Demon King

The is the ruler of the Demon Clan. He is the one who handpicked the Ten Commandments and granted them their Commandments. He is also the father of Meliodas and Zeldris, two of the most powerful members of the Demon Clan and the two strongest members of the Ten Commandments.

Appearance
He is an enormous man with a full long curly beard. His height reaches the clouds and is even greater than that of any Giant in stature. He also wears black gauntlets in both his hands.

He is armor-clad, wears a long partially torn cape, and a horned helmet, that cast shadow over his eyes, with the demon clan symbol on it. He also has a massive sword sheath to contain his large broadsword.

Personality
Fully devoted to the Demon Clan, the Demon King is very serious in matters that relates to his clan and puts power and evil above all else, thus chastising Meliodas for throwing away his former life just for the sake of a woman and showing disgust at the effeminate nature of Meliodas' emotions, saying that it made him sick. Due to his devotion to the laws of the Demon Clan, the Demon King is fully willing to punish any demon who betrays the clan even if it is his own children, evidenced when he ruthlessly killed and cursed Meliodas for his betrayal.

Due to his nearly unmatched power, the Demon King has extremely high levels of self-confidence that borders on arrogance, as he openly told Meliodas, Ban and Wild that as long as he guards the door of Purgatory, there is no way they can pass through and when Meliodas defiantly says that he is not the one to decide that, the Demon King simply disagrees, saying that he is the one who decides all that happens in Purgatory. This also led him to scold Meliodas, Ban, and Wild for thinking that they could overcome him.

Despite his seriousness, the Demon King seems to have a dark, sarcastic sense of humor that varies depending on who he is talking with. When talking with those he disliked, the Demon King's sarcasm can be ruthlessly straight to it, as shown when he took time to mock Meliodas on his defeat and also simply returned his bluffs on the advantages of the curse the King put on him by taunting him on the much more heavy disadvantages of the Immortality Curse. However, when with those he is on good terms with, his sarcastic sense of humor can be casual, as when his youngest son was visibly angered by the fact Melidoas was still chosen to be the new King of Demons, the Demon King sarcastically rebuked Zeldris by saying that he should not call him a traitor anymore as now that Meliodas has returned to his former self, he should be welcomed with open arms as the new Demon King.

Despite his confidence, the Demon King takes any battle seriously, attacking any foe no matter the level of their strength relentlessly without holding anything back, showing that while arrogant, he does not underestimate his enemies. This is probably due to the knowledge that only Supreme Deity can match his power and thus almost any other opponent would not provide him any entertainment enough for him to toy with them or that he prefers to quickly finish any battle he takes part in. However, the King is not above mocking his opponents should they fare poorly, as shown when he took the time to laugh as Meliodas and Ban could only dodge his attacks. In addition, when up against an opponent he particularly holds anger towards, the Demon King seems to be willing to brutalize said foe first rather than immediately killing them, as while he could have easily killed Meliodas when they fought in the last days of the Holy War, the King instead took time to subject his son to a brutal beating that left him bloody and effectively unable to fight back before killing him, apparently venting out his immense rage at his son for his betrayal.

The Demon King is shown to be considerably calculating and intelligent, as evidenced by his quick realization that giving just a single demon half of his power would mean threatening his rule and thus choosing to divide his power into ten pieces to make sure he can still rule the vast and chaotic Demon World without allowing any challenge to him. He also would eventually choose to use a creature from Purgatory to constantly keep watch over Meliodas after having realized that creatures from the living world are far too weak and less long-lived. From realizing that Meliodas too does not remember anything related to Estarossa, the Demon King realized that all the memories held by the demons on Estarossa were forged and quickly deduced that it must be the demon Gowther due to the nature of the latter's powers. It is also noted that the Demon King is unpredictable, even to his sons, as Zeldris said that he can never know what his father is thinking.

When he makes up his mind, the Demon King will hear no objection from his subjects, even his own children, as not even Zeldris dared to disobey him when the older demon told him he will make Meliodas the new ruler of the Demon Clan. He also is not above taking pleasure over the suffering of those who he dislikes, as he clearly was pleased by the fact that Elizabeth's curse prevents her from being with Meliodas.

In part with his ruthless nature, the Demon King has no tolerance for deception as he and the Supreme Deity unleashed a fog of fire and lightning that destroyed Belialuin when Merlin tricked him into giving her a blessing without her joining his clan. He also does not tolerate betrayal from his allies, ordering Zeldris to execute entire the Vampire Clan for their revolt.

Despite his ruthlessly strict and harsh judgment, the Demon King is not completely unforgiving and without mercy, at least when it comes to his children. While hostile and even mocking towards his traitorous son when he was in Purgatory, the Demon King was fully willing to crown his former favored, the strongest son Meliodas as the new demon king when he had returned to his old self and was visibly pleased by this as well. Cusack even said that the Demon King was being far too compassionate with Meliodas and even noted he did this because he still considers Meliodas as his son despite their mutually antagonistic relationship. In addition, he did not punish Zeldris for just sealing the Vampire Clan due to being unable to bring himself to kill Gelda, implying that while ruthless to even his children if they betray him, he wouldn't punish them for only trivial setbacks. It can also be assumed that the Demon King may have originally approved of Zeldris's relationship with Gelda as unlike Elizabeth, Gelda was an ally to the Demon Clan and thus the King had no reason to separate them unlike what he and the Supreme Deity did to Meliodas and Elizabeth and this approval may have led to him sympathizing with his youngest son when he couldn't bring himself to kill his former lover and thus allow him to seal the Vampires away instead of killing them like he originally ordered. Later on during his fight with Meliodas, Ban and Wild, he offered them a chance to peacefully leave his presence after demonstrating how much more powerful he is compared to them, although this may just be a way to mock them for their inferiority.

History
Little of the Demon King's past is known. However, he would become the ruler of the Demon Clan and sire two sons, Meliodas and Zeldris. Due to the chaos and massive size of the Demon Realm at his rule, the Demon King at first considered giving half of his power to his servant, but that choice was out of option as it could threaten his reign. To avoid giving too much power to someone, the Demon King chose to divide his power into ten pieces and gave it to the Demon Clan warriors he found worthy, thus creating the Ten Commandments.

While originally having a treaty of peace with the Supreme Deity due to their similar power balance despite their opposite natures, the peace was unfairly broken by the Supreme Deity's subjects and fellow goddesses, who damaged even the civilians from the Demon Clan. These actions made both rulers fall in rivalry.

3,000 years ago
After the betrayal of his son Meliodas and the death of two of the Ten Commandments at the latter's hand during his escape, the Demon Clan entered the war with the Goddess Clan, who allied with the Human, Fairy and Giant Clan, thus unleashing the Holy War. This also caused the Vampire Clan to revolt against the King, having always despised being ruled by him, but the Demon King personally crushed their rebellion and ordered his executioner to exterminate the defeated Vampires, including his beloved Gelda, although he let Zeldris seal them away instead.

Having heard about a girl from Belialuin who possessed infinite magic though, the Demon King dealt with her at the same time as the Supreme Deity in order to put the girl on his side: When the girl told them that she would follow the one who gave her the best blessing, the Demon King gave her all the knowledge of the magic of the Demon Kingdom as well as immunity to the possession and brainwashing of the Goddesses. Being deceived by the girl who rejected them both taking their blessings, the Demon King and the Supreme Deity destroyed Belialuin in hopes of killing the girl in their anger, but the mage managed to escape with the help of her gifts.

As a result of the forbidden spell used by Gowther, the memories of the Demon King were altered to believe that the Archangel Mael was his second son "Estarossa" and was pitied from him when it was found that his second son was born without the power of darkness and his middle son's reputation as a timid coward unwilling to hurt even an insect, which make every demon except Meliodas laugh at him and eventually decided to give Estarossa a Commandment instead. It came at the cost of Estarossa being left mentally unstable as the Commandment slowly ate away at his mind and soul.

During the last few days of the Holy War, the Demon King and the Supreme Deity having lost their patience in their shared anger and having had enough of their children's repeated defiance of the laws of their respective clans, they worked together and fought against Elizabeth and Meliodas, easily killing them and cursing them for eternity. The Demon King cursed Meliodas with immortality as his punishment, reviving him every time he died, in exchange for his emotions being consumed more and more to the point of returning to be the bloodthirsty demon he once was.

Eventually, the Demon King, alongside the other members of the Demon Clan, were sealed away after losing the Holy War. While the rest of his clan was sealed in the Coffin of Eternal Darkness, the Demon King was imprisoned in the Purgatory. However, he continued to observe Meliodas from Purgatory through the eyes of different animals that became his companions, later sending a creature from Purgatory to perform that function. Ever since then, Wild, the brother of the creature, has challenged the Demon King to battle to escape Purgatory and reunite with his brother for 120,118 times but the Demon King always dealt him a crushing defeat each and every time they fight.

Defensive Battle for Liones arc
After Meliodas' fight with the Ten Commandments, the Demon King greets him in Purgatory. He admits to having been keeping an eye on the captain of the Seven Deadly Sins throughout and muses that even Meliodas was unable to do anything other than wait for death when caught by the Commandments of Piety and Love. When Meliodas counter mocks him by saying that he is now free from the Commandments' bindings thanks to his curse, the Demon King is unfazed and agrees while also revealing that he can feel Meliodas' quivering and expresses anger towards the certain woman who had changed Meliodas 3,000 years ago into the shadow of his former self he is now. He then informs his son that despite being greatly weakened, the curse he casted on the Dragon's Sin of Wrath would allow him to feed on his emotions every time he dies, allowing the Demon King to regain his lost power and at the same time reverting his traitorous son back to the state he was three thousand years ago.

Prelude to the New Holy War arc
After Meliodas fight with Escanor, the Demon King senses that his son has started to return to his former self, much to his delight. He contacts his youngest son and representative, Zeldris, and shows no interest when Zeldris expresses he will find the one who killed the demons guarding Camelot, instead telling Zeldris that while his seal is not yet broken, Meliodas will now replace him as the rightful heir to the throne of the demon king. Despite Zeldris obvious shock and visible anger and discontent, the Demon King sarcastically rebukes his calling Meliodas a traitor, as Meliodas shall now be welcomed as the new Demon King. Although Zeldris tries to reason with his father, the Demon King sternly silences Zeldris by saying he will not hear any objection to Meliodas's rule and crown him as the new demon king and kill the Seven Deadly Sins before they become a further threat. Zeldris reluctantly accepts and the Demon King reminds him that he observes everything from the Purgatory.

Current Arc
In the Purgatory, the Demon King appears threateningly looming over the emotions of Meliodas, Ban and Wild when Meliodas said that he has no memory of Estarossa. Revealing that he too can not remember anything about his middle son, the Demon King disgustingly said that the effeminate nature of Meliodas' emotions made him sick and his son has no need of the existence of these.

Wondering on how Meliodas' emotions returned to his original form and why he and Ban got there, the Demon King quickly realizes that Wild guided them and deduced that they have learned on the existence of the portal to the living world. Wild bravely charges at him, saying that he will finally force through the Demon King alongside Ban and Meliodas, but the King effortlessly flicked him away with a single finger. The Demon King then began pressuring Meliodas and Ban with quick slashes, declaring that they will never return to the living world and soon cutting off Ban's arm. After commenting on the Demon King's massive power, Ban attempts to steal the King's power but the Demon King's Magic Power repels the assault back to Ban, instead absorbing Ban's power for himself. He continues overwhelming Ban and Meliodas with his sword while laughing mockingly at Ban and Meliodas for their efforts. The Demon King is soon attacked by Wild but remaining completely unfazed, he simply grabbed and almost crushed him with his fingers before throwing him away while admonishing them for not giving up, confidently saying that as long as he guards the door, it is impossible for anyone to pass through the door. Not fazed by Meliodas' comments that he is not the one who decides that, the Demon King simply corrects his son that he is the one who decides everything in Purgatory and unleashes several strikes of thunder at Meliodas but Meliodas Full Counters it. Remaining unfazed by it, having absorbed it with his magic power, the Demon King gives them the choice of continuing to fight and be killed or to flee, but he suddenly asks on what Meliodas knows on Estarossa, as he cannot remember him while he remembers all that happened as well as every member of the Demon Clan. When Meliodas tells him that while Estarossa was his son, he was born without the power of darkness and a weak-hearted coward who could not even kill a single insect, the Demon King completes that part by saying that he took pity on him and gave him a Commandment, shocking Meliodas. The Demon King then realizes that Gowther is behind this as he was the only Commandment who betrayed the King and the only one who can do so.

Abilities and Equipment
As the ruler of the Demon Clan and the most powerful Demon, the Demon King holds terrifyingly massive amounts of power, with just possessing a fraction of his power made the Ten Commandments among the strongest demons in existence. Meliodas and Zeldris also inherited a portion of his strength, which was sufficient to make them the strongest of the Ten Commandments. According to Meliodas when saying on how to lift the curse on him and Elizabeth, which can only be done by someone as equally powerful as the Demon King, the Supreme Deity is the only being whose level of power is equivalent to the Demon King's: Meliodas also said that even his full power augmented by the power that Zeldris borrowed from their father cannot rival the Demon King's true power nor can he reach the Demon King's level of power by training for the time close to three days, so only by absorbing all Ten Commandments can he be equal to the King's immense power.

While he rarely fights, the Demon King possesses unparalleled levels of combat might in battle, as despite having delivered half of his power, when he fought Meliodas during the last stages of the Holy War, Meliodas himself said that he was utterly powerless before his father and was killed effortlessly by him. The Demon King was also capable of single-handedly stopping the rebellion of the Vampire Clan, defeating and leaving them at the mercy of his executioner Zeldris. He has utterly defeated Wild in all of their countless altercations and is easily capable of taking on and overwhelming Meliodas' emotions, Ban and Wild at once. The Demon King's physical resilience and durability are immense, as he was completely unfazed by Wild's Guruguru Wild attack. His resilience and durability likely contributed in his ability to easily survive inside Purgatory despite its extreme environment. The Demon King also has monstrously massive levels of physical strength and despite his large size, he has been seen to hold considerable levels of great agility and speed. He effortlessly flicked Wild away with great force that tore apart the ground when the pig crashed into it using a single finger when the latter charged at him quickly and later effortlessly stopped his attempts to drill him with only two fingers and almost crushed him before effortlessly throwing him away. Combined with his great proficiency in swordplay, the King can effortlessly wield his giant broadsword with a single hand with extreme finesse, able to deliver devastatingly fast and strong slashes that can effortlessly cut through landscapes and even easily pressure the much smaller and extremely fast Ban and Meliodas into the defensive, even managing to cut off Ban's arm while the latter himself was barely able to dodge the attack.

Also, unlike other regular Demons, who can only live for 1000 years, the Demon King seems to have an indefinite life span, as he has lived in Purgatory for hundreds of millions of years without showing any changes to his status despite how Purgatory's time is vastly faster than on Earth though it's possible that he granted immortality to himself like he did with Meliodas. He also appears to have a perfect memory recall, although it can be tempered with by sufficiently powerful means, as he said that he remembers all the days he spent in both the Demon Realm and Purgatory as well as all his minions and the Goddess Clan vividly and only forgotten memories related to Estarossa due to the demon Gowther's influence.

Through unknown means, the Demon King can also see through the eyes of creatures, as Meliodas noted that the Demon King used to keep watch over him to make sure he carried out his duties via the creatures around him. He can also make creatures from other worlds act as his eye, as he was able to use Hawk to look over Meliodas.

Abilities

 * The Demon King's eponymous magic ability that also goes by the name, "The Demon King". It allows him to absorb and deflect all magical energy from attacks that are sent at him, regardless of their nature; including Meliodas and Ban's Full Counter and Snatch abilities. This suggests either only immensely powerful physical attacks can harm him or that it needs to be on his level for magic to have an effect on him. As Zeldris used the portion of the King's magic power to seal away the magic power of Drole, it is safe to assume that the Demon King can do the same, but likely to a much greater level.


 * The Demon King is capable of bestowing a Commandment on those he deems worthy. By dividing his power at half, these Commandments are a fraction of this power and deliver a unique curse to whomever breaks a rule specific to each Commandment. Notably, these curses are not magical in origin, activating even when their holders are drained of magic, and are perceived differently than magic is as well. This increases the power of whoever is wielding them and if they were to be bestowed to individuals outside the Demon Clan, the Commandments would turn them into Demons as well. It cannot be opposed even by its wielder, only those who also possess a Commandment or a Grace from the Supreme Deity are immune and the curses will only be lifted if the victim defeats its wielder or at the victim's death. The Commandments can be withdrawn from their wielder if they give their consent, or if they are powerless enough to being unable to fight or die.
 * Those who show faithlessness in the holder's presence will have their eyes set ablaze.
 * Those who stand before the Commandment holder with hatred in their hearts will be rendered powerless to harm or inflict damage on anyone else.
 * Those who kill in the holder's presence will have their own time stolen from them, causing the victim to age rapidly and die.
 * The curse and its activation are unknown.
 * Anybody who turns their back to the Commandment's holder are treated as committing an act of treachery, are cursed into serving the Demon King and by extension the holder who is acting as the Demon King's representative.
 * The curse and its activation are unknown.
 * The curse and its activation are unknown.
 * The curse and its activation are unknown.
 * Those harboring greed, avarice and desire will be inflicted by its curse will lose their memories, feelings, and entire sense of self.
 * This Commandment determines that any who tell a lie in the holder's presence will be turned to stone. However, only those who are aware that they are lying will be affected.


 * Curses and Blessings: The Demon King is exceptionally accomplished in the use of and curses and blessings, being capable of creating and casting highly unique and incredibly powerful permanent spells.
 * Manipulation Immunity: The Demon King can grant an individual with immunity to the possession and brainwashing powers of the Goddess Clan.
 * Power Transferrance: The Demon King can transfer different powers to others, including all the secret techniques of the Demon Clan to Merlin and lending a portion of his power to others, as he did with Zeldris when the younger demon became his representative.
 * Immortality Curse: The Demon King is capable of casting an incredibly powerful and permanent curse that revives the victim without fail regardless of the means of death, including suicide or getting killed, no matter how many times they die. It additionally prevents the victim from dying of old age. In exchange for the infinite number of revivals, the victim's emotions are slowly drained to nourish the King. The only way to dispel the curse is to get a power equivalent to the King himself or the Supreme Deity. The only known victim of the curse is Meliodas.


 * Nature Manipulation: The Demon King has powerful control over the elements, as along with the Supreme Deity, he created a fog of death with fire and lightning capable of killing all the inhabitants of Belialuin. On his own, the Demon King was able to send out several strikes of thunder at Meliodas with a single hand movement.


 * Telepathy: The Demon King has the ability to telepathically communicate with his representative even while still sealed in Purgatory.

Weapons

 * Large Broadsword: The Demon King wields an enormous broadsword with a curved tip in similar concept to the large broadsword Meliodas wielded 3,000 years ago, but it is much larger. He displays vast levels of experience and skill in swordsmanship, able to use his broadsword to easily unleash slashes of extreme speed and power able to effortlessly cut through landscapes cleanly and easily pressure the likes of Ban and Meliodas, even cutting off the former's hand before he can react. He also used the broadsword to easily kill Meliodas when later was at his full power and break his broadsword.

Meliodas
The Demon King was once apparently fond and proud of Meliodas due to Meliodas' surpassing power and skill and acknowledged his power and also he considered Meliodas to be the most worthy and only heir to the throne. His trust of Meliodas is displayed by the fact that Meliodas learned Admonition, from the Demon King considering that Zeldris, the King's Representative, was the only other demon seen able to use the spell to remove Commandments aside from certainly the Demon King himself. Meliodas also was at first loyal enough to his father that despite how foolishly he thought of the war between the Demon and Goddess Clan, he relentlessly did battle with the Goddesses every day and night. However, their relationship became very strained when Meliodas betrayed the Demon Clan, as the Demon King was extremely angry for his betrayal, which caused the King to lose his worthy heir. As Meliodas continues to relentlessly defy the Demon Clan and the laws of his clan, the Demon King's resentment for Meliodas soon escalates to the point that he finally engaged his elder son personally and Meliodas took him on while fighting to kill, which ended in the Demon King utterly defeating Meliodas and after subjecting his elder son to a brutal beating, ruthlessly killed and cursed him with Immortality to forever separate him from Elizabeth and punish him for his defiance, something that made Meliodas strongly despise him, resulting in their extremely antagonistic relationship being mutual. Even centuries after, the Demon King still retains a grudge and resentment for Meliodas, although he shows it much more subtly and is barely, if at all, affected by Meliodas's bluffs as he can easily see right through him, evidenced when the Demon King only lightly mocked Meliodas after Meliodas was briefly killed by Estarossa and descended to Purgatory while Meliodas openly bluffed in front of him of the advantages of his curse, which the Demon King was unfazed by and calmly pointed out the disadvantages of Meliodas's curse and how he can feel Meliodas's immense rage and fear coming from him to taunt him. He despises how effeminate Meliodas became after falling for Elizabeth, as he openly said that he was disgusted by it and feels that Meliodas has no need for the existence of his emotions. However, despite all that happened between them, the Demon King still considers Meliodas to be his son and the rightful heir to his mantle and throne and appears to be willing to fully dismiss Meliodas' former betrayal should he ever return, as evidenced when he openly revels in the idea of bringing his oldest son back to the fold and says that he should rejoice as he will finally return to the Demon Clan and after Meliodas fell back into his former self, the Demon King was visibly delighted to the point of voicing his pleasure out loud as he watches from Hawk as Meliodas and Escanor fight and after Escanor defeated Meliodas, he immediately ordered Zeldris to retrieve his elder son and crown him the new king of the demons, completely disregarding his son's betrayal and Zeldris' visible discontent and shock, even going as far as to casually chastise Zeldris for his antagonistic reaction to his decision by sarcastically pointing out that Meliodas should instead be welcomed back with open arms and sternly making it clear that he will not hear any objection of Meliodas' rule.

Zeldris
The Demon King and Zeldris have a fairly good relationship, with he giving his youngest son a portion of his magic power to use and considering him his representative. Zeldris appears to respect his father greatly, but will not hesitate to talk something if it differs from his goals, though this would rarely change the Demon King's thinking and Zeldris will still carry out his father's orders anyway, showing great loyalty to his father. The Demon King also may have approved of Zeldris's relationship with Gelda in the past when the Vampires were still under his command as Zeldris and Gelda's relationship was not hindered by the Demon King, or at least merely decided to let them be, likely as unlike Meliodas's relationship with Elizabeth, Gelda was an ally to the Demon Clan and thus he had no reasons to separate them, although he still ordered Zeldris to execute the Vampire Clan when they revolted, the fact that he let Zeldris only seal them without punishment implied that he at least had some empathy for their relationship or simply did not care as the Vampires were disposed of anyway and decided not to punish his son as the job was done anyway.

Supreme Deity
Despite being mutual enemies from leaders of opposing clans, the Demon King teamed up the Supreme Deity to punish their children during the Holy War for their continued defiance to the laws of their respective clans, showing that they are capable of working together when the situation demands it.

Elizabeth
The Demon King has a strong resentment and hatred for Elizabeth as she is why Meliodas, his heir, betrayed the Demon Clan. He evidently was sadistically pleased that Elizabeth's curse prevents her to be with Meliodas, as shown when he laughed when referring to the curse Elizabeth was under.

Gowther
The Demon King once acknowledged Gowther's power as a magician enough that he forced him to become a member of the Ten Commandments but when Gowther defied him, the Demon King imprisoned him and seems to despise him for that. Zeldris has said that his father is extremely angry upon learning Gowther escaped and his anger towards Gowther seems to increase even more after learning he had tampered with his memories, calling him a "damned bastard".

Before the Series

 * Demon King vs Wild: Win (120,118 Times)

Memories of the Holy War arc

 * Meliodas and Elizabeth vs. Demon King and Supreme Deity: Win

Current arc

 * Meliodas, Ban and Wild vs. Demon King

Trivia

 * So far, the Demon King is the chronologically oldest being in the series. By being in Purgatory, where one minute is a year, that would make his 3000 years spent there would lead to his age being over 1,576,800,000.

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