The Demon King「魔神王」 is the king of the Demon Clan. He is the one who handpicked the Ten Commandments and granted them their Commandments.[1] He is also the father of Meliodas, Estarossa, and Zeldris, three of the most powerful members of the Ten Commandments.
Appearance
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The Demon King is shadowed in his first appearance, towering over Meliodas. In his first full appearance he is seen as an enormous armor-clad man whose height reaches the clouds. He wears a long partially torn cape and wields a massive sword. He also has horns and a full long curly beard.
Personality
He seems to put power and evil above all else, chastising Meliodas for throwing away his former life just for the sake of a woman. He is also not above mocking and being ruthlessly sarcastic to the ones he dislikes. He has no empathy for demons who go against the laws of the Demon Clan, even if it is his own son. However, the Demon King is not completely unforgiving and without mercy, at least when it came to Meliodas, his first, strongest and seemingly favored child, as while he was hostile towards his traitorous son when he was in Purgatoy, the Demon King was fully willing to crown Meliodas as the New Demon King when he had returned to his old self. Cusack even said 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 currently mutually antagonistic relationship.
The Demon King is shown to be considerably calculating and intelligent, as evidenced by his quickly realising that giving just a single Demon half of his power would mean threatening his rule and thus choosing to divide his power into 10 pieces to make sure he can still rule the vast and chaotic Demon World without allowing any challenge to his rule. It is also noted that the Demon King is unpredictable, even to his sons, as Zeldris noted he can never know what his father is thinking.
History
Little of the Demon King's past is known. However, he would become the ruler of the Demon Clan and due to the Demon World being so chaotic and vast 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. As such, to avoid giving too much power to someone, the Demon King choose to divide his power into 10 pieces and gave it to the Demon Clan warriors he found worthy, thus creating the 10 Commandments.
3,000 years ago
During the last few days of the Ancient War, he 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 clan worked together and fought against Meliodas and Elizabeth, effortlessly killing them and cursing them for eternity. The Demon King cursed Meliodas with immortality as his punishment.[2][3]
Plot
Defensive Battle for Liones arc
After Meliodas's fight with the Ten Commandments, the Demon King greets him in Purgatory.[4] 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 counters that he is now free from the Commandments' bindings thanks to his curse, the Demon King agrees but mentions that he can feel Meliodas' quivering. Entertaining Meliodas' bluffs, he expresses anger towards the certain woman who had changed Meliodas 3,000 years ago and then informs him that though he was left in a greatly weakened state, 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. He is then attacked by an outraged Meliodas.[5]
Current arc
After Meliodas fight with Escanor, the Demon King senses that his son has starting 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 casually orders Zeldris to retrieve Meliodas and crown him as the new demon king.
Abilities and Equipment
As the ruler of the Demon Clan, he is terrifyingly powerful and strong, as he is certainly the most powerful demon alive, proven when he was able to effortlessly kill Meliodas in the Holy War. According to Meliodas, the Supreme Deity is the only being to be on par with The Demon King in terms of power. According to Zeldris, whoever who take the power of all the Commandments, can reach the Demon King's level of power.
The Demon King is also exceptionally skillfull with curses and blessings, having been the one that created the Commandments that the Ten Commandments wield. He is also the one responsible for the curse on Meliodas that can only be lifted by the King himself and the Supreme Deity, or someone as powerful as both gods.
Abilities
- Commandment「戒禁, Kaigon」: The Demon King is capable of bestowing a Commandment on those he deems suitable. These Commandments are a fraction of the power of the Demon King himself and deliver a unique curse to whomever breaks a rule specific to each Commandment. This power is absolute; it cannot be opposed even by its wielder. The curses will only be lifted if the victim defeats its wielder or at the victim's death. 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. The Commandments can be withdrawn from their wielder if he gives his consent, or if he is powerless, unable to fight or die.
- Faith「
信仰 , Shinkō」: Those who show faithlessness in the holder's presence will have their eyes set ablaze.[6] It is held by Melascula. - Love「
慈 愛 , Jiai」: Those who stand before the Commandment holder with hatred in their hearts will be rendered powerless to harm or inflict damage on anyone else.[7] It is held by Estarossa. - Pacifism「
不殺 , Fusatsu」: Any who kills in the holder's presence will have their own time stolen from them, causing the victim to age rapidly and die. It is held by Grayroad. - Patience「
忍耐 , Nintai」: The curse and its activation are unknown. It was held by Drole. - Piety「
敬 神 , Keishin」: Any who turn their back to the Commandment's holder are treated as committing an act of treachery, and are cursed into serving the Demon King, and by extension the holder who is acting as the Demon King's representative.[8] It was once held by Calmadios, and is currently held by Zeldris. - Purity「
純 潔 , Junketsu」: The curse and its activation are unknown. It is held by Derieri. - Repose「
安息 , Ansoku」: The curse and its activation are unknown. It was held by Gloxinia. - Reticence「
沈黙 , Chinmoku」: The curse and its activation are unknown. It is held by Monspeet. - Selflessness「
無欲 , Muyoku」: Those harboring greed, avarice and desire will be inflicted by its curse will lose their memories, feelings, and entire sense of self. It was once held by Gowther, but was later passed on to Fraudrin upon Gowther's disappearance. - Truth「
真実 Shinjitsu」: This Commandment determines that any who tell a lie in the holder's presence will be turned to stone. [9] However, only those who are aware that they are lying will be affected.[10] It is held by Galand.
- Faith「
- Immortality Curse: This is 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 condition to dispel it is to get a power equivalent to the King himself or the Supreme Deity and aside from the Demon King and the Supreme Deity themselves, the only known being who can remove it is the one who possess all the 10 Commandments. The only known victim of the curse is Meliodas.[11]
Weapons
- Large Boardsword: When he teamed up with the Supreme Deity to punish their children for defying the laws of their respective clans, the Demon King is shown to wield an enormous boardsword with a curved tip in similar concept to the large boardsword Meliodas wielded 3,000 years ago. It's safe to assume he is exceptionally capable with the sword.
Relationships
Meliodas
He and Meliodas now have an extremely antagonistic relationship. Though how it was before Meliodas betrayed the Demon Clan is unknown, except that the Demon King was apparently fond and proud of Meliodas due to Meliodas's surpassing power and skill and acknowledged and favored him above his younger brothers and also he considered Meliodas to be the most worthy and only heir to the throne. The Demon King was angry and furious when his son left the Demon Clan and thus causing the King to lose his worthy heir. Their relationship became bad enough that the Demon King had no qualms killing his son and cursing him with Immortality to forever seperate him from Elizabeth and punish him for his defiance. Even centuries after, the Demon King still holds a grudge to his son as evidenced when he lightly mocks his defeat and descent to Purgatory. However, it appears the Demon King still considers Meliodas to be his son and the rightful heir to his mantle and throne, as evidenced when he openly revels in the idea of bringing his oldest son back to the fold and after Meliodas fell back into his former self, the Demon King was delighted and immediately ordered Zeldris to retrieve his elder son and crown him the new king of the demons, apparently disregarding his son's betrayal despite Zeldris' visible discontent and shock.
Zeldris
He and Zeldris have a fairly good relationship. The Demon King gave Zeldris his power to use and Zeldris appears to respect his father greatly, immediately apologizing for having The Demon Clan embarassed at his command and promising to find and kill the one who humiliated them. The Demon king is also not afraid to be firm to Zeldris, as he was able to silence his youngest son quite casually when he questioned his order to rescue Meliodas, and it appears Zeldris is fully loyal to his father, as he, albeit very begrudgingly, obeyed when The Demon King ordered him to crown Meliodas as the next King of the Demons.
Estarossa
The Demon King's relationship with Estarossa is not known, but apparently Estarossa holds less respect for him compared to Zeldris', calling him the "old man" rather than father when he learned the Demon King still ordered Meliodas to be retrieved and crowned as the King of the Demons.
Supreme Deity
Despite being mutual enemies from 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.
Elizabeth
The Demon King deeply resents and hates Elizabeth as she is why Meliodas betrayed the Demon Clan, his heir. He evidently took pleasure in seeing Elizabeth cursed and unable to be with Meliodas.
Battles
Memories of the Holy War arc
- Meliodas and Elizabeth vs. Demon King and Supreme Deity: Win
References
- ↑ Chapter 111
- ↑ Chapter 183
- ↑ Chapter 224
- ↑ Chapter 182
- ↑ Chapter 183
- ↑ Chapter 145 , Page 6-7
- ↑ Chapter 183 , Page 13-14
- ↑ Chapter 184
- ↑ Chapter 121 , Page 7-9
- ↑ Chapter 155Question Corner Q144
- ↑ Chapter 224