[Shadiversity Theme]
Greetings, I'm Shad, and this is a follow up video talking about
what medieval weapons would a Minotaur really use if they actually existed?
And the reason why I'm making this video is that I feel there is far more to cover than I was able to
address in my original. Generally I've found that the more I think of a subject, the more ideas come to my mind.
And when enough ideas come that I feel the original videos I have made haven't done justice to the overall
topic, I do feel prompted to make a second follow up.
The other time I did this was when I made a follow up video to my "Realism and Practicality" review of
the Imperial city from Oblivion (The Elder Scrolls 4).
One of my other favorite things about ALL my videos is the discussion that is created in the comment section.
And honestly guys, so often you come up with just some brilliant ideas that either inspire me,
or is the catalyst for me developing my own additional thoughts on the subjects.
So I also want to address some of the comments that you guys have mentioned in response to that video
which I feel were really insightful and worth talking about.
The first one that was raised more than once, was in regards to the Minotaur's eyesight.
That in regular cows, their eyes are on the sides of their heads which affect very much
depth perception and forward facing vision. The thing is I don't actually feel that applies with Minotaurs,
you see when you look at Minotaurs, how they are depicted artistically,
their eyes are never on the side of their head to the extent that they are on real cows.
Sorry, bulls if we're gonna be specific. You will find that their eyes are MORE SO on the side of their heads
than a regular human, but they are very much facing forward. These are forward facing eyes, just a bit more
on the side, which in fact, I actually think this would increase a Minotaur's field of vision
more so than a humans. Now, their center line would be masked a little bit on the inward side of each eye
because of their more bulbous kind of nose,
but that would only affect things say, within 10 centimeters in front of their face, and anything further,
I think they would be able to see very clearly.
So in actual fact, when looking at how Minotaurs are being depicted artistically, yeah I actually think their
eyesight will be superior to humans, and have a much wider field of vision on the sides.
The next question that has arisen in regards to Minotaurs using bows was, would their horns
get in way of the bowstring?
For myself, I don't actually think so, just because when you draw, when you pull a bow back to full draw,
the string doesn't actually pass the head: you pull the string just to a bit to the side of the head and the eye
and from where the horns are positioned on a Minotaur, they look to be on the back of the head, or
you know, behind the eyes which means the bowstring wouldn't actually reach the horn at all,
even in full draw.
Though I will admit this point does depend a bit on the size and shape of the horns.
There are some Minotaur horns that are so big and so far facing forward, I could see, you know perhaps
that it gets in the way of the string, but more generally I think a Minotaur would be safe.
Now see, it's things like this that I love considering, and I'm kind of kicking myself that I didn't
you know, address them in the original video, and even before uploading the video, I felt
like there was more I could speak on, but it just didn't come to my mind at the time.
And because these things are so interesting, there. Follow up video, and this is awesome. I love this stuff.
The next important point to consider is their intelligence, and this one was a bit too
undefined in my mind because it really depends on the fantasy.
There are so many fantasies were Minotaurs appear to be equally as intelligent as humans
and so many where they are depicted as brutish beasts and even being far less intelligent than orcs.
So that one really depends on the fantasy. And I do believe that if Minotaurs are brutish beasts, it is
very unlikely they would have the know how and technology to build such an oversized sword,
because this is the thing: they would actually need to make a bearing sword.
Bearing swords were so rare, that it would be very unlikely that the Minotaur just happened to find one that was so suited for it.
Because that's where I think Minotaurs would have to find their weapons if they couldn't make the
weapons themselves. They would take them and pick them up from the corpses of the adventurers they killed
and in that regard, I think what they would generally end up using wouldn't necessarily be the axes,
I think they would want to find weapons that were better suited to their size, and they're- remember they're
at least a foot bigger than humans, so actually I think they would end up picking up the greatswords,
the longswords or greatswords, war swords also, and using them in one hand.
So perhaps in regards to swords, and if Minotaurs can't make their weapons, they would be more inclined to
using 1-handed swords of huge sizes in comparison to a human: to them they would just kind of be
really really big arming swords, but because they're so much stronger, and their ratio of strength seems to be
greater in regards to their size, I feel like they could also handle much larger 1-handed swords in comparison to their size
than we can as humans, so yeah throwing around greatswords in one hand, perhaps.
But then, if the Minotaur's are capable of making their own weapons, I think my thoughts on the
bows and the bearing swords is still a good pick for them.
But that is very much dependent, like I was talking about in regards to the type of opponents they're fighting,
and there is another factor I didn't talk about which I wish I did so I'll address it
here, and that is their actual physical environment. And many of you guys were very keen to point out that
one of the main environments that Minotaurs seem to be in is actually the Labyrinth,
especially from the classic Greek mythology, the origin of the Minotaur, is in a labyrinth.
And a labyrinth is a bit different to a cave, you see people were trying to bring up this objection in regards to
Dwarves, and that Dwarves live underground, which inferred to them meant confined spaces, and therefore
they needed a bit shorter weapons, and that kind of justify to their mind the axes.
But my own thoughts in regards to that whenever you see dwarven caves, or their cities and stuff like that, they are massive
in comparison to the dwarves, dwarves seem to, in regard to building things, dwarves love to go big,
and they're really small, is it a compromise, are they trying to compensate?
But their caves, their tunnels, and especially their great halls, are huge. Dwarves never really struck me as being
limited for space even in underground, so I didn't really think that was a restricting factor, but in regards to
Minotaurs, well here I am absolutely willing to make this concession, I do think there is validity in this point.
And being restricted in space, well, really big longswords, well, 1-handed swords might still
be able to get away with them but big bearing swords, that would be far less effective.
Very hard to swing that blade around. And so in considering this fact, I was also thinking about
if I should have spoken more on armor in my original video. Minotaurs are rarely ever shown wearing armor,
so there's obviously different perspectives we can approach this, because if they're clever enough to
make bearing swords, they'd be clever enough to make armor as well, which would also justify the use
of the bearing swords and they'd have no need for shields.
The other question is, do Minotaurs need armor? Well I think they have tougher hides than humans, but
of course armor is always better than not. Yet still, Minotaurs are rarely ever depicted actually wearing armor,
so I actually think this might play into or give us more of a guiding line as to how intelligent they are,
depending on the fantasy as well, because, you know, say, Chronicles of Narnia, Minotaurs are not only
wearing, you know using 2 handed swords in some cases, they are also wearing armor.
So again, depending on the fantasies, more often than not Minotaurs are wearing little armor, or none at all,
which does seem to indicate that they don't have the intelligence to make weapons, which means they
pick up the weapons from the people they kill.
And so those are my thoughts on armor, and then I started to think about shields a bit,
and then I started to have an idea of a combat type that would actually really suit them in confined locations
like a labyrinth, and it also plays into what would appear to be a very natural inclination for them to want to
charge, and they're always depicted as throwing their bull heads down and using their horns,
and I stand by my, what I said there. I don't think charging with the horns is good at all, it's exposing
their head, and the neck, potentially get the horns not only stuck in things, but also stuck in the people that
they gore and ram, right? And that could be a big issue if there is more than one human this Minotaur is fighting,
now you ram one human, then they try and stand up and the human is stuck on their head, and the other people are now, you know, so,
no. Charging with their horns: bad idea. But they have such incredible mass, and their hoofed feet seems to
increase, like give them an added advantage in building up huge momentum and speed in a forward moving
trajectory. And I said, you know they could use their weapon while in a charge, and I mentioned maybe a lance
but a lance was a one hit, but now I've just realized there's another kind of a weapon that could work really
well in a charge, and the Minotaurs added mass and momentum would benefit it massively.
And that is, a really big shield. Ideally, it'd be like a tower shield, and could you imagine in a closed, confined
either cave or labyrinth, a Minotaur standing in front of you basically blocking the entire passageway,
you can't get past this thing and then he has a really big shield in front of him. And then the Minotaur just charges
with the shield, right in front. And you can't do anything, you cant attack the shield, right? because the shield
is meant to block weapons and the shield would just ram you and you'd just get pummeled, knocked off your
feet, you'd have no hope! You can't duck to the sides, yet the only option you would have would be to try
and run away, but can you outrun a Minotaur? It doesn't seem like you would be able to.
It seems like their full stride length would actually be wider than humans, which means that they would
be able to run a lot faster than humans, so you wouldn't be able to outrun these guys!
And then with the mass, the momentum behind this shield that they're holding, you'd get trampled.
You'd get hit by the shield, he would run right over you, or just after knocking you down, have a-
This is actually interesting, this is where actually using a shorter sword is more advantageous than using a longer one.
There's a very important reason why the Romans used the gladius with their tower shields and they didn't use
longer swords. You see, the gladius being shorter made it a more convenient weapon to use behind such a
big shield, so you could easily take the sword up above the shield and stab over or stab around, where if the
blade was longer, you would have to pull your arm much further back to bring the sword behind the shield
and still have the point facing forward, which is of course more awkward. The other reason why you don't
need such a longer sword when you have a really big shield, is that you can use the shield to cover and protect
yourself to close the distance. Longer bladed swords are very advantageous for their increased reach,
which means you can strike and try to keep yourself, your body at a safer distance from your opponent,
which isn't an issue with such a shield. So the shield enables you to get in right in close, okay, almost
body to body but the shield in between you and your opponent, and then just use that sword to stab up and
around, it's a deadly combo. And for a Minotaur, in a labyrinth kind of thing, a shorter sword in comparison
to his size which would probably still be arming sword at least, but something giving it a bit more heft, more chopping
because he's stronger, so yeah then we would be looking at the falchion or messer kind of sword, but
a big kind of one handed one, in comparison to us, but appropriately sized for the Minotaur, and so best weapon
combo for a Minotaur in a labyrinth, in a cave? I actually think tower shield and decent beefy sword.
The question is, could a Minotaur get those weapons if they are the brutish beast? Well, they might be
able to get their hands on a tower shield, but also shields are not that difficult to make, I even think,
because the Minotaur are obviously smart enough to pick up a weapon and use it, he might not be smart
enough to make it from scratch, but if he's smart enough to pick up something and use it, well there is a very
common flat board type of object that the Minotaur would be able to find very readily and pick up and use it.
And its called the doors, alright? the standard human sized door would almost be the perfect sized
tower shield for a Minotaur. So a Minotaur just has to waltz into some village or something like that, rip off a
door from it's hinges, and it's got a tower shield, kill a human somewhere, anywhere, and he's got his 1-handed weapon.
And you know, that could be the axe. I will admit that in this context, the axe could fit fine, because an axe
has a shorter range, alright? and that means it would work really well behind a big shield, kind of like how the gladius does.
So now, having reassessed this question, looking at it in a more broader context, I actually feel that the best weapon
pick for a Minotaur would be a tower shield, meaning a door that they've ripped off someones home, okay
and then it's pretty easy enough to engineer some type of hand hold, he could just rip through the door on either
side, rip out some of the planks or something kind of, to make a handhold in the middle, and has got his massive
tower shield. And I like this weapon pick so much more. It suits the Minotaur and he can use it in his charges,
he can use it in his labyrinths and his caves. And even outside of the cave, in open ground. Having a massive
tower shield like this is a huge advantage. And would the Minotaur carry around a tower shield? I think he
would, because a Minotaur is a monster, he's like, he's looking to fight people. It seems like the Minotaurs are
the ones initiating the fight, which means they wouldn't be carrying around weapons purely for self defense
on the off chance he'd get in trouble. He'd be carrying around weapons for the purpose of fighting, which means
You can include the battlefield weapons in this analogy, and yeah. Tower shield, absolutely, and on the open
battlefield, they're still really useful and they can still do their massive charges with this big old shield in
front of them, and just trample, knock down people completely, they have so much mass and they have their
weapon, whatever it be, and it could be an axe. Because the tower shield answers that glaring problem
that I pointed out that axes have in historical combat. And it's that they have such poor defensive capabilities.
But shield? Covers the defense perfectly, so the axe now comes back into the picture, and very well could be a good
suited pick for a Minotaur. so maybe this is one of those rare occasions where the iconic classical weapon
of a fantasy creature actually can fit if it's put in the right context. Just not the 2-handed axes that they are so often
depicted in using, for the reasons that I explained in my previous video. And separate to axes, Then of course
great picks for the Minotaur are still big beefy swords. A big falchion, or messer, or something like that, just hack
people to death. So there you go, I'm really glad we've taken a second look at the Minotaur, and thank you guys
for prompting me to do so, thank you for the questions you've risen, and also bringing to light ideas that I
hadn't considered. Love this stuff, I love the discussion, I hope you've enjoyed, hope to see you again,
but until that time, farewell.
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