Jujutsu Kaisen: How & When Did Ryomen Sukuna Die as a Human?

Just like Satoru Gojo is by far the most popular protagonist of the Jujutsu Kaisen franchise, so is Ryomen Sukuna on the side of the villains. He is by far the most popular villain in the series (sorry, Kenjaku), and that is why fans always want to know so much about him and his story in Jujutsu Kaisen. In this article, we are going to reveal what happened to Sukuna while he was still a human roughly 1,000 years ago.

It is not known what exactly happened to Sukuna 1,000 years ago. He was a human jujutsu sorcerer who brutally murdered other jujutsu sorcerers, but since he was considered to be the strongest sorcerer of his era (the Golden Age), there was little to no opposition to his murder spree. At one point in history, Sukuna died of unknown causes, and soon after, he became a cursed spirit, soon becoming known as the “King of Curses” since, after being the most powerful jujutsu sorcerer of the time, he became the most powerful curse as well. Akutami hasn’t revealed any details about his past yet.

The rest of the article will be dedicated solely to Ryomen Sukuna and his history in Jujutsu Kaisen. Sukuna’s past is quite enigmatic, and since we’ve only seen him in the present timeline, it is natural that fans want to know what happened to him in the past, which inspired this article. Ryomen Sukuna is an extremely important character, and his history is a topic that is certainly of interest to fans. Although the article will not be filled with spoilers, we have to warn you that some details might be revealed in that aspect, so be careful how you approach certain parts of the article.

Sukuna’s past is still a mystery, so we can only speculate as to what happened

As fans of the series know, Sukuna is a special-grade curse considered the undisputed “King of Curses.” He has such a high amount of cursed energy that it has been said that it is twice as high as that of Yuta, and he has unrivaled control and skill in the use of techniques and domains.

According to legend, Sukuna was initially a powerful jujutsu sorcerer and a human; in fact, he was considered to be the strongest jujutsu sorcerer of his time. But he was also a vile villain who murdered other jujutsu sorcerers, and because he was so strong, no one could really stand up to him in any way.

After his death, he became a human-like cursed spirit with four arms and two faces, when in reality, this makes sense since he was actually the cursed spirit of a sorcerer who lived during the Golden Age of Jujutsu, a time when humans regarded him as natural calamity, and sorcerers worshiped or feared him as a deity.

The sorcerers of this period never managed to exorcise him, and so he decided, helped by Kenjaku, to separate his soul and enclose it in 20 fingers, sealing it in the form of cursed objects. Over the centuries, sorcerers have collected and stored these indestructible objects, hoping they would one day be destroyed. In the present, of course, Yuji Itadori consumed most of his fingers and became his “host.”

His goal is to gain complete control over Yuji’s body and return to wreaking havoc, a feat in which he wasn’t really successful due to Itadori’s willpower, which is why he later took over Megumi’s body.

Although his innate technique was revealed much later, he was able to fight using his cursed energy to cut enemies and manifest a power related to flames superior to that of Jogo. He has expressed considerable interest in Megumi’s abilities on multiple occasions, and his strength is such that all other cursed spirits aim to restore it.

When Itadori is fed ten of Sukuna’s fingers at the same time in Shibuya, Sukuna goes out and commits a massacre. During the Culling Game, Sukuna seized an opportunity when Megumi’s soul was defenseless and took possession of his body, breaking the bond with Yuji and making his friend his new vessel.

After a ritual in which he immerses his new body in a concentration of cursed energy and uses his new technique to kill his sister Tsumiki, he plunges Megumi’s soul into despair and gains complete control over the new vessel. Sukuna then intervenes when Gojo, freed from the Prison Realm, attacks Kenjaku, as the latter reminds him that before fighting, he must keep a promise made between them, to which he accepts Gojo’s proposal to challenge each other to a duel on Christmas Eve.

In the month leading up to the duel, Sukuna devours four more fingers, making 19 out of 20, compensating for the lack of a twentieth finger by swallowing his original mummified body. On Christmas Eve, Sukuna and Gojo start a duel that devastates an entire Tokyo neighborhood.

So, this was an overview of Sukuna’s story, and as you can see, we haven’t really answered the question of how he died when he was a human 1,000 years prior to the present timeline. There is a reason for that – we don’t know! Akutami never really revealed much about Sukuna’s past, so we actually have no clue how he died. There are several theories around the internet, and here is an overview:

“This is very far-fetched, but if he was able to live on as a curse, then that means he didn’t die because of jujutsu, so I have the theory he was betrayed or backstabbed by someone close to him when he was still a human.”

– JobaHD on the Jujutsu Kaisen Wikia

“I don’t think Sukuna was dead. He was only sealed by cutting off 20 fingers and storing it in different places. That Yuji ate his first finger was time to unlock the seal.”

“@Duduchan123 Actually to become a curse in the first place, you have to die. It was only after he became a curse that his fingers were sealed. Also, curses have been eating Sukuna’s fingers for centuries before Yuji found one and the seals have probably been broken and redone multiple times. After all, most of the fingers seen in the series eaten by different curses or collected by Mahito’s group have been missing seals.”

– Duduchan123 and Itadoriyuji on the Jujutsu Kaisen Wikia

“1000 yrs ago he was a human sorcerer that murdered others of his kind. He died of natural causes, at this time he then turned into a vengeful spirit. They cut off his fingers and sealed them to prevent his reincarnation. Which happened when Yuji ingested his finger.”

– Ftodd1 on the Jujutsu Kaisen Wikia

As you can see, no one really knows what happened to Sukuna, and since Akutami is known for his surprises, we cannot really give more credit to any of the theories, as anything can happen, and we’ll just have to wait and see whether Akutami actually decides to tell us more about Sukuna’s life as human.