Rika

''This article is about the cursed spirit connected to Yuta Okkotsu's cursed technique. For the human turned vengeful curse, see Rika Orimoto.''

Rika (りカ) is a character in the Jujutsu Kaisen series. She is the cursed spirit that remains with Yuta Okkotsu even after Rika Orimoto's soul was unbound from it. Orimoto bequeathed the last vestiges of her will to the cursed spirit, symbolizing a manifestation of her love that she left behind to protect Yuta.

Appearance
Rika resembles her time as Orimoto's vengeful spirit but she has several new distinguishing characteristics that are more refined than before. Rika can partially manifest white skull-shaped head with horizontal lines going down it, no eyes, and long teeth. Most of her body is made up of a black mass but she also has two muscular human-like arms with black fingernails that are trimmed and more kept than in the past.

In her complete manifestation form, Rika's resemblance to her time with Orimoto her almost identical. Now she has long white hair instead of the grotesque tentacles that protruded the back of her head. Her upper body is more muscular and her torso doesn't show as much bone around the rib area. Like before, Rika's bottom half is a black mass in the shape of a tail. When Rika goes beyond her limits, a single eye opens between the eyes on her head, in the same fashion it appeared when Orimoto released her limits against Geto.

Personality
Due to the circumstances revolving around her creation, Rika does not have a strong individual ego like Mahito or Jogo. Compared to Naoya Zenin's vengeful spirit, Rika's retention of Orimoto's personality is minor.

Rika inherited the last remnants of Orimoto's will and exists to protect Yuta. She communicates with short, direct statements and questions, or by simplying stating Yuta's name.

Rika is far less volatile than when she was Orimoto's vengeful spirit and is now completely cooperative with Yuta at all times. She will sometimes manifest without being ordered to do so, but only in cases where Yuta could be in danger. In such cases, Rika acts calmly and concisely, but tends to go overboard. When a curse attempted to attack Yuta from behind, Rika splattered it across the side of a building. Yuta was protecting a small child and covered their eyes from the scene, telling Rika not to overdo it. When Yuta was fighting Yuji Itadori, Rika appeared after his katana was broken and restrained Yuji while asking what was going on.

While Rika always acts in Yuta's best interest and will always prioritize protecting him, she will follow his orders above all else. Yuta relied on Rika to protect the civilians in the Sendai Colony while he fought with Culling Game players. Despite Yuta being injured several times throughout the battle royale, Rika didn't leave her post until she was explicitly summoned to his side.

Rika acts on Yuta's accord during battle and never becomes overly aggressive, but she can be angered. When she blocked one of Ryu Ishigori's energy blasts, Rika expressed that it hurt and took her anger out on Ryu with a powerful punch. When she was locked out of the triple domain expansion involving the three sorcerers, Rika couldn't accept being unable to help him and instinctively ramped her power up a notch.

Powers & Abilities
Overall Skill Level: Rika is no longer a vengeful spirit tethered to Orimoto's soul, but she remains an immensely powerful curse and an entity that was once dubbed the Queen of Curses. Rika's complete manifestation possesses an identical skillset and boasts an incredible volume of cursed energy shared between her and Yuta. Even while only partially manifested, Rika acts on Yuta's accord and aids him with highly dynamic physical prowess. She made short work of a large cursed spirit that survived a hit from Yuta and effortlessly restained Yuji Itadori.

In Sendai during the Culling Game, it is implied that Rika played a role in the effortless dispatching of Dhruv Lakdawalla and the copying of his cursed technique. She helped drive away a large swarm of Kurourushi's cockroaches that were infused with cursed energy. After being commanded to "give me everything" by Yuta, Rika aided him in evening the odds to fight Ryu Ishigori and Takako Uro, two extraordinarily talented sorcerers. Rika landed several direct hits on both sorcerers while working perfectly in tandem with Yuta, directly displaying their improved teamwork and his mastery over her abilities. For example, Yuta was aware Uro could redirect his attacks, so he used Rika as a diversion to activate cursed speech, immobilizing Uro so both he and Rika could pummel her while she was defenseless.

Driven by her protectiveness over Yuta, Rika amplified her power even further during the climax of the battle and her partnership with Yuta ultimately prevailed. Yuta indirectly caused Uro to lose her arm, which Rika devoured, allowing Yuta to copy Uro's innate technique. Copying Uro's ability to manipulate space is what protected Yuta from a potential fight-ending Granite Blast from Ryu. Additionally, it created an opening for Rika to counterattack, which served as a diversion for Yuta to redirect Ryu's blast back down on him. Rika was taken out of the fight before Ryu was defeated but the blast was redirected back down on him thanks to her efforts.

Immense Strength: While only partially manifested, Rika is strong enough to knock down part of a large bridge with a single punch. Her first punched a large hole through the bridge and created enough debris to deter a swarm of cursed cockroaches that were in pursuit of civilians. Yuji Itadori, who boasts superhuman strength, was wholly immobilized by Rika's partially manifested form. Rika's first hit on Ryu Ishigori sent him flying and another hit she landed later in the fight busted him open, causing the highly reinforced sorcerer to bleed from the head.

Immense Durability: Ryu noted that Rika is even tougher than Yuta himself, who's defense he compares to knocking on a large tank of water. Rika blocked one of Ryu's cursed energy blasts with a single hand and only suffered a burn. Ryu also knocked her several meters away with a punch, but she was able to shake that off without significant injury as well. A full powered punch reinforced with Ryu's explosive cursed energy output was enough to injure Rika even while fully manifested, and while it defeated her, she disappeared without being explicitly exorcised.

Battles & Events
Itadori's Extermination Arc
 * Yuta Okkotsu vs. Cursed Spirit
 * Yuji Itadori vs. Yuta Okkotsu

Culling Game Arc
 * Culling Game
 * Yuta Okkotsu vs. Takako Uro vs. Ryu Ishigori