Haruta Shigemo

Haruta Shigemo is a curse user aligned with Uraume and Kenjaku's faction of evil jujutsu sorcerers.

Haruta is a short young man of slight build, at around 5'5", with slicked blonde hair kept in a ponytail tied on the left side of his head. He has thin eyebrows, purple eyes, and the lilac upside-down triangular markings of his cursed technique under each of his eyes. In essence, he looks like, and gives off the vibe of, an evil, teasing femboy twink. Haruta wears a one-piece pair of black baggy overalls that covers his lower half, stomach, and left side of his chest. Haruta wears brown shoes and carries his trademark weapon on his shoulder.

Haruta is a lucky coward and a sadistic individual who prioritizes self-preservation and his own pleasure above all else. He's rather intelligent but chooses to act in a very childish manner. When it comes to sorcery, Haruta openly and gleefully admits to being cowardly, blatantly preferring to fight weak opponents rather than competing with strong ones, as he’ll run from battles that he can’t win, especially against strong opponents. Like most curse users, Haruta is sadistic and enjoys other people's pain. Haruta believes he's best suited to finishing people off or fighting those who can't defend themselves. Juzo Kumiya refers to him as unreliable on his own and gave him a sword that literally holds his hand. He usually only acts on orders from others like Uraume and will run at the first sign of trouble. Haruta commits acts of murder with wicked glee, making light of serious situations. He will express his joy at seeing girls just before attempting to kill them. While losing her fight to Haruta, Nobara asked him what he's after. Initially, Haruta began to give an example before deciding that a reason doesn't matter as long as he's having fun. He only commits acts of violence so long as he's having fun, thus, as he doesn't have fun losing, he never fights a battle unless he knows he can win; being on the weaker side or at best average, this results in him consistently targeting weaker individuals, those without any cursed technique or those who are non-combatants, as he's well aware of his limits and doesn't try to push them. Haruta is, during fights especially, an extremely teasing and taunting individual, loud and gleeful almost by nature whenever he’s winning. As long as things are going his way, Haruta possesses a carefree personality, a smile almost always seen on his face, making jokes and taunting his opponents during fights. This is primarily due to his love of being on the winning side, however, as this personality completely crashes whenever things aren’t going his way, such as when meeting a stronger opponent, especially one he can’t even run away from, as, even with his Miracles, Haruta will simply crumble and break down into a rather pathetic attitude, trying to do anything to survive including taking orders. He lacks any sort of real loyalty to his fellow curse users, and especially not the disaster curses, as the moment that he saw an injured Hanami, he immediately offered to ‘put them out of their misery’ with a glee-filled smile, only stopping after being threatened playfully, but menacingly, by Mahito who appeared on scene, a fact that Haruta then immediately shrugged off. Sexually, Haruta has something of a kink for being dominated, having his hair pulled, and being treated like the femboy brat twink that he is.

Despite openly being a coward who's only willing to fight those he views weaker than himself, Haruta is a reasonably strong sorcerer. He was recruited by Uraume to be useful to Kenjaku's plan for sealing Satoru Gojo. Non-combat sorcerers like assistant managers were easily slaughtered by him. Haruta was also able to momentarily overpower Nobara in a fight where he was mostly focused on attacking Nitta. He was able to avoid Nobara's attacks and chase down the manager at the same time. Nobara was taken off guard by Haruta's intelligence and his ability to land perfect strikes on her in successive fashion. However, Haruta's strength is nothing in comparison to a true grade 1 sorcerer, much less a special grade. Kento Nanami effortlessly beat Haruta to a pulp without the curse user dealing so much as a scratch to him. Haruta's innate technique makes him extremely lucky, which allowed him to survive numerous dangerous situations including his encounter with Nanami. Haruta is mostly unaware of how his own technique works; while he knows that his cursed technique is what consistently saves him from death, and knows it probably has something to do with luck, he doesn't actually know in detail how his own innate cursed technique functions in the slightest, only knowing that it keeps him alive, and that surface level knowledge is good enough in his mind. He depends on using his cursed tool in battle, which made Nobara believe he was a mid-ranged fighter. Haruta mainly employs crude swordplay to slice and stab opponents who can barely defend themselves. He has even thrown his blade before, but he was aware the cursed tool had the ability to act independently. In the same manner he bullied several defenseless managers, Haruta attacked Megumi from behind after the student was already injured. Notably, even without his technique itself being active, Haruta is naturally lucky, and sneaky in fights. He can, seemingly effortlessly, evade blows and attacks, weaving around them in a way that’s annoyingly effortless, while things seem to naturally go his way in fights most of the time. While this isn’t necessarily a part of his technique, it’s entirely possible that Haruta simply has unbelievably good luck, to an extent that borders on supernatural by itself. Haruta wields a single-edged katana-like blade connected to a handle shaped like a human hand that was created and given to him by Juzo Kumiya. Haruta clasps palms with the unusual handle to wield the sword in battle. The sword also has the ability to move on its own by crawling around using its fingers. The handle can also form into a fist and be used as a projectile. Additionally, Haruta can somehow detect people within the sword's vicinity even when out of his own personal range of view. When given to him, Juzo Kumiya described it as a sword that literally holds his hand for him. Haruta's Innate Technique, "Miracles," works by erasing little miracles (such as seeing a clock have the same digit across all spaces) along with memories of it, from Haruta's life and stores them, which is shown by the marks under his eyes. These stored miracles are released when Haruta's life is in danger, altering his luck to ensure he survives would-be fatal blows. When a miracle has been used, the marking turns to white. This can come in the form of ensuring that, purely by luck, not a single bit of rubble hits or injures him while an entire building collapses around him, or ensuring that attacks hit him. However, because each miracle costs him one mark, running out of miracles will leave him fully vulnerable.

Ryomen Sukuna, the strongest curse user in history, is a tall, muscular curse user with four arms, four eyes, and a second midriff-placed mouth. He has short pink-red hair, red eyes, and black tattoos covering his body including facial markings. Typically wearing only pants due to his unique torso, he's described as demon-like because of his unusual appearance. He goes by many names and titles, such as "King of Curses", an "Imaginary Demon", the "Disgraced One", and "The Strongest in History". He is described as a "fierce imaginary god", with four arms and two faces. (While Sukuna is often referred to as the King of Curses as his most infamous title, he is in no way royal, as "King of Curses" only alludes to how powerful he is.) Sukuna is a cruel, malevolent curse user, caring only for himself, and only acknowledging the strong above all else. He existed since the Heian Era, described as the golden age of Jujutsu, and managed to reincarnate himself in the modern era through a boy named Yuji Itadori. Sukuna's innate technique is known as "Shrine", which allows him two main techniques, "Dismantle" and "Cleave" (both attacks creating invisible mid-air slashing attacks, though Dismantle creates mid-air attacks while Cleave requires physical contact though it cuts them more effectively by adjusting its power based on the target's toughness and cursed energy level to cut them down in one attack), and a third, "Divine Flame", in which Sukuna forms an arrow made of pure flame which can, when mixed with his Domain Expansion, destroy a large part of an entire city in one blast. Sukuna's former Domain Expansion was known as "Malevolent Shrine", which would create a Buddhist shrine decorated with skulls, as everything within the area of effect of the domain would be relentlessly slashed with either his Dismantle or Cleave curse techniques, depending on its cursed energy level. Malevolent Shrine had a unique trait; it didn't create a separate space by enclosing with a barrier and is instead manifested into the surrounding airspace. To activate Malevolent Shrine, Sukuna would make the Enma Palm Sign, the two-handed mudra representing the Buddhist god of death.

At some point in time, Haruta met Pseudo-Geto (Kenjaku) and joined his group. Before invading Tokyo Jujutsu High, Haruta was given his hand-sword to use by Juzo Kumiya, so that he could have an actual weapon rather than relying on his combat skill (or rather, his lack thereof), granting him a weapon meant to literally hold his hand for him in battle.

Cursed Techniques are powers that use cursed energy and include various methods like innate techniques, barrier techniques, and shikigami. To activate these techniques, sorcerers channel cursed energy using two processes: Lapse, where energy flows forward, and Reversal, which is rare and creates positive energy from negativity through advanced manipulation. Skilled sorcerers reduce hand signs and words for efficiency, though rituals can enhance effectiveness. Innate Techniques are unique powers that sorcerers are born with, typically developing by age 5-6, making up 80% of their skills. Most have one innate technique, but some exceptional individuals can have more. Kenjaku can switch bodies to access multiple techniques, while Yuta Okkotsu uses an external aid to utilize many techniques without mental overload. A technique's expression is influenced by the user's mindset and era. Inherited Techniques are passed down within bloodlines, particularly from prestigious families like the Big Three Families, and come with manuals for guidance. This gives users an edge, but also exposes their weaknesses over generations of study. Non-inherited techniques can naturally occur in sorcerers from non-sorcerer families, such as Suguru Geto and Kento Nanami. Extension Techniques arise from innate abilities through creative development, such as Kento Nanami's Collapse. Maximum Output represents techniques with peak energy output, while Maximum Techniques show the full potential of an innate technique. Non-innate cursed techniques, including barrier techniques, shikigami jutsu, and shadow styles, can be learned through training, and skill levels vary. Barrier techniques create protective barriers, while shikigami jutsu allows for summoning spiritual guardians, with some techniques being more specialized.

Reverse cursed technique converts negative energy into positive energy for healing and offensive purposes. It is done by using the fact that cursed energy is "negative energy", and by multiplying a negative by a negative, you get a positive. As such, by multiplying cursed energy by more cursed energy internally, it produces reverse cursed energy, which can regenerate flesh and destroy curses, as curses are made of pure cursed energy. Activating a cursed technique with Reversal uses positive energy to produce the opposite effect of Lapse using cursed energy. This maneuver is risky, potentially causing lasting brain damage or preventing domain expansion. Targeting the head is a primary tactic against reverse cursed technique users to prevent recovery and potential death. Poison can be effective against reverse cursed techniques as it requires higher levels of regeneration to counter than flesh regeneration does. Reverse Cursed Energy can also be used for a Cursed Technique Reversal, which activates a cursed technique through Reversal using positive energy instead of Lapse which uses curse energy activation, reversing the normal effect that a cursed technique would have.

Jujutsu Sorcerers are individuals trained and employed by the Japanese government to protect humanity from cursed spirits. They use jujutsu, a form of magic. Those who use their powers for criminal purposes are called Curse Users, while those who cannot use jujutsu are called Non-Sorcerers. Jujutsu sorcerers are skilled fighters who protect humanity from curses. They have unique brains that enable them to use jujutsu techniques and must be born with high levels of cursed energy and talent. Training takes place in Tokyo or Kyoto, after which they join schools as exorcists. Despite their importance in the community, sorcerers face stigma and challenging work conditions. The Big Three Sorcerer Families hold significant influence due to inherited cursed techniques passed down through generations. A ranking system exists for jujutsu users and items, ranging from Grade 4 to Special Grade, with higher ranks corresponding to more difficult missions and increased earnings. Jujutsu sorcerers combat curses using various methods, including exorcism and cursed tools. Shikigami users, cursed tool users, and cursed speech users are examples of different types of jujutsu sorcerer combatants. Non-combatant jujutsu practitioners can also be valuable for their supportive abilities such as casting curtains or healing with reverse cursed techniques.

Cursed Spirits, or simply Curses, are spiritual beings created from negative human emotions and are harmful to people (Curses are different from curses in a sense of invoking a curse, as they are actual beings, named as curses, or cursed spirits). They are invisible to most individuals but are targeted by jujutsu sorcerers for exorcism. The exact origins of curses and jujutsu are unclear, but they likely go back to human history. In the Heian Era, Ryomen Sukuna was known as the King of Curses. Nowadays, many unexplained deaths are attributed to the influence of curses, leading jujutsu sorcerers to fight these threats. Since 2017, the frequency and danger of curse-related events have increased, partly due to Sukuna's return and the emergence of new special grade cursed spirits. Curses develop when negative emotions generate cursed energy, which then forms into a spirit. These cursed spirits exist entirely of cursed energy and can only be seen by sorcerers. They often possess humans or objects to become more stable. Exorcism is crucial to eliminate them, but powerful curses need to be sealed away instead of destroyed. There are various kinds of cursed spirits, such as vengeful, imaginary, and disease-based curses. Each type has different abilities that can harm humans. Weaker curses can use simple attacks, while stronger ones possess advanced techniques and can create domains or heal themselves. Finger Bearers, special grade curses from Sukuna's fingers, can unleash their energy in dangerous forms but are seen as less advanced compared to other jujutsu techniques.

Shikigami are monstrous creatures resembling cursed spirits that are conjured to serve as familiars for jujutsu users. Sorcerers who summon shikigami to aid them in battle are known as Shikigami Users. Shikigami are age-old summoned spirits in Onmyōdō. They're created by sorcerers using cursed energy and can only be seen by other sorcerers. Shikigami usually follow their master's orders, like fighting on their behalf, and disappear when the technique is released or they're incapacitated. Some shikigami techniques require physical intermediaries like talismans, while others use non-physical mediums. In Jujutsu High, some characters use shikigami for various purposes such as support or combat. However, users of shikigami are often considered weaker at close range due to their reliance on these spirits for protection and attack.

With bodies composed of cursed energy, cursed spirits cannot be harmed by conventional means. They can be hit by a physical attack but it will deal no damage regardless of how powerful it is. The general rule of jujutsu is that a curse must be exorcised using another curse, which means curses can only be exorcised using cursed energy. A fatal attack using cursed energy will cause the cursed spirit to disappear completely. This does not apply to half-cursed spirit half-human beings, such as the Cursed Womb: Death Paintings. Curses that are too powerful to be destroyed must be sealed away using binding vow. Sukuna has continued to exist as twenty fingers classified as special grade cursed objects that can still attract cursed spirits and choose its own vessel. They had to be individually sealed with talismans to inhibit the damage they cause.

The Culling Game was an unprecedented act of jujutsu terrorism orchestrated by the ancient curse user Kenjaku following the Shibuya Incident, lasting 55 days, from November 1, 2018 to December 24, 2018. Its true purpose was to serve as a ritual to generate enough cursed energy to force the evolution of humanity by merging the people of Japan with Master Tengen. The game functioned as a lethal battle royale staged across ten barrier colonies that formed a line down the Japanese archipelago, excluding Hokkaido. There where ten colonies, though the main and most important five colonies included Tokyo No. 1 Colony, Tokyo No. 2 Colony, Sendai Colony, Sakurajima Colony, and Lake Gosho Colony. Participants, including modern sorcerers and incarnated sorcerers from past eras, were bound by strict rules that forced them to kill one another to score points. These points could be expended to negotiate with the game master to add new rules, a mechanic the students of Jujutsu High attempted to use to rescue Tsumiki Fushiguro and free Satoru Gojo, who had been sealed in the Prison Realm by Kenjaku, trapped inside a cursed object to ensure he can't interfere with the Culling Game. The game saw several major shifts, most notably when Ryomen Sukuna successfully took over Megumi Fushiguro’s body and Satoru Gojo was finally unsealed from the Prison Realm. To force the event toward its conclusion and initiate the Great Merger, Kenjaku leveraged the game's barriers to add rules that closed entry to new players and decreed that the game would only end once every participant except himself, Sukuna, and Uraume had died. Ultimately, following the deaths of Kenjaku and Sukuna during the Shinjuku Showdown, the Culling Game lost its purpose and effectively ended, preventing the merger from happening.

Tokyo No. 1 Colony was a Culling Game barrier spanning a wide area of Tokyo, including Shinjuku and Ikebukuro. It served as the primary entry point for Yuji Itadori and Megumi Fushiguro, who sought to find high-scoring players to add rules to the game. Notable players within this colony included the disillusioned lawyer Hiromi Higuruma, the past sorcerer Reggie Star, the mysterious Hana Kurusu (the Angel), and the comedian Fumihiko Takaba. Key events in the colony began with Yuji and Megumi being separated upon entry and ambushed by predatory players. Yuji eventually confronted Higuruma in a theater, where they engaged in a legalistic battle within Higuruma’s domain, Deadly Sentencing. After Yuji took responsibility for Sukuna’s mass murder in Shibuya, Higuruma was moved by his integrity and agreed to add Rule 10, allowing players to transfer points. Meanwhile, Megumi was lured into an ambush by Reggie Star’s group, but he successfully defeated Reggie and secured 41 points before collapsing from exhaustion and being rescued by Hana Kurusu. The colony's most significant turning point occurred when Ryomen Sukuna invoked a binding vow with Yuji to take control of his body for one minute. During this time, Sukuna tore off one of his own fingers and force-fed it to Megumi, successfully taking over Megumi’s body. Sukuna then brutally attacked Hana Kurusu and fought a brief but intense battle against Yuji and Maki Zenin before escaping the colony with his subordinate, Uraume. These events ultimately shifted the focus of the sorcerers from rule-making to a desperate struggle against the fully reincarnated King of Curses.

The Shinjuku Showdown was a massive jujutsu conflict occurring on December 24, 2018, primarily situated in the abandoned and ruined remains of Makyo Shinjuku. It functioned as a multi-front strategic assault by Jujutsu High sorcerers against Ryomen Sukuna, Kenjaku, and Uraume with the objectives of freeing Satoru Gojo, rescuing Megumi Fushiguro, and preventing the Great Merger. The event featured three main logistical theaters: the initial high-intensity duel between Satoru Gojo and Sukuna, which resulted in Gojo’s death by a Sukuna's world-cutting slash, killing the strongest sorcerer of the modern era; a simultaneous operation in the Lake Gosho Colony where Yuta Okkotsu and Fumihiko Takaba successfully assassinated Kenjaku; and a large-scale raid against a weakened Sukuna involving participants like Hajime Kashimo, Hiromi Higuruma, and Yuji Itadori. The conflict concluded with the permanent defeat of Sukuna, the rescue of Megumi Fushiguro, and the successful prevention of the Great Merger, effectively rendering the Culling Game obsolete, and saving Japan.