Mahoraga's best use in Jujutsu Kaisen may not have been fully explored

Modified Jan 22, 2025 13:30 GMT

Jujutsu Kaisen never explored Mahoraga's potential (Image via MAPPA).

Jujutsu Kaisen has received criticism since the manga's conclusion for not exploring a lot of different characters and concepts, but perhaps one that is not discussed enough is Mahoraga. While there are debates regarding whether this Shikigami counts more as a technique or a character, the objective truth is that his potential and best use were never shown in the story.

It is worth pointing out that the final Jujutsu Kaisen arc in the manga, Shinjuku Showdown, featured Ryomen Sukuna being the main focus of the story and relying greatly on the Binding Vow element. Therefore, when taking into account that he also had Mahoraga at his disposal when in control of Megumi Fushiguro's body, there is an argument to be made that the King of Curses could have used him to bypass the Binding Vow demands.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the series. Any opinion expressed here belongs to the author and not Sportskeeda as a publication.

Explaining how the Mahoraga user could use him to bypass the Binding Vow demands in Jujutsu Kaisen

Sukuna could have gotten more out of Mahoraga (Image via MAPPA).

It is quite clear that Sukuna got a lot out of two variables during the Shinjuku Showdown arc, the Binding Vow and Mahoraga, which makes it even more ironic that he never thought of using the two of them together. There is an argument to be made that this Shikigami is a technique and, therefore, cannot make a Binding Vow, but if he counts as a person, then the possibilities are quite notorious.

The series made it clear that a sorcerer could make a Binding Vow, which is getting a specific ability, power-up, and so on while giving something away, thus balancing the trade. Therefore, Sukuna, or any other user who manages to tame Mahoraga, could have the Shikigami make a Binding Vow and adapt to the cost, thus avoiding it altogether.

It has been established that Mahoraga can adapt to any phenomena, so if he counts as a sorcerer, then there is no real reason why he wouldn't be able to adapt to the costs of a Binding Vow and skipping them without any major issues. This would mean that he can get all the benefits without any of the downsides, which is probably why author Gege Akutami didn't go for this since it would have made Mahoraga extremely powerful.

More details about this

Mahoraga had a star performance during the Gojo vs. Sukuna fight (Image via MAPPA and Shueisha).

Perhaps one of the biggest issues with this Jujutsu Kaisen theory is that Mahoraga might need to have a degree of rationality to be able to execute a Binding Vow. While the Shikigami has proven to have massive strength and endurance, his capacity to adapt was mostly focused on dealing with attacks that could hurt him and not abstract concepts such as this.

When considering all the different Binding Vows Sukuna made during the Shinjuku Showdown arc, it requires a degree of thinking that this creature might not have. This is perhaps the biggest obstacle because it would mean that he simply cannot execute this and would explain perhaps why he didn't do it in the manga.

Final thoughts

Mahoraga is one of the most unique and fascinating concepts in Jujutsu Kaisen, hence why a lot of fans have come up with theories of how far his potential can go. When it comes to Binding Vows, there is an argument to be made that this is the best way to use this creature, and the story never explored it.

Related articles:

Edited by Somava