10 most wasted characters in Jujutsu Kaisen

❘ Published: 2024-09-14T14:19:06

Gege Akutami/MAPPA

While Jujutsu Kaisen has a wide array of popular characters, not every one of them has been used well in the story – here are the 10 most wasted characters in the series.

In typical shonen fashion, Jujutsu Kaisen has a lot of players on the board. From a relatable protagonist to the cool sensei, it explores a range of archetypes. Even the side characters are terribly interesting and would serve well as the main protagonists in their own spin-offs.

However, being interesting is often not enough. A character needs to serve their purpose in the story properly for fans to remember them fondly. Otherwise, they become part of the “wasted potential” category, and even their deaths cannot make up for the drawbacks.

Unfortunately, Jujutsu Kaisen contributes pretty heavily to that group. Even after having so many strong characters that fans root for, it doesn’t do all of them justice. While some cases are understandable, some are blatant enough to be called out. Here are 10 characters who should’ve been handled better in Jujutsu Kaisen. (Warning: Spoilers ahead!)

10. Yuji Itadori

You might be surprised to see the protagonist on this list, but sadly, he belongs here. Yuji Itadori is introduced to us with a lot of promises. A seemingly normal boy who’s able to suppress the King of Curses from taking over his mind and body, he is destined for greatness.

However, when it came to delivering those promises, Jujutsu Kaisen failed. Or, more like ignored doing so. Despite being the central player, Yuji is often overshadowed by the side characters. He doesn’t even get to fight Sukuna one-on-one during the final battle. What’s more, when the spotlight finally falls on him, it’s ruined by another character’s miraculous comeback.

9. Panda

While the first-years of the Tokyo Jujutsu High are the main characters of Jujutsu Kaisen, the second and third-years play major roles in the story. Second-year students Yuta and Maki are key players in defeating Sukuna, while Toge makes a surprise contribution towards the end.

But their classmate Panda is completely inconsequential to the Shinjuku Showdown Arc. He appears alongside his peers, yet plays no role in anything whatsoever. The last time we saw him do anything is in the Culling Game Arc, and even that lasts for only a chapter or two.

8. Tengen

As the immortal jujutsu sorcerer who holds the fate of humanity on their shoulders, Tengen sounds like an important character on paper. They’re regarded as a god among many non-sorcerers and can spark the end of mankind.

Yet Tengen is mostly insignificant to the story. They’ve been indirectly connected to Geto’s abdication from the Jujutsu High, but don’t appear in the plot much. After their death, Kenjaku is supposed to use the merger to destroy mankind, but once again, nothing comes out of it.

7. Shoko Ieiri

As the resident healer of the jujutsu sorcerers, Shoko Ieiri could’ve played a much bigger role in the story than she actually did. She wields great power – one of the only sorcerers who can use the Reverse Curse Technique on others – yet we never see her take an active role in the plot.

Besides her ability, she also has an interesting background. She was Gojo and Geto’s classmate as students. But while those two are crucial to the plot, we hardly see anything from Shoko. Even her dynamics with them aren’t properly fleshed out.

6. Kinji Hakari

Gojo once said that Hakari, along with Yuta and Aoi, could one day surpass even him. Needless to say, that line alone hyped Hakari in our eyes more than anything could. But do Gojo’s words ever come true? Nope!

Despite an intriguing debut in the Culling Game Arc, Hakari ends up being a mediocre and forgettable character. His powers are too confusing and he has only one good fight in the entire series. But the biggest waste is his off-screen fight against Uraume, something fans had been looking forward to for a long time.

5. Nobara Kugisaki

One thing that differentiates Jujutsu Kaisen from most other shonen series is its portrayal of female characters, especially the girl of the group. Nobara was so refreshingly unique and unapologetic that we were instantly charmed by her and were heartbroken when she ‘died’.

While sad, this could’ve been a good ending for her. She wasn’t strong enough to fight the enemies of the latter arcs and might’ve been sidelined like Toge and Panda. It was better to leave the story when she was still relevant. Yet, Jujutsu Kaisen decided to bring her back at the last moment as a fan service, wasting her character’s potential and impact.

4. Toge Inumaki

There are plenty of cool abilities in Jujutsu Kaisen, but Toge Inumaki’s Cursed Speech is a real standout. It can compel anyone to do what the user commands (think of Lelouch’s Geass) but it also has a logical drawback. Because of this, Toge only speaks in rice-ball ingredients to avoid unintentionally cursing someone, making him instantly noticeable.

With so much going for him, fans had a lot of expectations from Toge. There was a lot of potential, too. He could’ve trained to make his ability more impactful or easier to use. But the story showed no such thing. Instead, he is sidelined after the Kyoto Goodwill Event and only appears once in the Shinjuku Showdown Arc, and even that is painfully useless.

3. Uraume

Ancient sorcerers are interesting enough on their own. But paired with an intimate connection to Sukuna, they become instantly intriguing. The same happened with Uraume. They were Sukuna’s only companion and wholeheartedly loyal to the King of Curses.

As such, we wanted to see more from them and their powers. Why would Sukuna tolerate someone’s presence? There must be more to Uraume than we’d seen. These were our thoughts and they all come to a screeching halt when the villain’s most important fight is dealt with off-screen before they take their own life after Sukuna’s death.

2. Yuki Tsukumo

As the only female out of the four Special Grade sorcerers, we wanted to see a lot from Yuki Tsukumo. Besides, her personality was magnetic and her goal was one of the most sensible parts of the story. We knew we’d love her and that ends up being true when she makes a magnificent entry towards the end of the Shibuya Incident Arc.

If I start writing all the ways Jujutsu Kaisen wasted Yuki’s character, this entry would be a lot longer than any of us want. So, I’ll keep it short. Yuki’s powerful techniques are never fully demonstrated. On top of that, she never gets to use her Domain Expansion and dies before showing her full worth. Now we’re left to wonder how she compared with the rest of the Special Grades.

1. Megumi Fushiguro

Megumi is the first jujutsu sorcerer Yuji meets. Thus, we always had a special interest in him, and for good reason, too. As a (secret) member of the Zenin Clan and the user of the Ten Shadows Technique, the young man had boundless potential. Both Gojo and Sukuna had acknowledged it, with the former saying he might match the Six Eyes user someday.

For the majority of the story, Megumi was living up to those expectations. He is a splendid sorcerer and despite his suicidal tendencies, he gives some of the series’ best fights. But ever since Sukuna takes over his body, he becomes a passive player. That would’ve been alright, too, if he came back in time to redeem himself. But his comeback is too late, ruining both his potential and likability.

While Jujutsu Kaisen has a lot of wasted characters, it also has plenty of questions to answer before it ends. But if you’re in mood for something original, check out our view on Yuta’s Gojo transformation and the comparison between Nobara and Bakugo’s respective comebacks.