There is one evil mastermind behind all of
the major events of Jujutsu Kaisen - and I mean mastermind in the most literal way possible,
because the ultimate villain of the series is just a brain. At the end of the Shibuya Incident Arc, the
impostor pretending to be Suguru Geto revealed his true identity: Kenjaku. This sorcerer has used his power to implant
his brain into other host bodies. And it’s not a normal brain either! It’s got a freaky mouth which makes it at
least 10% more cursed. Over the course of one thousand years he’s
committed all kinds of atrocities, at one point being known as the most evil sorcerer
in history. In my opinion, he’s *still* the most evil
sorcerer in history, too! And not only is he the most evil sorcerer
- he’s one of the most powerful figures in the world of Jujutsu Kaisen. We haven’t seen the full extent of his strength,
but he has the powers of a Special Grade sorcerer and then some. Only characters like Gojo Satoru make him
hesitate, but he’ll gladly take on other fighters without fear. What makes this mysterious figure so willing
to go head to head with other powerful characters? Kenjaku has a complete mastery of Cursed Energy,
being able to utilize massive quantities of it with ease. This allows him to be an excellent hand-to-hand
fighter by enhancing his physical attributes with cursed energy. After all, he has literally hundreds of years
of experience using this power. In addition, he’s also mastered other applications
of cursed energy such as barrier techniques and can even use a Domain Expansion without
setting up a barrier, a feat we’ve only seen matched by Sukuna. In his fight against Yuki, he activates a
domain expansion called Womb Profusion, but other than the disturbing name, we don’t
know what it specifically does other than pack a crazy punch. However, Kenjaku’s true power comes from
the innate technique unique only to him: Kenjaku’s innate cursed technique is his ability to
switch bodies, which means he’s assumed tons of different identities over the course
of Jujutsu history. Only a few of those identities are known,
but it’s assumed he’s secretly been many people over time. And I use the word “secretly” lightly,
because it’s pretty obvious that someone is actually Kenjaku due to the massive surgical
scar on their forehead. He doesn’t just take over people’s bodies,
though: Kenjaku can also steal someone else’s cursed technique, giving him quite the collection
of deadly abilities. He’s been working on this master plan of
his for centuries, using each of his different identities to work toward this ultimate goal. So who has he been and why has he chosen to
take over these specific bodies? Let’s take a look at each and every one
of Kenjaku’s abilities The earliest known identity is…well, Kenjaku
himself. Obviously there had to be a first Kenjaku
before he started inhabiting other people’s bodies. It’s unclear whether certain feats were
done as this original Kenjaku or later on down the line under an unknown identity. However, we know that even in the ancient
era, he was supremely powerful. He was once friends with the similarly old
Tengen. And he’s even the one who figured out how
to turn a sorcerer into a Cursed Object after their death, allowing Sukuna to be turned
into the 20 fingers that Yuji would one day eat. The most renowned of Kenjaku’s identities
was that of Noritoshi Kamo, the so-called most evil sorcerer in history. Not to be confused with his descendant Noritoshi
Kamo the Kyoto Jujutsu High student. As a Kamo, the OG Noritoshi was part of the
Big Three Jujutsu Families, though he’s now considered a stain on their family. His claim to evil fame was his creation of
the Cursed Womb: Death Paintings. These were Kenjaku’s first attempt at creating
beings beyond humanity or cursed spirits. He kidnapped and held a woman prisoner who
was capable of giving birth to human-spirit hybrids. His wicked experiments with this ability lead
to the nine Death Paintings - though, I’ve gotta say - despite his messed up origins,
Choso turned out to be a pretty nice guy! It’s through his Kamo ancestry that Choso
was able to use the family’s special technique, Blood Manipulation. It’s possible that Kenjaku can also use
this technique, since he gains the ability to use the innate techniques of the bodies
he inhabits, resulting in him collecting many powers, most of which we’ve yet to see him
use. The next Kenjaku identity we know of, jumping
ahead several hundred years, is Kaori Itadori. That’s right: Kenjaku is none other than
YUJI’s MOM. Like…this isn’t even a meme or a bit…The
main villain of the series is canonically the main character’s mom. And due to Kenjaku’s manipulative nature,
it seems like he probably had a hand in…creating…Yuji and probably has a hidden motive for doing
so, since he’s the main character and therefore he’s probably extra special. Also, due to this, the Death Paintings technically
actually are Yuji’s siblings in a way, so when Choso recognizes Yuji as his brother…well,
he’s not wrong. We don’t know much about Kaori. Other than the reveal that she was possessed
by Kenjaku and had the signature forehead scar, we really haven’t learned all that
much. However, we do know her innate cursed technique…but
more on that later. The last known vessel for Kenjaku, and his
current one, is the one we know the most about: Special Grade Sorcerer Suguru Geto - former
bestie of Gojo Satoru and known human hater. After Geto’s death at the hands of his bestie
Gojo, his body became the current vessel for Kenjaku. This allowed him access to Geto’s innate
technique of Cursed Spirit Manipulation - an ability that would be instrumental in activating
his master plans. After assuming Suguru Geto’s identity, Kenjaku
allied with the Disaster Curses. This team consisting of Mahito, the Human
Curse; Jogo, the Volcano Curse; Hanami, the Nature Curse; and Dagon, the Ocean Curse. This group of Special Grade curses has the
goal of completely wiping out humanity so that curses can become the dominant species
on Earth. They meet with Kenjaku, who is posing as Geto,
who allies with them in order to help them get rid of Gojo Satoru using the Prison Realm. On the surface, they have plenty in common. Both Geto and the Disaster Curses hate humans,
since Geto sees them as below sorcerers. Geto goes as far as calling normal humans
who can’t manipulate cursed energy “monkeys” and believes they are completely inferior. He also has all the reason to want revenge
against Gojo for defeating him in the past. However, in reality, Kenjaku actually has
an ulterior motive. It’s true that he wants to get Gojo out
of the way - just like he’s the biggest obstacle for the Disaster Curses, he’s also
the biggest obstacle for Kenjaku. Because Kenjaku has a plan that’s been a
thousand years in the making and he can’t let Gojo go ruining it. There’s another reason for him to ally with
these curses - and it comes right down to how he’s a master manipulator who’s just
using them for his own goals all along. Instead of doing all of the work himself,
Kenjaku allows these Disaster Curses to use their immense strength to start enacting his
plans for him. Everything Kenjaku does is manipulative. I mean, what’s more manipulative than literally
taking over someone’s body? Kenjaku delights in making people bend to
his whims all the while thinking that they’re working in their own self-interest. No matter the situation, Kenjaku is always
in complete control and uses his tactical genius to stay several steps ahead of his
enemies. He even hides the true extent of most of his
powers so that he can have the upper hand in combat. But why is he doing any of this in the first
place? What is Kenjaku’s real end goal that took
a millennium of preparation? Well, to tell you I’m going to have to get
into some manga spoilers so while everything so far is covered in the Shibuya Incident
in season 2 of the anime, from here on out, we’re looking at what we know about Kenjaku
from the manga so far. Well, Kenjaku’s motive in the story is to
test the limits of cursed energy and push beyond all conventions and boundaries of the
powers within JJK. He believes that human beings who wield cursed
energy and cursed spirits can’t be the end all be all of Jujutsu. He believes that something greater than either
of these entities must be possible. In fact, this is why he made the Cursed Womb:
Death Paintings back when he assumed the identity of Noritoshi Kamo. Ultimately, Kenjaku determined that the Death
Paintings were failures because his “children” could not surpass him. He came to believe that nothing he personally
created could ever surpass himself, so he made it his goal to use uncontrollable, unpredictable
chaos to advance his goals. Enter the Culling Game: The way he plans to
create these higher beings is through his twisted Culling Game, a lethal battle royale
that pits Japan’s strongest Jujutsu Sorcerers against one another. This allows Gege Akutami to write his take
on a Manga Classic: The Tournament Arc, because who doesn’t love a good battle Shonen staple. However, this tournament is actually a ritual
which draws out a huge amount of cursed energy. Another one of his identities, which is thus
far unknown, made binding vows with several powerful sorcerers from the past, so that
they could one day compete in the Culling Game. By promising them a second chance at life,
he convinced these sorcerers to be turned into cursed objects that could be resurrected
later on.These include great fighters like Hajime Kashimo who can even throw down with
the likes of Sukuna. This shows just how long Kenjaku’s been
working on his master plan. In the present day, he was able to activate
the spirits of these sorcerers to take over human vessels he had prepared so that these
warriors of the past could participate in the game. This happens in a very similar way to how
Yuji became a vessel for Sukuna, with humans ingesting cursed objects that contained the
sorcerer’s cursed energy. Other people still were newly awakened as
sorcerers who hadn’t formerly had access to cursed energy. How the actual ritual works is a bit complicated
and we don’t have every single detail yet. Kenjaku’s true aim is to use this concentration
of cursed energy to fuse every non-sorcerer human in Japan with Master Tengen. Tengen is the ancient sorcerer who lives in
the Tombs of the Star Corridor, generating the barriers that protect the Jujutsu High
campuses.Tengen’s abilities have already transcended humanity, making him immortal. In fact, he’s lived so long that he knew
Kenjaku 1,000 years ago when both were young. They were even friends at one point, but clearly
there’s been quite a lot of division between them over the past millennium. Since his Star Vessel was killed and he wasn’t
able to merge with her, Tengen’s evolving at an alarming rate. By merging with the star vessel, he’s usually
able to pause his alarming rate of evolution.. Now, his appearance doesn’t even appear
human anymore. Kenjaku plans on using the fact that Tengen
has already become something beyond human to his advantage. The true reason Kenjaku used the Disaster
Curses is because he needs their power - specifically the power of Mahito. By using Suguru’s ultimate technique, Maximum:
Uzumaki, he is able to absorb the innate techniques of powerful Cursed Spirits. He needed Mahito’s power of Idle Transfiguration
because that’s the key to taking down the powerful barrier around Tengen, which is no
easy feat since Tengen is the most powerful barrier user in history. This is yet another way that Kenjaku is a
master manipulator. He got four Special Grade curses who hated
humanity to essentially complete his plans for him. Kenjaku is always using others for his own
purposes. He used the Disaster Curses to help him seal
Gojo, and he promised the ancient sorcerers to be turned into Cursed Objects just so he
could use them as sacrificial pawns in his Culling Game. When he needs more bloodshed to occur in the
Culling Game to draw out even more cursed energy, he even manipulates the entire U.S.
Government by convincing the President about Cursed Energy’s potential military uses,
causing tons of soldiers to be slaughtered as they entered the combat zones without any
mastery of cursed energy. Back to the master plan, though: By dissolving
his protective barrier, and completing the Culling Game, Kenjaku plans to force humanity
to evolve into a state beyond its current existence by forcefully fusing all of Japan’s
non sorcerers with Tengen. And unfortunately for Japan, Kenjaku has already
managed to dissolve the protective barrier.This was despite Tengen being guarded by the Special
Grade Sorcer, Yuki - you know, the lady who makes a habit of asking much younger boys
what type of girls they like - for a minute, it looked like Kenjaku he was on the ropes. The combined efforts of Yuki and Choso (who
again, is technically kind of Kenjaku’s son) gave him a real challenge. Yuki’s Cursed Technique manipulates gravity,
which seemed like it would quite literally crush anything Kenjaku could throw at her…However,
he was able to conjure up the cursed technique of one of his previous bodies to counter Yuki’s
ability. And this was the technique of none other than
Yuji’s Mom! Kaori Itadori’s cursed technique is called
the Anti-Gravity System, which was a huge stroke of luck when Kenjaku had to battle
Yuki and her gravity based powers. It’s quite literally the perfect counter,
so who knows how many other secret techniques from his previous bodies Kenjaku has lying
around, ready to use at the perfect moment to catch his opponents off guard. Having such a huge assortment of techniques
to choose from is one thing that helps Kenjaku stay one step ahead of everyone as he enacts
his plan. Even Kenjaku has no idea what the result of
the Culling Game ritual will be - he’s just sickeningly curious to see what happens. He even believes that if the resulting being
just takes the shape of a silly face, it’ll just be comical to him, even as he essentially
dooms humanity as we know it. After all, Kenjaku definitely has a sense
of humor. As opposed to a lot of anime antagonists
who are deadly serious and calm, cool, and collected at all times - Kenjaku is pretty
silly. This is best displayed in his battle with
Fumihiko Takaba. Fumihiko is one of the ordinary people who
suddenly found himself with cursed powers at the start of the Culling Game. Fumihiko Takaba is a comedian - albeit a failed
one. However, his cursed technique is entirely
based on his comedy style and involves turning his imagination into reality - an ability
that will become ridiculously powerful if he can master it. As he tries to take down the mastermind Kenjaku,
it becomes just as much a battle of wits as it is a battle of strength. However, much to Takaba’s surprise, as they
test each other to see who can make the other laugh…Kenjaku might actually be funnier
than the professional comedian. He’s a master of creating goofy faces, and
even knows a lot about various popular comedy TV programs in Japan. Much like Gojo, he apparently had a lot of
time to watch his share of movies in between creating his evil schemes. Kenjaku has actually adapted surprisingly
well to the modern era considering he’s 1,000 years old. You’d expect him to be behind the times,
but in addition to keeping up with television, he can also be seen playing the Game of Life
with the Disaster Curses. This is nothing compared to the time Kenjaku
pulls out a whole iPhone so he can read chapter 236 of Jujutsu Kaisen… Okay, so it’s implied that he actually just
has some kind of surveillance operating so he can check out the Gojo vs. Sukuna fight
from afar, but since the literal manga panel of Gojo’s death is superimposed over his
phone screen, it definitely just looks like Kenjaku downloaded the Shonen Jump app. Either way, the man has definitely adapted
to the 21st century and all of the technological marvels that come with it. Pretty impressive for somebody who lived all
the way back in the Heian era of Japan. It’s just another way that this villain
continues to shock the audience and defy expectations. His culling game plan is for little other
than his own twisted amusement and entertainment. Out of sheer curiosity, Kenjaku is perfectly
willing to sacrifice the entire population of Japan just so he can see what happens. He is at one time cold and calculating while
also being fun-loving in the most deranged and chaotic way. This allowed him to set his Culling Game plan
in action and lead to the most intense JJK arc yet, where we’re going to find out even
more about this evil mastermind and more importantly have some epic battles. And perhaps the biggest mystery still is what
role Yuji Itadori has to play in all of this. Surely Yuji being able to act as a vessel
for Sukuna and being literally birthed by the main villain of the story have some connection,
but what part he plays in Kenjaku’s plan is still a completely mystery. With all of Kenjaku’s crazy powers, watching
even a single fight of his can get hard to wrap your mind around since he’s busting
out cursed techniques left and right. Between cursed technique, and reversed cursed
techniques, and innate techniques, there are just so many techniques to understand! Thankfully understanding all of these is easy:
all you have to do is watch this video that explains the whole JJK Power System
