Side Character Spiral: Mahito
When pure evil doesn't look so evil after all. Even though it's pure evil.
I’m definitely drawn to villains. They’re the most fun to analyze and as we (me?) all know, I will spiral away hours exploring why a character acts the way they do, desperate for some kind of character development revelation.
That said, I was definitely surprised when I was planning to cosplay as Mahito, from Jujutsu Kaisen, at 2023 New York Comic Con. I never actually did, because it was too much work, but if I was ever going to dress up, it was going to be him.
How did I get there? Honestly, no clue.
Character of the Day: Mahito, Jujutsu Kaisen
Major Jujutsu Kaisen spoilers ahead.
For most characters I become obsessed with, I totally get why. Boromir? Easy. Genya? cakewalk. Jar Jar Binks? No comment. But Mahito is one awful dude and yet he is in my manga character hall of fame, and by hall of fame, I mean I bought a cheap plastic figure of him.
Which takes a lot. I don’t have a lot of shelf space.
Mahito is evil. He’s a cursed spirit, which is essentially just a jazzed-up demon. He is the embodiment of humanity’s fear of itself, people’s fear of other people, and he is part of a small enclave of other bad guys trying to destroy all humans. Sounds like a great dude, yeah?
What makes him even worse is his special power. He literally destroys humans. And by destroy I mean he physically morphs them into walking sacs of misery, grotesque and macabre, the worst kind of body horror imaginable. He does it really early—perhaps even unexpectedly—to a character that Jujutsu Kaisen protagonist Yuji takes a liking to, a young man named Junpei, who is such an endearing character. Before we can even get to know the guy, Mahito has destroyed his entire life and, not long after, Junpei himself.
Mahito even kills two of my favorite characters: Kento and Nobara. I am so angry even writing that they’re dead.
But yet I love Mahito. What is wrong with me.
Amidst all of his horrible antics, Mahito shows one consistent trait, and one consistent belief. The trait: he’s legit nuts. The belief: he yearns to be human.
The trait is expendable, but still enjoyable. When he’s getting beat up, he’s laughing. He loves a challenge, and he revels in the monster that he is. Essentially: Self-awareness.
The belief is unique-ish. He wants all cursed spirits—AKA, him and his enclave of demon-ish fellas—to replace humans. Essentially: He wants to be something he can’t be. Essentially 2.0: He aspires to be more. And to spiral from there, the most important lynchpin in why I think I’m obsessed with him: he never had a choice to be anything other than what he is.
Mahito was dealt a bum hand. A bit of necessary explanation, bear with me. Cursed spirits manifest from the fears of humanity. It’s a great concept. So the things that are feared the most: fire, water, earthquakes—they become bigger, stronger cursed spirits. They are humanoid, relatable enough in looks, but they bear such hatred towards humanity and if you really explore the psyche of why, it makes total sense. They exist because of humanity’s weaknesses. They think they can be better humans than actual humans. And who’s to say they couldn’t, if given the chance?
For Mahito, the manifestation of humanity’s fear of itself, that is doubly important. He exists because people fear themselves. Can you blame him for thinking he would be a better human than humans are? There are a few ways you can answer that, but one in particular I want to highlight, and it’s in the form of another question—but does he have to be so cruel?
You’re right, he doesn’t. But why would he go out of his way to be better when he’s born of humanity’s fear of itself. As an actor might say, “what’s my inspiration?” It’s unrealistic to think that the literal manifestation of humanity’s fear of itself would suddenly decide to be better towards humanity. To be altruistic when he exists because they suck. His perspective. Also sort of mine.
Which circles around to the most important question you can ever ask a villain, or any character that skews towards the bad side—can you blame them?
I don’t care how you frame it, you cannot blame Mahito for who he is. And, to be fair, there are plenty of villains like that in manga and beyond, but for Mahito, what really stands out is the depths of his depravity and the lengths this story goes to make him unforgivable—did I mention he killed Kento and Nobara?—while still couched in that all-important question of, well, can you blame him?
Jujutsu Kaisen uses Mahito to stretch that question as far as it will go. Which, turns out, is pretty far. Making him such a useful tool of craft, knowing that you can have characters do really, really awful things, but as long as you give them enough justification to navigate the whole blame-game question, you’ve still got someone that readers will understand.
That said, I know plenty of people who hate Mahito. They despise him for his cruelty, both generalized for all the anonymous humans he kills, and specifically for the fan-favorite morally good characters he kills.
But that brings me back to the major takeaway. You don’t have to make a villain likable. You just have to make sure their motivation makes sense.
