Understanding Toji Fushiguro - The Monkey Who Killed a God (Jujutsu Kaisen)

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What honestly sticks with me about Toji, despite his give no fuck attitude, despite having power and skills that make him more than a competitive match for any special grade short of adult Gojo and Sukuna, he’s clearly horribly depressed. I’m not going to argue he’s a good father, but it’s clear that Megumi and his mother gave him a security and comfort in himself and a purpose greater than self affirmation that kept him centered. Once she disappears and he no longer feels like he’s enough, he regresses into old habits and sells his son away because how could he ever be enough. It’s clear that Toji is at his best as a person when he’s looking out for the best interest of others, which makes his second death so tragic because the moment he saw he had been so close to killing his son, once he confirmed the identity, without hesitation he kills himself before he can regress back to his instincts. He may not be a good dad, but he had the makings of one and the tragedy is he could never see it in himself and try to keep himself centered.

A child that not accepted by the village, will burn it to the ground just to feels its warmth.

Toji is the personification of one of the most interesting and simple parts of Jujutsu's world building, imo: The majority of a Sorcerer's potential is simply innate talent. Other shounen often talk up Hard Work and Go Get'em Attitude, but nevertheless give the protagonists some amazing bloodline ability or innate power-up that separates them from the rest. Jujutsu just straight up says, if you're born useless, you can only hope to reach mediocre Toji is born incredible, but within the eyes of his clan is subhuman. So even when your talents are inborn, they STILL may not be recognized and appreciated by those around you

Toji being addicted to gambling makes so much sense for his character. as someone whose core belief is that if you're born as a monkey you'll die as a monkey and no amount of hard work can change that, gambling as his vice is symbolic of that constant internal struggle. he is seen specifically at betting spots like horse or boat races, instead of the casino, and in bets it's significantly easier to fix the outcome. the winner is chosen at the beginning, they are born a winner and the others are born losers. Toji never wins, but he always comes back and he always stays until the very end, even when it becomes obvious who will win. because in betting races, there will occasionally be a dark horse, an underdog that no one expects to win who will come out on top at the last second, against all odds. that's what toji is betting on, he's betting on himself

Ironic how the "monkey" that was excluded and ridiculed from the Jujutsu World brought upon the event that changed everything in the world. Had it not been for Gojo awakening against Toji, who would've known where the story went. Toji was the event that occurred that brought down a cascading sequence of events that we know the Jujutsu World as today.

Toji broke the JJK universe. He led Gojo and Geto to discover their respective paths, eliminated one of the four Unregistered Special Grades, weakened Megumi to the point he had to release (too long a name) to fight handsword guy, and traumatized his son one last time. Not bad for a monkey :)

It’s crazy to think that this guy with no cursed energy changed the entire trajectory of the story😭

It is a shame you don’t have a bigger following. The fact that you can make any anime character seem truly human is a true talent. I hope you get bigger as a content creator. You truly deserve it keep it up Sagerain❤️‼️

I feel like he still cares for his kid but the moment he became the invisible man was the moment he became someone else no longer able to recognize his own child’s face.🐱

The fact that Toji theoretically was the strongest in the verse before honored Gojo. There was teen Yuki, but still like teen Gojo, she hadn't sharpened her powers. Toji could take her out if he got the same treatment as Gojo. He had all the affirmation he needed, his heart just begged for more.

I love how the design of Toji's clothes is reversed after he's resurrected. From tight and black for the upper body and oversized greyish for the lower body before his death to the exact opposite after... I had never noticed that! It's interesting. I don't think it's a coincidence.

it fascinates me in the world the zenin clan has 2 cases within a generation or so and not realize how useful it is they technically have 2 inborn techniques that you could be born with 10 shadows or heavenly restriction

Love how toji being free of cursed energy(the literal "curse" on humanity and also the thing that alienated toji) ironically is what allowed him to affect the story so heavily. Someone unbound by fate and the conventions placed on everyone else by the narrative because of his "imperfection" was the only person able to change fate. He was the most free person in jjk, but he was still bound by trauma. Just a fundamentally human character which makes his parallels with gojo(a lonely god) so good.

This is what I love about stories like JJK and Bleach. There is so much depth and nuance, but a lot of it doesn't even present itself on the surface. It's a lot of subtext that the writers want you to draw your own conclusions from. The stories are really as deep as you want them to be, and that's a level of skill with the pen that I can hardly comprehend. I truly wish I had even a fraction of the talent that so many mangaka have.

I like to also think of Toji as a changer of fate itself. He’s unbound from the jujusu world entirely from no cursed energy. Cursed energy itself seems to have fate woven in it to some extent.. the fact there has never really been a 6 eyes sorcerer stronger than gojo isn’t really a coincidence. Gojo was never meant to be that strong, nor was Riko ever suppose to die. Almost everything happening in the story is the direct result of Tojis actions (birth of Megumi) (Elevation of Gojo to become the strongest). Toji has changed fate itself because he is unbound from Jujutsu world from no cursed energy.. the domino effects are unreal from him and have completely changed the world and set it on a new path. He is unshackled, the bare flesh of the one who is free.

He was an abused boy who became a broken man and he just wanted to prove that he was more than the trash he was viewed as... I love him for so, so many reasons — and I'm so happy to see people dive into his character and appreciate him like I do (Man, I wanna cry..)

I think maybe getting attached to Megumi would have reminded him of the loss of his mother so it was easier to run away from him and his pain.

personally, i think his curbstomping of dagon was also reflection of his true self, as the heavenly restriction tends to work best when its user is completely disentangled from others' expectations (iykyk)

I always thought that Toji was the most blessed im the Zen'in clan. We don't truly know what is the origins of Heavenly Restricted beings like him, Maki and even Mechamaru but they fit the perfect anecdote of people having nothing to lose, being able to give everything. Theyre not in two minds about the limits (physical and cursed technique wise). They can dedicate everything to just honing one thing in their lives. But because of the influences of their heritage, they believed that they had nothing. And thats what shackled them mentally. Toji was truly blessed, he just didnt see it. He was completely free from the chains of fate in the Jujutsu world and therefore, never had to suffer a sorcerers death. There truly was no one like him in the Jujutsu world. He couldve walked away, and forged his own destiny. Unlike Maki who sealed her fate in the Jujutsu world by murdering her entire clan (best believe that due to her actions, someone will hunt her someday to restore the clans honor), Toji had no ties whatsoever....if only he believed it.