Jujutsu Kaisen Villains, Ranked by Intelligence

Jujutsu Kaisen has been praised for its wondrous detail to character development and brilliantly written storylines, and part of that is its incredibly intelligent villains. More than most other shonen action series, Jujutsu Kaisen boasts a fine amount of antagonists who manage to keep their cunning and accomplish their goals to the protagonists’ detriment.

However, among such a large group of villains, some are bound to be more intelligent than others. This is indeed the case, as Jujutsu Kaisen‘s antagonist range from muscleheads relying largely on brute force to cunning manipulators who have shaped the course of society with their plans. With the manga currently in what seems to be its final arc and the anime on the cusp of adapting the series’ best arc, now is the perfect time to look over these villains and rank their intelligence relative to each other.

10 Dagon

When Dagon is first introduced, he is simply a cursed womb with limited speech. It’s only during the events of the Shibuya Incident when he learns of his comrade Hanami’s demise, that he eventually evolves from his rage. Within seconds of his rebirth, Dagon develops more speech and heightened intelligence to boot in his battle against Nanami, Naobito, and Maki before her major upgrade. Throughout the course of the battle, he utilizes his strength to the best of his ability by relentlessly attacking the trio, leaving no room for them to charge into the offensive. If a resurrected Toji hadn’t intervened, Dagon have been able to fully realize his potential.

9 Hanami

A cursed spirit that speaks for the trees, Hanami is a powerhouse that should not be trifled with. Their unique speech and incredible durability made them one of the more intriguing antagonists of JJK. Their bout with Yuji and Todo is easily one of the most visually impressive fights in anime, and they manage to show how they can adapt when the situation calls for it.

Todo’s Boogie-Woogie cursed technique is a particularly difficult one to anticipate when in the midst of a battle. Hanami is able to pick up on it quickly enough through trial and error thanks to their tough resilience. They’re also known to enact a tactical retreat when up against Gojo himself as their technique allows them to even evade the six-eyes detection. As they state themselves they’re not “foolish enough to take on Gojo Satoru” given his insanely strong Limitless technique.

8 Jogo

Jogo was originally considered to be the leader of the sentient cursed spirits in their goal to replace humanity as the “true” beings of their world before handing it over to the twisted Jujutsu Kaisen villain Mahito instead. While hot-headed and arrogant, these do not impair his judgment or his very own analytical skills.

Jogo isn’t weak, or lacks intelligence, he has just been unlucky in the majority of his matchups. His first battle was against “The Strongest” sorcerer Gojo and if it were anybody else Jogo would have easily won. His strategy is sound when facing off against grade-1 sorcerers with his tactic of luring them into his volcanic traps all but ensuring a victory most of the time.

7 Hajime Kashimo

One of the more prominent culling game players, Hajime is the epitome of a past sorcerer who only lives to fight. In his pursuit of seeking the strongest, he developed a knack for critical thinking when in the heat of battle. From the fights readers have witnessed so far, Hajime appears to be an electric straightforward brawler with no concern for his own safety.

But upon closer inspection, all of his moves are coordinated and direct with lethal intent. Throughout his battle with Hakari, he is able to quickly and accurately determine the third year’s cursed technique and its probability rules. Given Hakari’s technique is Jujutsu Kaisen‘s most complicated, this is incredibly impressive. It’s his pride though as a fighter that gets in the way and his refusal to think “like a loser” when faced with immeasurable odds gives way to risk-taking behavior.

6 Reggie Star

Reggie Star is another reincarnated sorcerer who easily has one of Jujutsu Kaisen’s more bizarre cursed techniques. With the ability to make anything appear from collected receipts, Reggie can summon anything at will as long as it’s in contractual writing. With this ability, Reggie has to think quickly on the fly and keep his opponents on the defensive. Aside from battle tactics, it’s also Reggie that rightly questions the true purpose of the culling games. It’s his belief that Kenjaku is using the culling games as a precursor to the “bomb” that he will no doubt drop once the game has reached its end goal. Given how close this prediction was to Kenjaku’s actual ultimate plan in Jujutsu Kaisen, this cements Reggie as one of Jujutsu Kaisen‘s cleverest villains.

5 Suguru Geto

The fallen hero archetype, the stand-in Lucifer character, and friend turned enemy, Suguru Geto is quite the complex character. Bent on creating a world where curses no longer exist by exterminating the source of curses, humanity itself. His use of cursed-spirit manipulation is quite the feat as he can summon a multitude of cursed spirits to use at his disposal.

It’s no wonder he’s one of Jujutsu Kaisen‘s horrifying special-grade threats second only to Gojo in terms of power. His strategy is to enact a divide-and-conquer tactic along with a bait-and-switch in order to fulfill his true goal to consume Rika. Though sound, this plan itself had its folly as Kenjaku would later point out.

4 Mahito

The personification of the hatred humanities hold for one another, Mahito is easily one of the most despicable villains ever. He is so iconic Mahito even inspired other disturbing Shonen Jump villains. The cheerful attitude he displays when mutilating his victims makes him one of the more unlikeable anime characters, yet fans can still find entertainment in the sadistic curse. Mahito’s keen intellect helps make him a tough opponent. He can manipulate humans to give into their darkest desires with relative ease, and he can prepare himself for tougher opponents like Todo after exchanging a few blows with them.

3 Toji Fushiguro

Toji Fushiguro is easily the standout character to be featured in Gojo’s past arc, which Jujutsu Kaisen‘s second season will soon be adapting. He is employed by the religious group, The Time Vessel Organization to assassinate the latest Star Plasma Vessel, Riko Amanai. The only obstacle to this assignment is a young Gojo and his six eyes technique.

Thanks to his background within the Zenin clan, Toji knows full well what he is dealing with and how to be patient. Throughout the majority of the arc, Toji wears out Gojo by sending in countless bounty hunters their way. Once Gojo isn’t fully aware of his surroundings, that’s when the “sorcerer killer” makes his strike and proceeds to incapacitate Gojo and fulfill his assassination.

2 Sukuna

The King of Curses, Sukuna is the most powerful of the vengeful spirits, as his recent fight with Gojo in Jujutsu Kaisen‘s manga has proven. After awakening from a thousand-year slumber, he wastes no time to try and get back into the groove of things and start killing again. Though arrogant and crude, Sukuna should not be mistaken for a mindless killing machine with one of the greatest domain expansions in the world of jujutsu sorcery.

Being one of the strongest cursed spirits to have ever existed, Sukuna is quite knowledgeable about everything involving sorcery. This is best exemplified in his battle with Megumi’s shikigami, Mahoraga. In their fight, Sukuna is able to quickly determine the uncontrollable shadow beast’s cursed technique with a mere glance and is able to come up with a strategy on how to defeat it on the spot.

1 Kenjaku

It’s no contest to who has the bigger brains when it comes to Kenjaku as he is a literal brain that has lived for thousands of years gathering all the intel he could. He is the main architect for all the events that have transpired in the series so far with his main goal to optimize cursed energy in order to help evolve humanity. Some have even called Kenjaku Jujutsu Kaisen‘s most dangerous sorcerer.

To take them for their own word, Kenjaku is a being who cannot afford to “make an oversight.” Thousands of years of planning go into his grand plan and audiences are still unsure of what’s left of his machinations, or what else the ancient cerebrum has in store for the series’ protagonists. Everything has gone according to plan and the heroes have yet to even attempt to throw a wrench in them. Even if Jujutsu Kaisen‘s protagonists can find a way to defeat him with the newly unsealed Gojo, Kenjaku has proven that they deserve to be considered the series’ most intelligent villain.