpses who usually only have one core, Panda has three different cores in his body. That is what allowed him to transform into a different mode of attack. Since a core is the heart of a cursed corpse, Panda has the ability to shift the location of his cores in order to better protect himself.
Are There Others Like Him?
Yes, there are actually quite a lot of other cursed corpses like Panda, and all of them are created by Masamichi Yaga. After he created Panda, Yaga began perfecting his technique by creating numerous sentient cursed corpses in all shapes and sizes, particularly in the form of dolls. And although not at the same level as Panda, they are quite strong as well.
Some of those dolls are used as training partners for the Tokyo Jujutsu High students, while more powerful ones are used as a combat companions or even bodyguards, such as during the Shibuya Incident arc. Yaga's technique has evolved to such a high level to the point that not only can he create a sentient cursed corpse with its own cursed energy and personality, but he can also inject other personalities into his dolls.
One such example is a doll called Takeru. Just like Panda, he is also a sentient cursed corpse. However, his personality is based on a real-life person, specifically from Kusakabe's dead nephew. Although the doll itself doesn't appear to have the real Takeru's memories, it certainly has his personality. Since the Abrupt-Mutation Cursed Corpse is a highly dangerous and forbidden technique, Yaga keeps most of his creation hidden. The only one that can freely move around is Panda. But since Yaga finally revealed the secret behind his technique to Principal Gakuganji, we may see more cursed corpses like Panda in the future.