Minotaur

From Greyhawk Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Greyhawk Creature
Minotaur
A minotaur as depicted by Sam Wood in the Monster Manual (2000).
General information
Alignment:Usually chaotic evil
Type:Monstrous humanoid
Subtype:None

Minotaurs are strong, fiercely territorial monstrous humanoids.

Ecology

Minotaurs are thought to be either cursed humans or their descendants. The nature of the curse that creates minotaurs is unknown, but it is thought to involve "crimes against the natural order."

Minotaurs can live up to 200 years. They can live without food for years at a time, but are always hungry unless they are fed regularly. They are carnivores, and their curse causes them to prefer human flesh.

The greatest enemies of the minotaurs are gnolls; the two races will attack one another on sight.

Environment

Minotaurs typically dwell in subterranean labyrinths; they have a natural knack for navigating mazes, avoiding their dead-ends and confounding loops with no confusion. Their mazes are often constructed by evil wizards or tyrants; Iggwilv created such a maze on another world (perhaps Celene) accessible from the Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth. A minotaur tribe also dwells in the Caves of Chaos.

Typical physical characteristics

Minotaurs stand well over 7 feet tall and are both muscular and broad. They have bovine heads and humanoid bodies; their bodies are covered in fur, although this may fade to mere humanlike hair in their torsos.

Minotaurs usually wear minimal clothing, such as a loin cloth or skirt. They wear labyrinthine patterns on their clothing, weapons, and sometimes tattooed or painted on their hides.

Alignment

Minotaurs are usually chaotic evil.

Society

If a minotaur community includes more than six members, one will be an elder of great power who remains in the center of the labyrinth and raises the young while the others hunt.

Religion

Minotaurs worship crude gods, notably the demon lord Baphomet, who seeks to enthrall all minotaurs and mold them into his own depraved image. Some worship the archdevil Geryon. Minotaur societies are often theocracies in which priests define laws, pass judgement, and keep the clan's history and lore.

Language

Minotaurs speak a primitive version of Giant. They are 25% likely to speak a halting version of Common.

History

Legend has it that the first minotaur was a powerful but bad-tempered human fighter who wished to be as strong as a bull. His wish was granted in the most perverse way possible. It is possible that this wish was granted by Baphomet, or even that Baphomet was the fighter in question.

Another legend tells of a shapeshifting hill giant sorceress (named Haagenti, no relation to the Abyssal lord of that name) who assumed the guise of a beautiful frost giant so that she could seduce and bear the children of the god Thrym. Her plan worked for a time, but Thrym eventually discovered her deception and cursed both her and her sons, transforming them into the first minotaurs. The incestuous coupling between Haagenti and her sons resulted in the minotaur race.

Minotaurs are often associated with giants in legend. Sometimes they are enemies, sometimes they are allies, sometimes they interbreed with one another, and sometimes they are even regarded as the two earliest of the ancient races.

Publishing history

Minotaurs had no particular background in the original first edition Monster Manual, but were portrayed as cursed humans in second edition, and were said to be always male. Later publications, such as Tome of Magic (2006) and Dragon #369, described female minotaurs.

In the revised fifth edition Monster Manual (2025) to distinguish between minotaurs in some sourcebooks available as player characters, the "monster" minotaurs are referred to as "minotaurs of Baphomet".[1]

References

Notes

Citations

  1. ↑ Monster Manual (2025), p.215.

Bibliography

———. Monster Manual. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1977.
———. Monster Manual: Core Rulebook III v.3.5. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2003.

Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index

The Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index (EGI) is based on previous work of Jason Zavoda through '08, continued by numerous other fans. The EGI article has a list of sources, product names, abbreviations, and a link to the full, downloadable index.

Topic Type Description Product Page/Card/Image

Demon, Minotaur Monster OP1 Tales of the Outer Planes, AD&D 1e 81
Dying Minotaur, Inn of the (Lendore Isle) Building Inn, L1 The Secret of Bone Hill IN, 23
Lizard, Minotaur Monster Native of: Material Plane, I7 Baltron's Beacon 6
Lizard, Minotaur Monster Native of: Material Plane, MC1 - Monstrous Compendium Volume 1 Insert (Lizard)
Lizard, Minotaur Monster Native of: Material Plane, MC5 Monstrous Compendium Greyhawk Adventures Appendix Encounter Tables
Lizard, Minotaur Monster Native of: Material Plane, Monster Manual 1, AD&D 1e 61, 62
Lizard, Minotaur Monster Native of: Material Plane, Monstrous Manual, AD&D 2e 226
Lizard, Minotaur Monster Native of: Material Plane, Monstrous Manual, AD&D 2e (Premium Edition) 226
Lizard, Minotaur Monster Native of: Material Plane, WG12 Vale of the Mage 27
Minotaur Monster Native of: Material Plane, Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus, D&D 5e 4, 66, 69, 70, 112, 113, 229
Minotaur Monster Native of: Material Plane, C2 the Ghost Tower of Inverness 9
Minotaur Monster Native of: Material Plane, Into The Unknown: The Dungeon Survival Handbook, D&D 4e 3, 118, 143, 156, 158
Minotaur Monster Native of: Material Plane, Enemies & Allies, D&D 3.0e 28-29
Minotaur Monster Native of: Material Plane, GDQ1-7 Queen of the Spiders 96, 102, 103, 108
Minotaur Monster Native of: Material Plane, GDQ1-7 Queen of the Spiders: Map/Monster Booklet 15
Minotaur Monster Native of: Material Plane, Greyhawk: Supplement I, OD&D 17, 64
Minotaur Monster Native of: Material Plane, MC1 - Monstrous Compendium Volume 1 Insert (Minotaur)
Minotaur Monster Native of: Material Plane, MC5 Monstrous Compendium Greyhawk Adventures Appendix Encounter Tables
Minotaur Monster Native of: Material Plane, Monster Manual 1, AD&D 1e 71
Minotaur Monster Native of: Material Plane, Monstrous Manual, AD&D 2e 252
Minotaur Monster Native of: Material Plane, Monstrous Manual, AD&D 2e (Premium Edition) 252
Minotaur Monster Native of: Material Plane, Monster Manual 1, D&D 3.5e (Premium Edition) 188, 189
Minotaur Monster Native of: Material Plane, Monster Manual 1, D&D 4e (Deluxe Edition) 190, 191, 278
Minotaur Monster Native of: Material Plane, Monster Manual 1, D&D 5e 223
Minotaur Monster Native of: Material Plane, Manual of the Planes, AD&D 1e 102
Minotaur Monster Native of: Material Plane, Oerth Journal #11 30,31,32
Minotaur Monster Native of: Material Plane, PHBR10 - The Complete Book of Humanoids 4, 6, 9, 42-43, 72, 75, 76, 79, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120
Minotaur Monster Native of: Material Plane, S1-4 Realms of Horror, Adventure Booklet 70, 76, 79
Minotaur Monster Native of: Material Plane, S4 The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth, Book One 14, 22, 29
Minotaur Monster Native of: Material Plane, S4 The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth, Book Two 31
Minotaur Monster Native of: Material Plane, World of Greyhawk boxed set (1983) 30
Skeleton, Minotaur Monster Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus, D&D 5e 66
Skeleton, Minotaur Monster Dungeon magazine #114 65
Skeleton, Minotaur Monster Libris Mortis, D&D 3.5e 159
Statue, Minotaur Living Crystal Monster Ghosts of Saltmarsh, D&D 5e 108, 245
Retrieved from "https://gateway.greyhawk.city/greyhawkwiki/index.php?title=Minotaur&oldid=91094"