Kugisaki

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Nobara Kugisaki 10
Original Name	钉崎
Gender	Female 10
Affiliation	Tokyo Jujutsu High; Kugisaki family 10 34
Occupation/Role	First-year student and jujutsu sorcerer 15 27
Hometown	Scorpion Village, near Tono City, Iwate Prefecture 33
Cursed Technique	Straw Doll Technique; the family’s inherited technique is also called the Straw Spirit Cursed Technique 34 40
Status	Alive at the latest documented appearance 49
First Appearance	Chapter 10, “Entering Jujutsu High” 10

Background / History

Kugisaki grew up in Scorpion Village, where residents scrutinized everything from clothing to friendships and treated outsiders with suspicion. Her mother discouraged her from leaving, calling it shameful for a girl to venture outside the village. Kugisaki’s friendship with Saori, a girl from Tokyo, gave her a glimpse of a different life. After villagers accused Saori of corrupting local children and drove her away, Saori encouraged Kugisaki to move to Tokyo and live as she wished. Kugisaki followed that advice 33.

Her family had guarded the Scorpion Mound for generations. Sixteen years before her return, her father, Toru, refused to help the curse user Niezaki open it to escape the destructive effects of his own technique. Toru fought Niezaki and never returned; Rihito later identifies him as having died protecting the village. Kugisaki never met her father, and her grandmother concealed this history to prevent her from pursuing the same danger 34 38.

The mound’s seal required reinforcement every few decades and could only be opened with the family’s inherited technique. When it began weakening, Kugisaki’s grandmother was too frail to renew it. Niezaki’s return forced Kugisaki to confront both the family’s responsibility and the history withheld from her 34.

Appearance

• School uniform: Wears the same style of Jujutsu High uniform as her classmates 10.
• Steel-mill injuries: Retains a bruised neck after Tanaka’s attack and wears a flesh-colored bandage over it during a later sparring session 27 31.
• Goodwill Event injuries: Fights with a bleeding shoulder scrape exposed through her torn uniform; a slash is later visible across her cuff 44 48.

Personality

Kugisaki is outspoken, impatient, and quick to challenge others. She objects to Itadori’s shouting and messy room, teases Rihito about the Goodwill Event, and answers Gojo’s training announcements with pointed remarks rather than deference 10 15 27 40.

Her concern usually appears through practical gestures rather than reassurance. She gives Rihito first choice of food, brings him a sports drink after training, and checks his injuries before a mission. When she notices his distress over Kaori, she deliberately avoids pressing him for an explanation 15 19 20 23.

She initially treats personal troubles as something to handle alone. She resists Rihito’s offer to accompany her home and avoids involving Fushiguro because she does not want to burden him. After the village incident, she accepts Fushiguro’s request to keep him informed instead of enduring everything privately 32 39.

Despite her resentment toward Scorpion Village, Kugisaki refuses to abandon an innocent child. She prioritizes Hua’s safety over her anger at Niezaki and later leaves the village without seeking gratitude or arguing against its accusations 36 38.

Abilities & Skills

Straw Doll Technique

Kugisaki’s inherited technique uses nails, a hammer, and a Straw Doll. Rihito recognizes it as one of the rare techniques capable of targeting the soul 10 36.

• Ranged attacks: Fires cursed-energy-infused nails at enemies and uses them to restrict movement, including cutting off Miwa’s retreat 22 44.
• Medium-dependent power: The technique’s strength depends on how strongly its medium is connected to the target 40.
• Defensive limits: Niezaki’s poisonous mist corrodes her nails; after his transformation, his overflowing cursed energy cancels their technique effect and prevents them from piercing his skin 35 37.
• Training focus: Gojo assigns her to acquire useful media during combat rather than rely on preparation beforehand 40.

Resonance

Resonance attacks a target through a connected medium placed around or within a Straw Doll 36 37.

• Cursed residue as a link: Uses a strip of Niezaki’s clothing carrying sixteen years of his cursed residue to strike his soul and force him to release Hua 36.
• Blood as a medium: Injures transformed Niezaki through a Straw Doll soaked in his blood, despite the protection that stopped her direct nail attacks 37.
• Technique interruption: A later Resonance strike interrupts Niezaki’s impending Domain Expansion, giving Rihito time to prepare his finishing attack 37.
• Exposure during use: Activating Resonance does not stop Niezaki’s incoming punch; she is badly injured immediately after landing the attack 37.

Hairpin

Hairpin provides a decisive attack against a rapidly regenerating insect-shaped cursed spirit: a nail driven into its head causes it to explode rather than heal 44.

• Her initial Hairpin attack against transformed Niezaki fails to penetrate his cursed-energy defensive layer 37.

Close-Quarters Combat

Kugisaki combines direct physical attacks with hammer strikes and nail placement 25 31 44.

• Combination attacks: Links punches, low sweeping kicks, and elbow strikes while maintaining her balance during sparring 31.
• Hammer pressure: Forces Miwa backward with repeated close-range strikes, preventing her from fully using her swordsmanship 44.
• Protective intervention: Deflects Tanaka’s killing blow away from Rihito despite her own injuries 25.
• Persistence: Continues fighting after serious wounds against both Tanaka and Niezaki 25 37.

Family Seal Access

Kugisaki channels cursed energy into the talisman sealing the Scorpion Mound, activating its markings and opening the stone niche 36.

• The seal responds specifically to the Kugisaki family’s inherited technique 34.
• Her grandmother summons her because she is the remaining person able to reinforce the weakening seal 34.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Hammer / cursed tool — Used for close-range combat and to drive technique-infused nails into a Straw Doll 22 36 44.
• Nails — Serve as ranged weapons and technique conduits; she packs an unusually large supply before returning home 22 32.
• Straw Doll — Carries connected media for Resonance 36 37.
• Travel bag — Used to carry mission supplies, including the nails that alert Rihito to the possible danger of her hometown trip 32.

Relationships

• Rihito Sato — Classmate and trusted combat partner. She counters his guilt over Mahito’s victims and saves him from Tanaka; he later accompanies her home, prevents her from confronting Niezaki alone, and defends her against the villagers 24 25 32 34 38.
• Yuji Itadori — Classmate whose noise and untidiness frequently draw her complaints. She worries about his possible confinement and enthusiastically confronts him on his return after two months of training 10 15 40 41.
• Megumi Fushiguro — Classmate and teammate. She initially excludes him from her hometown troubles but agrees to contact him next time after he expresses concern 32 39.
• Satoru Gojo — Teacher. Approves her leave with Rihito and directs her technique-specific training toward obtaining media during battle 32 40.
• Kento Nanami — Mission leader during the steel-mill investigation; provides tactical instructions and warns the students to flee if they encounter Mahito 20 22.
• Grandmother — Family elder with whom she has a strained but genuine attachment. Kugisaki tends her poisoned injuries and learns from her about Toru and the Scorpion Mound 33 34.
• Toru — Father, whom she never met. His disappearance after fighting Niezaki becomes the central revelation of her return home 34.
• Saori — Childhood friend whose expulsion from the village and encouragement helped motivate Kugisaki’s move to Tokyo 33.
• Maki — Schoolmate whose dedication Kugisaki defends during her confrontation with Mai 44.
• Niezaki — Enemy responsible for attacking her grandmother and coercing her into opening the Scorpion Mound 35 36.
• Hua — Six-year-old hostage rescued by Kugisaki and Rihito. Kugisaki carries her back to the shrine and remains concerned about her uncertain recovery from blindness 38 39.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Joining Rihito’s First-Year Circle

• Meets Rihito when Itadori brings him to Jujutsu High and introduces herself by surname 10.
• Helps welcome him through the first-years’ shared dinner and joins her classmates in offering support against Mahito 15 18.

Steel-Mill Investigation

• Accompanies Nanami, Rihito, and Fushiguro to investigate transfigured humans at an abandoned steel mill near Kawasaki 20.
• Fights the faceless cursed spirits before the team discovers Mahito’s laboratory and victims from Rihito’s former school 22 23.
• Redirects Rihito’s self-blame toward the cursed spirits responsible, then helps him fight Tanaka. Their mutual rescues become the basis for Rihito’s later insistence on supporting her 24 25 26 32.

Return to Scorpion Village

• A letter from home interrupts her training and prompts her to request leave. She reluctantly accepts Rihito’s company 31 32.
• Finds her grandmother poisoned and learns about her father’s fate and the weakening Scorpion Mound seal 33 34.
• Opens the mound under Niezaki’s hostage threat, then uses Resonance to create a rescue opportunity. Niezaki swallows the Cursed Womb inside and transforms 35 36.
• Interrupts his Domain Expansion despite serious injuries, enabling Rihito’s decisive attack. His death clears the poison but does not restore Hua’s sight 37 38.
• Announces that the mound no longer needs guarding and leaves with Rihito after the villagers blame her family for the disaster 38.

Goodwill Event

• Arrives heavily packed after mistakenly assuming the event is being held in Kyoto rather than Tokyo 41.
• Exorcises a regenerating cursed spirit, gains the advantage against Miwa, and then fights Mai after her intervention 44 45.
• Stops Fushiguro from rushing into Rihito’s four-on-one fight, reminding him of their earlier training in mutual trust. She praises Rihito as dependable after his victory 48 49.

Notable Quotes

“Don't underestimate me! I'm Nobara Kugisaki!” 37

“Rihito might be a rookie. But he's no ordinary rookie. Underestimate him, and you'll pay for it.” 45

“Rihito's as dependable as ever.” 49