What are Shikigami in Jujutsu Kaisen? Explained

In Jujutsu Kaisen, there are many tools that a sorcerer uses in their day-to-day life of curse hunting. Among them is the Shikigami, a unique kind of Curse technique that may be difficult for viewers of Jujutsu Kaisen to grasp the first time around.

As mentioned earlier, Shikigami is a curse technique used by sorcerers like Megumi and Junpei to summon constructs to fight. Some are more monstrous, others are more animal-like, but they all function for the same purpose - a sorcerer summons them to fight alongside them.

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What’s up with the Shikigami in Jujutsu Kaisen?

Megumi summoning the Shikigami Max Elephant. (Image via Studio MAPPA)

Shikigami materializes through summoning, often done via an intermediary, such as a talisman. They don’t fade away until the summoner either releases their technique or the Shikigami falls in battle. This means that they are a reliable way to support more direct sorcerers. The staff of Jujutsu High utilizes them in this way.

Another character who utilizes them is Megumi Fushigoro, who summons them utilizing his shadow as an intermediary. He’s able to summon a number of unique animal Shikigama, such as his Divine Dogs, the standard summons available to him. Over time, Megumi gains access to other useful Shikigama.

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Megumi's Other Shikigami

Mahogara is the most powerful of the Ten Shadows Technique. (Image via Gege Akutami)

While the most basic of Megumi’s Ten Shadows Technique is the Divine Dogs, there’s a variety of useful ones he can summon. There’s Max Elephant, an elephant that can spray water from its trunk in large amounts. Another one is Toad which lets Megumi grab targets from afar. Meanwhile, Rabbit Escape makes a useful distraction. However, they all pale in comparison to the apex Shikigami this technique can summon.

Eight-Handled Sword Divergent Sila Divine General Mahogara is an incredibly powerful and adaptable Shikigami. It is undoubtedly the most powerful that can be called through the Ten Shadows Technique in Jujutsu Kaisen. However, no user of the technique has ever been able to command it. Megumi summons it as a last resort, which fatally injures him, but he recovers through Sukuna’s help.

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Other Shikigami users in Jujutsu Kaisen

Junpei summoning his Shikigami, Moon Dregs. (Image via Studio MAPPA)

Junpei is another powerful Shikigami user, who uses it to horrifying effect with his familiar Moon Dregs. This jellyfish is exceptionally strong - those who can’t see it simply become convinced Junpei has telekinetic powers, able to poison them at a range with its deadly stingers. So like Megumi, Junpei relies on his Shikigami summon to do most of his combat.

This was ultimately set into play through Mahito, who manipulated Junpei into becoming a powerful curse user. Shikigami can be scarily effective against unwitting civilians, as Moon Dregs proves - though against a more competent sorcerer like Yuji, it likely could’ve used improvement. Jujutsu Kaisen’s version of familiars is comparable on some level to Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures' stands.

Some Shikigami, like Mahogara, are so powerful that even experienced sorcerers like Sukuna will struggle against them. Some users of it are heroic, some are villainous. It’s just another tool that sorcerers can use to fight curses and empower themselves.