A Load of Bull: Difference between revisions

[[File:17Minotauros.jpg|link=Classical Mythology|rightframe]]

Compare [[Big Badass Wolf]] and related tropes. See also [[EverythingsEverything's Better Withwith Cows]], [[Horn Attack]], and [[Bullfight Boss]].

{{examples|Examples:}}

== [[Anime]] &and [[Manga]] ==

** 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 One Half½]]'', whose [[Cursed Withwith Awesome|cursed]] [[Involuntary Shapeshifting|form]] is a [[Attack of the 50 -Foot Whatever|two story-tall]] [[Giant Flyer|winged]] [[A Load of Bull|minotaur]]. With an [[Mix -and -Match Critters|eel for a tail]]. And [[Biological Mashup|octopus]] [[Combat Tentacles|tentacles]]. You see, he was baptized and named in the [[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot|Spring of Drowned Yeti Riding an Ox While Carrying a Crane and an Eel]]. Later, he splashed himself with water from the Spring of Drowned Octopus (neither the octopus' presence, nor the drowning, nor the method of application is ever explained) to get the tentacles.

* Loa from ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (Mangamanga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' looks human, but is a chimera fused with a bull. [[Mighty Glacier|He's an insanely strong hammer-wielder, but while pursuing someone, his teammates leave him behind because he can't keep up.]]

* 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 ''[[One Piece (Manga)|One Piece]]'', Minotauros, one of four demon guards in [[The Alcatraz|Impel Down]]. Actually some sort of [[Voluntary Shapeshifting|zoan fruit user]].

* ''[[Fairy Tail (Manga)|Fairy Tail]]'' gives us Taurus, a [[Summon Magic|Stellar Spirit]] of the Ecliptic Zodiac.

* ''[[Sinbad and Thethe Eye of Thethe Tiger]]'' had the Minaton, a giant bronze minotaur-shaped golem. It was portrayed by Peter Mayhew, who also played Chewbacca in ''[[Star Wars]]''.

* ''[[The Last Unicorn (Literaturenovel)|The Last Unicorn]]'': The Red Bull.

** Om from ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Small Gods|Small Gods]]'', when manifesting himself on the Disc, would take the shape of many animals, the bull being one of the most popular, and [[Warding Gestures|the holy horns]] being the sacred sign.

** Sergeant Colon finds himself meeting, in ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Feet of Clay (novel)|Feet of Clay]]'', Rogers the Bulls. No, that's not a typo. To everyone not a bull, there's only one bull. However, apparently each eye of a bull sees a noticeably different field. Thus, the bull reasons, this must be the sight of two bulls. This explains why bullses tend to tilt their heads: so each bull can see what's going on.

* ''[[Fablehaven (Literature)|Fablehaven]]'' briefly features a huge shedu-style creature (see below) called a Lammasu. They also have traditional minotaurs.

* As well as several briefly-mentioned minotaurs, [[Neil Gaiman]]'s ''[[American Gods]]'' gives us "the buffalo man" ([[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin|a man with the head of a bison]]), who seems to be an [[Anthropomorphic Personification]] of America itself.

== [[Live -Action TV]] ==

* ''[[Doctor Who (TV)|Doctor Who]]'':

** Additionally, [[Kamen Rider Den -O|Kamen Rider Zeronos]] has bits of a bovine theme to his design.

** The Minotaur, [[Ur Example]] and [[Trope Maker]].

*** Its origins are about as [[Squick|squickysquick]]y as you'd imagine: Pasiphaë, the wife of Cretan king Minos, had fallen in love with a white bull, given to the king by the Gods. [[Interspecies Romance|To cut a long and rather uncomfortable story short]], Minos locked the [[Half -Human Hybrid|resulting abomination]] up in an [[Beneath the Earth|underground]] [[The Maze|labyrinth]] ("Minotaur" meaning "Minos' Bull"). Minos demanded an [[Virgin Sacrifice|annual tribute of seven youths and seven maidens from Athens]] (which owed a debt to Crete at the time) [[To Serve Man|to feed to the monster]]. The Minotaur was eventually killed by [[Genius Bruiser|Theseus]], with help from Minos' daughter [[High Heel Face Turn|Ariadne]].

** The [[TainTáin BoBó Cuailnge (Literature)Cúailnge|Brown Bull of Cuailnge]]

* The Sumerian [https://web.archive.org/web/20110815235156/http://www.bookrags.com/wiki/Shedu Shedu] were depicted as bulls with human heads.

* The bull man--partman—part-man, part-bull--wasbull—was a demon from Mesopotamian mythology.

* [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]]: The [[Screwed Byby the Network|almost-forgotten]] Chaos Dwarfs, being heavily influenced by Mesopotamia, have the Great Taurus, a chariot-sized ''red bull with wings'' and which can also breathe fire unless I'm quite mistaken. They also have [[Our Centaurs Are Different|Bull Centaurs]] and the Lammasu, based on the mythological Shedu mentioned above. The original Lammasu was a ''lion'' with a human head.

** The Beasts of Chaos utilize minotaurs in their ranks as well.

* In [[Warhammer 4000040,000]], we have the Tau. Hooved, herbivorous, ([[Crapsack World|comparatively]]) peaceful, and led by a bunch of [[Druid|Druids]]s. They are also, unusually, [[Fragile Speedster|Fragile Speedsters]]s rather than [[Mighty Glacier|Mighty Glaciers]]s, who feel that close combat is uncivilized, and [[Lampshade Hanging|completely unnecessary in a world full of plasma weaponry and walking battlesuits]]. [[Chainsaw Good|Unfortunately]] [[Rule of Cool|for]] [[Rock Beats Laser|them]]...

* [[Dungeons and& Dragons]] has Minotaurs and Gorgons. The latter are NOT the snake-headed chicks from Greek Mythology -- thoseMythology—those are listed as Medusae -- butMedusae—but metal plated foul-tempered carnivorous bulls with [[Petrification]] [[Breath Weapon]].

* Minotaurs in ''[[Magic: theThe Gathering]]'' are usually portrayed as [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|Proud Warrior Race Guys]]s. [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=201401 Hurloon Minotaur] was an iconic creature in the early history of the game, but it wasn't actually a very good card.

* ''[[Werewolf: The Apocalypse (Tabletop Game)|Werewolf: The Apocalypse]]'' often speaks of the extinct Apis breed: a race of were-aurochs whose task was matchmaking, to ensure successful bloodlines of shifters. Sadly, they were wiped out in the massive wave of werewolf jackassery known as the War of Rage. The Minotaur was the last of their kind.

* [[Scion]] introduces Minotaurs as a Demigod level threat (and potential followers)... and makes their origin even more [[Squick|squicktasticsquick]]tastic, by virtue of making Poseidon even more of a [[Jerkass]] then [[Classical Mythology]] ''normally'' makes its [[Jerkass Gods|gods]]! In the myths, Poseidon cursed Pasiphaë to fall in lust with the White Bull after King Minos tried to cheat his way out of giving it back to Poseidon. In Scion, the White Bull's first act upon emerging from the sea was to '''rape''' Pasiphaë, then rampage across Crete raping any woman it could catch! King Minos couldn't do anything to stop the creature as, while Poseidon took no interest in what it was doing, he knew that harming it would draw the Sea God's wrath -- thewrath—the only relief came to Crete when Heracles came and carried the White Bull off as one of his labors. In its wake, it left a considerable brood of Minotaurs, which are still a [[One -Gender Race]] that procreates by raping human women.

== [[TheaterTheatre]] ==

* In [[Sophocles]]’ tragedy, ''[[The Women of Trachis (Theatre)|The Women of Trachis]],'' Hercules’ wife Deianira speaks of the spirit of the Acheloüs River who appeared to her as a bull, a great water serpent, and finally as “a man’s body but a bull’s face, and from his clump of beard whole torrents of water splashed like a fountain.” (The Disney movie ''Hercules'' also depicted the river spirit as a man-bull.)

* The Tauren race from the ''[[War CraftWarcraft]]'' universe, who, in something of a subversion of the classic minotaur concept, are [[Gentle Giant|Gentle Giants]]s with a [[Magical Native American|culture inspired by western Native American tribes]]. They are the largest [[Player Character]] race in the game and, appropriately enough, are the only ones whose "/moo" [[emote]] sounds like an actual bovine's.

** 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 II--MoonII—Moon Clan/Lord, Blood Clan/Lord, etc.

* The ''[[Wario Land (Video Game)|Wario Land]]'' series has [http://www.mariowiki.com/Beefne Beefne] from Wario Land 1 and [http://www.mariowiki.com/Red-Brief_J Red-Brief J] from ''[[Wario World (Video Game)|Wario World]]''. Amusingly fitting, they both [[Mirror Boss|imitate some of Wario's trademark abilities]].

* Reploid Mino Magnaxe from ''[[Mega Man Zero (Video Game)|Mega Man Zero]] 4''.

* ''[[God of War (Video Gameseries)|God of War]]'' features several Minotaurs as [[Giant Mook|Giant Mooks]]s and pits Kratos against a [[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot|gigantic armored minotaur demon zombie who is on fire]] as a level boss.

* Subverted and played straight in ''[[Soul Nomad]]''. Subverted with Sepps, (a quick agile race that looks mostly human). Played straight with Redflanks ([[Mighty Glacier|Mighty Glaciers]]s, much larger but less human looking). Both races have heroic examples. Danette (female Sepp) and Grunzford (male Red Flank, who's also a [[Cool Old Guy]]).

* General Slaughter in the ''[[Battle ToadsBattletoads]]'' games.

* El Odio from ''[[Psychonauts (Video Game)|Psychonauts]]'' is a giant, pink bull that not only terrorizes one character's mind, but also the player, for the entire level.

* Goht in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: MajorasMajora's Mask (Video Game)|The Legend of Zelda Majoras Mask]]'' (the one who had to be beating by being out-raced and bashed as a Goron).

* Bigbutt from ''[[Banjo -Kazooie]]'', who is extremely powerful and only appears in three places in the entire game. He's functionally immortal (he can never die), but not invulnerable (you can attack him and knock him out but he always gets back up).

* Keine Kamishirasawa from [[Touhou (Video Game)|Touhou]] ''Imperishable Night''. She's also a [[Our Werewolves Are Different|werecreature]].

** 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-[http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/Bai_Ze:Bai Ze|Hakutaku]] form are simply close in appearance to those of a cow.

* In order to get into a house in ''[[Mechquest (Video Game)|Mechquest]]'', you need to complete a quest with a Minotaur boss.

* ''[[ActraiserActRaiser]]'': the final boss of the first land is named Minotaurus, no guesses as to what he is.

* ''[[Mad WorldMadWorld]]'' has these in the form of recurring miniboss Big Bull Crocker. "Now ''that'' is a bunch of bull!" Granted, Big Bull Crocker is just a giant man wearing a helmet, but still.

* Minotaurs play an important role in ''[[Puzzle Quest]]''. They are mostly [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|Proud Warrior Race Guys]]s, and the protagonist has to earn their respect, after which minotaur priest joins the party. The minotaurs' godgod—Lord -- Lord Sartek -- isSartek—is also a huge minotaur. Among the bad guys there are minotaur slavers, undead Skelotaurs (skeletal minotaurs), undead minotaur Doomknight, and even mechanical Mechataur.

* First appeared as a boss in ''[[Castlevania|Rondo of Blood]]'', the Minotaur has been hanging around the Castlevania franchise for a while now.

* 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 [[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 BoosBoo's Haunt|Ghosts.]]

* In ''[[Final Fantasy Mystic Quest (Video Game)|Final Fantasy Mystic Quest]]'', a minotaur disguises itself as a tree and infects Kaeli (one of the hero's traveling partners) with poison.

* Xain from ''[[Legend of Legaia (Video Game)|Legend of Legaia]]''.

* Minotaurs appear in ''[[City of Heroes (Video Game)|City of Heroes]]'' as boss enemies. You'll find them in Cimerora, which is loosely based on Rome and it's mythology.

* ''[[Fantasy Quest (Video Game)|Fantasy Quest]]'' pits you against one, hand to hand, in a volcano.

** Black and White gives us Terrakion, a bull-like Pokemon that's based off of one of [[The Three Musketeers (Literature)|The Three Musketeers]].

* The dreaded Minotaur of Crete [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=17 appears] in ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court (Webcomic)|Gunnerkrigg Court]]''. He's called Basil, and he's a nice guy who's easily startled.

* Principal Beau Vine from ''[[Ozy and Millie (Webcomic)|Ozy and Millie]]''.

* [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 ''[[Homestuck (Webcomic)|Homestuck]]'', has huge horns that are very much like a bull's. Unsurprising, since all of the trolls follow a Western zodiac theme and he represents Taurus, the bull sign.

* A story in ''[[The KA MicsKAMics]]'' [https://web.archive.org/web/20120615065516/http://www.drunkduck.com/The_KAMics/5226681/ featured a minotaur named Bob]

* ''[[The Dreadful (Webcomic)|The Dreadful]]'' gives us Boozloaf, who doubles as a somewhat [[Badass Preacher]] and [[Pungeon Master]].

* Dagg the Fierce in ''[[At ArmsArm's Length (Webcomicwebcomic)|At Arms Length]]'', a would-be pillager minotaur, [https://web.archive.org/web/20190818174047/http://atarmslengthwww.smackjeevesatarmslength.comnet/comics/872126/havesword-willtravel-5/ runs afoul] of dragon mercenaries Kaige and Kiley.

* ''[[Yet Another Fantasy Gamer Comic]]'' has Turg. Sort of cool big chap, but as the only member of his species around, very lonely -- untillonely—until he met a {{spoiler|Sphinx and chose to stay with her. [[Hot Skitty OnImprobable WailordSpecies ActionCompatibility|Yeah.]]}}

* In the "Nightmares And Daydreams" episode of ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender (Animation)|Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'', Aang briefly hallucinates that Appa the bison can talk.

* In ''[[Jimmy Two -Shoes]]'', all of [[Satan|Lucius']] typical henchman and enforcer jobs are done by minotaur-like creatures.

* ''[[Freakazoid!]]'''s Longhorn, a half-man, half-steer country singer supervillain.

* ''[[Back Atat the Barnyard]]''. Where the bulls have ''[[Animal Gender Bender|udders]]''.

* Taurus, of the New Olympians on ''[[Gargoyles (Animation)|Gargoyles]]''.

* Manish Man, the Manly Minotaur, guardian of the [[Great Big Book of Everything|Hero's Enchiridion]] in ''[[Adventure Time (Animation)|Adventure Time]]''

* ''[[Mighty Mouse the New Adventures]]'' had archvillain The Cow -- walksCow—walks on two feet, (super)humanoid physique, clearly male and thus should be "The Bull", but...

* ''[[Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness (Animation)|Kung Fu Panda Legends of Awesomeness]]'' has Temutai, a Water Buffalo who is a somewhat of a [[Genuis Bruiser]] who can also seriously challenge Po with his physical strength alone.

* The ''[[My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic]]'' episode "Putting Your Hoof Down" introduces minotaurs to the mythology of Equestria, in the form of a motivational speaker named Iron Will.

[[Category{{DEFAULTSORT:A Load Ofof Bull]], A}}