King Minos

“Who comes into my house of pain?” — Minos

King Minos was the Judge of the Damned, who resided in the circle of Limbo. He was the second boss encountered in Dante's Inferno. He is the judge of every soul damned to Hell, determining which of the Nine Circles that particular soul was condemned to for eternity.

Background[]

In ancient Greek mythology, Minos was the son of Zeus by the princess Europa; Zeus had lured her away from her home and kidnapped her in the guise of a tame bull. She was taken to Crete, where she bore Minos and his brother Rhadymanthus, and later gave her name to the continent of Europe.

Forcing Rhadymanthus to give up his right to rule, Minos gained the throne of Crete. His reign saw the island flourish into a formidable sea power, Minos himself ruling over his people with a tyrannical grip. Among the stories known of Minos, the most famous is the story of the Minotaur, which was a curse on the king for his refusal to sacrifice a beautiful white bull given to him by the gods for such purpose. To prevent the creature from being an uncontrollable threat, Minos commissioned the inventor Daedalus to create a labyrinth to house the Minotaur. Ultimately, the Minotaur was destroyed by the hero Theseus, who escaped the island with Minos's daughter Ariadne.

Upon his death, Minos, Rhadamanthus, and their half-brother Aeacus became the three Judges of the Underworld. They were given authority to judge whether a soul was worthy of the Elysian Fields (the Greek equivalent of Heaven), Tartarus (a place analogous with the Judeo-Christian Hell) or to remain in an abysmal nowhere called the Fields of Asphodel.

Appearance[]

He appeared as a withered, elderly human with a large, skeletal crown fused on his head, two slit nostrils, scaled shoulder guards, a squid-like torso with a pale pinkish protrusion and a chain of officials made from dammed corpses. He is depicted in the game as blind, relying on his sense of smell and touch to find his victims. He judged those who are damned by selecting a person and smelling the corruption of their sins. Minos would then loop his tail around his body. The amount of loops corresponded to which Circle the soul was to descend to. An example would be if King Minos, in judging a soul, wrapped his tail about his own body six times. This would mean the person was condemned in the Sixth Circle of Hell, Heresy. Once he decided where they belonged, Minos brutally impaled them on his wheel of torture and spun it. The force of the wheel's revolution would rocket the soul to its fated circle.

Power and Abilities[]

As a Judge of dammed, Minos is responsible for judging those who belong to Hell. As one of the higher beings of Hell, Minos is given many supernatural powers.

Supernatural Smell: Minos is able to smell sins of people, and by sniffing he is able to tell which kind of sins they committed (although ultimately he judges the dominant one) and to what circle of Hell they belong. His smell is such that is impossible to fool him. His smell also helps him in combat by locating his enemies.
Superhuman Strength: Due to his great size, Minos possesses a tremordeous amount of strength. He is able to crush his enemies easily as well as cause massive earthquake by punching it.
Nigh-invulnerability: Minos scaly skin is hightly resistant to damage. Even Dante´s scythe couldn´t pierce it. However his abdomen is easily vulnerable, as well as his head, especially his eyes.
Superhuman Speed: In spite of his size, Minos can move suprisingly quick, especially his tails are able to move very swiftly and can also serve as weapons. Most notably, his favorite means of attack is sending his tails underground to quickly rise them on surface to impale his opponents from below.
Minions Summoning: As one of the higher-ups of Hell, Minos can summon lower-ranked beings to aid him in the fight.
Aerokinesis: Minos seems to have some degree of control over hell-wind as his roar can cause a powerful whirlwind which can make fall those which it catches to the chasm where Minos is.

Overview[]

Minos dwelt just beyond the Citadel of Limbo. Dante Alighieri entered Minos' domain and demanded to know where Beatrice was taken. Minos sniffed him, smelling Dante's sins, stating "I smell only a traitor, a glutton...a murderer." Dante defied Minos, telling him to sniff again. Enraged, Minos attacked Dante. Minos was killed when Dante impaled his tongue onto a spike of his torture wheel and spun it, splitting his face in half.

Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic[]

Minos appeared in the animated film and was largely the same as he was in the game, though he was initially less interested in Dante's presence, only fighting him after being goaded by Dante and his appearance was shadowed. The fight was brief and he was killed by his own wheel which flung him out of his court, clearing the way for Dante to move on. With his death, the Damned souls fled from Minos's palace in an attempt to escape. It was unknown if they succeeded, though Virgil remarked that Lucifer will not be pleased. If they did not succeed, Lucifer would be pleased.

Strategy[]

Dante's_Inferno_-_Circle_of_Limbo_Boss-_King_Minos

Minos' opening attack is to launch tentacles out of the ground. These can be avoided simply by moving in an erratic pattern, and then evading once they start popping up quickly. Minos will also attack with his breath, which can only be avoided by grappling onto the sides of the courtroom. This is telegraphed by him leaning back before attacking.

Once his breath attack is completed, Minos' head will be exposed for the attack. The player can attack the head either with the Scythe or the Cross, but must be wary of Minos' tongue while doing so. If Dante gets hit by the tongue, it will knock him backward and Minos will attack with a particularly large, crystallized, and sharp tentacle that requires a quick-time event to avoid. After he is hit in the face several times, Minos will howl in pain and recoil, leaving his underbelly exposed to attack.

After Minos recovers from Dante's initial strike, he will summon several Minions to the field that can easily be destroyed with the Punish/Absolve commands. He will not attack while they are alive.

Once Minos' minions are defeated, he will then develop a new attack. He will try to crush Dante with his fist. All of his fist attacks are clearly telegraphed. The player can also avoid the fist entirely by staying at the edge of the arena near the spiked wheel, unless Minos attempts to swipe the arena from side to side (which requires a jump to dodge no matter where you are).

After a few attempted smash attacks, Minos will attack the ground with an open palm, which can be avoided by grappling to the sides of the courtroom. Dante can use the Grab function to impale the scythe in Minos' hand, which will initiate a QTE. Failure to perform it correctly will result in Dante taking damage, while a successful performance will cause Minos to howl in pain and expose his belly a second time.

Afterwards, Minos will summon Unbaptized Babies and a Guardian Demon to the courtroom. Again, he will not attack while they are active, so it is a simple manner to destroy them. Afterwards, he will attempt to crush Dante again before unleashing his breath attack a second time. This time, however, attacking his head will cause him to collapse on the floor of the courtroom. Dante can then grab Minos' tongue and, if the QTE if successfully performed, will split Minos' face in half on the wheel and end the battle.

Failure to perform any of the QTE events correctly will deal damage to Dante (which can be quite significant at higher difficulties), but none of them will automatically kill him.

Quotes[]

Video Game[]

"Ohh... Suicide." - Upon learning the fate of a lost soul.
"Who comes into my House of Pain?"
"Hmm... I smell only a traitor, a glutton, a murderer."- Learning of Dante's past sins.
"How dare you presume to speak with the Judge of the Dead!"- After being taunted by Dante.
"I'm well acquainted with your sins!"
"I know exactly what your future holds!"
"And you thought a crusade would offer you grace?!"
"Damnation will be your final reward!"
"Salvation is not within your reach!"
"Her love won't save you."
"Your faith was cast away!"
"You slaughtered hundreds!"
"Virtue means nothing to you!"
"You can't hide your sins!"
"Your crimes are unpardonable!"
"I'm well acquainted with your treachery!"
"You've cheated Death once already!"
"Come closer." - While his head is near the ground after his breath attack.
"Where are you?" - While his head is near the ground after his breath attack.
"Come before me!" - While his head is near the ground after his breath attack.
"I can smell you." - While his head is near the ground after his breath attack.
"Let me sentence you." - While his head is near the ground after his breath attack.
"Heresy!"
"Greed!"
"Anger!"
"Lust!"
"Gluttony!"
"Violence!"
"Treachery!"
"Fraud!"

Animated Movie[]

"Liar."
"Blasphemer."
"Traitor."
"Heretic."
"Glutton."
"Hoarder."
"Suicide!"
"Who comes into my house of pain?"
"Turn back. There is no place for you here -- not yet, oh mortal."
"You dare so speak to the Judge of the Damned?!"
"I will judge you to the lowest circle of Hell. Lucifer shall devour you for eternity."

Trivia[]

Defeating Minos earns the player the achievement "Sentence the Judge". Players can also gain the relic "Tail of Minos".
In "The Inferno," Dante placed Minos at the end of Limbo to judge the souls of the damned, in correspondence with the king's role in mythology.
Apparently, the competence of King Minos as Judge of the Dead is only to choose the circle of the Hell to which the damned souls will be led. The souls that arrive at his court are already damned. It is not he who decides whether the soul is damned or not, this competence belongs to another entity. The believers of Catholicism believe that only God has the power to decide whether souls are damned or not. According to the "Divina Commedia", as Saint Peter is believed to judge souls at the gates of Heaven, King Minos is who hands out accommodation assignments in Hell. Also according to the "Divina Commedia", any sinful soul who has repented in life has the right to Purgatory, however serious the sins committed. In Purgatory there is also punishment, but lighter than hell. The souls in Purgatory are ultimately destined for Heaven must first they need "undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of Heaven".
The figure of King Minos is similar to Yama. In the mythos of Buddhism, Yama (Sanskrit: यम) is a Dharmapala, a wrathful shénlíng or the Enlightened Protector of dharma that is considered worldly, said to judge the dead and preside over the Narakas ("Hell" or "Purgatory") and the cycle of rebirth. However, it is said that even though Deo Yama is not benevolent, he is righteous and is friendly to the well-behaved people. In contrast, King Monos seems to enjoy watching people (no matter good or bad) suffer.
King Minos is voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson in the animated film, who also does the voice of Phlegyas but is limited to roars and grunts when voicing Phlegyas.
The concept for King Minos' design came from artist Wayne Barlowe, who, in a "Making Of," video, mentioned that after Cerberus, Minos was amongst his favorite to design.