Warning! Contains MAJOR Spoilers for the Jujutsu Kaisen manga!!!

Being one of the darkest Shonen manga currently published, Jujutsu Kaisen is no stranger to brutal deaths. Unlike other series which seem to give their heroes plot armor to prevent them from dying, Jujutsu Kaisen will kill them off almost nonchalantly. This is part of what makes mangaka Gege Akutami's masterpiece so compelling even if it also can lead to some incredibly tragic moments.

When it comes to evaluating a death's brutality, it is important to keep in mind both the cause of death and the emotional stakes behind it. Certain deaths in the series are incredibly physically brutal, but may not hit as hard as a death with more emotional buildup to it. Shock factor can also play a major role in how brutal a death is, with the killing off of a character fans thought was safe oftentimes being much more impactful than the death of a character who was clearly meant to be fodder. The popularity of these characters can also make these moments hit differently, partly because fans have often formed more of a connection to the sorcers they have seen the most of. With all that in mind, these are the ten most brutal deaths in Jujutsu Kaisen so far.

10 Hanami

Hanami wasn't a particularly likable character given they were a Disaster Curse intent on wiping out humanity, but their death in the Shibuya Incident still hit hard. After attempting to wear Gojo down with Jogo and Choso, Hanami made a fatal misstep and Gojo was able to crush her against a wall with his cursed technique after ripping out her eyestalks. This was an absolutely brutal display of power on Gojo's part, but since it lacks the emotional stakes of many other deaths on this list, it ranks in the bottom spot.

9 Jogo

Like Hanami, Jogo is another Disaster Curse who went up against an enemy too powerful for him in the Shibuya Incident arc. In Jogo's case he took on Sukuna in an incredibly destructive battle that showed the Curse he was nowhere near as powerful as the strongest beings in Jujutsu Kaisen. His death edges out Hanami's brutal demise is because of the emotional moment Jogo has right before Sukuna kills him with a fire arrow, showing him apologizing to his dead friends for failing them.

8 Toji Fushiguro

Toji actually has two pretty brutal deaths but given the second was at his own hands this list will focus on the first. At the end of the Gojo's Past arc a newly god-tier Gojo used his Hollow Purple technique to completely annihilate a chunk of Toji's body getting revenge for Riko. The art in the scene really elevated the brutality of Gojo's attack and given how cool Toji had been up to that point, his death was somewhat emotional despite how monstrous of a person he was.

7 Yuki Tsukumo

Yuki Tsukumo was one of only four special grade sorcerers in the series alongside Gojo, Yuta, and Geto. While the other sorcerers of her power level got a lot of page time to show what they could do, Yuki only got one fight against Kenjaku as he attempted to reach the body of Tengen. The fight itself was extremely brutal as Yuki took a lot of damage and powered through the pain to attack Kenjaku. Realizing how powerful he was, Yuki enacted a desperate plan to use her Cursed technique to annihilate him by creating a black hole. This plan unfortunately failed and killed Yuki in the process giving her a death that was brutal partially because of how little she got to do before she died.

6 Masamichi Yaga

After Gojo was sealed in the Shibuya Incident, many of the sorcerers that he had protected from the higher-ups in Jujutsu society were placed in danger. While Yuji managed to avoid dying from this, Principal Masamichi Yaga wasn’t quite as lucky. While he could have saved himself by giving the higher-ups his secret method for creating cursed corpses, he chose instead to protect his secrets, also protecting all the cursed corpses that he had made. While Yaga was largely a side character and his manner of death wasn’t particularly brutal, the emotional reason he allowed himself to die and the fact that he was leaving his creations to fend for themselves makes this execution so harrowing.

5 Riko Amanai

Riko Amanai is the focal point of the Gojo’s Past arc, being a middle school student whom Gojo and Geto are tasked to protect before she merges with Tengen. While she seemingly had come to grips with the sacrifice she would have to make, when Geto offered her a chance to go on the run and actually live a full life, she tearfully agreed. Unfortunately at that moment, Toji shot her in the head, ending her life just when she had discovered a reason to go on. The emotional weight of this death makes it incredibly devastating and the anime made Riko’s demise more brutal using music.

4 The Zenin Clan

This is kind of a special case as this entry on the list concerns itself with multiple deaths instead of just one. But part of what makes Maki’s annihilation of the Zenin clan so brutal is the scope of destruction she wreaks. After Mai sacrifices herself to make Maki stronger, the sorcerer gains abilities similar to Toji and uses this newfound power to brutally massacre the remaining members of the Zenin clan. The deaths here are some of the most gruesome in the series, with Maki indiscriminately dismembering people and even ripping faces off with her sword. This one is more cathartic than emotionally devastating, but on a physical level, this is Jujutsu Kaisen’s most brutal moment.

3 Kento Nanami

In revenge for the death of the Disaster Curse Dagon, Jogo burned those he viewed as being responsible alive, including Nanami. However, this didn’t quite kill the sorcerer who continued to fight transfigured humans for as long as he could. Unfortunately, while he was doing this Mahito found him and killed him off in front of Yuji, devastating the young sorcerer even more. This death was also devastating for fans, who had been given a glimmer of hope after seeing Nanami alive again after being burned by Jogo. Mahito’s brutal murder of Nanami put a cruel end to that hope.

2 Nobara Kugisaki

Nobara was another casualty of Mahito during the Shibuya Incident. While chasing down one of his clones, Nobara was led back to Mahito’s main body, at which point he was able to touch her face, causing her eye to explode. Nobara’s death was so brutal that some fans to this day deny that she is actually dead, saying that the series has never technically confirmed it. While this is true, the fact that Nobara has not appeared in the story since her injury implies that she is actually gone and that her brutal end was actually the last fans will get to see of her character.

1 Satoru Gojo

Gojo’s death is one of the most controversial moments in the recent chapters of the series. This is because in the chapter before he died it seemed like he had beaten Sukuna and the danger to him had passed. The majority of the chapter he dies is spent showing a conversation between Gojo and all of his dead friends, building a sense of dread for the reveal that Sukuna has actually cut him in half and shockingly won the fight. Both the image of Gojo bisected and dying along with the shocking twist he had lost along with the emotional impact of his death easily make this one of the best and most brutal deaths in the series.

Jujutsu Kaisen is in the midst of its final arc and most of its sorcerers are all facing off against Sukuna, meaning there will likely be a lot more brutal deaths before the series is over. However, the willingness of the manga to kill off its characters in brutal and shocking ways makes this final arc much more compelling than it would be otherwise. Thus while these 10 most brutal deaths in the series may have been hard to take, they ultimately are a key reason why Jujutsu Kaisen is one of Shonen Jump’s best currently running manga.