Seven Deadly Sins

"Apparently, the Seven Deadly Sins were the strongest and cruelest chivalric order in the kingdom, formed by seven brutal criminals who carved symbols of seven beasts into their bodies. Ten years ago, they were accused of plotting to overthrow the kingdom, and disintegrated after all the Holy Knights launched a general offensive against them."

- Elizabeth to Meliodas and Hawk in The Seven Deadly Sins



were the strongest and cruelest order of Holy Knights in the kingdom of Liones, which was formed by seven brutal criminals, who had all been convicted for grievous crimes and had carved the symbols of seven beasts onto their bodies. After having been framed for murdering the Great Holy Knight, they were indefinitely disbanded, branded as traitors and villains. They are the main protagonists of the series.

Background
The members of this group, which was originally an independent order of knights serving the kingdom of Liones, were declared as traitors and villains after being framed for assassinating Zaratras, the Great Holy Knight, after heeding an order to meet up with him at the castle. They found him murdered through no fault of their own and were quickly surrounded by the kingdom's Holy Knights. Meliodas ordered the group to disperse and avoid capture, and everyone was able to escape separately. It was initially suspected that one of the members was a traitor who helped in the nefarious plot, as Meliodas was knocked unconscious shortly after issuing his order. It is later revealed that Merlin was the perpetrator (though for reasons still largely unknown) - however, she did ask for forgiveness. In addition, one of the Seven Deadly Sins' feats include defeating the troll queen, them having also broken the Great Druid Altar.

The Seven Deadly Sins, before the betrayal, were widely known to be the strongest knights of Liones and were greatly admired by several Holy Knights and apprentices, including Little Gil and Doting Dale. The group was directly under the Great Holy Knight Zaratras' command.

Ten years later, the Seven Deadly Sins reappeared in the kingdom, having regathered six of its members over a short duration. They aided Elizabeth, the third princess of Liones, and helped her liberate the kingdom from the oppressive rule of the Holy Knights and stop Hendrickson's plan to release the long-sealed Demon Clan into the world.

With Hendrickson's defeat and his villainous plan to revive the Demon Clan being fully realized by the rest of the kingdom, the Seven Deadly Sins were praised as heroes for saving the kingdom, cleared of their framed crimes, and welcomed back into the kingdom of Liones once more.

Sins Committed
Each member of the Seven Deadly Sins have committed a grievous crime, for which they were sentenced and judged by the kingdom of Liones, before forming the group.

Meliodas
Meliodas considers his sin to be his failure to protect Danafor, its citizens, and Liz from the kingdom's annihilation. Although the official story is that Meliodas lost himself in his wrath and annihilated the Kingdom himself.

Diane
Diane and Matrona were hired by knights of Liones as mercenaries to assist them in a battle against foreign savages. The Holy Knight Gannon deceives them, revealing his ultimate intentions of taking down a giant for reputation and prestige. Although Matrona unfortunately dies from a venomous arrow, Gannon underestimates her strength and his plans are thwarted. The giantess passes away after killing the majority of the troops including Gannon, with remaining survivors falsifying the report of the incident to place blame on Diane. She is eventually labeled the Sin of Envy for her jealousy towards Matrona whom she supposedly murdered along with 330 innocent knights of the kingdom and sentenced to death by beheading but Meliodas thwarted it under direct orders by the king of Liones.

Ban
As the only survivor of the Fairy King's Forest, he took the blame of, and was convicted for, destroying the the forest, and killing its guardian saint, Elaine. As a result, he was sentenced to death, and became known as the Sin of Greed due to his apparent greed for immortality.

King
After supposedly ending Helbram's life, King took on the sentence for ignoring Helbram's mass murdering of humans continuously over the a period of five hundred years which is close to sparking a war between humans and fairies. He was consequently sentenced to an imprisonment for a thousand years, and was recognized as the Sin of Sloth as he ignored the atrocities committed and turned a blind eye.

Seven Laws of the Seven Deadly Sins
There exist seven laws that each member of the group is required to abide by. So far, only one of these laws was revealed.
 * Law #3: "A Sin shall ask no questions of another member's sin."

Sacred Treasure
Each of the Sins owns a Sacred Treasure, which were entrusted to them by King Baltra Liones when the group was formed, and are compatible with their respective abilities. The weapons are unusable by anyone other than their intended wielder.


 * Meliodas's Sacred Treasure, Lostvayne, is a short sword.; he sold it, in a Pawn Shop in Camelot, to get money for the Boar Hat. Merlin ended up buying the sword, and returns it to Meliodas at a critical moment.
 * Diane's Sacred Treasure, Gideon, is a war hammer designed for a giant, that is made of a material stronger than steel and weighs approximately 2,200 pounds. It became the reward of Byzel's annual fighting festival after Diane lost it. Diane later regained Gideon during the Holy Knights' attack, quickly forcing them to retreat.
 * Ban's Sacred Treasure, Courechouse, is a four-sectioned staff similar in appearance to a nunchaku. It was stolen during his imprisonment in Baste Dungeon.
 * King's sacred treasure, Chastiefol, is a spirit spear crafted from the Sacred Tree only found in the Fairy realm. Stronger than steel, it possesses the mysterious qualities of the tree itself, which King's ability, Disaster, draws out. It has several different forms, including a pillow which can act as a shield, different forms of spears, and a large stuffed grizzly bear.
 * Gowther's Sacred Treasure, Herritt, is a twin-bow made of light, which is used in conjunction with his ability, Invasion. It is capable of projecting multiple waves of light simultaneously.
 * Merlin's Sacred Treasure, Aldan, is a small crystal orb. She can summon it anytime via magic.
 * Escanor's Sacred Treasure, Rhitta, is a giant, ornate battle axe.

Gallery
Manga=



Trivia

 * So far, none of the Seven Deadly Sins are of the same race: Meliodas is a demon, Ban is an immortal (former human), Diane is a giant, King is a fairy, Escanor is a human, and Gowther is a doll. Merlin's race is currently unknown.
 * According to Dreyfus, only a member of the Sins could go toe-to-toe with the previous Great Holy Knight, Zaratras.
 * The manga depiction of the animals and colors associated with each of the sins differs from the conventional representation; Bear's Sin of Wrath, Dog's Sin of Envy, Frog's Sin of Greed, Goat's Sin of Sloth, Cow's Sin of Lust, Pig's Sin of Gluttony, and Horse's Sin of Pride.