Minotaur

For the type of Shadow in the Persona series, see Minotaur (Shadow Type).

Minotaur
ミノタウロス
MT1MT2KMTSMT4DCLD Artwork from Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei Artwork from Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei II Artwork from Kyūyaku Megami Tensei Artwork from Shin Megami Tensei IV Artwork from Devil Children Light Book and Dark Book
Origin	Greek culture
Race(s)	BeastShin Megami Tensei IV JakiDigital Devil Story: Megami Tensei II Kyūyaku Megami Tensei: Megami Tensei II OniDevil Children Light Book and Dark Book Devil Children Fire Book and Ice Book ToukiShin Megami Tensei (Mega-CD) TyrantDigital Devil Story: Megami Tensei Kyūyaku Megami Tensei: Megami Tensei I Majin Tensei Majin Tensei: Blind Thinker
Alignment(s)	Neutral-NeutralShin Megami Tensei (Mega-CD) NeutralShin Megami Tensei IV
Arcana	Chariot

Minotaur is a Demon in the Megami Tensei franchise.

Profile

Origin

Pottery depicting the Minotaur (c. 515 BC)

The Minotaur is a monster from Greek mythology. In order to win a competition with his brother for the right to rule the island of Crete, Minos prayed to Poseidon, who sent a beautiful white bull so that Minos may win the right to rule. When Minos was victorious, he was to sacrifice the bull to Poseidon; however, due to the beauty of the bull, he instead chose to sacrifice a common bull in its stead and keep the white bull, believing it would be a fair compromise. Poseidon was enraged by this and cursed Minos' wife Pasiphaë to fall in love with the bull and lust for it. She commissioned Daedalus to construct a hollow cow that she concealed herself within, luring in the bull so she could have sex with it. From this unholy union Pasiphaë became pregnant and gave birth to a child with a bull's head that she named Asterius. Due to its nature as both man and beast, as Asterius grew, he became ferocious and began to eat humans for sustenance. In order to contain Asterius, Minos had Daedalus construct a maze of insurmountable complexity and trapped Asterius within it known as the Labyrinth, with prisoners being sent in to feed Asterius. These brutal actions led to Asterius being named the Minotaur, meaning "Bull of Minos".

After Crete defeated Athens in war, Minos demanded seven young men and seven maidens to be sent to Crete by boat as tribute annually who would be fed to the Minotaur. On the third call for sacrifices, the Athenian prince Theseus willingly offered himself to go to Crete as a sacrifice so he may kill the Minotaur and free his people of its tyranny. Upon arriving in Crete, Minos' daughter and the Minotaur's human sister Ariadne fell in love with the prince and sought to aid him in his quest by providing a thread to help him navigate through the Labyrinth. Eventually Theseus encountered the Minotaur and was successful in killing the beast, allowing Athens to break free from Crete's rule.

Design

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In Shin Megami Tensei IV and its related media, the Minotaur appears as blue-skinned with a human torso with the legs and head of a bull. It wears a harness across its chest that is connected to its ears and the skin around its legs is torn, resembling pants that are ripped at the sides. The head's nostril form into that of a human skull, even forming a human mouth with sharp teeth.

Gameplay

For complete gameplay information, see Gameplay:Minotaur.

Compendium

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Compendium Entries
Shin Megami Tensei IV	A fabled creature of Greek lore said to have the head of a bull and the body of a man. Its name means "bull of Minos." Pasiphae, King Mino's wife, was cursed to fall in love with a white bull. She lusted for it, and eventually gave birth to the part-bull part-human creature. He was named Asterius, but became better known as the Minotaur. As he had the personality of a bull, he grew more and more violent. When he finally became uncontrollable, King Mino's ordered Daedalus to build a giant maze, the Labyrinth, to keep the Minotaur locked away. From there, he ate those who were rsacrificed to him until his eventual death at the hands of Theseus.
Persona 2: Innocent Sin	Half-human, half-bull guardian monster of the Cretan labyrinth.
Persona 2: Eternal Punishment	Half-bull, half-man of Greek myth. Trapped in Cretin[sic] labyrinth.
Devil Children Light Book and Dark Book	頭が　牛で　体が　人間の　力持ちなデビル　メイロの　中に　住んでいる　らんぼうもの Translation:
DemiKids Light Version and Dark Version	Labyrinth-dweller that is half man and half bull. Very powerful and violent.
Devil Children Fire Book and Ice Book	頭が　ウシで　体が　人間の　力持ちなデビル　メイロの　中に　住んでいる　らんぼうもの Translation:

Game Appearances

Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei

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Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei II

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Shin Megami Tensei IV

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Prior to the events of the game, Minotaur was an ally of Akira. Upon his ascension to King Aquila, he charged Minotaur with guarding the depths of Naraku to prevent anyone from Mikado from entering Tokyo and vice versa. For millennia the Minotaur loyally guarded the depths, killing any that would try to cross from one land to the other.

Majin Tensei

Minotaur is the first tyrant faced in the game and arrives in the human world due to the Hero's efforts in combating the demons invading. He is fought in stage 8 and before he dies he denounces the Hero's strength despite being defeated.

Manga Appearances

Shin Megami Tensei IV: Demonic Gene

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Shin Megami Tensei IV: Prayers

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Trivia

• During development of Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey, Minotaur was considered for use as a boss. He would have been of the Tyrant race and be fought in Area 1.

Nomenclature

Names in Other Languages

Language	Name	Meaning
English	Minotaur
Japanese	ミノタウロス Minotaurosu	Minotaur
Korean	미노타우로스 Minotauroseu	Minotaur

Gallery

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  Artwork from Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei
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  Artwork from Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei II
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  Artwork from Kyūyaku Megami Tensei
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  Artwork from Shin Megami Tensei IV
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  Artwork from Devil Children Light Book and Dark Book
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  Illustration from Shin Megami Tensei IV: Demonic Gene
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  Sprite from Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei
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  Animated sprite from Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei
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  Sprite from Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei II
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  Animated sprite from Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei II
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  Sprite from Kyūyaku Megami Tensei
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  Animated sprite from Kyūyaku Megami Tensei
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  Sprite from the Mega-CD version of Shin Megami Tensei
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  Sprite from the Game Boy version of Last Bible
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  Sprite from the Game Boy Color version of Last Bible
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  Sprite from the Game Gear version of Last Bible
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  Sprite from the Game Boy version of Last Bible II
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  Sprite from the Game Boy Color version of Last Bible II
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  Sprite from Last Bible III
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  Sprite from Last Bible Special
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  Sprite from Shinyaku Last Bible
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  Sprite from Shinyaku Last Bible II: Hajimari no Fukuin
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  Sprite from Shinyaku Last Bible III: Mugen no Eiyū
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  Sprite from Majin Tensei
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  Portrait sprite from Majin Tensei
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  Sprite from Persona 2: Innocent Sin
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  Sprite from Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
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  Sprite from Devil Children Light Book and Dark Book and Devil Children Fire Book and Ice Book
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  Card graphic from Persona 2: Innocent Sin
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  Card graphic from Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
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  Minotaur's stats in the Mega-CD version of Shin Megami Tensei