How the mythical Greek Minoutaur is represented in games

Image result for minotaur
Legendary Moonlight Sculptor, Heesung NAM

The Minotaur is an iconic Greek myth which involves a creature possessing the body of a man, and head and tail of a bull. The Minotaur's origin was the result offspring between Queen Pasiphae and the bull that King Minos had kept possession of. It was also known to have lived within a giant labyrinth.

The Minotaur within games:
Many games interpret the Greek myth of the Minotaur in different ways, often adapting elements of fantasy that is derived from other concepts or narratives of the game while staying faithful to the original aesthetic from the ancient myth.

 Blade and Soul
Image result for Blade and Soul minotaur
Naryu Labyrinth Minotaur, Blade and Soul. [Video Game], NCSOFT.

NCSOFT's take on the Minotaur adopts a sci-fi fantasy element to adhere to the stage setting that takes after Roman/Greek architecture with an emphasis on technology. The Minotaur presented in Blade and Soul is recognisable, albeit the upper half of the bull is amplified twofold compared to the lower features. Contrary to many common interpretations, NCSOFT have equipped the Minotaur with a fan-shaped axe instead of the iconic war axe.

DOOM
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Baron of Hell, DOOM (2016). [Video Game], id Software.

id Software [sic] exaggerates the features of the Minotaur by using a gender trope among men in media, being that muscular men are extremely large, especially in the torso region. The general build of the monster is kept faithful and is very easily recognised as a derivative of the Minotaur that fulfills id Software's intention of designing monsters that represent the hell on earth theme of their game. The bipedal nature is retained but the facial profile borrows from that of a demon instead.

Companies using the Minotaur tend to use the creature as a stepping stone to develop other similar assets to be used within their own game environment. Often, it is not directly copied, but contains very clear references to the mythical greek legend due to the combination of bovine and human elements that are visibly shown within the character's design.

Sketchbook


To recreate the Minotaur, it was necessary to collect references of real bulls. Due to popular culture, bulls with horns were the go-to figure to draw from. I also took human anatomy into account, trying to focus on drawing the minotaur in a bipedal stance into whilst using more fantastical elements to give the Minotaur some character as a creature. This will finalised later on.


Resources:
Garcia B. (2013), Minotaur, Ancient History Encycplopedia. Available at: https://www.ancient.eu/Minotaur/

Sullivan L. (2015), The ingenious designs behind Doom's most iconic demons, Games Radar. Available at: https://www.gamesradar.com/uk/doom-demons-evolution/

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