Jujutsu Kaisen is an exciting shonen fantasy series starring the kind Yuji Itadori, a cheerful rookie sorcerer who is like a ray of sunshine in a rather dark world. Yuji must now use cursed energy to defeat monstrous curses that haunt humanity, but unlike his fellow sorcerers, Yuji rarely channels his negative emotions to win a fight.
By contrast, most other human characters in Jujutsu Kaisen gladly dig into their dark side to defeat their foes, and plenty of them have some pretty serious hangups or emotional problems to overcome. These characters might be tragic victims, or they suffered unfair losses in a world that shows them no mercy.
10 Momo Nishimiya Alludes To Serious Prejudice
At first glance, the Kyoto student sorcerer Momo Nishimiya simply looks like another token "cute anime witch" character. Momo may not be JJK's darkest character ever, but she does have some thematic ties to one of the story's darkest elements – prejudice and discrimination.
It's abundantly clear that girls face a brutal double standard in this world, and Momo responded by trying to be the perfect cute girl whom this society's elites cannot find fault in. It seems to be working, but it's also stressful for Momo, and Nobara believes that girls like them should fight back rather than internalize such things.
9 Yuta Okkotsu Is Consumed With Guilt
In the broader Jujutsu Kaisen franchise, such as the Jujutsu Kaisen 0 movie, a few more dark characters came to the fore, including Yuta Okkotsu. This distraught boy blames himself for the tragic death of his dear friend Rika Orimoto, and it's not easy for him to move on.
Worse yet, Yuta is totally alienated from others because of his serious shyness, and he has trouble believing in himself. He also has Rika's monstrous curse hanging around him, which drives people away even more. It seems happiness is nowhere to be seen in Yuta's grief-stricken life.
8 Panda Feels All Alone Sometimes
Panda is indeed a talking panda, but he is not strictly a source of comic relief. He can be pretty funny sometimes, but he also has a troubled backstory where he cannot determine what he truly is or what his relationship with humanity is supposed to be. Sometimes, he feels lost.
Panda could have been much more bitter about this, but as a shonen hero, he chose a more positive approach. Panda is determined to prove his worth and be equal with the humans, even if he secretly fears that he's just a doll pretending to be a real being. He still has much to figure out about himself.
7 Yuji Itadori Faces Dark Circumstances
Yuji is not a dark person by nature – much the opposite. But his overall character is still fairly dark due to external issues, and not even Yuji can just smile his way out of it. To begin with, Yuji experienced the death of his beloved grandfather in Episode 1, and no doubt he's still grieving.
Yuji is also the unwilling host of Ryomen Sukuna, and he is slated for execution. If that weren't enough, Sukuna is a twisted companion for him, having torn out Yuji's own heart to defy him. It seems Yuji has no way out of this.
6 Maki Zenin Faces An Uphill Battle
Maki Zenin is Yuji's tsundere classmate at the Tokyo sorcery school, and she has a lot on her plate, hence her tense, standoffish behavior. Maki, like Yuji himself, is dark because of her circumstances, not her personality, but that doesn't make things any easier for her.
Maki directly faced the uncompromising sexism of the sorcery world from her family, with the elite Zenins looking down on her as a girl with no natural cursed energy. So, Maki fled the family estate to prove herself elsewhere, and there's no taking it back. Maki must succeed against all odds or be forever lost.
5 Rika Orimoto Died So Young
Rika Orimoto died at age 11 in a traffic accident, and her good friend Yuta was heartbroken. Rika also lost both of her parents before then, and she had even been hospitalized for pneumonia. Now she is a monstrous curse, and very little of her humanity remains.
Rika's human heart still remembers her love for Yuta, but this is a cursed existence, literally and otherwise, and Yuta knows it. Eventually, Yuta had to say goodbye to his curse friend once and for all, and it was a bittersweet scene to watch. Rika's dark life is finally over.
4 Kento Nanami Is Rather Jaded & Feels Trapped
The suit-wearing sorcerer Kento Namami is an excellent fighter, and he can even stand up to the likes of Mahito in a serious fight. But that does not mean Kento enjoys being so powerful. In fact, he can't stand his sorcery career, but he also can't do any better, so he's stuck.
Kento has worked both as a sorcerer and an office worker, and both felt like miserable, dead-end gigs with no hope. So, being jaded and stuck between two grim options, Kento decided that being a sorcerer was slightly better than being some corporate cog.
3 Mai Zenin Feels Trapped, Too
Maki's sister Mai is a student at the Kyoto school, and she is not too happy about it. In fact, she never chose the path of a sorcerer at all, having been forced into it by her sister Maki's decision to stand up to their family's elders. Mai wanted to keep her head down, but now she's involved in Maki's plans, like it or not.
And Mai definitely does not like it. She faces discrimination in this cursed world, and bitterly resents her sister for dragging her into this mess. Mai feels trapped and hopeless, but at least she can fight well with a cursed revolver and has the support of her classmates like Momo and Aoi.
2 Kokichi Muta/Mechamaru Never Asked For This
Mechamaru and Panda have a few things in common. They both fear that they have no place in the world and that they were born cursed. Mechamaru, in particular, suffers serious emotional and physical agony from being born with unusual cursed energy.
Mechamaru cannot even withstand moonlight, let alone the sun or the outside world. He must remain secluded and operate remotely with his wooden Mechamaru robot doll, and he's more than a little bitter about it. He would gladly trade away all his power to walk the earth normally.
1 Junpei Yoshino Suffered Horribly
Yuji once tried to befriend the miserable Junpei Yoshino, but he was too late. The mental damage from constant bullying had already been done, and Junpei's dark side had taken root. He scorned human society and was determined to make the bullies pay, but he was not sure how. Then Mahito empowered him.
Junpei released all his pent-up rage and misery on his classmates, but when he clashed with Yuji, things took yet another turn for the worse. Mahito cursed Junpei even more and then killed him, ending any hope for Junpei to experience redemption and become a jujutsu sorcerer.