Minotaurs are perhaps one of the coolest beasts to emerge from Greek mythology, being a creature that’s part man and part bull. Minotaurs are basically anthropomorphic bulls and scary ones at that, since they can use their horns to impale you and often wield dangerous heavy weapons that can spell trouble.
Though Minotaurs don’t always match exactly how they’re described in ancient Greek literature, their designs are close enough to look quite intense and daunting to take on. Fromgames centering around Greek mythologyto fantasy open-world games and even first-person shooters, these are the Minotaurs that stand out from the herd.
With the remaster of The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, you have the best-looking Minotaur enemies in a video game in terms of graphics. However, their design is very basic in the game, adhering to the traditional look while also feeling werewolf-y with all the fur. Unfortunately, what else is basic about them is the combat. They’re not that formidable, some even lack weapons, and all can easily go down without much of a fight.
The cool part is that the world of Oblivion is filled with Minotaurs, so you can always encounter them to take their horn, which is an ingredient with effects such as restoring Willpower, resisting Paralysis, and fortifying Endurance. There are also different hierarchies of Minotaurs depending on the location, such as the Minotaur Lord and Dreamworld Minotaur.
Dark Souls incorporated some Greek mythology into the design of the optional boss known as the Taurus Demon. Taurus also refers to the Zodiac sign associated with the bull, and this is one massive and scary-looking bull with a six-pack. This boss is armed with a huge stone staff, but defeating this creature is surprisinglynot as hard as some of the other bossesyou’ll encounter.
The Taurus Demon will make an entrance by jumping onto the bridge path in the Undead Burg location. The weapon slamming down on you happens at a slow pace to give you enough time to dodge and avoid the attacks. The Taurus' staff isn’t the most menacing part of the design, but rather the metal armor on the horns, face, and tail, which makes it appear almost like Balrog from The Lord of the Rings.
While id Software is best known forcreating Doom in the ’90s, one of the earliest FPS games that turned into one of the most iconic series, there was also a lesser-known series called Heretic/Hexen that came out from the duo team of id Software and Raven Software (the now-Call of Duty developer). And one of the enemies in this game was a variant of the Minotaur, referred to as ‘Maulotaurs.’
The reason for this name change is that these Minotaurs in Heretic have some pretty mighty mauls equipped. In addition to these, their other means of inflicting damage on you are by shooting fireballs or creating a trail of fire in your direction. The one nice detail in the design for the Maulotaurs (aside from the gold accessories and red loincloth) is the nose rings.
Even though the Castlevania series isa Gothic Metroidvania gamefocused on defeating Dracula, there are other mythological creatures that appear, including Minotaurs. Minotaurs have been an enemy that the Belmonts have been whipping across many different games in the Castlevania series, their design obviously evolving with every appearance, from pixel sprites to better 3D iterations.
The Castlevania Minotaurs capture a human-like appearance and are armed with great axes, with their movesets (in terms of swings with this weapon) feeling similar to the Taurus Demon from Dark Souls in that you have enough time to move out of the way before being hit. Castlevania incorporates the behavior of the Minotaur charging at you, with your strategy being to jump and allow its horns to get stuck in the environment to inflict some damage to it.
Minotaurshave also made it into the Dungeons & Dragons bestiary, where they’re even one of the playable species in the TTRPG. In Larian’s Baldur’s Gate 3, though there isa Fantastic Multiverse modwhere you may play as a Minotaur, they remain only enemies in the game for your party to vanquish. They are mainly found in the spooky area known as the Underdark.
Minotaurs in Baldur’s Gate 3 have a lot of character to them in terms of their visual design. They have a mohawk and a goatee and wear shoulder armor and arm guards. In the turn-based combat, their moves are either to perform a Brutal Leap, Charge, Gore (impale a member with their horns), or Reckless Roar, which gains them Advantage.
The God of War series returnedto its Greek mythology roots for the free Valhalla DLCoffered in God of War Ragnarok. The DLC is the best way to experience the Minotaur enemies from the original games. One, the design has been fully updated to match the modern graphics. And two, the new combat mechanics in Ragnarok make them a much tougher enemy to defeat.
These Minotaurs are not the bare-skinned ones you see in other media. They look like generals themselves, decked out in full armor. This Minotaur will not only charge at Kratos with its horns in a ‘bull-rush’ attack but also create a scorch attack by swiping the ground and hurling magma. Instead of juggling these enemies like you would in early God of War games, here it’s vital to dodge and parry.
One of the most distinct and non-traditional-looking Minotaurs has to go tothe boomer shooter Ultrakill, which feels like a design you would see in Doom, were Minotaurs to exist in that universe. Ironically, it’s called a Supreme Demon here. The design gives off Silent Hill vibes and has an uncomfortable body horror aesthetic due to how it has multiple arms, its flesh protruding out, and the fact that there’s a human-like hand wrapping around its back.
Even the mallet that this Ultrakill Minotaur wields seems like it has teeth around the inside of the top portion, along with the staff just being one long arm piece that has a hand appearing at the base. This is more like a Minotaur from a horror movie, especially in the arena where it attacks you, which is while you’re riding in a tram cart through a dark tunnel.
Hades is a roguelike game where characters of Greek myth come together as the son of Hades, Zagreus, tries to escape the Underworld.The Greek mythology elements are always spot-onto the character designs, and therefore, it cleverly uses Asterius the Minotaur and Theseus together as a boss duo for Zagreus, each containing their own health bar. Theseus defeats the Minotaur in the Greek legend of the Labyrinth, but in death they are a loyal team.
The combat takes place in a Gladiator-style arena where a large crowd of Shades are gathered in the stands to spectate. Asterius and Theseus don identical costumes with blue gloves, gold belts and shoulder rings, as well as teal cloths and matching laurel wreaths. The Minotaur’s horns and axe are also painted pink, which is awesome for the palette. Asterius is extremely fast, capable of some wide jumps, and brings down waves of heavy attacks.
Ubisoft dove into Greek mythology with Immortals Fenyx Rising, so, of course, one of the enemy types in the game would be Minotaurs. However, the most compelling design is the boss Minotaur, ‘Nightmare of Daidalos,’ with the name cleverly tied to the myth where Daedalus built a labyrinth that housed the Minotaur whom Theseus would then defeat.
Similar to Hades, the horns on this Minotaur glow pink, and it has blue colors emanating off its body during combat. The world design of Immortals Fenyx Rising is vibrant and colorful, so this Minotaur fits so well into the setting. It’ll feel like the creature is observing you, and its attacks range from swipes, stomps, jumps, and horn charges. The only complaint would be the human feet in place of traditional hooves, leaning more into the man part of half-man, half-bull.
Yes, Ubisoft again, and this iteration wins first place. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey delivered the scariest and most accurate Minotaur ripped right out of ancient Greek mythology. The design is very natural to what you imagine a Minotaur to be, and the attacks, speed, and movesets are super aggressive and fast. This Minotaur charges at you like a fierce bull and also has a giant axe to slam down on you.
You want to try to be as far back from this Minotaur as you can and rely on arrow shots to take this guy down. The arena is also very tight and filled with breakable pillars that this Minotaur will just ram through to get to you. In the second phase, it gets more erratic and unpredictable, posing the mightiest challenge. The touch of its horns and eyes glowing due to it being created by Isu is wonderful as well.
