Satoru, Suguru, and the Detriment of Their Origins. (How their characters completed each other.)
This is going to be an analysis on how their differences came together and contributed to their downfalls once they parted. I really like how this turned out—it’s very interesting.
Long post, read under cut:
Satoru:
Blamed the Jujutsu Higher-ups for even burdening him and Suguru, who were both sixteen, with the task of escorting Riko—who was only fourteen—to Tengen. The fate of the entire world rested on the shoulders of three kids who were only put in their position because of abilities assigned at birth, and nothing else. The three of them literally had no choice in the matter. Also, because of what happened with Haibara. Satoru deduced that the elders shouldn’t be in charge of sending kids off to their deaths to fight uphill battles.
So, he in turn decides to raise strong allies in the form of students so that they one day can overthrow the elders in hopes of establishing a more fair and just system for sorcerers. Here, he recognizes the need for sorcerers to exorcise curses to protect the populace, but does not agree with the system as it stands.
Note, Satoru before the Star Plasma Vessel incident had barely any motivation to exorcise curses other than the fact that he could do it. He did it for fun. He just liked using his powers. He was always a self-assured person.
Suguru:
Blamed non-sorcerers for generating curses in the first place, and developed a deep hatred for them that was seeded after Toji (a non-sorcerer) ‘killed’ Satoru and killed Riko, as well as after he witnessed non-sorcerers applauding the death of Riko, a fourteen year old girl. He met Yuki, Tsukumo, who introduced to him the idea of getting rid of the source of curses. He also blamed humanity for conjuring a curse that killed Haibara. His turning point was finding two young sorcerer girls, Nanako and Mimiko (~seven years old) caged up like animals by non-sorcerers. It probably reminded him of his own childhood—I can only imagine how his parents must have at least alienated him for his abilities, since they were not sorcerers. It also in part probably reminded him of Riko, and how she’d been a young girl unfairly targeted due to her abilities. It definitely triggered him.
So, his goal became to rid the world of non-sorcerers, so that curses wouldn’t exist. To do this, he had to abandon all of the principles he had subscribed to thus far and become a villain who kills people—but he did it for his cause.
Note, Suguru has always been a self-righteous person. It’s a bit different from who Satoru is. He has had time to think about his place in the world because unlike Satoru, he was born to a normal family and had to find where he belonged himself. Satoru, on the other hand, was told where his place was from the moment he was born.
So, Suguru defined himself as somewhat of a hero who valiantly, selflessly swallows nasty curses to protect the populace.
Satoru never had to define himself. He was already defined at birth. A wielder of the Six Eyes and Limitless, a once in a lifetime anomaly, a scale-tipping, monstrosity more powerful than anyone else.
These origins are both of their downfalls, and this is ultimately why the two needed each other so badly. They did complete each other as people.
As I said above, Suguru had to define himself. He had to affirm to himself that what he was doing was for the good of the people—it was how he had convinced himself society had to run. The strong protect the weak, it doesn’t matter if one had a choice or not. If you are strong, you have a duty to become a protector.
The issue with this mindset is that he has absolutely no attachment to it whatsoever. The only thing it does for him is make him feel good about himself in his early days as an active sorcerer. Even Satoru calls him out, letting Suguru know he “hates righteousness” and that he just “makes himself feel better” by “spouting bullshit”, the bullshit being his ‘heroic’ beliefs. At his core, Suguru believes himself to be a hero of sorts, which is why when things go sideways, he does a one-eighty and decided to kill all non-sorcerers rather than protect them. In his mind, he’s still affirming to himself that he’s the hero. It’s just that now, he’s protecting other sorcerers. The enemy has changed. He’s still the self-righteous, martyr-Suguru he has always defined himself as, sticking his neck out for the good of his cause.
He lost his grip because he was not emotionally attached to being a sorcerer. He was just attached to being a hero. This is why when entering Jujutsu High, Yaga puts such a huge emphasis on digging deep and finding a strong, personal reason to be a sorcerer. He recognizes that he fell short in that aspect when it came to Suguru, and doesn’t want it happening again. Resolve is very, very important so that once doesn’t lose their mind.
Now, let’s take a look at Satoru’s mind in contrast. He is the strongest sorcerer. The ‘honored one’. He always has been. He had bounties on his head before he could walk, and grown adults feared him even as a child. He was always seen for his abilities first and not his soul, so he identified with his powers more strongly.
This caused him to become disillusioned with himself. He believed that being strong was all someone could need, and that he was untouchable. He was relied on by everyone. “Gojo can handle it.” “Just wait for Gojo.” He was the trump card. That’s why he strolled up to Shibuya so nonchalantly—the way he was raised gave him a natural arrogance. It’s not because he’s a jerk. It’s because that’s all he knows. He was raised believing he was all powerful, so what else can he default to? He was literally wired that way.
Unfortunately, because he leaned so heavily on his powers, he forgot who he was as a person. Especially after Suguru, the only person he was able to form a vulnerable emotional bond with, compared him to his powers and left him.
Caveat I want to make about that point: Suguru was the only person who treated Satoru like a human being. Everyone else saw him as the Six Eyes. Because he made Satoru feel seen, because he tried making Satoru a better person (teaching him manners, acting as his moral compass), Satoru grew attached to him. So, when Suguru’s psyche took a turn for the worst and he left Satoru in Shinjuku, the line “are you the strongest because you’re Satoru Gojo? Or are you Satoru Gojo because you’re the strongest?” dealt a fatal blow to his heart. This was the one person he trusted deeply, reducing him to a man with powers, just like everyone else his whole life did. It caused a rift in their relationship. It caused Satoru to rethink his entire identity—how much of himself was based off of his powers? How much of himself wasn’t based off of his powers? Suguru’s presence allowed him to feel more human and less like a creature than he ever had. But those words pushed him back into that constraint.
In chapter 236, Satoru reveals to Suguru that somehow, though he had love for everyone around him, he felt a line had been drawn where he felt more like a creature than a human being.
A TikTok user (lauravpvp) pointed out something that drives this point home. Satoru wears a blindfold over his eyes 90% of the time. As his powers grow, the coverings get thicker and more restricting. He starts with glasses, then bandages, and then the black blindfold. Eyes are the window to the soul—and as he gets stronger, the less he shows them; the less he beard his soul.
We look into someone’s eyes to see how they’re feeling, to connect to them. His eyes are always covered, so he prevents that connection and prevents people from knowing how he feels. He dehumanizes himself that way.
Because of that, when he goes into his fight with Sukuna, he goes believing he’d the strongest and that he would win. It’s all he’s reduced himself to. This blind attachment to his powers, to the idea that he had to do it alone, is what lead to his downfall.
Because he learned the hard way that he wasn’t the strongest.
In his final moments, he reinforces what he had discovered after Suguru left him in Shinjuku.
Strength alone is not enough. Why?
He said that if Suguru had been there to pat him on the back, he would have truly been satisfied.
Suguru, who had to fight to find his identity his whole life—who, because he spent so much time defining himself, helped Satoru define himself in ways that were separate from his abilities. And Satoru, who identified himself with his abilities so much that it reinforced Suguru’s confidence in his own abilities.
They completed each other. Suguru’s moral compass and strict principles held Satoru’s head on right, and Satoru’s confidence and youthful heart kept Suguru motivated and away from the dark.
Without each other, Suguru descended into madness and Satoru lost sight of his human side.
Some disclaimers: I am a fanfic author and I do personally ship the two yet I will try to keep my thoughts as objective as possible for the sake of this post. I will include my perosnal points of view as well but 'll keep them separated from the "canon facts." Contains manga spoilers.
Are they gay?
This is a funny question yet it's the best way to start in my opinion. Short answer: they don't fit inside a label. I think the best word to describe their bond is intimate. Emotionally, it's at a place in the middle of love and appreciation and I don't think this balance is constant, sometimes it might have leaned more to one side, sometimes more to another. From an emotional point of view, they could very well be in a platonic situation.
The physical aspect is not a detrimental side for either of them in regards to one another. What makes their connection so special is the fact that it happened before Gojo Satoru became officially the strongest, before he was burdened with so many things. However, he was never free. The beginning of his very existence caused a deep disturbance within the Jujutsu world. For Satoru there was never a childhood, there was never a normal life, only a path of emptiness.
Gege is good at making his characters. Especially the villains/ good guys parallels. Just how Yuji came to the realization that he is Mahito and Mahito is him, the same parallel is drawn between Gojo and Sukuna, only Sukuna is what Gojo would've been without Geto. Both the strongest sorcerers, the difference is that Satoru got surrounded by love and his mentality evolved from "the weak ones are pathetic, I don't want to look after them" to "I will push everybody up along with me through teaching and have pupils even stronger than me, allies."
Back in highschool, Gojo was young and somewhat arrogant. His power was like a blanket for him; despite not understanding Geto's philosophical things and not agreeing with them, Gojo also, unintentionally, gave a meaning to the things happening to him "I am the strongest."
Even in the current ongoing fight (Sukuna vs Goatjo), the panels sometimes speak about love, but not in the way we would normally think; it's about the feelings of the strongest, different from the perception of average folks like us. Nurture vs Destruction.
Gojo had the power of being evil without any repercussions. Being the strongest, nothing could hurt him. He always showed his compassion towards Riko through small gestures, such as staying more at the beach, teasing her etc. Him wanting to go on a killing rampage under the pretext of 'not feeling anything' was Gojo's way of showing his disgust at the fact that hundreds of people were celebrating the death of an innocent girl. Being the strongest didn't matter. She was dead.His conviction shattered. However, he had so much trust in Geto's morality and mentality that he followed his advice. That is the kind of person he was for him. Even in Jjk 0, Suguru said that he didn't think Satoru would have any trust left for him— he did.
The only one who could understand him, speak with him, treat him like a human. His one and only. Gojo liked the fact that they were the strongest together because he also had someone to lean on.
In the manga, Naoya, the head of a powerful branch of the Zen'in clan talks about Toji. He said that as a child, he expected him to be a miserable man since he had 0 cursed energy yet when he saw how powerful and proud he was he got scared of him. He mentions that the only one being able to understand Toji was Gojo.
Only... Gojo is stronger. Toji couldn't understand him, he called him a monster. He got drowned in petty feelings characteristic to what Sukuna would call weakness and got himself killed.
Gege also mentioned in an interview that he wanted to give his characters abilities similar to Bankai (Gege legit started making manga because of Bleach, what a God) Bankai is a reflection of the soul in Bleach projected onto the swords of the Shinigami. Same with Domain Expansions in JJK. Gojo's literally repels everybody around him, it's called Infinite Void and it shows the way in which he looks at the world and views himself. Untouchable. Out of reach. An overflow of information.
Even if Bleach is a pretty stereotypical Shonen creation (don't get me wrong, I love it but the plot is pretty basic) when the protag. Ichigo was fighting against the main big powerful villain, Aizen, he said that he could feel Aizen's sword wavering with loneliness. This very concept applies to the powerful peaks of Jujutsu Kaisen. The path of power is lonely. Kenjaku himself said that Gojo is truly in his element when he is fighting on his own, the ones around him can become a liability really quickly. This of course, when it's about fights where he has to put in some efforts. That's why nobody is interfering with his Sukuna duel.
Satoru started being truly alone after Suguru left.
Another waver of his conviction. But this time, not only about not being strong enough. He didn't do enough. Ever since Gojo unlocked his techniques and became powerful, he wasn't allowed to be human anymore. He had to do mission after mission, take over the missions unfinished by others, he was expected to do everything and be the saviour of the Jujutsu World. With Suguru, he was human. Yet, just as Suguru said 'it was a busy summer'. No more space for one another.
Geto was also strong. A special grade. He too became lonely.
For Sugru, having a meaning was fundamental. His cursed technique was a constant reminder of how awful non-sorceres are. He would eat their malice, who tasted like a cloth wiped in puke and shit and whereas he understood Satoru, nobody understood him. He himself said that nobody has any idea just how bad curses taste.
When Itadori was eating Sukuna's fingers in the beginning, he would choke, cough complain a lot. Geto had over 2000 curses. He had exorcised and ingested again and again and again. The only humanity around him was Satoru, his best friend. And that got taken away by the Jujutsu world and he remained alone with his own despair. He went on his own path, feeling useless and misunderstood, still viewing Satoru as a friend but also as a term of comparison. He got left without meaning and so he forged himself a new one. He became really similar to Sukuna, with no regard for the ones beneath him, the monkeys. But also, ironically enough, Suguru stopped being the strongest. He viewed himself as weak. He doomed himself. He wanted to feel necessary— he was desperate. He thought he was saving the Jujutsu world.
They were probably meant for tragedy. And that's the sad part. Satoru would've outgrown him regardless but maybe Suguru wouldn't have chosen such a radical path. Toji's existence, an anomaly, broke the flow of their fate. (approx quote from manga) That's why he is more relevant to the story than people believe. Sure, he is sexy as fuck but Toji is literally the beginning and the end of an era, he is everything.
Gojo's second waver pushed him to become a teacher. He had grown and chose a smart path, preserving the youths, the future; no more mass murder. Suguru remained stagnant with his hatred and eventually died. For him, I'd say his life stoped the moment Riko died. His potential as a sorcerer came to a plateau. Everything came to an end so it was only a matter of time before his body died as well.
Back on Gojo's humanity. The funny thing is that this point was proven by the readers of the manga themselves, lol. When Satoru got sealed, he got shat on hardcore. Like, you can't imagine. Reddit and Discord servers were eating his ass up worse than they do now with Sukuna for using Mahoraga. Gojo got blamed for Nanami and Kugisaki (rip my angels, still praying for Nobara), he got blamed for Sukuna taking over Megumi and probably he blames himself too— what "mistake" did he make? Showing humanity when being met with the corpse of his best friend, his only catalyst, his only balance, the only one to ever make him feel normal and give him his Blue Spring, the most beautiful moments of his life. And Kenjaku knew that Suguru's corpse was the only thing to make Satoru waver. In the manga it's clearly stated that despite more than one minute having passed in his mind, physically he stood still for 6 seconds. Even his most regretfull, sorrowful crisis lasted him an inhumane amount of time.
And Gojo too, was the only thing that caused the remaints of Suguru's soul to attempt strangling Kenjaku. (which he admits has never happened before. and suguru is dead— gojo literally triggered the residues of his soul). That's what I mean by intimate.
Even if the concept of soul is often spoken about, their souls are connected. That's how much they mean for eachother.
Perosnally I find this relationship to be perfectly beautiful as it is, without any flaunt of erotica needed, kudos to Gege. I still enjoy writing angst and smut based on their dynamic tho XD. And I don't agree with the ones calling them straight and being so eager to deny them or resume this deep connection to just friends. Like sure, they are not gay-gay but they are... linked. More than friends, more than family. Gege themself said so when speaking about them. I think it's a very clear statement.
If you like the way I think and view characters, check my fics, lol. Much love <33 exstasyplague on A03.
something that's been rattling around in my head for a while about geto and his mental snap:
on the surface, geto appears to snap because amanai dies, kuroi dies, haibara dies, and gojo almost dies. because he was so close to tragedy, and for someone who came into the jujutsu world from the outside, he can't take it.
but i think deeper than that is that amanai dies, juroi dies, haibara dies, gojo almost dies, and it's all treated like that's normal. the loss of life, especially young life, has no meaning. it wasn't the death. he's a special grade, probably very familiar with the concept of sorcerers dying, and yes, unable to handle that reality when it became personal to him. but more importantly, he was unable to accept that their suffering, the suffering and sacrifice of literal children (amanai was 14, haibara was 15/16, he and gojo would have been 17 at the time) meant nothing.
that's why the village was the last straw. he saw young kids, 5 years old, suffering at the hands of the people he fought to protect and was expected to treat that like it was normal.
and to be honest, i'd lose my mind at that realization too.
as somebody recently disillusioned with a friend of mine … damn. The amount of pain Geto must’ve felt from going from believing fully in something and dedicating himself entirely to it… the height and potency of his resentment, and the quiet and constant heartbreak he carried… I mean yeah. Very believable. Very sad.
Unlike Geto (as one must be), I got luckier and protected myself (didn’t give everything I am to this person… the more you give, the more it can kill). Thankfully, due to being hurt and learning patterns, I’m genuinely skillful at choosing who is trustworthy and who isn’t emotionally safe/congruent, and I didn’t put all my trust in this friend. But. There was still a level of trust. Still this belief I had, “They care about me. They see me enough. They just don’t think that much about me = they don’t think that deeply about me. And I’m okay with that… not because I want to be, but out of respect for them” (that belief was partial— they don’t actually see me enough. they don’t care about me.)
Also… this is a friend I wasn’t all that dedicated and committed to, consistently throughout the days and weeks. I was fully present when I saw them. But we only met up once or so a month. Nor are they an entire operating and demanding system embedded into society and how I function, think, put my belief and effort into, live by.
I hope I never do this to somebody. I’ll do my best.
Religious trauma and deconstructing must also be— so difficult.
I was a lil curious whether you have SatoSugu ship fics written. I haven't read much of it and also because I dropped so many because of 18+ stuff and I don't like the interpretations of the characters.
So far, I am loving your take on both Gojo and Geto — have both your analyses saved to look at again when I'm writing. They're both amazing, I'm telling you.!
I know I could just yk, scroll around but I feel like hearing from the awesome person themselves is better.
Anyway, hope you're having a good day/night! :D
Hey! :) First of all, thank you so much for your praise on my JJK Character analysis!! ☹️🫶 I spent a decent amount of time thinking about these characters, trying to understand how they think, why they do/did what they did! It’s a huge compliment to hear and know that you’re using them as reference!! It’s so rewarding to know that the posts I released into the void have some sort of impact/that they’re appreciated. I’m still learning more about them as time goes on, too!
Suguru Analysis here, and Satoru Analysis here, for anyone who wants to read it!
Secondly, no, I haven’t written any satosugu stuff. Maybe one day? It’s an interesting thing to think about, how the two might interact if they ever met one on one after their fallout (prior to geto invading Jujutsu Tech ofc). I actually am going to make a third analysis post on the mischaracterization of Gojo in the JJK fandom, especially with Satosugu. People tend to completely erase Gojo’s strengths and personality in certain fan takes. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate ships, but I think that people reduce Gojo to a sniveling mess of a man hung up on his ex best friend/lover, when that’s really not the case— Gojo’s strength is his ability to move forward, regardless of who he loses. Gege said this himself, that Gojo knows anyone can die at any point. Gojo was a man who was raised to be a weapon, shouldered a huge responsibility, and in order to do so, he couldn’t be the sensitive and clingy type of guy that people write in their fics (which sucks to hear if you’re emotionally invested in him, and people often don’t wanna exit their delusions). This doesn’t mean that Gojo isn’t touchy-feely, he def can be, but emotionally? He isn’t clingy. He could’ve been a WONDERFUL yandere character based on his childhood/teenage isolation, but Gojo didn’t have an incredibly strong sensitivity for others. That’s why he didn’t turn into a villain. He was, ultimately and unfortunately, a successful product, shaped by the people who treated him as less than human. Or that’s my current take, at least.
