#That person who called Sukuna and Gojo twin flames was right.

[thepersonperson]

Sukuna's Loneliness Part 1

(Thoughts on Sukuna's Dehumanization as of JJK 261.)

Part 2

Some things to keep in mind...

1) This analysis deals with topics of ableism, racism, and discrimination. (Very brief suicidal ideation mention.)

2) I will be mainly using the TCB scans because of their accessibility. 

3) There are a lot of links so you know I'm not making stuff up. The sources are both formal and informal. Please do research on some of the discussed topics to gain a better understanding of them.

(Click pictures for captions/citations.)

The Name Ryomen Sukuna

Before we start this needs to be made clear. Ryomen Sukuna is not a first and last name. Ryomen is a title. Sukuna is a name.

Ryomen uses the kanji 両面 which can be translated as "two-faced".

Sukuna uses the kanji 宿儺 which can be translated as "specter". Individually the kanji can be read as "lodging, inn" (宿, suku) and "exorcism" (儺, na).

Two-faced specter is not a nice name to put it lightly. It's such a mean spirited name that the JP fanbase suspects he was called something else before becoming The Disgraced One.

Normally I would assume his parents did not name him this, however, Sukuna himself had this to say about his birth.

In the original Japanese, Sukuna calls himself 忌み子 (Imigo) which can be translated as "Abominable Child", "Unwanted Child", or "Shunned Child." None of these translations in my opinion get across how severe Imigo is. It's closer to meaning "child who should've never been born". Like the child's very existence is an affront to god. (If you play Elden Ring the Omen are called Imigo in Japanese for this reason.)

You combine this fact with his name and it starts to paint a nasty picture. Sukuna straight up may not have a last name in part from what is implied to be disownment from birth.

Sukuna's Trauma

(Even if he won't acknowledge it as something that has deeply affected him.)

As a Basketball American (aka one of those people with a unique skeletal structure and muscles as Mr. Gojo Satoru would say), I consider myself a professional experiencer of discrimination. This means when a character has likely experienced something similar to me, I can sniff it out like a bloodhound. Though what Sukuna experiences is much closer to ableism than racism. (Discrimination across the board is pretty similar in a lot of ways you know.)

Sukuna is disabled—not as in he lacks an able body (my goodness he is too ablebodied), but as society is not built with any consideration for him. He’s a massive conjoined twin with 4 eyes and 4 arms and 2 mouths. If you know anything about being tall in Japan, it's that it’s a nightmare. Doorways, showers, bathrooms, and buildings are built for small people which leads to the very infrastructure causing problems for anyone big. But Sukuna’s size is just the start of those kinds of problems. He canonically wears women’s kimonos to accommodate his arms since they have larger sleeves. He often goes shirtless or wears a shawl simply because clothing isn’t made for him.

If you’ve known or read anything by people with mobility issues or missing limbs, a major complaint is clothing. For example someone with a missing leg can either pay for expensive customized pants, or they can purchase regular pants and tie off the extra pant leg. They can have trouble buying one shoe since they almost always come in pairs. (To rectify this sometimes they find a mirror twin called a Sole Mate who they share the extra shoe with.) 

Now if I’ve learned anything from people with mobility issues, it’s that ablebodied people are really fudging annoying and rude. They will grab mobility aids unprompted and even move people around in wheelchairs without permission. In this treatment, the ablebodied dehumanize the disabled and treat them like objects in their way.

Sukuna also experiences objectification in a similar manner. People see him as an obstacle to conquer, a means to test their strength, a helpless thing that needs curing, a test subject to study, and a symbol for their own use. All of these things are extremely dehumanizing and things disabled people may have to deal with.

We’ve got Yuji and co seeing him as a curse to exorcize.

Kashimo and others using Sukuna to test their strength.

Yorozu seeing Sukuna’s lack of interest in romantic/sexual love as a thing to be cured. (Your honor, he is aroace.)

Kenjaku using Sukuna as a test subject and insurance for The Plan.

Heian era society revering him as a god to use him in rituals for their benefit.

The last example is a very interesting form of discrimination. If you aren’t familiar with the term, there is one called benevolent prejudice. This is when discriminatory beliefs are flattering instead of malicious. (Examples: Black people are athletic, Asian people are smart, etc.)

Benevolent prejudice still results in negative outcomes for the group affected, but to me personally, some of them are kind of hilarious in isolation. Here are some of my favorites:

I’m pretty sure this is why Gojo apologizes so readily to Miguel and without resistance. He realizes “oh crap I’m doing to Miguel what everyone does to me”. 

And yes this belief had a negative outcome for Miguel—it’s likely the reason Gojo beat him so hard compared to other characters in the JJK 0 movie. (Remember Gege has direct involvement in the anime.) This is canonically a racially motivated beatdown, trauma response from the black ropes mimicking Toji notwithstanding.

On the ableism side of things this benevolent prejudice can manifest as turning people with deformities or atypical features into objects for worship, fetishization, or sacrifice.

As an aside, I suspect Uraume’s gender is ambiguous because they’re intersex. And boy howdy do intersex people experience dehumanization as objects of worship (fetishization and religious symbols) or as a problem that needs to be corrected (forced surgical procedures/mutilation and erasure). This, in my opinion, might be the reason Sukuna likes them more than anyone else. Uraume may not fully understand the isolation of strength, but they do get the dehumanizing way in which society treats them both.

My point here is that Sukuna experiences regular prejudice and the benevolent type. All of which are dehumanizing from every single angle, leaving him in a state of near constant objectification. (Uraume puts Sukuna on a pedestal as their master which is emotionally isolating but they still see him as an individual on his own merits.)

What constant systemic discrimination does to a motherfudger...

So now that we've established how Sukuna's dehumanization happened, I can rant about how this is probably a major reason behind his disconnect from his humanity and a source of his loneliness.

Gege has stated that Sukuna and other people don’t really know how to categorize his personhood. He's so strong he's more like a natural disaster than anything else.

Sukuna says things like this about himself.

"If I was a cursed spirit…"

"...that's the sort of human I was."

He doesn’t see himself as a human or a curse. At one point he did consider himself human but stopped. He sees himself as this third thing which is highly likely to be a “living creature” as Gojo would put it. 

Gojo also experienced benevolent prejudice that lead to his dehumanization and subsequent objectification (thanks JJK 261 for making me realize it was much worse than I assumed). And from birth too. I think this is why they’re able to connect so well during their fight. Especially since this prejudice leads to them becoming sinks for everyone's burdens while being scorned in the same breath. (It's like how people adore "my kind's" athletic/manual labor abilities but then don't want us in their neighborhoods.) The world isn't made for them but it's going to exploit the very thing it hates them for.

The difference between those two is probably the stares of disgust and day to day inconveniences from the extra parts. Gojo can effectively blend in with other humans if he really tries. Sukuna cannot. (Maybe that’s why he says this too.)

Sukuna to me, feels like a manifestation of this rage against constant systemic discrimination. You look at him funny? He kills you. You treat him like a thing that serves you? He kills you.

I know I'm projecting but hear me out!

I don't think Sukuna was aggressively abused by others for his appearance to get to this point by the way. It's more of a death by 1,000 cuts scenario. Someone crossing the street to avoid you, a flash of revulsion when they look at you, backhanded compliments, name-calling in whispers, gentle reminders you don't belong in infrastructure and accessibility to resources. On their own they feel like paper cuts, but if you experience them constantly without time to recover, one day you look down and realize there's a massive rotting gash.

Thankfully I have friends and spaces where I can exist without being subject to discrimination. I can treat these wounds and keep going relatively ok. When I was a child, I didn't have a proper outlet for that and it ate me alive. I flip flopped between wanting to magically wake up fully white or disappearing entirely and wanting everything to explode. Sometimes I wanted all of these thing at the same time. These old wounds reopen on occasion but I know how to deal with that now.

In Sukuna's behavior and attitude, I see that kind of hurt. And his coping strategy appears to be making everything explode since violence is all he knows. Maybe cannibalism wasn't the healthiest way to deal with this but you know it's Jujutsu Kaisen.

Speaking of cannibalism, the definition of a cannibal is an individual that eats members of their own species. Sukuna is regarded as a non-human by everyone around him in every instance except when he is called a cannibal. He’s not human enough to be a part of society but just human enough to be a cannibal. His status as a human changes in what makes it easiest to disregard him as an individual worthy of respect or consideration. (Think of how conservatives misgender gender non-conforming cis people and then turn around and misgender trans people for hypocritical reasons.) 

Sukuna’s acknowledgement of both Jogo and Gojo is bittersweet with this lens. Jogo is a curse fighting on behalf of curses’ humanity. He wants curses to live as humans after being born lowly and unwanted in a world that wants him erased. Gojo is a human forced into godhood by circumstances he couldn’t control. He’s someone who became isolated and rejected by others until he stopped seeing himself as a human. Sukuna has lived both of these experiences and connects with them in a way no one else can. 

Unfortunately, because Sukuna only knows how to love through violence, he kills them. (Great job, Sukuna, you did this to yourself. You could've had friends.)

I also suspect this is why Sukuna believes this.

This type of society is one in which Sukuna can exist. He can relentlessly pursue the strength through which he builds his self-esteem and be acknowledged as something. However, that is still isolating. And Sukuna is a human, which means he’s a social creature that needs companionship. (Not necessarily romantic or sexual mind you.)

I find Sukuna’s vague suicidal ideation and refusal to die extremely relatable for all these reasons. Much like Gojo, he seems to be convinced the world will never treat him the way he wants to be treated and wants out.

There’s also something to be said about the unique loneliness aromantic and asexual people experience from wanting deep and fulfilling relationships without romance or sex in a world that only values relationships with both of those things.

So why is Sukuna like that?

Despite knowing how much it sucks to be dehumanized, Sukuna still participates in dehumanization himself, referring to humans as insects/animals or things for him to play with. 

And in a Kenjaku parallel, food for him to enjoy as well.

I predict this attitude he has towards humans is the direct result of his dehumanization and objectification for his appearance and strength. It’s all one big unhealthy coping mechanism.

I think this is why Yuji ideologically pisses him off so much. Imagine truly believing all this isolation and suffering for innate characteristics made you stronger, only to find someone who experienced none of that starts rising to your level and shatters your entire world view.

Trauma isn’t something that makes people stronger, but Sukuna likely believes it does as a cope. In my last analysis I called Gojo a sopping-wet pathetic cat who pretends everything is ok. Sukuna is no different if you ask me.

[writerofcreativity]

I created this a two months ago. A Jujutsu Kaisen fanfic and my first one. I went over this and I think it's okay. Will people care to read this? I don't know. I just post this.

All Jujutsu Kaisen characters belongs to Gege Akutami.

I will be having a crossover with my characters from another project.

Right now, this doesn't contain any spoilers.

3 2 1

Itadori Yuji found himself being surrounded by dead corpses of Curses and humans. Screams can be heard echoing throughout the crackling flames. "What the hell is going on?" He asked himself, wanting to help those in need but his body stood. As if his feet are rooted to the ground.

He felt a hand pulling at his pants. It made him looked down and his eyes widened in shock. The deceased are pulling him down.

"Please help us."

"It hurts."

"Kill me."

Yuji can not help but scream "this has to be a nightmare!" He shouted.

"Wake up."

The teenager shuts his eyes, hoping that this will end.

"Wake up, Brat!"

***

Yuji got kicked in the face and it made him jumped out of bed. "Was that just a dream?" He can feel himself sweating and his heart pounding. To be honest he felt relieved, it means that it was not real and those corpses are still alive.

"We have a problem on our hands." Yuji hears Sukuna talking to him and looks at his hands to look for the mouth, but he did not see any.

"Over here." Sukuna spoke.

Yuji got startled to see Sukuna standing in front of him "you bastard, you brought me to your Domain Expansion again? You want to settle the score? I can give it to you and make you cry!" He yelled.

Sukuna sighed "look around you, ya moron." He said.

Yuji was not going to fall for it but he still look and see that they are inside his room. "Either you're trying to trick me or I can do the Domain Expansion too." He said and feels excited to pull that off.

"As if I would do that. My Domain is much better than this pathetic excuse for a room. Also you can't do that." Sukuna shot down those two ideas "like I said, we have a problem on our hands." He repeated, as much as he hates it.

Yuji still remains on guard "you mean I have a damn problem now that you're out." He said.

"True. I would've been so happy to get out of your body but reality just wants to bite me in the ass. I will get to the point already, my powers are gone meaning I am powerless." Sukuna spoke in a serious tone of voice.

***

After being told that he is powerless, Yuji immediately went to find his friends and his teacher but Satoru is no where to be found, no surprises there.

"This has to be some kind of illusion." Megumi spoke.

"But he's really there. This time in person without Itadori being possessed." Nobara said.

The two first years were really surprised when Yuji called them over, and they saw Sukuna. They thought he was not real but it is revealed that he is physically there.

"Why is that bastard here? I thought that he needed a vessel to be here since his real body is just a corpse buried somewhere." Nobara looks at Yuji.

"I don't even know myself but the good news that he is powerless." He said.

"How can we believe Sukuna? He isn't an honest person, like all Curses. Most likely he is lying right now and strike at the perfect moment." Megumi is still on gaurd and is ready to summon his Shikigami if Sukuna makes a move.

"I would had killed the Brat the moment I manifested. I would had killed the two of you as well, if you were boring and the girl wasn't my type." Sukuna said "I discovered that my Curse energy is not what it used to be." He added.

Nobara puts her hands on her hips "would that mean Itadori have your Curse energy?" She questioned, sounded a bit curious at the idea.

"Oh! Then that means I am the new king!" Yuji spoke, brightens up.

"I wouldn't blame you, considering you ate my fingers." Sukuna muttered.

Megumi looked at his friends "we have to at least talk about this to Gojo sensei." He said.

"Talk about what with me?"

Speaking of the Devil, Satoru is now standing with his students and Sukuna. His students were startled by that sudden appearance.

"Gojo Sensei, where had you been?" Megumi asked.

"I was getting things ready. It was really hard to make that kind of arrangement with those shitty Elders." He answered, waved his hand up and down "you wanted to talk about Sukuna being out with me?" He already have his eyes on the King of Curses.

Megumi nodded "we initially thought that this isn't impossible for Sukuna to be out. Itadori have his body that is his to control and Sukuna is here in the flesh. He's not an illusion." He told him.

Satoru smiled "that is interesting. That means we don't have to kill Yuji but there is a little Curse energy that can be detected inside Sukuna." He spoke.

"Then we can get rid of him right? Clearly he's not a threat and is much more easier to kill." Nobara spoke.

"Nope. As much as we want to, we can't do that now. Sukuna still have fingers that are not eaten by Yuji yet and the deal was to let him eat all those fingers before we can kill him and Sukuna. However, this changes things." Satoru looking at both Yuji and Sukuna.

Yuji looked at Sukuna, particularly his hands. He has ten fingers on him "are you sure you're not playing with us, saying that you have no powers?" He questioned.

"You're still alive, aren't you? It's bad enough that I'm weaker than before, even without my remaining fingers but now my appearance matches yours for being too God damn long inside you." Sukuna muttered.

Yuji questions himself if he looks hideous, but since it was Sukuna, he just ignored it.

A loud clap is heard that filled the room. Satoru was the one who clapped his hands that loudly. "Alright everyone! We need to pack up for our trip! Two pairs of clothing and other important items!" He said loudly.

"Where are we going?" Megumi asked.

"It's a field trip and it'll be fun!" Satoru answered.

Yuji and Nobara now wearing faces of joy "what kind of trip will it be?" Nobara looked at Yuji "I don't know but I hope it's fine like Sensei says it will!" Yuji looked back at her. The two of them are very excited.

"Ah, Sukuna, you'll be going too." Satoru said to him.

"Hmph. It's not as if I have anything better to do now." Truth to be told, he can not help but feel excited. He had been absent for over millions of years. The world is now evolved, better or worse. He questioned if he caught Yuji's childlike curiosity while being trapped in there.

***

Satoru had taken his students to the airport without any problems at all, although there were a few Curses but those can be handle by others who will not have any difficulty. He did not say he was only bringing his first year students, so he brought the second year students as well.

"Gojo. This trip better not be a waste of our time." Maki looked at him.

"This trip will be worth it." He grinned.

"Even if this trip won't have Curses for us to exorcise, it would be good to unwind a bit." Panda spoke, grateful that the principal allows him to go.

"Tuna tuna." Toge muttered, agreeing with him.

"Brother!"

Yuji immediately heard Aoi's voice calling to him but before he can escape, he got pulled into a hug by him.

"I knew it you would be on this trip too!" Aoi laughed, squeezing the poor boy.

"Muscle head is here too." Nobara muttered.

"Yeah." Megumi agreed.

"I thought you would stay behind, Maki."

The older Zenin daughter noticed her younger twin sister who is standing with her classmates. "And what? Miss out on all the fun?" Maki retorted.

"Gojo. What is the meaning of bringing Ryomen Sukuna with us?" Questioned Yoshinobu.

"Sukuna isn't much of a threat anymore. Just like with Yuji Itadori, I'm keeping an eye on him." He smiled.

Yoshinobu scoffed "you are being too careless, even if Sukuna poses no threat." He muttered.

Others were surprised to see him joining the trip. They thought he would stay in the school. Perhaps it was because of Sukuna's appearance, or it could be Satoru.

Most students from both schools questions why they are all here together. Satoru was the only who is speaking, not letting the Kyoto school's principal speak. "Think of it as a collaboration. We worked well together when fighting against Curses and all of us had so much fun when we were playing baseball. So, I want us all to enjoy our trip." Satoru said.

"Where will we be going?" Asked Noritoshi.

"To Atela." Satoru answered.

"Eh?"

***

"You looked happier than normal, is this a special occasion?" Jogo saw how happy Mahito is.

The young Cursed Spirit chuckled "I had only thought that Japan only have Jujutsu Sorcerers but I found out there are more interesting people outside of Japan." He smiled.

"Cursed Spirits are everywhere. They are not restricted but that includes those of different races." Suguru spoke.

"That is why I want us all to go to Atela!" Mahito shouted.

"Why go to that place?" Jogo asked. He do not have any knowledge about that area.

"Because they have interesting people who I had heard about. I just it'll be fun." Mahito answered.

"I don't really care about those Sorcerers. We will kill them anyway." Choso quietly spoke.

"Si ti yrassecen rof su ot og?" Hanami asked, speaking backwards.

"Yes. Besides, I think we will meet new friends." Mahito said.