King Minos (Dante's Inferno)

King Minos is the temperamental, sadistic, and cynical judge of the dead and a villain from the video game, Dante's Inferno.

History
After his death, King Minos became the judge of those that where sent to hell, using his sense of smell to sniff out the sins of those sent to the inferno. He would then place them on a large bladed wheel and press a button, spinning them down into the circle of Hell where they belonged. After arriving in Limbo, Dante saw Minos off in the distance, crying out the sins of the ones he judged. Eventually he arrived at the king's location, just as he was judging a suicide to the Circle of Violence. The blind Minos smelled Dante and asked who had come into his house of pain and Dante said he was one who loved Beatrice and demanded to know where to find her. Minos said that he only smelled a traitor, a glutton, and a murderer, but the crusader told him to sniff again. The judge became angered that Dante dared to speak with the judge of the dead and attacked him. But Dante managed to defeat Minos by impaling his tongue on his bladed wheel, then activating it, slicing his face in two.

Powers
King Minos possesses great strength thanks to his large size and though he is blind, he is able to smell the sins of others' souls, seemingly able to use this as a form of sight. He possesses tentacles with large bladed points on the end and is able to send them up through the ground to strike at Dante. Minos is also able to use his breath as a weapon and can lash out his serpentine tongue at his foes.

Trivia

 * In Greek mythology, Minos was one of the judges of the dead, which is most likely what inspired Dante to make him judge of the damned in the Divine Comedy.


 * Minos wears a necklace and a bracelet seemingly made of corpses of shades, most likely a result of his sadistic personality.


 * His voice actor in the game was Richard Moll and in the animated movie, it was Kevin Michael Richardson, who also voiced Phlegyas, but was limited to grunts and roars in that role.