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 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 disbanded, and branded as traitors and villains. They're the main protagonists of the series.

Background
This group, which was originally an independent order of knights serving the kingdom of Liones, became branded as traitors and villains due to being framed for assassinating Zaratras, the Great Holy Knight after heeding the order to meet with him at the castle. It is suspected that Merlin could be a traitor who helped plot the trickery, as she was the one who knocked Meliodas unconscious - however, she did ask for forgiveness. In addition, one of the Deadly Sins' feats include defeating the troll queen, them having also broken the Great Druid Altar as they did so.

The Seven Deadly Sins' reputation before the betrayal was widely known and were looked up to become one of them by some people notably: Little Gil and Doting Dale. The group was directly under Great Holy Knight Zaratras' command as their superior.

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 Melodias lost himself in his wrath and annihilated the Kingdom himself.

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. 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. 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 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 appears to be a dagger; he sold it to get money for the Boar Hat.
 * 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 appears to be a rapier. It was stolen during his imprisonment in Baste Dungeon.
 * King's sacred treasure, Chastiefol, is a spirit spear crafted from a sacred tree only found in the Fairy Realm, is much stronger than steel and possesses the mysterious qualities of the tree, 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, are twin bows made of light, which are used in conjuction with Gowther's ability, Invasion. It is capable of shooting multiple beams of light simultaneously.
 * Merlin's sacred treasure appears to be a crystal ball of some sort.
 * Escanor's sacred treasure appears to be a spear.

Trivia

 * According to Gowther, none of the Seven Deadly Sins are of the same race: Meliodas a human/demon?, Ban a human/undead?, Diane a Giant, King a Fairy, and Gowther, Merlin and Escanor remain unknown.
 * According to Dreyfus, only a member of the Sins could go toe-to-toe with the previous Great Holy Knight, Zaratras.