Anime Hero of the Month- Harlequin (King)

A little late, but here we go for April’s Anime Hero of the Month!

I have to admit, this does feel very grade school-esque, but I like the concept of dedicating a post to an anime hero I admire for that month. And this last month? Oh, well, if you follow me on my other social media I’m sure you won’t find this a surprise. I’ve been changing a ton of backgrounds, profile pictures, etc, to King. Even though I haven’t yet written my thoughts on The Seven Deadly Sins, I just couldn’t wait to “crown” King. Please, don’t unfollow me for that pun.

I will warn you, this article will contain spoilers, as I do need examples for why I chose this character!

So why King of all people? I’ve talked briefly on my thoughts for why Diane is such an important character for the anime community to have in a previous article, 5 Strong Women in Anime, and I would have to say she’s toe to toe with King in my eyes. And there’s so many great characters to chose from when it comes to this anime; Meliodas, Elizabeth, Gowther and that guy that looks like he really just belongs in Fairy Tail… They’re all amazing. But I feel like King is a character people can really relate to.

King is the sin of Sloth for crying out loud, what anime fan has not committed this sin? Well, I mean, unless you watch anime while working out (which, by the way, is harder than you think). I had expected King to be more lethargic and bored, but really I saw him being the most prepared of the group. At first I wondered if he was just labeled the sin of Sloth because he carried a pillow around and floated, but then we see his background story and it’s such a different story.

King does care, and he cares deeply, but he’s always late. He misses and sometimes it’s only by a hair, and yet he still manages to lose something because of it. King seems to be gone when people need him the most; his forest or Diane for example…

And it makes you feel for him because King doesn’t do this entirely on purpose. He cares about doing the right thing, making sure everyone is taken care of and that they’re prepared for what comes ahead. He puts in more thought than anyone else in the group when it comes to planning and stresses it frequently.

I think we’ve all felt like that at some point, where we were just too late. Not to get dark, but it’s true, I think people can relate to King on a different level. Fans don’t usually enjoy characters labeled deserters, and yet when you get into his background story, you can’t feel that way at all. And I think that’s because we see the humanity in this character (even though he’s a fairy).

But most importantly, King moves on. The things he had to do, blaming himself for the death of his people, killing his best friend three times, not being there when Diane almost died; these are all things that make him realize that he is constantly committing his sin. And yet, he always wants to do the right thing whether it’s helping Diane grow up or correcting the wrongs Ban is making. I think when you can go through hell and be flawed as heck but still be a good person, that makes a character all the more worthy of applause.