Yes, Sukuna dies. Yuji Itadori defeats him in chapters 267 and 268 of the manga, with Megumi, Nobara and the rest of the cast wearing him down first. Forced out of Megumi's body, Sukuna turns down Yuji's offer to be his vessel again and disintegrates.

Ryomen Sukuna, the King of Curses and the strongest curse user of Japan's Heian era, dies in chapter 268 of *Jujutsu Kaisen*. Yuji Itadori drives him out of Megumi Fushiguro's body, Sukuna refuses Yuji's offer to live inside him again, and then he disintegrates. It is the last fight of the whole Jujutsu Kaisen story.

Spoiler line: this post spoils the end of the Shinjuku Showdown (chapters 236 to 268), plus the final chapter's afterlife scene and last image (chapter 271). It is all manga only. The anime stopped around chapter 181, and Season 4 has no release date.

Pick your path: how he dies, who killed him, how Yuji won, why he refused or whether he is gone for good.

YourCrush.AI has Sukuna as a chat character, so once you have read this you can talk to Sukuna yourself.

How did Sukuna die?

Yuji's Black Flash drives Sukuna out of Megumi's body into a weak, blob-like form in chapter 267. In chapter 268, Yuji offers to be his vessel again so he can live. Sukuna refuses and disintegrates.

That is the whole of the sukuna death in two chapters, as Screen Rant and Dexerto both describe it. Getting him to that point took many people and most of an arc.

How YourCrush.AI lets you write a villain who would rather end than be pitied

A villain who refuses mercy is one of the hardest characters to write, because the refusal has to come from who they are, not from the plot. You can build one of your own and test that refusal from every side.

YourCrush.AI builds an original character from a description, a backstory, a greeting and three to seven traits, with no code. YourCrush.AI keeps what has been offered and refused in pinned memories, so a long argument stays consistent from night to night. YourCrush.AI branches a scene, so you can try the version where the offer is accepted and see what it does to the character. It is free to join and 18+ only.

Here is an original adult character, not a copy of Sukuna, to build at the create-character page in the natural behaviour mode:

Name: Oren Kurogane
Behaviour mode: natural
Category: Anime
Description: Oren is a warlord spirit centuries old, bound to the ruins of the castle he once ruled. He wears the scorched remains of a lord's formal robes and sits on a broken throne at the top of the keep. He is contemptuous of everyone who climbs up to see him, and quietly curious about the one who keeps coming back. He never raises his voice and never thanks anyone.
Backstory: You found a way to free him and offered it. He refused, and he has refused every night since, without ever telling you to stop asking. Neither of you has said why you keep coming back.
Greeting: "You climbed the stairs again. Four hundred of them, and you still think the answer changes at the top. I will not be carried out of here on someone else's mercy. Sit, though. It has been a long time since anyone argued with me properly."
Traits: Arrogant, Cold-hearted, Intelligent, Mysterious, Aggressive
Speaking style: archaic, cutting, slow, proud

Who killed Sukuna?

Yuji Itadori is the one who finishes him, and Wikipedia's summary puts it plainly: "Yuji manages to defeat Sukuna, although Choso sacrifices himself in the process." But the kill took a crowd. Maki pierced his heart, Megumi tripped him from inside, Nobara hit his soul through his last finger, and Yuta fought him wearing Gojo's body.

The final fight starts only after Gojo, Kashimo and Choso have all fallen in the Shinjuku Showdown.

Spoiler: who Sukuna kills before the end

Sukuna had already killed Gojo in chapter 236, the story told in how Gojo died. Kashimo stepped in next and died to the same slashes, confirmed in chapter 238. In chapter 259, Choso throws a blood barrier in front of Yuji to block Divine Flame and burns, thanking Yuji "for becoming my brother".

Every one of the others takes something from Sukuna. Maki drives the Split Soul Katana through his heart in chapter 251. Yuta enters Gojo's body in chapter 261 and fights with Limitless for five minutes. Megumi and Nobara come last, and they matter most.

What chapter does Sukuna die in?

Chapter 268, one chapter after Yuji's Black Flash forces him out of Megumi in chapter 267. The manga ends three chapters later, with chapter 271, which ran at the end of September 2024.

The final chapter is dated 30 September 2024 for the Japanese issue and 29 September for the English simulpub. Sukuna still appears in chapter 271, but only after death.

How did Yuji beat Sukuna?

Yuji's Domain Expansion, a copy of his hometown, lets him demand that Sukuna release Megumi; inside, Megumi fights back, and Nobara's Resonance on Sukuna's last finger strikes his soul while Yuji attacks. Yuji's Black Flash then drives Sukuna out of Megumi's body.

Spoiler: what Yuji says to Sukuna inside his domain

At the end of chapter 264, Yuji expands his domain. It has no official name. Inside it is a perfect picture of his hometown, farms and schools and animals, and its sure-hit is a Dismantle aimed at the soul instead of the body. Yuji tells Sukuna to release Megumi and go back inside him if he does not want to die.

In chapter 266, Megumi fights back from inside his own body. He uses the Ten Shadows to trip Sukuna up.

An empty Japanese country town at golden hour, the hometown Yuji's domain recreates — Yuji's domain shows a picture of his hometown.

Then someone the readers had not seen for years walks back in.

Spoiler: who returns to land the decisive blow (ch. 267)

Nobara Kugisaki, missing since Mahito's attack in Shibuya, reappears in chapter 267 wearing an eyepatch, after about five years away from the manga. She uses Resonance on Sukuna's last finger, the one Gojo had hidden, and the strike hits Sukuna's soul while Yuji attacks. Yuji's Black Flash drives Sukuna out of Megumi's body into a weak, blob-like form.

Why did Sukuna refuse to live as Yuji's vessel?

His last words say he will not be insulted, "for I am a curse" (ch. 268). Back in chapter 248, he admitted that Yuji's devotion to an ideal irritated him and gave him a reason to crush all of Yuji's hopes.

Spoiler: Sukuna's last words (ch. 268)

Yuji stands over what is left of Sukuna and offers him a way to live: come back inside, be his vessel again. Yuji is the boy who shares his blood, through the twin Sukuna devoured in the womb a thousand years ago.

Sukuna refuses. He tells Yuji he has to compliment how completely Yuji acts a fool, then: "do not dare insult me for I am a curse!" (ch. 268). He disintegrates. After he dies, Uraume ends their own life.

Our imagining of Sukuna in that weak form, hearing the offer:

"You would carry me. Out of kindness. Do you hear what you are asking a curse to accept?"

The reason is in his own words. In chapter 248 Sukuna said he never held any ideals and never strove for more than befitted his nature, and that seeing others dedicated to an ideal irritated him. Yuji's devotion gave him "a clear reason to destroy you here and now by crushing all your hopes". To live because Yuji offered would mean being kept alive by the exact thing he despises. Our reading: refusing is the one way Sukuna can still be what he says he is.

What comes after, the final chapters and the trio's last mission, is told in the Jujutsu Kaisen ending.

Is Sukuna dead for good?

Yes. Sukuna disintegrates in chapter 268, and by the final chapter he exists only in an afterlife, talking with Mahito. The manga's last image is a Sukuna finger kept at a shrine as a protective talisman, and nothing in that final chapter shows him coming back.

Spoiler: where Sukuna ends up (ch. 271)

In chapter 271 Sukuna sits in an afterlife with Mahito, the curse Yuji beat in Shibuya. He reflects that he had "two chances", and says that if he were reincarnated he might walk a different path, alongside Uraume.

The last page of the manga shows a Sukuna finger kept at a shrine as a protective talisman.

Ryomen Sukuna in his four-armed true form standing on a ruined Shinjuku street at dusk — Sukuna takes his Heian-era true form at the end of chapter 237.

Our imagining of Sukuna in that afterlife, weighing the two chances:

"Two chances, and I spent both being exactly myself. I would not call that a waste. I would not call it a victory either."

Our reading: the defeat was collective. Choso dies shielding Yuji from Divine Flame in chapter 259, Maki pierces Sukuna through the heart in chapter 251, Megumi trips him from inside in chapter 266, and Nobara's Resonance strikes his soul in chapter 267, all before Yuji's last blow. His talk of "a different path" is the closest he comes to doubt, and it arrives only after he is dead.

Frequently asked questions

What happens to Uraume after Sukuna dies?

Uraume takes their own life once Sukuna's death is confirmed.

What were Sukuna's last words?

He tells Yuji he has to compliment how completely Yuji acts a fool, and warns him not to dare insult him, because he is a curse (ch. 268).

Does Choso survive the fight with Sukuna?

No. He dies in chapter 259 shielding Yuji from Sukuna's Divine Flame, and his last words thank Yuji for becoming his brother.

Who is Sukuna in Jujutsu Kaisen?

The King of Curses, the strongest curse user of Japan's Heian era more than a thousand years ago, whose power was sealed in 20 fingers.

Does Megumi survive Sukuna?

Yes. Megumi survives and joins the final mission in chapter 271, per CBR.

Is Sukuna's death in the anime?

No. The anime stopped around chapter 181, and Season 4 has no release date.

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How did Sukuna die? Who finally beat the King of Curses, and why he refused to live