Gowther's Powers From The Seven Deadly Sins Explained

"The Seven Deadly Sins" is a manga that started in 2014 and ended six years later in 2020. Before the manga was even a year old, however, A-1 Pictures developed an anime in its image. After that, Funimation dubbed it, Netflix distributed it, and "The Seven Deadly Sins" has been a household name ever since.

For those who are unfamiliar, "The Seven Deadly Sins," which is loosely based on Arthurian legend, follows the powerful Meliodas and his team of magical warriors (each one representing one of the seven deadly sins) as they save their realm from destruction. Tonally, it jumps from "Hey, there's a cute house on top of this mountain-sized talking pig" to "Well, looks like everyone's going to die, huh," often in the blink of an eye. It's fast-paced, it's raunchy, it's anime.

It's also a bit confusing at times. And now that "The Seven Deadly Sins" has run its natural course, having loosely covered the entire 42 volume (or tankobon, if you're interested in the Japanese terminology) collection over the span of five seasons, it's an ideal time for otherwise familiar faces to have a few of their lingering questions clarified. So, let's talk about Gowther, the Goat's Sin of Lust.

Bear with us for a moment ... this will get weirder before it gets easier. Gowther, the Goat's Sin of Lust, and formerly of The Ten Commandments (a rival faction of "knights" to the Seven Deadly Sins) is a sentient doll, created by a once powerful old wizard to appear in the form of his dead lover, Glariza. Not wishing to feel romantic inclinations towards his invention, the old wizard placed her features on a male figure. These androgynous origins, his even more androgynous fashion decisions, and his distinct personality led to a creation that is wholly unique and, at times, baffling to the other characters.

Because he's an actual, literal doll, Gowther is emotionless and struggles to understand the reasoning behind most human actions. He often accidentally harms those around him during his efforts to comprehend human emotion and personal expression. His efforts take the form of experiments, which are all the more dangerous because of his abilities, which feel somehow perfectly designed for torture.

It's best to say that Gowther has five special abilities, as his weapons, magical items, and powers smoothly interface with each other. Firstly, he possesses Balor's Magical Eye, which functions exactly like the scouter eyepieces from "Dragon Ball Z" that scan, quantify, and qualify opponents. Secondly, he's got a built-in self-destruct feature which he specifically requested from Merlin, the Boar's Sin of Gluttony. Third, Gowther wields the Sacred Treasure Herrit — twin bows made of pure energy. 

Then we come to the fourth ability, which is that Gowther often uses Herrit in conjunction with his natural power of invasion, which he inherited from his creator and which allows him to trap his opponents in their fondest memories. He can also use it to read their minds. The only comfort here is that he prefaces this ability with a verbal warning: "Rewrite Light!" Lastly, Gowther has a limited ability to shapeshift, which he primarily uses to further confuse people about his identity.

Gowther is immensely powerful, quasi-immortal (again, he's a magical doll), and a threat to all who oppose him. It's a good thing he's good ... most of the time.