The Culling Game introduced some of the most dangerous sorcerers Jujutsu Kaisen has ever seen, each fighting for dominance across fractured colonies.
From reincarnated veterans to modern prodigies, power during the Culling Game isn’t just about raw strength, it’s about matchups, versatility, and how far a character can push their limits.
This list ranks the 5 strongest Culling Game characters in Jujutsu Kaisen, counting down from fifth to first.
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Not everyone here crosses paths directly, but based on feats, portrayal, and what the story shows us, these are the fighters who stand above the rest.
Spoiler Warning: Major spoilers ahead for the Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 anime and manga, including post-Shibuya Incident arc and the Culling Game events.
5 strongest Culling Game characters in Jujutsu Kaisen
5. Ryu Ishigori
Ryu Ishigori earns the fifth spot because he represents pure offensive power taken to its extreme. He is explicitly stated in the manga to possess the highest cursed energy output of any sorcerer, a distinction that immediately places him among the most dangerous fighters in the Culling Game.
His innate technique, Cursed Energy Discharge, allows him to fire devastating beams of cursed energy, most notably his Granite Blast, which overwhelms opponents through sheer force rather than finesse.
That power is not just theoretical. During the Sendai Colony battle, Ryu was able to trade blows directly with Yuta Okkotsu and Rika, enduring heavy damage while continuing to fight and even injuring Rika in close combat.
Very few characters can claim they pushed Yuta that far in a prolonged engagement, and Ryu’s durability and stamina are as notable as his firepower.
Ryu’s dominance also translated into results within the Culling Game itself. He amassed 77 points in just 12 days, creating a deadlock among Sendai’s strongest players and shaping the balance of power in the colony.
What keeps him from ranking higher is his straightforward approach. Against fighters with layered techniques or complex strategies, his reliance on raw output becomes predictable. Still, when it comes to head-on destruction, Ryu Ishigori stands near the top.
4. Hajime Kashimo
Hajime Kashimo ranks fourth because he is one of the most lethal pure combatants introduced in the Culling Game. His cursed energy trait manifests as electricity, turning even basic physical contact into a deadly exchange.
Combined with centuries of reincarnated experience, Kashimo fights with brutal efficiency and relentless pressure, excelling in close-quarters combat.
In the Culling Game, Kashimo quickly established himself as a top-tier threat by accumulating dozens of kills and even forcing rule changes to seek out stronger opponents.
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His fight against Kinji Hakari showcased both his strengths and limits, Kashimo repeatedly pushed Hakari to the brink, adapting mid-fight and exploiting openings with frightening precision. Few fighters could have survived that encounter as long as Hakari did.
What keeps Kashimo from ranking higher is a critical limitation: his cursed technique can only be used once. While activating it would likely allow him to defeat almost anyone on this list, its single-use nature caps his long-term dominance. Without it, Kashimo’s ceiling becomes clearer, placing him just outside the top three despite his terrifying matchup potential.
3. Hiromi Higuruma
Hiromi Higuruma stands out not because of raw power, but because of how unnaturally fast he grasped jujutsu.
A former defense attorney, Higuruma awakened as a sorcerer during the Culling Game and developed a Domain Expansion in an impossibly short time. He was even compared to Satoru Gojo in terms of talent, a statement that immediately elevates his status.
Higuruma’s Domain, Deadly Sentencing, allows him to put opponents on trial and enforce verdicts that can confiscate cursed techniques or cursed energy altogether.
During his confrontation with Yuji Itadori, he demonstrated how effectively he could dismantle a fighter without overpowering them physically. His intelligence, composure, and moral framework make him uniquely dangerous in structured confrontations.
His placement at number three comes down to experience. While Higuruma’s technique and growth rate are extraordinary, he lacks the long-term combat refinement of higher-ranked fighters. Given more time, his ceiling could rival the very top, but as he appears during the Culling Game, he remains just below the strongest veterans.
2. Yorozu
Yorozu earns the second spot as a terrifying example of Heian-era sorcery at its peak. Her mastery of the Construction cursed technique far surpasses modern users, allowing her to create complex weapons and structures with extreme efficiency. Unlike others who struggle with the technique’s cursed energy cost, Yorozu wields it freely and creatively.
Her strength is most clearly demonstrated in her battle against Sukuna, where she is able to meaningfully engage him and force him to respond seriously.
Yorozu also possesses a Domain Expansion that amplifies her constructions into guaranteed-hit attacks, turning the battlefield itself into a weapon. This combination of raw power, technique mastery, and experience makes her overwhelming in most matchups.
Yorozu falls just short of the top spot because her strength is still situational compared to the fighter ranked above her. While she is devastating in direct combat, her toolkit lacks the same breadth and adaptability seen in the number one pick. Even so, few Culling Game participants can match her destructive capability when she goes all out.
1. Yuta Okkotsu
Yuta Okkotsu sits at number one as the most complete and dominant fighter actively participating in the Culling Game.
As a special-grade sorcerer, he possesses immense cursed energy reserves, exceptional combat instincts, and access to Rika, an entity that functions as both a partner and a massive power amplifier. Few characters can match his baseline strength alone.
During the Sendai Colony conflict, Yuta proved his superiority by breaking a stalemate between elite players, defeating Dhruv Lakdawalla, exorcising Kurourushi, and overcoming both Takako Uro and Ryu Ishigori in succession.
His cursed technique, Copy, allows him to adapt to opponents mid-fight, giving him answers regardless of range or fighting style.
What ultimately places Yuta above everyone else is consistency. He doesn’t rely on a single win condition, a one-time technique, or a specific matchup. Against nearly any opponent in the Culling Game, Yuta can adjust, endure, and overwhelm. Among those fighting for control of the colonies, he stands as the clear apex.
Honorable mentions
Fumihiko Takaba deserves special mention despite not ranking in the top five. His cursed technique allows anything he finds genuinely funny to become reality, a power with virtually no defined ceiling. On paper, this makes it one of the most broken abilities in Jujutsu Kaisen.
Takaba’s appearances during the Culling Game are limited, and he does not pursue dominance or victory through traditional combat. His lack of awareness and intent prevents his technique from being used optimally, keeping him out of the main rankings.
Still, if Takaba ever fought with clear intent or understanding of his own power, our list of strongest Culling Game characters Game would change instantly. That potential alone earns him an honorable mention among the strongest.
Meanwhile, one exclusion needs to be made clear. Ryomen Sukuna is not included in this list. While he does appear during the Culling Game, he isn’t competing for control of the colonies in the same way as the other participants.
Including him would flatten our picks of the strongest Culling Game characters, so this list focuses on the sorcerers actively shaping the outcome of the different colonies.
