History Manga / JujutsuKaisen

** [[spoiler:This trope is flipped on the aforementioned Kashimo's head when he try taking on Sukuna with his Cursed Technique, a DeadlyUpgrade which he kept in reserve very specifically to fight the King of Curses. Though he's initially able to have the upper hand over a weakened Sukuna, the latter fully manifests into his four-armed body from the Heian era and proceeds to easily and utterly decimate Kashimo before killing him with an enormous net of Dismantle, reminding the audience of the grotesque gap in power between him and the remaining heroes after he'd spent the latter half of his fight with Gojo on the defensive. Prior to that, Sukuna (who had not yet reached full power) is able to easily kill Ryu Ishigori when the Sorcerer get in his way, with the latter not being able to get his CT off before Sukuna cleaves his head in three.]]

** [[spoiler:This trope is flipped on the aforementioned Kashimo's head when he try taking on Sukuna with his Cursed Technique, a DeadlyUpgrade which he kept in reserve very specifically to fight the King of Curses. Though he's initially able to have the upper hand over a weakened Sukuna, the latter fully manifests into his four-armed body from the Heian era and proceeds to easily and utterly decimate Kashimo before killing him with an enormous net of Dismantle, reminding the audience of the grotesque gap in power between him and the remaining heroes after he'd spent the latter half of his fight with Gojo on the defensive.]]

** [[spoiler:This trope is flipped on the aforementioned Kashimo's head when he try taking on Sukuna with his Cursed Technique, a DeadlyUpgrade which he kept in reserve very specifically to fight the King of Curses. Though he's initially able to have the upper hand over a weakened Sukuna, the latter fully manifests into his four-armed body from the Heian era and proceeds to easily and utterly decimate Kashimo before killing him with an enormous net of Dismantle, reminding the audience of the enormous gap in power between him and the remaining heroes after he'd spent the latter half of his fight with Gojo on the defensive.]]

*** In a flashback, Uraume and Sukuna discuss who Yuji is. Sukuna then drops a bombshell regarding his origins.

* AlwaysChaoticEvil: Curses, unsurprisingly given that they are given form, power and will from humanity's darkest emotions.

* AndIMustScream: Not only does the humanoid curse Mahito have an ability to transform human bodies, but he also uses them as attack dogs while keeping their consciousness intact.

* ArmedFemalesUnarmedMales: All four of the main heroes have some training in weapon use. However, Nobara, the sole female character among them, is the only one specifically needs weapons to use her Cursed Techniques. Averted however with both Special-Grade Sorceror Yuki Tsukumo, who taught [[GoodOldFisticuffs brawler extraordinaire]] Toudou and Takako Uro, both of which fight barehanded. Also Averted by Yuta Okkotsu and Kashimo Hajime, who both use a sword, ring and staff respectively to use their techniques and fight.

* BaitAndSwitch: In the first chapter and episode, Megumi notes that eating a Cursed Object, ''especially a Special Grade'', is the same as eating a deadly poison before also noting there's a million to one chance that Yuji might survive and gain a power boost, which seems to be the case when Yuji [[OneHitKill oneshots]] the cursed spirit that tried to eat him and Megumi...until Yuji starts laughing and sprouts tattoos and an extra set of eyes. Megumi clarifies that the million to one chance is ''the worst-case scenario'' in that the Special Grade Cursed Object is now in the process of reincarnating. Worse, later chapters establish that the being now inhabiting Yuji's body is [[TheDreaded Ryomen Sukuna, the most powerful Cursed Sorcerer in existence]].

* BlindIdiotTranslation: The official Viz translation can be very... questionable at times, particularly during the series' later arcs. At times much of the dialogue conveyed in an awkward and confusing manner that muddles what the characters are saying and/or undermines the impact of many key moments. And then there's instances where the dialogue given to the reader blatantly contradicts information established prior. It's by no means the case in every chapter as sometimes different chapters will have different translators working on them, but many fans will still recommend seeking out other translations rather than relying on the official.

*** The series constantly examines the worth of human beings based on their potential. Natural born geniuses like Gojo and talented-but-hardworking figures like Megumi and Nobara stand opposite to Yuji, who is otherwise completely average. As the story develops, each of these characters grapples with the expectations put upon them by their potential in different ways, such as Gojo choosing to completely rebel against the order that set him up for greatness while Megumi doubles down on his training to take advantage of his raw talent. Yuji, meanwhile, must grapple with his own self worth as a walking timebomb with no potential for developing a unique cursed technique, [[spoiler: which eventually erodes his self-confidence so much that he believes himself to be nothing more than a machine built to kill curses.]]

* MillionToOneChance: Fushiguro notes that there's a one in a million chance for Yuji to survive eating Sukuna's finger, a special-grade cursed object that's essentially a lethal poison, to become stronger, kicking off the plot.

* DifficultButAwesome: Black Flash is this for all jujutsu sorcerers. It requires you to apply energy directly after a physical strike (no more than 0.000001 seconds), but the control needed is so fine that it ends up being akin to a CriticalHit. Itadori manages to grasp it easier than others however.

*** The second years Maki, Inumaki and Panda are added in Episode 6 along with Ijichi and Ieri. Nobara's position is also moved, with a slightly different pose.

* ExplainingYourPowerToTheEnemy: Invoking this trope has special benefits in the ''Jujutsu Kaisen'' universe. Every jujutsu sorcerer can call upon a contract which boosts the effectiveness of their abilities, at the cost of giving away the nature of their technique. An opponent managing to figure out before you can explain it negates the contract however.

* FightingPanda: Panda is a large bipedal panda-looking creature (he insists several times he isn't really a panda) who is just as capable of kicking ass as the human jujutsu sorcerers, and unlike most of them, his size and bulk lends itself to a close-combat fighting stye. He's actually [[{{Golem}} a sentient Cursed Corpse]], meaning Principal Yaga [[InvokedTrope deliberately chose to make his prize fighter in the shape of a panda]].

* GenerationalTrauma: The Zen'in Clan is regarded as one of the most powerful family of sorcerers in the series who subject themselves to [[TrainingFromHell brutal training]] and family politics to maintain their power. [[CursedWithAwesome Toji Fushiguro]] was a product of that systematic abuse and would later abandon the Clan when he couldn't take it anymore. But after [[DisposableWoman the death of his wife]], he became directionless, hedonistic, and showed no interest in raising his child Megumi. He even considered selling him back to the Zen'in Clan when Megumi became of age. Though the boy ended up in Gojo's care instead, Megumi would develop the same toxic traits of becoming stronger while isolating himself from his peers.

* LyingByOmission: Aoi Todo employs this tactic liberally during his with with [[spoiler:Hanami]] whenever they start to get accustomed to his SwapTeleportation by abusing the expectation of [[ExplainingYourPowerToTheEnemy Revealing One's Hand]]. Initially, he says that by clapping his hands, he can swap himself with another person. However, as the fight progresses it becomes evident that his initial explanation left out several other applications of his ability, such as the fact that he doesn't need to be the person being swapped, and the fact that he can swap objects as long as they possessed Cursed Energy.

* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: [[spoiler:Ino suffers one of the series' most savage [[CurbStompBattle Curb Stomp Battles]] at the hands of Toji Fushiguro once he is summoned by Ogami and her grandson. While a poweful sorcerer in his own right, he stood absolutely no chance against a man that posed a serious challenge for ''Gojo''.]]

* StatusQuoIsGod: Notably subverted. One of the defining themes of the series is that consequences of one's actions are permanent and, while it might be possible to fix certain things sometimes, other things just can't. One instance is that the animus between the Zen'in twins is never fully resolved, even [[spoiler: after Mai's apparent death]]. Other example is Junpei's hapless association with Mahito which [[spoiler: causes Junpei's demise at Itadori's hands]]. Also, the fact that Sukuna's association with Itadori can only induce the latter dying horribly is another example.

** Part of what makes Yuji's "partnership" with Sukuna so tumultuous (besides Sukuna being, well, himself) is that he's made no secret that he aims to consume all of the his fingers and then die to end the threat the artifacts pose towards humanity once and for all. Conversely, when Yuji tries to force Sukuna's aid when facing a special-grade curse on his first mission, under the grounds that if the curse kills him, Sukuna's essence will die too, Sukuna bluntly refuses to aid Yuji regardless, pointing out that there are still 18 of his fingers out in the wild, thus even if the part of him trapped in Yuji dies, he'll still survive overall, and [[EvilIsPetty he's perfectly willing to die if it would inconvenience Yuji more than himself]].

** Mahito, looks like a very pretty human with no striking odd features except for his heteroachroma, grayish blue hair, and stitches on his face... until you get a closer look on his face and it's a [[NonstandardCharacterDesign little too realistic compared to the main cast]] and when he acts [[AxCrazy psychotic]], it's more of a monster wearing a human face and not exactly getting it right. Justified in that he's the Curse of the fear and hatred of humans, so his appearance gives him an inherent uncanny feeling.

*** Everything seems fine as Yuji ponders on how they'd be now able to [[spoiler:free Gojo from the Prison Realm, cure Tsumiki and get rid of him and Sukuna. At this point, Tsumiki has something to say...]]

*** After Uraume ends his discussion with Sukuna, he [[OhCrap suddenly gets a hunch]] that changes who Yuji is.

* WhamShot: Chapter 143 has a brief flashback [[spoiler:to Yuji's grandfather urging to his son Jin (Yuji's father) of leaving his wife. Said wife is revealed to have scars on her forehead very similar to Geto and Noritoshi Kamo's.]]

** Sukuna and Gojo AKA the two strongest characters in the series regularly deliver swift and decisive defeats like candies to anyone who crosses their path. Just as Mahito seems to be gaining an edge against Nanami and Yuji, Sukuna ends the fight with ease just by flicking his fingers. The most particular emphasis is Jogo: Despite being acknowledged as the strongest of the unregistered special-grade curses, the only fight Jogo wins is against [[spoiler: Nanami, Maki, and Naobito]] in a matter of ''[[SpeedBlitz seconds]]''. He ends up being utterly annihilated when he fights either of them, as nothing he tries works and he's unable to land a single hit or put up any meaningful opposition. Both of them make it clear they are just toying with him as they easily beat him down with just physical combat and don't even need to use their cursed techniques. While Gojo at least shows off his ''Red'' and ''Unlimited Void'', Sukuna only uses a [[spoiler: technique that manipulates fire, Jogo's speciality, to kill him]]. With 15 fingers, meaning he's back at 75% of his power but not quite at full strength, Sukuna defeats Mahoraga, Megumi's strongest shikigami that not even Gojo's ancestors with the Six Eyes can put down without dying himself, pretty handily.
** The Culling Game is full of this, with sorcerers from ancient ages displaying just how formidable veteran jujutsu warriors are. Shortly after Yuji and Megumi handle their own situation, ''Yuta Okkotsu'' takes charge of the story... But despite being the second greatest sorcerer in the current age, the opponents he fights end up giving him a brutal fight, dwarfing even Megumi's troublesome fight with Reggie Star. In particular, Ryu Ishigori defeats ''Rika'' and can even outdo Yuta in terms of destructive output. Kashimo Hajime, the strongest in the Tokyo no.2 Colony, proves even more terrifying, as he nearly kills Panda in a one-sided mauling, and fights Hakari with ''infinite cursed energy'' to a brutal standstill. As Hakari points out, he wasn't using his Cursed Technique, and still manages to nearly beat him to death, [[YourHeadAsplode blow him apart]] via [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome lightning bolt]], and sever his left arm in a DeathOrGloryAttack. And as it turns out, even ''ordinary warriors'' are exceptionally lethal in the Culling Game, so much so that Daido Hagane, a nameless swordsman reincarnated for some reason, could fight on near-equal footing with Maki after she could wipe out the entire Zenin Clan and deals Naoya as a Cursed Spirit considerable damage, while Rokujushi Miyo actually beats Maki in hand-to-hand combat several times, although it doesn't last for too long as Miyo [[SuperStrength admits Maki is way more powerful than he is physically]] and also purposefully helps Maki hone her new skills. Even modern sorcerers possess astounding potential, such as Higuruma, who mastered Domain Expansion, defeated 20 other sorcerers and became as powerful as a Grade 1 sorcerer in just 12 days, and Takaba, who has an innate ability that could potentially oppose ''Gojo''.

** [[spoiler:The duel between Gojo Satoru and Ryomen Sukuna. On one hand, Gojo was faced with a specific counter for his cursed technique. On the other, Sukuna was holding back his other cards now that he had Megumi's Ten Shadows to use instead. Each chapter was a brutal back and forth as both tried to outwit each other's techniques. Once left unable to initiate any more Domain Expansions, Gojo constantly outdoes Sukuna in hand-to-hand before Mahoraga showed up. Near the tail-end, Gojo ended up in a one versus three with Sukuna, Mahoraga and Merged Beast Agito. However, that last bout would prove to be Gojo's undoing, as letting Mahoraga unleash the slash that struck where Gojo was rather than Gojo specifically meant that Sukuna saw a technique he could use himself. After Hollow Purple destroyed Mahoraga, Gojo was left vulnerable to that infinity-piercing attack by Sukuna, leaving Sukuna the victor.]]

** Chapter 257. Hoo boy. [[spoiler: First, Sukuna had a twin sibling that he ate, which resulted in Kenjaku reincarnating him as Jin Itadori, Yuji Itadori's father. This would make the main protagonist a nephew of Sukuna of a sort. Second, Yuji now has '''two''' Cursed Techniques: Blood Manipulation from Kenjaku's lineage, and most surprisingly, '''''Shrine''''' from having the same lineage as Sukuna. And lastly, Yuji surpasses Nanami's consecutive Black Flash record, by way of ''eight'' consecutive Black Flashes.]]

--->[[spoiler:'''Uraume:''' Does that mean...that Yuji Itadori [[NextTierPowerUp has the potential to rival Sukuna?]]