Minotaur or Mini is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in the NEW-GEN comic books published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in 19 ...

. Created by Chris Matonti, J.D. Matonti, and Julia Coppola, he first appeared in NEW-GEN #1 (2010). He is the oldest founding member of the A.P.N.G. and their field leader. He gained his powers when Deadalus released a

nanobot Nanoid robotics, or for short, nanorobotics or nanobotics, is an emerging technology field creating machines or robots whose components are at or near the scale of a nanometer (10−9 meters). More specifically, nanorobotics (as opposed to m ...

swarm on New-Gen.

Fictional Character Biography

Early life

Minotaur was a child on New-Gen when Deadalus, the apprentice of New-Gen's leader,

Gabriel In Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብ� ...

, released a massive quantity of biology manipulating nanobots on the world. Deadalus' nanobots drastically altered Mini's physical form to resemble an anthropomorphized bull, complete with double-jointed legs, horns, long ears and fur. Gabriel took Mini in as a means to ensure his safety and develop his powers for use in combating evil.

Battle in Ancient Crete

When Deadalus first discovered that his MetalMites could be used to dig out of the underworld into different planes of existence, he emerged during ancient times on the Mediterranean island of

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cypru ...

and began wreaking havoc on the populace. Mini, as the oldest and best trained member of the A.P.N.G., was sent to dispatch Deadalus and save the innocent citizens. He fought Deadalus to a standstill until he was overwhelmed by continuing waves of MetalMite aggression. Eventually, he received help from Horus, a combat robot sent to his aid by Gabriel, and the ancient hero

Perseus In Greek mythology, Perseus (Help:IPA/English, /ˈpɜːrsiəs, -sjuːs/; Greek language, Greek: Περσεύς, Romanization of Greek, translit. Perseús) is the legendary founder of Mycenae and of the Perseid dynasty. He was, alongside Cadmus ...

. After teaming up with them, Mini was finally able to defeat Deadalus, asking if he could kill him and end his vicious attacks on people. However, Gabriel denied him, saying that Deadalus could learn from his ways, then banished Deadalus to the underworld. After Mini departed, his story went down in history, and eventually became the ancient

myth Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrati ...

of the

Minotaur In Greek mythology, the Minotaur ( , ;. grc, ; in Latin as ''Minotaurus'' ) is a mythical creature portrayed during classical antiquity with the head and tail of a bull and the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, a being "pa ...

of the Labyrinth.

Training with A.P.N.G.

Being the eldest member of the A.P.N.G, Mini received the added responsibility of acting as the group's drill sergeant and field leader. In addition to his academic studies, taught by Gabriel and his wife Thea, Mini led the team through a number of complex combat and tactics training sessions in order to hone their skills. As such, Mini became very close with his teammates, fostering a fierce loyalty to each member as he taught them.

Battle with Sly

Eventually, Deadalus, now known as Sly, managed to dig his way through the crust of the underworld into the futuristic city of Zadaar III with his large force of MetalMites and

microbots Microbotics (or microrobotics) is the field of miniature robotics, in particular mobile robots with characteristic dimensions less than 1 mm. The term can also be used for robots capable of handling micrometer size components. History Microb ...

. Mini was, again, the first responder sent to destroy as many of the MetalMites as possible. He started off well, destroying several MetalMites with his bare hands but eventually became overwhelmed, and was surrounded. Gabriel then dispatched the rest of the A.P.N.G. ( Flyer,

Roboduck Roboduck is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in the NEW-GEN comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Chris Matonti, J.D. Matonti, and Julia Coppola, he first appeared in NEW-GEN #1 (2010). He is a sentient robot from the ...

Diamond Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...

, and

Gazelle A gazelle is one of many antelope species in the genus ''Gazella'' . This article also deals with the seven species included in two further genera, ''Eudorcas'' and '' Nanger'', which were formerly considered subgenera of ''Gazella''. A third ...

) to assist their teammate. Mini continued to destroy several of the MetalMites by himself, and even used Roboduck as a

hand cannon The hand cannon ( Chinese: 手銃 ''shŏuchòng'', or 火銃 ''huŏchòng''), also known as the gonne or handgonne, is the first true firearm and the successor of the fire lance. It is the oldest type of small arms as well as the most mec ...

of sorts, shooting a series of fiery plasma burps through the monsters.NEW-GEN #5 As the tide of battle shifted away from his favor, Sly used his microbot-given powers to shoot the team with a nanobot killing

laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The firs ...

, leaving them powerless. Gabriel

teleported Teleportation is the hypothetical transfer of matter or energy from one point to another without traversing the physical space between them. It is a common subject in science fiction literature and in other popular culture. Teleportation is oft ...

to the battlefield and gave each member of the A.P.N.G. a specialized nano-glove, containing nanobots which restore their powers and strength. As Gabriel fought Sly one-on-one, Mini got his strength back and furiously destroyed several more MetalMites with his teammates, eventually winning the battle and returning home to New-Gen.

Powers, abilities, and equipment

Deadalus' nanobots turned Mini's body into an anthropomorphized version of a

bull A bull is an intact (i.e., not castrated) adult male of the species '' Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e., cows), bulls have long been an important symbol in many religions, incl ...

. He possesses sharp horns, double jointed legs, hooves, pointed ears, and fur. He also possesses incredible superhuman strength and durability, able to rip a MetalMite in half with nothing but his hands while sustaining minimal injuries. Using his strength in his legs, Mini is capable of leaping enormous distances. He also has been known to headbutt enemies to pieces using his horns. Mini is an accomplished brawler and excellent strategist. He also has been outfitted with a wrist mounted

grappling hook A grappling hook or grapnel is a device that typically has multiple hooks (known as ''claws'' or ''flukes'') attached to a rope; it is thrown, dropped, sunk, projected, or fastened directly by hand to where at least one hook may catch and ho ...

similar to those used by

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in the 27th issue of the comic book '' Detective Comics'' on March 30, 1939 ...

.NEW-GEN #5

References

{{Reflist

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20110707153446/http://apngenterprises.com/comic/characters-of-new-gen/ Classical mythology in Marvel Comics Marvel Comics characters with superhuman durability or invulnerability Marvel Comics characters with superhuman strength