Escanor

Name: Escanor

Gender: Male

Race: Human (but regarded as standing at the pinnacle of all races)

Alias / Title: Lion's Sin of Pride (The Seven Deadly Sins)

Age: 40 years old

Birthday: July 1

Birthplace: Kingdom of Talim

Height: 165–325 cm (varies with time of day)

Weight: 49–355 kg (varies with time of day)

Blood Type: AB

Combat Class: 15 (Magic: 5 / Strength: 5 / Spirit: 5) up to immeasurable / 1,000,000+

Affiliation: The Seven Deadly Sins

Identifying Mark: Lion symbol on his back

Occupation: Knight, tavern owner (Lovely Gluttony Tavern)

Weapon (Sacred Treasure): Divine Axe Rhitta

Primary Magic: Sunshine

Voice Actor (anime): Tomokazu Sugita

Escanor is a member of the infamous holy knight group The Seven Deadly Sins, serving as the Lion's Sin of Pride.

Although biologically human, his power places him above almost every other being, leading many to see him as standing at the top of all races.

He possesses an extremely unique and overwhelming magic, Sunshine, which is unlike the magic of any known race.

His strength increases with the rising sun, peaks at noon, and then declines as the sun sets, changing both his body and personality.

By day, Escanor is a towering, muscle-bound colossus who speaks and acts with crushing pride and confidence.

By night, he shrinks into a thin, timid man plagued by self-loathing and guilt over his own power.

Despite his arrogance at peak strength, he is deeply devoted to his comrades, especially Merlin, for whom he harbors a sincere and lasting love.

He ultimately sacrifices his life in the final battle against the Demon King, turning his entire life force into power to help secure victory.

At night, Escanor appears as a slender, frail-looking man with a timid demeanor.

His posture is often slightly hunched, his face looks anxious, and he seems physically weak compared to other knights.

As dawn breaks and the sun rises, his body begins to change.

His muscles swell, his height increases dramatically, and by midday he becomes a massive, imposing giant with bulging muscles and a regal, intimidating presence.

Because his size changes so much throughout the day, he wears clothes that appear ill-fitting or oversized at night but which match his physique by midday.

After leaving his home kingdom and opening his tavern, he grows a small mustache to give himself a more dignified, barkeeper-like appearance.

At his peak, his very presence radiates intense heat, causing the ground beneath his feet to melt like lava.

His expression becomes an ever-present, confident smirk, eyes full of absolute certainty in his own superiority.

Escanor's personality shifts wildly with the position of the sun, mirroring his physical transformation.

At night he is shy, polite, apologetic, and extremely negative about himself, often drowning in guilt and self-hatred.

In his nighttime state he refers to himself as "boku" (translated here simply as a humble "I") and speaks in a soft, hesitant manner.

He believes his power is a curse, sees himself as someone who should not exist, and fears hurting others.

As the sun rises, his speech becomes more formal and dignified, and his first person shifts to "watashi", which you can think of as a courteous, self-assured "I."

By late morning, his tone grows more confident, and by the time he reaches his peak, he calls himself "ware", a lofty, overwhelmingly proud "I" that matches his godlike arrogance.

At his midday peak, Escanor embodies pure pride.

He speaks down to enemies and even gods as if they were beneath him, often saying things that sound outrageous, yet his immense power backs up every word.

Despite this, both versions are genuinely Escanor.

Nighttime Escanor remembers what he did during the day and often regrets his excessive arrogance and brutality.

He does not run away from missions or responsibilities, even in his weakest state.

In battle he still tries, in his own way, to avoid harming his allies, choosing locations or ways of fighting that limit collateral damage.

Escanor genuinely cares for his comrades in The Seven Deadly Sins.

When asked why he fights in the war between demons and goddesses, he simply replies, "All for the sake of my friends."

He deeply loves Merlin, admiring her intellect and kindness toward him despite his frightening power.

This affection persists both day and night and becomes one of the emotional cores of his character.

Escanor was born as a prince of the Kingdom of Talim.

In his early childhood, his parents genuinely loved him, but his older brother, Daymond, resented the affection Escanor received.

One day, when Daymond violently abused him, Escanor's latent magic awakened in self-defense.

The power of Sunshine surged forth, heavily injuring his brother and revealing Escanor's terrifying potential.

This incident completely changed how those around him treated him.

His parents and subjects, once loving and supportive, began to fear him and see him as a walking disaster.

A curse-speaker (a kind of seer and sorcerer) foretold that if Escanor were allowed to live, he would bring calamity upon the kingdom.

As a result, people sought to have him killed, turning him from prince into a hunted fugitive overnight.

The only person who remained on his side was his maid, Rosa.

Risking her own life, she helped Escanor escape the kingdom and flee into exile.

After that, he wandered alone, living a life of harsh solitude and self-hatred.

During this period of roaming, he eventually encountered Meliodas and Merlin.

Recognizing the value and potential of his seemingly cursed power, Meliodas invited Escanor to join The Seven Deadly Sins.

At first, Escanor refused, insisting that a monster like him had no right to live, let alone fight as a knight.

Through clashing with Meliodas and later reuniting with Rosa, Escanor gradually changed his view of himself.

He came to accept that he could live for others and swore to stake his life for his comrades.

Escanor is officially the Lion's Sin of Pride within The Seven Deadly Sins.

His crime is tied directly to his uncontrollable power and the fear he spreads when his prideful self is at its peak.

According to his wanted record, he repeatedly terrified citizens in towns and villages around the kingdom.

When holy knights arrived on the scene, he inflicted excessive violence on them and displayed arrogant behavior, even in front of the king.

He also gravely injured the captain of the holy knights when they tried to restrain him.

All of these acts, born from his overwhelming power and pride, were classified as the Sin of Pride.

Despite this, Meliodas saw the value in Escanor's strength rather than just the danger.

He recruited Escanor into The Seven Deadly Sins, giving him comrades, a purpose, and a place to belong.

Within the group, Meliodas is the only one he calls "captain," while he generally refers to other members with "-kun" attached in Japanese, indicating a somewhat friendly familiarity.

Merlin, however, he always addresses as "Merlin-san," adding an extra layer of respect and affection.

As a fighter, Escanor is considered the strongest member of The Seven Deadly Sins at full power.

King and Diane both admit they would never want him as an enemy, and even Meliodas acknowledges that at noon Escanor is stronger than him.

Divine Axe Rhitta

Escanor's Sacred Treasure is Divine Axe Rhitta, a massive one-handed axe that stands far taller than his nighttime body.

The axe is so insanely heavy that Meliodas struggles to carry it, and even Galland, one of the Ten Commandments, finds lifting it extremely difficult.

Rhitta is praised by Galland as a masterpiece forged by a truly exceptional craftsman.

The axe has a relatively short handle for its size, which makes it harder to wield but deadlier in the hands of someone as strong as Escanor.

Rhitta's special property is "Charge & Fire".

It absorbs and stores the immense heat Escanor emits, then allows him to release that stored power at will.

This ability has multiple uses.

Rhitta can store Escanor's heat so he does not unintentionally incinerate his surroundings, and it can also redirect some of that stored solar magic back into Escanor, partially empowering him even at night.

However, there is a limit to how much heat Rhitta can absorb at once.

If Escanor emits too much power, he has to pause and let the axe catch up, or else the excess heat will scorch everything around him.

Rhitta is eventually damaged during Escanor's fight against Zeldris.

Later, in the battle against the First Demon, the axe is destroyed completely and never used again.

Sunshine

Escanor's innate magic is called Sunshine.

It is described as a root-level power of life itself, fundamentally different from the typical magic of demons, goddesses, humans, or any other race.

Sunshine manifests as intense, sun-like heat and flames that grow stronger as the sun rises.

By midday, this power reaches a peak so extreme that even demons, normally resistant to fire, can be burned and incinerated by it.

As dawn breaks, his body and personality begin to transform.

His muscles swell, his stature increases, and his confidence and arrogance rise alongside the sun.

At midnight, under normal conditions, Sunshine is essentially inactive.

Escanor at that time has a combat class of only 15, making him weaker than most ordinary holy knights.

As sunrise approaches, his combat class begins to climb rapidly.

By late morning, it reaches around 60,000, and his very presence can evaporate lakes or melt the ground.

The downside of Sunshine is its toll on Escanor's body.

Over years of use, the constant, overwhelming solar energy damages his organs and life force, leading him to cough blood and shortening his lifespan.

Sunshine is also heavily dependent on the sun itself.

If someone manipulates time, weather, or light—for example, plunging the area into night—Escanor's power drops accordingly.

It is later revealed that Sunshine is identical to the Grace of Sunshine once possessed by Mael, a member of the Four Archangels.

Ludociel initially suspects this, and Chandler finally confirms that Escanor's power is indeed a "grace."

The mystery remains as to why Mael's grace left him and, after many ages, chose Escanor.

Mael himself tells Escanor that the grace "chose" him, suggesting that Escanor's nature and spirit drew Sunshine to him.

There is one notable exception to Sunshine's dependence on the physical sun.

In a desperate moment, when Escanor sees Merlin as his "sun in his heart," he temporarily reactivates Sunshine at night, implying that his inner feelings can briefly override the normal conditions.

Dawn to Late Morning (Sunrise to 11:30)

From sunrise through late morning, Escanor is in a high-powered but somewhat controlled state.

He uses the formal "I" in speech, behaves polite yet confident, and can think tactically.

His combat class at this stage peaks around the 60,000 range.

He can use strong techniques like Cruel Sun while still allowing Rhitta to absorb most of the excess heat.

Escanor shows genuine consideration in this time frame, often moving battles to remote or watery areas to avoid collateral damage.

For example, he may blow an opponent away toward a lake before using high-output techniques, so that the environment and civilians suffer less.

Even in this "moderate" phase, he effortlessly overwhelms powerful Commandments like the brawling specialist Galland and the trickster Melascula.

Neither of them can meaningfully match him once the sun has climbed high enough.

Approaching Noon (11:30 to Just Before Noon)

From around 11:30 onward, Escanor moves into an even more dangerous state.

He begins to refer to himself in the loftiest possible way, and his speech becomes openly high-handed and domineering.

At 11:30, his combat class has been measured at about 112,000.

The heat he emits at this time is so intense that even Rhitta, at full capacity, cannot absorb it all, leaving the ground molten around him.

If he uses his power recklessly in this window, he could melt entire castles without even intending to.

In the past, to stop him when he lost control, Gowther used a large-scale spell called "Blackout Arrow," which Merlin amplified to knock Escanor unconscious—a very rough but effective emergency method.

In this state, Escanor crushes even top-tier Commandments.

He utterly dominates opponents like Estarossa, who normally has significant advantages in both magic and technique, leaving them severely injured and unable to fight for a long time.

The One (Exactly Noon, One Minute)

At exactly noon, Escanor enters his ultimate form known as The One (Heaven and Earth, I Alone Am Honored).

This state lasts for one minute and represents the absolute pinnacle of his power, both offensively and defensively.

In The One, Escanor is described as the embodiment of invincibility.

He constantly wears a contemptuous, confident smile, and his aura of heat is so intense that allies cannot safely approach him.

Even Rhitta cannot absorb the heat he radiates in this form.

Merely standing near him risks vaporization, and the environment melts and burns under the pressure of his presence.

Within the story, The One is treated as a top-tier trump card.

Escanor defeats or dominates the strongest enemy forces head-on, with no need for tricks or specific counters.

During this state, his own body becomes the greatest weapon, surpassing even his Sacred Treasure.

This leads to techniques that seem physically simple but are devastating in effect.

Saint Sword Escanor

In The One, Escanor can perform Saint Sword Escanor, a seemingly simple karate-like hand chop.

Despite its simplicity, it is more powerful than any swing of Rhitta.

With just a small downward motion of his hand, he cuts down Meliodas in his Assault Mode—Meliodas’ own peak demonic state.

He later uses this technique against Zeldris, strong enough to forcibly cancel Zeldris's fearsome magic Ominous Nebula.

Saint Spear Escanor

Another The One technique is Saint Spear Escanor, a thrust with a single raised index finger.

Used against Zeldris, this move drives him to the brink of defeat, overwhelming even his elite defenses and demon magic.

The One: Ultimate

In the final battle against the Demon King, Escanor surpasses even The One.

By converting his entire remaining life force into pure magic, he enters The One: Ultimate, a state that goes beyond all previous limits.

In The One: Ultimate, the one-minute restriction of The One is effectively ignored.

Escanor maintains a level even stronger than normal noon form, continuously clashing evenly or better against the Demon King himself.

This power, however, comes with a fatal price.

Because he burns his own life as fuel, The One: Ultimate is literally designed as his final form—once it ends, there is nothing left of his body to save.

During this form, Escanor unleashes his ultimate technique, channeling all of Sunshine into one final, massive attack.

Cruel Sun and Related Attacks

Cruel Sun is Escanor's signature technique with Sunshine.

He creates a sphere of scorching solar heat and hurls it at his target; its size and destructive power scale with his combat class.

He can even ride on a launched Cruel Sun, using it as a blazing platform for high-speed movement.

In the afternoon, a variant known as a "colder" or fading sun can appear as his power starts to wane, but it is still lethal.

Pride Flare is a follow-up technique that detonates a Cruel Sun on impact or on command.

This explosion is so powerful it can instantly vaporize entire lakes.

Crazy Prominence is a barrage-type move where he fires multiple explosive sun orbs around him like a storm of mini Cruel Suns.

The result is a battlefield engulfed in multiple overlapping explosions.

Super Slash (Mijin Giri / Super Slash) is a technique focusing on his brute strength with Rhitta.

He swings the massive axe repeatedly in rapid succession, turning his enemies into metaphorical "dust."

Final Prominence (End-of-the-World Flame)

In the battle against the Demon King, Escanor uses his final and greatest attack, often rendered as Final Prominence.

He concentrates all of Sunshine’s magic and his entire life force into an enormous blazing sphere and launches it at the Demon King.

This is his strongest and most suicidal move, designed to end the battle regardless of what happens to his body.

It contributes decisively to the defeat of the Demon King but ensures Escanor’s own end, as his body cannot survive the strain.

Escanor's formal charges as a criminal explain why he bears the Sin of Pride.

The record cites multiple incidents where he terrified civilians in towns and settlements near the kingdom.

When holy knights arrived to intervene, Escanor inflicted wildly excessive damage on them.

He also demonstrated disrespectful, arrogant behavior before the king himself.

Even when the captain of the holy knights personally stepped in to stop him, Escanor injured him severely.

These repeated acts of overwhelming violence and disdain for authority were judged as the height of pride, earning him his Sin.

In reality, many of these actions were side effects of his uncontrollable magic and the psychological dissonance between his night and day selves.

Meliodas understood this and, instead of seeing just a dangerous monster, chose to extend a hand and offer him a place among The Seven Deadly Sins.

Life in Hiding and Tavern Owner

After The Seven Deadly Sins are falsely accused and scattered, Escanor disappears from the public eye.

He settles near the bandit city of Ravens, living in a cave where he opens a tavern called Lovely Gluttony Tavern.

He lives quietly for years as the bar's owner, avoiding involvement in large-scale events.

He remains unaware of the reclaiming of the Kingdom of Liones and the restoration of The Seven Deadly Sins' honor.

His tavern becomes known for its high-quality alcohol.

This detail unexpectedly saves his life when members of the Ten Commandments, Galland and Melascula, show up there by chance.

Encounter with Ban and the Ten Commandments

Ban, Jericho, and Elaine, while fleeing pursuit from Galland and Melascula, stumble into Escanor's tavern.

Escanor recognizes Ban, and they reunite after many years.

Galland and Melascula, impressed by the tavern's excellent alcohol, spare Escanor and the others at first.

However, as night passes and morning comes, Escanor's power begins to rise with the sun.

When dawn fully breaks, Escanor's true strength manifests.

He effortlessly repels Galland and Melascula, overwhelming them in a fight that showcases just how terrifying Sunshine can be.

This incident reveals to the reader and the other characters that Escanor is a monster on a completely different level.

Realizing the scale of the looming crisis, he chooses to step back into the role of a knight and joins the struggle against the Demon Clan.

Conflict with Gowther

Later, in Vaizel, Escanor ends up fighting his own comrade, Gowther.

Because it is night, Escanor is in his weakest state and initially cannot properly use Sunshine.

Gowther attacks relentlessly because he wishes to understand emotions, no matter the cost.

Escanor, despite his fear and weakness, refuses to strike his friend seriously and tries to avoid harming him.

Out of respect, Gowther uses a technique that takes the shape of Merlin, which triggers a powerful emotional response in Escanor.

Seeing Merlin—the "sun of his heart"—ignites Sunshine for an instant even at night.

This brief awakening grants him a moment of overwhelming power.

He lashes out at Gloxinia and Drole (two powerful ancient warriors), who were manipulating the situation and playing with people's hearts, and severely injures them before collapsing.

Role in the Holy War

As the Holy War against the Demon Clan escalates, Escanor becomes one of the most important assets among the forces of light.

Even members of the Four Archangels regard his strength as a crucial trump card.

However, the long-term toll of Sunshine begins to show more and more.

Escanor frequently coughs up blood and senses that his remaining time is limited.

During one fierce confrontation, Escanor pushes Zeldris and other high-ranking demons to the brink.

But Chandler intervenes, manipulating the environment so that it becomes night, dramatically weakening Escanor and turning the tide against him.

Blasted away by an enemy attack, Escanor ends up being saved by Mael, the original wielder of the Grace of Sunshine.

Realizing how much harm Sunshine is doing to his body, Escanor offers to give the power back.

He asks Mael to use Sunshine in his place to protect their comrades.

Mael, burdened by guilt, first refuses, but Escanor proposes a compromise: Mael will "borrow" the power. Escanor then returns Sunshine to its original owner.

After this, Escanor steps away from the battlefield, effectively retired as a front-line fighter.

He knows that wielding Sunshine even one more time would likely kill him.

Final Battle Against the Demon King

When the Demon King revives and poses the greatest threat yet, Escanor makes a fateful decision.

He returns to Mael and demands Sunshine back, despite knowing it will inevitably cost him his life.

Mael warns him plainly: using Sunshine again will certainly kill him.

Escanor accepts this without hesitation, saying he wants to fight one last time for his friends.

Mael, seeing Escanor's resolve, agrees and returns Sunshine to him.

Armed once more with his solar power, Escanor rejoins The Seven Deadly Sins in their battle against the Demon King.

By this time, Escanor has lost Rhitta, relying solely on his body and magic.

He enters the fray and clashes directly with the Demon King, deciding that this will be his final fight.

At noon, Escanor activates The One and battles the Demon King one-on-one.

When the one-minute limit should have ended, he pushes further, burning his own life to surpass that limit and ascend into The One: Ultimate.

During this brutal fight, his comrades fight alongside him and shout their support.

Each of them, in their own way, acknowledges his strength and spirit while contributing to the battle.

Together, they succeed in defeating the Demon King.

However, the victory also marks the limit of Escanor's endurance.

After the Demon King is defeated, the strain on Escanor's body reaches its peak.

His entire body begins to burn from within, his flesh turning to flames as Sunshine consumes its host completely.

As he burns away, Escanor shares final words with each of his comrades from The Seven Deadly Sins.

He thanks them, encourages them, and expresses his gratitude for being able to fight alongside them.

When he turns to Merlin, he confesses his long-held feelings for her.

Merlin, in turn, admits she wishes she had recognized him and his feelings sooner.

She tells Escanor that no matter what sins she may have committed, he has always been on her side.

Escanor reveals that he has sensed for some time that Merlin carries a hidden darkness in her heart, but he accepts her fully regardless.

Merlin responds to his confession by kissing him.

Tears well up in his eyes as he accepts her affection at the end of his life.

Escanor then recites a poem for Merlin, speaking of her love and loneliness as a sweet yet dangerous wine.

He laments that he himself could not be the vessel to fully accept her love and prays that someday a true "goblet" will appear for her.

With these final words and a gentle smile, Escanor's body is completely consumed by fire.

He dies in front of his friends, leaving nothing behind but memories and the warmth of his sacrifice.

Notably, throughout the series, Escanor is never truly defeated in a fair fight.

Every time he fights seriously, he either wins outright or withdraws only due to external constraints like time of day or self-imposed limits.

By the time of the sequel series "Four Knights of the Apocalypse," Escanor is already dead.

Because he burned his entire body and life force away, there is no straightforward way for him to return physically.

For that reason, it is widely believed that Escanor will not reappear in a conventional sense.

However, his legacy, the power of Sunshine, and his impact on characters like Merlin and the others continue to influence the world even after his death.