Jujutsu Kaisen has become one of the most popular shonen franchises of the decade thanks to an original power system — cursed energy — and a cast of sorcerers with very different motivations. But between inherited techniques, Domain Expansions and named curses, it's easy to get lost. This guide walks through the main characters, explains where their strength comes from, and clears up the key concepts of the power system: cursed energy, Cursed Technique, Domain Expansion and the Reverse Cursed Technique.
The series began as a manga in 2018, created by Japanese author Gege Akutami, serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump until it wrapped up in 2024. The anime arrived in 2020 courtesy of studio MAPPA, with a 24-episode first season, the prequel film Jujutsu Kaisen 0 (2021) and a second season centered on the Shibuya arc (2023). In January 2026, Season 3: The Culling Game premiered, adapting the deadly tournament organized by the sorcerer Kenjaku and expanding the cast with several new characters.
What is cursed energy and how does the power system work?
In the world of Jujutsu Kaisen, negative human emotions — fear, shame, resentment, pain — generate an invisible force called cursed energy. When that energy builds up unchecked, it gives birth to curses, hostile beings that threaten the public. To fight them, there are jujutsu sorcerers, people able to channel their own cursed energy into a personal Cursed Technique, almost always inherited or developed uniquely for each individual, which means no two sorcerers fight exactly alike.
Domain Expansion and the Reverse Cursed Technique, explained
Above the base Cursed Technique sits Domain Expansion: an advanced ability that creates the user's own closed-off space where their technique lands with near-guaranteed precision, at the cost of a huge amount of cursed energy and a considerable recharge time. At the opposite end is the Reverse Cursed Technique, which converts cursed energy into positive energy, used mostly to heal serious wounds; very few characters master it as effectively as Gojo or Sukuna.
Yuji Itadori: Sukuna's host
Yuji is a high schooler with unusual physical strength who gets dragged into the sorcerer world after swallowing one of the twenty fingers of the King of Curses, Sukuna, to stop his classmates from doing it and getting possessed instead. From then on he shares a body with Sukuna and joins Tokyo Jujutsu High to learn how to control the situation while trying to gather the rest of the fingers and destroy them. Unlike most shonen protagonists, Yuji barely has a Cursed Technique of his own at the start of the story: his main weapon is hand-to-hand combat and a stubborn will that keeps clashing with the rules that govern the jujutsu world.
Megumi Fushiguro: the Ten Shadows Technique
Megumi is one of Yuji's first classmates and inherits the Zenin clan's technique known as the Ten Shadows, which lets him summon shikigami (spirit creatures) from his own shadow, including a two-headed wolf and the powerful Divine Dog: Totality. His fighting style is more tactical than Yuji's: instead of fighting head-on, he coordinates his summons to control the battlefield, and his Domain Expansion, Chimera Shadow Garden, combines up to ten different shikigami inside a single space.
Nobara Kugisaki: straw-doll magic with nails and a hammer
Nobara completes the first season's core trio. Her technique relies on straw-doll magic: she drives straw or nails into a voodoo doll linked to her target, and any damage inflicted on the doll transfers straight to the real enemy. Blunt, ambitious and determined to make a name for herself as a city sorcerer, her role in the Shibuya Incident Arc was one of Season 2's most talked-about moments, with a resolution the manga itself clears up in later chapters.
Satoru Gojo: the strongest sorcerer
Gojo is Yuji, Megumi and Nobara's teacher at Tokyo Jujutsu High and, by near-unanimous consensus within the series, the most powerful sorcerer in centuries. His technique, Infinity, generates a space that slows down anything approaching him until it's practically impossible to touch, while his Six Eyes give him a perception of cursed energy far superior to any other character. His Domain Expansion, Unlimited Void, floods his opponent's senses with infinite information, leaving them paralyzed. His mix of power, charisma and humor quickly made him the franchise's most popular character.
Sukuna: the King of Curses
Ryomen Sukuna was a sorcerer so feared in life, over a thousand years ago, that after dying he became the most powerful cursed spirit ever recorded. His twenty fingers, scattered and hidden for centuries, are hunted by sorcerers and curses alike, since gathering them all would let him reclaim his full body. He commands multiple Cursed Techniques of his own, including the manipulation of fire blades (Fire Arrow) and the slicing-and-dismantling technique (Cleave and Dismantle), and he's one of the few characters able to use the Reverse Cursed Technique offensively as well as for healing.
Nanami Kento: the Ratio technique
Nanami is a former office worker who left his corporate job to become a grade 1 sorcerer, and he functions as the adult voice of reason against Yuji, Megumi and Nobara's inexperience. His technique, Ratio, divides any target's body into precise sections from seven to three, and his hits on the seven point are lethal even against highly resistant curses. Methodical to the point of obsession about work schedules, Nanami quickly won fans over with the contrast between his extreme professionalism and a deeply human core.
Cursed energy, Domain Expansion and the Reverse Technique: summary table
These are the three core concepts of Jujutsu Kaisen's power system, with a character example for each.
| Concept | What it is | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Cursed energy | Negative energy generated by human emotions; the basis of every Cursed Technique and the origin of curses themselves | Power source for every sorcerer |
| Domain Expansion | The user's own closed space that guarantees their technique lands, at the cost of a huge amount of cursed energy | Unlimited Void (Gojo), Malevolent Shrine (Sukuna) |
| Reverse Cursed Technique | Conversion of cursed energy into positive energy, used mainly for advanced healing | Gojo, Sukuna |
Common mistakes when following Jujutsu Kaisen
- Mixing up Sukuna with a full possession of Yuji: they share a body, but Yuji keeps his own will and personality most of the time.
- Thinking Domain Expansion is the same as a base Cursed Technique: Domain Expansion is a level above, far more costly, and not always available in every fight.
- Starting with Season 3 without watching the rest first: the Culling Game assumes you already know Yuji, Megumi, Nobara, Gojo and the outcome of the Shibuya arc well.
- Assuming the Reverse Cursed Technique is only for healing: in the hands of very powerful sorcerers, like Sukuna, it's also used as a form of attack.
Where to watch and read Jujutsu Kaisen legally
All three anime seasons, the film Jujutsu Kaisen 0 and Season 3: The Culling Game are available on Crunchyroll with subtitles and an English dub. The manga, already complete in Japan, lets you read the full ending of the story without waiting for the anime to catch up. If you'd rather have it in print, the collected volumes are a solid way to complete the set.
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Official trailer for Jujutsu Kaisen: The Culling Game
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Frequently asked questions about Jujutsu Kaisen
What is cursed energy in Jujutsu Kaisen?
It's the negative energy generated by human emotions (fear, shame, resentment) that, once it builds up, gives birth to curses and also powers the jujutsu sorcerers who fight them through cursed techniques.
What's the difference between a Cursed Technique and a Domain Expansion?
A Cursed Technique is each sorcerer's individual ability (Megumi's Shadows, Gojo's Infinity). Domain Expansion is a level above that: it creates the user's own closed space where their technique lands with total precision, at the cost of a huge amount of cursed energy.
Who is Sukuna, really, inside Yuji Itadori's body?
Sukuna is the King of Curses, a sorcerer so powerful in life that after dying he became the strongest cursed spirit in history. Yuji swallows one of his twenty fingers to save his classmates and ends up as his host, sharing a body with him.
Why is Satoru Gojo considered the strongest sorcerer?
Because he combines Infinity, which makes him almost impossible to touch, with the Six Eyes, an ocular ability that lets him see and manipulate cursed energy with a precision no other character matches, on top of his Domain Expansion, Unlimited Void.
What is the Reverse Cursed Technique?
It's an advanced application that converts cursed energy into positive energy, used mainly for healing. Very few characters master it, Gojo and Sukuna among them, and some also use it as a form of attack.
Do you need to watch the anime in order, or can you start with the Culling Game?
The chronological order is recommended: Season 1 (2020-2023), the prequel movie Jujutsu Kaisen 0 (2021) and Season 2 (2023), before Season 3: The Culling Game (from January 2026), since the latter assumes viewers already know all the main characters well.
Who are the new characters in the Culling Game?
Season 3 introduces players and sorcerers such as Kinji Hakari, Kirara Hoshi, Hiromi Higuruma, Fumihiko Takaba, Reggie Star and Kogane, who join the main cast in a deadly tournament organized by the sorcerer Kenjaku.
Does Nobara Kugisaki return after the Shibuya Incident Arc?
Her fate after the Shibuya arc stays deliberately ambiguous in the anime for a large stretch of the story; the manga clarifies it in later chapters, so it's best to avoid Culling Game spoilers if you haven't reached that part yet.