History Characters / JujutsuKaisenYujiItadori

[[WMG:[[center: [- ''Manga/JujutsuKaisen'' '''[[Characters/JujutsuKaisen Main Character Index]]'''\\
[[Characters/JujutsuKaisenTokyoPrefecturalJujutsuHighSchool Tokyo Prefectural Jujutsu High School]] ('''Yuji Itadori''', [[Characters/JujutsuKaisenMegumiFushiguro Megumi Fushiguro]], [[Characters/JujutsuKaisenSatoruGojo Satoru Gojo]]) | [[Characters/JujutsuKaisenKyotoPrefecturalJujutsuHighSchool Kyoto Prefectural Jujutsu High School]] | [[Characters/JujutsuKaisenCursedSpirits Cursed Spirits]] ([[Characters/JujutsuKaisenMahito Mahito]]) | [[Characters/JujutsuKaisenCurseUsers Curse Users]] ([[Characters/JujutsuKaisenRyomenSukuna Ryomen Sukuna]]) | [[Characters/JujutsuKaisenCullingGamePlayers Culling Game Players]] | [[Characters/JujutsuKaisenZeninClan Zen'in Clan]] | [[Characters/JujutsuKaisenOthers Others]]]]-]]]
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!!Yuji Itadori
[[quoteright:195:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yuji_itadori_7.png]]
[[caption-width-right:195:[[labelnote:Click here to see Shinjuku Showdown Yuji]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/itadorpostshibuya.png[[/labelnote]]]]

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/JunyaEnoki (Japanese), Creator/AdamMcArthur (English) [[labelnote:Foreign [=VAs=]]] Creator/EnzoFortuny (Latin American Spanish), Dario Sansalone (Italian) [[/labelnote]]
!!!'''Age''': 15
!!!'''Jujutsu:''' [[EnhancedPunch Divergent Fist]], [[CriticalHitClass Black Flash Mastery]], [[spoiler:[[HealingHands Reverse Cursed Technique]], [[BloodyMurder Blood Manipulation]], [[RazorWind Shrine]]]]

->''"I can't say what I'll be thinking when I die, but... I'm not gonna regret the way I live!"''

Once an easygoing high school student with a kind disposition, Yuji promised to his grandfather that he would "help others and die surrounded by loved ones" right before his death. Leading him to, after a chance encounter with Jujutsu Sorcerer Megumi Fushiguro and a dangerous Cursed Spirit, swallow a finger belonging to Ryomen Sukuna, the King of Curses, becoming his vessel and forcing him to become a Sorcerer himself to escape execution.

After consuming one of Sukuna's fingers, it allowed Yuji to wield, perceive, and control cursed energy. While he currently lacks an Innate Technique, Yuji's strength is so great that he can physically overpower most Curses with his bare hands. In addition, he can alter the flow of his Cursed Energy to perform either "Divergent Fist"; where his Cursed Energy lags his hands to give his blows two separate impacts. or a "Black Flash"; which creates a small distortion of space that multiplies the force of an attack to the power of 2.5.

[[spoiler: Later on, Yuji develops Blood Manipulation as he has the same composition of the Death Paintings, via consuming his other brothers. He also eventually develops a variation of Sukuna's Innate Technique, Shrine, manifesting as cut and paste guidelines (i.e photoshop) whenever he touches something to cleanly sever it along those lines.]]
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[[folder:A -- E]]
* EleventhHourSuperpower: [[spoiler:During the final battle with Sukuna, he lands a Black Flash on the King of Curses, resulting in him 'awakening' and unlocking his true potential. As a result, his power skyrockets to the point of putting Sukuna on the backfoot, and finally unlocking his own version of Shrine.]]
* TheAce: Yuji is leagues stronger than most of his peers and quick to learn and adapt during combat. His training with Todo has allowed him to match both him and Special Grade Curses blow for blow whereas other sorcerers struggle. He's able to perform a Black Flash shortly after learning it even exists, something many sorcerers are unable to do. In that ''same'' day, he matches the record holder Nanami in four consecutive Black Flashes against Hanami. [[spoiler:During the Jujutsu Sorcerers' fight with Sukuna, the latter was shocked to see Yuji learning Reverse Cursed Technique in one month. Then he later surpasses Gojo in total number of black flashes, while also setting a new record for total number used consecutively with 7, and can finally use Sukuna's Shrine Technique as well as Blood Manipulation]]
* AcquiredPoisonImmunity: Yuji's ability to house Sukuna's soul means Innate Techniques that revolve around poison aren't nearly as debilitating to him as they would be for anyone else. Leaving Junpei and the Death Paintings unfavorably matched against him.
** Him housing Sukuna also allows him to be able to perceive the soul and strike it accordingly, while being immune to having his soul transfigured. Giving him a great advantage in battle against Mahito.
* AdaptationDyeJob: The anime gives him pink hair while the manga has him in either light brown/blonde hair, though color spreads have given him pink hair nowadays.
* AllLovingHero: He is kind to a fault and wants to make sure that everyone gets the life that they want to live. As the series goes on, he questions if whether this is the right path, but comes to the understanding that while he can't save everyone, he can at least do his best to protect the living.
* TheAloner: After the Shibuya Incident Yuji becomes this, only being accompanied by Choso because he refuses to leave his "brother" thanks to a combination of [[spoiler:guilt for Sukuna's mass murder, Sukuna having plans for Megumi, and being wanted for execution by jujutsu headquarters. It takes Yuji getting beaten by Yuta and a talk with Megumi for Yuji to rejoin his friends.]]
* AmbiguouslyHuman: [[spoiler:The revelation that his mother was one of [[EvilutionaryBiologist Kenjaku]]'s vessels implies he might be actually be something akin to the [[HalfHumanHybrid Death Paintings]] in nature.]] Later on, [[spoiler:Sukuna calls what Kenjaku did to create Yuji the creepiest things he knows]].
** [[spoiler: Yuji ends up being the nephew of Sukuna due to Jin Itadori being Sukuna's Reincarnated Twin, although it's unclear what else Kenjaku did to him...besides sealing one of Sukuna's fingers in him at birth, it is noted that Yuji has equivalent potential to Sukuna.]]
* AntagonisticOffspring: Yuji opposes [[spoiler:Kenjaku, who is the mastermind behind the cursed spirits group and seals his sensei, and is actually one of his parents, being his mother when he had the host body of a woman.]]
* ApologeticAttacker: Yuji's kindhearted nature applies to both friends and enemies alike. Yuji even apologizes to Eso right before landing the killing blow on him, feeling empathy for the death painting in his last moments. [[spoiler:It's rather tragic in retrospect, as the reader later learns that Yuji and Eso were actually brothers, but neither knew it at the time.]]
* ArchEnemy: Yuji quickly grows to hate Sukuna and Mahito's guts. And the feeling's mutual to a sadistic degree on their part.
** Yuji bitterly regrets [[MyGreatestFailure failing to save Junpei from Mahito]] and looks forward to ending him personally, while Mahito detests the existence of someone immune to his prized Innate Technique and makes it his goal to break Yuji's spirit. [[spoiler: It intensifies after Mahito kills Nanami and possibly Nobara.]]
** Sukuna at best is apathetic towards Yuji, but nonetheless he eagerly takes every opportunity available to torment him with a smile; [[spoiler:refusing to help Junpei and laughing at Yuji's inability to save him, massacring a significant portion of Shibuya and showing Yuji the remains specifically to traumatize him, then switches vessels to Megumi and grievously injures Angel]]. At first, Sukuna continually ''highlights'' his absolute apathy to Yuji repeatedly despite all of this, making it clear that he's not doing it because he feels any strong emotion towards him, but simply because he ''can'', and always makes it clear that Yuji is unworthy to face him despite all the bad blood he creates towards the latter. However, [[spoiler:by the time of their final confrontation, he's come to really see Yuji as a personal enemy, revealing that he's grown to hate Yuji's unbreakable resolve and how his sheer force of will allows him to survive and keep challenging Sukuna despite being so weaker than him]].
* AnArmAndALeg:
** The special grade cursed spirit bearing one of Sukuna's fingers in the detention center cuts off his arm. Sukuna taking over his body regenerates it back.
** During the Shinjuku Showdown, [[spoiler:His leg is cut off by Sukuna's Domain Expansion. However, his use of Blood Manipulation and Reverse Cursed Technique allowed him to reattach and heal it]].
* AscendedFanboy: Yuji is a manga fan and gets to live out his fantasies as a shounen protagonist...he later regrets it hard.
* TheAtoner: After Sukuna [[spoiler:commits a massacre in Shibuya, [[SurvivorGuilt Yuji feels the need to continue fighting and save others to atone]], thinking how if he were to be executed then he would only be a murderer. When Higuruma points out that Yuji isn't guilty of it because he wasn't in control of his body, Yuji states that he believes he is because he was too weak to prevent it.]]
* BackToBackBadasses: With Todo during their fight against Hanami. Todo's [[SwapTeleportation technique]] was especially potent due to his teamwork with Yuji.
** Briefly with Nobara during their fight against Eso and Kechizu, with the two activating Black Flash at the same time and defeating the Death Paintings.
** Again with Todo during the Shibuya incident against [[spoiler: Mahito.]]
** Once more with Higuruma and later Yuta during the Shinjuku Showdown against Sukuna.
* BadPowersGoodPeople: Although he's slated to inherit Sukuna's [[StormOfBlades incredibly destructive powers]], Yuji is a good kid at heart who wants to do right by his grandfather's memory. [[spoiler:When Yuji does develop the ability to use Shrine, it's actually ''subverted''. Although undoubtedly a destructive Cursed Technique, Yuji's specific version of it is framed in a far friendlier light, with little scissors icons being shown on everything he cuts.]]
* BareFistedMonk: Before swallowing Sukuna's fingers, Yuji already had nigh-superhuman physical strength and skill in Taido Martial Arts, which only improves by incorporating cursed energy.
* BashBrothers:
** He and Todo are an extremely effective team as fighters, as Todo's [[SwapTeleportation Boogie Woogie]] makes it much easier for Yuji to bypass an opponent's defenses and deliver a Black Flash. [[spoiler:When Yuji is at his absolute lowest moment against Mahito, [[BigDamnHeroes Todo]] shows up to save him and, after a pep talk, they take on the Disaster Curse together and come out on top, even if it costs Todo his hand.]] Later, [[spoiler:after Choso sacrifices himself to save Yuji, Todo returns once again, with time with a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vibraslap vibraslap]] for an arm, and the two of them take on the King of Curses together.]]
** [[spoiler:With Choso, his former enemy and literal brother (Kind of. It's complicated). In chapter 256, the two of them run an effective tag team on Sukuna, resulting in them turning the tides on the King of Curses with a Black Flash combo.]]
* BatmanGambit: A pretty crazy one with [[BackToBackBadasses Yuta]]. [[spoiler:When fighting Sukuna inside of Yuta's domain, Yuta uses Cleave to tear open a wound in Sukuna's face. Yuji, when throwing hands with Sukuna moments later, gets hit and spits blood into Sukuna's open wound, seemingly as an act of pure spite. Once Sukuna patches up the wound with Reverse Cursed Technique, Yuji uses Blood Manipulation to erupt the blood from inside of Sukuna's body, and [[AnArmAndALeg blow off Sukuna's arm]] from the pressure.]]
* BewareTheNiceOnes: He may be the defining NiceGuy of the series, but that doesn't mean he doesn't get angry. Junpei's death ramps this trait up to the extreme. [[spoiler:It's taken ''several'' steps further after the events of the [[TraumaCongaLine Shibuya Incident]]. When Yuji and Todo defeat Mahito and reduce him to a pathetic terrified state, Yuji holds nothing but seething hatred for him and calmly explains to Mahito that he is going to kill him and will continue killing every time he reincarnates.]]
* BloodMagic: [[spoiler:Chapter 257 confirms that he obtained [[BloodyMurder Blood Manipulation]] by eating 6 Death Paintings.]]
* BlessedWithSuck: Eating Sukuna's finger gives him the ability to perform [[FunctionalMagic Jujutsu]]... and also forces him into SharingABody with an AxCrazy demon who'll try and take over his body every chance he gets.
* BodyMotifs: Hands. His technique is Divergent Fist, unleashes Black Flash through punches, he has his arm cut off by a special grade finger bearer, gains special arms before the Shinjuku Showdown, and his symbol in merchandise is a fist with Sukuna's tongue sticking out.
* BookDumb: Not conventionally knowledgeable, and according to the official fanbook a cause of his stress is science subjects and he failed molecular science. Despite this, he quickly gets a hang of cursed energy through watching films as instructed by Gojo, and masters Black Flash very soon after learning about it from Todo.
* BoringButPractical: Divergent Fist pales in flashiness compared to most Cursed Techniques, or even just the Black Flash move Yuji replaces it with. But it eventually turns out to be ''very'' useful [[spoiler:for creating openings in an opponent's defense by throwing off their balance, as Mahito found out the hard way]].
* BornWinner: Even before eating Sukuna's finger, Yuji was absurdly physically gifted, to the point of casually breaking world records. Once he enters the Jujutsu world, he takes to it like a fish to water, rapidly learning the basics and eventually reaching heights it takes others years to reach. [[spoiler:This turns out to be because he's the son of Kenjaku and the reincarnation of Sukuna's twin brother. This means that Yuji's true potential likely rivals that of ''Sukuna himself'' according to Uraume, Sukuna's biggest supporter. This is proven when Yuji 'awakens' after landing a Black Flash on Sukuna in the final battle, not only skyrocketing in strength, but unlocking Sukuna's Shrine.]]
* BreakTheCutie: Defied. Part of the reason why Sukuna hates him is that no matter how hard he tries, he simply '''cannot''' break Yuji. Sukuna can torture him, murder his friends and loved ones, and Yuji will just get back on his feet and square up again. In some ways, Yuji is perhaps the only person who Sukuna can't exert his will over. And for a narcissistic petty hedonist like Sukuna, Yuji and what he represents completely piss him off.
* BruceLeeClone: Itadori is a master of martial arts and prefers hand-to-hand combat over any weaponry. He exorcises [[spoiler:Eso]] with an uppercut one-inch punch to the solar plexus that blows his guts out through his back and ''completely levels the mountain road around him'', with the shockwave sending safety girders flying.
* CallBack: In chapter 257, [[spoiler:as Yuji throws Sukuna against a wall and pummels him with a Black Flash, the resulting impact destroys the wall behind Sukuna, seemingly bursting a pipe and making the two fighters stand in shallow water. This is a callback to the final stretch of Yuji's battle against Mahito in Shibuya, where the two mortal enemies came down to a blow of fists while likewise standing in ankle-high water.]]
* CannibalismSuperpower: [[spoiler:Much like his uncle Sukuna, Yuji cannibalizes his siblings by devouring Death Paintings 4 through 9, and in doing so gains the ability to use Blood Manipulation. A brief conversation between him and Choso has Yuji expressing guilt for doing so, but Choso reassures him that their siblings will live on in Yuji.]]
* CelebrityCrush: He introduces himself to Yaga with the fact that he is "into girls like Creator/JenniferLawrence". [[WordOfGod According to the official fanbook]], he began crushing on her after watching ''Film/SilverLiningsPlaybook''.
* CharacterDevelopment: Yuji starts out as an energetic, naive person inexperienced about the jujutsu world. His goal to help as many people as he can so he can have a proper death leads to a lot of hardship and trauma for him. By the time after the Shibuya Incident, he's a lot more somber in demeanor and cynical, bearing a lot of guilt and seeing himself as simply a cog in the grand scheme of the world who no longer needs a reason to kill curses. However, it's shown that, while not a ''positive'' mindset, Yuji's cog mentality serves as a source of strength for him. Even when he's at his absolute lowest, him believing that he has a function he needs to perform at all costs forces him to keep pushing onward [[{{Determinator}} no matter how bad things get]].
* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: Sure, he's [[AllThereInTheManual done Karate at his grandfather's behest]], but that wouldn't explain how he's able to break the world-record in shot-put by nearly 1½ times the previous one with no form or theory in his throw. The classmates at his normal school are convinced he is the reincarnation of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirko_Cro_Cop Mirko Cro Cop]] (who is still ''alive'' when the series takes place), a former Croatian special forces soldier, former heavyweight MMA and Kickboxing champion and all-around terrifying badass. [[spoiler:The reveal that his mother was a former host for [[BigBad Kenjaku]] and his father was the reincarnated twin of Sukuna implies that this may be the result of him being a DesignerBaby made to be Sukuna's host.]] Yuji is also noted several times to be like Maki and while fighting a [[spoiler: Sukuna-possessed Megumi, his strength dramatically increases to the point where Sukuna is shocked by it]].
* ChronicHeroSyndrome: His innate kindness and desire to die a good death manifests like this. In the first chapter, at the thought of his friends dying, he jumps through a window (on the fourth floor) and punches a monster head on, saving both his friends and Megumi. He also eats Sukuna's finger without hesitation, driven by his passion to save people at the cost of his own life.
* ClarkKentOutfit: Yuji's baggy attire does a great job at hiding just how ''ripped'' he is.
* CleanCut: [[spoiler: How his variation of Shrine works- rather than launching invisible RazorWind blades, Yuji manifests cut-and-paste guidelines on any object he touches, cleanly severing it along those lines.]]
* CloseRangeCombatant: He lacks any Curse Technique that allows him to fight from a distance, but, as Megumi puts it, he's strong enough to win a fight without Curse energy against every other student. [[spoiler: Even when he does develop long-range techniques later on, he's still far more comfortable taking the fight to his enemies directly.]]
* ColorMotifs: Red, given his trademark hoodie and excitable personality.
* CombatPragmatist: Because he lacks a proper cursed technique, Yuji takes advantage of everything he can to win. He'll use unorthodox strategies, borrow something in the environment, or bait his opponents into a sneak attack.
* CommonalityConnection:
** Forms a friendship with Todo over their shared type of girls -- tall girl with big butt. It's somehow strong enough to make them remember their days in school together (which never actually happened, but still).
** Yuji and Higuruma form a friend over their shared feelings of guilt and self-loathing. Both of them define their sense of selves around having a "role" to play and, as indicated by a brief flashback in chapter 246, they seem to understand each other's mindset somewhat, even if Yuji takes issue with how [[DeathSeeker ready Higuruma is to die]].
* ContrastingSequelMainCharacter: To Yuta Okkotsu. Yuji is outgoing while Yuta is reserved. Yuta's development in Volume 0 focuses on him becoming more confident and learning to accept the death of a loved one, while Yuji's development has his resolve to save others and give people a meaningful death repeatedly broken and rebuilt, turning him more pessimistic. Their fighting styles are also opposite -- Yuta reinforces his frail body with his massive cursed energy to fight with swordsmanship and copied cursed techniques; Yuji has natural superhuman strength to fight barehanded but no proper cursed technique [[spoiler: for the majority of the story]].
* ConvenientlyAnOrphan: Not long after becoming one because of his grandfather's death, Yuji joins Jujutsu High and becomes a sorcerer to help others so that he can be surrounded by others when he dies, as his grandfather told him to at his deathbed.
* CountryMouse: He's from Sendai, considered the boonies compared to a huge metropolis like Tokyo. Because of this, he's amazed to be in Japan's most famous city and briefly forgets that he's there to fight curses rather than sightsee.
* CriticalHitClass: Non-video-game example; Yuji is basically this to Jujutsu society, being a complete natural at using the powerful Black Flash, with the narration at one point even commenting that he is "beloved by that black spark." Not only does he manage to match the world-record holder of consecutive Black Flashes the very first time he manages to use it, he's used more Black Flashes than any other character over the course of the series. [[spoiler:In the climactic battle against Sukuna, Yuji manages to ''double'' the previous world record for a whopping '''eight''' consecutive black flashes.]]
* DemonicPossession: When Yuji eats Sukuna's finger, this incarnates the King of Curses into his body. From there on out Yuji can theoretically call upon Sukuna whenever desired, though without any guarantee Sukuna will help.
* DesignerBaby: [[spoiler:Yuji is the son of [[EvilutionaryBiologist Kenjaku]]- inhabiting the corpse of Kaori Itadori- and Jin Itadori, the reincarnation of Sukuna's unborn twin brother. Furthermore, it's outright stated by Sukuna that Kenjaku experimented on Yuji inside of the womb to enhance the boy's capabilities.]]
* DespairEventHorizon: Played with but ultimately defied. Yuji goes through a '''lot''' of suffering and trauma over the course of the series. Despite the world constantly beating down on him, Yuji is able to look despair in the eye, shrug it off, and keep going.
* {{Determinator}}: Yuji's defining quality. Yuji has an unbreakable will, which is tested time and time again, yet he still has it in him to keep going. More specifically, the story shows that Yuji's devotion to his duty as a Jujutsu sorcerer is what gives him his iron will, to the point that he relegates himself to being nothing more than a cog in a machine. While this isn't shown to be a positive or healthy mindset, the fact that Yuji ''always'' has a role that he needs to fulfill gives him a reason to keep going at even his lowest moments. [[spoiler:Even if he ''does'' start to break, all it takes is a brief pep talk by Todo to snap him out of it both times.]]
** Even a sliced off hand won't stop him from trying to defeat a special grade curse. He gets wounded and stabbed in the foot during his fight with Choso, but ignores the pain and holds his own against him through a grueling battle.
** [[spoiler:After Sukuna takes control of Megumi during the Culling Game, Sukuna cuts up his entire body. Yuji doesn't flinch even the tiniest bit and decks Sukuna straight in the face.]]
* DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu: Exaggerated. While Yuji holding zero respect for the King of Curses certainly pisses him off, it's taken several steps further to the point that Yuji's ''mere existence'' is taken as a personal attack by Sukuna. Yuji awoke the King of Curses from his slumber, but instead of allowing Sukuna to roam free and cause chaos, Yuji stripped Sukuna of his freedom by using his own body as a prison. And although that would be enough on its own to earn Sukuna's ire, what really eats away at Sukuna is the fact that he ''can't'' break Yuji despite the boy flying in the face of his entire worldview. [[spoiler:In the climactic battle against Sukuna, although Yuji certainly hates him and wants him dead, he doesn't see Sukuna as important enough to desire revenge against, [[TranquilFury not even bothering to speak when beating the shit out of him]]. Because to Yuji, Sukuna is nothing more than another curse who needs to die, effectively robbing Sukuna of the very acknowledgement the King of Curses gave to his own foes]].
* DiscardAndDraw: Learning how to use his energy properly causes him to stop using Divergent Fist in favor of attempting the more powerful Black Flash. [[spoiler:He uses it once again during his climactic battle with Mahito, in order to confuse him.]]
* DissonantSerenity: The events of the Shibuya Incident ultimately cause this in him [[spoiler:from [[BreakTheCutie the sheer trauma and loss he's rapidly endured over the course of a single night]], as well as Mahito's gleeful TheReasonYouSuckSpeech right after Nobara gets ([[UncertainDoom maybe]]) killed right in front of him nearly pushing him past the DespairEventHorizon. Whilst Todo's BigDammHeroes moment allows him to get back into fighting shape to finish Mahito off, it's made clear he's burnt out emotionally from everything, and is barely staving off another breakdown with the need to ''end'' Mahito for good. When Mahito's at his non-mercy at last, his speech outlying why he'll commit himself to killing the human curse again and again until the day he dies utterly terrifies Mahito into an unsightly display of primal fear at Yuji's unshakable focus on destroying him, with symbolic imagery of wolves dispassionately hunting rabbits being used as Yuji moves in to finish him off for good to underline how he's simply performing a natural part of the cycle of curses and sorcerers, rather than any emotional investment in killing his hated enemy for those he's lost]].
* TheDitz: While he's far from outright dimwitted, Yuji can be simple-minded and oblivious.
* DorkKnight: A dedicated sorcerer charged with the daunting task of ending the threat of the most dangerous sorcerer to ever live... and also a goofy teenager at times who gushes at the chance to visit Tokyo and quickly starts bringing up famous shōnen attacks when he first learning about cursed techniques.
* EmpoweredBadassNormal: Yuji was already absurdly strong and athletic before eating Sukuna's finger, which gave him access to Cursed Energy.
* EnhancedPunch:
** Yuji's initial main technique, Divergent Fist, is this. Thanks to his body's delay in releasing cursed energy, a ripple is created that causes his punches to hit twice, doing devastating amounts of damage.
** Black Flash is an even stronger version of this. By applying cursed energy within 0.00001 seconds of a physical impact, the strike's power is increased to the power of 2.5, essentially a CriticalHit. Most sorcerers have a hard time doing this, even [[WorldsStrongestMan Gojo and Sukuna]], but Yuji is a natural at it, even able to use the technique four times after training with it. Later in the series, Yuji can use it '''''at near will, ''''' something no other sorcerer can do, not even the aforementioned two.
* EvenTheLovingHeroHasHatedOnes:
** Yuji has a goal of helping as many people as he can and to give those he can a proper death. However, he absolutely and deservedly ''hates'' Mahito after he corrupts and kills Junpei, and even moreso later when Mahito [[spoiler:kills Nanami and maims Nobara, trying to break Yuji's spirit. After defeating him, Yuji [[TranquilFury calmly tells the cursed spirit that he will continuously kill him every time he reincarnates, and no longer needs a reason or any meaning to do so]].]]
** Yuji's initial annoyance with Sukuna gradually evolves into genuine hatred as he realises Sukuna's total disregard for human life. By the Culling Game arc, he remarks just looking at Sukuna's face makes him feel sick. [[spoiler:After Sukuna tricks them so that he can possess Megumi, Yuji has nothing but pure hatred and revulsion towards him.]]
* EyeScream: The battle against [[spoiler:Sukuna at the climax of the second half of ''Shinjuku Showdown'' has Yuji lose his right eye when the King of Curse rip off a chunk of his face. This doesn't slow Yuji down and he immediately retaliates with another [[CriticalHit Black Flash]] with Ino's help.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:F -- M]]
* FacialHorror: [[spoiler:Get a chunk of his face ripped off by Sukuna very late in the story, with the wound being so bad that Yuji is unable to heal it easily despite learning [[HealThyself Reverse Cursed Technique]] prior. It eerily mirrors Sukuna's facial deformity over the exact same part of his face.]]
* FailureKnight: His failure to save Junpei from Mahito's influence affects Yuji greatly. However, after talking with Nanami about it he decides to continue, resolving to not lose again until killing Mahito. [[spoiler:Which makes it all the worse when Yuji is forced to watch Mahito kill Nanami and Nobara. In the Culling Game, just when things are looking up and it seems like the heroes have everything in the bag, everything goes wrong and Sukuna takes over Megumi's body while Yuji helplessly watches.]] The trope is played with as time goes on, however. Yuji more than understands that failures are inevitably going to happen and that he will lose those he cares about, yet he still has it in him to look despair in the eye, shrug it off, and keep going.
* FakeMemories: Todo invents a fictitious backstory where Yuji went to school with him and they were best friends. [[spoiler:This happens again, when Choso is prevented from finishing off Yuji thanks to a sudden hallucination of him and his brothers in a friendly picnic. This is not connected to his abilities at all: Choso's hallucination was caused by his own ability to sense the death of his brethren, which they are by the mutual parentage of Kenjaku.]]
* {{Fanboy}}: Funnily enough of shōnen manga, bringing up techniques from shōnen series when learning about cursed techniques.
* FictionalFanRealCelebrity: A RunningGag in the series is Itadori's attraction to Creator/JenniferLawrence.
* FighterMageThief: Yuji fights near-entirely with his bare hands and only uses cursed energy to augment the strength of his blows, making him the Fighter. Megumi, who wields the most powerful cursed technique and factors it the most into combat, is the Mage, while Nobara's preference for hiding how her Straw Doll Technique works and fighting at range makes her the Thief.
* FightsLikeANormal: Thanks to not having a proper cursed technique, Yuji is one of the few jujutsu sorcerers who fights entirely with martial arts, with even his techniques like Divergent Fist and Black Flash augmenting his normal punches through cursed energy.
* {{Fingore}}: Yuji is missing his left pinkie finger after [[spoiler:Sukuna imbued it with his power as a way to transfer himself to Megumi]]. He gets better.
* {{Foil}}:
** To Megumi. Yuji is upbeat and friendly while Megumi is serious and aloof. Yuji desires to save the lives of everyone he can, while Megumi only wants to help those who are good and kind. Yuji's cursed energy comes from swallowing Sukuna's finger and he fights using martial arts that make use of his natural superhuman strength. Megumi, on the other hand, was born with great potential as a wielder of the Ten Shadows Technique and fights mostly by summoning shikigami to attack enemies on his behalf.
** To Yuta. Both were initially sentenced to execution for something without their control, and became sorcerers as a way out of their fates. Both initially fought to find meaning in their living. However, Yuta started as a quiet, shrinking teenager compared to Yuji's enthusiastic and open attitude. Like Yuji, he's affable to those he cares about, yet holds a terrifying conviction to kill when he believes he must. [[spoiler:In Shibuya, it's noted that his fighting style is based around reinforcing his weak physical body with his immense amounts of cursed energy -- Yuji notes this is the exact opposite of his own approach. Both are revealed to have their cursed energy from different lineages; Yuta is related to Michizane Sugiwara, a distant ancestor to Gojo; while Yuji is Sukuna's nephew in a sense that his father is a reincarnation of Sukuna's brother. ]]
** With Mahito. Yuji strongly believes in the value of human life and his goal is to save as many people as he can. As a result, he believes it is amoral to take another human life and tries to avoid doing so. Mahito is the embodiment of human hatred for each other and believes that humanity should be eradicated, having no empathy for human life whatsoever. Mahito's cursed technique allows him to modify and fuse souls, [[spoiler:while Yuji's ability to contain a soul allows him to separate souls, specifically Incarnations.]] Yuji's cursed energy comes from having another soul in his body, making him Mahito's natural enemy in terms of abilities. During their fight in Shibuya, Mahito tries breaking Yuji's resolve by pointing out they are the same, Mahito killing without a second thought and Yuji doing the same with saving others. After [[spoiler:defeating Mahito, Yuji admits to Mahito that he's a reflection of him, and doesn't need a reason to kill curses.]]
** To Maki, with both of their character arcs being the polar opposite of each other's. Yuji came from a normal background before being thrust into the world of Jujutsu sorcerers. As Yuji was given an essential role that only ''he'' could fulfill, he clung onto his sense of duty to society, with it serving as a major source of strength for him. Maki, conversely, was born into the Zen'in clan, and was completely exiled for her entire life, eventually choosing to become a sorcerer just to stick it to her family. After the traumatic events at Shibuya, Yuji denies his own individuality and develops a "cog in the machine" mentality to stop himself from giving into despair, with [[spoiler:Nanami's and Nobara's deaths]] being what solidify his convictions. Maki [[spoiler:is betrayed by the Zen'in clan and left for dead. Spurned on by Mai's death at the hands of her father, Maki chooses to burn the Zen'in clan to the ground and embrace her individuality as a complete outlier of Jujutsu society]]. All that is to say, Yuji derives his strength from denying his own individuality and resolving to commit to the expectations of being a Jujutsu Sorcerer. On the other hand, Maki derives her strength from embracing her individual freedom and throwing society's traditional expectations of being a Jujutsu Sorcerer to the wayside. Tellingly, while both of them are extremely powerful physical fighters, Yuji fights through mastering Cursed Energy while Maki fights through completely rejecting it.
** To Sukuna: both are prodigies who base their lives entirely off of their own ideal and accept what they are wholeheartedly, but are complete opposites in every other possible way. Sukuna is at his core defined by selfishness and hedonism, Yuji is defined by his selflessness. Whereas Sukuna [[FullyEmbracedFiend goes wholehog embracing the monster he is]], Yuji sees himself as a 'cog in the machine' whose duty is to destroy Curses for the sake of others. Sukuna cheated death by turning himself into his fingers, while Yuji doesn't fear death at all so long as he dies protecting others.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: [[spoiler: The reveal that Yuji was born infused with one of Sukuna's fingers within the womb by Kenjaku instead of being first exposed to Sukuna in his high school, as readers are initially led to believe, is hinted at when Uraume presents Sukuna with only three of his fingers and apologizes for being unable to find the final one, as this would bring the total up to only eighteen since Yuji had consumed fifteen fingers at the time. In fact, this was foreshadowed arguably even as far back as the very first chapter, when Megumi feels Sukuna's presence strongly when Yuji passes him for the first time, when in reality Yuji was only carrying the empty container of a finger, leading Megumi to believe he had only been sensing the remnants of Sukuna's cursed energy lingering within.]]
* FreudianTrio: The Ego to Nobara's Id and Megumi's Superego, being the most easygoing and falling in the middle in terms of temperament.
* FunPersonified: Yuji has an open sense of humor, and will gladly pull jokes to make those around him feel better; it even worked on [[PerpetualFrowner Junpei Yoshino]]. Though, as Megumi and Nobara's reaction to seeing him alive after being presumed dead shows, his humor doesn't always land. [[spoiler:Sadly, however, the cut-throat world of ''Jujutsu Kaisen'' seriously takes it toll on Yuji's upbeat nature. After [[TraumaCongaLine Shibuya]], Yuji never makes a single joke or laughs from that point onwards.]]
* GlasgowGrin: [[spoiler:During his fight with Mahito in Shibuya, his left cheek is torn open, exposing his teeth. However, the scar it heals into does not resemble a true "Glasgow grin".]]
* GoalInLife: To save as many people as he can as a jujutsu sorcerer so that he'll have a good, meaningful death surrounded by his loved ones, a goal instilled into Yuji by his grandfather before he died.
* GoneHorriblyRight: [[spoiler:Kenjaku influenced Yuji's birth in order for him to be the perfect vessel for Sukuna and succeeded. Yuji was too perfect, in fact. Yuji acts as a proper container or prison for Sukuna, preventing the malevolent sorcerer from taking over his body. However, it's a zigzagged example since it's indicated that this was likely intentional on Kenjaku's part.]]
* GoodCounterpart: Unsurprisingly, to Sukuna. There's a ''lot'' of noticeable parallels between the two of them. Both of them were born with immense physical strength. Sukuna's strength made him grow egotistical and self-centered, believing that he had the right to play with others as he saw fit, but Yuji saw his strength as a something that made him useful to others and wants to use it to selflessly help people. [[spoiler:Both of them [[CannibalismSuperpower cannibalized their unborn brothers]], but the action is framed in two very different ways with both of them. Sukuna views devouring his twin as his way of escaping his fate as a twin, dismissing his unborn brother as a hinderance to be discarded. Yuji, on the other hand, sees his unborn brothers as living on inside of him, giving him strength and power when he needs it. Both of them develop the exact same Cursed Technique, barring Yuji's usage of Blood Manipulation and Sukuna's usage of the Ten Shadows, but their uses of Shrine is presented in two very different lights. While Sukuna chops up objects as though with a cleaver, Yuji is depicted as having scissors guidelines on everything he uses his power on, effectively giving Yuji's application of the power a far more "friendly" connotation compared to Sukuna. Finally, there's the fact that both of them have very similar character designs, obviously because they're [[TangledFamilyTree literally related]]. It's taken even further in the final battle as Sukuna tears off the right half of Yuji's face, mirroring the facial deformity on Sukuna's.]]
* GoodOldFisticuffs: Yuji had known Taido Martial Arts prior to the beginning of the series, but he's been more akin to a gifted brawler, exploiting openings and throwing punches and counters like a pro to the point that Todo heaps praise on him for his skills. [[spoiler:Even after two Curse Techniques, he's inexperienced enough in both of them that he still primarily relies on just throwing hands.]]
* GoodScarsEvilScars: After the Shibuya Incident, Yuji gains a neat scar between his eyes and one on the left edge of his mouth.
* AGoodWayToDie: A secondary goal of Yuji in the series. Thanks to the words of his grandfather, he decides he wants to go out in a way that he believes is right. While he's far from a DeathSeeker, he wants to make the most of his life and help as many people as he can, so that his death feels proper.
* HalfHumanHybrid: The Kyoto students derisively refer to Yuji as a "half-curse" because of Sukuna's presence in his body even though he is human...[[AmbiguouslyHuman maybe]].
* HandsomeLech: He's well-groomed and athletic, but his occasionally careless manner of speech has made it hard for him to get a girlfriend.
* HasAType:
** By his own admission, he's into "tall girls with big butts like Creator/JenniferLawrence". Answering Todo's question about this very topic makes them '''instantly''' TrueCompanions.
** In middle school, when asked by classmates which girls in their year he likes, Yuji prefers the chubby, shy Yuko for her elegant manners and handwriting. Yuko ends up dropping all the extra weight and has a growth spurt not long after they graduate, making her actually line up with Yuji's preferences.
* HealingFactor: [[spoiler:His ability to use Reverse Cursed Technique is dramatically increased by the fact he has Blood Manipulation combined with a physiology similar to the Death Paintings. This basically allows him to near constantly use it and regenerate almost instantly from severe damage. His physiology means it requires a lot less Cursed Energy to pull off than it does for anyone else.]]
* TheHeart: Yuji is easily the [[AllLovingHero most openly empathetic and compassionate]] character in the story. Even though he gets a ''lot'' less upbeat after Shibuya, the kid still has it in him to never give in to despair and always move forward. [[spoiler:Before Gojo's and Sukuna's fight, there's an uneasy silence as Gojo heads out to the battle, before Yuji tells his sensei that his cursed technique is the way, which Gojo drops so that Yuji can give his sensei an affectionate pat on the back. All the other students immediately join in.]]
* HeroesFightBarehanded: The hero of the story and fights using martial arts backed up by cursed energy and superhuman physicality.
* HeroicBSOD: Falls into this due to the cumulation of [[spoiler:Sukuna mass murdering civilians and Mahito killing Nanami and gravely injuring Nobara during the Shibuya Incident, feeling that he failed to compensate for being a murderer through helping others. Todo convinces Yuji that as a jujutsu sorcerer he shouldn't limit himself to that and to honor Nanami's sacrifice. Megumi later persuades a guilty Yuji to rejoin him by helping him as a jujutsu sorcerer.]]
* HeroicBuild: Fitting his great physical strength, Yuji is packed with muscle despite being of otherwise average height and weight. His old high school coach kept trying to get him into the track-and-field and decathlon, something he has an ideal body for due to being both slim and strong.
* HeroicBsod: Along with the DespairEventHorizon, he falls into this after witnessing Shibuya getting obliterated by Sukuna and Nanami dying. Nobara getting heavily wounded by Mahito was the final straw to damn near ''break him.''
* HeroicRrod: During the final confrontation with Sukuna, [[spoiler: Yuji collapses due to improperly healing the ''many'' internal injuries he suffered from tanking Sukuna's Cleaves and is forced to sit out to heal for a while]].
* HeroicSecondWind: After Mahito [[spoiler:blows up Nobara's eye and she falls, Yuji is left in shock and loses his resolve, leaving him to get beaten down by Mahito. He gets saved by Todo, who urges him to find meaning in Nanami's sacrifice. This leads Yuji to take on Nanami's suffering and rejoin the fight against the cursed spirit.]]
* HeroicSelfDeprecation: Yuji has his goal of saving others to have a meaningful death questioned by himself even in spite of the good he does and tries to accomplish. This is especially prominent in the Shibuya Incident, in which [[spoiler:Sukuna takes over his body and commits a massacre, with Yuji thinking to himself that he should just die. And later on when Mahito kills Nanami and severely injures Nobara, with Yuji considering himself as only a murderer who failed at trying to redeem himself through saving others. It takes some wise words from Todo to get him to gain the willpower to continue fighting Mahito, from Megumi to rejoin him to partake in the Culling Games, and Higuruma to try to convince Yuji that he isn't at fault for Sukuna's massacre.]]
* HeroicWillpower: Yuji can control Sukuna's presence in his body with this, to the surprise of Gojo.
* HeroProtagonist: The protagonist of ''Jujutsu Kaisen'', whose goal is to save as many people as he can or ensure they have a proper, respectful death.
* HeroWithBadPublicity: After the Shibuya Incident, jujutsu headquarters [[spoiler:revokes his death sentence suspension and orders Yuji to be executed immediately, with Yuta appointed as the executioner.]]
* HorrifyingTheHorror: Yuji's KillingIntent towards [[spoiler:Mahito, a special grade curse and the embodiment of human hatred for each other, after defeating him and expressing his intent to keep on killing him every time he reincarnates has the once proud cursed spirit running away in absolute terror.]]
* HotBlooded: He is shown to have his fiery moments (especially during comedic moments), but he's not a particularly boastful person compared to the likes of [[PluckyGirl Nobara]] and [[CloudCuckoolander Todo]].
* IdiotHero: Yuji is not [[BookDumb especially bookish]], believing that [[GlobalIgnorance Yokohama is in Tokyo]], and he complains about Todo stomping on his head as it could make him even dumber than he already is. His easygoing demeanor and tendency to not think things through make him come across as a bit of a spaz. But Yuji is an exceptionally fast learner when it comes to anything related to his body or practical hands-on applications of his powers.
* InconsistentSpelling: His first name can be romanized as "Yuuji" or "Yuji". Officially it's the latter.
* InstantExpert: It's pointed out several times that Yuji is an extremely fast learner, getting a basic grasp of his ability to control Curse Energy within days of being given an exercise by Gojo. His brawling skills grow by leaps and bounds after Todo starts giving him advice, and he performs the highly advanced Black Flash just minutes after being given a basic explanation, and matching the record for most Black Flashes in a row in the ensuing fight. [[spoiler: That isn't accounting how he learned [[HealingHands Reverse Cursed Technique]], which itself is [[HealingMagicIsTheHardest a complex technique with its mechanics]], and he learned it by '''a month.''']]
** [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] later on due to the mechanics of SharingABody with Sukuna. [[spoiler: That being, he can learn Jujutsu skills absurdly fast due to Sukuna being stuck in his body and constantly doing high-level Jujutsu, [[GeneticMemory imprinting it on Yuji's body]]]]
* ItsAllMyFault: Blames himself for [[spoiler:Sukuna's mass murder in Shibuya, not denying the accusation by Higuruma's Judgeman. Even when Higuruma points out he had no control over himself, Yuji still thinks it was his fault because he was too weak.]]
* ItsPersonal:
** Mahito cements himself as Yuji's ArchNemesis when he manipulates Junpei, with whom Yuji had become friends, murders his mother, and gives him an outright cruel death by turning him into a monster. [[spoiler:It's taken even further in Shibuya when Mahito kills Nanami and Nobara right in front of him]]. Mahito, likewise, views Yuji his personal goal after fleeing from him and Nanami, being more concerned about one-upping Yuji during Shibuya than he is about getting Sukuna on the curses' side.
** Mutually with Sukuna, with the two of them coming to deeply hate each other. [[spoiler:Sukuna kills thousands of innocent people in Shibuya and, when Yuji regains consciousness, Sukuna intentionally has Yuji wake up in front of the destruction he unwittingly caused. Later on, Sukuna takes control of Yuji's body and shoves his finger down Megumi's throat when he's at his lowest point, forcing Yuji to watch as Sukuna ruins Megumi's life by forcing him to kill his own sister]]. Although Sukuna is a total sociopath towards everyone, he especially seems to have it out for Yuji in particular.
* ItsPersonalWithTheDragon: Yuji's enmity with Mahito is given more focus in the first part of the series, with the two becoming one another's arch-enemies. For Yuji, Mahito's manipulation and murder of Junpei, killing of Nanami and potentially Nobara inflict the deepest emotional wounds. The entire climactic fight of the Shibuya Incident arc is Yuji settling the score with Mahito before he shifts to Kenjaku and Sukuna.
* ItsWhatIDo: At the conclusion with his battle against [[ArchEnemy Mahito]], Yuji decides that he doesn't need a reason for fighting against Curses. As a Jujutsu Sorcerer, Yuji comes to see himself as just a cog in a machine; he's going to continue fighting and slaying Curses because he's a cog, and cogs have functions. It's presented as both self-destructive and as a source of strength. While it's clearly not a healthy mindset, Yuji believing that he has a role that he ''needs'' to perform at all costs has repeatedly been shown to be a driving force that keeps him moving forward at even his lowest of moments. [[spoiler:The only time this mindset is truly shaken is when Choso sacrifices himself to save Yuji, but even then it takes a pep talk from Todo to get him back in action.]]
* JuniorCounterpart: Out of the three heroes, it's obvious he's the closest to Gojo's wavelength.
* {{Keet}}: Yuji is generally really chipper and upbeat, and will easily get psyched up for something positive.
* KidHero: He's fifteen at the start of the story. Nanami initially treats him like a child because he doesn't want Yuji to abandon his youth. He later acknowledges him as a sorcerer when Yuji proves himself against Mahito.
* KnightInSourArmor: Despite his best efforts, Yuji can rarely truly help those in need, something he has a hard time reconciling with. This naturally sours his optimism, which only gets worse throughout his fights with the antagonists' forces, especially Mahito. By the end of the Shibuya incident, Yuji has largely given in to cynicism.
* LightningBruiser: Yuji is definitely a powerful individual, with enough natural raw power to match sorcerers known for their ability in close combat, the agility to leap around like a monkey, and completed a 50-meter track in 3 seconds.
* LongLostRelative:
** [[spoiler:It's eventually revealed Yuji is this to all the Death Paintings, because both he and they are spiritually Kenjaku's children due to a side-effect of his BodySurf ability. As a result, Choso's ability to sense the well-being of the other Death Paintings extends to Yuji as well.]]
** [[spoiler:Sukuna reveals that Yuji's father Jin Itadori is the reincarnation of his twin brother whom he ate in the womb, technically making Yuji his nephew.]]
* LukeIAmYourFather: [[spoiler:Kenjaku is actually Yuji's ''mother'' of sorts, as she was a prior host of his.]]
* MagicallyIneptFighter: Yuji lacks an Innate Technique, and has no training in even basic tenets of Jujutsu anyone is capable of like Binding Vows or a Simple Domain. But his {{Charles Atlas Superpower}}s are so great he can pose a legitimate threat to even Special Grade Curses with just normal martial arts. [[spoiler:It's played with in the series' climax, as Yuji does develop Blood Manipulation and Shrine. Despite that, however, he's still rather inexperienced with both of them, and still primarily relies on hand-to-hand combat.]]
* MagneticHero: Yuji has caused both the violent and unpredictable Todo and [[spoiler:the half-curse Choso]] to declare him their brother in spirit, [[spoiler:later revealed to be his actual half-brother]]. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] when Panda comments on Yuji's "freaky pheromones" after [[spoiler:Choso]] joins the fight on his side.
* ManOfKryptonite: Yuji's nature as Sukuna's Vessel makes him one toward Mahito. Having to house a second soul within his body and keep it separate from his own has taught Yuji how to instinctively perceive the shape of the soul, allowing him to strike Mahito's soul directly and causes injuries the Disaster Curse can't undo with Idle Transfiguration. Mahito also can't transfigure him directly without touching (and consequently [[HatesBeingTouched enraging]]) the soul of [[WorldsStrongestMan Sukuna]].
** Yuji being Sukuna's host ''also'' makes him immune to all kinds of poisons and Cursed Techniques involving poisons, as Junpei, Eso, and Kechizu learned.
** Despite Sukuna's ''immense'' power, he is utterly incapable of exerting control over Yuji's body without his consent. Yuji demonstrates the ability to willingly switch control between them back-and-forth under precise timing as part of Goto's test upon their first meeting, whereas Sukuna cannot prevent this loss of control at all. However, if Yuji ''forces'' Sukuna into control, such as against the Special-grade curse, then [[EquivalentExchange there's a period of time where he's unable to fully regain control]], giving Sukuna valuable free agency. [[spoiler:Getting force-fed the majority of Sukuna's fingers also 'overloaded' Yuji, allowing Sukuna an extended period of free reign to devastate Shibuya with, though it taking most of his remaining fingers to achieve that meant it's a one-time deal]]. More importantly, Sukuna being incarnated into Yuji's mortal flesh means that it's possible to kill the otherwise-indestructible sorcerer, which is the entire reason Yuji is given a delayed death sentence. [[spoiler:It's later revealed that this unique ability is likely because Yuji was specifically born/created in some fashion to serve as Sukuna's vessel by Kenjaku, and unlike other sorcerers, Yuji is designed more as a 'prison' than a vessel. Even a powerful and talented sorcerer like Megumi is totally helpless to resist Sukuna's essence when he manages to [[DemonicPossession transfer himself]] into him, but Yuji can both contain his essence and retain his free will at the same time, which is implied to fuel Sukuna's contemptuous animosity towards him]].
** Yuji's awareness of souls has developed to the point that [[spoiler:his punches alone can disrupt Sukuna's control over Megumi. With each attack, Sukuna's Cursed Energy output drops and he has less control over Megumi's body. In tandem with Yuta's Domain applying Angel's [[AntiMagic Cursed Technique]], the two aim to weaken Sukuna to the point that they can exorcise him from Megumi entirely.]]
* MarkOfTheBeast: After eating Sukuna's finger, he gains markings, or rather eyelids, below the sides of his eyes that open whenever Sukuna awakens. In addition, when Sukuna takes control, his tattoos manifest over his body, his eyes turn red and his hair stands up. [[spoiler:Yuji loses these markings when Sukuna abandons his body for Megumi's.]]
* MeaningfulName:
** Yuji translates as "abundant, help, and brave" with the individual syllables meanings of slow/relax ("yu") and caring for others ("ji"). This perfectly fits being a heroic NiceGuy who wants to help as many people as he can.
** His surname Itadori comes from Japanese knotweed used in traditional medicine to alleviate pain, signifying his caring nature.
* MellowFellow: Yuji has a kind, easygoing disposition and adapts to learning humanity is under threat from superpowered manifestations of human hatred ''bizarrely'' quickly.
* TheMovieBuff: Ends up getting into movies as a hobby after watching hundreds of them during his training.
* MrFanservice: ClothingDamage, often leading to a ShirtlessScene, usually leads to this, as Yuji is very fit and good-looking.
* MurderIsTheBestSolution: Comes to this conclusion regarding [[spoiler:Mahito. He concedes to Mahito that [[NotSoDifferentRemark he is him]] and tells the cursed spirit that he'll keep on killing him each time he reincarnates, and doesn't need a reason to because he's a cog in the grand scheme of things.]]
* MusclesAreMeaningless: Yuji ''does'' have [[DownplayedTrope a fairly toned physique]], but it's nowhere near the amount of muscle the impossible feats of strength he pulls off constantly should require. Among Jujutsu High's students, only Maki (whose strength stems from the explicitly supernatural [[SuperStrength Heavenly Restriction]]), Todo (who's [[TheBigGuy twice Yuji's size]]), Yuta, Hakari, Sukuna, and Gojo (absolute masters of [[MagicEnhancement enhancing one's strength with Cursed Energy]]) come anywhere close to his level of physical power.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Completely blames himself for [[spoiler:Sukuna's rampage at the tail-end of Shibuya, despite Higuruma outright spelling out to him that he had no control over any of Sukuna's actions, just because he wasn't strong enough to restrain the Sorcerer.]]
* MysteriousParent: Yuji's parentage is brought up at the beginning of the series by his grandfather, but Yuji refuses to listen. It comes up again much later in the series, [[spoiler:after Choso speculates on the origin of their connection. He proposes that Yuji's father must have been a vessel for Kenjaku, who was also his own creator. Choso's thinking was half-correct, as it turns out Yuji's ''mother'' was the actual vessel.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:N -- Y]]
* NaiveNewcomer: Has no knowledge about the jujutsu world until the fateful day he meets Megumi who's investigating one of Sukuna's fingers. The early part of the story focuses on Yuji learning how to use cursed energy and what it means to be a sorcerer.
* NakedOnRevival: Justified. He comes back to life thanks to a forced Binding Vow by Sukuna while his body is naked and about to be dissected by Shoko at the school morgue.
* NamedWeapons: The dagger Slaughter Demon. Before it broke anyway.
* NextTierPowerUp: [[spoiler:During the time skip, he manages to gain Reverse Cursed Technique and Blood Manipulation, as well as get overall much stronger. During the FinalBattle with Sukuna, however, he manages to finally 'awaken' after landing a Black Flash on Sukuna, not only skyrocketing in power, but finally unlocking Shrine.]]
* NiceGuy: Yuji is a kind, selfless, and unassuming young man who only wants strength to help the people around him.
* NoNonsenseNemesis: A heroic example. Yuji is disciplined and hardly ever wastes time in combat bantering with his opponents when against a serious enemy. He goes in for the kill whenever possible and does not relent on his attacks. [[spoiler: Mahito, Eso, Kechizu, Ko Guy, and Sukuna can attest to this.]] This is because Yuji, in a story filled with BloodKnight characters, does not derive pleasure from fighting. To Yuji, fighting is just a means to an end and so has no desire to meaninglessly prolong it.
* NotSoDifferentRemark: Yuji declares he and Mahito are indeed more alike than he hoped to, noting how both of them want to kill their enemies till their last breath, which outright drives [[SmugSnake Mahito]] into a panic.
-->'''Yuji:''' You're right, Mahito. I'm you. I wanted to reject you, convince myself that you were wrong. But that doesn't matter now. I'm gonna kill you. Even if you come back as another curse, I'll kill you. Change your name. Change your form. I'll kill you again. I don't need to find meaning or a reason. Maybe in a hundred years after my death, the meaning behind my actions will become apparent. In the grand scheme of things... I'm probably nothing more than a cog. [[{{Determinator}} But I'll keep killing curses... for as long as I can]]. That's my role in all this.
* OutOfFocus:
** Gojo's Past Arc only features Yuji at the very end along with the other first-years. {{Justified}}, Yuji would have been a kid during Gojo's time.
** Perfect Preparation Arc only has Yuji in the beginning when the students and allies learn about the Culling Games from Master Tengen. The rest of the arc is centered on Maki.
** Played with in the Culling Game arc. The beginning and end of the arc puts Yuji in the spotlight, but the middle portions shift the POV over to other characters for a significant chunk of time. So while Yuji still gets the most focus out of any individual character, the majority of the arc is spent on characters other than himself.
* ParentalAbandonment: He knows nothing about his parents and was raised solely by his grandfather. [[spoiler:His father Jin had him with Kenjaku while in the host body of a woman, while Jin's fate is unknown.]]
* PrimaryColorChampion: The hero of the series, and wears Jujutsu High's dark blue CustomUniform with a red hoodie.
* RageBreakingPoint: The traumatic events he endures and the sheer sadism of the curses he meets, particularly Mahito, push Yuji into this a few times. Unusually, whilst he will somewhat lose himself to anger and become more reckless with his well-being, he also slips into TranquilFury during these moments, being laser-focused on beating his target to death no matter what happens to him and being capable of strategising despite his visibly furious countenance.
* RaisedByGrandparents: Yuji was raised by his grandfather, who dies in the beginning of the story. When his grandfather tries to speak about his parents on his deathbed, Yuji refuses to listen.
* RealMenCanCook: In one Juju Sanpo segment, it's revealed that he can cook some impressive meatballs, and even taught Megumi how to make some.
* RedBaron: He was known The Tiger of West Junior High, for his unparalleled physical prowess.
* RedIsHeroic: Yuji's CustomUniform includes a red hoodie that contrasts with the rest of his and the cast's dark-colored outfits, as well as red shoes. He's also the main hero of the series.
* RedOniBlueOni: The Red to Megumi's Blue. Yuji is outgoing, excitable, and much more optimistic, wanting to save everyone he can. Megumi is sullen, collected, and much more cynical, only wanting to save those he believes deserve to be saved. Visually as well -- Yuji has pink hair, a red hoodie, and red shoes while Megumi's black hair has a blue tint and he has blue eyes in the anime.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Is about to enact this on [[spoiler:Mahito, who is forced to run away in ''terror''. However, [[EvilerThanThou Kenjaku]] gets to Mahito before Yuji does.]]
* RoseHairedSweetie: A RareMaleExample. Yuji has pink hair and is an energetic, friendly guy.
* SayMyName: After Mahito [[spoiler:kills Nanami.]]
-->'''Yuji:''' What the hell are you?! Mahito!!
-->'''Mahito:''' I can hear you just fine without you yelling! Yuji Itadori!
* ScarsAreForever: [[spoiler:He gets two scars right across his forehead and over the left end of his mouth after the battles in Shibuya, both of which were inflicted by [[ArchEnemy Mahito]] during their vicious confrontation.]]
* ShadowArchetype: A rare heroic example. Yuji almost always goes up against opponents far above his weight class, yet he never lets that deter him. No matter how many times Yuji faces despair in the face, he always bounces back like a ray of hope. Yuji's mere existence spits in the face of [[TheHedonist Sukuna]]'s worldview. Sukuna scoffs at the notion of fighting for anything beyond pleasure and dismisses idealism as weakness, yet Yuji proves that dedication to one's ideals is ''strength''. There's also the fact that [[spoiler:Yuji is the son of the reincarnation of Sukuna's unborn twin brother whom he cannibalized in the womb. Because of how the soul is treated in ''Jujutsu Kaisen'', Sukuna's twin was his other half that he sought to discard, believing he gained more strength in doing so. However, Yuji's pure refusal to go down proves to the King of Curses that, no matter how much he wants to wish otherwise, he can never truly leave that aspect of himself behind.]]
* ShirtlessScene: Has multiple: twice when Sukuna takes over his body and rips off his shirt, when his top gets torn off by Uraume's ice, and when he uses his top as a decoy during the fight against Higuruma.
* ShutUpHannibal: At the end of the Culling Game, once [[spoiler:Sukuna hijacks Megumi's body, he and Yuji subsequently come to blows. Sukuna attempts to tear into Yuji by asking why he bothers trying despite being so weak, to which Yuji responds by telling him to shut it.]]
-->'''Yuji:''' You!! All of you!! Why can't you just live normally?! [[GoodCannotComprehendEvil Why can't you just live without causing suffering]]?!\\
[[spoiler:'''Sukuna:''' To me, the real question is why are you all so weak? Why do such weaklings cling so fiercely to life? How can a creature that falls apart at a touch say that it always wants to be happy? The helpless have no choice but to swallow the suffering life gives them.]]\\
'''Yuji:''' Then let's see if you can swallow my suffering.
* ShonenHair: The protagonist of a shōnen series and has spiky pink hair.
* SiblingTeam: Becomes this with [[spoiler:Choso after he learns that Yuji is his younger brother, with the two fighting Yuta and Naoya together when they're sent to execute Yuji.]]
* SmarterThanYouLook: Yuji doesn't consider himself particularly bright, and his ditziness gives off the impression that he's a true IdiotHero. But he's clever and resourceful, particularly in a brawl. Todo, considered TheAce among sorcerers in training, praises Yuji's ability to utilize terrain, rapidly improve his brawling skills, and use of cursed energy after only a few minutes of advice.
* SoldierVsWarrior: The soldier to Sukuna's warrior. Yuji fights Curses and Curse Users out of his sense of duty, with things like pride, affirmation, or thrill not on his mind while in battle. Sukuna lives for the [[BloodKnight hedonistic thrill of battle]], toying with his opponents and killing them once he gets bored. Yuji takes zero pleasure in fighting, [[NoNonsenseNemesis getting the job done as fast as he can]] without needlessly prolonging the ordeal. [[spoiler: After the Shibuya Incident arc, this mentality further grows in him, considering himself a cog in the machine of Jujutsu and acting out of duty. This is further shown in the Shinjuku Showdown, where he continuously attacks Sukuna in a [[TranquilFury calm yet furious]] onslaught without bantering or expressing any thrill or emotions other than that Sukuna must die and Megumi must be saved.]]
* SoleSurvivor: [[spoiler:Of all his brothers, Yuji is the only one to survive in the end. Eso and Kechizu are killed by Yuji and Nobara, Choso [[HeroicSacrifice gives up his life]] to save Yuji, and the other six Death Paintings are consumed by Yuji in order to gain Blood Manipulation against Sukuna.]]
* SpannerInTheWorks: [[spoiler:Yuji was one of many of Kenjaku's efforts to create potential hosts for Sukuna. He ends up being one of the most potentially dangerous individuals to stopping Sukuna for good, though the story implies that Kenjaku ''specifically'' arranged things to awaken Yuji's true nature and leaves it ambiguous as to whether this was a part of his plans.]]
* StockShonenHero: Downplayed. Yuji is a friendly, somewhat simple-minded teenager with spiky pink hair who naturally has superhuman physical strength. His motivation in becoming a jujutsu sorcerer is not ToBeAMaster, but to make his incoming death a meaningful one.
* StrongAndSkilled: Yuji has always been a powerful fighter with great martial arts technique and gains quick mastery over his cursed energy. However, after the Shibuya Incident, he increases his overall abilities to where [[spoiler:Choso]] notes that Yuji has incorporated more finesse to his fighting style, adding fluid control of cursed energy on top of his unreal physical strength, and compares him to ''Sukuna''. [[spoiler:Uraume's late comments after learning of Yuji's origin might genuinely be true, especially after he 'awakens' and unlocks his full potential.]]
* StrongFamilyResemblance: He looks almost identical to [[spoiler:his father Jin and uncle, Sukuna]], though the former has a less spiky hairstyle.
* SuperReflexes: His reflexes are fast enough to dodge Piercing Blood, a technique that travels at the speed of sound.
* SuperStrength: Yuji is unique among Sorcerers because he somehow has this ''without'' using MagicEnhancement -- in the very first chapter he was able to casually break the shot put world record and jump directly through the fourth floor window of his school building. It even extends to being able to ''throw cars!''
* SuperToughness: By the time of the Shinjuku Showdown arc, [[spoiler: between [[{{Determinator}} his absurd willpower]], Blood Manipulation being able to stitch him back together, and Reverse Cursed Technique, even ''[[WorldsStrongestMan Sukuna]]'' has difficulty dealing lasting damage to Yuji]].
* SupportingProtagonist: After the Shibuya arc, the story focuses more on Megumi, including his relationship with the Zen'in Clan, Sukuna's plans for him, and the difficulties of his [[spoiler:now awakened stepsister.]] Megumi also gets more fights during the Culling Games, and [[spoiler:Hana Kurusu]], the sorcerer the surviving protagonists are trying to make contact with, winds up having a history with Megumi. [[spoiler:This unfortunately culminates in Sukuna using the Binding Vow he tricked Yuji into accepting to [[DemonicPossession possess Megumi]] during a MomentOfWeakness, enabling him to escape his confinement within Yuji and leaving Yuji back as the story's protagonist again, now worse off than before]].
* SwordAndFist: Yuji is a trained hand-to-hand combatant and also fights with a charmed weapon called Slaughter Demon. That is, until Slaughter Demon gets destroyed two chapters later by a Special Grade. Yuji becomes a full BareFistedMonk afterwards.
** During [[spoiler:his brief bout with Yuta upon their first meeting, Yuta's superior cursed energy and ability to channel it through his katana gave him [[AbsurdlySharpBlade a close-range advantage]] over Yuji. To counter that, Yuji scavenged a utility knife from a nearby abandoned vehicle, revealing that Gojo had been training him in channeling Cursed Energy through weapons prior to Shibuya. Despite briefly fending off Yuta's strikes with it, the weapon ultimately broke.]]
* SymbolicMutilation: [[spoiler: Shortly after he [[NextTierPowerUp unlocks Shrine]], Sukuna [[TwoFaced mutilates the right half of his face]], giving him a slight resemblance to Sukuna himself.]]
* SympathyForTheDevil: Seeing Eso's tears at the death of his brother is enough to make Itadori stop his attack for a moment, and even apologize before finishing him. He has a heart-to-heart with Nobara after the battle, addressing the remorse he feels.
* TangledFamilyTree: [[spoiler:Yuji's family tree is very convoluted due to two reasons. The first reason is that his mother, Kaori Itadori, had her corpse possessed by Kenjaku, who proceeded to have Yuji with Jin Itadori. Kenjaku had body-hopped sorcerers for centuries, but his most notable previous incarnation was the infamous Noritoshi Kamo, ancestor of the Kamo clan as well as the creator/father of the Death Paintings, which makes Choso, Eso, and Kechizu Yuji's half-brothers and the Kamo clan Yuji's distant cousins. The second reason is that Yuji's father is the reincarnation of Sukuna's twin brother, whom he consumed in the womb, which technically makes Sukuna Yuji's uncle.]]
* TakingYouWithMe: Jujutsu Society's higher-ups only agreed to suspend Yuji's death sentence if he agreed to find and eat the rest of Sukuna's twenty fingers and then allowed himself to be executed, in the hopes of finally ending the King of Curses's threat once and for all. [[spoiler:It's one of the reasons Sukuna ditches his vessel to possess Megumi.]]
* TalentedButTrained: Naturally has superhuman physical strength, but is also a great martial artist who can acrobatically dodge attacks and strike from different angles.
* TearsOfRemorse: Cries these after [[spoiler:Sukuna takes over his body and commits a massacre in Shibuya. Yuji tells himself to just die already, but reminds himself that if he were to die now he'd just be a murderer, convincing himself to save others to atone.]]
* TheseHandsHaveKilled:
** Falls into deep contemplation when he has to kill the people transfigured by Mahito. Unlike most examples, Yuji isn't bothered by the guilt of his actions, rather that he couldn't give them a natural death.
** Admits to [[spoiler:the mass murder in Shibuya committed by Sukuna when questioned by Higuruma's Judgeman, stating that he's not lying and won't deny it. When Higuruma points out that Sukuna possessed in his body and he couldn't control himself and didn't voluntarily abandon self-control]], Yuji still thinks it's his fault because he was too weak.
* TookALevelInBadass: He starts off a normal (albeit [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower impossibly strong]]) teenage boy, but his encounters with Cursed Energy after eating Sukuna's finger gradually shape him into a Grade-1 level sorcerer. After learning from Gojo and Aoi about how to use his body's delay in Cursed Energy to his advantage, he learns how to incorporate it into his attacks to make them stronger, namely in the form of "Divergent Fist" and eventually "Black Flash". Shibuya sees him grow exponentially in both strength and power, [[spoiler:and even beat down ''Mahito''.]]
* TookALevelInCynic: Yuji starts off as a cheerful, spirited young man who desires to save many people to have a meaningful death. Throughout the story, however, he becomes more jaded, as his life as a sorcerer puts him through situations with no possible happy outcome. The Shibuya Incident has him fall deeper into this, with [[spoiler:Sukuna's massacre, Nanami's death, and Nobara's maiming]], to the point that he sees himself as a cog in the machine of the grand scheme of things, meant only to kill cursed spirits for as long as he can.
* TranquilFury:
** Towards Mahito after he [[spoiler:defeats him, conceding that [[NotSoDifferentRemark he is him]] and calmly telling him that he'll kill him every time he reincarnates and doesn't need reason or meaning to because he's a cog in the greater scheme of things. This terrifies Mahito enough to try and flee, with the two visually compared to a wolf and its rabbit prey.]]
** In the same vein as above, [[spoiler:when Yuji faces off against Sukuna at the climactic battle at Shinjuku, Yuji says almost nothing to him throughout the entire battle, yet there's a palpable sense of [[EvenTheLovingHeroHasHatedOnes utter loathing]] from Yuji the entire time. Despite Yuji's deeply kind nature, there is not a single shred of hesitation as he tears his hand straight into Sukuna's chest.]]
* TraumaCongaLine: The Shibuya Incident puts Yuji through the ''wringer'' -- [[spoiler:his sensei Gojo is sealed, Sukuna takes over his body and commits a massacre, Nanami is killed and Nobara is maimed in front of him by Mahito who tries to break his spirit, and in the end Kenjaku leaves with Yuji unable to save his sensei.]]
* TheUnchosenOne: Yuji, starting the series out, has CharlesAtlasSuperpower but doesn't seem to have any special traits otherwise. He's definitely a prodigy, but he effectively stumbled into eating Sukuna's fingers by pure circumstance, and ultimately is saddled with a ''nightmarish'' responsibility that he may not be ready for, physically, spiritually or [[HeroicBSOD mentally]]. [[spoiler:Then it turns out that as a DesignerBaby of Kenjaku possessing his mother, ostensibly born as a potential host for Sukuna to begin with, and Yuji's father being a reincarnation of Sukuna's own [[CainAndAbel devoured twin]] which makes Sukuna his uncle spiritually, Yuji would've effectively been TheChosenOne for bringing Sukuna back to the land of the living -- and it's strongly implied that [[TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive this was not coincidence on Kenjaku's part]].]]
* UnderestimatingBadassery: Due to a combination of his [[NaiveNewcomer unfamiliarity with the Jujutsu world]], and not having had a chance to witness how obscenely powerful he can be when cutting loose, Yuji ''massively'' overestimates his chances in a direct fight with [[WorldsStrongestMan Sukuna]]. When the latter reframes his [[DealWithTheDevil offer]] to [[BackFromTheDead resurrect Yuji]] with a Binding vow attached to enable him to non-consensually control him for one minute upon command as a wager for successfully beating him in a fight, with Yuji's reward being [[ShmuckBait a resurrection with no strings attached]], Yuji's confidence in his fighting skills leads him to accept. ''The very same panel he says yes'', [[YouAreAlreadyDead his head is already cut in two]] before he's even finished saying that he'll kick Sukuna's ass. [[spoiler:This comes back to bite '''everybody''' in the worst possible way, as Sukuna later uses this command (which he additionally ordered Yuji to forget about making) to regain control when everybody's distracted and successfully [[DemonicPossession transfer his essence into Megumi]], granting him access to a vessel he can fully control even after Yuji's long since come to understand how preferable [[TakingYouWithMe death]] would be to allowing Sukuna any control over a situation]].
* UniqueProtagonistAsset: Despite the one in a million chance, Yuji manages to survive eating Sukuna's finger, becoming his host which starts the plot of Yuji becoming a sorcerer and consuming all his fingers. It's later [[spoiler:heavily implied that the reason Yuji is able to do so is because he is the son of [[EvilutionaryBiologist Kenjaku]], the paintings' creator.]]
* UnskilledButStrong: PlayedWith: Yuji's physical might is nearly unmatched among the heroes and he's an extremely skilled hand-to-hand combatant, but his lack of a Technique of his own means he lacks finesse compared to his peers. Even when [[spoiler:he finally gains various techniques during the Shinjuku Showdown Arc- including Reverse Cursed Technique, Blood Manipulation, Simple Domain and Shrine- he's only had a month to get to grips with these abilities compared to nearly everyone else in the fight having years to hone their abilities, meaning he occasionally induces a burnout state from overclocking himself too much.]]
* UnstoppableRage: [[spoiler: When Mahito transfigures Junpei into a horrid creature and causing him to die from the shock, Yuji ultimately declares that he will kill Mahito with a barely restrained tone and gives him an incredibly bloody beatdown. He re-enters this state during the Shibuya Incident when Mahito kills Nanami, with Yuji beating Mahito nearly senseless in his rage.]]
* VariantPowerCopying: [[spoiler:He finally unlocks Shrine in the final battle with Sukuna, but Sukuna notes due to Yuji being a different person and it being the modern age, Yuji's version will differ from his. This is shown by Yuji's version having somewhat cartoonish 'cut here' lines like a video editor. While it seems to require touching what he wants to cut, he can precisely cut anything on the object he's cutting rather than just projecting slashes from his hand like Sukuna does.]]
* WaxOnWaxOff: Gojo trains him to properly and instinctively manage his Cursed Energy by having him channel it through a violent doll that he must hold at all times while watching several different kinds of film, or it will spring to life and punch him.
* WrongGenreSavvy: Given that he is an avid reader of shonen manga and references the names of several iconic attacks, Yuji initially thinks that his current status as Sukuna's vessel is much like that of similar SuperpoweredEvilSide[=s=] such as [[Manga/{{Naruto}} Kurama]] and [[Manga/{{Bleach}} Hollow Ichigo]] and that he will eventually be able to control if not pacify the King of Curses. He is given quite the rude awakening when [[spoiler:he begs Sukuna to heal Junpei after Mahito uses Idle Transfiguration on him, only for Sukuna to straight up refuse as both he and Mahito proceed to laugh at him over his plight]].
* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: After getting put through the ringer in Shibuya with [[spoiler:Sukuna taking over his body and causing a massacre, Megumi convinces a guilty Yuji to rejoin him to partake in Kenjaku's Culling Games by acknowledging him as a jujutsu sorcerer who can't be judged by others and telling him to prove his worth through saving others, including himself.]]
* YourDaysAreNumbered: Not precisely, given no one knows how long it may take, but once he has absorbed all of Sukuna's fingers he's scheduled to be executed to wipe the sorcerer with him. In a rare case, Yuji actively works ''towards'' that goal to file the numbers down before Sukuna can exert itself on the world, accepting it as his duty and the way he's going to go out. After the Shibuya Incident, [[spoiler:he has consumed 15 of the 20 fingers of Sukuna, putting him at 3 quarters of the way towards actualising his [[TakingYouWithMe end goal]], though the circumstances of that incident force him to prioritise restoring order to Japan's curse society by freeing Gojo before he makes any further attempts to find the remaining fingers]]. [[spoiler:Seems to be currently averted as Sukuna, irritated with Yuji's efforts to let both of them die, pounces on the opportunity provided by "Tsumiki" to make ''Megumi'' his new vessel.]]
[[/folder]]
----

* EyeScream: The battle against [[spoiler:Sukuna at the climax of the second half of ''Shinjuku Showdown'' has Yuji lose his right eye when the King of Curse rip off a chunk of his face. This doesn't slow Yuji down and he immediately retaliate with another [[CriticalHit Black Flash]] with Ino's help.]]

* FacialHorror: [[spoiler:Get a chunk of his face ripped off by Sukuna very late in the story, with the wound being so bad that Yuji is unable to heal it easily despite learning [[HealThyself Reverse Cursed Technique]] prior. It eerily mirror Sukuna's facial deformity over the exact same part of his face.]]

* HealingFactor: [[spoiler:His ability to use Reversed Cursed Technique is dramatically increased by the fact he has Cursed Blood Manipulatiion combined with a biology simular to the Death Paintings. This basically allows him to near constantly use it and regenerate almost instantly from severe damage. His biology means it requires a lot less Cursed Energy to pull off than it does for anyone else.]]

* StockShonenHero: Downplayed. Yuji is a friendly, somewhat simple-minded teenager with spiky pink hair who naturally has superhuman physical strength. His motivation in becoming a jujutsu sorcerer is not ToBeAMaster, but make his incoming death a meaningful one.

** Admits to [[spoiler:the mass murder in Shibuya committed by Sukuna when questioned by Higuruma's Judgeman, stating that he's not lying and won't deny it. When Higuruma points out that Sukuna posssessed in his body and he couldn't control himself and didn't voluntarily abandon self-control]], Yuji still thinks it's his fault because he was too weak.

* UnskilledButStrong: PlayedWith: Yuji's physical might is nearly unmatched among the heroes and he's an extremely skilled hand to hand combatant, but his lack of a Technique of his own means he lacks finesse compared to his peers. Even when [[spoiler:he finally gains various techniques during the Shinjuku Showdown Arc- including Reverse Cursed Technique, Blood Manipulation, Simple Domain and Shrine- he's only had a month to get to grips with these abilities compared to nearly everyone else in the fight having years to hone their abilities, meaning he occasionally induces a burnout state from overclocking himself too much.]]

* EyeScream: The battle against [[spoiler:Sukuna at the climax of the second half of ''Shinjuku Showdown'' has Yuji lose an eye when the King of Curse rip off a chunk of his face, left eye included. This doesn't slow Yuji down and he immediately retaliate with another [[CriticalHit Black Flash]] with Ino's help.]]

* GoodScarsEvilScars: After the Shibuya Incident, Yuji gains a neat scar between his two eyes and one on the left edge of his mouth.

* GoodCounterpart: Unsurprisingly, to Sukuna. There's a ''lot'' of noticeable parallels between the two of them. Both of them were born with immense physical strength. Sukuna's strength made him grow egotistical and self-centered, believing that he had the right to play with others as he saw fit, but Yuji saw his strength as a something that made him useful to others and wants to use it to selflessly help people. [[spoiler:Both of them [[CannibalismSuperpower cannibalized their unborn brothers]], but the action is framed in two very different ways with both of them. Sukuna views devouring his twin as his way of escaping his fate as a twin, dismissing his unborn brother as a hinderance to be discarded. Yuji, on the other hand, sees his unborn brothers as living on inside of him, giving him strength and power when he needs it. Both of them develop the exact same Cursed Technique, barring Yuji's usage of Blood Manipulation and Sukuna's usage of the Ten Shadows, but their uses of Shrine is presented in two very different lights. While Sukuna chops up objects as though with a cleaver, Yuji is depicted as having scissors guidelines on everything he uses his power on, effectively giving Yuji's application of the power a far more "friendly" connotation compared to Sukuna. Finally, there's the fact that both of them have very similar character designs, obviously because they're [[TangledFamilyTree literally related]]. It's taken even further in the final battle as Sukuna tears off the left half of Yuji's face, mirroring the facial deformity on the left half of Sukuna's face.]]

** He and Todo are an extremely effective team as fighters, as Todo's [[SwapTeleportation Boogie Woogie]] makes it much easier for Yuji to bypass an opponent's defenses and deliver a Black Flash. [[spoiler:When Yuji is at his absolute lowest moment against Mahito, [[BigDamnHeroes Todo]] shows up to save him and, after a pep talk, they take on the Disaster Curse together and come out on top, even if it costs Todo his hand.]]

* ItsWhatIDo: How he comes to see his grim task of slaying Curses, and the ensuing exposure to darkness and misery.

* MagicallyIneptFighter: Yuji lacks an Innate Technique, and has no training in even basic tenets of Jujutsu anyone is capable of like Binding Vows or a Simple Domain. But his {{Charles Atlas Superpower}}s are so great he can pose a legitimate threat to even Special Grade Curses with just normal martial arts.

* TranquilFury: Towards Mahito after he [[spoiler:defeats him, conceding that [[NotSoDifferentRemark he is him]] and calmly telling him that he'll kill him every time he reincarnates and doesn't need reason or meaning to because he's a cog in the greater scheme of things. This terrifies Mahito enough to try and flee, with the two visually compared to a wolf and its rabbit prey.]]

* DesignerBaby: [[spoiler:Yuji is the son [[EvilutionaryBiologist Kenjaku]]- inhabiting the corpse of Kaori Itadori- and Jin Itadori, the reincarnation of Sukuna's unborn twin brother. Furthermore, it's outright stated by Sukuna that Kenjaku experimented on Yuji inside of the womb to enhance the boy's capabilities.]]

[[spoiler: Later on, Yuji develops Blood Manipulation as he has the same composition of the Death Paintings, via consuming his other brothers. Gojo believes he'll also eventually develop Sukuna's Technique, Shrine, which he does do, manifesting as cut and paste guidelines (i.e photoshop) whenever he touches something to cleanly sever it.]]

* CloseRangeCombatant: He lacks any Curse Technique that allows him to fight from a distance, but, as Megumi puts it, he's strong enough to win a fight without Curse energy against every other student.

* DesignerBaby: [[spoiler:Yuji is the son [[EvilutionaryBiologist Kenjaku]], who inhabited the corpse of Kaori Itadori and copulated with Jin Itadori, the reincarnation of Sukuna's unborn twin brother. It's heavily implied, and later stated by Sukuna, that Kenjaku experimented on Yuji inside of the womb to enhance the boy's capabilities.]]