Escanor vs Sukuna: Peak Power Comparison

Pride incarnate versus curse incarnate. Two beings who look down on everyone else—literally and metaphorically.

Escanor, the Lion’s Sin of Pride, holds the power of Sunshine: he grows stronger as the sun rises, reaching godlike power at high noon. For one minute at the peak, he becomes “The One”—a being whose power exceeded even the Demon King.

Sukuna, the King of Curses, terrorized the golden age of jujutsu as the undisputed strongest. Even today, a millennium later, no sorcerer has surpassed him. His power is so absolute that sealing his fingers was humanity’s only option.

Both characters are defined by looking down on their opponents—and having the power to back it up. This battle compares two of anime’s most arrogant fighters at their absolute peaks. Let’s see who has the right to look down on whom.

Escanor: Powers and Abilities

Key Abilities

Sunshine: Escanor’s grace that ties his power directly to the sun’s position. At night, he’s frail and weak. As the sun rises, his power increases exponentially until reaching maximum at noon
The One: For one minute at high noon, Escanor transcends normal limits, becoming a being of nearly invincible power. His stats multiply to levels that dwarf even the strongest demons
The One: Ultimate: Escanor’s final form, achieved by burning his life force to maintain The One indefinitely. The ultimate sacrifice that pushes his power beyond any previous limit
Cruel Sun (Shitaiyo): A miniature sun Escanor creates as an attack, with heat and destructive power rivaling actual solar temperatures
Pride Flare: Escanor’s axe attack enhanced by Sunshine, capable of cleaving through the strongest defenses
Intimidation Aura: His presence alone can paralyze weaker beings and even affect god-tier opponents psychologically

Best Feats

Overwhelming Meliodas in Assault Mode: The strongest demon after the Demon King was utterly dominated at noon
Cutting the Demon King’s magic: His slash literally cut through the magic of a being who ruled demons for millennia
Tanking Meliodas’s Full Counter: Meliodas’s most powerful ability couldn’t reflect or hurt him at full power
One-shotting Galand: A commandment demon with 26,000 power level was defeated in a single strike
Fighting evenly with the Demon King: In The One Ultimate, Escanor battled the full-powered Demon King and contributed to his defeat
Burning away the One Commandment: His power burned away a conceptual curse that affected reality

Escanor’s power at noon is stated to surpass anything in the Seven Deadly Sins universe. Even characters who should be leagues above him become inferior at his peak.

Sukuna: Powers and Abilities

Key Abilities

Shrine (Reverse Cursed Technique): Sukuna’s innate technique, consisting of:

– Dismantle: A slashing attack for cursed energy targets

– Cleave: An adaptive slash that adjusts power to always be sufficient to cut through the target’s defenses

– Spiderweb: Omnidirectional Dismantle covering an area

Open (Flame Arrow): Fire-based projectile attacks with devastating power
Malevolent Shrine: Sukuna’s Domain Expansion—unique for being barrierless, covering a 200-meter radius where Cleave and Dismantle continuously fire at all targets with guaranteed hits
Reverse Cursed Technique: Can heal any injury, including regenerating his heart
World-Cutting Slash: A technique that cuts space itself, developed to counter Gojo’s Infinity
True Form: Four arms and two mouths, allowing multiple simultaneous attacks

Best Feats

Defeating Gojo Satoru: Beat the strongest modern sorcerer in extended combat—detailed in our Gojo vs Sukuna analysis
Cutting through Infinity: His slash bypassed a technique that stops everything infinitely
Killing Mahoraga: Destroyed a Shikigami that adapts to any phenomenon
Fighting for 15+ chapters straight: Sustained combat against Gojo and others at maximum output
Surviving and regenerating from Mahoraga’s attacks: Healed from wounds that would kill any other sorcerer
One-shotting Jogo: Casually killed a Special Grade that threatened cities

Sukuna’s reputation as “the strongest” is backed by feats against the most powerful beings in Jujutsu Kaisen. See our Sukuna vs Muzan breakdown for more analysis.

Battle Analysis

Speed

Edge: Escanor (at The One) / Sukuna (outside noon)

Speed in Seven Deadly Sins scales to “faster than a god can react.” At The One level, Escanor blitzed characters who could perceive lightning-speed attacks.

Sukuna’s speed lets him keep pace with Gojo and Mahoraga—both among the fastest in JJK. His reaction time is sufficient to fight multiple Special Grades simultaneously.

At The One, Escanor’s speed likely exceeds what he shows outside noon by multiple factors. Characters who could trade with him earlier become unable to perceive him.

However, Escanor’s speed is sun-dependent. Outside of noon, Sukuna is almost certainly faster. This creates a timed advantage—Escanor must end the fight quickly or lose his speed edge.

Strength/Attack Power

Edge: Escanor (at peak)

Cruel Sun is a miniature star. Solar temperatures exceed anything in the JJK universe. Escanor’s physical strikes in The One form overwhelmed the Demon King—a being whose power level was immeasurable by normal standards.

Sukuna’s attacks are devastating but operate on different principles. Cleave’s adaptive cutting is hax-based rather than raw force. His fire techniques are powerful but not star-level.

In terms of pure destructive output, The One Escanor likely exceeds Sukuna. He’s throwing around star-temperature attacks while Sukuna operates at building-to-city-block level destruction.

But raw power isn’t everything—if Cleave can bypass durability, it doesn’t matter if Escanor hits harder.

Durability

Edge: Escanor (at peak) / Sukuna (overall)

At The One, Escanor tanked Meliodas’s Full Counter—a technique that reflects attacks at greater power than they were delivered. His durability at peak is essentially invulnerable by Seven Deadly Sins standards.

Sukuna’s durability is enhanced by Reverse Cursed Technique. He can regenerate from almost any injury. This isn’t conventional durability—it’s damage negation through healing.

In a single exchange, Escanor’s raw durability is higher. Across a longer fight, Sukuna’s regeneration lets him “tank” more total damage by healing it.

The time factor matters here. Escanor’s durability has a time limit. Sukuna’s regeneration doesn’t. If Sukuna can survive The One’s duration, Escanor’s durability drops dramatically.

Special Abilities/Hax

Edge: Sukuna

This is where the matchup gets complicated.

Escanor’s Hax:

Power scaling based on sun position
Heat that may bypass conventional durability
The One Ultimate that trades life for power
Conceptual burning (burned away a Commandment)

Sukuna’s Hax:

Cleave (adaptive cutting that always cuts through)
Malevolent Shrine (guaranteed-hit Domain)
Regeneration (heals any damage)
World-Cutting Slash (cuts space itself)

Sukuna’s techniques are designed to bypass durability. Cleave reads the target and adjusts to cut through them. Malevolent Shrine guarantees those cuts land.

The critical question: Can Cleave cut through The One’s defenses?

In JJK, Cleave has cut through everything it’s been used against—including Infinity (through the World-Cutting Slash evolution). If we assume Cleave works as intended cross-series, it should cut Escanor regardless of his durability.

However, Escanor’s Sunshine has conceptual properties. It burned away a Commandment—a curse affecting reality itself. If Sunshine’s heat can burn away conceptual abilities, it might negate Cleave’s adaptive properties.

This interaction is speculative, but it determines the fight.

The Time Factor

Escanor's power graph — Escanor’s power graph

This fight has a critical variable: when does it take place?

At Dawn (6:00 AM): Escanor is weak. Sukuna stomps.

At Morning (9:00 AM): Escanor is strong but not overwhelming. Competitive fight, probably Sukuna.

At 11:00 AM: Escanor is extremely powerful. Close fight.

At 11:59 AM – 12:01 PM: The One. Escanor is at absolute peak.

At Afternoon (1:00 PM onward): Escanor is declining. Balance shifts back to Sukuna.

If Escanor gets to fight at exactly noon, he’s at maximum advantage. If Sukuna can stall until Escanor weakens, Sukuna gains massive advantage.

This creates an interesting dynamic: Escanor wants a fast fight at noon. Sukuna wants to survive until Escanor weakens.

Battle Scenario

The One Escanor vs Sukuna (Noon)

Escanor enters The One. For one minute, he is at absolute peak.

He immediately creates Cruel Sun and throws it at Sukuna. The miniature star crosses the distance faster than most beings can perceive.

Sukuna activates Malevolent Shrine. The barrierless Domain expands, filling the area with guaranteed Cleave attacks.

This is the critical moment: Does Cleave cut The One Escanor?

Scenario A: Cleave Works

Sukuna’s Cleave adapts to Escanor’s The One durability and cuts through. Multiple slashes land due to Domain’s guaranteed-hit nature. Escanor takes damage.

But Escanor doesn’t fall from one exchange. His durability at The One is immense, even if Cleave can technically cut through. He pushes through, wielding Divine Axe Rhitta.

The fight becomes a DPS race. Sukuna keeps cutting. Escanor keeps hitting with solar attacks. Both take massive damage.

The minute expires. Escanor begins weakening.

If Sukuna has survived the minute (he can regenerate), he wins the fight once Escanor declines. If Escanor has dealt fatal damage that exceeds Sukuna’s RCT during that minute, Escanor wins.

Given Sukuna’s regeneration and Escanor’s limited window, Sukuna likely wins Scenario A.

Scenario B: Cruel Sun Negates Cleave

Escanor’s Sunshine burns away techniques, similar to how it burned the Commandment. The solar heat negates Cleave’s adaptive properties.

Without Cleave’s hax, Sukuna must survive conventional solar attacks with regeneration alone. The One’s physical strikes and Cruel Sun’s temperature exceed what RCT can heal quickly.

Escanor overwhelms Sukuna during The One minute, dealing damage faster than regeneration can fix.

In this version, Escanor wins Scenario B.

The One Ultimate Escanor vs Sukuna

If Escanor uses The One Ultimate—sacrificing his life for unlimited time in The One—the calculus changes.

With no time limit, Escanor can simply outlast Sukuna’s regeneration. Every exchange he deals star-level damage. Eventually, Sukuna’s cursed energy for RCT runs out.

In The One Ultimate vs Sukuna, Escanor wins through attrition.

However, The One Ultimate kills Escanor regardless of outcome. It’s a mutual destruction scenario.

The Verdict: Who Wins?

Winner: Depends on interpretation

This fight hinges on cross-series mechanics that have no canon answer.

If Cleave’s Adaptive Cutting Works Against Sunshine:

Winner: Sukuna

Sukuna can damage Escanor even in The One through Cleave and Malevolent Shrine. His regeneration lets him survive Escanor’s attacks during the crucial minute. Once Escanor weakens, Sukuna finishes him.

This interpretation favors hax-based abilities that are designed to bypass durability.

If Sunshine’s Heat Negates/Burns Cleave:

Winner: Escanor (at noon)

Escanor’s solar temperatures exceed anything in JJK. His attacks deal damage faster than Sukuna can regenerate. The One’s power level simply exceeds what Sukuna can handle conventionally.

This interpretation favors raw power that exceeds the target verse’s ceiling.

Most Likely Outcome:

Winner: Sukuna (but close)

Taking both series at face value:

Cleave is designed to cut anything by adapting
Escanor’s conceptual burning is rare and situational
Sukuna’s regeneration is more consistent than Escanor’s time-limited power

In a random encounter at random time, Sukuna’s consistency beats Escanor’s noon-dependent power. Even at noon, Sukuna’s hax are specifically designed to bypass “too strong to cut” beings.

Sukuna wins 6/10 fights accounting for timing variance.

At exactly noon with The One, Escanor wins 5/10 through sheer overwhelming force.

With The One Ultimate, Escanor wins 8/10 but dies regardless.

Scenario Breakdown:

Random Encounter:

Winner: Sukuna

Most times aren’t noon. Escanor at sub-peak loses.

Both at Peak, Noon:

Winner: Toss-up (slight edge Sukuna)

Cleave vs The One is genuinely unclear. Depends on which mechanic gets priority.

Extended Battle:

Winner: Sukuna

Regeneration sustains him. The One expires. Escanor weakens and loses.

Final Thoughts

Escanor versus Sukuna is a battle between the highest highs and consistent excellence. Escanor at noon might be the strongest character in either series—but he only has that power for one minute. Sukuna is always at his peak whenever he fights.

Both characters embody overwhelming pride. Both look down on their opponents with absolute certainty of their superiority. In their own series, that pride is justified.

But in a crossover, only one can be right. And the King of Curses, with his adaptive techniques, regeneration, and constant power, edges out the Lion’s Sin who needs the sun to shine.

Escanor’s response would be predictable: “Who decided that?”

Sukuna’s would be equally in character: “Know your place.”

Two kings. One throne. The King of Curses takes it—unless it’s exactly noon, in which case, bet on the sun.