Kenjaku Explained: A Guide to Jujutsu Kaisen’s Villain

Fans who saw Geto Suguru die during Jujutsu Kaisen:0 many are likely to wonder why he is still alive and healthy in the anime series that is some years after that. People also pointed out that there was a horizontal line drawn across his forehead between those two curves which led to many fan theories about what may have happened to him.

And it was a completely different character named Kenjaku who first appeared during the Shibuya Incident arc which is undoubtedly one of the most insane things in the series, especially when he literally pulled his head off to reveal a talking brain with teeth. It is important to answer the questions ‘Who is Kenjaku?’ and ‘How is he connected to the events of the story?’

An Ancient Sorcerer Who Shaped an Era

This character is a well-established jujutsu sorcerer named Kenjaku who has been alive for over a millennium through a technique inherent in him. This technique enables him to transfer his brain into another normal human being and be in complete control of the body, not even requiring the person’s body to be alive. In its wake, it results in a scar like a small suture mark on the forehead, which, when popped open by Kenjaku, houses his brain. Kenjaku can control and manipulate the cursed power and inherent cursed techniques of the person whose body he leeches onto, which is why even the Six Eyes cannot identify that the body has been switched.

He also gets all of the memories of the host body, and whenever he switches bodies, he also takes cursed techniques with him, but he can only keep as many as his brain can handle and he might have to choose which are best for him. As Kenjaku is over a thousand years old and the series shows that he has been alive for multiple lives with different experiences, he possesses quite vast knowledge that includes general, experimenting, and strategics.

He is also very battle smart and is clearly a manipulative strategist, who appears to set up most of the events that happen in the main storyline of Jujutsu Kaisen to accomplish his objective.

Faces of the Kenjaku’s Victims: Stories Behind the Hosts

The fact that Kenjaku has been around to witness multiple eras of Jujutsu is significant as he has done so through possession of different Jujutsu Sorcerers. However, only four of those hosts were named although it is strongly suggested that quite a number of people have fallen prey to his trick. Here are some of the bodies Kenjaku has inhabited in the course of his reincarnation.

Approximately 400 years prior to the events of the main Jujutsu Kaisen series, Kenjaku had taken over the body of an unspecified sorcerer for the purpose of spying on other sorcerers and making the Binding Vows which will be further discussed during the anime series. Of these mentioned sorcerers, Hajime Kashimo stands out as the most famous.

Noritoshi Of Kamo Clan

During the Meiji Era in Japan, an infamous member of the Sorcerer Council named Kenjaku attacked one of the prominent Sorcerer Families, Kamo Family, which is a member of the Big Three Sorcerer Families; and Noritoshi Kamo, a member of this family, unfortunately became one of Kenjaku’s victims. While posing as Noritoshi, Kenjaku performed many illicit treatments based primarily on the fusion of cursed spirits with people. He locked up a woman and did many coupling tests on her and evil spirits that resulted in nine pregnancies and nine abortions. 

The results of his experiments, the Cursed Womb: Death Paintings were considered so terrible that all information about him was erased, and it was considered that he disgraced the Kamo Family and became the most diabolical jujutsu sorcerer in history. He also infused some of his blood to the Cursed Wombs, which means that Choso was able to use the Kamo family’s Blood Manipulation skill.

Kaori Itadori – Yuji Itadori’s Mom

Before the events of the series, Kenjaku possessed the body of Jin Itadori ‘s wife Kaori Itadori after her death. When disguised as his wife, they conceived a child whom they would name Yuji Itadori.

Why Kenjaku has her is unknown as her host is not chosen at random but it is connected to the birth of Yuji. Now it is unknown how long he possessed her body and if he did any terrible things during that time, but one of the techniques that he used later on in the manga was the antigravity cursed technique that was taken from her.

Suguru Geto

Although many who know Geto Suguru know Kenjaku, as he was killed by Yuta Okkotsu prior to the actual events of the show. Since he was one of the four special-grade sorcerers in the series, one would have expected the higher-ups to do a better job in protecting his body. 

But as a result of their carelessness, Kenjaku got hold of a gem which was like none other. He obtained Cured Spirit Manipulation and Geto’s excellent physical prowess and was called Pseudo-Geto until he spoke his name.

What is he planning to do?

Of course, a man does not work to survive for a thousand years without some sort of end or purpose in mind. Kenjaku’s dreams are not those of any greatness or mediocrity, of world domination or annihilation. 

He wants to combine Lord Tengen and all of the non-sorcerers in Japan, his motives are unknown, he doesn’t expect anything specific to come out of it, but that is all he desires.