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 Four Knights of the Apocalypse

The Four Knights of the Apocalypse「黙もく示し録ろくの四よん騎き士し, Mokushiroku no Yonkishi」, also known the "Knights of Prophecy"「予言の騎士, Yogen no Kishi」 are a group of four Holy Knights prophesized to appear and bring destruction to Britannia, as well as lead the King of Chaos and his Eternal Kingdom to their 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 hold unique powers and are foretold to emerge in the not-so-distant future.

These "World's Destroying Knights"「世界を滅ぼす騎士, Sekai o Horobosu Kishi」 are prophesied to bring upon four different Calamities「厄災, Yakusai」 destined to ruin the Kingdom of Camelot:

1. Famine「飢餓, Kiga」
2. Pestilence「疫病, Ekibyō」
3. War「戦争, Sensō」
4. Death「死, Shi」

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 the Kingdom of Liones are said to similarly 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 "Apprentices", hence them being said to not yet "exist" in the present. Part of the prophecy is an abstract vision of the four:

1. One possessing "gold-colored magic"「金色の魔力を持つ少年, Konjiki no Maryoku wo Motsu Shōnen」 ;
2. One having both holiness and evil in his eyes「瞳に聖と魔を宿した少年, Hitomi ni Sei to Ma wo Yadoshita Shōnen」 ;
3. One being mysterious with no fixed appearance「姿定らぬ謎多き少年, Sugata Sadamaranu Nazo-ooki Shōnen」 ;
4. One with "verdant, wing-like hair"「鳥の羽の如き翠の髪の少年, Tori no Hane no gotoki Midori no Kami no Shōnen」.

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.

Is later revealed that their destiny of "destroying the world" indeed refers to putting an end to Camelot's dimension since its existence is endangering the world. In fact, the four are destined to save the true world. As such, the four and their allies embark on a mission to find an entrance to Camelot and thus save the world. Although they initially planned to split up for the search, information provided by Ioradio Velviger in Wolnack leads them to find an entrance in the Demon Realm.

When Percival sacrificed himself by abandoning his human existence to return to being a Life Spirit, the prophecy of the Four Knights of the Apocalypse was thought to be broken. However, Percival was revived two years later, setting the prophecy back into motion.

Immediately after his awakening, the reformed Percival Platoon travels to Camelot to find the Tristan Platoon. At the home of Kay Pendragon, brother and seneschal of King Arthur, they find Gawain and travel with her to the Cauldron of Annwfyn. There, they meet Tristan, who called himself "Tantris," following the manipulation of his memory by "another Isolde". When they reunite with Chion and the real Isolde, along with Howzer, Pelliot, and Dubs, they all participate together in the Annwfyn Gladiator Festival, where they are confronted by Diodora, Turret, and Rothes, as well as Balin and Gareth. During the ensuing battles, Percival and Gawain manage to win Gareth and Balin over to their cause, while Isolde manages to restore Tristan's memory and confess her love for him. However, when Worreldane joins Beltreipe to reveal the involvement of three Knights of the Apocalypse, they have no choice but to confront the Four Evils. They threaten to be massacred by their "Chaos Forms," ​​but Lancelot arrives to the rescue and manages to neutralize them single-handedly. This event marks the official reformation of the Four Knights of the Apocalypse, who all return to Liones with their old and new allies.

After a period of preparation, the Four Knights embark on a search for Merlin, who held the secret to defeat Chaos.

Members

Four Knights of the Apocalypse
Gawain Famine	Lancelot War	Percival Death	Tristan Liones Pestilence

Trivia

• The Four Knights of the Apocalypse are based, in name and concept, on the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse from Christian Lore (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. Due to repeated translation and interpretation of the Book of Revelation, the first Horseman is often said to represent "Pestilence", particularly in pop culture, rather than "Conquest" as is most accurate.
• In a similar way to the Seven Deadly Sins, though the members of this group are the heroes, their epithets represent negative concepts.
• All four knights primary weapons are swords, mostly created/connected to Dubs :
  • Gawain: Rhitta (sword) forged from a piece of the Sacred Treasure, Rhitta
  • Lancelot: Shirojika originally created by Dubs for Nanashi.
  • Tristan Liones: Dragon Handle, originally part of the Coffin of Eternal Darkness created by Dubs.
  • Percival: Dragon Handle and Force Circular both created by Dubs.
• All four knights have some kind of connections to Seven Deadly Sins :
  • Percival is considered the surrogate son of Zeldris, younger brother of Meliodas.
  • Tristan is the son of Meliodas and Elizabeth Liones
  • Lancelot is the son of Ban and Elaine and the nephew of King and Diane.
  • Gawain was raised with help by Escanor and Merlin who are also her parents.