Jolly Vortex

This page details the boss fight in P-1: SOUL SURVIVOR. For general information, see King Minos. For the final boss in the Lust Layer fought in 2-4: COURT OF THE CORPSE KING, see The Corpse of King Minos.Minos Prime is the first Prime Soul and the second and final boss of [P-1: SOUL SURVIVOR] and Act 1 as a whole. Though he proclaims his gratitude to V1 for freeing him, he condemns V1 to death for the machines' crimes against humanity. He is considered the most complex and difficult boss of Act I. He spawns after defeating Flesh Prison, as he was trapped within it by the angels after being killed by Gabriel before the beginning of the game.
==Appearance==
Minos Prime is a pale bluish-white translucent humanoid figure with a visible circulatory system and heart. He has two snakes wrapped around his arms, a hole in his face, and a cubical crown fused to his head. He also emits a perpetual bright blue glow.
==Combat and behavior==
Minos Prime is an incredibly powerful enemy, capable of chaining attacks to destroy V1 in seconds. It only takes a moment of inattention to be utterly destroyed. Note that being airborne is very risky as Minos Prime can, and will kill thou before thy can get back in position. If you're used to jumping a lot, you'll have to get that habit off of thou, because Prime Souls will severely punish thee for being airborne all the time. Prime Souls have a stamina system, which dictates how many attacks they are able to use.
Minos Prime has 6 stamina in his first phase and 12 in his second, and recovers 5 when parried.
If Minos Prime runs out of stamina he will be unable to attack for 2 seconds.
When damaged to below 65 health, he will enter his second phase, signified by him gaining blue flames and stating “WEAK.”
*"Judgement!": Minos Prime will yell “Judgement!”, enter a crouching position, then dashes at the speed of light in front of V1 and performs a dropkick, creating a large explosion that deals 50 damage. This attack can be parried; during his first phase, a successful parry will also cancel the explosion. If V1 dodges towards Minos Prime to avoid this attack, he will immediately follow up with either a "Die"/"Crush!", a serpent, or an Overhead. This attack uses 2 stamina.
*"Die!": Minos Prime aims at V1 before instantly slamming towards them, creating a ground shockwave on impact. Minos Prime briefly stops tracking V1 before the slam comes out, allowing the slam to be avoided. This attack can hit the wall or ceiling, causing the shockwave to be created there and canceling Minos Prime's recovery animation. This attack is only used when Minos Prime is airborne and requires 1 Stamina.
*"Crush!": A variant of "Die!" used if V1 is too close when initiated. It goes straight down, creating a large explosion that deals 50 damage rather than 30. This attack requires 1 Stamina. This is considered by some to be the easiest attack to dodge.
*Serpent: Minos Prime winds up his right arm with an orange glow before releasing a serpentine projectile that homes in on V1. The longer it exists, the tighter its homing gets. It will persist until colliding with a surface or V1. It can be parried, making it a good source of health and a good way to deal damage.
*"Prepare thyself!": A two-kick combo followed by a Parryable Serpent. The kicks have a chance of launching V1 into the air should they hit, and if V1 is airborne at any point during the kicks, Minos Prime will instead interrupt the combo to do an Uppercut instead, removing the parry opportunity at the end of the combo. This can easily be avoided by sliding/strafing left or right, and moving backwards when Minos Prime is about to cast his serpent, sliding/dashing out of the way or Parrying it. This attack requires 3 Stamina.
*"Thy end is now!": Minos Prime will yell “Thy end is now!” before attempting to hit V1 with a 4-punch combo, each hit dealing 30 damage. The last hit can be parried. Afterward, Minos Prime will be stuck in the ground shortly until he dislodges himself, giving a short window to heal. If V1 goes airborne after a swing, Minos Prime will immediately cancel into an Uppercut. This attack uses 2 stamina.
*Uppercut: Minos Prime teleports to V1 and attempts a single hit; if it connects, V1 gets launched high into the air along with Minos Prime. A Ground Slam can be used to cancel V1's upward momentum. This attack requires 1 Stamina to be performed.
*Overhead: Minos Prime teleports directly above V1 and does a straight-down attack after a sound cue accompanied with a blue flash. This move only is used while Minos Prime is aerial. This attack consumes 1 Stamina to be performed.
===Stamina===
All of Minos Prime's attacks are controlled by an invisible stamina meter, that can be made visible via the use of mods. The stamina meter dictates what moves can be performed at what time. If he runs out of stamina, he will have to wait for it to recharge: The recovery window is 4 seconds on Harmless, 3 on Lenient, and 2 on Standard and Violent. Once he's tired out, blast 'em.
Phase 1 on Harmless, Lenient, and Standard all have 6 points of stamina, whilst standard has 12 points of stamina in phase 2. Violent is the least forgiving, with 10 points of stamina in phase one, and infinite stamina in phase two.
The Stamina values of each difficulty are the following:
*HARMLESS / LENIENT - 6 Stamina on both phases.
*STANDARD - 6 Stamina in Phase 1, 12 Stamina in Phase 2
*VIOLENT - 10 Stamina in Phase 1, Infinite Stamina in Phase 2
*BRUTAL - 15 Stamina in Phase 1, Infinite Stamina in Phase 2
Parrying any of Minos Prime's melee attacks will restore 5 points of stamina to him.
Phase 2
When falling below 65 (50%) health, Minos Prime shouts "WEAK.", overriding any other voice lines. He also gains a blue fiery aura. During Phase 2, Minos Prime can use Serpent projectiles after jumping before following up with "Die!/Crush!" or an Overhead. On Standard difficulty, Parrying "Judgement!" will no longer prevent the explosion, forcing the player to dash to avoid damage during a parry. On Violent, "Judgement!" and the final hit of "Thy end is now!" cannot be parried.
===Difficulty Changes===
*HARMLESS / LENIENT
**Minos Prime's "Die!/Crush!" and "Judgement!" attacks have smaller shockwaves and explosions (or none at all on Harmless).
**Minos Prime does not gain any more stamina going into Phase 2.
**Minos Prime's attacks are considerably slower, especially on Harmless difficulty. His projectile attacks however, are still as fast as they would be on higher difficulties.
*VIOLENT
**Minos Prime's "Die!/Crush!" and "Judgement!" attacks have massive shockwaves and explosions.
**Parrying "Judgement!" will not interrupt the attack or prevent the player from taking damage from its explosion in Phase 1.
**"Judgement!" and "Thy end is now!" attacks cannot be parried when Minos Prime is reduced to half health.
**Minos Prime has 60% more stamina in Phase 1 and gains unlimited stamina in Phase 2.
*BRUTAL
**Minos Prime's attack pattern becomes highly varied and fires serpents much more often. These being easily noticed during Phase 2.
**Minos Prime's attacks are slightly faster.
==Rending Apart==
Minos Prime, being a Prime Soul, is one of the most difficult enemies in the game, and thus one shalt not expect the first try to be the only try. Especially coming after the Flesh Prison fight, this opponent can be one of the most nerve-racking and stressful fights in the game. Be sure you're comfortable, steady thy nerves, and perhaps get some water (who am i kidding, you're gonna get some ____ing gfuel). It'll be a long fight, and likely not one done in a single life. P-ranking this will be especially difficult and will take a lot of practice, trial, and error.
Minos Prime telegraphs his attacks quite clearly. Generally, circle-strafing and utilizing dash's Invincibility Frames can be used to successfully avoid attacks. "Die!" and "Crush!" attacks can be avoided consistently by dashing to the side and jumping when the telegraph is heard, avoiding getting hit directly and going above the ground shockwave. In order to avoid the shockwave, dash forward inside the shockwave and/or slam. It is also possible to bait Minos Prime into using these attacks onto a wall, which causes the shockwave to be vertical, making it easy to avoid.
A good general tip for the majority of the fight would be to stay grounded, as he will have a preference to use Serpents and trickier attacks while V1 is airborne. He will also cancel "Thy end is now!", "Prepare Thyself!" and "Judgement!" with an Uppercut if V1 is airborne during them, and both are easy to avoid by sliding to the left or right in a rhytmic pattern, right before the next hit occurs. The exception to staying grounded is to avoid the shockwave of "Die!"/"Crush!". Using the ground slam is useful to immediately get back on the ground, just stay wary of an oncoming shockwave or other attack. However, if one is used to parrying the serpents, one can utilize this trait to potentially regain health
Minos Prime is able to launch a yellow-colored homing Serpent that explodes on contact, usually when V1 is too far away from Minos Prime. Due to its persistent nature, it can be difficult to avoid, but the Serpent is parriable and can be destroyed with the Sharpshooter Revolver, though the timing is tight. There are many ways to mitigate this, such as moving in a straight line, dashing while parrying, or sliding back before parrying, all of which will make parrying more consistent and the snake more predictable. If parrying is not an option, one can bait it towards the wall to make it break. In more niche scenarios, an explosion can do the trick, which includes Minos Prime's "Judgement!". On Violent and above, the Serpent is the only attack that can be parried on Phase 2, so learning to parry this attack is vital to defeating him on higher difficulties.
Minos Prime's "Prepare Thyself!" can be similarly dodged as "Thy end is now!", except for the 3rd hit of the combo, where he will launch a homing Serpent and end the attack. The Serpent itself can be parried, and most strategies mentioned for dealing with the Serpent work here. However, the Serpent's explosion can still damage V1, especially when Minos Prime is too close, so dashing after parrying will avoid the damage and the knockback itself.
Minos Prime's "Thy end is now!" is rather easy to avoid if you focus on his attacks. Slide to the side in a rhythmic pattern, right before the next hit. This is extremely satisfying to pull off, if you ask me. The 4th hit is always parriable except in Phase 2 on Violent and above. Keep in mind that the final hit will still be performed even if parried, but this can be easily countered by dashing to the side after parrying the hit, similiar to Sisyphus Prime's "You can't escape!"
"Judgement!", while it can take new players by surprise, is one of the easiest attacks to avoid or parry. While the parry timing is a bit awkward, which is only after moments of him about to land the dropkick, it is easy to learn and master the timing. Parrying the attack also cancels the shockwave on Standard and below. However, on Violent and Brutal, the shockwave will still persist and the attack becomes unparriable on phase 2. In these cases or where parrying isn't an option, dashing just moments after the teleport is the most consistent way to dodge it.
During the fight and Phase 1 on Violent and above, his "Thy end is now!" and "Judgement!" parry are some of the easiest ones of the fight, so those who like their odds can get a free full heal off of it.
During Minos Prime's cutscene, one can prepare traps or set up tech such as Slabcoining, Railcoining, or Railcoin-punching. This is especially made easier after defeating him once, which allows the cutscene to be skipped. By setting up a Sawblade trap, and performing any high-damage coin techs, Minos Prime's health will rapidly deplete at the start of the fight, and in some cases instantly killing him (in the case of Deadcoining), or depleting his health to Phase 2. (you have 40 seconds to prepare.)
The alternate Piercer Revolver is very good for reliable damage at every range, even with a slow fire rate. Minos Prime moves quickly, so good aim is very important. Coins are also very useful here, as their auto-aiming nature will greatly help deal damage to Minos Prime, as he is a relatively small and very mobile opponent. Both variations of the Sharpshooter will work wonders as well, with its alt fire being able to destroy the Serpent projectile if needed be. Due to the room being mostly octagonal, the Sharpshooter has the potential to deal a lot of damage in a single alt fire, with the right timing and setup.
The Shotgun, especially the Pump Charge Shotgun, can be great for doing damage when Minos Prime is doing his more predictable attacks - a double-charged shot is capable of dealing massive damage when at point-blank. Projectile Boosting can also be fairly easy to do damage with, though it's recommended to use the Revolver and Rocket Launcher instead. Shotgun Swapping when Minos Prime is not doing an attack is also a great way to deal consistent damage, while also acting as a great source of healing. Remember that Overpump Dashing deals 10 damage, so it's advised to use it if you can consistently pull it off (not take any damage and knockback from it)
The Nailgun can inflict heavy damage on Minos Prime at the start of the fight by laying a trap with all 3 magnets during the cutscene, though it can be awkward to damage Minos Prime with the Nailgun compared to the Shotgun without the use of magnets. Similar or better traps can be achieved with the Sawblade Launcher, which can also lay traps during the fight itself to inflict damage without necessarily needing to aim at Minos Prime. Since Minos Prime itself moves quickly, and the entire fight demands mobility, baiting him into saw traps can be difficult, but with the proper setup, it will deal massive damage, as such, this is best done at the start of the fight to deal massive burst damage.
Shooting him with the Screwdriver Railcannon can be helpful, as it will mean easy health and constant damage if staying close. A good opportunity to put to embed a Screwdriver would be at the end of his "Thy end is now!", as he holds still for a short period. Be wary of Hard Damage however, as it can rack up fast if too reliant on healing or not stylish enough. Alternatively, this brief moment of respite can allow the player to perform a powerful Railcoining technique if they are fast enough, by tossing a coin backward and another through Minos Prime and then shooting the latter coin with the Electric Railcannon, forgoing constant healing and in favor of high burst damage. Using the Electric Railcannon without the use of coins is not recommended, as it deals less damage than a Screwdriver while only providing a quick burst of healing, which is much less useful than a constant source of healing. This is especially true for Phase 2 on VIOLENT and above, where only his Serpent attack can be parried.
The Rocket Launcher can often score airshots on Minos Prime for double damage during movements and attacks that render him airborne, such as Uppercuts, Overheads, and the latter half of "Judgement!". Magnets can help in landing airshots as well. Due to Minos Prime's speed and small stature, this can be difficult without good aim or magnets. Even when grounded, it can still deal a high damage output; not to mention the fast swapping speed, which can be used to dish out a quick burst of damage.
If you find thyself being comboed to death, it's possible to use the Sawed-on Shotgun or its' alternate variation to try and heal off of Minos Prime while you're being demolished. This will also deal a good amount of damage to him, as the chainsaw itself will be constantly dealing damage. This is not a sustainable method to kill Minos Prime though, as his serpents, shockwaves and whatever else he chooses to bring will destroy you before you even have a second thought. It is better to try and parry his combos and disengage whilst performing this.
==Terminal Data==
For more information, see Terminal.TYPE: PRIME SOUL
DATA:
A Prime soul is an incredibly rare occurrence in which a soul amasses so much power that it no longer requires a Husk as a vessel to manifest physically.
As manifestations of pure will, souls are incredibly powerful, to the point that even the prideful angels see them as a threat and will use any means necessary to stop them from forming.
King Minos felt that eternal suffering was an unfair and unreasonable punishment for those whose only sin was loving another. After the Disappearance of God, as angels were lost and Heaven was in chaos, Minos began his efforts to reform the Lust layer.
The Lust renaissance was prosperous, as King Minos guided its inhabitants to come together and build a new civilization. The combined efforts of the countless who had been damned to the second layer bore great results as the grand city of Lust grew and grew.
However, after the Council took control of Heaven and brought stability to it through their iron fist rule, they saw that Minos had gone against God's will by freeing sinners from the punishment that God had designed for them.
Gabriel, the brightest of the angels, was sent to kill Minos. The king, rather than fight back, tried to reason with him, but Gabriel mercilessly struck him down without listening.
As Minos's will was strong enough to attempt to stand up to Heaven's rule, the angels chose to imprison his soul in an attempt to stop it from forming into a Prime soul and appointed Gabriel as the new Judge of Hell.
From the prison inside his own body, Minos helplessly watched as his soulless corpse, now controlled by parasites, tore apart everything he had worked so hard to build, cursing his own weakness for failing to protect his people, vowing to take revenge..
STRATEGY:
- It's rare for Minos Prime to give a window of opportunity to heal, so it's vital to learn what attacks leave him momentarily vulnerable and how to dodge them in a way that gives an advantageous position during those moments.
- His snake projectiles can be parried using the Feedbacker for a full heal, even if the projectile doesn't hit Minos Prime.
==Voice Lines==
*"Ahh… Free at last. O, Gabriel. Now dawns thy reckoning, and thy gore shall glisten before the temples of man. Creature of steel… My gratitude upon thee for my freedom, but the crimes thy kind have committed against humanity are NOT forgotten. And thy punishment… is DEATH!" (Before the fight)
401x401px
*"Useless!" (After restart)
File:Mp useless.wav
*"Judgement!"
 
*"Die!"
 
*"Crush!"
*"Prepare thyself!"
 
*"Thy end is now!"
 
*"WEAK." (Falling below half health)
*"Aagh! Forgive me, my children, for I have failed to bring you salvation from this cold, dark world..." (After defeat)
File:Mp outro.wav
*WRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH (Death scream)
File:Mp deathscream.wav
*"OOGHK" (Minos after V1 parries him)
==Trivia==
*Minos Prime's boss theme is "ORDER", and can be found here.
*The original concept art for Minos Prime was made by BigRockBMP, and his model was made by ActionDawg.
*Minos Prime is voiced by Stephan Weyte, known for being the voice of Caleb from the Blood franchise. Stephan has also provided the voice for Nyarlathotep in DUSK, another game published by New Blood, as well as the character "G" in Gloomwood, who appears at the very beginning and guides the outsider, among many other credits, including MC. Ballyhoo from Mario Party 8. (See his website for more information.)
*The pose Minos Prime strikes before his "Die!" divekick is taken from Kamen Rider.ULTRAKILL Developer Commentary Stream with Hakita and PITR (5:52:36)
*Minos Prime's manner of speaking during combat is inspired by Urien in Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike.ULTRAKILL Developer Commentary Stream with Hakita and PITR (5:53:10)
*Minos Prime says "Useless!" after each restart, implying that he knows thou hast died to him and that any efforts thy attempt upon him will be only for naught. The only other characters that imply knowledge of restarts are the Mysterious Druid Knight (& Owl) and Minos Prime's ACT II counterpart, Sisyphus Prime.
*Before the first hotfix following the Soul Survivor update, Minos Prime's "Judgement!" attack couldn't be interrupted when parried.
*Minos Prime's design has a heavy snake motif, with twin snakes coiling around his arms, blue snakes for attack trails, and golden snakes as projectiles.
**This draws inspiration from Minos in Inferno from Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, who has a serpent's tail coil around his body a certain amount of times to determine where sinners will be damned in the Nine Circles of Hell.
**It also may be a reference to King Minos from Greek mythology. According to mythology, he often cheated on his wife, and she bewitched him, which is why Minos emitted snakes during copulation.
*Minos Prime, along with the Flesh Prison, are direct references to the fights against Nuculais and Legion, respectively, from Castlevania: Curse of Darkness.Asked: Not sure if this was already answered, but is the fight with Flesh Prison/Minos Prime a reference to Legion/Nuculais from Castlevania: Curse of Darkness or is that just a happy accident?
@ULTRAKILLGame Answered: It's on purpose.
*His moveset has been often compared to characters from fighting games, utilizing a large amount of melee combat as well as a projectile in his serpent. This is reinforced by the Urien tie-in.
*If Minos Prime is somehow able to get out of bounds and fall into the void, he will reappear at the center of the arena.
*Minos Prime often says "Die!". This is a subtle nod to the fact that he will kill thee. This reference is best observed on Brutal Difficulty.
**The same can be observed with his "Thy end is now!". (Thy end is, in fact, now.)
**It can also be observed whenever Minos Prime says "Crush!". (He is going to crush thou.)
**Furthermore, it can also be observed whenever he says "Prepare Thyself!". (He is warning thee to prepare thyself.)
*There is a species of bacteriophage named Minos Phrime, a direct reference to Minos Prime.@osmi_ridium: #ultrakill now has an official, albeit minor, species named after it ("p"s and "f"s in phage names are commonly replaced with "ph" for "phage")https://phagesdb.org/phages/MinosPhrime/
**This bacteriophage is notable for its resistance to high concentrations of alcohol compared to other phages.
*When Minos Prime attacks, he leaves a trail of disturbed rubble behind him, implying he moves extremely fast, but does not teleport.
**This can be better observed by spawning him in an environment with many physical obstructions, such as the Sandbox. Minos Prime's "teleports" are unable to actually pass through ceilings, but enemies like Mindflayers are unobstructed.
**Despite the whole arena being made of flesh, the trail of rubble that Minos Prime leaves in the wake of his attacks are made of stone.
*Minos Prime moves so fast to the point he near-instantly dies when using "Die!" in a direction that doesn't have a solid object he can land on. Ironic much?
*Minos Prime's body becomes invisible when underwater, but his circulatory system stays fully visible. This is a visual bug shared by his Act 2 counterpart. Interestingly, this does not occur when standing on the rock in the middle of the lake in the Sandbox.
*Minos Prime is one of the only ULTRAKILL characters to have an official body pillow (buy it now), the others being Gabriel, V1, and Mirage.
*If forcebossbars is enabled, spawning in Minos Prime then killing him would play his standard longer death animation rather than a shortened one. This also occurs with Sisyphus Prime.
**Strangely, his monologue does not play when doing this.
*Minos Prime can be obtained by taking the derivative of King Minos.
*The snakes on Minos Prime's arms are not, in fact, a part of his body, but rather actual snakes. This can be seen in the official body pillow and the artwork for the ROCK IT event.
==References==