Meliodas

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Lore & Background

Meliodas is the captain of the Seven Deadly Sins, the strongest order of Holy Knights in the Liones Kingdom. He often maintains a facade of a calm person, but whenever his comrades are harmed, he expresses extreme rage. In the 2023 anime adaptation of the Four Knights of the Apocalypse, he appears as the King of the Liones Kingdom. His design was purposely made different from his wanted poster that appeared in the first chapter, as Nakaba Suzuki gave the Sins appearances that contrasted with their posters. Suzuki decided to give them 'horrible' personalities and finalized making the protagonist a 'child,' though Meliodas was actually an adult. Suzuki struggled with designing Meliodas' 'fluffy' hair; in the pilot chapter, Meliodas had long, straight hair, which Suzuki felt was not as 'cute.' He originally planned for Meliodas to have dot eyes, which he associated with strong characters like Ban, Tristan from Rising Impact, and the titular character from Kongō Banchō, but worried readers would not take him seriously as the main character, so he gave him 'shining eyes,' which he felt were better because Meliodas was more of a 'shōnen type' character.

In Their Own Story

In the original Japanese version of The Seven Deadly Sins anime series, Yuki Kaji voiced Meliodas, while in the series' English dub, Bryce Papenbrook voiced Meliodas. In an interview with Kalai Chik of Anime News Network, both Papenbrook and Kaji agreed that Meliodas was an 'interesting' yet 'complicated' person. Kaji stated that Meliodas had tested his skills, and that 'His looks and his personality are very different, which is a challenge to overcome.' He also expressed that '[I] have to switch on and off during comedic moments to more serious moments.' Papenbrook stated that he tries to create a character by looking at them, and becoming them 'as much as possible.'

Reader's Guide

Meliodas has been popular among fans of the Seven Deadly Sins series. In a character popularity poll taken in 2014, he was voted as the fifth most popular character in the franchise. In a 2015 popularity poll, he ranked at fifth place with 6,554 votes, behind Hendrickson with 8,227 votes and Gowther with 12,068 votes. Reception to Meliodas' characterization has been 'generally mixed' or 'negative.' Reviewers often considered his attitude and behavior to be 'pervy' and 'creepy.' Hannah Diffey of Screen Rant felt that his likeability was heavily diminished by his 'treatment of females,' and that his flaws were 'hard to ignore,' making the series an impossible watch for most viewers. Cultured Vultures' Chris Hansell said that Meliodas was the 'biggest creep' in the Liones Kingdom. Perez Cody at Siliconera said that his strong personality had made him a 'somewhat loveable' character. Nicolas Soto of But Why Tho noted that Meliodas' emotions were a 'key' part of the fifth season, saying that they made his character much more 'sympathetic.' Both Anime News Network's Rebecca Silverman and Danica Davidson of Otaku USA warned viewers that the portrayal of Meliodas' perversion towards Elizabeth, often used for 'comedic relief,' may sometimes be misinterpreted by some readers. Theron Martin felt that Bryce Papenbrook was 'not fully effective in dropping his pitch' for voicing the 'darker' side of Meliodas. In his review of the first season of the anime adaptation, Martin felt that the writing tried to make Meliodas come off as 'perpetually calm, nonchalant, and difficult to truly anger.' Both Silverman and Martin agreed that Bryce Papenbrook's voice acting was not as 'effective,' and was a little more 'carefree.'

Did You Know?

• Nakaba Suzuki originally designed Meliodas with long, straight hair in the pilot chapter, but changed it because he felt it was not as 'cute.'
• Suzuki originally planned for Meliodas to have dot eyes, like Ban and the protagonist of Kongō Banchō, but switched to 'shining eyes' so readers would take him seriously as a main character.
• In a 2015 popularity poll, Meliodas ranked fifth with 6,554 votes, behind Hendrickson (8,227 votes) and Gowther (12,068 votes).
• Yuki Kaji, the Japanese voice actor, said Meliodas tested his skills because 'his looks and his personality are very different.'
• Meliodas appears as the King of the Liones Kingdom in the 2023 anime adaptation of Four Knights of the Apocalypse.