Escanor

Escanor, the Lion’s Sin of Pride, is the former second prince of Castellio and wielder of the Sacred Treasure Divine Axe Rhitta. His innate power, Sunshine, grants him unrivaled strength and dominance as the sun rises, making him frail and timid at night but unmatched at noon. Because of this, he became known across Liones as “the Strongest Holy Knight.”

Born 59 years prior, Escanor awakened Sunshine as a child when he accidentally broke his brother Daymond’s arm. Feared by his parents, he was disowned and hunted by Castellio’s forces, only to be saved by a kind woman named Rosa, who set him adrift to survive. Branded a monster wherever he went, Escanor wandered in exile. When he returned to Castellio seeking Rosa, he found the kingdom destroyed and her gone. Later, after slaying a rampaging beast, he was confronted by Holy Knights who were badly injured trying to restrain him. Arrested for supposed havoc and disrespect to the king, he was sentenced to execution as the “Sin of Pride.”

Meliodas intervened, recruiting him as the last member of the Seven Deadly Sins. Initially ashamed and afraid of harming his comrades, Escanor tried to leave, but Merlin encouraged him, sensing his true worth. Though terrified of his own power, he slowly grew closer to the group, especially Merlin, who reminded him of Rosa. A trial of strength against Meliodas proved Escanor’s overwhelming might but also showed his need for guidance. With Merlin’s magic, he spoke once more to Rosa in the Capital of the Dead, thanking her for saving his life and vowing to live on in her honor despite the solitude his power brought him.

Following his acceptance, Escanor fought alongside the Sins until they were framed for treason after the ambush at Zaratras’s murder. When Meliodas ordered the group to scatter, Escanor went into hiding, establishing a secret bar in the mountains. From there, he lived quietly, maintaining the business and occasionally making deliveries, waiting until fate would draw him back to the battlefield with his comrades.

Appearance: Escanor has a mustache and a pair of glasses. Escanor's attire is a suit commonly worn by bartenders and although slightly baggy, does appear to fit his non-sunshine form far better than his previous attire. His lion symbol is on his back. In the day he is much larger and muscular. He wears black pants, a brown cropped jacket with a deep neckline and fur on the collar, and gold gauntlets.

Personality: Escanor’s personality is defined by the duality of his power, Sunshine, which changes him with the rise and fall of the sun. At night he is frail, timid, and overly polite, often insecure and deferential. By day, his strength grows with the sun, and so does his arrogance: he becomes prideful, domineering, and boastful, passing judgment on others as if he were above them. Despite this, both forms are truly Escanor—he remembers everything he does in either state, and at night he often chastises himself for the destructive pride of the day.

Certain qualities remain constant no matter the hour. He harbors deep, unshakable love for Merlin, who was the first person to acknowledge his power without fear, and he treasures poetry as a quiet form of expression. His affection for Merlin is so profound that she is the only person he does not view as beneath him. Though he accepts she may never return his feelings, he still strives to impress her, often pretending to be unharmed in front of her even when injured. Around her, even his pride softens into shyness. His respect also extends strongly to Meliodas, whom he reveres as both captain and friend, and to his fellow Sins, whom he values as his closest companions despite his prideful bravado.

Escanor’s prideful persona carries no hatred, even toward demons; he sees hatred as beneath him and instead pities those weaker than himself. At night, though cowardly, he has a strong sense of responsibility, often fearing he may harm those he wishes to protect. This inner anxiety makes him deeply protective of his comrades, willing to risk his life for their sake. He also struggles with guilt over his inability to always control his power.

His relationships with the other Sins vary: he respects Gowther despite the doll’s lack of emotions, though their interactions are limited; he is wary of Ban and King during the day, as they fear his overwhelming presence; Diane finds his daytime self intimidating, even frightening. Regardless, they are bound together as comrades, with Escanor’s immense strength often being their greatest trump card.

Both his forms acknowledge each other: the timid night Escanor envies the strength of his daytime self, while the arrogant day Escanor dismisses the night form as weak and unsympathetic.

Special Abilities: Daytime: Beginning with the rising of the Sun at dawn Escanor begins to make a dramatic change, both physically and mentally. He grows much taller and muscular as time passes, with his clothes being ripped off him unless specifically tailored to his growth. In this state, his physical strength and endurance are incredible and his immense magic power casually radiates from his body as intense heat which normally reduces everything around him to ashes. He seems to be able to exert some control over this, being able to prevent friends from being hurt or turning his power up at will to produce intense light and heat capable of melting even stone. In this state, his normally skittish demeanor is replaced by one of confidence and a royal atmosphere. Super Slash: Escanor delivers a powerful downwards slash with his axe that causes considerable damage that can be felt from several meters away. Night-time: With the setting of the Sun, Escanor returns to his original, skittish self. He's seemingly weaker than an average human, and his power level has been measured at 15. Pride Flare: Escanor causes his Cruel Sun to flare with heat so intense it is capable of vaporizing a sizable lake in an instant.

Crazy Prominence Escanor produces a large amount of miniature suns from his body that explode on impact.

Ultimate: Cruel Sun: Escanor creates a miniature Sun, which radiates so much heat that it melts nearby armor. He can control it with hand gestures and strike his opponents with it, and it will increase in size as his power grows.

Rhitta: A giant, ornamental axe, named after a maiden said to be loved by the Sun. It is incredibly heavy and most of its weight is concentrated on the head, which makes it very off-balanced yet, during the day, Escanor is able to wield it with one hand.

The Boar Hat is a tavern founded by Meliodas after the Seven Deadly Sins were branded traitors of Liones. He used it to gather information on his comrades and the Holy Knights. Though his cooking is terrible, he stocks rare alcohol from his travels. The tavern is carried by Hawk Mama, Hawk’s gigantic green pig mother, who lives underground and transports the bar on her head.

In Britannia, a continent divided into kingdoms, the Holy Knights are revered and feared as protectors, each with the power to rival entire armies through magic beyond human limits. Long ago, Britannia was devastated by the Holy War, where Humans, Giants, Fairies, and Goddesses allied to defeat the Demon Clan, sealing them away with the Coffin of Eternal Darkness. The aftermath left Giants and Fairies withdrawn, Goddesses without physical forms, and Humans—once the weakest race—dominant, establishing kingdoms guarded by Holy Knights.

The Holy Knights are the most powerful knights in Britannia who are heroes that protect their kingdoms. They are a group of terrifying individuals, with each able to match an entire country's army in strength and power and having magic that transcends human knowledge imbued within their bodies.

The Seven Deadly Sins were once an active group of knights in the kingdom before being framed for the murder of the Great Holy Knight Zaratras.

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:

Meliodas, the Dragon's Sin of Wrath (the captain) Merlin, the Boar's Sin of Gluttony (a powerful mage) King, the Grizzly's Sin of Sloth (a fairy) Diane, the Serpent's Sin of Envy (a giant) Ban, the Fox's Sin of Greed (an undead bandit) Gowther, the Goat's Sin of Lust (a young man that likes to read) Escanor, the Lion's Sin of Pride (a human that is the strongest of the Sins)

Liones is a kingdom located in northern Britannia.