Four Knights of the Apocalypse (Group)


 * For the manga series, see Four Knights of the Apocalypse

"Famine. Pestilence. War. Death. Four Holy Knights of four great disasters who will destroy the world."

- Lancelot explaining the Four Knights' prophecy to Percival and Donny.



The are a group of four Holy Knights prophesized to appear and bring destruction to the world, as well as lead King Arthur of Camelot to his doom.

They are the central, eponymous focus of the sequel manga to the Nanatsu no Taizai series.

Overview
The Four Knights of the Apocalypse, as their name indicates, are said to be an order of just four knights, who each possess unique powers and are foretold to emerge in the not-so-distant future.

It is prophesized that they will destroy the world itself after they appear — by bringing upon four different calamities — and are destined to bring Camelot's king, Arthur Pendragon, to his ruin. Hence, Camelot's Holy Knights have taken on the mission of locating and killing these four would-be knights in order to prevent the prophecy's fulfillment, while Camelot's foes are said to similiarly be in search of them.

It has been discovered that, while real, the four "knights" have yet to form a group or even be Holy Knights proper. Supposedly, they are still young boys more likely to be knight apprentices, hence them being said to not yet "exist" in the present. Part of the prophesy is an abstract vision of the four: one being a boy with "gold-colored magic", the second having both holiness and evil in his eyes, the third being mysterious with no fixed appearance, and the fourth a boy with "verdant, wing-like hair".

Percival is the first Knight to be revealed. After Percival's group arrive at Liones, both Lancelot and Tristan are revealed to be Knights of the Apocalypse too. Finally, the fourth Knight is revealed to be Gawain.

Coupled with the information given in the prophecy, Tristan is the Knight of Pestilence, Lancelot is the Knight of War, Percival being the Knight of Death and Gawain being the Knight of Famine.

Calamities
The Four Knights of the Apocalypse are designated acccording to the that they, respectively, are envisioned to bring with them as "world-destroying knights":

Trivia

 * The Four Knights of the Apocalypse are based, in name and concept, on the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse from Christian mythology (referred to as "Four Knights" instead of "Horsemen" in Japanese Bible translations). They are four figures mentioned in the New Testament's Book of Revelation, which are to set a divine end time upon the world as harbingers of the Last Judgment. They are:
 * The Rider of the White Horse, representing Pestilence (often replacing Conquest since the early 20th century), carrying a bow and wearing a crown ;
 * The Rider of the Black Horse, representing Famine, carrying a pair of scales ;
 * The Rider of the Red Horse, representing War, carrying a sword which is held upwards ;
 * The Rider of the Pale Horse, representing Death, carrying a death scythe and wearing a skull mask.