Seven Deadly Sins



"The Operative: Do you know what your sin is, Mal? Mal: Aw hell, I'm a fan of all seven. (headbutt) But right now, I'm gonna have to go with wrath."

- Serenity

The Seven Deadly Sins are the seven basic concepts that will lead your soul to ruin. They're the basic seven personality traits which lead people to wrongdoing, and the various ways to sin are just combinations and permutations of these seven ideas. Originally they were termed the seven deadly vices (which are the opposite of "virtues"... Ah-ha, Theme Naming!). Obviously, these are the basic "rules of behavior" for any self-respecting Card-Carrying Villain.

In alphabetical order, here are the big seven, along with a couple examples of tropes embodying each (keep in mind that there are plenty of tropes that reference them, but including them all would make this entry nigh-unreadable):

Avarice - Desire for Things. Often simply referred to as greed, but avarice includes spending money pointlessly as well as hoarding it. An oft-misquoted passage in The Bible says that "the love of money is the root of many kinds of evil." In 3rd century AD, Christians used the acronym ROMA as a veiled insult against the Empire. What was ROMA? Radix Omnium Malorum Avaritia, or: the Root of All Evil is Greed. This one is popular amongst Rich Bitches, Corrupt Corporate Executives, the Diabolical Mastermind and anyone who would say Screw the Rules, I Have Money. When treated as a vital part of the economy rather than a sin, it's called "the profit motive". Greed is usually associated with frogs and the color yellow. The punishment in Hell for this is to be thrown into a pot of molten gold. The patron demon of Avarice is Mammon (as in the Mammon Machine), and its corresponding (i.e. opposite) virtue is Charity.

Envy - Desire for Other People's Things. Or simply hatred of others' good fortune. Hey, sometimes others get the cool stuff first. Doesn't stop you from wanting it. Those that act on this tend to be thieves of any stripe, be it a Gentleman Thief, a Classy Cat Burglar, a highwayman, or a plagiarist. Other villains who qualify include The Resenter, the Clingy Jealous Girl or Crazy Jealous Guy, the Fairest of Them All, the Yandere and anyone who murders the hypotenuse. What separates Envy from simple Jealousy (the modern use of jealousy anyways ) is that Envy is Jealousy with a malicious desire to harm or punish the person you're jealous of. It is also known by the name of schadenfreude, or sorrow-joy; simply put it means joy at another's suffering. Envy is usually associated with dogs or goats and the color green. The punishment in Hell for committing this sin is to be put in ice-cold water. The patron demon of Envy is either Leviathan or Belial, and its corresponding virtue is Kindness.

Gluttony - Desire for More. Have you ever wanted to just sit around and eat all day? That's a start, but to fully commit gluttony one must also waste food. Although less known it includes abuse of food such as extremely luxurious or wasteful meals. This is one of the sins more likely to appear in heroic characters - after all, Big Eaters are funny, and their obvious extension Extreme Omnivore is even funnier. Also, this might explain why so many tropes have food in their names while having nothing to do with food. The most villainous practitioners of this sin typically say I'm a Humanitarian. (Note: in pop culture, this sin is almost always associated with overeating, but theologically it applies to overconsumption of anything. Taking more than your share is the key thing. It has also been equated with any kind of addiction in modern times, but see Lust below.) Gluttony is usually associated with pigs and the color orange. The punishment in Hell for committing this sin is to eat rats, snakes and toads. The patron demon of Gluttony is Beelzebub, or possibly Behemoth, and its corresponding virtue is Temperance.

Lust - Desire for Pleasure. It's the desire to know someone Biblically, but traditionally included all other sins of physical desire or luxury (such as drug addiction), not just sex. How evil this is depends often on the author's view of sex. Authors with a much more positive view of the matter will show this trope via Lovable Sex Maniacs and occasional bouts of Deus Sex Machina, and maybe a Parental Bonus if the work is theoretically for kids. Authors more negative on the concept will say No Sex Allowed, Evil Is Sexy (possibly reversed to "Sexy is Evil"), or Death by Sex. The worst practitioners of this sin are usually predators of some kind who prey on others, like the Stalker with a Crush, those who practice Villainous Incest, the Combat Sadomasochist, the vilest of Serial Killers or the villain who says "I Have You Now, My Pretty". Hedonists, villainous or otherwise, are always motivated by Lust. Lust is usually associated with cows, bulls, cocks... er, roosters or goats, and the color blue. The punishment in Hell for committing this sin is to be covered in fire and brimstone. The patron demon of Lust is Asmodeus, and its corresponding virtue is Chastity.

(Lust is often the odd one out in Anthropomorphic Personifications of the seven. The other six are typically personified as practicing the sin (as say, a Narcoleptic, a Big Eater, a Kleptomaniac, a Green-Eyed Monster, a Miles Gloriosus and a Berserker) whereas Lust is usually personified in a form that inspires lust (Mr. Fanservice or Ms. Fanservice) rather than one that embodies lust (like a Memetic Rapist). Partly because Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil, and a character that went around trying to shag Anything That Moves might not be sympathetic of Family Friendly enough for the work in question, but usually just its more entertaining that way.)

Pride - Desire for Attention. Often said to be the big one, as "pride cometh before a fall." Traditionally the most vile of the Seven Deadly Sins, it was the one that corrupted Satan as it involves placing yourself above God (or whatever deity you're invoking) and all others. In fact, pretty much every villain, in part, is motivated by pride - the idea is, they'd make things work better than what's going on now. So, they feel it's only right they should Take Over the World. The ones more blatant about it are the Evil Overlord, the Nietzsche Wannabe, and the Corrupt Hick. Villains who more generally convey this sin are the Smug Snake, the Narcissist or The Fighting Narcissist, the Alpha Bitch, the Know-Nothing Know-It-All, the Card-Carrying Villain, the Vain Sorceress, the Attention Whore, corrupt royalty of all kinds and anyone who says "It's All About Me" or worse, asks "A God Am I". By definition, it is the one Sin that prevents the sinner from repentance, as they are too proud to admit that they were wrong. Termed "self-respect" when treated as a virtue. Pride is usually associated with horses or peacocks and the color purple. The punishment in Hell for committing this sin is to be put on a breaking wheel, which basically amounts to having your limbs crushed. The patron demon for Pride is, understandably, Lucifer, and its corresponding virtue is, again understandably, Humility.

Sloth - Desire for Rest. The reason this entry didn't come into existence earlier despite the fact that everyone liked the idea, sloth is the lack of desire to actually do some work. This one isn't possessed by villains often (they have to get the plot going, after all), but if heroes possess too much of it the Big Bad will find it much easier to succeed. Sometimes this results in a Refusal of the Call, and more than one creator who Did Not Do the Research has been accused of this. While obviously not main characters, Apathetic Citizens are clearly slothful. The Brilliant but Lazy types are always guilty of this sin. The Dumb Blonde and the Brainless Beauty may not be so much lacking in intelligence as too slothful to cultivate it. The characters most frequently guilty of this sin, however, are either Heavy Sleepers or Sleepyheads. More villainous examples of sloth are usually manipulators of some kind, who find it easier to manipulate others into doing their bidding rather than do any work themselves. These include the Non-Action Big Bad, Orcus on His Throne, The Chessmaster, The Corrupter, the Magnificent and Manipulative Bastard, the Smug Snake and anyone who commits the Slouch of Villainy. It is also worth noting that Sloth also covers moral/spiritual laziness; idealism is too much work. Frequently results from the Despair Event Horizon; in fact, the sin of Despair was classified under this because to despair is to give up. Notably, Sloth is also associated with a Lack of Empathy. Early papal creeds against the sin mostly classified it as knowing the right thing and failing to do it. Sloth is often ranked high in the deadly sins because of this sinister and far more actively destructive side of its nature - it destroys Time itself. Sloth is usually associated with goats or donkeys and the color light blue. The punishment in Hell for committing this sin is to be thrown into a pit of snakes. The patron demon of Sloth is a little-known figure named Belphegor, and its corresponding virtue is Diligence.

Wrath - Desire for Harm. Darth Vader tried to lure his son to The Dark Side by using his anger. He ought to know that lust was a much better temptation. Star Wars complaints aside, this is rage taken up a few dozen notches, combined with blood-thirstiness and a general appreciation of too much violence. It can be easily seen in a Blood Knight, during an Unstoppable Rage, and in general anyone with a Berserk Button. It's also a common problem of those who seek Revenge. Hatred and racism (Fantastic Racism or otherwise) can also fall under this. The worst practitioners of Wrath are the Omnicidal Maniac and anyone who wants to Kill'Em All. Wrath is usually associated with bulls, bears and the color red. The punishment in Hell for committing this sin is to be dismembered while still alive. The patron demon of Wrath is either Satan, Amon, or Moloch, and its corresponding virtue is Patience.

Remember them with the handy acronym WASPLEG! Alternatively, to sound more mysterious and intellectual, use the Latin names for the sins, which can be arranged to form another handy acronym: SALIGIA.

The sins are color-coded via Rainbow Motif - Wrath, Gluttony, Greed, Envy, Sloth, Lust, Pride.

For the good counterpart, see the Seven Heavenly Virtues. Compare the Scale of Scientific Sins. See also Mr. Vice Guy and Evil Virtues.

Anime and Manga

 * In Fullmetal Alchemist, the homunculi are named after the sins. Many of them have powers appropriate to their name: Envy is a shape shifter who can imitate anyone, Gluttony can consume anything, and Lust is beautiful but deadly. This is made more obvious in the manga where Sloth is a giant that frequently falls asleep and yet . Pride looks like Father's original form, and Wrath, and is an absolutely brutal fighter.
 * And Greed actually betrays Father and runs away to lead his own life because, as he explicitly tells Father, following him wouldn't satisfy his consuming greed.
 * In the 2003 anime, Pride is, who's Wrath in the manga but who does act very arrogant. Wrath is a character original to the anime and is indeed one angry little guy. And Sloth doesn't seem particularly lazy, but her 'nature' as a kind of possibly fits... plus her desire to
 * Thats probably because the original meaning of sloth as a deadly sin was sadness to the point of despair.
 * She does seem to pass on opportunities to kill off the Elrics and their friends rather often. And when she does kill someone, she sometimes just uses the power in one arm while the rest of her sits at a desk, having a cup of tea.
 * In one of the recent manga chapters Hohenheim says that the seven sins are the seven emotions that constitute human nature. This is why discarded them and formed the seven Homunculi from them.
 * No such justification for their naming is presented in the 2003 anime, where the creation of homunculi is a completely different process; the names of the sins seem to be just code names. Most likely, probably just thought it was a good theme.
 * Think about that name.
 * Something from the first anime that might slip by you the first time. During an important Scene, Envy shifts through a number of forms before finally becoming a gigantic white serpent. The connections to the Ouroburos are obvious, but remember the description above, and how the patron demon of envy is the Leviathan, a sort of sea monster.
 * Envy in particular conforms to the description on this page. It loathed humans, not because it felt superior, but because it hated their ability to feel compassion for one another. Its greatest pleasure was in destroying that ability and making those it envied suffer.
 * The anime Envy gets an additional bonus on top of this, though we can't tell you without spoiling everything. Feel that? That's Envy. If you don't, just check the spoiler anyway.
 * The description of Pride is also displayed, as in both series, although they have a different identity between the two series, Pride is the most powerful Homunculus, the leader apart from the Big Bad (although in the first series, shares this role as Co-Dragons with Envy, but Pride still had a very important and vital role in their leader's plans), the Big Bad's favored one, shows contempt for humans thinking them to be inferior, because it felt superior to them, and is the most ruthless and evil of the Homunculi (with Envy coming the closest particularly in the first series ), fitting with Pride being the worst of the Seven Deadly Sins.
 * In addition, the way each homunculus dies in the manga is either an allusion to The Bible, Dante's Inferno (and technically Purgatorio,too), or is karmic already on its own:
 * Envy
 * Gluttony
 * Greed
 * Lust
 * Pride
 * Sloth
 * Wrath . Ironically, since
 * Even more ironically, as he . Lampshaded by Greed, who chastised him for it once he found the body.
 * Digimon has the Seven Demon Lords, each one representing a sin. Digimon Savers used the general sins as
 * Unusual for this trope, the Demon Lords aren't presented as a Quirky Miniboss Squad. Rather, each series only features one Demon Lord. So far, we have:
 * Adventures: Daemon, representing Wrath.
 * Arguably, one could say that Myotismon was the Demon Lord of the first two seasons, representing Pride as well. He was the power behind Daemon on File Island, the reason Etemon found the Digidestined, and the Big Bad for the whole time they were in the real world in S1 and for the season as a whole in S2.
 * Tamers: Beelzemon, representing Gluttony. Originally an Anti-Hero Impmon who became so obsessed with power that he started to kill and load the data of his friends. That is, until the D-Reaper appeared and kidnapped one of the more genteel Tamers as a reason to delete the world. Then, he made a Heroic Sacrifice to try and save her.
 * Frontier: Lucemon, representing Pride. Has a literal Messiah Complex, believing the world would be a better place if he was absolute ruler.
 * Savers: Belphemon, representing Sloth. Originally appears in Sleep Mode transforming into Rage Mode when it woke up.
 * XrosWars: Lilithmon, representing Lust. Interestingly, Lucemon appears as Lilithmon's lackey and HEROIC versions of Beelzemon and Leviamon (Envy) are also shown.
 * Next: Barbamon, representing Greed.


 * The Shonen manga series Katekyo Hitman Reborn has the seven sins represented by the seven top members of an elite assassination squad, the Varia. The seven protagonists set to battle against them in a fight for the right to inherit a powerful mafia family embody the Seven Heavenly Virtues (but not as obviously as the antagonists). The Varia take their names directly from the Seven Deadly Sins:
 * Greed: Mammon (obsessed with money)
 * Envy: Leviathan (wishes to be the only one to please his boss; is envious of Tsuna and his group from taking his "rightful" position as Thunder Guardian)
 * Gluttony/Gula: Gola Mosca (consumes the Dying Will Flames of for power; bonus points for "mosca" meaning "fly", as Beelzebub is also known as "Lord of the Flies")
 * Lust/Luxuria: Lussuria (admires the bodies of other men)
 * Pride/Superbia: Superbia Squalo (a loudmouth very proud of his rank as #1 swordsman in the world)
 * Sloth/Acedia: Belphegor (a natural-born killer who is lazy and doesn't take his job very seriously)
 * Wrath: Xanxus + Flame of Wrath (a generally unpleasant person who calls those he considers beneath him scum. He possesses the Flames of Wrath, originally owned by, the most powerful Dying Will Flames in existence).
 * Umineko no Naku Koro ni features the Stakes of Purgatory, a group of seven sisters with red eyes who serve the Golden Witch, Beatrice. They turn into stakes to kill those guilty of their respective sin. They're named after the patron demons and even have personalities that reflect each sin, although sometimes in weird ways; Belphegor, for instance, is a hard worker, but said hard work leads others to be lazy, perpetuating her sin of Sloth.
 * A prominent motif in Eleven Eyes. The main enemies, the Black Knights, are named after the Latin names of the sins (only Lust is absent), and the traits are reflected in the heroes.
 * Bleach had a series of chapters named after the Sins, each seemingly referring to the characters and their actions (sorta, it's a bit vague)
 * 341 - The Envy:
 * 342 - The Greed:
 * 343 - The Gluttony:
 * 344 - The Pride: The Pride was twofold, both Yammy's fall (Pride goeth before) and the Pride Ichigo expressed. That more foreshadowing in that instance, as he felt he stood a chance against Ulquiorra.
 * 345 - The Sloth: Rudobon creates clones that fight for him while he watches safely from afar.
 * 346 - The Wrath:
 * 347 - 352 - The Lust 1 - 6:
 * Also some Espada are related to the Seven Sins somehow:
 * Pride: Barragan (his Zanpakuto is called Arrogante)
 * Wrath: Yammy (His is Ira)
 * Sloth: Starrk (Is the first Espada, but hardly does much of anything)
 * Envy: Nnoitra (Envious that Nel had a higher rank than him, defeated him in fights, and said he was pathetic for insisting on fighting her.)
 * Gluttony: Aaroniero (Glotoneria), and here's where it starts the fall apart, because his character more closely applies to lust(lust for power).
 * Though, eating a total of 33,650 hollows does fit nicely into the "Gluttony" section of the theme.
 * Lust: Szayel (Fornicaras). Considering that
 * Avarice: Zommari Rureaux. His Resurreccion (Brujeria) "takes sovereignty" from any object or body part his eyes mark with his curse ("Amor"--Love-- as he called it) and in the case of marking the head, he can control the whole body. Taking over anything for his own use, even people against their will can be a form of Greed, perhaps?
 * In Karakuridouji Ultimo, there is a group of 50 evil robots called Douji who each represent a different negative trait, and the strongest evil Douji (barring Vice himself) are the embodiments of the Seven Deadly Sins. The Seven Sins are extremely powerful, each rivaling Vice in just how much of a Hero-Killer they can be. For example, the one representing Lust can completely shut down any other Douji within a several mile radius. The one representing greed can multiply endlessly. The one representing Sloth didn't do a lot during his first appearance, but when he moved, he killed six people in one strike. Etc. Interestingly, the Hero Counterparts of the Seven Deadly Sins seem to be the Six Perfections from Buddhism rather than the Seven Heavenly Virtues.
 * Soul Eater did this with the book of Eibon, a book that had the seven sins as chapters. Lust turned the characters into the opposite gender. Gluttony was of course based on food. Wrath made anyone who was in it angry. Greed was based on money. Envy showed the occupants what they hated about themselves. And Sloth was a distorted chapter where everything just stood still. Pride, the lowest chapter, is where an Eldritch Abomination stays and tries to tempt anyone with power.
 * And now it seems
 * In Naruto, some of the main antagonists, The Akatsuki, represent the Seven Deadly Sins: Manipulative Bastard Orochimaru represents Envy, Mad Bomber Deidara represents Wrath, Combat Sadomasochist Hidan represents Lust, Miser Advisor Kakuzu represents Greed, Marionette Master Sasori and Man-Eating Plant Zetsu represent Gluttony, Anti-Villain (s) Pain/Nagato and Konan represent Sloth and Big Bad Madara Uchiha represents Pride.
 * Code Breaker: Ogami uses The Seven Flames, which cleanse the seven deadly sins. They later become the weaknesses the fighters have to defeat in a ritual (Ogami's is ).

Art

 * A frequent theme in Hieronymus Bosch's paintings.
 * Pieter Bruegel the Elder made a series of drawings about the Seven Deadly Sins and the Seven Heavenly Virtues.

Comic Books

 * In the DC Comics Universe, the Seven Deadly Sins, or rather their Anthropomorphic Personifications, are imprisoned inside the Rock of Eternity by the wizard Shazam (Same guy who empowered Captain Marvel of I Am Not Shazam fame), though their influence is still passively felt throughout creation.
 * Until recently "Injustice" took the place of "Lust", presumably due to the Comic Book Age Ghetto.
 * Lust first appeared in 2002, as the Sins were released as part of an attack on the JLA & the JSA. The Sins ended up possessing various members of both groups.
 * Until the late '80s, they were often called "The Seven Deadly Enemies of Man" in order to avoid overt religious references (another age ghetto no-no.)
 * This troper remembers seeing "Ignorance" as well.
 * Each of the seven villainous aliens from the DC Crisis Crossover Bloodlines was explicitly themed around one of the seven deadly sins.
 * Alan Moore's run on Supreme included the seven-headed demon lord Sin. Each head represented a different Deadly Sin, and their sometimes conflicting motivations were his greatest weakness.
 * A French graphic novel, Seven Monks, told the story of seven Irish monks, each embodying one of the deadly sins, receiving punishment for their sins by being sent to convert a village of pagan vikings. Incredibly, by applying their sinful behaviors in creative ways (the avaricious monk uses the lure of profitable trading with Byzantium, the envious monk convinces the chieftain's second-in-command to take over upon his death, the lustful monk seduces every woman in the village, and so on) and with some incredible coincidences, they succeed in their mission without changing their ways in the slightest.
 * Brother Conan (guess what he represents) makes himself useful in other ways: a seven-foot-tall shaved man running around Dual-Wielding axes bellowing "GOD IS LOVE!!!" to save the village from attack. Even the local berserker thinks Conan more dangerous than him.
 * The 2009 Batman annuals feature a group of seven villains who call themselves La Saglia (an acronym of the Latin names of the sins), and seek to awaken the Eighth Sin. Any connection to the Seven Deadly Enemies of Man is unknown.
 * Yet another example from DC: in Titans Together, six sons of Trigon sired from human mothers at around the same time as Raven have emotion-manipulating powers based on the sins. They try to awaken Raven's evil side and get her to join up. In an open defiance of convention, the one female in the group isn't lust; Raven instead filled the "pride" slot.
 * This is a stretch, but it's probably not a coincidence that the more "evil" colors on the Emotion Spectrum introduced in the Green Lantern mythos embody some of the Sins. The Red Lanterns embody Wrath. Orange Lantern Larfleeze is trickier; Orange is called the light of Greed but in practice Larfleeze embodies Gluttony and Envy as well. His sole motivation is to own anything of value in existence, especially if it belongs to someone else, while stuffing his face with as much food as possible. In their darker moments the Star Sapphire Corp embody Lust rather well. The Sinestro Corp's goal is to bring order to the universe by spreading fear to the point where everyone is in too much Despair to resist; thus they embody the original meaning of Sloth. It's also easy to see that Pride is a recurring problem for the Green Lanterns themselves; people who are told that, out of their entire space sector, they are the most courageous ones and worthy of joining an ancient order of space police and given a Magitek super-weapon are at a higher risk of developing inflated egos than most.
 * The Seven Deadly Sins make a poetic appearance in the margins of a chapter of Lost Girls.
 * The variant covers of the first issue of DV8 depicted the team as the Seven Deadly Sins. Threshold, a Psychopathic Manchild whose boss Ivana controlled him with sex, was Lust. Bliss, a spoiled rich girl, was Greed. Powerhaus, who feeds off ambient emotions to get stronger, was Gluttony. Evo, a monster man with an attitude problem, was Wrath. Frostbite, a pessimist who doesn't care about anything, was Sloth. Copycat, the girl with multiple personalities, was Pride, and Sublime, a supermodel type who longed for the attention of Gen 13 member Grunge, was Envy.
 * See them all here.

Fanworks

 * This deviant-artist portrayed seven of the original girls from Total Drama Island as the Seven Deadly Sins, with quite logical reasoning:
 * Gwen as Wrath
 * Bridgette as Sloth
 * Lindsay as Lust
 * Beth as Envy
 * Courtney as Pride
 * Izzy as Gluttony
 * Heather as Greed
 * There exists a really good Harry Potter fanfiction that features several villains as the sins:
 * Narcissa Malfoy as Pride
 * Severus Snape as Envy
 * Bellatrix Lestrange as Wrath
 * Dolores Umbridge as Gluttony
 * Lucius Malfoy as Greed
 * Pansy Parkinson as Lust
 * Zacharias Smith as Sloth
 * The Seven Disney Sins:
 * Belle as Vanity
 * Cinderella as Lust
 * Jasmine (in her red Bad Future outfit) as Wrath
 * Snow White as Gluttony
 * Tinker Bell as (Green With)Envy
 * Ariel as Greed
 * Sleeping Beauty as Sloth
 * This One Piece fic has identified the original seven Straw Hats with a sin.
 * Luffy: Gluttony
 * Zoro: Pride
 * Nami: Greed
 * Usopp: Envy
 * Sanji: Lust
 * Chopper: Wrath
 * Robin: Sloth
 * This Merlin fic features some of the Knights of the Round Table, along with Gwen, Morgana and Morgause.
 * Arthur envies Merlin for having a carefree life of a servant.
 * Gwaine notices his cup is empty and orders more to drink while Merlin tries to stop him.
 * Lancelot can't stop lusting after Gwen even when he knows its futile.
 * Merlin becomes angry when he sees Arthur getting hurt.
 * Morgause tries to convince Morgana to take everything that came across them.
 * Percival is lazy and doesn't want to train on a hot afternoon.
 * Gwen is fiercely proud of her boys.

Film

 * Se7en centered around a Serial Killer committing his murders based on these sins.
 * Repo the Genetic Opera features the Largo family: Rotti Largo, the powerful businessman and his three children: Amber Sweet the surgery addicted, drug-addict wannabe singer, Luigi the raging, mass murdering Sociopath and Pavi the effeminate, face-stealing Casanova. While all four are vain and greedy, Rotti in particular represents Envy and Greed, Amber is Sloth and Gluttony, while Luigi is Wrath (as the producer Darren Lynn Bousman has stated) and Pavi is Pride and Lust.
 * In the 1967 Deal with the Devil film Bedazzled, the protagonist, Stanley Moon meets incarnations of the seven deadly sins. In the 2000 remake, Brendan Fraser receives seven wishes, six of which correspond to a sin. First, he wishes for a coke and hamburger. This represents gluttony. Next he wishes to be rich and powerful, representing greed and resulting in him becoming a Columbian drug lord. He then wishes to be the most emotionally sensitive man on the planet but his sensitivity is to the point of inaction, making it sloth. Elliot later wishes to be a professional basketball player who exhibits considerable aggression, representing anger. His wish to be articulate, witty, and intelligent results in him becoming a charming but somewhat vain award-winning author who represents Pride and ultimately turns out to be a homosexual. His wish to become President of the United States would seem to represent Envy as he coveted the power, reputation, and authority that comes with the job.
 * 1927's Metropolis includes a dream sequence featuring embodiments of the Seven Deadly Sins and Death. Death aside, you'd be hard pressed to recognize them, but they are listed in the credits, apparently playing themselves.
 * Serenity revolved somewhat around the nature of sin, with the Operative remarking on what he perceived to be his victims' sins, and the attempt to eliminate sin
 * Oddly enough the sins of the Operative's enemies were perceived quite well. Dr Matthias was Prideful enough to display the work he'd done on River to key members of Parliament without thinking of the consequences. And as Mal admitted, his sin was Wrath. But the Alliance's sin of trying to eliminate sin by mere human effort would certainly be Pride as Shepherd Book would note.
 * The point that Joss was trying to make with the film (which he makes clear in the commentary) is that while the Seven Deadly Sins are bad, they are also inseparable from human nature. The Alliance thought that sin was something that could be stamped out (which was a sin in and of itself, as pointed out above) and the result was Miranda:
 * The villainous mercenary group in Deep Rising seems to be made up of this: Vivo is always talking about food (Gluttony); T. Ray threatens with violence all the time (Wrath); Mamooli talks about his desire to have sex with women from every country (Lust), Jason Flemyng says that the group will "kick ass and take names" as well as taunts a monster and claims it is nothing (Pride); Hanover is paranoid, distrustful and later ends up shooting at someone who is going to live and not him (Envy); Mason is seen stuffing money into his pockets (Greed); and Billy complains about all the work he has to do (Sloth).
 * Mind Hunters: Not ostensibly focused upon but present in some form or another, nonetheless, and basically end up being what do most of the characters in:
 * Lust:
 * Gluttony:
 * Envy:
 * Wrath: The killer obviously has this in spades. That aside, everyone pulls a gun on everybody else for most of the movie and Nicole takes this one to the next level when she suspects of being the killer.
 * Pride:
 * Greed: Gabe doesn't approve of how taxpayers' (apparently including his) hard-earned dollars are spent.
 * Sloth: Aside from J.D., no one lifts a finger to help Nicole prepare dinner. Particularly frowning on Gabe here, since he's basically an unexpected and uninvited guest.
 * Arguably, Charlie and The Chocolate Factory shows the naughty children representing four of the sins, with Veruca Salt being Greed, Violet Beauregarde being Pride, Augustus Gloop being Gluttony, and Mike Teavee being Wrath. Also as arguably, Charlie may represent Envy, though more so in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Still arguably, Mike Teavee would have been Sloth, not Wrath in that one.
 * The 1970 The Devil's Nightmare involves a plot where the Devil snares each of the seven tourists with one of the deadly sins, ending with Pride for the priest who thought he'd gotten one over on the Devil by selling his soul for the lives of the six other tourists.
 * In the musical Absolute Beginners, the Disney Acid Sequence "That's Motivation" has advertising executive Vendice Partners (David Bowie) explaining to idealistic photographer hero Colin that if he joins his company and moves up in the world, he can "Commit horrible sins and get away with it." He proceeds to show Colin, on a giant television screen, each of these sins in action (played out by fantasy versions of Colin, his sweetheart Crepes Suzette, and those around them).
 * In the musical Absolute Beginners, the Disney Acid Sequence "That's Motivation" has advertising executive Vendice Partners (David Bowie) explaining to idealistic photographer hero Colin that if he joins his company and moves up in the world, he can "Commit horrible sins and get away with it." He proceeds to show Colin, on a giant television screen, each of these sins in action (played out by fantasy versions of Colin, his sweetheart Crepes Suzette, and those around them).

Literature

 * Each of the main characters in Tom Harris's Hannibal series could be seen to represent a Deadly Sin. Clarice is Pride, Hannibal Lector himself is gluttony, Pazzi is Greed, Mason Verger is Wrath, Frederick Chilton is Sloth, Jame Gumb is Envy and Francis Dolarhyde is Lust.
 * Older Than Print: In Dante's The Divine Comedy , the Mount of Purgatory (described in the Purgatorio, the second part of the Comedy, where sinners who repented before death are purged of their sins) is arranged around the Seven Deadly Sins, from least-serious to most-serious (in Dante's evaluation):
 * The Proud, on the First (lowest) Terrace, walk carrying heavy stones on their backs, so that they cannot stand straight or look down on anyone else.
 * The Envious, on the Second Terrace of Purgatory have their eyes sewn shut. In life they envied what they saw; to purge their sin, they see nothing.
 * The Wrathful are on the Third Terrace, where the walk constantly, blinded by acrid smoke.
 * The Slothful are on the Fourth Terrace, being purged of their sin by constant running.
 * The Avaricious are on the Fifth Terrace, lying face down on the ground. This is generally considered a breaking point: the previous four sins were all about perverted or deficient love and are considered more severe, while this sin and the two that follow are all about excessive love for material things and are more excusable (although Dante thought it was a stupid sin to be guilty of).
 * The Gluttonous are on the Sixth Terrace and their penance is to pass through groves of fruit and by waterfalls of pure water without eating or drinking.
 * The Lustful are on the Seventh and last Terrace of the Mount of Purgatory, where their sin is purged from them in a wall of fire.
 * The Inferno is not strictly arranged according to the Seven Deadly Sins, although some do show up. In general, the lesser sins get their own circles, but Dante saw fit to redefine the worse sins.
 * The unrepentant Lustful are in the Second Circle of Hell, constantly blown about by winds, symbolizing their surrender in life to their desires of the moment.
 * The unrepentant Gluttonous the Third Circle of the Inferno, where they lie in a slush of rain, hail, and ash, symbolizing the foul waste of their lives.
 * The unrepentant Avaricious (both the greedy and the squanderers) are in the Fourth Circle of Hell, pushing large, heavy weights at and into each other.
 * The unrepentant Slothful and Wrathful are in the Fifth Circe of Hell, which is the River Styx. The Slothful lay beneath the surface of the river, sunk in the slime and mud of the riverbed; the Wrathful are on the surface, tearing and yelling at each other as they swim.
 * Garth Nix's seven-part Keys to the Kingdom series features a different villain in each one, named after a different day. Since the breaking of the Will, each of these Trustees has also been afflicted by a particular Deadly Sin.
 * Monday is Sloth - he allows his dominion to fall apart because he can't be bothered to do anything about it.
 * Tuesday is Avarice - He is desperate for Nothing, the raw material of everything, and his mining operations almost makes his Realm collapse into the Void.
 * Wednesday is Gluttony - she is cursed to eat constantly and has swollen to become a giant whale.
 * Thursday is Wrath - He can't control his anger.
 * Friday is Lust - She is addicted to mortal experiences and uses her magic to steal them.
 * Saturday is Envy - She is resentful that Sunday rules the House, when she is the elder of the two.
 * Sunday is Pride. Thus far, he has refused to get involved in the battle for the House, believing there can only one result, and instead delights in his demesne, the Incomparable Gardens, and is fond of showing Saturday brief glimpses of it. He also controls the most powerful of the Seven Keys.
 * An incomplete example-given that there's four, not seven-is that many people believe the four bad children from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to be representatives of sin; Augustus Gloop is gluttony, Veruca Salt is greed, Mike Teavee is wrath, and Violet Beauregard is pride.
 * This troper always saw it as follows: Augustus is Gluttony, Veruca is both Greed and Envy, Mike is Sloth, and Violet, of course, is Pride. He didn't really see any Wrath, and Lust would have been, kinda, Ew.
 * Interestingly, in the new movie, the parents also have a dominant sin. Mrs. Gloop as pride- though for Augustus, not herself, Mr. Salt as sloth, and Ms. Beauregard quite explicitly as lust.
 * Terry Pratchett's Discworld. In the country of Lancre, one family went and named their daughters after the Seven Heavenly Virtues, Faith, Hope, Charity, Prudence so forth. And out of a misinformed sense of continuity, named their sons along the lines of Bestiality and Anger (among others).
 * Also, in Going Postal, it turns out that there are actually eight virtues: Patience, Chastity, Silence, Charity, Hope, Tubso, Bissonomy and Fortitude.
 * We don't know what those two are either.
 * Some people have argued that each book in CS Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia focus on one of the seven deadly sins:
 * The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: Gluttony since Edmund betrays his siblings for magical candy.
 * Prince Caspian: Lust in the form of luxury; the Telmarines want a highly ordered and civilized Narnia.
 * The Voyage of the Dawn Treader: Greed - the dragon storyline, and the excessive riches each island offers.
 * Actually, all seven deadly sins appeared in that book. There were even seven swords in the film that represented conquering them.
 * The Horse and His Boy: Pride since the main characters assume they can stand alone. Rabadash also
 * The Silver Chair: Sloth since Jill constantly forgets the signs.
 * The Magicians Nephew: Wrath since Uncle Andrew and Jadis are both very heavy-handed.
 * The Last Battle: Envy since Puzzle and Shift, desirous of Aslan's power, try to establish themselves as Aslan returned in order to manipulate the other animals.
 * Alternatively, The Horse and His Boy has the main characters envy the Narnians, and The Last Battle has Shift think he's better than Aslan, whom he doesn't believe to exist (Pride).
 * The Horse and His Boy also makes a good case for Lust considering the entire plot against Narnia is contingent on Rabadash's lust for Queen Susan.
 * Four of the Seven Deadly Sins yield bigotry in The Cold Within. The first and second people are consumed by Pride, the third by Envy, the fourth and sixth by Greed, and the fifth by Wrath.
 * The Redcrosse Knight meets the Seven Deadly Sins in the first book of The Faerie Queene. Their leader is Pride, who is, interestingly, the only one portrayed as a woman, when most personifications make Lust a woman (since All Women Are Lustful). Here, people are invited to party in their mansions, only to eventually end up rotting to death in their dungeon. Fortunately, Redcrosse's dwarf Sidekick warns him in enough time to help him flee.
 * Joey Washkevich's novel, "The 7 Deadly Sins" has the main characters as 7 boys whom are named after each sin and commit the sin they are named after.
 * Anthropomorphic personifications of the sins show up in Marlowe's version of Doctor Faustus.
 * The Doctor Who short story collection Short Trips: Seven Deadly Sins has the Eighth Doctor encounter seven powerful people who devote their lives to one of the sins, and making them experience a story from his past related to the sin.
 * The Star Trek short story collection Star Trek: Seven Deadly Sins ties each of the sins to a Planet of Hats. The Klingons are Wrath (specifically, in this case, taking the form of racial hatred between crested and non-crested Klingons, and the violent rage the tensions awake in them). The Romulans are Pride (with a tendency to under-estimate the other races due to their arrogant assumptions), the Mirror Universe is Lust; the Ferengi are Greed; the Cardassians are Envy (both as a society in general, as their worlds are resource poor and their neighbours have far more, and in the specific case of the protagonist, who feels her commander was promoted above her unfairly); the Pakled are Sloth (the title, Work is Hard, says it all); and the Borg are Gluttony (overconsumption in general, rather than overeating).
 * Piers Anthony based the characters in his novel Ghost on this trope.
 * An incomplete example (with one replacement) in Scorpion Shards.
 * Lourdes's parasite: Gluttony.
 * Winston's parasite: Sloth.
 * Tory's parasite: Vanity.
 * Michael's parasite: Lust.
 * Dillon's parasite: Wrath.
 * Deanna's parasite: Envy (I guess).
 * Four of the seven deadly sins can be paired with worlds in Vorkosigan Saga. The warlike, uptight Barrayarans would be wrath. The Betans with their Free-Love Future would be lust. Jacksons Whole which is ruled by system that resembles The Mafia and where anything can be gotten for money would be avarice. Cetagandians the traditional enemies of the Barrayarans are obsessed with a genetic engineering program to convert themselves into Space Elves. They would be pride.
 * In Michael Flynn's In the Lion's Mouth, Donovan observes that a smuggler's library is designed to cater to at least five of the seven deadly sins.

Live-Action TV
""Here's Johnny!" "Let me guess. You'd be Pride.""
 * Top Chef and America's Next Top Model have each had challenges associated with the seven deadly sins, where each contestant (at the stage where there were seven remaining) was assigned a sin to represent through cooking or modelling, respectively. (Disappointingly, neither person assigned Sloth had the chutzpah to say "I'm representing Sloth by not doing anything at all.")
 * Masterchef Australia did it as well. The guy who had Sloth was lazy and did a half-arsed job. Intentionally, of course.
 * An episode of Supernatural had the protagonists fighting seven demons who were the deadly sins personified. Most of them don't get that much in the way of characterisation, with the exception of Smug Snake and Large Ham Pride.


 * Wikipedia lists the Rogues Gallery of the Philippine Superhero series Lastikman to each represent one of the Seven Deadly Sins, with the Big Bad representing Greed.
 * An episode of Charmed had a demon hitting residents of San Francisco with concentrations of the Seven Deadly Sins; those who got infected pursued said sin with ever mounting concentration. Needless to say, the main cast got hit, with Phoebe getting Lust, Piper getting Gluttony, Leo getting Sloth, and Prue getting Pride.
 * Pride had a very clever twist to it. The way to purge the sins is to defy them; Prue couldn't get rid of Pride because any attempt to do so was only because Pride was pushing her to show off how selfless she could be (itself a sort of pride).
 * The never-aired The Muppet Show pilot featured personifications (Muppetifications?) of the seven sins for a pageant, and the host receives a call asking if they're interested in an eighth--Wearing Funny Pants to a Funeral.
 * Inside Gilligans Island, written by the show's creator, indicates that each of the seven castaways represents a different sin. The Professor is Pride, Ginger is Lust, the Skipper is Anger, Gilligan himself is Sloth, and so on. A popular Epileptic Tree is that Gilligan also serves as the Devil figure, since he keeps everyone else stuck on the island, but this has never been confirmed.
 * The Seven Original Series Doctors. All of the Doctors are Prideful to a certain extent, but the First manages to outdo most of them; Second is Envious of other people's hats; Third stole his first set of fancy clothes and vintage car, and one of the conditions for staying with UNIT was them providing suitable replacements, suggesting Avarice; Fourth - despite claiming "sleep is for tortoises" - spends much of his time leaning against things or lying down with his eyes half-lidded; Fifth could be Lust (he's the youngest Old Who Doctor and had the most obviously sexual companion); Sixth is clearly Gluttony; and while Seventh's anger might be well-restrained, he certainly has a vengeful streak in cooking up violent deaths for his enemies...
 * The next four Doctors also qualify: Eighth once again steals most of his outfit from either the hospital or Grace's boyfriend and spends most of the movie trying to steal things or retrieve personal possessions by stealing them- presumably Avarice; Wrathful Ninth has a vicious temper, especially when confronted with Daleks or idiotic companions; Prideful Tenth always has a moment to expound upon how brilliant he is (which backfires spectacularly on him in "Midnight"); and on top of being ever-so-slightly nuts, Eleven is always on the Envious lookout for a) a bowtie that's better than his, and b) a Fez. Fezzes are cool.
 * The History Channel did a documentary series on these, including some interesting facts about how medieval people perceived them (e.g. their definition of "Sloth" encompassed what would be called "clinical depression" today).
 * Referenced throughout the Smallville episode "Masquerade" as part of Desaad's attempts to corrupt his victims. Oliver's is said to be Wrath, and he runs through the full gamut of sins with Chloe before settling on Pride.

Music

 * In the Flogging Molly song "Seven Deadly Sins", the sins are personified as pirates tempting people to sail away with them and be free.
 * The page quote, which appears at the beginning and end of Iron Maiden's Seventh Son of a Seventh Son.
 * The Kurt Weill/Bertolt Brecht cantata/ballet The Seven Deadly Sins.
 * Vocaloid: There's a series of songs, created by Mothy, representing the seven sins. So far we have:
 * "Daughter of Evil", by Rin for Pride.
 * "The Tailor Shop on Enbizaka", by Luka for Envy.
 * "Conchita, the Epicurean Daughter of Evil", by Meiko for Gluttony.
 * "Madness of Duke Venomania", by Gakupo for Lust.
 * "Judgement of Corruption", by Kaito for Greed.
 * "The Gift from the Princess Who Brings Sleep", by Miku for Sloth.
 * And from "Clockwork Lullaby 4", we know that:
 * The song for Wrath is going to be sung by Gumi.
 * In Sound Horizon's 7th Story Album Märchen, there's a conductor going around and assisting people in carrying out revenge against someone who's wronged them. There are seven targets of revenge, each having committed an act that corresponds to a sin. And in case the theme wasn't already noticeable, the sin in question is announced at the start of the track it shows up in.
 * This is the subject of Megadeth's song "Seven"
 * Maria Kanellis's song "Seven Sins" has her singing about the sins in general with the lyrics "seven sins, seven sins/which one will pull me in". She does mention lust quite a bit as well.

Music Videos

 * The videoclip for the Pet Shop Boys song It's a Sin has a bunch of actors personifying the Seven Deadly Sins. Particularly noticeable is Geena Davis playing Pride as a Rich Bitch Woman in Black with a huge peacock fan.

Newspaper Comics

 * In Frank and Ernest, once they bring out the paper in a Fire and Brimstone Hell, and check they covered all the Seven Deadly Sins.

Professional Wrestling

 * Dustin Runnels (fka Goldust) was hired by WCW in 2000 to play a character called "Seven", apparently an Expy of The Undertaker that would punish wrestlers based on their sins. However, after his father Dusty Rhodes was fired after 20 years with the company, Runnels crapped all over the gimmick in his debut, killing the gimmick. Fortunately, Standards & Practices had already complained about a promo where he was standing outside a child's window (but not doing anything) and were worried that he would be mistaken for a child molester, so they probably would've had the gimmick killed anyways.
 * Shortly before he was fired by WWE, Raven was supposed to begin an angle based on the movie Se7en.
 * Fan theory has it that Immortal represent the SDS: Eric Bischoff is Satan; Jeff Hardy is The Antichrist; Hulk Hogan is pride; Ric Flair is lust; AJ Styles is sloth; Jeff Jarrett is envy; Abyss is wrath; and Beer Money, Inc. is gluttony & greed.

Tabletop RPGs

 * In the New World of Darkness, all characters have a Vice, selected from one of the seven deadly sins. By fulfilling their Vice, the character can gain a point of Willpower (a vital resource) due to gratifying their ego. (A character with Greed as a Vice, for example, can fulfill it by screwing someone over for a quick buck.) However, acts that fulfill Vices are usually going to damage the Karma Meter, so the player has to weigh the cost against the gain. In contrast, characters also have Virtues (such as Charity or Faith), which take much more work to fulfill, but fully restore Willpower when pulled off.
 * Then, in Werewolf: The Forsaken, you have the Maeljin - powerful spirits that embody abstract concepts that twisted in upon themselves until they just became wrong. Needless to say, the Seven Deadlies are well represented.
 * In Dungeons and Dragons the Spell Compendium has a Domain for each of the Deadly Sins.
 * In The Book of Fiends, a third-party Sourcebook for Dungeons and Dragons 3rd Edition from Green Ronin Publishing, the embodiments of Neutral Evil, the daemons, are ruled by the Exarchs of Gehenna. These seven near-godlike daemons each represent one sin: Tyrexxus for wrath, Ulasta for envy, In'nassi for lust, Viasta for sloth, Yungo for gluttony, Myrtaxx for greed, and Gravicarius for pride.
 * The Gods of Chaos from Warhammer Fantasy Battle/40k fit the Deadly Sins very well, altough since there are only four of them, you'll have to assign some Gods with more than one Sin.
 * Khorne: Wrath (obviously)
 * Nurgle: Sloth (specifically, despair), his entropic aspects have qualities of Gluttony.
 * Slaanesh: Lust, Greed (s/he represents excess and many of his followers fit the vain aspects of Pride archeotype very well)
 * Tzeench: Envy, Pride (technically he's hope, but envy and pride are essentially the dark sides of hope)
 * In the backstory of the first adventure path for Pathfinder, "Rise of the Runelords", each of the seven runelords of ancient Thassillon are associated with a Deadly Sin. The Runelord of Gluttony consumed the souls of his servants, the Runelord of Pride has an army of enslaved angels, and so on. The master villain of the story arc is Karzoug, the reawakened Runelord of Greed, who wants all the world for himself.

Theatre

 * The characters in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street can be taken to represent the seven deadly sins: Todd is Wrath, Mrs. Lovett Avarice, Judge Turpin Lust, Pirelli Pride, the Beadle Envy, and the citizenry of London generally Gluttony. Arguably Toby could also represent Gluttony given his gin-addiction.
 * Sloth could be the Beggar Woman who "just lay there in bed" and hasn't really bettered herself since the "incident" (but really, can you blame her?).
 * If you want to add "Ignorance" as a sin, Anthony could qualify for being woefully Wrong Genre Savvy.
 * The Seven Deadly Sins is the title of an operatic balled by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill. The main character, Anna, goes through all of them.

Video Games

 * Mass Effect 2 has Miranda (envious of Shepard's charisma and self-made career), Jack and Garrus (filled with wrath), Morinth (lust), renegade Shepard (pride), The illusive man (sloth, letting everyone else do the work and greed), Grunt (eats everything except ramen, this includes corpses).
 * In Halo 3: ODST, Mombassa looks like hell. The ODS Ts are referred to as "Hell jumpers". There are 9 levels. Data Hive has 9 sub-levels. The city seems to have 9 sections. There are 9 circles of audio story. The AI'S name is Vergil. The first chapter of Dante's Inferno is called the descent. The game opens with the rookie descending into the city.
 * In Overlord, the fallen heroes who serve as the bosses are each themed for a sin, having fallen into decadence after their grand victory. For the first five bosses there is also a moral choice themed around the sin.
 * Melvin Underbelly (Gluttony): A small halfling whose appetite ran out of control when fame went to his head. His subjects raid human villages to gather the massive amounts of food needed to feed the now morbidly-obese Melvin. Hidden in his lair is a massive store of food. You can return it to the starving villagers or use it to feed your minions.
 * Oberon Greenhaze (Sloth): An elf who fell into an endless sleep, depriving his people of the hero they needed when dwarfs razed the kingdom. Then, just to top things off, Oberon's nightmares started manifesting while he turned into a giant tree-weed slowly consuming his forest home. Deep in the forest is the last untainted grove, filled with enemies and loot. You can fight each enemy to retrieve the treasure or take the easy way and burn it down.
 * Sir William the Black (Lust): Abandoned his fiancée and knightly ways to house a succubus queen, founding a cult dedicated to carnal pleasure (sheep in the brothel anyone?) and letting the succubus transform the hapless citizens of his city into a zombie horde. Locked away in the castle is your second choice of mistress, the very sensual Velvet. You can choose to remain faithful to Rose or claim Velvet as your own.
 * Goldo Golderson (Greed): A gold-hungry dwarf who razed the elven kingdom to steal their treasures and used the survivors of the elven race to mine gold in his own kingdom. Deep in Goldo's collapsing castle are two treasures: A mountain of gold and the last elven women. You can save the elves or the gold before time runs out.
 * Jewel, the Thieving Hero (Envy): Kleptomanic thief, constantly steals things other people want. It doesn't matter what it is or if she can use it; if somebody wants it, it has value and she'll take it. On her defeat you recover the stolen statue. You can return it to the elves or claim it as part of your fortunes.
 * Kahn the Warrior (Wrath): A massive warrior easily overwhelmed with rage for even the most minor issues. Only Jewel could calm him, and after you kill her...
 * The Wizard (Pride): A man who dedicated his life to defeating the previous Overlord only to be possessed by his foe's spirit. He was responsible for the downfall of the other heroes and attempts to usurp (well, reclaim) the player's position as overlord. Sure in his ability to reclaim his position, he was defeated by the very pawn he had empowered to achieve his ends. This last one seems a less obvious aesop as the others, until the final battle where he gloats how he personally corrupted each of the original heroes one by one throughout the entire fight; pride comes before the fall.
 * Devil May Cry 3 uses the seven deadly sins to represent both the standard scythe-bearing enemies and various bosses. In a subversion, Pride is the weakest of the normal enemies.
 * Shadow Hearts: From the New World features a dungeon called "Purgatory" where the monsters and bosses are all themed on the seven deadly sins. The most powerful is envy.
 * The Four Masks from the first Shadow Hearts are, according to their monster information, based on four of the seven deadly sins. And more obviously, on the four suits minor arcana of tarot, and by extension the four Western Elements. Because just one numerical theme isn't enough!
 * In the Worlds of Power book based on Castlevania II, Simon Belmont instructs his companion to hit him any time he acts out any of the seven deadly sins, as Dracula can claim his soul if he is not virtuous enough.
 * Dragon Age has five different kinds of demons, combining Greed and Lust into Desire and merging Envy into Sloth. Pride Demons are the most powerful; they are incredibly ambitious, are capable of assuming a perfectly human-looking form if they successfully possess a living person, and enjoy tempting their quarries with offers that will usually lead the victims down a path of More Than Mind Control.
 * The Seven Deadly Sins are skills one can buy and learn from Hey Deze in the special "Bad Moon" difficulty of Kingdom of Loathing. Each one gives an advantage and disadvantage, but you can strategically cancel the disadvantages out with each other.
 * Each of the Demon Lords of Nil in Lusternia corresponds to at least one deadly sin. Gorgulu represents Gluttony and Sloth, as he's a mindless Body Horror-riffic blob who exists only to devour. Ashtorath represents Wrath and Envy, as he is jealous of Luciphage but too brash, brutish and impulsive to effectively usurp him. Nifilhema represents Lust, as the corset-wearing Combat Sadomasochist she is. Baalphegar represents Greed, voraciously pursuing hidden and forbidden knowledge irrespective of the cost. And Luciphage represents Pride, as the Chessmaster who rules them.
 * The little-known Lucas Arts world-building (or, technically, worlds-building) game Afterlife had this as one of its primary game mechanics. As the Demiurge charged with building both Heaven and Hell, you had to construct zones for each of the seven vices or their corresponding virtues (most with Punny Names, and entering Ironic Hell).
 * Four of the Sins are embodied in Jeanne D'Arc's major Reapers, and Gilvaroth's lieutenants: Superbia (Pride,) Luxuria (Lust,) Avaritia (Avarice,) and Ira (Wrath.) They have thus possessed humans, usually in the upper echelons of power, that have fallen prey to their particular sins. Ira itself manifested when, and was only redeemed when
 * Many of the enemies in the Flash game Grey Matter are named for the Seven Deadly Sins, albeit in Latin like the Jeanne D'Arc example above: the exception is Gluttony, which is inexplicably named in English.
 * 7 Sins. The entire game is about this. You play a Ladies' man/porn star/criminal (well, you get 7 different jobs actually) and you have to build up your reputation and become successful, and you do so by committing sins.
 * Here's a breakdown of how each sin is represented:
 * Envy: The first chapter has the player working as a clerk in a department store (SUKS) to earn money, while being presided over by his overweight, lecherous, and greedy boss who quite obviously doesn't deserve his wealth. In the final chapter "The Dream" the player is confronted with various nightmare figures who force him into a series of mini-games related to 6 of the 7 sins. In Envy, the player has to steal expensive paintings from his former boss. Throughout the game the player can steal money from various places, adding to the sin meter for both Envy and Greed.
 * Pride: In Chapter 2, the player signs a deal for a reality TV show called "French Kiss" in which he seduces and sleeps with various B-grade celebrities. In "The Dream" the player has to face off against a former rockstar by proving how popular he is. In gameplay, the player must reduce their Stress meter by committing acts of Pride such as encouraging himself in the mirror, or bragging about his wealth to other people.
 * Lust: In Chapter 3, the player infiltrates a Masquerade Fetish Club in order to unmask various prominent figures and subsequently blackmail them. In "The Dream" the player must photograph various women, then sleep with them. In-game the player has a Lust meter that fills whenever the player interacts with attractive women (or men). The player can empty this meter through various acts of Lust such as groping, ogling, or just getting down to some good, clean fun.
 * Wrath: Chapter 4 has the player attempting to join a Martial Arts club to protect himself from people who are angry at his newfound success. In "The Dream" the player must battle 7 martial artists. Along with the Lust and Stress meters is the Wrath meter, which fills whenever the player interacts with someone who is particularly irritating. If filled, the player will attack the nearest NPC before fleeing the building. To sate your wrathful impulses the player can commit smaller acts of violence such as peeing on insects, or shouting abuse at passersby.
 * Gluttony: The 5th chapter has the player managing a restaurant on the night that the head chef has invited all of his worst enemies. The player must seduce several of the guests with the aid of various drugs supplied by the chef. In "The Dream" the player must eat tray of dessert pastries and chug a gallon of beer before throwing up on the chef. In-game, acts of gluttony slightly reduce all 3 of the meters by stuffing himself from vending machines or binge-drinking.
 * Greed: In Chapter 6 the player is now the head of Trust Corp and must seduce both a female banker (to secure a billion dollar loan), and the head of another company (to convince her to sign a merger agreement). In "The Dream" the player must negotiate with his employees in order to cancel their Christmas bonuses. In-game acts of Greed provide extra cash by stealing from lockers and safes, and/or pickpocketing.
 * Sloth: Does not have a level or a dream challenge, although it could be argued that the whole game embodies this sin as the main character forgoes hard work in favour of seducing people to do the work for him. In-game the player can take naps to slightly reduce each of the 3 meters.
 * In the Ultima series, starting from the fourth game, there are eight sins that are the opposite of the eight Virtues. While the Virtues are represented by seven shrines throughout the land, the Vices are represented by seven dungeons
 * Honesty / Deceit, Compassion / Despise, Valor / Destard, Justice / Wrong, Sacrifice / Covetous, Honor / Shame, Spirituality / Hythloth, Humility / The Great Stygian Abyss
 * Persona has you fighting embodiments of the deadly sins during your Journey to the Center of the Mind.
 * Shin Megami Tensei: if...... featured the main characters being transported to the realm of Hell, with each dungeon being based off of a specific sin.
 * Only five of them. But Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey does.
 * Dantes Inferno naturally, being adapted from The Divine Comedy mentioned above.
 * The trailer of the Sam and Max Freelance Police game "What's New, Beelzebub?" evokes the Seven Deadly Sins hilariously. In the game itself, the Sins are represented as motivational posters in Hell LLC.
 * In Patapon 3, there are 7 dark heroes who represent each sin and have some traits pertaining to that sin. Even their names give you a hint.
 * In Superhero City, the Seven Deadly Sins are villains that your hero character fights, with characteristics that give meaning to their names. For example, Pride constantly puts updates about himself on his Twitter account.
 * The seven playable characters in the game Whacked are modeled after the seven deadly sins. Otto is Sloth, Lucy is Lust, Lucky is Wrath, Lance is Pride, Eugene is Envy, Charity is Greed, and Toof is Gluttony.
 * Dragon Quest VI doesn't hit all the sins in the final area, but it manages several. Naturally, the protagonists have to liberate all the areas from the villain's influence,

Webcomics

 * In Devil Bear, each of Bearalzebub's female assistants, called Daivas, have jobs representing a different deadly sin.
 * The Sins now star in their own webcomic.
 * Jack beats that record. The title character is Wrath, as well as The Grim Reaper.
 * It also avoids the usual "hot chick" depiction of Lust in that the personification of Lust is a serial rapist/murderer with a mutant penis. An excellent example in that it shows how it's not lust itself that's bad, it's what it can make you do.
 * In addition, vanity replaces pride.
 * A Zig-Zagging Trope in Eight Bit Theater's "Castle of Ordeals" arc, wherein each warrior has to face a personification of their own personal sin.
 * Thief, whose sin is Avarice, does not actually face his ordeal, as Black Mage stumbles into the room and kills it for him.
 * Fighter, whose sin is Sloth (for not seeking to hone his swordsmanship, and instead relying upon what he already knows). The personification then explains that he must learn to use his brains instead of his brawn, prompting Fighter to slay him on the spot because his "brain said this was faster."
 * Red Mage's sin is Pride, because he severely lacks humility, demonstrated by his Munchkin trait as he changes his character sheet to say "Humble + 2000". Eventually realizes that he cannot argue his way out of the ordeal, and submits. He passes the ordeal. He then proceeds to gloat about his mind working on levels he isn't consciously aware of.
 * Black Mage's sin is
 * This is because . This compounded by the fact that
 * In Nodwick, Yeagar (who indulges in all of them to some degree) has a Noodle Incident in which he apparently gave up all seven sins as a New Years Resolution some time before Nodwick was hired, but promptly invented an eighth - blasphotrociterra-o-rama. In his own words, "it was kind of fun".
 * The seven main characters of Snowflakes each represent one of the sins. Greg is Greed, Enzo is Envy, Glory is Gluttony, Lu is Lust, Priti is Pride, Sloan is Sloth, and Wray represents Wrath. Their names are far too similar to the sins for this to be a coincidence.

Web Original

 * On Twitter: Sam Sloth, Walter Wrath, Gilda Gluttony, Lucy Lust, Eliza Envy,Paul Pride, Greg Greed all live together and are part of a universe that stars the Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Simon War, Joe Famine, Peter Pestilence and Steve Death.
 * The Global Guardians PBEM Universe has a team of seven Color Coded for Your Convenience female supervillains who each represent one of the seven sins. The women started out as nuns, and were empowered and brainwashed into evil by the Blood Red King.
 * SCP Foundation:
 * SCP-434: A table that, when there is a subject and eight chairs, causes seven correspondingly "sinful" clones of the subject to appear; if they "clones" are killed, that aspect of the subject's personality is destroyed (IE the death of Sloth destroys the ability to sleep).
 * SCP-1215: (Actually eight sins -- Pride is divided into Vanity and Hubris) Its an illuminated manuscript that causes people to self-destruct with a deadly sin theme, except for Vanity where the danger is acting so irritating other people attack you.

Western Animation

 * Treehouse of Horror XVIII: Heck House, the third segment in this installment in the TOH series, depicts all seven sins in the Church of Springfield by Ned Flanders to scare Bart, Lisa, Nelson, and Milhouse.
 * According to Word of God, the seven main characters of SpongeBob SquarePants are all modeled after one of the sins. Patrick is Sloth, Squidward is Wrath, Mr. Krabbs is Greed, Gary is Gluttony, Sandy is Pride, Plankton is Envy, and SpongeBob is lust.
 * The song "Cha Ching" from the episode "Selling Out" pretty much plays Mr. Krabs' deadly sin to a T.
 * Almost everything Mr. Krabbs does spells out his sin to a T. Spongebob's however, makes little sense.
 * His love for Krabby Patties?
 * If you look at Spongebob and don't see sexual frustration, I don't know what show you're watching.
 * Remember that Lust doesn't simply mean sexual gratification but any form of pleasure; Spongebob strives to be happy and cheerful at every moment, thus he seeks pleasure, making him Lust.
 * Robot Chicken combined Se7en with The Smurfs.

Real Life

 * A drink called the Seven Deadly Sins is made of 1/3 oz each of Grenadine, Kahlua, Blue Curacao, Sambuca, Baileys Irish Cream, and Southern Comfort.
 * The seventh deadly sin is to Drink It!
 * Recently a survey was done to see which sin is committed most among men and women. Apparently, men are most likely to commit Lust (big surprise) and women are most likely to commit Pride (again, big surprise).
 * Several psychological disorders could fit nicely with the Seven Deadly Sins as well:
 * Narcissistic Personality Disorder is Pride (again for obvious reasons).
 * Compulsive Hoarding is Greed (Ditto).
 * Inferiority Complex is Envy (people who feel inferior will obviously express hatred and jealousy at others for being "better" than them)
 * Intermittent Explosive Disorder is Wrath (characterized by uncontrollable fits of rage).
 * Addictions of all kinds are Gluttony (they involve taking more than your share of something).
 * Clinical Depression is Sloth (Sloth's initial meaning being despair, and a trait of depression being lethargy, hopelessness, and losing interest in things you used to enjoy).
 * Hypersexuality is Lust (obviously)
 * Many Real Life dictators have one or more of these as a prominent trait:
 * Muammar Gaddafi: Lust (towards Condoleezza Rice, orgies, and all-female cadre of bodyguards).
 * Kim Jong Il: Gluttony (his family reportedly eating well and in excess while the nation of North Korea starved).
 * Osama Bin Laden: Wrath.
 * Mao Zedong: Greed (showered himself in opulence while his subjects suffered and died).
 * Benito Mussolini: Sloth (not very effective during World War II; despite his talk of restoring The Roman Empire, did next to nothing).
 * Josef Stalin: Envy (towards the West)
 * Adolf Hitler: Pride (for obvious reasons)
 * The Magnum ice cream brand marketed a range based on the seven deadly sins though with Pride replaced by "Vanity", Envy replaced by "Jealousy" and Wrath replaced by "Revenge" (we're not sure why), complete with seven commercials depicting a different woman committing the sin as she ate the ice cream.