Jujutsu Kaisen: Binding Vow, Explained
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Highlights
- The Binding Vow is a powerful cursed technique that can be created by anyone who can manipulate cursed energy, and it cannot be broken by even the most powerful beings.
- A Binding Vow can be made between oneself or with another person through a verbal agreement, and once it is made, it cannot be canceled or altered.
- Breaking a Binding Vow comes with severe repercussions, such as the loss of advantages gained from the vow or even bodily harm, making it a technique not to be taken lightly.
Although everybody in Jujutsu Kaisen has their own unique cursed technique, there are a couple of cursed techniques that everybody can do, such as Domain Expansion or Reverse Cursed Technique. And just like an innate technique, the intensity and effectiveness of these basic techniques depend on its users.
However, there is one particular cursed technique that is effective against everybody. Even the King of Curses, Ryomen Sukuna, can’t break this particular technique. It’s called the Binding Vow, and here’s everything you need to know about it.
What is A Binding Vow
In the simplest terms, a Binding Vow is a type of contract created using cursed energy. It doesn’t matter whether they are humans or cursed spirits, everybody who has the knowledge to manipulate cursed energy can create a binding vow. Furthermore, a binding vow doesn’t have to be made between two individuals, it can also be created with oneself, more on this in the subsequent section.
A binding vow doesn’t require any specific incantation or a unique manipulation of cursed energy. As a matter of fact, a binding vow is actually more akin to a verbal agreement, either with oneself or with another person. Sort of like a gentlemen’s agreement that cannot be broken. As soon as both parties agree on the details of the agreement, a binding vow is officially formed between them. It’s that simple. That is why as mentioned earlier, anybody who can manipulate their cured energy to some extent can form a binding vow.
Once a binding vow has been made, either with oneself or with others, it has to be respected. As for how long or how complicated a binding vow should be, it all depends on the contract itself. That is why it is extremely important for everybody involved in a binding vow to fully understand every little detail of the contract. Because once a binding vow has been made, it cannot be canceled nor altered in any way. Furthermore, anybody who tries to get away from a binding vow will receive a repercussion. That is why even the most cunning person in the story (such as Sukuna and Pseudo-Geto) doesn’t want to mess with a binding vow.
A Binding Vow With Oneself
The first kind of binding vow is a binding vow with oneself. If a binding vow between two individuals is akin to an unbroken gentlemen’s agreement, then a binding vow to oneself is like making a promise to yourself, but with some serious repercussions. A binding vow with oneself is usually made in order to gain extra power. However, that extra oomph comes at the expense of something else.
The most common form of a one-person binding vow is to deliberately put some kind of limitations on themselves, or their cursed techniques, in order to obtain a greater power. The kind of limitations and the sort of advantages gained are entirely up to each individual.
Generally speaking, the more restrictive the limitations are, the greater the extra power that they will receive. As for the repercussions for breaking the binding vow, well, it is actually much more lenient than a binding vow made with other persons. Those who break their own binding vow will simply lose the advantage that they enjoy thanks to that binding vow. For example, if the binding vow grants them a 10% increase in cursed energy output, breaking it will take away that 10% from them.
The most common form of a binding vow with oneself is divulging some of the details of their cursed technique. By purposely telling their opponent what their cursed technique will do, their cursed energy output will have an extra oomph. Many jujutsu sorcerers do this kind of simple binding vows, such as Aoi Todo, Nanami, and even Satoru Gojo to some extent.
Speaking of Nanami, he also has a much stronger binding vow with himself in the form of something called “Overtime”. During regular work hours, Nanami can only access about 80-90% of his cursed energy. But once he has to work overtime, his cursed energy will drastically increase to around 110-120% of the normal amount.
A Binding Vow With Others
As mentioned earlier, a binding vow between two individuals who can use cursed energy is akin to a verbal contract that has to be abided by everybody involved. A binding vow can even be made between a jujutsu sorcerer and a cursed spirit, as long as both parties agree to form the contract. After all, one party cannot force the other party to enter a binding vow. Both have to mutually agree to enter the vow for the binding vow to take effect.
The key point in making a binding vow with another person is mutual interest. Both parties have to gain something from the vow. One side cannot reap more benefits than the other side. As to what is considered advantageous terms, it depends on each party involved. Because even if the terms of the contract seem imbalanced to other people, as long as both parties agree to it, then the binding vow will activate.
A binding vow between two people is much more restrictive than a binding vow with oneself. Anybody who purposely tries to break the contract will receive a severe punishment. What makes it dangerous is the fact that even the parties involved in the creation of the binding vow don’t know what kind of repercussions they will receive. It can be anything from bodily harm to the loss of cursed energy, to something else entirely. That is why even Sukuna has to honor a binding vow.
There are a couple of examples of a binding vow between two individuals in the series. The most notable one is a binding vow between Mahito and Mechamaru. In exchange for providing Mahito with information about Jujutsu High, Mahito will cure Mechamaru’s illness with his Idle Transfiguration technique. Another important binding vow in the series is between Sukuna and Yuji Itadori. In exchange for bringing Yuji back to life, Sukuna will be able to fully use Yuji’s body for one minute whenever he utters the word “Enchain”.
A Binding Vow may be less flashy than the other cursed energy techniques like Domain Expansion or Reversed Cursed Technique. However, from what has been discussed above, this is without a doubt one of the most versatile techniques in every cursed energy user’s arsenal.
Jujutsu Kaisen is available to stream on Crunchyroll.
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