Seven Deadly Sins is an action shonen that follows a group of the same name. The group consists of extraordinarily powerful individuals, who reside in the Kingdom of Britannia. They are known for their exceptional qualities which set them apart from the rest of the individuals in the series.
Over the course of time, the group gained a lot of experience and it enabled them to become stronger. The group consists of seven members— Meliodas, Ban, King, Gowther, Merlin, Diane, and Escanor. All of them possess unique powers, which allow them to fight against the villains in Seven Deadly Sins. The group’s strength is unparalleled, but who is the strongest member of the group?
Updated September 17th, 2024, by Suzail Ahmad: Seven Deadly Sins is one of the most iconic anime groups of all time. As the titular heroes, the Seven Deadly Sins were heavily involved in the story. Unlike some titles where the anime doesn’t have enough time to cover the backstories of the main characters, the Seven Deadly Sins anime managed to disclose almost every important detail pertaining to Meliodas’ group.
This included how the Seven Deadly Sins came into being and every character’s greatest strength. Given the fact that the show ended many years ago, some fans might have forgotten how each member joined Meliodas’ party. With that in mind, the list has been updated to include information about how Meliodas and the group expanded, ultimately becoming the Seven Deadly Sins that fans adore.
7 Diane
Race: Giant
Diane is a member of the Giant Clan and the wife of King. As a giant, Diane is larger and stronger than ordinary humans. She has high endurance, which allows her to tank several attacks. Diane’s special ability is called Creation and it allows her to manipulate the earth.
Her power significantly increased after she went through Drole’s trial. She managed to improve her connection with the earth and thus, granting her a major boost. All these powers make her one of the most powerful female characters.
Biggest Achievement: The increase in her power allowed Diane to face much stronger enemies, such as the Chimera Indura, which was an extremely formidable opponent. Diane was the first member of the Seven Deadly Sins to land a hit, which started the counter-attack that eventually led to the defeat of the Chimera Indura.
Worst Defeat: Physically, Diane is one of the strongest characters in the series. However, there is a limit to how much a person can achieve with their strength. This proved to be true when she fought Drole. The Commandment not only had immense physical abilities, but he also had access to magic, which he used to manipulate the earth. Diane’s loss enabled her to understand her shortcomings and helped her become stronger.
Best Power: Diane’s most noteworthy power is Creation, which is unique to the Giants. With this power, Diane is able to manipulate the earth. She could use this ability both offensively and defensively, making it extremely beneficial. After learning Drole’s Dance, Diane’s connection with the earth improved, which in turn enhanced her strength.
Reason For Joining The Group: Diane joined the group after Meliodas rescued her from certain death. Diane was framed for Matrona’s death by some wicked individuals. The kingdom of Liones gave her a death sentence, and it seemed that she would meet her end, but Meliodas rescued the giantess. Diane didn’t join the group immediately. She likely waited for some time before making the decision to join Meliodas and the other Seven Deadly Sins.
6 Gowther
Race: Doll
Like all the members of the Seven Deadly Sins, Gowther is unique in his own way. Gowther was created by a powerful mage thousands of years ago. Despite looking weak physically, Gowther has shown that he can take down individuals who are much bigger than him. While his body can survive most of the attacks, there are limitations on how much his body can take before breaking down.
Gowther’s power— Invasion allows him to read the minds and memories of others. It also enables him to trap others inside their own memories. On numerous occasions, Gowther has shown that he can even rewrite the memories of the people around him.
Biggest Achievement: Gowther’s ability to invade the minds of other people has helped him and the rest of the group on several occasions, but it came in clutch when the Seven Deadly Sins fought against the Demon King. Gowther used his power to take the Sins and Elizabeth into the spiritual world, which helped Meliodas fight against his father.
Worst Defeat: Gowther has been involved in many fights in Seven Deadly Sins, and most of the time, he has walked out as the victor. But that changed when he faced Mael. Gowther wasn’t alone; in fact, he was backed up by King, Sariel, Tarmiel, and Derieri. Even after combining their might, the group couldn’t take down Mael. Gowther’s defeat made his resolve more firm, and he understood the true meaning of friendship.
Best Power: Gowther may not have been blessed physically, but he possesses one of the most overpowered abilities in the series. His Invasion not only helps him manipulate the memories of a person, but it also enables him to read their thoughts. This particular power can be perilous, and it can potentially end a fight within minutes.
Reason For Joining The Group: Gowther was on close terms with Princess Nadja. The two shared almost everything, including their dreams. Nadja later revealed what she wanted the most from Gowther. After a moment of passion, Nadja died, leaving Gowther distraught. The latter tried to resurrect the princess, but it failed. He was caught by the guards and accused of committing vile sexual acts. Shortly after this incident, Gowther ended up joining the Seven Deadly Sins.
5 King
Race: Fairy
As the current Fairy King, King has complete power over his subjects, who reside in the Fairy Realm. King is the strongest Fairy King in history. After growing his wings completely, King was able to overwhelm Mael and protect Diane at the same time.
King’s special power is called Disaster. It is a special ability that grants him full control over the Fairy King’s Forest. In addition to granting him complete dominion over the forest, Disaster also allows King to manipulate matter at a molecular level. This can prove to be extremely dangerous as King can turn a small wound into a fatal one
Biggest Achievement: King’s character drastically changed after he grew his wings. His power grew by several folds, and he was able to keep up with some of the strongest characters in the entire series. In the fight against the Demon King, King played a very crucial role, which allowed the Seven Deadly Sins to take down the entity.
Worst Defeat: Despite being the leader of the fairies, King couldn’t grow out his wings. When the time came for him and Diane to face Drole and Gloxina, the two members of the Seven Deadly Sins couldn’t defeat them. It was a valuable lesson for both of them, and it paved the way for them to understand their powers better. King eventually grew his wings and became an extremely strong fighter, capable of taking on high-level demons with ease.
Best Power: As the Fairy King, King received a unique power-up known as Disaster. It gave King absolute control over all kinds of matter. The ability worked at a molecular level, allowing him to turn a regular wound into something fatal. Needless to say, King was nearly unstoppable with Disaster and a regular person could only dream of beating the Fairy King.
Reason For Joining The Group: King was the Fairy King, so he was responsible for caring for everyone living within the Fairy King’s Forest. They hoped that King would protect them from all kinds of problems. His imprisonment in Lioness meant he could not come to his sister’s aid during the Destruction of the Forest. As a result, the people turned against him, leading to the end of his reign. With no place to go, King turned to Meliodas and joined the Seven Deadly Sins.
4 Ban
Race: Human
Ban is Meliodas’ closest friend and he formerly served as the cook of Boar’s Hat. After gaining immortality, Ban was approached by Meliodas, who offered to him to join the Seven Deadly Sins. Ban’s immortality allowed him to survive the terrible conditions of the purgatory. His time in the purgatory made Ban much more resilient than before.
Ban’s physical powers also increased and it allowed him to fight against the Demon King, who was using Meliodas’ body. Ban has another ability which is known as Snatch. This ability allows Ban to steal the strength of his opponents, which renders them weak, however, Ban can only absorb a certain amount of power, and going beyond this limit is harmful to his body.
Biggest Achievement: Towards the end of the series, Ban loses his immortality, but he ends up gaining a much better thing in return. By sacrificing his immortality, Ban was able to revive Elaine, whom he loved very much. Before losing his immortality, however, Ban was able to withstand the harsh conditions of the purgatory, which is undoubtedly his biggest feat.
Worst Defeat: Ban had the gift of immortality, which allowed him to be reckless in fights. Normally, he would just outlast his opponent because nothing could wound him. But when Estarossa surfaced, Ban couldn’t even lift a finger. The Commandment would have easily destroyed all the heroes if Escanor had not intervened.
Best Power: After spending what seemed like an eternity in Purgatory, Ban’s physical abilities increased significantly. This also allowed Ban to use his Snatch ability against stronger enemies without suffering from any drawbacks.
Reason For Joining The Group: Ban met Meliodas while he was imprisoned for destroying the Fairy King’s forest. The executioners tried over 30 times to kill Ban, but they were all unsuccessful. At one point, Meliodas decided to talk to Ban and convince him to join the Seven Deadly Sins. Initially, Ban refused the offer but changed his mind after seeing Meliodas’ strength.
3 Merlin
Race: Human (Wiseman Clan)
Merlin is the daughter of Belialuin and the strongest mage in Britannia. She was labeled as a prodigy and her magic surpassed every member of her race. With her incredible magic, Merlin became famous and both the Supreme Deity and the Demon King wanted her on their side in the Holy War.
Each of them offered her blessings if she joined their side; however, Merlin somehow managed to deceive them and thus, gained both the blessings. Merlin’s special ability— Infinity, allows her to increase the duration of her spells to eternity.
Biggest Achievement: She is blessed with a great deal of magic and, with her immense knowledge, it is extremely difficult to stop her once she gets going. Merlin’s goal was to ensure that the Chaos inside Arthur would be unleashed and, after the Demon King’s death, she was finally able to achieve it.
Worst Defeat: Merlin is an overpowered character, and there are only a handful of individuals that can cause her problems. When Merlin and her group faced Galand, they looked visibly pale because of the demon’s power. Merlin sensed that things were going wrong and tried to trick Galand, only to be petrified by his Commandment’s power.
Best Power: Merlin’s Infinity is one of the strongest powers in the series. It allows her to extend the duration of her spells. She also possessed another ability called Absolute Cancel with which she could erase a spell from existence.
Reason For Joining The Group: Merlin and Meliodas met when the latter was serving as a knight for Danafor. Meliodas talked to Merlin in order to learn of a possible method to lift the curse on Elizabeth. After rejecting the first idea, the two met again many years later. At the time, Meliodas was working for Liones. Meliodas and Merlin went on to become the founding members of the Seven Deadly Sins.
2 Escanor
Race: Human
Escanor is undoubtedly the most loved character in the series. He is responsible for some of the most iconic quotes in the series. He was treated like a monster because of his powers. Escanor only found his place when he joined the Seven Deadly Sins. Since Meliodas’ power was stolen, Escanor remained the strongest character in the group until the end of the series.
Escanor had the power of Sunshine, which allowed him to grow stronger during the day and left him weak at night. His power peaked at noon, and, for precisely one minute, he became invincible. Escanor found a way to bypass the limitation, but it needed him to convert his own life force, but, it came at the cost of his own life, so Escanor only used it as the final resort.
Biggest Achievement: Only a handful of characters could dare to stand up to the might of Escanor. His unique ability allowed him to defeat powerful enemies such as Estarossa, Galand, Drole, and Gloxina, without any problems. His biggest moment in the series came during his fight with the Demon King, whom he tried to stop by putting his own life on the line.
Worst Defeat: Escanor is the only character among the Seven Deadly Sins who didn’t suffer an excruciating defeat. He stood tall till the very end and never faltered, even in the face of grave danger. Suffice it to say, he stayed true to his prideful nature even in death.
Best Power: Escanor’s The One was his ultimate ability. For exactly one minute at noon, Escanor reached the peak of his physical powers. In this form, Escanor was considered to be invincible. He could stand his ground against the biggest and most powerful characters.
Reason For Joining The Group: Escanor considered himself an outcast, which is why he didn’t interact with other people. He believed that they would be scared of him and chase him away. Escanor lived with his belief until he met Meliodas. After a failed attempt, Meliodas tried again to make Escanor join the group by fighting him. Escanor was confident that he would kill Meliodas, but to his surprise, he was beaten by the latter’s Assault Mode.
1 Meliodas
Race: Demon
Meliodas is the captain of the Seven Deadly Sins, and easily the strongest member of the crew. He is the main protagonist of the series. Meliodas is the first member of the group to be introduced in the series. At the beginning of the series, Meliodas was already stronger than most of the characters, and over time, he gained even more power.
Towards the end, Meliodas was head and shoulders above any other member of the group. He possesses incredible fighting skills, which he has displayed on numerous occasions in the series. Being the son of the Demon King, Meliodas is filled with incredible strength, which is one of the key reasons why his father chose him as his successor.
Biggest Achievement: Meliodas has fought against many strong enemies, but the biggest test of his skills came when he had to go up against his father, the Demon King. Meliodas struggled quite a lot to take him down, but, eventually, he mattnaged to complete the task.
Worst Defeat: Meliodas has lived for a much longer time than any human. Even though he is levels above most charhacters in the series, Meliodas has been on the losing side a few times. When he unlocked his assault mode, Meliodas faced Escanor. The latter used the One to force Meliodas into a corner and defeat him. Meliodas was not in his senses, so he couldn’t make sense of the loss.
Best Power: Meliodas’ Full Counter is by far and above his strongest ability. With this power, he can reflect an attack with double the power. This ability can only be used against physical attacks. Meliodas cannot use Full Counter against magic attacks.
Reason For Joining The Group: Meliodas is the founder of the Seven Deadly Sins, along with Merlin. The two worked in unison to come up with a plan that would allow them to recruit certain individuals. Merlin was responsible for creating plans, while Meliodas went to recruit the characters by himself. Without him, the Seven Deadly Sins would have never come into being.