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{{trope}}
[[File:17Minotauros.jpg|link=Classical Mythology|
{{quote|'''Moo'. Are you happy now?''|'''Tauren Male''', ''[[World of Warcraft]]''}}▼
{{quote|'''Moo'. Are you happy now?''
Talking bulls or bull-men, especially those who stand on two feet (usually hooves, though not always). They tend to take strength-based characteristics, most likely be a [[Mighty Glacier]], rarely a [[Fragile Speedster]].
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This trope goes all the way back to the Gud-alim of [[Mesopotamian Mythology]], so it's [[Older Than Dirt]]. The [[Older Than Feudalism|later myth]] [[Greek Mythology|of the Minotaur]] has directly inspired about 99% of all examples below.
Compare [[Big Badass Wolf]] and related tropes. See also [[Everything's Better
{{examples}}
== [[Advertising]] ==
* From 1987: Sugar Bear deals with a mean bull in [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSd2pu-7hGY this commercial] for Super Golden Crisp.
== [[Anime]]
* The Apostle form of Nosferatu Zodd from ''[[Berserk]]'' is that of a giant minotaur with a tiger's face and gigantic bat wings.
* Ilfort Grantz from ''[[Bleach]]''.
** Not to mention {{spoiler|the latest form of Ichigo's [[Super-Powered Evil Side]], whose horns have earned him the [[Fan Nickname]] "Bull Ichigo."}}
* [[Embarrassing Middle Name|Pantyhose]] [[Arrogant Kung Fu Guy|Tarou]] from ''[[Ranma
* Minotaur from the ''[[Cyborg 009]]'' 2001 series.
* Loa from ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (
* The 8-Tailed Giant-Ox from ''[[Naruto]]'', being based on ushi-oni, is a [[Kaiju|giant]] bull octopus [[Mix-and-Match Critters|mix]]. Consequently, its host's most powerful attack when not fully transformed, Lariat, has his [[Battle Aura]] take the shape of a bull's horn ({{spoiler|with the upgraded form it even takes the shape of a bull's whole skull and spine}}).
* From ''[[
** Actually, despite its name, he/she/it was more of a Cow, really.
* ''[[Keroro Gunsou]]'' features Giroro getting turned into a minotaur-like monster in one chapter.
* [[Humanoid Monster Bem]] has one show up in the thirteenth episode, abducting humans working on a subway.
* ''[[
== [[Comic Books]] ==
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== [[Film]] ==
* ''[[Sinbad and
== [[Literature]] ==
* ''[[The Last Unicorn (
* Somewhat subverted by Thomas Burnett Swann's Eunostos the Minotaur, who has at least as much brains as brawn.
** Not to mention Silver Bells.
* Bull-centaurs or shedu (see below) may exist in [[Narnia]]. Regular minotaurs exist as well (mostly bad in ''The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe'', although the ''Prince Caspian'' movie has a heroic badass one).
* ''[[Discworld]]"':
** Om from ''[[
** Sergeant Colon finds himself meeting, in ''[[
* Ferdinand the Bull from a 1936 book by Munro Leaf was a subversion, as he was quite gentle, preferring picking flowers and other "girly" activities.
* Both a minotaur-type creature (oddly named Erinyes, and blind) and a rubber Ferdinand the Bull mask figure in the plot of the [[Stephen King]] novel "Rose Madder".
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* A [[Cordwainer Smith]] short story has B'dikkat, a humanoid bull-person, as a caretaker of the inmates on a prison planet.
* In the [[Thursday Next]] book ''The Well of Lost Plots'', a murderous Minotaur escapes and wreaks havoc throughout the books of the Book World. He goes by the alias Norman Johnson, and in the following book ''Something Rotton'' he is hit with a Slapstick marker so that they can track him through Fiction. No one in the books he enters seems to notice he's a Minotaur.
* ''[[
* A genetically engineered minotaur appears in the third book of [[Piers Anthony]]'s ''Warrior's Circle'' trilogy. He's a nice guy normally, but he's been built to go into a murderous sexual frenzy periodically, inflamed by the smell of a virgin. Murderous because, well, he's [[Gag Penis|hung like a bull]].
* As well as several briefly-mentioned minotaurs, [[Neil Gaiman]]'s ''[[American Gods]]'' gives us "the buffalo man" ([[Exactly What It Says
== [[Live
* ''[[Doctor Who]]'':
** The minotaur in ''The Time Monster'', ''The Mind Robber'' and "The God Complex".
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** Don't forget the Ushi Origami/Bullzord from ''[[Samurai Sentai Shinkenger]]''/''[[Power Rangers Samurai]]''. Only this one was red.
* A few ''[[Kamen Rider]]'' kaijin qualify, like the buffalo [[Kamen Rider Kuuga|Grongi Go-Baberu-Da]], and the [[Kamen Rider Agito|Taurus Ballista Lord]] in ''[[Kamen Rider Decade]]''.
** Additionally, [[Kamen Rider Den
** Then of course, there's Kamen Rider [[Kamen Rider Ryuki|Zolda]]/[[Kamen Rider Dragon Knight|Torque]], who's contract monster is a giant mechanical minotaur.
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== [[Oral Tradition]] ==
* In [[Greek Mythology]]:
** The Minotaur, [[Ur Example]] and [[Trope Maker]].
*** Its origins are about as [[
** Heracles' 7th labor was to capture the Cretan Bull. Incidentally, this was the same bull that fathered the Minotaur.
** Heracles' 10 labor was to obtain the cattle of Geryon
** Zeus appeared to Europa as a white bull. She subsequently gave birth to the aforementioned king Minos. I guess the family just has a thing with bulls.
* In [[Celtic Mythology|Irish Mythology]]:
** The [[
* In Mesopotamian Mythology:
** [[The Epic of Gilgamesh|Gilgamesh]] had to fight the Bull of Heaven.
* The Sumerian [https://web.archive.org/web/20110815235156/http://www.bookrags.com/wiki/Shedu Shedu] were depicted as bulls with human heads.
* The bull
* Behemoth, the great beast of the land in Semetic mythology, is often identified as a bull.
* An Italian popular fable features a talking, savant (and possibly magical) Ox who helps the protagonist and eventually help him [[Badass Grandpa|subduing a younger fierce bull]].
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== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]]: The [[Screwed
** The Beasts of Chaos utilize minotaurs in their ranks as well.
* In [[Warhammer
* [[Dungeons
** Also part of the bulls = strength thing, the spell ''bull's strength''...increases strength.
** ''[[Dragonlance]]'' also included minotaurs as a fairly civilized, if not always ''nice'', [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|Proud Warrior Guys Race]].
*** Which may have inspired 4e to make them a playable race in general.
** ''[[Mystara]]'' also has Enduks -- ''[[Winged Humanoid|winged]]'' Minotaurs.
* Minotaurs in ''[[Magic:
* ''[[
** Their spiritual heirs, the Baal-Hadad (alternatively, "Gudthabak"), appear in ''[[Werewolf: The Forsaken]]'' and are much less nice. They are a race of Helios (sun-spirit) worshippers who are convinced it is their purpose to rule over humans as "lords of the herd" and who only reproduce by magically transforming wolf-blooded humans into their own kind.
* The ''[[Mutants and Masterminds]]'' setting ''[[Freedom City]]'' has Taurus, who in addition to being the original Minotaur, has prospered quite well since his days of being locked up in the Labyrinth on Crete. Now, he runs another sort of Labyrinth, a criminal organization operating behind so many shell companies that few individuals get a glimpse of the whole thing.
* [[Scion]] introduces Minotaurs as a Demigod level threat (and potential followers)... and makes their origin even more [[
* One of the signature Lunar [[Exalted]] is Strength of Many. Since his Spirit Totem is a bull, his war form greatly resembles a minotaur. His [[Glamour Failure|Tell]] is having the hooves of a bull for feet.
== [[
* In [[Sophocles]]’ tragedy, ''[[
== [[Video Games]] ==
* In the ''[[Doom]]'' series, anything in the Baron family (namely Barons of Hell, Hell Knights, Cyberdemons, Skulltag's mod-exclusive Belphegors, possibly even [[Final Boss|The Baphomet]] itself {{spoiler|unless you clip through his face and find John Romero's head; then he's just a wall sprite with attitude}}) all base themselves off minotaurs. The 3D versions? Eh... [[Our Demons Are Different|Our Cyberdemons Are]] [[Anticlimax Boss|Sissier]].
** While far more bloated and chubby, Pain Elementals share the Baron's bull horns, even bearing stubby, useless little arms as well. An evolution / degradation to the Baron genus?
* The Tauren race from the ''[[
** Villainous tauren are relatively rare in [[World of Warcraft]]; there is a (now defunct) villain named [http://www.wowpedia.org/Mr._Smite Mr. Smite] in Deadmines, and there are the Grimtotem, a rival tribe to the playable Bloodhoof. With those exceptions, most Tauren tend to be friendly (and cuddly.)
* Minotaurs are a race of creatures in ''[[Heroes of Might and Magic]]''.
* Hell Bovines from the Secret Cow Level in ''[[Diablo II]]''.
** In ''Lord of Destruction'', there are some enormous minotaur-like demons in Act V, called [Descriptor] Lords. For some reason, bull-demons are all named for the Clans of ''goat''folk from Act I and Act
* The ''[[
* Reploid Mino Magnaxe from ''[[
* ''[[God of War (
* Subverted and played straight in ''[[Soul Nomad]]''. Subverted with Sepps, (a quick agile race that looks mostly human). Played straight with Redflanks ([[Mighty Glacier
* General Slaughter in the ''[[
* El Odio from ''[[
** And as it turns out, killing him would be unthinkable as {{spoiler|he is in fact the character whose mind he is found in}}.
* Goht in ''[[The Legend of Zelda:
* ''[[Heretic]]''. The Maulotaurs were the second episode boss, and were about as tough as the Cyberdemon. In the final battle of Shadow of the Serpent Riders, you had to fight eight of them.
** They also showed up in Hexen as well, where they could be summoned to help you in battles.
* Taurus Fire in ''[[Mega Man Star Force]]''.
* Brahminator (fun encounter) in ''[[Fallout Tactics Brotherhood of Steel|Fallout Tactics]]''.
* Bigbutt from ''[[Banjo
* Keine Kamishirasawa from [[
** This one is actually the result of [[Memetic Mutation]]. Keine herself does ''not'' have any cow features, or really, anything to do with cows at all. The horns she has in Were-[[wikipedia:Bai Ze|Hakutaku]] form are simply close in appearance to those of a cow.
* ''[[King's Quest VI]]'' had an infuriating section in which you had to walk around a labyrinth to rescue a princess from a Minotaur, in a direct reference to the Greek myth.
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** If you defeat him in the first game, he shows up in the ending [[Only a Flesh Wound|with one arm in a sling]].
*** In addition to Toro making a return, there is a Minotaur in the [[Very Definitely Final Dungeon]]. The Minotaur's owner? Called [[Meaningful Name|Minos]].
* In order to get into a house in ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[
* Minotaurs play an important role in ''[[Puzzle Quest]]''. They are mostly [[Proud Warrior Race Guy
* First appeared as a boss in ''[[Castlevania|Rondo of Blood]]'', the Minotaur has been hanging around the Castlevania franchise for a while now.
* Partially subverted in ''[[Blue Dragon]]''. Jiro's shadow is a Minotaur, though he's also the brains of the team {{spoiler|(that is, at least before Zola joins the party)}}, has a smooth voice and tends to fight better as a back-row mage.
* Tohma from ''[[Tales of Rebirth]]''. He provides the muscle of the [[Quirky Miniboss Squad|Four Stars]], though [[Manipulative Bastard|he's not dumb at all]].
* Originally, [[Big Bad|Bowser]], the main villain of the ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'' series games was actually not perceived as a turtle-dragon, but instead an ''ox''.
* Minotaurs appear as mooks in ''[[Will Rock]]''. They throw axes at you and can split up into two smalle Blood Minotaurs if killed with anything but the Sniper Crossbow, the Acid Gun, Medusa Gun or Atomic Gun.
* Minotaurs appear as [[Demonic Spiders]] in ''[[Warriors of Might and Magic]]'', having lots of HP and being very strong in battle. The best way to kill them is using Air magics like [[Shock and Awe|Thunderbolt]] and [[Big Boo's Haunt|Ghosts.]]
* In ''[[
* Xain from ''[[
* ''[[Dwarf Fortress]]'' features minotaurs. They sometimes attack your Fortress and can be found in Labyrinths in Adventure Mode. They are less than a tenth the size of any other semi-megabeast, but more than make up for it by naturally being experts with all melee weapons.
* Minotaurs appear in ''[[
** And thanks to the Animal Pack, players can make one of their own, complete with Beast Run.
* In ''[[Academagia]]'', Minotaurs are one of the non-human intelligent species of Elumia. While civilized and not innately hostile, they apparently tend to keep to themselves and don't normally mix with humans or other species. One notable exception to this seclusion is Gorithnak, Academagia's Master Smith and head of The Grand Forge. Although he isn't portrayed as particularly gregarious either...
* Alistar the Minotaur is a playable champion in ''[[League of Legends]]''. He's a dual tank and support-type champion, being both incredibly durable and having several crowd control attacks and an AoE heal.
* A minotaur appears as a boss in several [[Castlevania]] games, including [[Symphony of the Night]] and [[Curse of Darkness]].
* ''[[
* Tauros from ''[[Pokémon]]'', which is a bull with some serious anger issues thanks to using its three tails as whips to work it up into a frenzy. ''Black and White'' would introduce an [[Expy]] in the form of Boufallant, an even bigger bull-like Pokemon with a [[Funny Afro]], though it's a bison as opposed to a true bull.
** Black and White gives us Terrakion, a bull-like Pokemon that's based off of one of [[
* Buffahorns from ''[[Kirby and the Forgotten Land]]'' are powerful bull enemies working for the Beast Pack. When they see Kirby, they'll charge him on sight.
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* Krunch Bloodrage (and the whole Bloodrage clan) from the webcomic ''[[Looking for Group]]''. Believe it or not, ''he's not the warrior.''
* The dreaded Minotaur of Crete [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=17 appears] in ''[[
* ''The Superest'': [http://www.thesuperest.com/archives/2009/02/02/s142_janitaur/ Janitaur].
* Principal Beau Vine from ''[[
* ''Dungeons & Denizens'' stars Min, a beefy, yet mild-mannered Minotaur working as a janitor in a dungeon. His brother is much taller and beefier. A recently-introduced new Minotaur, called Titanic, is even ''larger''.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20190630231359/http://www.realmofatland.com/ Atland] features Bruce the minotaur as a main character. Physically, Bruce has the body of a tall muscular human male with the head of a bull. While he has a pair of human hands, his feet are stout cloven hooves. His entire body is covered with short sleek brown fur and he has a very human-like tuft of black hair on top of his head. Bruce has sired a half-human son named Tad who seems to be entirely human with the exception of a pair of horns and green eyes lacking in pupils, just like his old man.
* Tavros Nitram, one of the [[All Trolls Are Different|trolls]] in ''[[
* A story in ''[[The
* ''[[
* Dagg the Fierce in ''[[At Arm's Length (
** Also, his cousin supposedly once attacked main characters Ally, Reece and Sheila, with a .44 Magnum at that.
* ''[[Yet Another Fantasy Gamer Comic]]'' has Turg. Sort of cool big chap, but as the only member of his species around, very
* The legend of the Minotaur is referenced in [http://oglaf.com/labyrinth/ this] [[Oglaf]] comment, and the Minotaur himself appears [http://oglaf.com/skein/ here.] (Caution: the linked comics are sfw, but the comic as a whole is very much not.)
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* In the "Nightmares And Daydreams" episode of ''[[
* ''[[The Venture Brothers]]'''s "The Mighty Manotaur!", although it turns out that he's not very [[Badass]].
** One of the superheroes created for the comic ''[[Kingdom Come]]'' is actually called "The Manotaur". He's got a really HUGE set of horns, and is surprisingly durable.
* In ''[[Jimmy Two
* ''[[Freakazoid!]]'''s Longhorn, a half-man, half-steer country singer supervillain.
* ''[[Back
** And actual bulls are a ''separate species''.
* Taurus, of the New Olympians on ''[[
* Manish Man, the Manly Minotaur, guardian of the [[Great Big Book of Everything|Hero's Enchiridion]] in ''[[
* Taurus Bulba, the first big-time criminal ''[[Darkwing Duck]]'' faces. Note that while he is pretty big, stocky, and strong, he's also cunning, putting him in [[Genius Bruiser]] territory. Until [[It Got Worse]].
* Everyone in Wild West ''[[Wild West Cowboys of Moo Mesa]]''.
* The bouncer from the ''[[House of Mouse]]'' short "Mickey Foils the Phantom Blot."
* ''[[Mighty Mouse the New Adventures]]'' had archvillain The
* ''[[Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness
* The ''[[My Little Pony:
{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Just for Pun]]
[[Category:Mammal Tropes]]
[[Category:Older Than Dirt]]
[[Category:Index of Fictional Creatures]]
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