The Loneliness of Gojo Satoru - The Strongest (Jujutsu Kaisen)

the curse of strength.

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[SagesRain]

no manga spoilers! thanks for watching :)



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[tymaddux]

His domain expansion, Unlimited Void, perfectly reflects Gojo. You are filled with limitless information, but you can’t do anything with it. Gojo, despite being the strongest in the world was unable to protect what mattered to him the most. He was a God with no power.

[raec]

Gojo wasn't a God (like he felt he was for his awakening), as *his humanity* to losing Geto is what got him trapped in Shibuya. He was too human-like to be a God, but too God-like to be a normal human. Stuck in between, but actually not fully either.

[basedqacist]

I just realized, gojo was stunned when he first saw kenjaku much like how his domain expansion works. Unlimited void fills your mind with endless information just like how all his memories of his youth flooded his mind and stunned him. Geto truly filled in gojos endless void in his heart that he created

[valeriyav]

Gojo and Geto are arguably the most complex and well-written characters in the story. I don't think Gege gave any other dynamic so much depth and made it impact the story so greatly on an emotional level.

[ComposedSage]

Age and experience made Gojo realize that strength isn’t enough. There’s more factors that exist that can change the dynamic of the world beyond physical strength.

[AkuaRed]

"It's lonely at the top" - Satoru Gojo

[PulseJaxxo]

people who say gojo is a shit character need to watch this. Nobody understands Gojo as a character

[maestro]

The Curse of Strength. Essentially being strong was synonymous with the name Gojo Satoru. More of an entity than an actual being. Funny how as readers we often overlook Gojo's perspective. Yes, Geto experienced a traumatizing spiral, but Gojo experienced all of that trauma and then-some as well when he was a child. Yet, since he's the strongest, he has to be able to deal with it.

[CallMeSaltyScorpion]

A mortal man who gained enlightenment and divinity, but deeply resented the loneliness it brought him. When he was Satoru Gojo, he had allies, friends that he could stand beside, but that was stripped away when the title and responsibility of "The Strongest" was forced onto his shoulders.

A lonely god who wishes for companionship from those to weak to understand him.

[OniSMBZ]

As a long-time manga and anime culture enjoyer, Satoru Gojo continues to perplex me, both in his concrete strength and his abstract, metaphorical strength. Gojo isn't just the strongest in a traditional sense, but also characteristically. He doesn't just adopt the title of the strongest, but also the strongest mindset - nurturing the growth of the next generation. He doesn't need to win against Sukuna if his students do so in his stead.

Like Yuta being an examination of the curse of love, Gojo examines the curse of the almighty, and is characterized by the reluctance to be the strongest. The strongest doesn't want to be the strongest, and he never has. Gojo wore his trepidation on his sleeve as he carried Ruko's body through the cultists home, and was again in trepidation when asked by Geto whether he is strong because he is Gojo or visa versa.

Being the chosen is a burden, not a privilege. Look at King Julius from black clover - Patry was the inevitable victor because of Julius's weakness as the Wizard King. Julius even further explored this archetype by having a phase where he deeply contemplated his own existence being gifted with time magic, and what it means to be a vessel of the power that is that one has from manipulating time. In both stories, Julius and Gojo, find themselves interrupted by their monotony when using their strength for others. Gojo may have claimed that he no longer felt anything towards the loss of Ruko, but it was that very detachment that was symptomatic of his regret for not being strong enough to prevent his own losses.

This idea is also explored by the likes of Zahir in Legend of Korra - by learning how to fly after the death of the one he loved that tethered him to earthly desires. I think that the fact that Zahir was chosen to be a villain his story also supports the burden of strength. This is what it really means for the strongest. Its not lonely because noone else is as strong as you, but rather its lonely because the strongest is limited in their ability to appreciate their own strength. I think if we really get down to it, Gojo didn't feel like he was the strongest. I've caught myself with the interpretation in the past that Gojo's strength was exactly because he thought he was the strongest, but now I think its because he cursed himself for being weak, and the weaker he felt, the stronger he became. I think this is by extension the case for Sukuna as well. From this perspective, Sukuna gave Gojo exactly what he wanted - to die to someone stronger than him, and for his students to beat the one that killed him. This is why I think no matter what happens, Gojo has already won.

Thanks for the video, it gave me a lot to think about. Gojo has, by far, been the most revealing about who I am through close examination of his character and role in the story, than any other character I've every thought about analytically. If we're keeping track, Gojo hasn't really saved anyone or kept his word about anything, really. But, this doesn't mean that he's a flawed character. The lengths that was gone to write Gojo into the story as strong as he is and kill him off like he was completely dismantled what I thought was possible with a character like Gojo. I followed and was aware of the sentiment and analysis that narratively, he had to die to Sukuna. The execution of this, however, is more of an examination of how to kill god, abstractly speaking. No matter the bullshit, just make your own model to cut through the uncuttable. Its interesting that Sukuna spent the whole encounter trying to reach Gojo, and yet when he did, Gojo wonders if he reached Sukuna. The metaphorical layers to this story continue to amaze me.

The lonliness is just one, very important aspect to his character that he goes to answer himself in the story, and I can't help but find some relatability or connection between the rising sense of lonliness in our culture, and the metaphorical layers to a fictional character said by some guy to be all-powerful. Taking everything with a grain of salt, I think our own personal interpretation of Gojo and his role in the story says a lot about us as readers and individuals.

At the end of the day, Sukuna most simply put exploited the weakness of Gojo's interpretation of his own almighty power. Gojo wasn't strong enough to also kill Megumi as well as Sukuna, because he really cares about Megumi, and his likely ultimate play against Sukuna. If we really think about it, Gojo's entire purpose has ultimately been to make Megumi stronger. Sukuna may have exploited the fact that Mahoraga can adapt to infinity, but he made the comparison *for Megumi, * so that when the time comes, he interprets himself to be as strong, and perhaps even stronger, than Gojo.

If we were sorcerers, our greatest benefit would be in considering Gojo's performance as a model for overcoming infinitely strong, bullshit power hax. I said it when he beat Tsumiki (or whatever her reincarnated name was, yaorozu or something), he did so exactly when he understood how his opponents technique functioned, as interpreted by the user of the technique. This was no different in his fight with Gojo. We wasn't modeling his own technique through Mahoraga, he was modeling Gojo's. Everything Gojo did to try to make Sukuna acknowledge him is the best model we can have for expressing one's self as a sorcerer. He did everything right and they indicted him.

Thinking about these things is so much fun. I'm a mathematician by trade, so Gojo's technique infinity really draws me in thematically. Here's something interesting: there's no correct way to define infinity. One way is to consider the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, etc. off to infinity, but that merely achieves its meaning through metarphor, like how it 'goes on forever.' But in fact, we refer to this also as a way to 'count' a set of numbers, and there is more than one type of infinity. But wait, I hear you say, more than one? Yes. The infinity you probably think of is just one chosen example of infinity, the one that exists at the end of the counting numbers. This is, naturally, a 'countable' infinity. What makes it 'countable' is that we can match up each member of this set representing infinity with exactly one number from 1 to infinity. If there are still items in the set of things you're trying to count left over, well then you must have counted wrong initially because the full set is 'uncountable.'

Here is the very, very spooky thing: there is no type of infinity that exists *between* these two infinities. If something is so large that even an infinite number of counting numbers is given to count them results in uncounted items, it is by default uncountably infinite. It is believed that it is impossible to even give a counter example, but this property of infinities has been proven to be un-provable! If we accept that these two different infinities exist, we get them both by default for free, and with no in-between. However, we cannot state this to, in fact, be the case, since we cannot prove it as a result of assuming there are two different ones to begin with. Its really hard to wrap one's head around, but it definitely gets the idea of infinity across, haha. It is, through definition, incomprehensible. Defining its comprehensibility makes it incomprehensible. Another way to think about it is understanding that understanding zeno's paradox makes it no longer paradoxical. In fact, no paradox is actually paradoxical, because the truth or falseness of statements is externally validated, and doesn't have intrinsic, logical value that necessitates a particular interpretation over another.

[flapjackpanda]

Knowing Gojo's loneliness also plays a part into how Sukuna perceived him and how Gojo lost.
To Sukuna the strongest should be at the top, but he called Gojo greedy because in the jujutsu world, Sukuna knows that you can't have your cake and eat it too, Gojo wanted to be the strongest while trying to keep his connections, his identity in that sense, he doesn't want to just be this entity of strength and strength alone and to Sukuna, that was Gojo's weakness, which is also why Sukuna said maybe Yorozu teaching about love would reach Gojo or Kashimo, but Sukuna knows you can't have both.

which is very interesting because this ties into Nietzsche and Carl Jungs philosophies, Carl Jung said: “where love rules, there is no will to power, and where power predominates, love is lacking."
in the jujutsu world in that sense, they are opposites. which is why Sukuna said "Love is worthless"

[roachantenna]

i also believe that the six eyes are a bit dehumanizing, perceiving people and things via their cursed energy, mass, shape, speed, but stripping people of their humanity in the process

[PTGaming]

“The most powerful sorcerer alive, but yet, powerless to saved those he loved”

[eliuryes]

Gojo takes the Saitama treatment in a more complex path. He carries a responsibility that doesn't seem all that fair because he never asked for any of it. Sure he loves being strong, but his strength keeps him from enjoying a free life. Constantly looking over his shoulder from childhood and not being able to relate to those weaker than him because he doesn't really struggle like the rest of them. His unique experience makes him arrogant but also extremely lonely. Just like Sage said: "It's lonely at the top".
He can't even be truly vulnerable because so much depends on his abilities and strength. The world of jujutsu sorcery that he was bor into is not one of understanding. Everything is encompassed by strength and power. Only those that are strong have authority on their own choices.

[cameronjadewallace]

Sometimes being alone is safer, but being surrounded by people is what is real strength. We can't always have that, but it is what makes us strong

[Thesilentvoice...]

Gojo and getos friendship reminds me of Killua and Gon. Killua is a elite assassin who’s family is grooming him to be the best, while Gon is a boy from a village who has potential to be a great hunter. They both have similarities to gojo and geto and they both become friends because they are on the same wavelength. Killua liked Gon because he was someone his age who was strong.

[Salemwaaa]

Satoru was had the power of a god but deep down still had the heart of a mortal and loneliness ate away at his soul, like any other person Satoru wanted people to stand alongside him; that although he had so much power- he still had faith in everyone

[Chessheromusic]

Gojo has never been free to decide who he is and what he cares about

Their technique reflects their personality
No one can get close to gojo to ever touch him
He isolates himself throughout his life but often shows he truly desires intimacy and assurance from him

[commonviewer]

A comparison between Gojo and Sukuna's views on love will be interesting in the future. Both were the strongest, both were enlightened, but from there chose drastically different lifestyles. Gojo, despite not being able to understand others, cared enough to at least try to forms connections and help others. Sukuna though, doesn't feel loneliness. Sukuna, as the strongest, eats when he wants to eat, plays with what amuses him, and kills whoever's in his way. Sukuna does not need any earthly attachments nor burdens to carry in order to feel satisfied. He's happy to share a laugh with others, and relates to strong figures, but will not be bothered by any loss. Sukuna exists as nature intended.