is a fictional character and one of the main antagonists of the manga and anime series Jujutsu Kaisen created by Gege Akutami. Sukuna is a powerful curse user, feared by many for his immense power and malevolent nature, and was regarded as the strongest jujutsu sorcerer during the Heian Era, the golden age of jujutsu sorcerers. Due to his reputation as a strong and evil sorcerer with immeasurable cursed energy, he was dubbed by many as the King of Curses.
In the anime adaptation, he is voiced by Junichi Suwabe in Japanese and Ray Chase in English. Sukuna's sadistic and "terrifying" demeanor as the series' villain was praised, along with the dual nature of his relationship with Yuji.
According to Akutami, Sukuna is "less of a sorcerer and more of a walking disaster." Sukuna was created as a cruel, narcissistic, depraved and supremely arrogant figure within the story. The real person turned mythological figure "", who was the character's inspiration, traces back to the classical book Nihon Shoki, where Sukuna's fantasized physical figure (two faces and four arms) and malicious demonic personality are shared with the character. In ancient history, Sukuna was an enemy to the Yamato family but was also worshiped by some as a deity. His association with demonic imagery was formed after the Imperial House of Japan declared him a vicious force of nature. Ryomen means "two-faced", which can be applied to the character both literally and figuratively. Sukuna did not ever have a wife or family in his life as a human, and was feared as a human less than Satoru Gojo due to how vicious the world of Curses was at the time he lived. Furthermore, Gege stated Sukuna "will kill anybody in an instant" and that he has no morals, taking pleasure out of making things tough for Yuji Itadori.
Over 1,000 years ago, during the Heian era, Sukuna was a powerful curse user, served by an underling named Uraume. At the beginning of the story, his power is sealed in 20 mummified fingers scattered throughout the world. Megumi Fushiguro traces one of his fingers to Sugisawa High School. During an attack by cursed spirits, Yuji Itadori eats the finger and becomes a Jujutsu Sorcerer, with Sukuna regaining consciousness within him. Though Yuji has full control over his body, he is targeted for execution due to the danger Sukuna poses, with Satoru Gojo's patronage as his only protection.
In a mission toâ¯exorcise a Special Grade Cursed Spirit which holds one of Sukuna's fingers, Yuji and his colleagues areâ¯greatly endangered, so the young sorcerer gives Sukuna control of his body to defeat his assailant. Sukuna destroys theâ¯opponent butâ¯seizes the moment of freedom to rip out Yuji's heartâ¯to ensureâ¯he stays in control, ingesting one of his mummified fingers,â¯then attemptsâ¯to killâ¯Fushiguro, becomingâ¯very interestedâ¯in the latter. When Yuji wrestles back control to save his friend, heâ¯dies andâ¯meets Sukuna within his soul. Sukuna offers to return Yuji toâ¯life on two conditions,â¯that Yuji allows him to take control of his bodyâ¯for a full minuteâ¯when he chants "Enchain",â¯and that Yuji will forget about this agreement. When Yujiâ¯does notâ¯oblige Sukuna informs him that even if he were to break the agreement, he wouldâ¯be punished for breaking the contract and even offers thatâ¯for said full minute heâ¯will notâ¯kill or hurt anyone during said minute. When Yuji still says no, Sukuna offersâ¯they willâ¯fight toâ¯the death, If Yujiâ¯wins,â¯he willâ¯revive him with no conditions. If Yujiâ¯losesâ¯then he gets revived with Sukuna's. Yuji agrees, to which heâ¯ultimately getsâ¯his head cutâ¯off by Sukuna. Sukuna remains silent from then on, only roused by an encounter with the Cursed Spirit Mahito, in which he mocks Yuji for losing a friend.
In the Shibuya Incident, Yuji is gravely injured, and the Cursed Spirit Jogo force-feeds him many of Sukuna's fingers. Sukuna, indifferent to Jogo but ultimately coming to praise his strength, kills him after a very destructive battle across the city. He reunites with Uraume after the battle, and states he has a plan to regain freedom. He then saves Megumi from Mahoraga, his summoned Shikigami, catastrophically razing much of Shibuya ward in the process, before surrendering control back to a traumatized Yuji.
Amid the Culling Games,â¯Yuji, Megumi, and their two new allies Hana andâ¯Takabaâ¯areâ¯in a hotel discussing how to put an end to the culling games. Hana reveals her Cursed Technique is "Angel",â¯who is an incarnated sorcerer who is bound to Hana, like Yuji and Sukuna. Angelâ¯has the power to negate Cursedâ¯Techniques.â¯Megumi wants Hana toâ¯negate the Prison Realm sealâ¯containingâ¯Satoru Gojoâ¯to free him, which the Angel obliges, but says before that they must help them kill "The Disgraced One".â¯Just then, Yuji is pulled into his and Sukuna's bonded soul.â¯Sukuna warns Yuji that before anything escalates further, that he is "The Disgraced One".
Further throughâ¯the Cullingâ¯Games,â¯Yuji, Megumi, and Hana end upâ¯rescuingâ¯Megumi's sister,â¯Tsumiki. Soon it is revealedâ¯Tsumiki'sâ¯body is being used by anâ¯incarnatedâ¯sorcererâ¯named "Yorozu"â¯who isâ¯participatingâ¯in the Culling Gamesâ¯to fight Sukuna. Yuji and Hana chase after Yorozu flees. Sukuna then chants the word "Enchain" to take over Yuji's body. He rips off Yuji's finger, claiming that the binding vow he and Yuji agreed onâ¯did notâ¯include him of not being injured. Sukuna transforms the ripped off fingerâ¯into a cursed object,â¯forcing Megumi to digest it in order to take over his body.
Hana and the Angel realize that "The Disgraced One" has taken over Megumi'sâ¯body andâ¯uses Jacob's Ladderâ¯toâ¯negate Sukuna from Megumi's body.â¯Sukuna tricks Hana into thinking Megumi has regained control and bites her arm off.â¯Yuji and Sukuna are battling when Maki joins in to aid Yuji.â¯Uraumeâ¯shows up and aids Sukuna with a block of ice, and the two of them get away. Sukunaâ¯partakes in a ritual called "The Bath",â¯whereâ¯Uraumeâ¯takes cursed spirits and wrings them out before they turn into dust, so Sukuna can submerge Megumi's soul deep within evil to prevent him from taking control. Sukunaâ¯returnsâ¯to the colony and ends up killing a sorcerer along the way. Sukuna then meets up with Yorozu,â¯proceedingâ¯to kill her to fully break Megumi's soul.
Sukuna's arrogance and "almost casual display of handling immense Cursed Energy" was praised by Sportskeeda, also calling him "awe-inspiring and terrifying" as well as "the ultimate anime villain", labeling him as one of the most beloved shà Ânen villains. Chingy Nea of Polygon praised the way Sukuna was a "cruel and emotionless sadist" and how he helped the anime "feign predictability" by having him kill Yuji early on in the story. Sukuna's awakening in Yuji's body was described "disgusting and fantastic". David Eckstein-Schoemann of the UNF Spinnaker praised the duality between main character and protagonist. He said that "you think of all the possibilities...and they take full advantage of that. The conflict and interactions between Yuji and Sukuna are both creative and brilliant. It plays a lot with your expectations."
The character and Chase's performance in the dub was praised: "[he] lights up the screen as a newly incarnated Cursed Spirit, Ryomen Sukuna, as an elated insatiable animal that takes pleasure in grazing on the fear and flesh of humans and fills Fushiguro with a sense of dread of what's to come." The character was also compared to Bleachs protagonist Ichigo Kurosaki and his Hollow persona due their parallels especially in his early appearances; such being young fighters who develop supernatural powers as well as evil alter-egos in order to protect people from giant monsters. Comic Book Resources compared Itadori's temptation to use Sukuna as temptation similar to other shà Ânen heroes such Ichigo's Hollow persona as analysis of how everybody has inner conflicts.
In a Viz Media popularity poll conducted in March 2021, Sukuna was voted as the ninth most popular character in the series. In a second poll taken in December 2021 by Shonen Jump, he was voted the 13th most popular character. At the 5th Crunchyroll Anime Awards, Sukuna won Best Antagonist while his fight against Satoru Gojo was nominated for Best Fight Scene.