Minotaur

The Minotaur is an enemy in the Castlevania series. It is a common werebeast (a werebull) found in later Castlevania games. He is usually armed with a signature Battle Axe (first seen in Rondo of Blood) or with a giant pillar (Bloodlines). He is occasionally paired up with another fellow werebeast: the Werewolf.
==Origins==
In Greek mythology, the Minotaur was a creature with the head of a bull on the body of a man. He dwelt at the center of the Labyrinth, which was an elaborate maze-like construction designed by the architect Daedalus and his son Icarus, on the command of King Minos of Crete. The Minotaur was eventually killed by the Athenian hero Theseus.
The term Minotaur derives from the Ancient Greek Μῑνώταυρος, a compound of the name Μίνως (Minos) and the noun ταύρος "bull", translated as "(the) Bull of Minos".
After he ascended the throne of the island of Crete, Minos prayed to Poseidon to send him a snow-white bull as a sign of support. He was to kill the bull to show honor to the deity, but decided to keep it instead because of its beauty. He thought Poseidon would not care if he kept the white bull and sacrificed one of his own. To punish Minos, Poseidon made Pasiphaë, Minos' wife, fall deeply in love with the bull. Pasiphaë had craftsman Daedalus make a hollow wooden cow, and climbed inside it in order to mate with the white bull. The offspring was the monstrous Minotaur. Pasiphaë nursed him, but he grew and became ferocious, being the unnatural offspring of a woman and a beast. He had no natural source of nourishment and thus devoured men for sustenance. Minos had Daedalus construct a gigantic labyrinth to hold the Minotaur.
Athens was compelled by the cruel plague to pay penalties for the killing of Androgeos, Minos' son. Aegeus, king of Athens, had to avert the plague caused by his crime by sending young men at the same time as the best of unwed girls as a feast for the Minotaur. Minos required that seven Athenian youths and seven maidens, drawn by lots, be sent every seventh or ninth year to be devoured by the Minotaur.
When the third sacrifice approached, Theseus volunteered to slay the monster. In Crete, Minos' daughter, Ariadne, fell madly in love with him and helped him navigate the labyrinth. In most accounts, she gave him a ball of thread, allowing him to retrace his path. Theseus killed the Minotaur with the sword of Aegeus and led the other Athenians back out of the labyrinth.
==Appearances==
===Castlevania: Rondo of Blood===
First appearance of the Minotaur in the series. He is the standard boss of Stage 3 and Stage 3'. Defeating him in any of these two locations will move the player to Stage 4. In either case, he will break out of a door in the background and start the fight.
;Attacks
*Performs a quick stab with his battle axe.
*Jumps high in the air and swings his axe downward in an overhead motion. This attack covers more than half of the room's size.
*Spews a substance that will momentarily petrify the player on contact.
*Rips off several slabs from the floor and tosses them at the player.
*Performs a bull charge that can be difficult to dodge due to his large size.
The player can move under him when he uses his jumping attack or perform a backflip over him when he uses his charging attack. At the end of the latter, the beast will crash and embed his head into the wall, and get momentarily stuck there, giving the player an opportunity to score some free hits.
Attacks/Abilities:
Rob Minotaur appearance.gif|Minotaurs's appearance in Rondo of Blood.
Rob Minotaur axe battle.gif|Axe Attacks
Rob Minotaur Rips off several slabs.gif|Rips off several slabs from the floor and tosses them at the player.
Rob Minotaur Stone breath.gif|Stone Breath
Rob Minotaur Stone breath (1).gif|
Rob Minotaur bull charge (1).gif|Bull charge
Rob Minotaur defeated.gif|Minotaurs defeated.
Rob Minotaur defeated (1).gif|
Once the Minotaur's health has been depleted, he'll perform one final strike by charging at the player in a last ditch jumping uppercut attack, spontaneously combusting while at the top of the jump, with his flesh quickly being consumed by the flames and his now exposed skeleton slowly crumbling to the ground. This move cannot kill the player, though. Nevertheless, the best way to avoid it is by either backflipping over it, or by standing on the statue on the right of the room.
===Castlevania: Bloodlines===
In this game, Minotaurs appear frequently throughout the Atlantis Shrine. In this stage, the player will find Minotaurs wielding swords, naginatas, or charging about. A few Minotaurs appear in the Leaning Tower of Pisa as well, where some of them can rip out and carry marble columns from the scenery and swing them around as impromptu melee weapons. Strangely, whenever the player kills them, the sound they make is the same as when killing a Skele-Dragon.
===Castlevania: Dracula X===
The Minotaur appears as the boss of Stage 4, the Dungeon. Its moveset is similar to that found in Castlevania: Rondo of Blood. Its jumping axe attack isn't as dramatic though, as it only jumps forward a short distance while holding out its axe, instead of jumping across most of the screen with a full swing animation. Although not shown in the game, it is implied that he was being held prisoner in this stage due to the broken bars of a cell seen in the background of the boss room.
Most of the time, however, this boss is optional, as Richter Belmont can open the door to the Sunken City and bypass this boss, and doing so is required to save Annet, who is captured inside.
===Castlevania: Symphony of the Night===
The Minotaur is a large beast summoned by a possessed Richter Belmont in the Colosseum and this time he comes teamed up with the Werewolf, impaling and slashing with his battle axe at the player and dealing heavy damage if not careful. Both monsters reuse their sprites from Rondo of Blood, although none of them are given any new frames of animation; as such, all of their attacks are composed of rather imaginative ways of recycling their old frames. As a result, both creatures now possess a whole new repertoire of attacks which they perform in tandem, although these are just variations of their classic attacks.
Wolf mino1.gif|The Minotaur rams from one corner of the room to the other, while the Werewolf dashes in the opposite direction.
Wolf mino2.gif|The Werewolf launches himself spinning straightforward and the Minotaur catches him in midair and throws him to the ceiling, with the former then launching himself to the ground.
Wolf mino3.gif|The Minotaur performs a bull charge which ends in a flying uppercut, while the Werewolf spins along the ceiling and finishes with a downward exploding punch.
Wolf mino4.gif|The Werewolf throws an energy wave from his hands and the Minotaur hits it in midair with his battle axe, sending it back.
Wolf mino5.gif|The Minotaur spews and dampens the Werewolf with a noxious liquid and the latter spins straightforward spraying it around.
In the Reverse Colosseum, Minotaurs reappear as regular enemies, using the same battle tactics and accompanied by more Werewolves. They are leveled-up versions of the ones faced in the Colosseum, although they're not as difficult to defeat this time around as the player will also have a leveled-up character and come armed with better weaponry. If the player attacks them repeatedly, they'll be locked on the attack until they're destroyed.
<tabber>Lv.18=
|-|Lv.35=
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===Castlevania Legends===
Called the Jumping Demon in this game. It has a human abdomen with a bull head and lower body, and his legs, butt and mane are covered in blue fur.
===Castlevania (N64)/Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness===
The player will encounter them in confined rooms as minibosses. Note that the one in Legacy of Darkness is actually a boar.
<tabber>Castlevania 64=
|-|Legacy of Darkness=
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===Castlevania: Circle of the Moon===
In Circle of the Moon, Minotaurs use a battle axe to create shockwaves that travel forward, hitting the player with great force. There's a room with seven of them in the Battle Arena, which is notorious for its high difficulty.
There is also Were-Horse, which is a weaker version of the Minotaur.
===Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance===
In Harmony of Dissonance, there are two Minotaur bosses. Both are optional to beat the game and are encountered in the Castle Top Floor, in the respective "same" room of both Castle A and Castle B. Their design is unique compared to other iterations of this enemy character; while they retain a humanoid body featuring bull-like traits, such as hooves on their hinder legs and a tail, instead of a head they have a bovine-like skull (probably being a kind of zombies). They somehow have a similar property of the giant armor knights, in that they'll be knocked back a short distance after taking some hits.
#The Minotaur is encountered in Castle B and wields a traditional battle axe. It may smash the front with the axe, throw the axe quickly in a straight line, or rarely dash forward into a wall, in which case it will get stuck for a few seconds. Upon defeat, Juste Belmont will have access to a room where he can claim the Wind Book to infuse his sub-weapons with the power of Wind magic.
#The Minotaur Lv2 is encountered in Castle A and is a bit different, as he uses a ball and chain. This form is harder to defeat, as the movements of his weapon are harder to predict, and the chain ball may hit the player when he is knocked back. The Axe sub-weapon, infused with the magic from the Fire Book (which summons two Hydras), can be very helpful in this battle, as the player can keep their distance while the Minotaur receives heavy and constant damage, and the spell has a chance of knocking him back (sometimes several times in a row). Upon defeat, Juste will have access to a room where he'll find the Steel Tip whip enhancement.
<tabber>Minotaur=
|-|Minotaur Lv2=
</tabber>
===Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow===
There are two versions of Minotaurs in Aria of Sorrow:
#Minotaur: They are large creatures with brown fur and long horns. They can be found in the Study and in the Dance Hall. Its soul is valuable, as it can be obtained relatively early in the game and grants Soma the Fighter's Power ability, which provides a STR boost of +8.
#Red Minotaur: They are similar to the Minotaur, but their fur is red. They will occasionally throw their axes up in the air while they charge. If for any reason they fail to catch their axes, they will only perform bull charges onward. These can be found in The Arena, Top Floor and Chaotic Realm (summoned by Stolas). His soul is one of the best bullet souls in the game, as it grants the Mega Twister ability, where Soma swings an oversized battle axe which covers most of the screen, dealing massive damage. If aimed properly, enemies can be hit twice by this attack.
The room with the two Red Minotaurs in the Arena will allow the player to level up very quickly, as each will provide 1,000 EXP points per kill. They can be killed with a single swipe of the Killer Mantle's soul, Astral Veil, and each one is positioned near one of the room's entrances, so the player can keep entering to kill as many as needed. If the player has also acquired the Black Panther's soul, the Sherman Ring and the Erinys's soul, they'll be able to level up much faster (around level 55~60).
<tabber>Minotaur=
|-|Red Minotaur=
</tabber>
===Castlevania: Lament of Innocence===
The Minotaur makes a cameo appearance in Lament of Innocence, although only in statue form. In a couple of rooms of the Ghostly Theatre, Leon Belmont will find himself trapped while boulders are constantly launched at him from the ceiling. These rooms have many statues of minotaurs scattered about. Leon must lure the boulders to be launched at these statues in order to destroy them. When all statues have been destroyed, the magical seals blocking the doors will vanish.
The second room has two different colored sets of minotaur statues: red and white. Managing to destroy all statues of a same color will open a specific door in the room (the white ones being considerably more difficult to destroy).
===Castlevania: Curse of Darkness===
The Minotaurus in Curse of Darkness is a gigantic werebeast carrying a large pillar which he uses as a massive weapon. Unlike his predecessors, he appears to be undead and has a large wound on his back that reveals his dorsal spine; however, it doesn't count as a weak point and he won't take additional damage by being hit on it. His attacks can be hard to avoid and he will often throw the pillars at the player, turning around looking for another one to tear out and continue the battle.
;Attacks
*Smashes the pillar to the ground. This breaks one third of the pillar apart, so if he uses this attack for a third time with the same pillar, it will be completely destroyed and he'll have to find another one.
*Performs one or two consecutive swipes with the pillar.
*Hurls the pillar at the player.
*Uses the pillar as counterbalance and starts spinning along the arena for a considerable time.
*Performs a high jump and generates shockwaves as he lands (opens his stealing window during this attack).
The Devil Iron material can be stolen from him while he's performing his special attack: a jump which generates shockwaves. It's one of the hardest materials to obtain in the game and the Minotaurus will only start performing this move once he has less than half of his health remaining.
If the arena runs out of pillars, the Minotaurus will keep hold of the last one and never throw it at the player. At this point, he will also perform his special attack more frequently, giving the player a higher chance to steal from him.
Once defeated, the Minotaurus' body will suddenly turn to stone, fall and break apart in pieces as it hits the ground.
===Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin===
The Minotaur mostly jumps forward a long distance while swinging its axe in Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin.
===Castlevania: Order of Shadows===
The Minotaur will bring down its axe in a chopping motion, then dash forward with the axe low to the ground in Castlevania: Order of Shadows.
===Castlevania: The Arcade===
===Castlevania Judgment===
His portrayal in Judgment is similar to his appearance in Curse of Darkness. He appears in a "Boss Battle" in both Story and Castle Modes. He's much harder to defeat than the Iron Gladiator, the other powerhouse of the game. He only does one of two attacks:
*Swinging his giant pillar in a wide, horizontal way. Run to his left to easily avoid this attack.
*Pounding the floor. This attack has a long, straight line range. Move to the side or dodge to avoid.
A difference from his Curse of Darkness incarnation is that he never throws the pillar he holds, as there are no others to grab.
===Castlevania Puzzle: Encore of the Night===
===Castlevania: Harmony of Despair===
The Minotaur enemy behaves much as the regular enemy in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night did in Castlevania: Harmony of Despair. It swapped out its noxious breath for fire breath in this game, which can be captured by Charlotte as the Raging Fire spell. Its soul gives Soma a strength boost.
===Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls===
The Minotaur has a mix of skills from previous games. It can swing its Minotaur Axe overhead, swing it diagonally, throw it like a boomerang, or toss it up into the air and then catch it following an uppercut. It can also charge.
==Other appearances==
===Castlevania (animated series)===
A minotaur, referred under production as "Hammerhead", makes an appearance in the sixth episode of the second season of the animated series, "The River". In this version, the creature has the ability to grow in size. In comparison, a human ends up being just about half the size of his arms. It's worth noting that his horns and eyes turn blue in the process, which could imply he was forged by Hector. Trevor kills him by slitting his neck and slicing one of his legs, which causes a large gush of blood to come out from his injuries.
Interestingly, another Minotaur-like creature appears in Season 3, this time having a closer resemblance to his Symphony of the Night counterpart (which the series takes heavy inspiration from), to the point of him even carrying his characteristic battle axe this time around. His possible resemblance to the game is further supported as a werewolf-like creature, called "Brawler", also makes an appearance, and likewise, he closely resembles his Symphony of the Night incarnation. However, the horns of this Minotaur aren't bull-like and instead they resemble those of a venison, although much smaller.
Sam Deats revealed that this second version of the Minotaur is nicknamed "Deadfast",@powerhouseanim at X (October 20, 2020). which is appropriate because he dies very quickly after his introduction.
==Enemy Data==
==Item Data==
==Gallery==
==Trivia==
*In the trailer for Castlevania Judgment, unveiled at the Tokyo Game Show of 2008, a Minotaur was seen fighting Simon Belmont. There was some speculation about the Minotaur being a playable character; however, Konami confirmed that the Minotaur was going to be a boss character for Story Mode.
*His name is occasionally spelled "Minotaurus", which means "Bull of Minos" (sometimes mistranslated).
*The Minotaur's flying uppercut resembles the Shoryuken, a special move mainly used by Ryu and Ken from the Street Fighter franchise.
==See also==
*Minotaur Axe
*Were Bane
*Werebeast
*Werewolf
==References==
Category:Animal-Type Enemies
Category:Greek Monsters
Category:Night Creatures
Category:Poison Enemies
Category:Stone Enemies
Category:The Arcade Bosses
Category:Aria of Sorrow Enemies
Category:Bloodlines Enemies
Category:Castlevania 64 Bosses
Category:Circle of the Moon Enemies
Category:Curse of Darkness Bosses
Category:Dracula X Bosses
Category:The Dracula X Chronicles Bosses
Category:The Dracula X Chronicles Enemies
Category:Encore of the Night Bosses
Category:Grimoire of Souls Enemies
Category:Harmony of Despair Enemies
Category:Harmony of Dissonance Bosses
Category:Judgment Enemies
Category:Legacy of Darkness Enemies
Category:Legends Bosses
Category:Pachinko Characters
Category:Portrait of Ruin Enemies
Category:Rondo of Blood Bosses
Category:Symphony of the Night Bosses
Category:Symphony of the Night Enemies