History Main / ALoadOfBull

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[[quoteright:238:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_the_minotaur_by_danbrenus_8871.jpg]]
[-[[caption-width-right:238:[[http://danbrenus.deviantart.com/art/The-Minotaur-113011934 Image]] by [[http://danbrenus.deviantart.com/ Daniele Spezzani.]]]]-]

->''"'Moo'. Are you happy now?"''
-->-- '''Tauren Male''', ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''

Talking bulls or bull-men, especially those who stand on two feet (usually hooves, though not always). They tend to take strength- and toughness-based characteristics, often being either a MightyGlacier or a LightningBruiser, but rarely a FragileSpeedster or GlassCannon.

They tend to [[AnAxeToGrind wield axes]], as a kind of ancient waraxe called the labrys was strongly associated with the Minotaur's legendary home of Crete, and no self-respecting labyrinth level is complete without one of these as a BossBattle. They're mostly carnivorous and [[ToServeMan man-eating]], despite having an herbivore's head, as the original Minotaur was explicitly a man-eater.

Minotaurs are often savage, AlwaysChaoticEvil monsters. If they've given a more sympathetic portrayal, you can expect them to be {{Proud Warrior Race Guy}}s. In this case their horns emphasize [[HornsOfBarbarism their barbaric nature]]. They are often included among the StandardFantasyRaces, typically as members of TheHorde.

Physically, minotaurs tend to be depicted as much bigger and stronger than humans. Besides having bull heads, many also have bovine hooves at the end of their legs. Notably, the mythical version was depicted as an otherwise normal human with the head of a bull. The concept of depicting minotaurs as having bovine hooves instead of human legs and feet is something that developed (or at least became prevalent) in relatively recent fiction.

[[OlderThanTheyThink This trope goes all the way back to]] the Gud-alim of Myth/MesopotamianMythology, so it's OlderThanDirt. The [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Greek myth of the man-eating Minotaur]], specifically, was the TropeMaker in western culture, and has directly or indirectly inspired most of the examples below. The classical Minotaur of Greek, Etruscan and Roman myth [[AKindOfOne was a unique figure instead of a whole species of beings]] -- "Minotaur" was a title meaning "Bull of Minos", after the king who built the Labyrinth. Other than that, the Minotaur was either not given a name or, more rarely, was called "Asterion" or "Asterios". Some modern works that go for the single-individual interpretation sometimes use these names as well.

Compare BrutishBulls, as minotaurs are often portrayed as aggressive, violent or generally barbarous creatures. See also EverythingsBetterWithCows, HornAttack and BullfightBoss. Not to be confused with a figurative [[BlatantLies load of BS]] or TheLoad.
----
!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'': The Apostle form of Nosferatu Zodd is a giant minotaur with a tiger's face and gigantic bat wings.
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Yylfordt Grantz, when he releases his [[EmpathicWeapon Zanpakutō]], ''Del Toro''. It greatly enlarges his upper body and coats it in bone white armor, with massive shoulders and a horned helmet that's reminiscent of a bull's head. In this form, he starts walking on four legs, and his method of attacking involves skewering his opponents with his horns.
%%* ''Manga/Cyborg009 2001'': Minotaur.
* ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'':
** Minotaurmon is a peculiar creature resembling a standard, if boot-wearing, minotaur with a quake-producing machine on its left arm, but closer inspection shows that its skin is seemingly stitched together, has a prominent zipper on its chest and doesn't cover its chin, making its seem as though Minotaurmon is some other humanoid being wearing a minotaur costume.
** Vajramon, one of the twelve devas and representing the zodiacal Bull, is a [[OurCentaursAreDifferent centaurine]] being with a bull's body and a minotaur's torso and head.
%%* ''Manga/FairyTail'' gives us Taurus, a [[SummonMagic Stellar Spirit]] of the Ecliptic Zodiac.
* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'': Loa looks human, but is a chimera fused with a bull. [[MightyGlacier He's an insanely strong hammer-wielder, but while pursuing someone, his teammates leave him behind because he can't keep up]].
* ''Manga/HeterogeniaLinguistico'': In the "Village of Death", Hakaba, Susuki, and the LizardFolk Kashoo and Kekoo meet a minotaur named Mou (or that's the closest equivalent they can pronounce). He's a bit scary at first, but once they figure out how to communicate he proves to be a GentleGiant.
* ''Anime/HumanoidMonsterBem'' has one show up in the thirteenth episode, abducting humans working on a subway.
* ''Manga/InuYasha'' has the [[HalfHumanHybrid half-demon]] Gyu-oh. In contrast to the other half-demons, he looks [[InvoluntaryShapeshifter like a pure human being during the day, and like a pure demon at night]]. In his [[{{Youkai}} demonic]] form he resembles a minotaur. He is also very strong, even for a half-demon.
* ''LightNovel/IsItWrongToTryToPickUpGirlsInADungeon?'': Some of the monsters the adventurers have to face are Minotaurs. They are so powerful monsters that only experienced and powerful adventurers can reliably face them. The fact that the main protagonist Bell Cranel can later defeat a Minotaur illustrates how strong he has become in a short time. Later, the Minotaur that Bell defeated is reincarnated as a Xenos, gaining the ability to speak and the name Asterius, which is a derivative of the Minotaur of Crete's true name, and desires to face Bell in a rematch.
* ''Manga/MinotaurosNoOmoibito'': Minotaurus is a powerful brown minotaur and the ruler of the forest.
* LightNovel/MonsterGirlDoctor: The anime adaptation opens with the main character, Dr. Glenn, giving a female Minotaur (Minobous?) an examination before tell her husband, also a Minotaur, that she's pregnant. The last episode of the series briefly shows the two of them walk-in down the street with their newborn baby in hand.
* ''Manga/MonsterMusume'': Male minotaurs show up after a while as background characters. They follow the classic appearance, but they're peaceful vegetarians and quite friendly. Female minotaurs, however, look much more human-like, having human faces with cow horns rather than full-on cow heads. They're a bit on the pushy side and rather standoffish but generally nice once they get to know you.
* ''Manga/OnePiece'':
** Minotauros, one of four demon guards in [[TheAlcatraz Impel Down]]. Actually some sort of [[VoluntaryShapeshifting zoan fruit user]] who awakened his fruit, as with the other Demon Guards..
** Earlier on in the series, the former Drum Kingdom guard captain Dalton used the Ox-Ox Fruit: Model Bison to become one of these.
* ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'': [[EmbarrassingMiddleName Pantyhose]] [[ArrogantKungFuGuy Tarou]], whose [[CursedWithAwesome cursed]] [[InvoluntaryShapeshifting form]] is a [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever two story-tall]] [[GiantFlyer winged]] minotaur. With an [[MixAndMatchCritters eel for a tail]]. And [[TwoBeingsOneBody octopus]] [[CombatTentacles tentacles]]. You see, he was baptized and named in the [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot 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.
* ''Manga/SgtFrog'' features Giroro getting turned into a minotaur-like monster in one chapter.
* ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'' had a few of these as background demons.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Card Games]]
* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'': [[https://scryfall.com/search?q=t%3Aminotaur Minotaurs]] are usually portrayed as {{Proud Warrior Race Guy}}s. [[https://scryfall.com/card/me3/102/hurloon-minotaur Hurloon Minotaur]] was an iconic creature in the early history of the game, but it wasn't actually a very good card. The creature type is sometimes also applied to humanoids with the heads of other bovids besides true bovines.
** Minotaurs feature prominently in the Myth/ClassicalMythology-inspired plane of Theros, where they're vicious and barely sapient monsters who worship [[https://scryfall.com/card/bng/151/mogis-god-of-slaughter Mogis]], the God of Slaughter (who himself takes the shape of a colossal minotaur), and in the Myth/EgyptianMythology-inspired Amonkhet, where they have ovine upper bodies instead, with the overall effect being reminiscent of the ram-headed Egyptian god Khnum.
** The legendary creature [[https://scryfall.com/card/c16/231/zedruu-the-greathearted Zendruu the Greathearted]] is a minotaur with the head of a kudu-like antelope.
** The ''Ixalan'' and ''War of the Spark'' storylines include and give speaking lines to a minotaur named Angrath, who wields a metal chain that he swings like a whip and can make red-hot.
* ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'' has the Battle Ox, one of Seto Kaiba's iconic cards in the anime, and literally called "Minotaurus" in the original Japanese. It can [[FusionDance fuse]] with the centaur Mystic Horseman to become the Rabid Horseman and has a stronger counterpart, appropriately called the Enraged Battle Ox, which grants every Beast-Warrior [[ArmorPiercingAttack piercing damage against Defense Position monsters.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ''ComicBook/DeArgonautjes'': Since the series is set in UsefulNotes/AncientGreece, it was inevitable that the heroes would encounter the mythological Minotaur sooner or later, which happens in the story ''The labyrinth''.
* Creator/DCComics:
** ''ComicBook/KingdomCome'': One of the new superheroes is actually called "the Manotaur". He's got a really HUGE set of horns, and is surprisingly durable.
** ''ComicBook/LegendsOfTheDeadEarth'': In the ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'' Annual #1 story "Shootout at Ice Flats", the Nerfs, the native population of Bonechill IV, are a race of bovine humanoids.
** ''Franchise/WonderWoman'': Diana has occasionally been seen encountering the, or at least a, Minotaur.
*** ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': The last of several monsters Circe sends to abduct Diana Prince is a Minotaur. Diana lets it think it had knocked her out in order to see who was giving him orders.
*** In ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'' and ''ComicBook/WonderWomanRebirth'' she is friends with a large bull-headed chef at her embassy named [[ShoutOut Ferdinand]], who prefers to be called a Kythotaur, as Kythira is where he's from. In ''ComicBook/JusticeLeague2018'' he starts lending his cooking services to the League's cafeteria.
* ''ComicBook/TheFurtherAdventuresOfIndianaJones'': In #17, Indy and Marion are confronted by a Minotaur wielding a massive club in the labyrinth beneath Knossos on Crete. It turn out to be [[ScoobyDooHoax a man in costume]]: part of a local {{Cult}} taking advantage of the legend.
* ''ComicBook/HackSlash'': A humanoid buffalo shows up in the short comic "Home, Home on Derange." It was created when bigoted cowboys interrupted a Native American ritual.
* Creator/MarvelComics:
** ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'': Bova is a cow-woman who appears from time to time.
** ''ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}'': Man-Bull is a supervillain who was turned into a humanoid bull by after being used as a HumanGuineaPig for an experimental serum. He's later transformed into a fully fledged Minotaur and terrorises Greece before the ComicBook/ScarletWitch gets involved and breaks the spell. He then tries to commit suicide, as he'd gone from a god to, in his view, a genetic freak.
** ''ComicBook/DoctorStrange'': Rintrah, who was Stephen Strange's apprentice for some time in the nineties, resembles a green minotaur.
** ''ComicBook/IronMan'': Tony Stark once faced a human/bull hybrid, during the age he also met Midas and Madam Masque, in a trend of Greek foes for the Ironclad one.
** ''ComicBook/TheMightyThor'' has Bison, a supervillain who wears a minotaur-like bison costume.
*** More recently and more seriously, Thor has Dario Agger, CEO of Roxxon, who can transform into a Minotaur at will. This is noted by Malekith, when Agger explains his DarkAndTroubledPast, to be the result of a bargain with a very old, very ''angry'' god. It also actually makes him ''less'' of a threat to Thor in many ways: [[CorruptCorporateExecutive as CEO of Roxxon,]] he has vast resources and is capable of subverting the law to advance his agenda, making him effectively untouchable. As the Minotaur, sure, he's as strong as the Hulk (at baseline). He's also a giant monster who has no idea how to actually fight, and who Thor can therefore beat the crap out of with ease and impunity.
*** He also becomes one of the primary villains of ''ComicBook/ImmortalHulk'', being drawn as much more overtly as beastly. However, while he's in Minotaur form all the time -- and a surprisingly sharp suit -- seeing it as a reflection of his impunity following the fallout of the ''ComicBook/WarOfTheRealms'', he very sensibly doesn't try to fight the Hulk head on.
* ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' had two Decepticon characters in G1 that turned into mechanical bulls: [[HairTriggerTemper Tantrum]], one of the Predacons (who is unusual compared to other examples of this trope in that he's noted to be on the physically weak side) and [[PunnyName Horri-Bull]] who [[InformedSpecies really looks]] more like a [[Film/Ghostbusters1984 Terror Dog]] than an actual bovine.
* ''ComicBook/AnthonyBourdainsHungryGhosts'': The Kudan from "The Cow Head" looks less like its traditional portrayal -- a cow with a human face -- and more like a minotaur.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fanfiction]]
* Used for a VisualPun in ''Captain Proton and the Planet of Lesbians'' when Queen Sapphia sends her bull dykes in pursuit of Captain Proton.
-->With a ferocious roar two huge women burst through the trees. They had beards like buffaloes, more muscles than the [[Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger Governor of California]], and two great horns sticking out of their heads.
* ''Fanfic/FacingTheFutureSeries'': In the opening of ''Trial by Fire'', Danny and Sam fight a ghost bull that can transform into a minotaur.
* ''Fanfic/ThePalaververse'': Minotaurs are one of the subraces of cattle alongside shorthorns, longhorns, bison and yaks. They are thought to have first arisen due to the chaotic magic that filled the word after the Fall of Antlertis, which would explain their great degree of physical divergence from other cattle. They don't have any magic active or latent, unlike almost every other sapient species, but their hands and bipedalism (and more specifically the resulting advantages in tool usage) have historically more than made up for this.
* ''Fanfic/ThePiecesLieWhereTheyFell'': Vix-Lei the minotaur, and the rest of her family when they appear late in the story and its sequel. As in canon, they appear as anthropomorphic bulls. Starbeasts called Taurus Majors and Taurus Minors (bull-like creatures with stars on their body) are also mentioned.
* ''Fanfic/TheRainsverse'':
** The canon character Iron Will the minotaur appears the head of Baroness Dazzle's guard. Adagio notes that there is an astounding amount of misinformation about the minotaurs, painting them as everything from tattooed barbarians that drink the blood of ponies under the dark boughs of forests to some highly advanced magical super nation. In actuality, the Minoan City States are simply a small island chain in the eastern sea and used to be a satrap state of old Equestria.
** The setting also features the caprataurs, the minotaurs' goat-headed cousins. These actually ''are'' barbarians and demon-worshippers, and are some of the main inhabitants of the Everfree Forest.
* ''Fanfic/ReturnToTheLabyrinth'': Sarah encounters a Minotaur at the heart of the labyrinth who asks her riddles, and reflects that it wouldn't really be a labyrinth without a minotaur in it.
* ''Fanfic/TheSwordOfJusticeAndTheShieldOfTime'': One of the new Witches is a minotaur wielding a giant axe with a crystal embedded inside. It's a strong fighter and has an incredible HealingFactor that lets it shrug off being [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe sliced in half]] multiple times by Kyoko. It's ultimately defeated when Homura deduces that the axe jewel is the weak point [[AttackItsWeakPoint and has Sayaka destroy it]], killing the Witch.
* In ''Fanfic/SacrificeRavenshell'', Leonardo manages to take down a bull-mutant who was trying to use his new mutant strength to rob stores in broad daylight.
* ''Fanfic/ThereWasOnceAnAvengerFromKrypton'': As explained by Nico in ''Thanatos Scowled'', in addition to the original Minotaur, some groups used dark rituals to make their own. While Asterius gained peace in death and spends his afterlife proving himself against champions in Elysium, the average minotaur is a dangerous, but dumb, monster.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film -- Animated]]
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Zootopia}}'': Chief Bogo, head of the Zootopia Police Department, is a gruff and bulky anthropomorphic cape buffalo.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
* ''Film/BooksOfTheGods'', by Creator/FredSaberhagen, has Prince Asterion, son of the bearer of Zeus' [[MaskofPower Face]] and Pasiphae. Born an eunuch with [[DreamWalker dream]] [[DreamWeaver powers]], he primarily serves as an advisor and messenger to the heroes, although he's fearsomely strong.
* ''Film/DaveMadeAMaze'': Just like the Greek myth, Dave's (cardboard) labyrinth has its own (cardboard) minotaur.
* ''Film/{{Immortals}}'' subverts this despite being an adaptation of Theseus' myth. The Minotaur is not a human/bull hybrid, but in fact a freakishly large man with a bull helmet.
* ''Film/{{Minotaur}}'': The titular monster is not a man-bull hybrid, but a '''ZOMBIE COW'''.
* ''Film/TheScorpionKing'': In ''The Scorpion King II: Rise of a Warrior'', Mathayus and his companions encounter the Minotaur in the Labyrinth, which serves as entrance to the Underworld.
* ''Film/SinbadAndTheEyeOfTheTiger'' had the Minaton, a giant bronze minotaur-shaped golem.
* ''Film/TimeBandits'': Kevin accidentally helps King Agamemnon defeat a bull-headed warrior. It's not clear whether it's meant to be a real minotaur or just a guy wearing a bull's head mask, but the latter seems more likely since the scene doesn't take place in the Time of Legends.
* ''Film/WrathOfTheTitans'': Perseus fights a Minotaur in the Labyrinth. The Minotaur has a more human, yet deformed, face than the more common bull-headed depiction.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/AmericanGods'': In addition to several briefly-mentioned minotaurs, there's "the buffalo man", a man with the head of a bison who seems to be an AnthropomorphicPersonification of America itself.
* ''Literature/BookOfImaginaryBeings'' discusses the Greek Minotaur, opining that, although a house designed to make visitors lose their way is more fantastical than a man with the head of a bull, the two things go well together and it makes sense that a monstrous building would be home to a monstrous creature. Borges also notes that bull-headed figures feature prominently in Minoan art, and speculates that the Greek myth is likely just a faded retelling of much more horrifying tales.
* In ''Literature/{{Burned}}'', an ancient mythos of Darkness and Light being represented by telepathic bulls is introduced.
* ''Literature/CaeliAmur'': A race of long-lived minotaurs saved the city of Caeli-Amur from an invasion and from then on have been held as near-sacred beings there.
* ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'': Bull-centaurs or shedu may exist in Narnia. Regular minotaurs exist as well; they mostly feature in ''Literature/TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe'' as part of Jadis' army of monsters, although the ''Film/PrinceCaspian'' movie has a heroic badass one.)
* Creator/CordwainerSmith: One short story has B'dikkat, a humanoid bull-person, as a caretaker of the inmates on a prison planet.
* ''Literature/CretanChronicles'': Being a trilogy of novels based on the myth of Thesus, specifically revolving around Thesus' fictional brother, Altheus, it goes without saying that the Minotaur is a major antagonist in the books.
* ''Literature/DeepestBlue'': Minotaurs are an alien race. They mostly look like the typical minotaur except for an equine shaped head (which however has horns and bovine ears), are atypically, herbivores and while very territorial and stubborn are not evil.
* In ''Literature/TheDivineComedy'', the Minotaur guards the entrance to {{Hell}}'s Circle for the Violent. He is depicted as wrathful and savage enough to attack himself upon seeing someone trespass on his domain. Curiously, this version is often depicted in art as a bull-headed centaur instead of the tradition bull-man.
* ''Literature/{{Fablehaven}}'' briefly features a huge shedu-style creature (see below) called a Lammasu. They also have traditional minotaurs.
* In ''Literature/HelenAndTroysEpicRoadQuest'', by A. Lee Martinez, Helen was born with minotaurism, an hereditary condition that runs in her mother's otherwise-human family. Five thousand years ago she'd likely have died fighting heroes in an arena; today, she has to muddle through suburban life with horns, hooves, and an embarrassing propensity to shed brown-and-white fur.
* ''Literature/TheHouseOfAsterion'' by Creator/JorgeLuisBorges retells the Minotaur legend from [[PerspectiveFlip the monster's perspective]].
* ''Literature/HouseOfLeaves'' has numerous references to Greek mythology, including [[color:red:the Minotaur]]. The book has [[color:red:mythological references]] printed in red, and passages which are, to some degree, threatening to the reader are also struck out. [[color:red:Minotaur]] may or may not be struck out, depending on if it's in one of the aforementioned mythological references.
* ''Literature/TheImmortals'': The Tauros are a OneGenderRace that exists only to rape and kill human women. In this series, immortals are created from human dreams and fears, and the Tauros was borne of women's fear of rape. Daine notes that it doesn't have any choice in what it is and tries to petition the gods to help them, but because of the nature of Immortals, Tauroses will exist as long as women fear rape.
* ''Literature/JourneyToTheWest'' has the Bull Demon King, an old friend of Sun Wukong from his days as a hellraising rebel against the CelestialBureaucracy. He appears during the journey to India, but because of an encounter between Sun and the Bull Demon King's son earlier, it's not a happy reunion to put it mildly.
* ''Literature/TheLaundryFiles'':
** Minotaurism is the result of a certain type of extradimensional entity residing in the subject, causing increased testosterone production and horn-like bone outgrowths. The victims tend to seek seclusion in order to deal with the pain and physical and mental changes.
** There is also "Man-Bull", a man who, when the barriers of physical reality begin to deteriorate, finds himself waking up with super-strength and a bull's head. He's a pretty affable type, but he is also dumber than a bag of wet mice.
* ''Literature/TheMinotaurTrilogy'' by Thomas Burnett Swann: Silver Bells and his son Eunostos subvert the usual DumbMuscle stereotypes of this trope, as they have at least as much brains as brawn. However, their heads are also more human-looking than the classical minotaur (basically they're more like bovine versions of Satyrs).
* ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'':
** The Minotaur appears, of course. Amusingly, this isn't in book four (wherein the characters end up in the actual Labyrinth), although he is mentioned by name a few times, but the very first book, possibly because he's one of the creatures in Myth/ClassicalMythology [[PopularityPower most people know about/remember]]. Also amusingly, he is both easily dodged (because once he gets up a head of steam he can't stop or turn aside) and easily fooled (because of his lack of intelligence and HotBlooded nature). He reappears in book five, as monsters come back to life eventually due to their immortal nature.
** ''Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes'' retells the original Minotaur legend, and gives the Minotaur, named Asterion, a surprisingly sympathetic portrayal -- as the story notes, the Minotaur began life as an innocent infant who was imprisoned at birth for something he had no control over and left alone in a mazelike building to become, essentially, a perpetually starving feral child.
* ''Literature/RoseMadder'': Both a minotaur-type creature (oddly named Erinyes, and blind) and a rubber Ferdinand the Bull mask figure in the plot.
* ''Literature/{{Sirena}}'': When Philoctetes tells Sirena the story of Theseus and the minotaur, the heroine constantly interrupts him with FridgeLogic questions, such as why would a creature that was half-human and half-bull (an herbivore) eat human flesh, and how could he survive by being fed only once a year?
* ''Literature/ThursdayNext'': In ''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 Rotten'' 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.
* ''Literature/TheWanderingInn'': Calruz, the adventurer, is a minotaur with the typical axe in hand, who prefers to use brawn over brain. Later, Venaz, a minotaur [Strategist], is introduced who prefers to use both brawns ''and'' brains.
* ''Literature/WarriorsCircle'': A genetically engineered minotaur appears in the third book. 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 [[GagPenis hung like a bull]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryCoven'': A horrifying example occurs in the first episode when Madame Delphine [=LaLaurie=], a nineteenth-century HistoricalDomainCharacter from Louisiana who keeps tortured slaves in the basement of her mansion, talks about how the Minotaur has always been her favorite element in Greek mythology... and the camera reveals that she's ''made one'' by grafting a bull's head onto a human man. The Minotaur later turns out to be immortal, and becomes a recurring antagonist in the present day.
%%* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
%%** The minotaur in "The Time Monster", "The Mind Robber" and "The God Complex".%%ZCE
%%** The Nimon in "The Horns of Nimon".%%ZCE
* ''Franchise/KamenRider'':
** A few kaijin qualify, like the buffalo [[Series/KamenRiderKuuga Grongi Go-Baberu-Da]], and the [[Series/KamenRiderAgito Taurus Ballista Lord]] in ''Series/KamenRiderDecade''.
** Additionally, [[Series/KamenRiderDenO Kamen Rider Zeronos]] has bits of a bovine theme to his design.
** Then of course, there's Kamen Rider [[Series/KamenRiderRyuki Zolda]] / [[Series/KamenRiderDragonKnight Torque]], whose contract monster is a giant mechanical minotaur.
** ''Series/KamenRiderWizard'': The Minotaur Phantom.
* ''Series/MythQuest'': The pilot episode features the protagonist taking the place of Theseus. Naturally, he meets the Minotaur.
* ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' and ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' have featured numerous bull-themed Rangers over the years, which for whichever reason have all been either Green or Black Rangers.
** ''Series/ChoujuuSentaiLiveman'': Black Bison.
** While not bull-themed themselves, Oh Green from ''Series/ChourikiSentaiOhranger'' and the Green Zeo Ranger from ''Series/PowerRangersZeo'' have bull mecha[[note]]though these themselves are specifically themed after the bulls of Greek mythology, Taurus the Bull specifically, following the shows' ancient mythology-and-culture motif[[/note]].
** Black Knight from ''Series/SeijuuSentaiGingaman'' / Magna Defender from ''Series/PowerRangersLostGalaxy''
** Gao Black from ''Series/HyakujuuSentaiGaoranger'' / Black Wild Force Ranger from ''Series/PowerRangersWildForce''. There are one or two other bull mecha in the show, essentially {{Palette Swap}}s of Black's.
** Magi Green in ''Series/MahouSentaiMagiranger'' / Green Mystic Ranger from ''Series/PowerRangersMysticForce'' (the only one so far whose theme is a full minotaur rather than a bull).
** Oushi Black from ''Series/UchuSentaiKyuranger''
** ''Series/SamuraiSentaiShinkenger'' and ''Series/PowerRangersSamurai'' don't have a Ranger with the theme, but do have a mecha, the Ushi Origami/Bullzord. It's also the exception to the usual color scheme, being red.
** There have also been a few Minotaur monsters of the week, such as Dora Minotauros from ''Series/KyoryuSentaiZyuranger'' / Mighty Minotaur from ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers''.
* In ''Series/UltramanAce'', the monster Cowra is based off the Minotaur. It is actually a BalefulPolymorph that WasOnceAMan, and rather than killing Cowra, Ace simply turns it back to a man.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* Music/DavidBowie: The "Artist/Minotaur" is part of the ''dramatis personae'' on the ConceptAlbum ''Music/{{Outside}}''. He may or may not have killed Baby Grace and is represented by dark songs "The Voyeur of Utter Destruction (as Beauty)" and "Wishful Beginnings".
* Music/{{Lordi}}: OX, the bassist, is a skeletal "bulltaur".
* Music/{{Radiohead}}: The creature in the logo for ''Amnesiac'' is referred to as the "Minotaur", even though it doesn't really resemble a bull.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mythology and Religion]]
* Myth/ChineseMythology: Ox Head is a minotaur-like monster who, alongside [[MeaningfulName Horse Face]], serves as a lackey in the Hells. They're not malevolent though - they [[{{Psychopomp}} escort the newly dead to the Underworld]], and also act as messengers for [[GodOfTheDead Yanluo Wang]].
* Myth/ClassicalMythology: The Minotaur, the TropeMaker. Its origins in some versions are about as [[{{Squick}} squicky]] as you'd imagine (in others, it's just Minos' pet monster): Pasiphaë, the wife of Cretan king Minos, had been cursed to fall in love with a white bull, given to the king by the Gods (specifically because Minos had promised to sacrifice it to Poseidon, then backed out when he decided he liked it). [[InterspeciesRomance To cut a long and darkly comical story short]], Minos locked the [[HalfHumanHybrid resulting abomination]] up in an [[BeneathTheEarth underground]] [[TheMaze labyrinth]] ("Minotaur" meaning "Minos' Bull", although traditionally its proper name is Asterion). Minos demanded an [[VirginSacrifice annual tribute of seven youths and seven maidens from Athens]] (which owed a debt to Crete at the time) [[ToServeMan to feed to the monster]]. The Minotaur was eventually killed by [[GeniusBruiser Theseus]], with help from [[MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter Minos' daughter]] [[HighHeelFaceTurn Ariadne]]. Just to add to the {{Squick}}: [[spoiler:a 1967 excavation showed there were, at the real palace at Knossos, bones of children. The knife marks on the bones indicate the children were butchered and eaten, presumably by the people there. A monster in the palace, indeed.]]
* Myth/MesopotamianMythology:
** The bull man -- part-man, part-bull -- was a demon from Mesopotamian mythology.
** The Sumerian [[http://www.bookrags.com/wiki/Shedu Shedu]] were depicted as bulls with human heads.
* The ''Ushi Oni'' (Ox Ogre/Demon) {{yokai}} from the Japanese legends may sometimes rarely be described as an an ox-headed kimono-clad human; more commonly seen, however, is the version from the coasts of Western Japan, which is a GiantSpider with an ox's head.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Pinball]]
* ''VideoGame/LoonyLabyrinth'': The Minotaur of ancient Minos serves as the antagonist.
* ''Pinball/{{Sinbad}}'': The EvilSorceress is aided by a clockwork minotaur.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
%%* ''Wrestling/DramaticDreamTeam'': Bull Armor TAKUYA%%ZCE
* Wrestling/{{WWE}}: The WWF had Mantaur. Somehow, mankind survived anyway. Torito, his successor in the WWE, has simliar impact.%%What impact?
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* ''TabletopGame/ThirteenthAge'': Minotaurs are unholy monstrosities driven by bestial bloodlust. At their best, they prowl the underworld, seeking fresh blood. At their worst, they enter the service of unholy cults devoted to human sacrifice.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Banestorm}}'': Minotaurs look like outsize humans with bull heads, but [[ImAHumanitarian eat other sapient species]] and are extremely violent {{Blood Knight}}s who often go berserk in combat. Some, however, manage to overcome their brutal nature towards other lifeforms enough to instead turn PsychoForHire. They're among the numerous species that originated on another world and were carried to Yrth by the Banestorm; they specifically come from Loren'dil, which they shared with the centaurs, giants and halflings.
* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' has had minotaurs and a number of minotaur variants across multiple editions and histories.
** When first introduced, minotaurs were an AlwaysMale OneGenderRace created by magical curses, in much the vein of the mythical minotaur. They were savage, brutish flesh-eating monsters. This was slowly modified; they started becoming a true-breeding race by 2nd edition, and were a fully functioning race (just evil and savage) in 3rd edition. Like [[OurOrcsAreDifferent orcs]] and [[OurGoblinsAreDifferent goblinoids]], despite being evil, they also slowly came more into the limelight as a playable race.
** D&D is also home to Baphomet, the Demon Prince of Beasts. Typically taking the appearance of a giant, demonic minotaur, Baphomet is worshiped by them (as well as by [[OurOgresAreHungrier ogres]] and [[OurGiantsAreBigger giants]] in ''D&D'' settings other than ''Dragonlance'') as their racial patron god, in a manner similar to [[HeinousHyena gnolls and Yeenoghu]]. The similarity is even subtly called upon by the two Demon Princes, and their respective races, loathing each other and wanting to war with each other.
** Goristros are massive [[OurDemonsAreDifferent demons]] that resemble fiendish minotaurs[[note]]although earlier editions depicted them as hybrids of bison, gorillas, and bears[[/note]]. They're Baphomet's preferred demonic servants and sometimes seem in the armies of other demon lords as living siege engines.
** The connection between minotaurs and Baphomet is taken to its logical conclusion with Baphitaurs, a race introduced in 3rd edition material for the ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms''; these are a race of minotaurs with fiendish blood, usually connected to the minotaur-like bovine demons called goristros and ghours. They're essentially the minotaur equivalent of tieflings.
** ''TabletopGame/AlQadim'': The Yakmen, or Yikaria as they call themselves, are a race of malevolent humanoid yaks who possess powerful innate magic, and can even enslave genies.
** ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}'' includes minotaurs as a fairly civilized, if not always ''nice'', [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Proud Warrior Guys Race]], which may have inspired 4e to make them a playable race in general. It ''definitely'' is the reason they are playable in 5e.
** ''TabletopGame/{{Mystara}}'' has Enduks -- ''[[WingedHumanoid winged]]'' minotaurs with a Mesopotamian civilization. Unlike other minotaurs, especially during the time period when they appeared, they are a highly civilized and benevolent race, even after being driven from their former cities by the treachery of the ScorpionPeople. The wingless, savage sort of minotaur are implied to be an Immortal-cursed offshoot of the Enduks.
** ''TabletopGame/NentirVale'' has minotaurs as a race created by Baphomet when he was a [[ElementalEmbodiment Primordial]]. After Baphomet was driven into the Abyss, they were adopted by the gods Moradin[[note]]God of Crafting[[/note]] and Erathis[[note]]Goddess of Civilization[[/note]] , who made them into one of the world's first great civilizations. Unfortunately, Baphomet CameBackStrong as a Demon Prince and used his spiritual connection to the minotaurs as a whole to corrupt a significant portion of the race so thoroughly that the gods Melora[[note]]Goddess of Nature[[/note]] and Kord[[note]]God of War[[/note]] destroyed their empire by sinking their homeland beneath the sea, {{Atlantis}} style. The minotaurs have been a fractured race ever since; some embrace Baphomet's savagery and seek to bring the world under his thrall, others preserve their civilization and use strict philosophical paths to shield themselves from Baphomet's influence.
** In the 3rd party setting ''Odyssey of the Dragonlords'', for D&D 5th edition, minotaurs descend from humans cursed by the cruel god Sydon, who transformed their whole city-state into cattle and yoked them to plows that they were cursed to pull until the yokes finally broke. The result is that minotaurs bear a true for that mingles human and bull to various degrees, and they can also [[VoluntaryShapeshifting transform into bulls at will]].
** Another 3rd party setting, ''Arkadia'', has two kinds of minotaurs in it. Those of the mainland are savage, bestial [[TheFairFolk Fey]] creatures. Those of the island of Kinos are a civilized people who still inhabit the ruins of the empire they once shared with the native dwarves.
** In ''Seas of Vodari'', another 3rd party setting, minotaurs have a background that combines elements of the Nentir Vale and Dragonlance versions; they were created as slave-soldiers by a powerful demon, which abandoned them during the mighty divine conflict that sank most of the world beneath the waves. They have since become a race of seafaring traders, mercenaries and pirates.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'':
** 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 [[GlamourFailure Tell]] is having the hooves of a bull for feet.
** One of the setting's most commonly featured secondary gods is Ahlat, the southern god of war and cattle and patron of the kingdom of Harborhead. His favored form is that of a towering, dark-skinned human with the head and legs of an aurochs.
** Arctic demitaurs are creatures with taurine heads, humanoid bodies and horses' hooves. They're highly territorial, and any intrusion into a herd's territory will send it on a maddened rampage until it finds a new suitable home.
* ''TabletopGame/TheLaundry'': The Mythos Dossiers brings its own take on the minotaur in the form of Asterion Snarl. It's not an actual intermingling of man and bull so much as possession by a low-grade demon that results in increased bulk, monstrous rage, bone-like growths from the head, and a penchant to wander around labyrinthine structures. It's possible for the minotaurs to reproduce, however, resulting in a child that doesn't lack in size and easily makes up for its parent in mental stability.
* ''TabletopGame/TheMadnessDossier'': The horrific Anunnakku created a number of species as servitors (including humanity, but we got away and they want us back); the ''kusarikku,'' or bull-men, are the heavy assault troops in Anunnakku forces. This is an explicit reference to Myth/MesopotamianMythology -- see the entry above.
* ''TabletopGame/MutantsAndMasterminds'': ''TabletopGame/FreedomCity'' 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.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Noumenon}}'': The Minotaur is a horned beast who walks on powerful legs and hooves and slouches its way through the labyrinth that is the Silhouette Rouge.
* ''TabletopGame/PalladiumFantasy'' adds minotaurs as a playable R.C.C. in the ''Old Ones'' sourcebook.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'':
** Minotaurs are savage bull-headed and -hooved humanoids who inhabit labyrinths and mazelike caves. Many live in the mountains of the Isle of Kortos, where they came as part of a monstrous army alongside centaurs and harpies. They worship Baphomet, who was originally bull-headed as well before adopting his current goat-headed form, and who lives in an inescapable country-sized maze in the Abyss.
** The third-party supplement ''In the Company of Minotaurs'' offers them as a playable race. They can (and culturally, ''have'' to) breed true from Human, Dwarf, Orc or Giant women. They are not a OneGenderRace, but not for lack of trying: Due to a curse mentioned in their origin story, Minotaurs try to drown females as soon as they are born. But many mothers (and just as many fathers) have arranged to spirit their daughters away and/or fake their deaths, meaning female Minotaurs exist outside of Minotaur lands. This has also led to the sort-of half-breeds known as Meretaurs, sort of a CuteMonsterGirl version of the Minotaur, who have less-bovine faces (some can even pass for their mother's race) and only two of the three "sacred" Taurian features (Horns, Hooves, and Tail). Most(90%) of females are born Meretaurs, but full-blooded female Minotaurs and male Meretaurs do exist.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Scion}}'' introduces Minotaurs as a Demigod-level threat (and potential followers)... and makes their origin even more [[{{Squick}} squicktastic]], by virtue of making Poseidon even more of a JerkAss than Myth/ClassicalMythology ''[[EvenEvilHasStandards normally]]'' makes its [[JerkassGods gods]]! In the most common version of the myth, 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 -- 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 OneGenderRace that procreates by raping human women.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'': There are actually two forms of minotaur.
** The standard kind are a troll variant (trolls in this game are technically a HumanSubspecies with a heavy build and horns) that are more symmetrical (and thus less ugly) than normal trolls, with only two horns.
** The second kind, the "wild minotaur", is a wild bull awakened by natural occurring magic into an incredibly powerful form that can rise up on its hind legs and grab things with its tripartite front hooves. Despite its herbivorous ancestry, the wild minotaur is an aggressive carnivore with a taste for human flesh.
* ''TabletopGame/TheStrange'': The singular half-man, half-bull Minotaur (there's no other) is the most famous inhabitant of the Labyrinth, a recursion seeded by the original Greek myth.
* In the ''Dreamhounds of Paris'' campaign frame for ''TabletopGame/TrailOfCthulhu'', savage bull-men roam the Dreamlands, albeit in low numbers.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'':
** The beastmen include minotaurs in their ranks, as well as their heavily mutated variants, the gigantic Ghorgons with an extra pair of arms ending in bone blades and the one-eyed Cygors whose mere presence disrupts and prevents magic casting. Regular minotaurs are powerful, dangerous monsters given to berserker rages at the mere smell of blood, and are often used by the powers of Chaos and their servants as guards for shrines, tombs and other such sites.
** Regular beastmen can also have the heads of cattle instead of the more iconic caprine or ovine variants; these beastmen, known as bovigors, are distinguished from true minotaurs by their smaller size, as minotaurs are much larger than regular beastmen, and by lacking the minotaurs' insane aggressiveness -- bovigors are still as violent and aggressive as any other beastman, but minotaurs are berserk killing machines even by beastman standards.
* ''TabletopGame/TheWorldOfDarkness'':
** ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse'':
*** The Apis are an extinct Changing Breed, who before their extinction were 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.
*** A spirit of Minotaur also shows up in the line. The connections between the spirit and the Apis are unclear, but if there are any ties, they've ''obviously'' been warped, as Minotaur serves as the patron to the Skin Dancers (a small movement of werewolf-blooded humans who become true shifters by killing their Garou cousins and performing blasphemous rituals using their skins).
** ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheForsaken'': The Apis' heirs, the Baal-Hadad (alternatively, "Gudthabak"), 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.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Toys]]
* ''Franchise/TheTransformers War For Cybertron: Siege'' toyline has Smashdown. He ([[AmbiguousGender or she]]- official publications are inconsistent) has a robot mode with a bull-like head and turns into [[DropTheHammer a warhammer]] that [[EquippableAlly larger characters can wield]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theatre]]
* ''Theatre/TheWomenOfTrachis'', one of Creator/{{Sophocles}}' tragedies, has Hercules' wife Deianira speak 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."
[[/folder]]

[[folder:VideoGames]]
* ''VideoGame/{{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...
* ''VideoGame/ActRaiser'': The final boss of the first land is named Minotaurus, no guesses as to what he is.
* ''VideoGame/AgeOfMythology'' has minotaurs as trainable units if you chose to worship Athena in the classical age. The campaign also features Kamos, a minotaur pirate leader with a sword for a hand, as one of your enemies.
%%* ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'': Bigbutt, 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).%%But is he an anthropomorphic bull?
* ''VideoGame/{{Battleborn}}'': Thralls are a SlaveRace of minotaur demon-like altered beasts.
%%* ''VideoGame/{{Battletoads}}'': General Slaughter.
* ''VideoGame/BlueDragon'': Jiro's shadow is a Minotaur, although 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.
* ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'': First appeared as a boss in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaRondoOfBlood'', the Minotaur has been hanging around the franchise as a boss for a while now.
* ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'': Minotaurs appear as boss enemies. You'll find them in Cimerora, which is loosely based on Rome and it's mythology. Thanks to the Animal Pack, players can make one of their own, complete with Beast Run.
* ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsI'' gives us the Taurus Demon, along with the non-bovine but very much minotaur-inspired Capra Demon. They appear as early game bosses and come back much later as {{DegradedBoss}}es.
* ''VideoGame/DefenseOfTheAncients'': Barathrum the Spirit Breaker is a minotaur-like LightningBruiser whose playstyle is largely based around charging across the map at high speeds and stunning other heroes, and actually does more damage the faster he is. He actually is a [[VideoGame/{{Warcraft}} tauren]] in the original ''[=DotA=]'', but in ''Dota 2'' he's an extradimensional being who deliberately chose to be a Load of Bull because he thinks it fits his strength and speed. The game also includes a character who is known as "Tauren Chieftan" in the original game, but "Elder Titan" in the sequel, who is also a strength-based hero but is based mostly around long-ranged spell casting. Also, another strength-based hero [[DishingOutDirt Earthshaker]] was a Tauren in the original ''Dota'', but changed to a gorilla-like creature for ''Dota 2''.
* ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'':
** ''VideoGame/DiabloII'':
*** 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 -- Moon [=Clan/Lord=], Blood [=Clan/Lord=], etc.
*** The Hell Bovines from the Secret Cow Level are bipedal cattle who wield polearms.
** In ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'' Infernal Bovines appear in a rare Rift and during a special event.
* ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'':
** Barons of Hell are {{Big Red Devil}}s that serve as a powerful recurring enemy in the series.
** Hell Knights are a slightly weaker variants with a pale visage.
** Cyberdemons is a boss fight in the first game.
* ''VideoGame/DragonsCrown'': The Bilbaron Subterranean Fortress has a Minotaur whom has made its lair in the sewers, acting as the stage boss of the A Route.
* ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'': Minotaurs will sometimes attack your Fortress and can be found in Labyrinths in Adventure Mode, where they will taunt you with the ways they plan on devouring you. 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.
* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'':
** The series' backstory includes Morihaus, an [[OurAngelsAreDifferent Aedric demi-god]] who aided the [[SlaveLiberation Alessian Revolt]] against their [[AbusivePrecursors Ayleid]] masters. Morihaus took the form of a massive "winged man-bull" with a favored fighting style of [[HornAttack goring enemies with his horns]]. Morihaus fell in love with Alessia, the human "slave queen", and remained with her for the rest of her life. [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse What happened to Morihaus after her death is unknown]].
** Minotaurs, a massive race of half-man/half-bulls, are are believed to descend from the union between Alessia and Morihaus. They are believed to be a sapient [[BeastMan beast race]], but are treated as little better than monsters by most other denizens of Tamriel. Alessia's son, Belharza, was said to be the first Minotaur, and became the second Emperor of the Alessian Empire following her death.
* ''VideoGame/EternalCardGame'' has ''banker'' minotaurs.
%%* ''VideoGame/FalloutTacticsBrotherhoodOfSteel'': Brahminator
* ''VideoGame/FantasyQuest'' pits you against one, hand to hand, in a volcano.
* ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'':
** The Minotaur himself is a summonable Servant as a [[PowerBornOfMadness Berserker-class]] Servant, with his Noble Phantasm being [[TheMaze the labyrinth he was trapped in most of his life]]. He's mostly referred to by the protagonist and his closest friends by his real name Asterios (lightning) and he's actually a pretty nice and loyal guy by Berserker standards. Also, while he does have the horns, his face is actually humanoid though usually covered by a metal mask in the shape of a bull. He deeply regretted killing the children that his foster father Minos sacrificed to him and welcomed his death at Theseus' hands. Before they fought, Theseus talked to him and was appalled to learn that Asterios was essentially an innocent child forced to kill to avoid starving to death. Theseus regretfully slew him as a MercyKill, and they considered each other friends as he died. As a Servant, he becomes happy to finally be free of the labyrinth and develops a romance with Euryale.
** In the first Lostbelt story, "Permafrost Empire, Anastasia", the heroes run into an AlternateSelf of Asterios who embraced his feral nature and enjoys killing and eating people. He is referred to as Minotauros and is nothing but a mindless killing machine.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasy'':
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' has Sacred and Minotaur, a pair of brothers who start out as bosses, and then become the Brothers Guardian Force, working on your side. They are fought inside a tomb that has practically identical corridors, and a map that costs a bit of money early on in the game, making it easy to get lost.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyMysticQuest'': A minotaur disguises itself as a tree and infects Kaeli (one of the hero's traveling partners) with poison.
* ''VideoGame/GemsOfWar'': The Wild Plains region is home to minotaurs (specifically the Tauros and Soothsayer troops). They live next door to the land of the centaurs, and across a strait from the land of the cat-people, so that part of the world seems to belong to animal-inspired creatures.
* ''VideoGame/GoblinSword'': A minotaur serves as the first boss. He attacks by charging back and forth across the arena, then punching the ground, causing three stalagmites to shoot up.
* ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' features several Minotaurs as {{Giant Mook}}s and pits Kratos against a [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot gigantic armored minotaur demon zombie who is on fire]] as a level boss.
* In ''VideoGame/GuildWars2'', minotaurs are (non-sapient) animals with a gorilla-like posture. The shamanistic Norn race considers their totemic spirit a manifestation of nature's savage strength and feral cunning. They also appeared in the first ''VideoGame/GuildWars'' where they inhabited most regions of Tyria and were also found in the northern reaches of Elona. Some of their herds were domesticated by the Sand Giants of Vabbi.
* ''VideoGame/GryphonKnightEpic'': Asterion Hornedson, one of the bosses in the game, is a minotaur riding a rhino.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Hades}}'' The Minotaur of Crete, referred to as Asterius, is one half of a DualBoss together with Theseus. [[YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre With Theseus' aid]] he was able to [[HeelFaceTurn re-invent himself after death into a better, nobler being]], and as such now dwells within the fields of Elysium together with his former slayer.
* ''VideoGame/{{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 ''VideoGame/{{Hexen}}'' as well, where they could be summoned to help you in battles.
* ''VideoGame/KingsQuest'':
** ''VideoGame/KingsQuestVI'', in direct reference to the Greek myth, includes a minotaur which has driven the residents of an isle out of a labyrinth and claimed it as his own. The residents even wear Greek-styled togas.
** ''VideoGame/KingsQuestVII'' has a subversion. Fernando Bullforth may be a bull, but he's also a shy gentleman who runs a store in Falderal specializing in exquisite and delicate china. Yes, a bull in a china shop. The writers loved their puns.
* ''VideoGame/LastArmageddon'': A minotaur is one your party members. While he can wield different weapons, he gains extra attack when using axes.
* ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'': Alistar the Minotaur is a playable champion. He's a dual tank and support-type champion, being both incredibly durable and having several crowd control attacks and an [=AoE=] heal.
%%* ''VideoGame/LegendOfLegaia'': Xain.%%ZCE
* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'': Gumas are enemies from the early games who resemble giant humanoid bulls wielding [[EpicFlail ball-and-chains]]. A unique one appears as the fifth boss in ''VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink''.
* ''VideoGame/MadWorld'' 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. ''VideoGame/AnarchyReigns'' features a return of Big Bull Crocker (sorta) with Big Bull, a giant cyborg bull that wields a rocket-propelled hammer. What's not to like?
* ''VideoGame/MechQuest'': You need to defeat a Minotaur boss to get into a certain house.
* ''Franchise/MegaMan'': ''VideoGame/MegaManX3'' has Blizzard Buffalo, an anthropomorphic buffalo.
%%** ''VideoGame/MegaManZero4'': Mino Magnus.%%ZCE
%%** ''VideoGame/MegaManV'': Uranus.%%ZCE
%%** ''VideoGame/MegaManStarForce'': Taurus Fire.%%ZCE
* ''VideoGame/MightAndMagic'':
** Minotaurs are almost always associated with the Warlock/Dungeon/Asylum faction (''Might and Magic VI'' leaves it at implication and history, the warlock faction having collapsed in the region years earlier) but in ''Might and Magic VIII'' they're both a ProudWarriorRaceGuy faction of their own you ally with in the mid part of the main quest ''and'' a playable race. Interestingly, they are not only indicated to be a created species, but implied to be a fairly ''recently'' created species -- their human creator was still alive[[note]]as in, neither dead nor undead[[/note]] as recently as the end of ''Heroes II'' -- less than two decades prior to ''Might and Might VIII''.
** ''VideoGame/WarriorsOfMightAndMagic'': Minotaurs appear as DemonicSpiders, having lots of HP and being very strong in battle. The best way to kill them is using Air magics like [[ShockAndAwe Thunderbolt]] and [[BigBoosHaunt Ghosts.]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Miitopia}}'' has Minotaur enemies.
* ''VideoGame/MoshiMonsters'' has Lummox, a Moshling who looks like an anthro bull.
* ''VideoGame/NetHack'', being a mythology kitchen sink, has them. They're fast-moving, hard-hitting, carnivorous monsters that show up almost exclusively in mazes.
* ''VideoGame/NosferatuLilinor'': A Minotaur serves as a boss in the game. It attacks by charging at Lilinor.
%%* ''VideoGame/OkageShadowKing'': Big Bull.%%ZCE
* ''VideoGame/PuttPutt Goes to the Moon'': One of the aliens you can encounter while trying to find Robbie Radar looks like a [[TopHeavyGuy top-heavy]] blue minotaur. He uses his horns to point where you need to go next.
* ''VideoGame/PuzzleQuest'': Minotaurs are mostly {{Proud Warrior Race Guy}}s and the protagonist has to earn their respect, after which a minotaur priest joins the party. The minotaurs' god -- Lord Sartek -- is also a huge minotaur. Among the bad guys there are minotaur slavers, undead Skelotaurs (skeletal minotaurs), undead minotaur Doomknights, and even mechanical Mechataurs.
* ''VideoGame/QuestForGlory'':
** The first game has a minotaur named Toro as the guard of the gate of the Brigands' Lair. [[spoiler: He's actually there only to protect the Baron's daughter, Elsa, who due to an enchantment has forgotten who she is and become the Brigands' leader.]] He shows up again in the fifth game as the Guildmaster of the Adventurers' Guild in Silmaria... even if [[NegativeContinuity you killed him in the first game.]] If you defeat him in the first game, he shows up in the ending [[OnlyAFleshWound with one arm in a sling]].
** In addition to Toro making a return in ''VideoGame/QuestForGloryV'', there is a minotaur in the VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon. The Minotaur's owner? Called [[MeaningfulName Minos]].
* ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' series has used Minotaur has a recurring demon, and is one of few mythological creatures to appear as a Shadow in ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'' series. In ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'', the first major boss is Minotaur, who guards the gate that leads into the Unclean One's Country a.k.a. Tokyo. Asterius himself has appeared as a [[DownloadableContent downloadable]] demon for ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'' and as a Persona for [[ShadowArchetype Shadow Labrys]] in ''VideoGame/Persona4Arena''.
%%* ''VideoGame/SoulNomadAndTheWorldEaters'': Subverted with the Sepps, a quick and agile race that looks mostly human and payed straight with the Redflanks ({{Mighty Glacier}}s who are much larger and less human looking. Both races have heroic examples. Danette (female Sepp) and Grunzford (male Red Flank, who's also a CoolOldGuy).%%None of this describes if they're minotaurs.
* ''VideoGame/StarcraftII'': A [[VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft tauren marine]] makes a cameo appearance as a very strong but joke unit that makes cow puns with every single line.
* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'': Originally, [[BigBad Bowser]] was actually not perceived as a turtle-dragon, but as a giant bipedal ox.
%%* ''VideoGame/TalesOfRebirth'': Tohma. He provides the muscle of the [[QuirkyMinibossSquad Four Stars]], though [[ManipulativeBastard he's not dumb at all]].%%Is he a minotaur?
* ''VideoGame/{{Tauronos}}'': The minotaur pursues your character throughout the game.
* ''VideoGame/TotalWar'':
** ''VideoGame/TotalWarWarhammer'': Minotaurs are powerful {{Lightning Bruiser}}s in the Beastman roster, appearing both as regular units and through the Gorebull melee hero, all of whom are savage terrors in combat. Their Regiment of Renown variant, the Butchers of Kalkengard, in addition to possessing [[HealingFactor regeneration]], are colored black-and-white like Holstein cows and wear belt plates shaped like udders. The Silence and the Fury DLC brought Doombulls, Lord-tier Minotaurs who fight with their fists, and the Ghorgon, a giant, four-armed, ox-headed monster.
** ''VideoGame/ATotalWarSagaTroy'':
*** In Truth Behind the Myth mode, the Minotaur is a bandit lord who uses a bull mask made of a bull skull, wears what appears to be a bull hide and some sort of material to hide his face and wields a double-headed axe, using the symbols of the bygone Minoan civilization to solidify his own power. The implication here is that he ended up inspiring later legends through [[LegendFadesToMyth centuries of retellings]].
*** In Mythos mode, the Minotaur is a golden-furred bull-headed man with human feet (like the mythical being, but unlike the hooved versions more common in modern fantasy) and with a labyrinth design tattooed over his chest and right arm.
* ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}'': The tauren race, in something of a subversion of the classic minotaur concept, are {{Gentle Giant}}s with a [[MagicalNativeAmerican culture inspired by western Native American tribes]] (piss them off, and they have tough melee units that like dealing area-of-effect damage). They are the largest PlayerCharacter race in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' and, appropriately enough, are the only ones whose "/moo" emote sounds like an actual bovine's.
** While evil Tauren are relatively rare, there are [[http://www.wowpedia.org/Mr._Smite Mr. Smite]], a now-defunct villain stationed in the Deadmines, and the Grimtotem, a tribe that views tauren as the MasterRace and is willing to kill anyone who sides with another race. With those exceptions, most tauren tend to be friendly (and cuddly).
** Three offshoots of the tauren have been introduced in expansions:
*** The bison-styled taunka of Northrend have a bleaker outlook than the Tauren, their harsh homeland forcing them to fight for survival.
*** The yak-styled yaungol of Pandaria are even worse, having developed a ProudWarriorRaceGuy mentality to help them survive on the steppes. The Taunka joined the Horde, while the Yaungol are enemies of all races.
*** The Highmountain tribe of the Broken Isles, while still strictly tauren and not an offshoot, is visually distinct from the rest of the species for the moose-like antlers bestowed upon them by the demigod Cenarius. They are a playable race like the main tauren are.
* ''VideoGame/WarioLand'':
** ''VideoGame/WarioLandSuperMarioLand3'': The Minotaur is a stout, nose-ringed and red-skinned member of Captain Syrup's pirate crew.
** ''VideoGame/WarioWorld'': Red-Brief J is a bipedal bull (he has hooves instead of hands) wearing a horned helmet.
* ''VideoGame/WarlordsBattlecry'' has them as an entire faction, serving under the horseman of war. They vary from simple grunts with a ball on a chain, through ax tossers and ending up with a gigantic minotaur king that could well cut a tower down in two or three blows of its gigantic axe. Getting a minotaur hero also opens up some interesting possibilities for a OneManArmy that can solo entire maps without so much as building a base.
* ''VideoGame/WillRock'': Minotaurs appear as mooks. They throw axes at you and can split up into two smaller Blood Minotaurs if killed with anything but the Sniper Crossbow, the Acid Gun, Medusa Gun or Atomic Gun.
* ''[[http://www.mobygames.com/game/yo-joe-beat-the-ghosts Yo! Joe! Beat the Ghosts]]'' has a boss named [[PunnyName Meanotaurus]] who, oddly enough, lives in an Egyptian pyramid.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* ''WebAnimation/{{Dreamscape}}'': The Master of the Dammed's {{Mooks}} are huge minotaurs.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* ''Webcomic/AtArmsLength'': Dagg the Fierce, a would-be pillager minotaur, [[http://atarmslength.smackjeeves.com/comics/872126/havesword-willtravel-5/ runs afoul]] of dragon mercenaries Kaige and Kiley. His cousin supposedly once attacked the main characters Ally, Reece and Sheila, with a .44 Magnum at that.
* ''Webcomic/{{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.
* ''Webcomic/DarwinCarmichaelIsGoingToHell'' has Pat, an affable but crude minotaur. He is implied in one strip to literally be the Minotaur from the original myth.
* ''Webcomic/TheDreadful'' gives us Boozloaf, who doubles as a somewhat BadassPreacher and PungeonMaster.
* ''Webcomic/DungeonsAndDenizens'' stars Min, a beefy yet mild-mannered Minotaur working as a janitor in a dungeon. His younger brother is much taller and beefier, being [[NonhumanHumanoidHybrid half-hill giant]]. A recently-introduced new Minotaur, called Titanic, is even ''larger''.
* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', when Mr. Tensaided is offered the chance to be transformed into a form from a magical board game he [[http://www.egscomics.com/egsnp/2018-05-16 chooses]] cowgirl since he's a [[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons D&D]] nerd and it's the closest to being a minotaur. Later, Grace also [[http://www.egscomics.com/egsnp/g2-128 transforms herself]] into this form for the same reason.
* ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'': The dreaded Minotaur of Crete is one of the denizens of the Court. He's called Basil, and he's a nice guy who's easily startled.
* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'':
** Tavros Nitram, one of the [[AllTrollsAreDifferent trolls]], 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.
** Then there's Rufio, his self-esteem personified, and the Summoner, his FamousAncestor, both with similar horns.
* ''Webcomic/TheKAMics'': One story [[http://www.theduckwebcomics.com/The_KAMics/5226681/ features a minotaur named Bob]].
* ''Webcomic/LookingForGroup'': Krunch Bloodrage (and the whole Bloodrage clan) are hulking, muscular minotaurs. Believe it or not, ''he's not the warrior''.
* ''Webcomic/{{Oglaf}}'': The legend of the Minotaur is referenced in [[http://oglaf.com/labyrinth/ this]] 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.)
%%* ''Webcomic/OzyAndMillie'': Principal Beau Vine.
* ''Webcomic/ThePrideOfLife'': Gaur is a minotaur, a term which here refers to any sapient bovid.
* ''Webcomic/SlightlyDamned'': Talus is a [[TheBrute brutish]] Earth Demon (which resemble large land animals) who looks like a 12ft minotaur with a nose ring and also wields a [[AnAxeToGrind large battle axe]] like minotaurs are frequently depicted with.
%%* ''Webcomic/TheSuperest'': [[http://www.thesuperest.com/archives/2009/02/02/s142_janitaur/ Janitaur.]]
* ''Webcomic/YetAnotherFantasyGamerComic'' has Turg. Sort of cool big chap, but as the only member of his species around, very lonely -- until he met a [[spoiler:Sphinx and chose to stay with her. [[HotSkittyOnWailordAction Yeah.]]]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'': [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-432 SCP-432 ("Cabinet Maze")]] is an extradimensional maze haunted by an unseen entity that eats people. It's strongly implied that the labyrinth inside SCP-432 and the monster SCP-432-1 that haunts it are the Labyrinth of Knossos and the Minotaur Asterion of Myth/ClassicalMythology, which the creator has admitted to be the case.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'': Manish Man, the Manly Minotaur, guardian of the [[GreatBigBookOfEverything Hero's Enchiridion]].
* ''WesternAnimation/Castlevania2017'': The horde of monsters that attacks the main characters while they're in the ruins of the Belmont house includes a gigantic minotaur with apelike arms, which serves as the monsters' main muscle both in smashing through the seal and in leading the charge against the heroes.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Centaurworld}}'': The members of the evil army are referred to as minotaurs, and most resemble hulking, savage humanoids with horns. However, the only one without a helmet is a hornless lizardman.
* ''WesternAnimation/DanVs'': One episode features a minotaur beneath the DMV used to dispose of problem customers. It's revealed that when the DMV was founded, its initials originally stood for "Dungeon of Minotaur Violence."
* ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'': Taurus Bulba, the first big-time criminal Darkwing faces. Note that while he is pretty big, stocky, and strong, he's also cunning, putting him in GeniusBruiser territory.
* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'': In "[[Recap/DuckTalesS1E42RaidersOfTheLostHarp Raiders of the Lost Harp]]", Scrooge takes a magic harp from an ancient temple causing the treasure's guardian, a giant stone minotaur, to come to Duckburg looking for it. Interestingly, since this is a {{Funny Animal}}s world where the human species doesn't exist, when the chief of police is describing the monster to Scrooge, he says, "They say it's as big as an office building, like a living stone statue with the head of a bull and the body of a... a..." before the monster itself appears and cuts him off.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Egyxos}}'' has Apis, a humanoid bull who trains young warriors.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'': In one episode, after Timmy wishes the world was like a superhero comic, the resident bully Francis becomes a minotaur-like villain known as the Bull-E.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Freakazoid}}'': Longhorn, a half-man, half-steer country singer supervillain.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' has the children of New Olympus. They are hybrids of humans, animals and [[TheFairFolk fairies]], and therefore often look like humanoid animals. One of them, Taurus, is stated to be the descendant of the original Minotaur. He's still quite bitter about his ancestor's demise at the hands of a human.
* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': "[[Recap/GravityFallsS1E6DipperVsManliness Dipper vs. Manliness]]" features the ''Man''otaurs, who are half [[TestosteronePoisoning MAN]] and half... er, taur. They help teach [[KidHero Dipper]] to be more manly.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheHollow'': The desert land has a significant population of antagonistic minotaurs.
%%* ''WesternAnimation/HouseOfMouse'': The bouncer from "Mickey Foils the Phantom Blot."%%ZCE
* In ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes'', all of [[{{Satan}} Lucius']] typical henchman and enforcer jobs are done by minotaur-like creatures. There's also Miseryville's soccer star Wreckem who combines this with {{Cyclops}}.
* ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPandaLegendsOfAwesomeness'' has Temutai, an anthropomorphic water buffalo who is a somewhat of a GeniusBruiser and can seriously challenge Po with his physical strength alone.
* ''WesternAnimation/MightyMouseTheNewAdventures'' had archvillain the Cow -- walks on two feet, (super)humanoid physique, clearly male and thus should be "the Bull", but.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E19PuttingYourHoofDown Putting Your Hoof Down]]" introduces minotaurs to the mythology of Equestria, in the form of a motivational speaker named Iron Will. Like most other part-human MixAndMatchCritters, his design is adjusted to fit in with the fact that there are no humans in the setting -- he's entirely bull from the waist down, with two bovine legs instead of a human lower half -- but his clearly human torso and arms are still quite jarring.
* ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987'' has Groundchuck, a mutant bull accidentally created by Bebop and Rocksteady alongside [[MoleMiner Dirtbag]]. Both made an appearance in ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesTheManhattanProject'' as the stage 2 and 4 bosses respectively.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs1981'': Petula, the spoiled brat child that adopts Smurfette as her new toy doll in "The Trojan Smurfs", has two minotaurs in her house that serve as guards.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'''s "The Mighty Manotaur!", although it turns out that he's not very badass.
* ''WesternAnimation/WildWestCOWBoysOfMooMesa'': Nearly the entire population of Moo Mesa is made up of anthropomorphic cows and bulls.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Wishfart}}'': One episode sees Dez and his friends incur the wrath of a Minotaur ice cream man after Puffin gets into an argument with him over ice cream flavors. This Minotaur notably has the ability to create a magical labyrinth that can only be escaped by passing three tests before the Minotaur stomp-eats you.
[[/folder]]

** Barons of Hell are {{Big Red Devils}}s that serve as a powerful recurring enemy in the series.

* ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'': Anything in the Baron family (namely Barons of Hell, Hell Knights, Cyberdemons, Skulltag's mod-exclusive Belphegors, possibly even [[FinalBoss 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... [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Our Cyberdemons Are]] [[AnticlimaxBoss 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?

* Wrestling/WWE: The WWF had Mantaur. Somehow, mankind survived anyway. Torito, his successor in the WWE, has simliar impact.%%What impact?

* Myth/ChineseMythology: Ox Head is a minotaur-like monster who, alongside [[MeaningfulName Horse Face]], serves as a lackey in the Hells.

** ''TabletopGame/{{Mystara}}'' has Enduks -- ''[[WingedHumanoid winged]]'' minotaurs with a Mesopotamian civilization. Unlike other minotaurs, especially during the time period when they appeared, they are a highly civilized and benevolent race, even after being driven from their former cities by the treachery of the ScorpionPeople.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs'': Petula, the spoiled brat child that adopts Smurfette as her new toy doll in "The Trojan Smurfs", has two minotaurs in her house that serve as guards.

** ''VideoGame/ATotalWarSagaTroy'': The Minotaur, rather than being an actual bull-headed monster, is a bandit lord who uses a bull skull as a helmet and wields a double-headed axe, using the symbols of the bygone Cretan civilization to solidify his own power. The implication here is that he ended up inspiring later legends through [[LegendFadesToMyth centuries of retellings]].

[[folder:Oral Tradition]]

* Myth/ClassicalMythology: The Minotaur, the TropeMaker. Its origins in some versions are about as [[{{Squick}} squicky]] as you'd imagine (in others, it's just Minos' pet monster): Pasiphaë, the wife of Cretan king Minos, had fallen in love with a white bull, given to the king by the Gods. [[InterspeciesRomance To cut a long and darkly comical story short]], Minos locked the [[HalfHumanHybrid resulting abomination]] up in an [[BeneathTheEarth underground]] [[TheMaze labyrinth]] ("Minotaur" meaning "Minos' Bull", although traditionally its proper name is Asterion). Minos demanded an [[VirginSacrifice annual tribute of seven youths and seven maidens from Athens]] (which owed a debt to Crete at the time) [[ToServeMan to feed to the monster]]. The Minotaur was eventually killed by [[GeniusBruiser Theseus]], with help from [[MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter Minos' daughter]] [[HighHeelFaceTurn Ariadne]]. Just to add to the {{Squick}}: [[spoiler:a 1967 excavation showed there were, at the real palace at Knossos, bones of children. The knife marks on the bones indicate the children were butchered and eaten, presumably by the people there. A monster in the palace, indeed.]]

*** In ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'' and ''ComicBook/WonderWomanRebirth'' she is friends with a large bull-headed chef at her embassy named [[ShoutOut Ferdinand]], who prefers to be called a Kythotaur, as Kythira is where he's from.

** ''VideoGame/WarioLandSuperMarioLand3'': The Minotaur is a stout, nose-ringed and red-skinned part of Captain Syrup's pirate crew.

** ''VideoGame/WarioLandSuperMarioLand3'': Beefne is a stout, nose-ringed and red-skinned minotaur and part of Captain Syrup's pirate crew.

** ''VideoGame/TotalWarWarhammer'': Minotaurs are powerful {{Lightning Bruiser}}s in the Beastman roster, appearing both as regular units and through the Gorebull melee hero, all of whom are savage terrors in combat. Their Regiment of Renown variant, the Butchers of Kalkengard, in addition to possessing [[HealingFactor regeneration]], are colored black-and-white like Holstein cows and wear belt plates shaped like udders.

%%The examples on this page have been sorted alphabetically. Please help keep this page tidy by adding new ones in order. Thank you!

* ''LightNovel/IsItWrongToTryToPickUpGirlsInADungeon?'': Some of the monsters the adventurers have to face are minotaurs. They are so powerful monsters that only experienced and powerful adventurers can reliably face them. The fact that the main protagonist can later defeat a Minotaur illustrates how strong he has become in a short time.

** The Minotaur himself is a summonable Servant as a [[PowerBornOfMadness Berserker-class]] Servant, with his Noble Phantasm being [[TheMaze the labyrinth he was trapped in most of his life]]. He's mostly referred to by the protagonist and his closest friends by his real name Asterios (lightning) and he's actually a pretty nice and loyal guy by Berserker standards. Also, while he does have the horns, his face is actually humanoid though usually covered by a metal mask in the shape of a bull. He deeply regretted killing the children that his foster father Minos sacrificed to him and welcomed his death at Theseus' hands.

** ''Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes'' retells the original Minotaur legend, and gives the Minotaur, named Asterion, a surprisingly sympathetic portrayal -- as the story notes, from his own end of things the Minotaur was an innocent child who was imprisoned at birth for something he had no control over and left alone in a mazelike building to become, essentially, a perpetually starving feral child.

* Creator/PhilipJoseFarmer: ''The House of Asterion'' is narrated by the title character (the Minotaur himself), who is portrayed as being a bit... [[CloudCuckooLander off the wall]].

** The third-party supplement ''In the Company of Minotaurs'' offers them as a playable race. They can(and culturally, ''have'' to) breed true from Human, Dwarf, Orc or Giant women. They are not a OneGenderRace, but not for lack of trying: Due to a curse mentioned in their origin story, Minotaurs try to drown females as soon as they are born. But many mothers(and just as many fathers) have arranged to spirit their daughters away and/or fake their deaths, meaning female Minotaurs exist outside of Minotaur lands. This has also led to the sort-of half-breeds known as Meretaurs, sort of a CuteMonsterGirl version of the Minotaur, who have less-bovine faces(some can even pass for their mother's race) and only two of the three "sacred" Taurian features(Horns, Hooves, and Tail). Most(90%) of females are born Meretaurs, but full-blooded female Minotaurs and male Meretaurs do exist.