Yuji Itadori ( Itadori Yūji) is the main protagonist of the Jujutsu Kaisen series. He is the son of Jin Itadori and Kaori Itadori, and the grandson of Wasuke Itadori. Yuji was living a normal life in Sendai City until he encountered Megumi and ate one of Sukuna's fingers. After becoming Sukuna's vessel, Yuji began attending Tokyo Jujutsu High alongside Megumi and Nobara as first-year students.
Appearance[]
Yuji is a young man of average height and appears to have a slender build when wearing baggy clothing, but actually has a lean and muscular physique. He also has relatively large light brown eyes and spiky pink hair (brownish blonde in the manga) that's styled in an undercut fashion. When becoming the vessel for Sukuna after eating his finger, he gains a second pair of eyes that only open when Sukuna controls his body along with his many markings.
At the start of the series, Yuji wore a light-colored hooded jacket, high-cuffed black pants, and white shoes. However, in the anime, his pants were denim, and his shoes were bright red. When Yuji enrolled into the Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical College, he began wearing his version of the uniform; a black long sleeve shirt resembling a gakuran over a red hoodie, black pants, and red shoes.
He gains a noticeable scar between his two eyes and a smaller scar on his left labial commissure of the mouth during the Shibuya Incident. Both scars were caused by Mahito; the first one was inflicted when the cursed spirit surprise-attacked him with a blade on his fist, and the second one was inflicted when Yuji battled him after his transformation.
He lost the second pair of eyes that only open when Sukuna controls his body along with his many markings after the latter transferred to Megumi Fushiguro as his new vessel.
Yuji's initial appearance in the manga.
Yuji's appearance after the Shibuya Incident.
Personality[]
Yuji is a fair person who truly cares for not only his comrades but anyone he views as people with their own wills, despite how deep or shallow his connection to them is. He highly commends "the value of life," and to this end, he will ensure that others receive a "proper death". Because of this, he believes that it is morally unethical for him to take another human life, and tries to avoid any possibility of doing so unless as a last resort.
He is also not without his more energetic and outgoing traits. Such as his frequent comedic moments where he was seen alongside Nobara gushing about Tokyo and his eagerness to train with Gojo or even when entertaining both Junpei and his mother. Yuji is also highly passionate whenever he's focused on achieving certain goals and being quite stubborn when confronted about them, such as when Yaga questioned why Yuji wanted to become a sorcerer. He is also quite naïve due to his inexperience in the world of cursed spirits and jujutsu sorcerers, but is shown to be a quick learner, capable of adapting to his surroundings and picking up how to use cursed energy quickly.
Although usually composed, good-natured and friendly, Yuji can be angered quickly in the face of pure malice after witnessing firsthand the cruelty that curses were capable of, particularly Mahito's inhuman exploitation of Junpei. Yuji felt so profoundly disgusted that he felt a genuine desire to kill for the first time in his life and has a very intense yet focused hatred towards the cursed spirit.
One of Yuji's defining traits is his willingness to sacrifice himself for others, triggered by his grandfather's last words to him to die surrounded by others. When he and Megumi were under the threat of being killed by a curse, Yuji impulsively swallowed Sukuna's finger to exorcise the curse and save them despite having met Megumi for the first time on that day.
Abilities and Powers[]
Overall Skill Level: Yuji is one of Tokyo Jujutsu High's most powerful and talented students. Satoru Gojo places him on the same level of potential as Yuta Okkotsu and Kinji Hakari, the three students who he believes will surpass his strength. Despite having no connections to the jujutsu world before a few months prior to the Shibuya Incident, Yuji is able to contend with and defeat Grade 1 and Special Grade curses. Yuji was gifted with superhuman physical abilities which he masterfully combines with his cursed energy. Yuji is also able to contain Sukuna with no ill effects, which allows him to perceive the shape of souls. This enables him to harm Mahito, whose control over the shape of his soul otherwise renders him immune to injury.
Immense Strength: Yuji is quite powerful even without the usage of cursed energy, as he can destroy walls with ease, throw a lead ball with enough force to bend a soccer goalpost, and even throw a car. As powerful as he is without cursed energy, especially when it comes to fighting, his exceptional strength can often be augmented to further levels with the usage of cursed energy, the Divergent Fist technique, and Black Flash, allowing him to exorcise cursed spirits. His unique strength has also been compared to Kento Nanami, a Grade 1 sorcerer. He can even harm Hanami and Choso, two curses who have remarkable durability and toughness with the former being near-impossible to damage. During his fight with Sukuna, Yuji jumped twenty stories from two buildings to reach Sukuna after the latter took control over Megumi's body. Also in his fight with Sukuna, Yuji was able to kick a massive chunk of rubble towards Sukuna, momentarily stopping him.
Immense Speed and Reflexes: Yuji is shown to have great speed and can finish a 50-meter track within 3 seconds, implying he can run at speeds of 60.12km/h (37.3mph). He's also been shown to dodge the attacks of all five opposing sorcerers from the students from Kyoto Jujutsu High who tried to murder him. He has been shown to be fast enough to evade Choso's Piercing Blood, which travels at the speed of sound, proving he has superb reflexes. During Yuji and Maki's fight against Sukuna while possessing Megumi, Yuji was able to keep up with their magnificent speed and reflexes while being grievously wounded from his previous battle.
Immense Durability: Yuji's durability surpasses the average sorcerer. He was able to continuously take hits from Choso during their fight and even Piercing Blood, an attack moving at the speed of sound didn't pierce Yuji immediately. He was also able to withstand numerous attacks from Mahito in his Instant Spirit Body of Distorted Killing form and continue fighting. After Sukuna took control over Megumi's body, he punched Yuji through multiple buildings and Yuji survived that, and afterwards was able to fight him and even survive Sukuna relentlessly attacking him with Dismantle and keep fighting him with Maki's help.
Immense Stamina: Fitting his other superhuman capabilities, Yuji possesses a large amount of stamina and has often been shown continuing to fight despite grievous injuries for longer periods of time without rest, such as having his hand severed and his fingers disintegrated when battling the Finger Bearer, allowing for Megumi to escape with Nobara. He was also able to resist several poisonous stab wounds from when he tried to stop Junpei Yoshino from hurting anyone at his school. His incredible stamina is especially shown afterwards when he sustained grievous injuries from Mahito but was able to continue attacking.
Proficient Learner: Yuji is a curious person and an earnest student. He is also good at progressing - being quick at Satoru's Movie Appreciation Training, and realizing Aoi Todo's advice quickly. According to Akutami, he is the best at cooking among the first years trio. He was able to master using martial arts alongside cursed energy and honed it to a level with which he can take on Special Grade curses. He was even able to use Black Flash four times in a row a short time after he had even learnt of its existence.
Master Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Yuji is one of the greatest, if not the greatest practitioner of martial arts in the series. His fighting prowess goes toe to toe with Aoi Todo, another extremely proficient martial artist. Yuji can effortlessly defeat a Semi-Grade 1 cursed spirit, and challenge Special Grade curses purely using martial arts and infusing his style with cursed energy. Yuji also possesses an impressive control over his attacks, being able to pause his punch a moment before impact and adjust his power into several counter blows.
Yuji's fighting style is usually depicted as being very acrobatic with his movements, allowing him to strike his opponent in several different angles which also allow him to evade several oncoming attacks, essentially giving him great offensive and defensive capabilities. If the initial strike he is going for has been blocked, he is able to use high flying kicks, unorthodox punches, and even a knee strike to retaliate. He is also skilled in a martial arts style known as Taido Martial Arts, which grants him the ability to perform Knee Release, an ancient martial arts technique that eliminates starting movements and allows Yuji to release his knees, hips, and shoulders to guide him to his opponent's feet instead of falling down.
By combining the technique mentioned above with Taido Martial Arts, Yuji can perform Manji Kick, where he uses the momentum to throw his right leg upwards and land a kick to his opponent's head. By adding cursed energy to this attack, it can harm cursed spirits.
Poison Resistance: Since Yuji is the host to Sukuna, he has a resistance to all kinds of poison. Yuji will feel the pain from the poison, but he is mostly unaffected. This ability was first demonstrated during his fight with Junpei when he could resist Moon Dregs' poison. It was demonstrated again when Yuji resisted the effects of Eso and Kechizu's Decay.
Weapon Mastery: Yuji was not trained in the use of weapons; however, due to his physical power and talent, he can still become proficient with one quickly.
Jujutsu[]
Cursed Energy Manipulation | |
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Immense Cursed Energy: Yuji's cursed energy originates from the parts of the special grade cursed object, Ryomen Sukuna. He doesn't seem to have an innate technique, but he has shown great proficiency with learning how to control cursed energy.
Currently, Yuji primarily uses cursed energy combined with his martial arts skills and superhuman strength to reinforce his strikes, increasing their impact and allowing him to hurt curses. Thanks to the various regimens of training and having used Black Flash, Yuji better grasped the nature of cursed energy. By the time he had his rematch with Mahito during the Shibuya Incident, Yuji managed to land a Black Flash with maximum cursed energy, displaying the ability to use it practically at will, a feat said to be impossible for even Satoru Gojo. After the Shibuya Incident, Yuji has added much greater finesse onto his cursed energy manipulation, combining cursed energy and superhuman physical abilities, with Choso describing him as a Demon God. In the month before fighting Sukuna, aside from improving his cursed energy reinforcement, Yuji managed to grasp the complex nature of reverse cursed technique and learned to perform it. |
Divergent Fist ( Keitei Ken?): After Yuji lands a punch on a target, his cursed energy flows and makes a stronger second impact. Divergent Fist was often used initially, but after Yuji's fight with Aoi Todo at the Kyoto Sister-School Goodwill Event and the Kyoto third-year's critique of this attack, he practically stopped using it. For a while, he even forgot how to use the ability, as it's use was originally entirely accidental. However, he eventually relearned the technique, and Yuji currently can perform it at will. | |
Black Flash ( Kokusen?): A technique that creates spatial distortion when a user connects with an impact of cursed energy within 0.000001 seconds of a physical hit. The phenomenon causes cursed power to flash black, creating a more potent attack to the power of 2.5 of a normal hit. Currently, Yuji is capable of using Black Flash four times in a row and has performed it a total of nine times. |
Binding Vows | |
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Yuji has an unnamed Binding Vow with Sukuna. The King of Curses agreed to revive the boy after his apparent death in the Cursed Womb Arc under two conditions:
① Yuji would allow Sukuna to take over his body for one full minute when the cursed spirit would chant "Enchain". ② He would forget about the agreement. Yuji initially opposed the Binding Vow, making Sukuna promise that he wouldn't kill or hurt anyone during that minute. The boy still disagreed with the terms and instead had a battle against the King of Curses, where he'd allow the agreement to occur if he lost. Sukuna effortlessly defeated Yuji, forcing him into the Binding Vow. |
Reverse Cursed Technique | |
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Reverse Cursed Technique ( Hanten Jutsushiki?): Within the month before his battle against Sukuna, Yuji learned how to use reverse cursed technique to heal himself. Using reverse cursed technique, he regenerated his body after suffering a Cleave from Sukuna. He later used it to heal the wounds he received from two of Sukuna's Dismantle slashes. |
Equipment[]
Cursed Tool | |
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Slaughter Demon ( Tozama?): A cursed tool given to Yuji by Satoru Gojo, originally belonging to Maki Zenin. It's effective against curses. Slaughter Demon was broken by a Finger Bearer, a special grade cursed spirit. |
Trivia[]
- The anime adds a short sequence where Yuji in a disappointed manner lists a bunch of special attacks from other anime that he wish he could've used. Those attacks include Spirit Gun from YuYu Hakusho, Bankai from Bleach, Rasengan from Naruto and Dodon Ray & Kamehameha from Dragon Ball.
- Yuji's surname contains the kanji for "tiger" ( ita?) and "rod, cane" ( dori?), and his first name contains "permanence" ( yū?) and "benevolence, humanity" ( ji?).
- He shares the same "仁" writing with the first name of his father, Jin Itadori.
- According to Jujutsu Kaisen Official Fanbook:
- His hobby is karaoke, watching TV, and impersonations.
- Favorite food: Rice bowl with food on top and noodles.
- Least favorite food: None.
- Cause of stress: Science subjects (he failed molecular science).
- His last name is from a medicinal plant. His given name is from Akutami's classmate, which he thinks is suitable.
- His hair color is natural.
- He doesn't talk to Sukuna as they do not get along well.
- Despite Sukuna's influence, he can sleep just fine.
- There are two scenarios for what would happen if Yuji were to eat a Death Painting. If instead of Sukuna he ate a Death Painting, the consciousness of the Cursed Womb will disappear and Yuji will get its cursed energy. If Yuji ate a Death Painting after he ate Sukuna, the Sukuna inside will make the Death Painting disappear.
- No one specifically told him to master martial arts. His grandfather taught him a bit of karate. Manji Kick is picked up by Yuji, so it becomes his best move.
- The movies that he watched during his movie training were "Léon: The Professional", "The Descent", "The Host", "The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On". The one Gojo spoiled is "Deep Blue Sea".
- He has friends other than those from Tokyo High, but Yuji only got a phone when he entered Jujutsu High. When asked "Does he still keep contact with his friends from middle school and hometown?", Akutami said "I'll let you guess."
- If he didn't become a sorcerer, Yuji would have probably become a firefighter.
- His favorite TV shows and channels are related to food. He will laze around watching them, if he's into it.
- When it comes to school tasks, he's the type to do it the day before. Yuji is the type that may be late, but will properly submit it anyway.
- Though called "The Tiger of West Junior High", Akutami really had not thought about it at all.
- If Yuji and Aoi went to the same middle school that was not related to sorcerers, they would probably find something in common.
- Yuji's rankings in the Popularity Polls are as follows;
- Yuji ranked first in the first Popularity Poll with 21,735 votes.
- Yuji ranked third in the second Popularity Poll with 13,265 votes.
- Yuji ranked second in the third Popularity Poll with 24,038 votes.
- Yuji is 173 centimeters tall (5'8") and, according to Akutami, will continue growing.
- He weighs about 80 kilograms (176 lbs.), but his body fat percentage is in the single digits.
- Yuji is a "TV child"; raised by watching TV.
- He has a huge repertoire of half-cooked impressions.
- He isn't picky about food.
- He isn't actually a hoodie guy but wears it because he can be indecisive.
- His type is "tall girls with big butts... like Jennifer Lawrence". He first saw her when he watched the Silver Linings Playbook.
- As credited by Gege Akutami, his theme music is "Heart ni Hi wo Tsukete" by 9mm Parabellum Bullet and "Itsuka Dokoka De" by Kuchiroro.