Gojo Satoru is one of the most popular characters in Jujutsu Kaisen. It is not surprising because he is very powerful, and can face off special-grade curses with ease. His Domain Expansion is also very impressive and revealed his handsome face and mesmerizing eyes.
But Gojo’s personality is complex. Although he is the comic relief in the show because of his nonchalant and silly attitude, there are instances where he was able to show some streaks of his personality. In the manga, his character was explored further in Gojo’s Past arc. With this, fans wonder if Gojo Satoru is actually evil. Is he a bad person? Is he capable of becoming evil?
There will be manga spoilers ahead, but we will be giving you a warning beforehand. We will discuss how Gojo is portrayed in the anime first!
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He Is Arrogant
Gojo has shown arrogance and confidence in himself in the anime. It is almost to the point that he does not take his enemies very seriously. He even stopped by a dessert shop when his student, Megumi, was attacked by a cursed spirit. It can be assumed that Gojo does not embody a sense of urgency that much. This is because he knew that if he were to arrive, the problem will be solved immediately.
During the Tokyo-Kyoto Goodwill Event, when cursed spirits infiltrated the school premises, he still remained cool. And he did actually save the day without lifting much a finger. He even levitates in the air because of his Limitless technique, defying gravity. He just calmly asked himself: Where should we start? as if he is just simply picking groceries.
Being arrogant does not automatically mean the person is evil. Bluntly put, Gojo Satoru has every right to brag about himself. After all, he is truly a very powerful sorcerer and the anime completely shows this. Gojo’s arrogance can be considered a negative trait nonetheless, because it makes him inconsiderate towards others. This is why some people find him too obnoxious.
He Does Not Respect Those Who Are ‘Weak’
In connection to his arrogance, he does not take the people or cursed spirits he encounters with seriously if he thinks they are ‘weak’. This applies to even special grade spirits with remarkable power. His fellow colleagues who are also ranked high among jujutsu sorcerers do not warrant his respect too. This is why some of his colleagues do not also respect him back, and even gets annoyed with his presence.
This is where his inconsideration lies, as he believes there is no one worthy of his respect in terms of their strength. At the same time, this belief also served as his motivation as to why he became a teacher. He wanted to train his students to become stronger as him – to become his equals. We can say that while Gojo may be arrogant, it does not extend to the point where he wants to restrict his students’ abilities so that he is only the strong one.
He Despises the Elders/Higher-Ups
If there’s anyone Gojo really despises is the elders or higher-ups of the jujutsu society. He blatantly disrespects the elderly principal from Kyoto Jujutsu High, Principal Gakungaji. Gojo even mocks Principal Gakungaji whenever they would meet.
This is because Gojo does not like the traditional and conservative mindset the elders or higher-ups have. He believes this is what is holding sorcerers back from unleashing their true potential.
This is what happened when the elders wanted to execute Yuji Itadori, because he incarnated Ryomen Sukuna. The similar thing happened to Yuta Okkotsu, in which he has a very powerful cursed spirit tied to him. Gojo vouched for the two, as he sees the potential of them surpassing him even in strength. He believed that the two can still be a force for good despite their circumstances.
It has come to the point that Gojo seriously considered killing all of the higher-ups when Yuji ‘died’. The way he clenched his fists suggests that he is trying to calm himself. It indicates that Gojo can unleash a raging side of him despite his usual calm composure in dire situations. He even outright stated to Ijichi that he has a bad personality.
This is where Gojo’s morality is questionable. While he has good intentions of wanting to train his students to be strong despite the risk, he simply disregards the higher-ups. The higher-ups do have a point that taking in students like Yuji and Yuta can pose a huge risk – most especially Yuji. Gojo does not listen nor consider their insights, he only follows what he wanted to do.
This differed greatly from Nanami‘s point of view. While Nanami sees Yuji’s potential, he encourages the latter to prove himself to the higher-ups. Nanami still acknowledges the higher-ups, while Gojo just removes them from the equation entirely.
But is he evil in this regard? The term ‘evil’ is too strong, but rather, Gojo is more on the gray area. He has his reasons for despising the higher-ups. He does not want to kill them for the sake of killing them. He believes that by getting rid of the higher-ups, the Jujutsu society can progress. He is simply trying to reform the society so that better and stronger sorcerers will be produced.
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MANGA SPOILERS!
To those who only watch the anime, this is your chance to leave this article. We do not want to spoil the fun for you. We will now be talking about Gojo Satoru in the manga.
Younger Gojo Is Indifferent Towards The Weak
The younger Gojo in the manga is way more arrogant and disrespectful. He believed that there is no point in protecting the weak or rather the non-jujutsu people. He could care less what happens to them and only sought strength for himself.
This contrasts his best friend, Suguru Geto’s views. Geto was actually the one who believed that jujutsu sorcerers should protect the weak and non-jujutsu people. He believed that jujutsu sorcerers exist for that kind of mission, in which Gojo disagreed.
Geto was Gojo’s moral compass at this time, whenever Gojo went too far with his rudeness and boastful personality. Getou can be considered as Gojo’s leash at this time, as Gojo can already be dangerous with his apathetic mindset.
Read More: Gojo and Geto’s Relationship Dynamic Explained
Riko Amanai
The mission Geto and Gojo were assigned to in Gojo’s Past arc is to escort a girl named Riko Amanai to become a vessel for Master Tengen. However, a curse user group Q and a non-jujutsu organization Time Vessel Association are against this plan. As such, Geto and Gojo should protect Riko and escort her safely to Master Tengen.
Riko was the first weak person Gojo had grown to genuinely care for. This was evident when he was grieving her death, and even considered killing the Time Vessel members for celebrating her death. He relied on Geto at this time to hold him back.
Gojo did not show any bit of mercy towards Toji Fushiguro – the hired assassin of Time Vessel, and the one responsible for making Riko die. He went into a frenzied state, uncaring towards everyone around him. He also showed his arrogance by wanting to show off, his grief towards Riko forgotten momentarily.
Despite this, the mission with Riko ultimately changed Gojo and Geto. Particularly, Gojo managed to change his perspective towards weak people. Gojo is able to abandon his apathetic attitude towards them. Instead, he wants to improve his strength so that he will be able to protect those who are unable to. Riko’s compassionate nature has impacted him, and he is able to see the bigger picture of being a jujutsu sorcerer. This is the root of his goal of reforming the jujutsu society.
In contrast, Geto was the one who became more embittered with what happened to Riko. He started to question whether it was worth it to protect non-jujutsu people as he remembered how the Time Vessel mocked Riko’s death.
Gojo Horrified At Geto’s Dark Turn
When Gojo discovered that Geto murdered a hundred non-jujutsu villagers, even his own parents, the former was very horrified. He demanded Geto to explain this to him, and cannot fathom why this was done.
Gojo stated that killing other people without reason is unacceptable. This indicates that Gojo believes that a jujutsu sorcerer must have a valid reason if they decided to kill. This echoes his comment of wanting to kill the elders – he does not want to kill just for the sake of it.
If Gojo is truly evil, then he would not have grown to care for Riko. He would not have changed to become a better person. He probably would have become like Geto instead, being able to kill innocents without reason and remorse.
He is not entirely good either, as he still retained some of his arrogance. He also would resort to violence if the situation deems it necessary. He actually has the power and capability to slaughter the higher-ups, but he chose not to. He decided that teaching the next generation is more productive for him, as he believed killing the higher-ups will not change anything.
In other words, Gojo has become more mature and realistic with his views, while Geto has become more delusional.
It is also important to note that Gojo has every right to kill Geto during their confrontation, but he did not. It is meant to show that Gojo is still a human at the end of the day. He can still be vulnerable and feel love despite his arrogance.
Gojo is a complex character whose morality lies on the gray area. He has good intentions and goals, but he will not hesitate to resort to questionable actions to achieve that. He is still arrogant, but has toned it down in comparison to his younger self.
Read More: What Happened to Gojo in Shibuya?
