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

are the strongest and cruelest order of Holy Knights in the Kingdom of Liones. They were formed by seven brutal criminals, who had all been convicted for grievous crimes and had carved the symbols of seven beasts onto their bodies. They are the titular main protagonists of the series.

Background
Unbeknownst to even most of its members, the Seven Deadly Sins were formed for the expressed purpose of defeating the Demon Clan's Ten Commandments. The king of Liones had a premonition through his power Vision, that they would become the kingdom's protectors. Hearing this, both Meliodas and Merlin (who was only known to Meliodas at the time) took it upon themselves to find the other five, in order to crush the Ten Commandments, should they ever be revived.

The members of this group were originally an independent order of knights serving the kingdom of Liones. They 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 to 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, and was due to Meliodas losing himself to his anger when young Elizabeth got hurt trying to help him escape. However, she did ask for forgiveness. One of the Seven Deadly Sins' feats includes defeating the troll queen, with them having also broken the Great Druid Altar.

The Seven Deadly Sins before the betrayal were widely known as 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.

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

Upon 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. They were also cleared of their false crimes, and welcomed back into the kingdom of Liones once more.

After this, two members of the group separated from the rest, while the other four were involved in the battle against the Ten Commandments. After joining all once again, including the last missing member, they decided to take sides to stop the Ten Commandments. With the exception of Merlin, all the Sins participate in the Great Fight Festival, that ends with Meliodas being killed by the Ten Commandments.

After a month, Meliodas resucitate and along with Escanor and Merlin, prevents the Commandments from taking control of Liones. With the rejoining of Diane and King that were by their one, and Gowther that was temporary imprisoned, the Seven Deadly Sins were oficially reformed. However, after defeating Melascula in Corand and battle Chandler, Meliodas was returned to his previous evil state as a result of his emotions have been taken by the Demon King in his resurrection. Meliodas, having decided to become the new Demon King to break his curse and that of Elizabeth, officially declares the dissolution of the Seven Deadly Sins.

The others, however, are not willing to accept it, so they decide to continue fighting against the Demon Clan and prevent Meliodas from becoming the Demon King.

With the exception of Ban, who goes to the Purgatory hoping to recover the emotions of Meliodas, the Seven Deadly Sins along with Liones allies with Stigma and the resurrected Four Archangels to wage a new Holy War.

After Meliodas absorbed all of the Commandments, the Demon King took possession of his body and engaged in a fierce fight against the Deadly Sins in an effort to kill Elizabeth. Ban, meanwhile, reunited with Meliodas in Purgatory, was able to escape to help his comrades, while Meliodas struggled from within against his father's influence. All together, they managed to expel the Commandments from Meliodas' body, which reverted back to how it was before.

Having acquired god-like powers similar to that of his father, Meliodas confessed to his comrades that he would soon be forced to remain living in the Demon Realm to prevent the slow destruction of Britannia. However, shortly before his departure, the Deadly Sins discover that the Demon King is still alive, but through the body of Zeldris. Determined to save his little brother, Meliodas, accompanied by Elizabeth, then joined by the other Deadly Sins and Gelda, set off towards Lake Salisbury to finish off the Demon King.

During the confrontation, the Deadly Sins and Gelda, also assisted by Mael, managed to free Zeldris from the grip of the Demon King, but the latter used the Commandments to merge with the ground of Britannia, but the Sins succeed despite all taking him down with their strongest combined attack. In order to prevent the Demon King's return, Meliodas sacrificed his god-like powers to destroy the Commandments. However, Escanor, consumed by his overuse of Sunshine, died, after receiving a first and last kiss from Merlin.

Shortly after celebrating the Demon King's defeat, Merlin agreed to let the Deadly Sins accompany her, while she resurrected Arthur Pendragon as the "King of Chaos". The Lady of the Lake then agreed to reveal the secrets of Merlin's childhood and how the latter had used the Sins to free Chaos, a primordial entity being at the origin of the five Clans, but which was sealed by the Supreme Deity and the Demon King in Hawk Mama's body.

Shortly after Arthur's resurrection, Cath, a Purgatory Creature he had taken in, attempted to devour him, revealing himself to be Cath Palug, a monster who once defied Chaos to take him over. The Deadly Sins attempt to fight Cath at least twice, but remain powerless against Chaos's power partially held by Cath, until Arthur decides to intervene with Excalibur, then in turn decides to engulf Cath, so that no one opposes his building an "Eternal Kingdom".

Six months later, as King and Diane celebrated their wedding, the Deadly Sins, with the exception of Merlin, agreed to unite one last time to fight armies of Fairies and Giants controlled by Dahlia and Dubs, themselves manipulated by the Breath of Bless of the Supreme Deity. When Dahlia and Dubs were defeated by Meliodas and Zeldris, the Supreme Deity led several manipulated Goddesses against the Holy Knights and decided to personally intervene to eliminate the Deadly Sins and initiate a third Holy War herself without the Demon King's help. However, the Supreme Deity was ultimately defeated in turn by the combined efforts of Meliodas and Zeldris.

After Meliodas and Elizabeth's wedding and coronation, the Seven Deadly Sins finally decided to go their separate ways: Meliodas and Elizabeth remained in Liones to rule together, while Bartra would retire; Merlin stayed with Arthur to rebuild Camelot, with the help of Nanashi and Orlondi; King and Diane remained in the Fairy King's Forest, to rule the Fairies and Giants together; Ban and Ellaine set out to explore Britannia, then founded Benwick, on the border of the Fairy King's Forest; Gowther also sets out to explore Britannia.

11 years later, the Seven Deadly Sins, with the exception of Merlin, have gathered to celebrate the tenth birthday of Tristan, the son of Meliodas and Elizabeth.

Members

 * 1)  Meliodas: 
 * 2) *  Magical Power:  Full Counter; Hellblaze
 * 3) * Power Level:  Between 60,000 and 142,000
 * 4) *  Beast Symbol:  Meliodas has the symbol of a dragon biting its own tail, making a circle on his left arm, near the shoulder.
 * 5) * Sin Committed:  Meliodas considers his sin to be his failure to protect Danafor, its citizens, and Liz from the kingdom's annihilation. The official story is that Meliodas lost himself in his wrath and annihilated the Kingdom himself.
 * 6) * Sacred Treasure:  Meliodas's Sacred Treasure, the Demon Sword Lostvayne, is a short sword which gives him the power to create a few clones of himself. They are weaker than the original, but are still able to use Full Counter. 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.
 * 7)  Merlin: 
 * 8) * Magical Power:  Infinity
 * 9) * Power Level:  4,710
 * 10) * Beast Symbol:  Merlin has the mark of a boar face right with twigs growing in it on the left side of her neck.
 * 11) * Sin Committed:  Initially, Merlin was accused of being a glutton for all the magical knowledge and power she could get, regardless of the consequences; even going as far as to trick the Supreme Deity and the Demon King into bestowing her with "blessings" of immunity to curses and vast forbidden knowledge, respectively, resulting in the two gods destroying Belialuin. In reality, Merlin considers that her "innermost sin" is to have been plotting to free Chaos, even if it meant manipulating the Deadly Sins, and thus filling the void left in her heart by Meliodas who had not returned her feelings of love. Merlin is the only one of the Seven Deadly Sins who willingly committed the crime she is accused of.
 * 12) * Sacred Treasure:  Merlin's Sacred Treasure, the Morning Star Aldan, is a small crystal orb. She can summon it at any time via magic. Its full capabilities are unknown.
 * 13)  King: 
 * 14) * Magical Power:  Disaster
 * 15) * Power Level:  41,600
 * 16) * Beast Symbol:  King has the mark of a grizzly bear facing towards its left above his left foot, it is usually hidden beneath his pants and shoes.
 * 17) * Sin Committed:  After supposedly ending Helbram's life, King took on the sentence for ignoring Helbram's mass murdering of humans continuously over a period of five hundred years. This came 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. In reality, King had been suffering from amnesia during that time.
 * 18) * Sacred Treasure:  King's Sacred Treasure, the Spirit Spear Chastiefol, is a transforming spear crafted from the Sacred Tree only found in the Fairy realm. It has several different forms, including a pillow which can act as a shield, different forms of spears, and a large stuffed grizzly bear. Stronger than steel, its various forms possess the mysterious qualities of the tree itself that King's ability, Disaster, draws out.
 * 19)  Diane: 
 * 20) * Magical Power:  Creation
 * 21) *  Power Level:  8,800
 * 22) * Beast Symbol:  Diane has the mark of a snake with one end of its tail rolled up on her left thigh.
 * 23) * Sin Committed:  Diane and her mentor, 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 himself, 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 (who she supposedly murdered), along with 330 innocent knights of the kingdom. She is sentenced to death by beheading but Meliodas thwarted it under direct orders of the king of Liones.
 * 24) *  Sacred Treasure:  Diane's Sacred Treasure, the War Hammer Gideon, is designed for a giant. It is made of a material stronger than steel and weighs approximately 2,200 pounds. It greatly augments the power of her Creation. It became the reward of Vaizel's annual fighting festival after Diane lost it. Diane later regained Gideon during the Holy Knights' attack, quickly forcing them to retreat.
 * 25)  Ban: 
 * 26) * Magical Power:  Snatch
 * 27) * Power Level:  3,220
 * 28) * Beast Symbol:  Ban has the symbol of a fox on the left side of his waist.
 * 29) * Sin Committed:  As the only survivor of the Fairy King's Forest, he took the blame and was convicted for destroying the forest and killing its guardian saint, Elaine so that he could gain immortality from the Fountain of Youth. As a result, he was sentenced to death, and became known as the Sin of Greed due to his apparent greed for immortality. In reality, it was a Red Demon that attacked the forest and Ban stopped it. Ban and Elaine were both injured and Elaine chose to give him the water of the fountain to save his life.
 * 30) * Sacred Treasure:  Ban's Sacred Treasure, the Holy Rod Courechouse, is a four-sectioned staff similar in appearance to a nunchaku. It can strengthen Ban's physical and mental abilities to their maximum, as well as lengthen and distort its chain angle, allowing him to attack at any opponent from any angle and over a significant distance at an extremely high speed. It was stolen during his imprisonment in Baste Dungeon. Later, Merlin recovered it somehow and returns it to Ban.
 * 31)  Gowther: 
 * 32) * Magical Power:  Invasion
 * 33) * Power Level:  35,400
 * 34) * Beast Symbol:  Gowther has the symbol of a goat with giant horns on the right side of his chest.
 * 35) * Sin Committed:  Gowther was granted the Sin of Lust after he was accused of forcing Nadja, Bartra Liones' elder sister, to commit vile sexual acts, which ended in him murdering her. In reality, Nadja and Gowther were both in love and quite happy in each others presence. It was then revealed that Nadja was close to death and wished to pass her final moments with Gowther. After a moment of passion, she peacefully died within Gowthers' embrace and, in panic, Gowther tried reanimating her by ripping out his magical heart and replacing Nadja's with it, to no avail. In the meantime, Gowther's screaming alerted some nearby guards that find him in a bedroom full of blood with Nadjas' deceased body below him and believe that it was the Princess who screamed.
 * 36) * Sacred Treasure:  Gowther's Sacred Treasure, the Twin Bow Herritt, is an archery bow made of light. It is capable of projecting multiple waves of light simultaneously, greatly increasing the range of his Invasion.
 * 37)  Escanor: 
 * 38) * Magical Power:  Sunshine
 * 39) * Power Level:  Between 15 and 114,000 (see Sunshine for explanation)
 * 40) * Beast Symbol:  Escanor has the mark of a lion with a scar on its right eye covering his back.
 * 41) * Sin Committed:  Escanor is accused by the Kingdom of Liones of terrorizing and destroying many villages and towns, gravely injuring the Holy Knights who tried to restrain him, including the Great Holy Knight Zaratras, and for disrespecting the king as well. Labeling him as the Sin of Pride, Escanor is then sentenced to flogging followed by public hanging. Escanor is the only one of the Seven Deadly Sins who is actually guilty of the crime he is wrongly accused of. His power, Sunshine causes him to be extremely arrogant during the day. (see Sunshine for explanation)
 * 42) * Sacred Treasure:  Escanor's Sacred Treasure, the Divine Axe Rhitta, is a giant, ornate battle axe with a one handed hilt. It possesses the ability to absorb and store the enormous amount of heat Escanor radiates from his body during the day and release it on command. It is so heavy, even Meliodas has difficulty carrying it.

Laws
There exist seven laws that each member of the group is required to abide by. So far, only five of these laws has been revealed. The laws were created by Meliodas.
 * 1) Unknown
 * 2) Unknown

Gallery
Manga=



Trivia

 * 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 :
 * Meliodas bears the symbol of the Dragon and is associated with Blue, while Wrath is represented by a Bear and Red ;
 * Merlin bears the symbol of the Boar and is associated with Indigo, while Gluttony is represented by a Pig and Orange ;
 * King bears the symbol of the Grizzly Bear and is associated with Green, while Sloth is represented by a Goat and Blue ;
 * Diane bears the symbol of the Serpent and is associated with Orange, while Envy is represented by a Dog and Green ;
 * Ban bears the symbol of the Fox and is associated with Red, while Greed is represented by a Toad and Yellow ;
 * Gowther bears the symbol of the Goat and is associated with Violet, while Lust is represented by a Cow and Pink ;
 * Escanor bears the symbol of the Lion and is associated with Yellow, while Pride is represented by a Horse and Purple.
 * Each Sin was a diamond ranked holy knight before they were framed. Whether or not their ranks were restored after their names were cleared has not been mentioned.