Jujutsu High’s Favorite Teacher; Satoru Gojo Explained
One of the most powerful jujutsu sorcerers ever and best eyes in the game? Satoru Gojo is just too powerful.
Every now and again an anime character shows up that the fans go so feral for that it’s honestly a bit much. Satoru Gojo is one of those characters. Between being other-worldly beautiful, nigh invincible, and pretty fun on screen, Gojo Sensei is definitely one of those perfect storm sort of characters. But the fan reaction just may have scared a few folks off. So let’s talk about who Gojo is, what he’s all about, and why the fans are going off the deep end for him.
Who is Gojo Satoru?
Gojo is one of the main characters in Gege Akutami’s manga, Jujutsu Kaisen. He’s first introduced as a teacher and mentor at the Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical College—or Jujutsu High. But he’s quickly revealed to be one of, if not the strongest, jujutsu sorcerer in the world with a ranking of ‘special grade.’
In the world of Jujutu Kaisen monsters known as “curses” run wild, and specially trained “sorcerers” use their unique “cursed techniques” to rid the world of curses and keep regular folks safe. A few secret high schools exist with a curriculum specific to jujutsu sorcerers, where students will be on a sort of learn-work schedule. Gojo Sensei is both a jujutsu sorcerer with the highest possible skill ranking, as well as a teacher to sorcerers in training.
“Know this: this creature is the bringer of death. He will never eat, he will never sleep, and he will never stop.”
– Oded Fehr, who I’ll get to in a moment.
As a teacher, Gojo is a figure who attempts to be relatable and endearing to his students, though to some this sometimes comes across as not taking his role seriously enough. But beneath a dozen layers of silliness and jokes, he is passionate about his role and fiercely protective of the younger people in his care. We see this when he takes Megumi Fushiguro under his wing and acts as a pseudo-parent figure, and again when he makes himself responsible for the training and protection of Yuji Itadori.
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Time as a Student
In his own time as a student at Jujutsu High, Gojo Satoru attended classes and went on missions with fellow current-day school staff and sorcerers, including Shoko and Nanami as well as series antagonist Suguru Geto.
One of their missions as sophomores was to escort and protect Riko Amanai, a young girl who was to merge with the immortal sorcerer, Tengen. At the time of the merging, they are attacked by mercenary Toji Fushiguro and Riko is killed.
When one of these missions went wrong, Geto began doubting the role of sorcerers, eventually growing irritated with non-sorcerers for needing protection and vowing to kill all non-sorcerers to prevent the creation of more cursed spirits. When Gojo was sent to stop Geto, he found he wasn’t able to kill his former best friend and let him go.
This is only one of a number of tragedies we either see happen or are implied. Showing in a series that had previously been mostly upbeat that a life of hardship and loss is the norm for jujutsu sorcerers, even from a young age.
Gojo’s Sensei’s Powers and Abilities
Gojo has a number of abilities that he can access through manipulating cursed energy. Black Flash allows him to create a special distortion in a small area, allowing him to increase the force of a strike by a power of 2.5.
Limitless and Infinity give him nearly absolute power over space, including putting an infinite amount of space between himself and any other object. Effectively making himself impossible to touch. He can then use his technique, Lapse: Blue to make all of that infinite space fix itself at the same time, producing a vacuum of negative energy and sometimes creating a small, but crushing black hole. Lapse: Red has the opposite effect, creating a positive and repelling force.
Gojo has a number of anti-domain moves that allow him to dodge hits or even avoid and nullify domain attacks. And his own Domain Expansion is ‘Unlimited Void,” where (almost literally) everything happens to his foe at once, entirely overwhelming them.
Why Does Gojo Cover His Eyes?
To put it briefly, Gojo has special eyes that see a little differently than most other sorcerers. A mixture of his Limitless technique and his ‘Six Eyes’ give him greatly increased perception all of the time, and it’s a lot to maintain on a constant basis. He covers his eyes either with a blindfold or dark sunglasses to help him maintain a stable information intake on a daily basis. Gojo only uncovers his eyes when he needs that extra sight.
What is His ‘Six Eyes’?
‘Six Eyes’ is the name of an inherited and innate technique, specific to the Gojo clan. The bearer has a vastly increased perception and is able to see the flow of cursed energy itself. It’s also implied that he can see the world in terms of mass, speed, and energy in a way that’s very precise, but often exhausting.
Why is Gojo so Strong?
Gojo is the only sorcerer in many generations with access to the Limitless technique and Six Eyes, making for a combination that’s overpowered compared to almost everyone else in the Jujutu Kaisen universe. His power is also a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy. He has to be as strong as he is because it’s expected and failing would- and does- have devastating results.
What is Gojo’s Weakness?
Gojo isn’t vulnerable to many things, and most of his foes have a hard time narrowing in on those vulnerabilities. But he definitely has one or two.
Specific techniques or items with the ability to pierce through or counteract his own abilities, such as the Inverted Spear of Heaven or Angel’s nullification technique could both do the trick. But he can also be thrown for a loop in regular, mundane, human ways too. Exhaustion- including the exact kind his blindfold is meant to prevent, will make fights harder for Gojo. And if trapped inside of something he can be neutralized without truly being defeated in battle. But Gojo’s biggest weakness is his emotional attachment to the people closest to him. Emotion is one of the most effective ways to distract a jujutu sorcerer and briefly disrupt their abilities. And Gojo is no exception.
Beware! Manga spoilers beyond this point!
How Was Gojo Killed? And is He Permanently dead?!
In manga chapter 236 a battle between Gojo and series big-bag, Sukuna ended with Gojo’s death. He was using his limitless technique, Sukuna was able to cut straight through him with his own ‘Dismantle’ technique. Sukuna was previously seen using this same technique but on inanimate objects.
Gojo seems pretty dead, but the Reverse Curse Technique has been used to fix what should have been fatal injuries in the past. There is a chance he could be revived and healed in future chapters, but it hasn’t happened yet, and the manga has moved on to other characters. For the time being, at least.
Happy adventuring!
