The Big Three Families In JJK, Explained

In the cutthroat world of Jujutsu Kaisen, there’s a clear hierarchy in the archaic society of the jujutsu sorcerers. Not only are there definitive grades for these people, but at the tippy top of it all are three powerful families who have existed for a thousand years, maybe more. These families are the elites of the jujutsu world, prized for their bloodlines and powerful inherited cursed techniques.

You may have heard their names thrown around a couple of times: Gojo, Zenin, and Kamo. These clans have massive political power in the jujutsu world, but by the end of the manga, all of them have been wiped from existence. Although their fates have been decided in the manga, their history and techniques are still a topic of interest.

Beware of spoilers for the whole series!

Who Are The Big Three Families?

As mentioned in the introduction, the Gojo, Kamo, and Zenin clans are the top three sorcerer clans that stand at the peak of jujutsu society. Although they have been around since the Heian Era — also known as the Golden Age of Sorcery — it is possible that they could pre-date this time period.

The Big Three clans were all descended from the Three Great Vengeful Spirits, who are based on The Three Great Onryō of Japan in Japanese mythology, who are Sugawara Michizane, Emperor Sutoku, and Taira Masakado. However, it is Sugawara who is actually mentioned in the Jujutsu Kaisen lore and contributed to forming the Gojo clan.

All the clans had amassed considerable wealth and political power throughout the ages and formed connections with the Japanese government. The top sorcerer clans worked together with them to appoint the next head of Jujutsu Headquarters and created the laws governing jujutsu society. Due to the significant sway they have, they can influence decisions to their benefit, such as sending Megumi, Nobara, and Itadori on a Special Grade-level mission just to kill Sukuna’s vessel.

However, the Big Three Clans do not get along. There’s particularly bad blood between the Gojo and Zenin clans, due to their clan heads having killed one another at some point in the past. Despite this, the clans are generally in the conservative faction (except Gojo Satoru) and are against any perceived outliers or progress, prioritising maintaining the status quo.

The Gojo Clan

As mentioned before, the Gojo clan was descended from Sugawara Michizane, someone who Panda described as a ‘big shot sorcerer’. It is likely from him that the Gojo family gained their prized Limitless and Six Eyes techniques, passing them down to their descendants — however, the chance of a child being born with both techniques was exceedingly rare.

In the current timeline of the manga (and anime), the Gojo clan is considered the strongest among the Big Three, mostly because of Gojo Satoru’s existence. As the first person to be born with the Six Eyes and Limitless techniques in 400 years, Satoru’s birth broke the balance of power in the jujutsu world, as well as caused cursed spirits to grow stronger. After finally mastering both techniques while in Jujutsu High, he was dubbed the ‘Strongest Sorcerer of Today’ and, because of this, Satoru is the only one powerful enough to defy the jujutsu higher-ups.

What Happened To The Gojo Clan?

However, in both the manga and anime, we don’t get to see any other member of the Gojo clan aside from Gojo Satoru. Okkotsu Yuuta does share the same ancestor in Sugawara Michizane as Gojo does, but he wasn’t a member of the Gojo clan. But after Satoru died in the battle against Sukuna, it was Okkotsu who became acting head of the Gojo clan due to this shared ancestry.

As such, it seemed to imply that there was no one else who came from the Gojo family’s direct line, suggesting that the Gojo clan was extinct.

The Zenin Clan

Probably the most brutal and cutthroat of the Big Three, the Zenin clan raises its members to only respect those with powerful cursed techniques. Out of all the Big Three, it’s the Zenins who get the most screen time in the show and manga, and we know the most about how they operate compared to the other elite clans due to characters like Maki and Mai.

The Zenins divided its members into three units: the Hei, the Kukuru, and the Akashi. Not much is known about the Akashi, but the Hei is led by Naoya Zenin, and takes in members with above-average cursed energy and notable cursed techniques. The Kukuru involves members who didn’t develop cursed techniques and train relentlessly day and night in martial arts.

Due to their ruthless philosophy, the Zenins don’t hesitate to hurt and belittle those without any talent in sorcery. This is evident in how they treat members like Toji and Maki, due to their Heavenly Restriction causing them to have little to no cursed energy. The clan also views women as lesser, with archaic beliefs that they should remain homemakers and not jujutsu sorcerers.

Although they value jujutsu talent, the Zenin treasure the one who inherits the clan technique, the Ten Shadows.

The Ten Shadows are said to rival the Gojo’s prized techniques, alleged to be the only thing capable of defeating them due to the tenth shikigami, the Divine General Mahoraga. When the two clan heads of the Gojo and Zenin families fought in the past, it is said that both possessed their respective clans’ inherited techniques, with the battle ending with both of them dead.

Megumi has the Ten Shadows technique, but since his father, Toji, left the clan and Gojo took over his care, Megumi was never a Zenin clan member. As a result, the Zenin is the only one out of the Big Three that’s not in possession of their inherited technique.

Karma Comes For The Zenins

It’s definitively known what befell the Zenins, as after Naobito dies and Gojo is sealed, Ogi makes a fatal mistake in his attempt to cosy up to the higher-ups. Ogi considers his twin daughters, Maki and Mai, to be a stain on his legacy and decides to kill them. But after Mai sacrifices herself to allow Maki to reach her full potential, Maki goes on a rampage, which results in the deaths of every single Zenin clan member.

Although Jujutsu Headquarters are still deciding whether to kick the Zenins out of the Big Three, beyond a shadow of a doubt the Zenin clan is defunct.

The Kamo Clan

The Kamo Clan is also as distinguished as their peers but mostly for the wrong reasons. Although they do possess a powerful inherited technique in the form of Blood Manipulation, it’s the actions of a certain Noritoshi Kamo that have blighted this clan for a century or more.

During the Meiji Era, the Kamo clan head of 150 years ago was somehow overtaken by the curse user Kenjaku’s body-hopping technique. Using Noritoshi’s body, Kenjaku conducted a series of twisted experiments that resulted in the nine Cursed Womb: Death Paintings, with three of them being Choso, Eso, and Kechizu. As a result of these crimes, ‘Noritoshi Kamo’ was dubbed the most evil jujutsu sorcerer to ever exist.

The heir of the present-day Kamo Clan is another Noritoshi Kamo, whose birth was a scandal due to the fact he was born from the clan head’s mistress and yet inherited the prized Blood Manipulation. Noritoshi was appointed the heir to the Kamo Clan but was kicked out by Kenjaku prior to the Culling Game starting.

The Fate Of The Kamo Clan

Like the Gojo Clan, the fate of the Kamo Clan was more implied rather than spelled outright for the audience. After his scheme to seal Gojo succeeds, the devious Kenjaku goes back to his old hunting grounds, quietly kills off Noritoshi’s father, and takes over the Kamo clan as its 25th clan head. Kenjaku had also killed some of the jujutsu higher-ups, and he had one of the Big Three in his control.

Even once the chaos in the jujutsu world was over, Noritoshi did not return to his clan, instead choosing to stay with his mother. Noritoshi is known to be dutiful and honourable and would have returned if summoned. But perhaps there was nothing to return to since we know what happens to those Kenjaku no longer finds useful.