What Happens When A Binding Vow Is Broken?

When it comes to Jujutsu Kaisen, many people only pay attention to flashy abilities like Innate Cursed Techniques or Domain Expansion. But the world of Jujutsu is so much richer than that. There are lots of other techniques that a proper Jujutsu Sorcerer can add to their arsenal, such as barrier techniques, Reverse Cursed Techniques, shikigami, and various offensive techniques like Black Flash or fighting with Cursed Tools.

This article will focus on one such technique. One that centers around Cursed Restriction. This technique is called a Binding Vow, and it has been used numerous times throughout the series. So let’s talk about what a binding vow actually means, some examples of binding vows, and most importantly, what happens when a binding vow is broken.

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What is a Binding Vow?

Before we dig deeper into everything related to a binding vow, let’s talk about what it is first. What a binding vow can do, what does it mean to engage in a binding vow, how to activate the binding vow, and how many types of binding vows are there?

An Unbreakable Contract

In the simplest terms, a binding vow is a contract made and enforced by jujutsu sorcery. In a binding vow between two parties, both sides negotiate their terms, and once they agree, the contract takes effect immediately. The binding vow will remain active until both parties fulfill their end of the bargain. Once a binding vow is in full effect, it cannot be terminated until the condition of the contract has been fulfilled.

Two Types of Binding Vows

There are two types of binding vows, one that you make with other people and one that you make with yourself. The dynamic of a binding vow between two parties is similar to a regular contract, as described in the previous section. A binding vow made to oneself, however, is a lot more interesting. This type of binding vow exists to boost the user’s power or to achieve certain results that they wouldn’t be able to achieve with a normal method.

Examples of Binding Vows

Now that we are on the same page about what a binding vow means, it’s time to showcase some of the biggest examples of binding vows that have appeared in the series. Since there are quite a decent number of binding vows in Jujutsu Kaisen, this section will provide examples for both types of this unique contract.

A Binding Vow with Oneself

As mentioned earlier, the main purpose of a binding vow made with oneself is to boost the user’s cursed ability. This usually entails sacrificing or limiting something in order to increase certain desirable effects of the user’s ability. The most common binding vow is revealing one’s ability to opponents. With this kind of binding vow, the more you reveal the inner workings of your cursed technique, the stronger your cursed technique will be.

Nanami is one of the biggest examples of this particular binding vow. He purposely explains his Ratio Technique to the enemy in order to increase the effectiveness of his cursed technique. On top of that, he also added another layer of binding vow by only allowing himself to use 80-90% of his power during regular working hours. Thanks to this, the second he enters “Overtime” he can access 110-120% of his power.

A Binding Vow with Others

The binding vows between the two parties happened for all sorts of reasons in the series. Ryomen Sukuna uses a binding vow to revive Yuji in exchange for taking over his body for a minute whenever he says the keyword “Enchain.” Another transaction-based binding vow happened between Mahito and Mechamaru. In exchange for Mechamaru sharing valuable information with them, Mahito promises to heal Mechamaru’s body and turn him into a normal human.

There’s also a one-sided binding vow, such as that time when the higher-ups in the Jujutsu World put a binding vow that forced Yuta to kill Yuji. If he fails to do that task, Yuta will forfeit his life. Although it seems overwhelmingly disadvantageous to Yuta, this kind of binding vow is still valid as long as Yuta willingly agrees to it, which he did.

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What Happens When a Binding Vow is Broken?

So, what happens when a binding vow is broken? What happens if one party breaks the vow? What happens if both parties break the vow? What happens if somebody breaks the vow that they made to themselves?

Breaking a Binding Vow with Oneself

First of all, it’s important to note that breaking any kind of binding vow will incur some sort of repercussions. That being said, compared to a binding vow made with others, the punishment for breaking a binding vow with oneself is a lot more forgiving.

As explained earlier, the purpose of this type of binding vow is to boost one’s cursed technique. According to Kenjaku, the most common effect of breaking a binding vow with oneself is simply losing the boosted effect that the user would’ve gained by using a binding vow.

Using the example from the previous section, if Nanami breaks the binding vow by not revealing his Ratio Technique to the enemy, he simply can’t enjoy the additional power that he could’ve used had he explained his technique.

Breaking a Binding Vow with Others

Breaking a binding vow with others, on the other hand, will incur a much more severe punishment. What makes it so dangerous is the fact that nobody knows what kind of price they have to pay for breaking this type of binding vow. All they know is that it will be cruel and deadly.

The unknown nature of the penalty is one of the main reasons why everybody takes this type of binding vow seriously. After all, when it comes to a contract made and enforced by jujutsu sorcery, nobody wants to “mess around and find out”. For all they know, they can slowly and painfully transform into a hideous cursed spirit the moment they break the vow.

Think of it this way, Kenjaku is the mastermind behind almost every bad thing that happens in the series. But even this evil sorcerous refused to play around with a binding vow. That’s why we can say with absolute certainty that every sorcerer and cursed spirit respects a binding vow.

Jujutsu Kaisen is available to stream on Crunchyroll.

Jujutsu Kaisen

Release Date

October 3, 2020