Gojo's death highlights the true burden of the strongest in Jujutsu Kaisen's sorcerer society

Within mangaka Gege Akutami’s Jujutsu Kaisen series, one of the most prevalent and effective narrative themes and devices is the story’s concept of being “the strongest.” This title marks the strongest member of sorcerer society, which at the time of the series’ events is fan-favorite Satoru Gojo. While this title is meant to show respect, it also comes with a significant burden for Gojo, who was forced to play this role since birth.

Akutami explores this theme quite often throughout Jujutsu Kaisen’s events, and turns it into one of the series’ best guiding lights not only for Gojo’s own character, but much more. The mangaka’s scrutinization of the ripple effect which the concept and title of the strongest creates likewise shapes the backbone of the manga’s story.

Gojo’s position as the strongest was incomprehensible to all but one of Jujutsu Kaisen’s heroes

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The best example of the role Gojo’s title as the strongest plays in Jujutsu Kaisen’s main narrative comes from a specific scene in the Gojo’s Past Arc. Following the point in Gojo’s life which he had truly ascended as the strongest sorcerer, his peer Yu Haibara dies while out on a mission with Kento Nanami. Suguru Geto, Gojo’s best friend who is already struggling with his own role as a sorcerer, is shown to be in the morgue with Nanami and Haibara’s corpse.

Nanami, frustrated and saddened by his friend’s death caused by an unexpectedly strong Cursed Spirit, asks why they can’t just let Gojo handle everything. This is narratively impactful as it’s the moment where the seed Yuki Tsukumo unintentionally planted in him just before this fully blooms. This forms the foundation of the manga’s main storyline via the events of the 0 prequel manga following Yuta Okkotsu, and mainline series protagonist Yuji Itadori’s journey.

This scene is also foundational for Gojo’s burden via Nanami’s implicit perception of Gojo and how it sets up further exploration of being the strongest later on. Physically and mentally, it’s clear that this mission gone wrong has damaged Nanami to an extreme degree. Yet he refuses to acknowledge that Gojo is still a human like him who may suffer similar trauma, even if only mentally thanks to his various abilities.

Yu Haibara's death and Kento Nanami's reaction to it are the start of Gojo's dehumanization in Jujutsu Kaisen (Image via MAPPA Studios)

This is because Nanami reduces Gojo to a tool here, something which can be implemented in place of human labor to reduce risk to living humans. This is Jujutsu Kaisen’s first example of Gojo being dehumanized to the point of effectively becoming a monster in the eyes of his fellow sorcerers. The use of monster here likewise comments not on his physical appearance, but the fact that he is effectively invincible in the modern era of sorcery.

This dehumanization of Gojo into a monstrously strong tool is something that eventually spread to the rest of sorcerer society. Gojo’s death proves this via Nanami and Haibara’s words, which show that everyone viewed him not as compassionate or noble, but as someone who loved being the strongest sorcerer. It likewise confirms that everyone else, or rather almost everyone else, never truly understood the burden placed on Gojo as the strongest.

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The lone exception to this is Yuta Okkotsu, easily the single most powerful sorcerer next to Gojo throughout the series. The fact that Yuta is also viewed as a monster and welcomes the title in Jujutsu Kaisen’s Shinjuku Showdown Arc cements that he understood Gojo’s burden. Yuta even takes it a step further by turning himself into a monster physically via transplanting his own brain into Gojo’s dead body via Kenjaku’s Cursed Technique; he literally becomes the next Gojo.

Further solidifying this is the fact that Sukuna clearly shows respect to Yuta for the lengths he goes to here, expressing an apparent joy similar to when he fought Gojo himself. Sukuna, as the strongest of sorcerer society’s golden age, is acknowledging that there is a new strongest of the modern era standing in the body of the former. Likewise, Yuta proves as pivotal as Gojo did in defeating Sukuna via his choice to take control of Gojo’s corpse.

In conclusion

Yuta Okkotsu is the only one of Gojo's allies in Jujutsu Kaisen who understood his burden (Image via MAPPA Studios)

Being the strongest is more than just being the best in Jujutsu Kaisen’s world; it means being the society’s savior, their last bastion against forces they’re too weak to overcome themselves. However, the person who becomes that barrier is also dehumanized by the very people they protect, and at times ostracized or hated as a result. Satoru Gojo’s dehumanization into a tool for others’ use shows this, with some resenting him for not handling everything on his own.

While they’re correct in terms of his abilities, they refuse to acknowledge the incredible mental burden that comes with his title. The lone exception to this among Gojo’s sorcerer society allies is Yuta Okkotsu, who not only empathizes with Gojo but chooses to become a monster like him. The isolation caused by this inherent inability for connection on such a level is the true burden of being the strongest, leaving them unable to be truly understood by anyone but their peers.