It's important to note that there is no one tool that's best for every person or for every job. 

If you think that jQuery is the one tool to get things done, I can show you a hundred projects where it would have been the wrong choice, and can point out a hundred places where even if you are using jQ, you should be sticking to raw JS instead of some of the jQ methods. I can say likewise for pretty much all the tools on this list. 

The thing that separates a truly good programmer from the rest is that s/he knows the best tools, but more importantly s/he knows when to use them, and when not to. Nothing on this list is "essential"