Could Jujutsu Kaisen’s Mahoraga Defeat Solo Leveling Season 2’s Jinwoo?

Jujutsu Kaisen and Solo Leveling have each become exceptionally popular anime with audiences particularly adoring how they both handle their fights. One of the most imposing characters in Jujutsu Kaisen, Mahoraga, is a nearly undefeatable and constantly evolving shikigami that exists as the apex of Megumi Fushiguro’s Ten Shadows technique, while Jinwoo is the protagonist of Solo Leveling and the strongest S-ranked hunter as of Season 2. So the real question is, who would win if the S-ranked hunter had to face off against the uncanny shikigami? Both characters have access to insanely powerful techniques and have extraordinary showings, and crucially, are both highly adaptable in their respective anime. Jinwoo recently defeated Beru, a beast in a class of its own, while every other S-ranked hunter involved in the situation paled in comparison. On the opposite end, Mahoraga was shown to be able to go toe-to-toe in one of the best onscreen battles in JJK as he faced off against the King of Curses, Sukuna himself.

Both combatants have amazingly diverse and constantly evolving skill sets to such an extent that a debate could be made that both have almost identical powers. Mahoraga is close to undefeatable and has been shown to only really be able to be put down by a single strike that eradicates the beast. Jinwoo, on the other hand, has shown off his speed and adaptability and has earned an upgraded slashing-based ability. At the end of the day, this hypothetical battle would come down to whether or not Jinwoo could eradicate Mahoraga before the shadow adapted to all of his most deadly abilities.

Eight-Handled Sword Divergent Sila Divine General Mahoraga Would Be a Great Opponent for Jinwoo

Mahoraga is shown and referenced as the ace shikigami among the Zenin clan’s 10 Shadows Technique and has abilities that reflect the pinnacle of Jujutsu Sorcery. The shikigami is summoned with an eight-handled wheel and has the Sword of Extermination on his right arm. The sword itself is a cursed tool exclusive to the shikigami, which is the perfect curse-exterminating weapon. It is coated in reverse cursed energy, which would notably slice through and eradicate beings made of cursed energy. Additionally, the eight-handled wheel is a tool that floats above Mahoraga’s head and rotates as the shikigami adapts to different inputs. The wheel is integral in Mahoraga’s adaptations and is what makes the beast so formidable in combat, as it allows it to become immune and formulate attacks to perfectly strike down any enemy. On top of these two tools, Mahoraga is also a large and powerful imposing figure, shown to be capable of facing off in hand-to-hand combat against the strongest characters in Jujutsu Kaisen.

In dissecting Mahoraga’s battles, we can see that the Divine General adapts at a rapid speed and often, after coming into contact with an ability, will almost immediately have a counter for it. We see that Mahoraga was able to perceive the invisible slashes from Sukuna’s Cleave and Dismantle. In addition to being able to quickly notice the slashes after having been hit once, Mahoraga also begins to become resistant to the slashes, and after a certain level of adaptation, he begins to heal from the previous damage. During his fight with Gojo, Mahoraga takes a substantially longer time adapting to Infinity. However, we realize that Mahoraga is constantly adapting, firstly being able to cancel out Infinity on physical contact, then being able to target the space in which Gojo exists rather than Gojo himself, eventually bypassing Infinity remotely. In both instances, Mahoraga is only able to be defeated when he is destroyed by immensely powerful attacks that were being used for the first time, being the “Fuga” portion of Sukuna’s domain and Gojo’s Hollow Purple.

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Would the System Be Enough to Protect Jinwoo?

Jinwoo is an undeniable powerhouse, and by the end of Season 2, it has become clear that there are no hunters left in the association that could match him in raw power. His abilities are vast and ever-evolving, as he has the ability to train and level up as if his abilities were stats in a video game. He also has access to a vast inventory of items and weapons, and some of his most impressive and diverse abilities fall under the Shadow army he controls. As Jinwoo grows throughout the series, so does his army. He ends up with a handful of incredibly powerful and versatile summons after having defeated them. His army is full of formidable fighters, and he is more than competent in combat, able to perform assassination techniques on those weaker than himself, and able to compete with the likes of Beru during the Jeju Island Raid.

During Season 2, we got some of Jinwoo’s best combat feats, specifically his fight against the Demon King and Beru. The fight with the Demon King is part of what aided Jinwoo in developing his army further and acquiring the Holy Water of Life but it was one of the few battles where the audience sees Jinwoo struggle. This is the first instance of a fight in which Jinwoo struggles to finish the fight in a single shot due to the foe’s durability. After this showdown, we get to see Jinwoo fight Beru as the final fight of the season, where Jinwoo shows that he is leagues above the other S-ranked heroes involved. During this fight, he unlocked the mutilate ability, which is a dagger-based slashing ability that guarantees critical hits. With this ability, he can finally defeat Beru by drowning the ant in critical slashes.

The Hypothetical Showdown Would Be a Showstopper

The meat of this conversation comes down to whether or not Jinwoo, as of Season 2, can defeat Mahoraga before the shikigami fully adapts to his skillset and lands a finishing blow. A point leaning towards Jinwoo would be his absolute kit of abilities, including intense speed, strength, and his myriad of magical powers within his shadow army. At the end of Season 2, most of the army would most likely not pack enough punch to destroy Mahoraga before he could adapt to their simple slashes, punches, and magic. This means that the fight would boil down to Mahhoraga facing off against Jinwoo, Igris, and Beru.

All of these characters have potent attack strength and could deal considerable damage to the shikigami. However, their weakness begins to shine with the realization that all three of them lack attacks with the potency to destroy Mahoraga in one attack. A debate can be made that Beru’s outright striking strength is enough to destroy the shikigami, but we have seen Mahoraga tank direct attacks from a black flash amped Gojo, so it is a definite toss-up on whether or not a simple strike will ever be damaging enough to fell the beast.

Mahoraga would also struggle early on in this battle as he would have to take time to adapt to all of Jinwoo’s defenses before being able to fully defeat the hunter. On top of all of this, the straight-up showdown between the two would show that there is no genuine damage that Jinwoo can do fast enough to destroy Mahoraga. Jinwoo’s final attack, which acted as the nail in the coffin for Beru, was his Mutilation, which, for all intents and purposes, is incredibly similar to Sukuna’s Cleave and Dismantle, which Mahoraga was able to adapt to rapidly during their fight. Given both combatants’ ability to evolve during the fight, it would undoubtedly be interesting and entertaining, but by the end of Season 2, Jinwoo still simply does not have enough power to outright destroy the ace of the Ten Shadows before it could adapt to anything he might throw at it.