Minotaurs
| Minotaur | |
|---|---|
 Minotaur, from Ultima I manual | |
| First appearance: | Ultima I |
| Last appearance: | Martian Dreams |
A minotaur is a bull/human hybrid monster which roamed the dungeons of archaic Sosaria in Ultima I and reappeared in the Dream Realm in Martian Dreams.
Description[edit]
While stories of the minotaur exists on multiple worlds, the Sosarian beast bearing this name had its nativity in grotesque experiments at the hands of the wizard Mondain. The wicked mage encouraged perverse trysts between his followers and Baratarian fighting bulls, resulting in these abominable half-man/half-auroch offspring. These minotaurs, similar to their counterpart in Earth's Athenian myth, came to dwell in the labyrinthine depths of many of the realm's dungeons, where they could be found lying in wait for unwary adventurers.
After the death of Mondain, these bestial hybrids eventually vanished from the lands which would become Britannia, and have not been seen since.
Lore[edit]
| “ | As mentioned before, the evil Mondain experimented ceaselessly with the crossbreeding of man and beast in an effort to create the ultimate soldier. As if the creation of the dread Lizard Man was not enough, the vile wizard also mated the famed Baratarian fighting bull with some of his followers, resulting in the Minotaur -- a horror that walks on two legs like a man, but which has the head and the cruel horns of a bull. – from The First Age of Darkness (Ultima I)
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Trivia[edit]
- The minotaur (literally "The Bull of Minos") has its origins in Athenian mythology, where it was born to Pasiphaë, wife of King Minos of Crete, as punishment for the ruler's failure to sacrifice a sacred bull to Poseidon. The minotaur was later imprisoned by Minos within a labyrinth devised by the genius Daedalus, and was fed with groups of Athenian youths demanded by Minos as tribute until it was slain by the hero Theseus.[1]
- In Ultima I, "Minotaur" is misspelled as "Minatour" in the game, despite being spelled correctly within the manual.
- In Martian Dreams a minotaur appears in the dreamscape of Louis Comfort Tiffany, playing the role of the proverbial "bull in a china shop" as it manifests Tiffany's anxieties about his work being destroyed.
- Minotaurs were to be included in the canceled Ultima X. See Planned monsters for Ultima X for further details.
Gallery[edit]
A minotaur from the FM Towns-port of Ultima I
Minotaur in Martian Dreams
Ultima X concept art
