He was a cursed spirit born from hatred.
Summary:
- Mahito is one of the most controversial antagonists in JJK.
- It’s simply in his nature to hurt people.
- His existence shows how much negative emotions can hurt others.
In Jujutsu Kaisen, Mahito has been one of the most popular villains among the entire fandom. He has his fair share of fans — who like him for his personality and charisma — and a fair share of haters who hate him for being evil and wicked.
In fact, Mahito’s character traits stem directly from who he is. Him being extremely evil makes perfect sense. This is an essential part of JJK’s symbolism — important not only to his arc, but to the themes of the series overall.
Mahito’s Origins, Explained
Mahito, just like most other antagonists in Jujutsu Kaisen, is a cursed spirit. Even among cursed spirits, though, he is an exception: he’s far more irrational than others, as well as far more sadistic.
That behavior makes him fun to watch for some, but infuriating for others. It’s hard to blame them, but his characterization is based on his own origins — which are somewhat unique.
In Jujutsu Kaisen, negative emotions are behind the entire power system. Of all the negative emotions, Mahito is born from the strongest of them all, hate itself. As such, him being so immature yet so sadistic makes perfect sense: he’s essentially the incarnation of humanity’s worst emotions.
Killing and Hurting Others Is Simply What Cursed Spirits Do
That said, it’s really hard to blame Mahito for what he does. It’s easy to hate him, but it’s in his nature as a cursed spirit. He hurts people because of who he is, and he’s this way because of who he is.
It’s in Mahito’s nature to hurt humans, just how it is in humans’ nature to protect others from cursed spirits. That’s the point of his character, and that’s why he says he’s the same as Yuji: they’re both simply doing what is in their nature.
It’s just that cursed spirits like him are inherently evil, and there’s nothing you can do with it. It’s impossible to judge them by human morals.
Mahito’s Thematic Relevance to the Story
Mahito might not be the most complex character in Jujutsu Kaisen, but he’s among the more memorable ones. It’s easy to hate him because of how evil he is — especially because he killed some fan-favorite characters — but it’s hard to deny that he’s simply been doing what curses spirits do.
It’s his entire purpose in life to hurt others, and the symbolism is really simple. Negative emotions, especially hatred, hurt people — and Mahito is an embodiment of them.