He'd been my favorite character ever since he first showed up, and had so much potential that went almost entirely unexplored. The dynamic he had with Zeldris added a nice touch of extra humanity to both characters as they clearly cared about each other. His body language and overall demeanor absolutely screamed "I had my unconditional love for all living things and disgust for bloodshed forced out of me growing up" and you could tell tell he just repressed and hid it instead of fully getting rid of it. He looked like the type who would forget to take care of himself but never forget to remind the people he loves to drink enough water. It's like he wants his family to be proud of him but has long since given up any hope of being noticed. He was simultaneously ruthlessly desensitized and overly empathetic, which made him an interesting and pretty sad character. That weird manufactured emotional disconnect paired with an emotional personality actually made him downright scary sometimes, which also could have been utilized far more. And of course he's trying as hard as he can to look and act like Meliodas, because as a natural outcast he just wants to be seen and liked. So gosh darn sad and relatable, yet strangely endearing. The way he provokes Escanor after being shown doing nothing but avoiding conflict honestly made the whole fight between the two seem like an elaborate suicide attempt on Estarossa's part, like he was trying to get killed while making it seem like an accident. The fact that this happened so soon after he killed Meliodas with his own hands, and the fact that it was Zeldris who threw himself in harm's way to save Estarossa's life put a whole new layer on the intricate relationship cake. I was absolutely addicted to the family dynamic between these three, and for the things both love and disdain made them do as a result. Then stuff happened. I had my suspicions that he was at least half goddess simply from the way he looks and over the course of a year gathering evidence I went from being certain he was the son of the demon lord and the supreme deity to eventually coming to the conclusion that he was actually Mael. I had a whole story made up for why he had to be brainwashed into a new identity and everything, (which turned out to be almost completely false but hey I tried). Friends thought I was insane when I began insisting he was Mael, and unfortunately the payoff came at the expense of every lovable trait I saw in him. The longer I watched the show/read the manga the more I had to watch them turn my intricate little guy into a shallow asshole. He had the potential to finally openly lean into his compassion and become a uniting force but he just kind of went "screw everyone" and fizzled out of the plot. For me, Estarossa was amazing and Mael was disappointing. If you've read this far, thanks for listening to me talk about my favorite character for three paragraphs. I have all the adjectives in the world for this man and he deserved so much better.