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What medieval weapons would a Minotaur use in real life? FANTASY RE-ARMED
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 ต.ค. 2017
- If Minotaurs really existed what historical medieval weapons would they really use?
Mt followup video on Minotaurs: • CHANGED MY MIND about ...
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Best weapon to use against a minotaur: cattle prod.
depending on the individual you might just piss them off
Alternatively: slip a ring through his nose and yank his head around 🤣 MOOO
If it’s mini, use tar tar sauce
MC Donald
A cattle grid would stop them good
I love it when shad tries to educate people but uses words like short pointy end.
some folk are just that dense
:3 probly so the laymen can keep up ^_^ haha
And words like metal bar with sharp edge
I mean, I consider myself to be educated on blades and weapons but I certainly dont know all technical terms in weapon construction. Especially since thosr terms change by region, time period, and weapon design.
I mean it is accurate
labyrinth literally means "house of the double-headed axe" so that might be why they always give Minotaurs axes
omg, thats cool, i blame my latin teacher, she was so boring, always have to learn myself
@@panterka.f It is greek tho
@@panterka.f lucky for you, Λαβύρινθος (Laꞗýrinþos) is a greek word! not a latin one
I was thinking there might be a cultural or utility influence to certain iconic fantasy race/weapon combo's, such as the symbol of the dwarf god in D&D being a hammer.
Yep. There's a particular style of double-headed called a "labrys" that's associated with Minoa, which the Minotaur was named after. Labrys >> Labyrinth, Minoa >> Minotaur, it's only natural that the beast would be associated with such a weapon.
Shad: *other weapon than a sword*
Me: heh, bow.
Shad: Bow.
Me: Knew it.
😄😄Yeah.
(I know this is irrelevant but I need to voice this): 18:00 Menitaur milk being weaponized.🤔🤔 Maybe it's good for Menitaurs but it's poisonous to other species like humans. So if there is a Menitaur uprising or they need to destroy the enemy from the inside, they could import/ sneak in jugs of Menitaur milk in place of cow milk and kill them all.😏😏😏
One problem I see here is that the horns might get in the way.
Others aside, archer Minotaurs seems like an interesting concept. Might use it
@@marixsunnyotp3142 Minotaur's brother, centaur, uses bows i think
@@commandblock7077 edit: door shield minotaur is the way to go
Minotaur VS Centaur? Shad, could this become a series? "Mythical Melee: Minotaur VS Centaur".
YASSSS!
Interesting idea, good fellow, and worth to expand.
Agreed. First he covers two mythical creatures, then he has them battle with what he said were the best choices for them.
Minotaur obviously brute strength and thick hide make for a great tank add some form of heavy armour and you have a great damage dealer and a damage taker the centaur has a lot of weakness like both its human and equine parts would be hard to defend against a foe with the ability to utterly defeat any defense the centuar is better off a archer or a sniper attacking from afar assuming they both exist in the same 1 area around each other and are actively in conflict with the other
@@cripplinganxiety1941 minotaur with no buffs vs race horse centaur with any weapon he chooses on both hands. Then it would be fair (even though in the end intelligence will still determine the winner)
“...Percy Jackson movie, though I’ve never really seen it.”
I envy you. I wish I could unsee it.
If you want something decent, read the books. Treat the movies like the plague.
JJ S Just like the Eragon movie.
We all want to unsee it...
JJ S Treat them like a plague coming from a tsunami caused by a volcano that's erupting while a nuclear bomb is about to drop!
Last apprentice movie
Before Percy Jackson, I never saw a movie adaptation from a book that had LESS action in it than the book it drew source material from.
>Grappling the shaft
>Against a creature 2x as strong as you are
Good luck with that.
Lmao true
Moving in to the range of a insanely strong leg with a hoof .. ouch. You need balls of steel for that move.
@@johnmcorigin2389 don't know if this is useful, but I watched a couple of beef butchering videos lately and apparently cows ankles are easy to break.
@@fitnesswithsaswatsahoo2116 But try doing that against a bipedal, sentient bovine warrior that can casually lift boulders.
@@omarabe26 he'd probably also wear leg Armor
Axes: Great damage potential, very low defense. Minitaurs: sometimes depicted with _impenetrable or very tough hide._
Two-handed axes: only picked when protection is otherwise handled
Minotaurs: MINOTAUR HIDE.
I think I see a pattern here...
Exactly what I thought. Minotaurs are generally portrayed as having a very thick hide, often tough as steel and easily equal to greater strength than a gambeson or leather armor. Very little need to worry about protection. On top of that, many portrayals make them rather low intelligence, in which case something simple like "swing at person" is much more suited to them. Clubs would thus be very suitable, with axes being on the more sophisticated end.
Greek guy here. Minotaur literally means Minoan Bull. The mythical king of Crete Minoas had a large dungeon labyrinth built to throw his enemies in (mostly atheneans) and he put a half man/half bull monster in it, known as the minoan bull (minotaur), to eat them. The bull (speficically his horns) were a religious symbol in minoan Crete. The 2 headed axe also was a religious symbol in minoan Crete. 2 headed axes were made for ceremonial purposes. So the guy that created the RPG monster put these things together and there you go. A minotaur holding a 2 headed axe guarding a dungeon/ruin. The original minotaur was killed by the athenean prince Theseas in the myth.
Haris.K
The Minotaur was the King's son
more likely his wife's bastard. His wife fell in love with a bull, probably Amur missed his arrow...but the bull didn't "want" her, so she ask an engineers, that one who created wings for himself and his son Icarus, and also built the labyrinth, he created a fake cow, in which she hide inside in necessary "position", the bull gave her an orgasm, she get impregnated, but died when giving birth to the Minotaur. The king enraged he put Minotaur into the labyrinth because it was a monster, and throw the engineer and his son to a prison, with the only 2 exits, one was through the labyrinth, which even the engineer couldn't escape from, and the second exit is the high cliff looking right to the sea which their prison cell is exposed to, like that prison cell where Tyrion Lanister was held at The Eyrie. The engineer then came up with the idea to use candle wax to glue albatross feathers to their arms and escape. There were different interpretation of this story, but this one is the original one, because it connected with other stories.
I thought it was Poseidon in the form of a bull coming out of the ocean to have sex with the queen... am I getting my myths crossed?
James Austin The king wouldn't sacrific a bull that had been given to him to sacrifice to Poseidon, so Poseidon made the queen fall in love with the bull, she had the engineer build a hollow cow to seduce it, and gave birth to the Minotaur, which was placed in the labyrinth.
I swear, the shit that Minos made Daedelus build...
I don't see how any of this relates to the Dragons, What about the Dragons?!!!
They are used as living bombs by dragons like paratroopers(sic)
And what weapons would MACHICOLATIONS use?
Hey it's an Arthuria pfp
Yea like draconian races where they are a lizard men or dragon men hybrids
Emmanuel The Homemaker xD
they understand it, but they're too stubborn and pompous to admit that their natural weapons aren't good enough
6:05 I figure you got this estimation from RPG games. I would've guessed that Minotaurs are 7+ times stronger, like Gorilas are.
they make Orcs look like halflings
Your last idea is udderly ridiculous!
Not quite. A low grade plastic can be made from milk proteins by introducing an acid to the milk, and a key component in napalm is plastic. A rudimentary Molotov napalm cocktail could be made by mixing this plastic, alcohol, oil, and sugar together in the right amounts in a fragile container such as a blown glass orb, with a fuse of sorts in the hole. Boom, medieval incendiary grenade.
NINJA NAJM I know, just thought I'd SCIENCE! the joke into reality.
*Pounds head into pole while screaming*
@@darthvader6533 The Minotaur could just make cow puns and make his enemies smash their heads into poles. Strats.
Hilarious, actually (I swear he was talking about something like this): th-cam.com/video/1IPBkUtziMg/w-d-xo.html
But what about the why? 1) The two-headed axe is basically the symbol of the Minoan culture, also representing a bulls horns. 2) The Minotaur was originally one-of-a-kind and thus mostly depicted as a solitary creature. As such it makes sense that he would use relatively primitive, easy to craft weapons such as axes or spears.
Axes and Spears are far from primitive.
They really are primitive.
They were some of the first historical tools actually
Spears were basically a combonation of human's two first tools
Stick and knife.
@@kennethlacy7502 That's got to be the stupidest thing i ever heard in my life.
@@kpsiex try to make an axe or spear that can function in battle. Then tell me how primitive they are
weaponizing milk? UDDERly ridiculous. (however armor would be important there)
MINOTAURS ARE VERY BEEFY. NOW I AM HUNGRY.
If you kill him in combat, you can eat him too.
@@danielaramburo7648 It would feed you for at least a month or 2
Minotaur: I surrender! I am now your prison.
Me: boys, today we are having hamburgers. Execute the prisoner.
But that’s easy said than done because killing a Minotaur is like try to kill Godzilla with nothing but a sword they would turn you into a shredded meat
(I know this is irrelevant but I need to voice this): 18:00 Menitaur milk being weaponized.🤔🤔 Maybe it's good for Menitaurs but it's poisonous to other species like humans. So if there is a Menitaur uprising or they need to destroy the enemy from the inside, they could import/ sneak in jugs of Menitaur milk in place of cow milk and kill them all.😏😏😏
😲😲😲 Or it can be used to make potions.
Don’t watch Percy Jackson, however the books are based on Greek mythology (hence the Minotaur and Hydra)
Yeah, don’t watch the movies. READ THE DAM BOOKS!
i do not think a bearing sword (which is essentially just a minotaur sized long sword) is a good idea.
i mean a minotaur isn'T very likely to fight in large open areas, as far as i know they are usually depicted guarding labyrinths, caves or sometimes woodland.
in such areas i do not see any weapon of impressive size a good idea, whe nthe space in which one would swing this weapon is limited.
really what i would give a minotaur would be a thick heavy tower shield, a minotaur sized arming sword, massive shin guards and a very heavy helmet.
because really a minotaur woudl never have to worry about being flanked, usually having walls to either side of himself, so really all he needs to do is to bring a shield that covers his front, charge down the halls in his labyrinth, cave or whatever he is guarding, with his shield in front of him, knock an enemy to the ground and then either stab them with his sword or just trample them to death udner his immense weight.
put spikes on the tower shield, and make the shield the width of the labyrinth's passages, and he'd just hold the shield and charge
@Samuel Dimmock its a minotaur... the attatched heroes would just hang till they fall off and the guy behind gets crushed and spiked, like having spikes on one end of a trash compactor, the biggest issue is the spikes hitting the walls and the points bending or breaking... even so, its got a ton of crushing force behind all that, so, a few large heavily angled spikes, rather than long tapered spikes... think pyramid shapes
That is having little imagination, and is not valid as an excuse.
I'm picturing a DnD style adventure with a minotaur as the Tank, and he gets a bow thats basically a tree (probablt just a sapling but still), bent back with a string, and a hole drilled through it to let the arrow out, a lance for charging, and just the biggest sword you've ever seen in your life, the kind of thing that could be used to make Guts feel bad
What medieval weapons would an Ent/some sort of Tree-folk use?
Captain Cookie Themselves :)
Rocks and stuff.
I speak for the trees, and I can safely say they would prefer not to fight
Rccamo3 don’t be hasty
Wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeellllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyooooooooooooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu ssssssssssssseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
(It takes a very long time to say anything in old Entish :) )
"The death-killing part of the sword"
What I'll tell my friends about swords vs polearms from now on..
Any chance you could do a video about naval combat in medieval or fantasy?
I would love this. When I was reading through the Drizzt series, some of my favorite fights were the ones based around naval combat with them fighting pirates off the sword coast.
It is a really unique and mostly untouched topic in which you have a lot of twists like for example add DRAGONS!!! to the mix as seen in GOT.
I'd love to see that. The naval combat in the Drizzt series were some of my favorite scenes from those books.
I really should get around to reading the Drizzt series they sound great.
This!...
Axe-idental puns...as a dad, I haz to love them.
LOVE IT!
:E puny bro but your puns on ax's don't cut it i don't think you can hack it dude :D
:3 forgive the cutting reply...
:D
I axe-tually died laughing
I think I'm gonna chop this conversation off here... :|
I mean seriously guys, cut it out!
Shad: *sees creature wield axe* also Shad: lets change that.
Have you ever considered how hard it would be to have good "footwork" on flagstone / dungeon-tile with HOOVES?
That depends on the type of hoof. Mountain goats have hooves and not only can they walk on stone, they can _climb_ it.
17:30 Wait! Don't tell me! It's the Bow.
17:45 Called it!
I waiting the bow during alkmost the entirely video XD
:p if it works use it bro
Werezilla But wouldn't the minotaur's horns be in the way?
Depends on where they go, if they go up then it will be fine, if they curl down, yeah it might do (especially with a long bow or a war bow)
wouldn't a minotaur hurling rocks be better, their eyesight and ability to judge the drop of the arrow, range, deflections... I would think a large rock the size of a man's head would do more damage when thrown from such massive arms, and would be easier to at least score a glancing blow against the target and knock it away...
Shadiversity - The iconic weapon of Minotaurs isn't supposed to be just any axe. They are typically seen using a Labrys axe. Notice any similarity between the words Labrys and Labyrinth? The Labrys is associated in historical records with the Minoan civilisation. Minotaur? Minoan? Another similarity... Surely it isn't coincidendal... Maybe it's worth investigating...
Glad someone said it
Actually Minotaur comes from Minosse(don t know it in english) which was a king of Crete
this guy knows what's up
they have just investigated, far ago, and labur means two-blades axe. And minotaurs are sacred symbolazing moon and men united, like a totemic animal
The labrys was a mostly ritual axe that somewhat mimicked the shape of bull horns so i think this is mostly the reason
Here's my opinion:
I do agree that the ceremonial sword would be good, but I also think, a two handed axe would be just as good. I agree also on the bow part. I thought about it too and I think you can pretty much rip off the bow part of a ballista and give it to a Minotaur, while saying: "Here you go! It's a bow."
My reason for still picking an axe would be: The weapon's centre of mass. One disadvantage and advantage of a sword, is that the mass is usually equally balanced. The good thing about this is that swords are easier to control and just like you said, you can recover from a hitting with the sword, far easier. The problem; however, is that there will be less momentum near the tip of the sword, due to a lower amount of mass (momentum=mass times velocity). A lower momentum = lower change in momentum = lower impulse = less force.
Now a two handed axe, is almost the opposite. Most of its mass, is located on the axe head, which would result in ONE HELL OF A BLOW! But, it would make it harder to recover from giving a blow, since the axe head would be working against you, in that sense. In my opinion, you could reinforce the axe shaft with some armour, making it more durable and better for defence. The Minotaur would also most probably not mind the added mass, due to its greater strength. In addition to that, you can probably also armour up the Minotaur.
Like you also said, the Minotaur would be exposed during a charge. The head area won't really be the biggest problem, but the neck area would. But, the horns, as well as, the Minotaur's fists and great strength, would allow it some more defence and recovery time while trying to recover from giving a missed blow with a two handed axe.
Just think about it: If you block a blow with a shield from a Minotaur wielding a two handed axe, your arm would probably break, or the shield would. Along with the aforementioned, the Minotaur could be armoured and they are generally tougher than humans.
If I were to use Minotaurs in my army, I would use them as offensive front line soldiers or shock troopers. As you said, you could also probably use them at range with a bow, or you could use them to operate siege weapons (imagine a couple of Minotaurs with a battering ram). I know preferably, you don't want to actively engage in a castle siege, you want to starve the castle out, but lets just say that you had no other choice. I was a bit tired while making this post, so please forgive all of the errors. What do you think about it?
Regarding the usage of bows, there is a flaw: The sight of the minotaur.
It very much depends on setting, but if they inherit similar eye structure as cows then they will be very much shortsighted. So they will have terrible aim in general. Of course, if used against a large formation of enemies then it would be still be deadly as they only need to aim in a general direction and a single arrow shot from the minotaur could potentially skewer multiple targets, but outside of the battlefield against scattered opponents a bow could very well be useless to a minotaur
@Leo Cook That's like a shotgun bow 😆 A scattershot bow?
I recognised one of the videos (the fight between a minotaur and a human). It's from the intro to the Neverwinter Nights game! Nice one, mate!
I noticed that right away. 2021 still play it.
@@micahross8070 me too
Hey guys, I've loved your comments so much and some of the additional points you've raised that I'm going to make a *second video* discussing them, where I will reveal my new pick for the best weapon for the Minotaur! (and no, utters will not be discussed) The video is now up, so please watch and enjoy: th-cam.com/video/jz0mczBjFOg/w-d-xo.html
Shadiversity not the milk I hope
Shadiversity do saytrs
I'm pretty sure it's "bardee". I used to pronounce it "bard-itch" but my brother told me that was wrong once upon a time so I tried to look it up and I believe "bardee" was what I found.
Also, Minotaurs use two handed axes due to Labrys, a type of Minoan axe-ornament.
... I'm sure this was covered by everyone in the comments section somewhere, but I gotta say it or I'll explode.
I would say (sorry if it was already a point someone did) the bow is not a good option because of the bull eyes. I don't think they are good for seeing because they have a less 3D vision.
I'm glad that you have *axe-ssed* the situation here utilizing your *sharp* wit and *cut* to the meat of this debate. I look forward to your follow-up video!
Isn't the issue that minotaurs are generally considerably more stupid than even orcs, and are as such even more brutish, and lacking in finesse. Now a giant sword like that isn't exactly a pin-point weapon, but it still requires a certain skill level to use effectively. A twohanded axe is obvious to any (human) person. Even kids know exactly how an axe works. For a creature like a minotaur it is pretty much a bladed club.
Now I do know that fights with minotaurs tend to be less brutish, but I guess that it more down to making the fight spectacular, rather than a function of how the minotaur otherwise is. Also, while the hooves are excellent for charging and running, they are pretty poor for getting a grip on a hard surface (mountain goats are pretty special, bovines really don't like hard surfaces in general). So fighting a minotaur on a rockface or in a castle, with it carrying a sword that requires a lot of tight footwork... yeah I can see that going really bad for the minotaur real fast.
I think that this sort of swords, used by a minotaur, doesn't need so much of footwork ^^"
I mean, they can use it as bladed club, too, but with a larger area od death :p
a poorly placed blow with a sword with that much strength behind it will break it easy. i bent a cheapo deepeka longsword (beyond repair without reheating) on a punching bag by accidentally hitting with the flat. and that is on a non-fixed target that moved, by a decidedly not fit person, imagine hitting a stone pillar or small tree with the flat of a 15 lb, 7 ft long sword powered by the strength of a minotuar. i doubt very much that minotaurs would manage to make spring steel so...
now an axe... you hit something you shouldn't with that it is simply gonna turn into a makeshift warhammer....
swords are just bladed sticks then hit :3 the golden rule "hit em with the pointy end" still works hahaah
Well yeah, clearly they have the mind of a bull.
If minotaurs are as dumb as most fantasies make them, the weapons they use are all far beyond their capability to make them. They couldn't get beyond a simply-shaped club (and no, I'm not talking about the fancy REALISTIC kind). If a minotaur in a particular fantasy was smart enough to smelt steel and forge weapons, and someone somewhere had learned to make spring steel, then minotaurs could also learn to make spring steel. Alternately, if they took weapons or received weapons from people who made spring steel, they would have spring steel weapons. Simple as that.
Your point about swords bending is a pretty strong one, though. Even high-quality swords are only made for a human level of strength: the blades would have to be built thicker, heavier, and possibly with a different point of balance to be suitable for a much stronger creature. All of that requires precise and specific design. Whereas, if you break your axe, you just re-haft it and maybe make the haft thicker or use a denser type of wood. So there is that advantage to it. The same could be said for a warhammer or basically any type of pole weapon: make the haft stronger. But if a minotaur was so dumb that it couldn't figure out it needed to hit with the edge of a sword, an axe has the same problem and it would be better off with a massive club. No need to worry about hitting with the pointy bit there, and if you hit something actually hard enough to break it? Just rip out a small tree, fallen log, or wooden column and just keep bashing it.
Great video! When you were talking about bearing swords, I genuinely thought about the executioner’s sword. It’s a bit longer than other swords, has greater mass, and has the benefits of swords with a boost in chopping power, which we can mostly agree is something that stronger monsters could do very effectively.
Dangit Shad, just when I thought we'd finally gotten away from giving everyone bows!
I will say the thing I *love* about the bearing sword is you can basically use it like you would a mace; anyone heavily armoured or equipped with a shield is still bound to get messed up by all the sheer weight of it generating such force, sharp or blunt.
I believe you could at least economically weaponize Minotaur milk depending on there intelligence, they could put themselves on a strict diet for the sole purpose of producing the best milk possible, then via a middle man or something like that, would sell the milk at a cheap price to a nearby region without revealing the source, the region would more then likely sell it on a much higher price due to the rarity and the quality, then over a few decades it would become the major source of wealth for that region, once that happens the Minotaur's could reveal themselves to the bigwigs of the region, and gain control by threatening to reveal or holed the flow of the milk, both of which would lead to an economic disaster for the region, and the bigwigs unwilling to put aside the position of wealth and luxury, would then be in the Minotaur's pocket.
Well Shad that's my stab at weaponize Minotaur milk, as realistically as possibl, even though it is a fantasy setting.
Why did you put this much thought into that?
For the same reason that I would state that female Minotaurs would have human-like breasts: because it's fun to massively overthink things that have very little relevance to anything.
18:20 Yes yes, lactose intollerance is a thing... but.. it's not generally that useful in a battlefield. Maybe they could spray something on a slippery surface to make people fall...but milk is really meant for the calves, to breed a new set of minotaur warriors. So indirectly, is its best offensive use, I'd say.
daddyleon it could pee at them.
But Josh...pee doesn't come out of udders/breasts. Suddenly I'm worried about your time as a baby.
This was an excellent video. Well done!
Love your videos Shad, but I think you've forgotten a few other features commonly associated with typical minotaurs, namely their sturdiness and mental faculties. For one minotaurs, are in addition to being huge, also associated with the, excuse the pun, bullheadedness and stubbornness to just flat out ignore pain, or at least be very resistant to it, and also just able to take more damage. They are also often portrayed as not very bright, which is another part of why axes make sense for minotaurs to me, an axe is so much easier to make than a sword, not to say there aren't some beautifully made axes out there, but simple axes are very easy to make. Minotaurs are often portrayed much like Viking berserkers, not caring how much damage they take and focused only on hurting the enemy, for which an axe is a very good weapon.
But bulls have bad eyesights, they would not be efficient with ranged weapons.
their eye sight is just different not bad.. they have a wider field of vision and better mouvement awareness, but their depth perception sucks and they can't focus on details and lines like we do..
The point still stands. Depth Perception and the ability to focus on details are precisely what is needed to make bows effective.
Bulls also don't walk on two feet, wield weapons or wear loincloths.
I'm so glad you wear your shirts in your videos, Shad.
I'm getting that red one :)
There, now back to the video!
I love your stuff man!
I have it as a hoodie. It is my favourite hangover hoodie, because whenever I feel miserable and hungover, I am made to ask myself "But what about dragons?" Thanks to that hoodie.
A large heavy blunt edge sword, though sounding impractical, utilizing the minotaur's excess strength could be used to deliver massive blows in a fluid motion to literally bash an opponent to death and with a still having a sharp tip to impale through average human armor. Brilliant!
I always love how excited Shad gets when he unveils his top choice of weapon for the creature, Imagine a bearing sword minotaur fighting a Centaur that has a spear and a person on it's back? Amazing!
Scissors? :-)
Too dangerous
But, Ariadne's thread... :-)
They wouldn't be able to run into battle anymore
+Kings and Generals Wait, you're watching this too? Heh, the internet is small it seems
I have the internet on my mobile phoen. Pwetty small actu0ly.
SNAAAAAAKE PEOPLE!!! Do snake people next. Sneky snek
You Mean Naga
naw he definitely means snek peeps
you mean Lamia? yeah would be cool. Especially since i heard of that certain anime with one in and a centaur lady and a jelly lady... if you know what im talking about, you know what i mean and no i didnt watch it. Yet. Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood is before that one. and maybe one punch... and maybe all three seasons of Rick and Morty... again...
or yun ti
Are we talking about top half humanoid and bottom half serpent?
Your enthusiasm permits me to watch a lot of your episodes back to back. And for the record, you and I would very likely be friends if we lived near each other, it’d be like gravity, just too many similar interests. Keep up the great work.
Love these videos. So informative. Keep it up.
All this jokes "But what about dragons?!"...
But seriously, what weapons dragons would use? In half of all fantasy dragons are intelligent, often even more so than humans (some even transform into humans). What a sentient dragon could use as a weapon? Or any sentinent but not humanoid creatures.
i made up a character for this very question.... :3 his name is zombie knight dragon warlock king the ultra-monarch!
I think it depends on which type of dragon really. A wyvern for example wouldn't be able to handle any weapons, and their talons and breath are already essentially weapons. In terms of flying races, Shad already mentioned that foot weapons could be effective, and that's what talons are. Tails could be weaponised with spikes, but some dragons already have naturally spiked or bladed tails. They also tend to have some form of breath attack which would be far more effective than pretty much any medieval weapon to exist. In conclusion, dragons don't need weapons, as they would only weigh them down and make flying more tiresome. The only real added weapon they should have is something like spikes or an axe head on the tail if they don't already have them.
Edit: If you were talking about more humanoid dragons, kind of like dragonborn from D&D (Not Elder Scrolls), then they should probably weaponise their feet if they can fly. If they can't fly, then probably great swords or even the swords Shad mentioned in this video if they're big and strong enough. Dragons are generally known to have natural armour anyway, so a two handed weapon would suit, as they won't need to worry as much about defence.
Hendorne Endoh'roth Reminds me of a dragon hero from Battle For Middle-earth 2. He was wearing some bits of armor and a tail blade.
Well, if they're flying, bombs would be the obvious choice. On the ground the tail is probably the obvious place to put a weapon. Real-life monitor lizards can break bones with their tails, so if you scale that up to a lizard that's 40 feet long, you've got a lot of power to fuck shit up with. But something that isn't often considered is how dangerous the _wings_ would be in melee combat. Those wings are taking up a significant portion of the dragon's weight, and the pectoral muscles are by far the strongest muscles in the dragon's body. It needs a lot of power to get off the ground, and that power can be put to use punching the shit out of things. Real birds actually use their wings to bludgeon other animals into submission, and some birds even have bony spurs on their wings (actually modified dinosaur claws!) to make them even more dangerous for that purpose. You could put a giant boxing glove and some spikes on a dragon wing and it could knock down buildings in one swipe.
As for handheld weapons, if your dragon has hands, it could carry cannons around and be a giant gunslinger, or just flat-out drag siege equipment across the battlefield.
Maya Jade I think Shad is always using pre-gunpowder equipment.
I think most Minotaur-horns would get in the way of a scaled up longbows. They might reload large crossbows mighty quick tho'. And throw some heavy spears/lances/pila. I think that would be better ranged options.
Aleksander Gromsrud Arbalest.
Aleksander Gromsrud Maybe a larger version of the Mongol bow. The real thing was short enough to use mounted but with the draw strength of a longbow (war bow). A Minotaur sized one would clear the horns but use the power of its user.
You forget that a minotaur has arms, when hes charging you escaping is quite difficult as he would just grab you and if the minotaur is not especially intelligent as to not fear death. Then even if you kill the charging minotaur you would still have a giant slab of horned meat flying at you with a high velocity. When I think about it, an armored minotaur charging is perhaps the best way for him to kill people, theres no way you could kill him with 1 strike, even hitting the head wouldnt do much because of a super thick skull and because of his weight there would be no way to stop him. You don't even need to give him weapons, just the armour. Hell, mount a goblin on his back with throwing spears and you have a war machine.
Dude, you are so helping me with my fantasy series.
What about Ogres, Trolls and other large humanoids?
I am not talking about Giants (these are another topic entirely and ScholaGladiatoria already covered those), but rather creatures that, while certainly large, aren't really giant-sized but have more mass. For instance, Lord of the Rings' trolls (or Olog-Hai) and Warhammer's Ogres are shorter, but a good bit broader and beefier in comparison to Game of Thrones' or Skyrim's Giants.
What would their weapons be?
Clubs i guess, and spears. Stone throwing and slings.
Ogres are interesting, and a huge factor to take into account is their general obesity, gluttony and insatiable hunger for human flesh. This may mean that an ogre could be a lot lazier or have less endurance than a human would have, albeit a whole lot stronger and heavier.
The answer is almost always polearms, any kind, they are just superior.
What about dragons?
Trolls usually can heal from almost anything so defense wouldn't be an issue, If anyone would benefit from a two handed executioner's weapons like a two handed axe or some other reckless weapon.
Ogres are basically bigger and stronger but slower orcs, Kanabōs are always a good choice and giant bows would be good
The reason Beastmen(Human animal hybrids) are often depicted using axes over swords and other things is becomes it plays into the idea that these creatures are usually on some level feral. They may be able to speak, have intelligent conversation and plan, but they are far more animal than man, and so focus more on brute force to get their way. The Two-handed axe is the ultimate symbol of savagery and pure aggression, and with the strength of a minotaur it is possible for one of these big bastards to cleave a man in half with one strike. Speed and brute power is how a Minotaur fights, having enough toughness and endurance to take hits and keep fighting, using their rage and pain as fuel for the flames.
Well an axe still has to be crafted and they usually don't have stone axe heads so they either have knowledge of forging or they stole it (if that was the case, they wouldn't have a signature weapon) . If they were completely savage they'd probably be using tree branches.
The Whisperer In Darkness would said they made them? They could have just attacked people and stole their stuff. This a fantasy world, some things need to be handwaved for the sake of the story
th-cam.com/video/2h-DPsxuHfM/w-d-xo.htmlm27s
Shad has talked over this point, in brief, low intelligence should not effect their ability to adopt efficient strategy and weapon combinations. Unless, it's low to the level that it's disabling
Appius Tuditanus sometimes it is.
Sometimes it is indeed.
Anyway, people seem to misunderstand intelligence. My idea is, in most examples of humanoid creature's societies, their intelligence is set by appliability alone. Don't get me wrong, genetic intelligence still plays a role, but most of the it's not about how smart you're born, it's about how much of your experience requires you to GET smart. If some tribe can get away with animal level of stupidity, guess what, they ARE going to be stupid. It would be a waste otherwise! But, far more usually all it takes is a bit of abstract thinking to enhance your chances of survival, success in murder and overall experience A LOT. So naturally, you're gonna want to acquire that intelligence one way or another.
Also, there's the natural selection factor which sets the barier of minimal intelligence you can get away with.
The reason the minitor has an axe is because it is derived from Minoan myth. Minoan culture is full of giant axes which seem to be related to the cult of the bull and bull sacrifice.
Please shad do more of these!
And here I was wanting to go to sleep
Jojo of Faraway Those freakin' australians! Don't care about our sleep. Make them addicted they say and then post videos in the middle of the night. Shads world domination is near indeed.
theses are the european woes if i could even call a shad vid a woe
It's quatrer past 4
François Maspuche BUT WHAT ABOUT DRAGONS?!!
I know, right?
Please, make an arcenal for snake people (nagas, lamias, etc)
I can see them using a swords or shields on the end of their tale to keep people from getting to close, then using a crossbow to shoot bolt at them.
He did a video and I very much concur with most of his conclusions. Spear and tower shield because the snake portion allows such good reach would be almost unbeatable, and approaching them close enough to hit would result in near-certain death by coiling, if not by actually being squeezed, then by being immobilized and stabbed. Pretty much there are two counters: charge them using multiple fighters or shoot them from at least like 10 meters out. Their reach would, afterall, be like 7 meters of they had a spear.
Hey, I am currently working on a overworld for a overworld for a series I am writing. Your videos have been a great help not just info but way of thinking..my whole life i been a slave of logic and this works well for me. Ty.
Shad, plz never stop makin videos
Your answer? SWORDS! because swords are AWESOME!
For the same reason that Xivilai always use two handed long swords with one hand...
It's been a while.
Do they carry melee weapons?
All I can remember is ungodly spell absorption.
Yeah, the Xivilai always had ebony long swords even though all the dremora used daedric.
I wish they were a playable race. Best daedra
The Xivilai often had the battleaxes... ebony also.
The minotaurs in Oblivion always had war hammers, I think. Also wielded one-handed.
- Timaeus - No they used deadric and ebony weapons
Shad - Would it possible (and perhaps you have already done this in a past video) for you to do a video about weapons that started out as farming implements, and which ones would have evolved into the more effective weapons? Thank you for your consideration of this topic. Cheers.
11:27 dammit i thought u were talking about executioner swords
It really makes Me mad to see Minotaurs wielding axes. When their natural born proficiency to wield something, is the Plough!
aye, but when farmers uprise against their betters,t hey pick weapons from among the readily available tools, like... the woodsmen's ax!
Another good video. One thing pertaining to minotaurs and bows, their head shape would lead to poorer eye sight for archery as there eyes are more on the side of their heads leading to lessened depth perception and other less than optimal eye characteristics for archery.
Not exactly early, but i think the minotaurs raging, charging, hyper-aggressive and completely non-tactical battle style does suit the axe a bit better than a sword, just because the blade of a sword might snap if the minotaur hits a wall too hard, which a creature who's half angry bull tends to do. Also, the hit wih horns and uppercut with axe would be devastating, and ironically, the best counter would be an axe swung to get it in the chin, in an uppercut, just done before the minotaur can hit with its horns and then attempt what is literally the exact same thing.
After watching your series on mythical creatures weaponry I now know why your fantasy campaigns are so complex and hard for the player.
This is why I love you shadd
I'd think they would just youse a giant fuck off mace. Just crush your opponent.
Great video, Shad, as usual.
Not so sure about the sword. Like one of the other comments here, swords would suggest long training for proper use, not what is normally associated with minotaurs. Granted, every weapon needs some training, but swords more so...perhaps.
The Axe is good to emphasise the brutish nature of the user, however, I would probably say dual hammers/maces/morning stars. Their superior strength and speed to rush the opponent means they would have insane momentum, so whether or not the opponent is wearing armour, the head would smash into them and cause crazy trauma.
Imagine a charging bull, now add a swinging hammer. It doesn't matter how it hits (axes would need to be head on) it will rip the opponent apart.
Your right, and Shad also forgot to adress Minotaur toughness as in many fastatic settings they have something of the original Minotaur, which was invulnerable, minotaurs can be so tough it is like have some sort of natural armor.
Another point would be the cost of bearing swords, because let's face it, the minotaur can grab a heavy club and crush puny humans inside their armor, giving him a expensive sword is overkill, and if he uses it in a brutish way it would damage the blade pretty fast, heavy clubs you can find everywhere, and axes easy to fix if they break the shaft.
At last, depending on how are the eyes of the minotaur they not be that good archers, humans have both eyes ponting forward which gives a better ability to aim, the minotaur might be different.
Bottom of line, I don't think minotaurs need weapons or armor to defeat *normal* humans, they may be too savage to make fine weapons by themselves, and too brutish for someone else to invest huge resources on expensive weapons they will break every now and then, so the axe is actually a fair good choice for them, and perhap a axe and a shield.
Their super strength may be slightly nullified by their lack of stability. Their hooves have a small surface area compared to their mass and theyre also not very grippy. A massive axe might put them off balance if they go too ham. The biggest advantage you could have may be to fight them on something like granite or ice
Mountain goats: are we a joke to you?
I love these types of vids
Next Dragon riders, because seriously would they really use swords which would be useless in the air.
If any melee weapon it would be a long spear.
I'm pretty sure the dragon IS the weapon.
well in history calvary always had a weapon to help them and i think it would be the same case for dragon riders
A dragon has the fiery breath, which outranges any melee weapon the rider may carry. Even lances will probably be much too short to be of any use, so the rider would probably only carry a sword for backup and either shoot from a bow or just let the dragon do its thing.
The main point of dragon rider is to guard a hard to defend location on a dragon's back. And in the case of Pernese dragon's there rider's feed them the firestone need to produce the flame.
Machiculated horns? Anyone?
Perfect to parry and parry-lock swords...
could be like those sword breaker daggers
...Well now I'm picturing fairy archers taking cover behind horn crenellations. What have you done, that's too adorable.
So...
Machiculahorns?
Ah twigspeaker I love that thats great
Shadi, talk about fire emblem's triangle of weapons.
In a table-top game setting I worked on, our minotaurs didn't use swords because of cultural reasons. They started off as a servant race who were forbidden from using weapons, but when their masters were being killed off by hordes of orcs, when they had to defend themselves, they started using farming and construction tools, including axes. Since then they started to associate swords with the orcs, who they have been in conflict with ever since, and consider axes as representing survival more than a sword.
As for milk-based weapons. Yes.
And what about a club?
Or a mace?
a tetsubo was what i was thinking. it is simple to make, can be used like a normal club by the minotaur, and armor becomes largely irrelevant.
i think quarterstaff is better than anything in this video.
Danger from head to toes - good at armored or unarmored - can be find anywhere.
that's what I had in mind too, though I didn't know the japanese name of it
With their strengh they could probably use a quarterstaff made out of metal
Maces aren't as versatile as swords. They don't have as much range nor as much space to cause damage as swords do. Especially if you're talking about the huge swords he is here.
Minotaurs make the best mounts for gnome
That's sexist.
Nick Dzink this is actually one of the few times its actually rasist
Its neither when your tinker gnome "accidently" blows up the lock on the cage that was keeping the minotaur as prisoner of the drow so he swears a life debt to you, and you come to the agreement that you should really...just be friends. However over the course of that friendship your gnome was injured and couldnt walk, so an exotic saddle was crafted and your friend carries you so you can watch his back. Mutual benefit. Neither racist nor sexist (which didnt even apply)
Surely you mean a gnome rider is the best offensive weapon for a Minotaur?
Carewolf thats a wonderful way to give perspective. brilliant!
The reason why Minotaurs were originally always represented with two headed giant axes was that they were very important in the mythology of Mikene (Miceans I think they are called in English). In their religious stuff, their priests usually wore those kind of axes (made of gold or shining bronze) for it was a simbol of their culture. Thus, both minotaurs and two headed axes were traditionally part of Miceans, so there it is.
7:40 holy nostalgia batman; back when that game first came out I couldn't run it on my computer... so I would just watch that intro cinematic over and over.
what is that game?
@@Fishgoggles It's the opening cinematic for the original Neverwinter Nights
This series is getting more and more ridicules...........
I love it
Iain Hansen This series is getting more and more ridicles* for the nerdz
Can a Minotaur walk backwards with those feet? If not, there's severe limitations to footwork, right?
There's also the issue of blind spots due to the shape of the head.
I wonder the effectiveness of two handed sword techniques.
I think they would largely benefit from a kit built for charging through opposition as when it comes to grappling or extremely close quarters, the minotaur ought to have weight and strength advantage.
If we assume most human weaponry will have problems with minotaur skull, I think we need to focus attacking and guarding primarily on the leg area. I think roman kit would work for a Minotaur if we assume he can't move backwards without turning
I think that cows can move bacward.. I don't see why they could'nt do in fact ^^'
The hooves are gonna make it harder for them to balance, I'd say trying to trip them could be a good option. If all else fails: Magic!
Perhaps their wider area of vision would work better within tight formations rather than acting as a champion?
There is going to be the issue of unit density though due to the size of the minotaur though.
As the vision, yes they have a wider area of perception, but a less good perception of distances, they see in two dimensions, a little like cinema's cameras (but I really don't think it's a good comparaison). APparently, they also have bad accomodations muscles (it's the muscles which allows you to see a clear image), so they see a very troubled image, with less colors than us (they don't have the cells to see red). So, all of that make the bull a very poor see, but very wide and which can hept all the movements.... because it's what an herbivor needs, a very wide vision able to see all the movements of the predators ^^
Can bovines see directly in front of them? I believe I remember hearing that the answer is no- this doesn't hurt most herbivores, who only need to run or occasionally charge, but for a Minotaur it would make it hard to react to an enemy parry or dodge.
thank you for the nostalgia Shad. At 7:04 who remembers Neverwinter Nights ??? Oh man one of my most favorite games ever. So much fun. Good times...good times
thank you! i was looking for what that cinematic was, really cool!
Narg smart! Narg get weapon recommendations from Shad!
Yes, these are the questions that needs to be answered! Brilliant.
In Tormenta, a brazilian RPG scenario, Minotaurs are inspired in Roman Empire, with legions of gladius armed minotaurs.
Someone hire this man for the next big fantasy battle-movie, the battle would be hilariously bloody.
Just a note(don't know if anyone has mentioned it) but the axe most minotaurs would use was the Labrys (double bladed axe) a ceremonial weapon from Minos. More than likely in the tight confines of dungeon or labyrinth the axe would be for baring a doorway etc.
The bearing sword; The giant chair before giant chairs were a thing.
BUT WHAT ABOUT DRAGONS!!!!!!! how would a minotaur fight one?
also I think the best weapon to fight a minotaur would be a cattle prod
Serpent of Yondrin Nope, that will annoy it till the point where it rips your arms of Chewbacca style.
You don't fight them, you run!
Serpent of Yondrin Dwarf tossing?
Since Minotaur is much more steonger, I assume a 400lb longbow or a single person operate ballista?
I think the height advantage is so extremely important it's hard to understate. The opponent being outright unable to hit your head, while you're more able to hit theirs is incredible - especially since with the extra strength you can afford to carry a weapon with even more reach.
For that reason against an armed opponents the horns should NEVER be used - not just 'only situationally' - just never, it's not worth the risk, with that kind of strength you can punch someone to death, even if it breaks your bones against armour - it's better than getting your head lopped off!
Wow, I must really be learning something at the Shadiversity (lol)! When I saw this video, I immediately thought of 3 things: (1) Narnia! (2) Gotta be the long sword or the great sword! and (3) Or maybe the bow? :D
Seriously though, I thought I knew this stuff well, but I had never even heard of some of the bearing sword, or even the long/great sword, till I started watching your videos. As a writer, and as a geek who loves fantasy & sci-fi, I just gotta say thanks for the great videos. I know you're wrong sometimes, everybody is, but you catch yourself where possible and all that. But you have deepened my understanding of both actual historical weapons and how to make my fiction cooler and more "realistic". :)
Can you do a video on what weapons an adventurers should use when doing dungeon exploring or fighting goblins in the caves or dungeons? Because they usually portray in fiction that using long swords and less armor is being used as their main type of equipment.
this manga have answers: mangafox.me/manga/goblin_slayer/
Pichoslav He won't let the gods roll the dice
I would recommend a shortsword a shield (tower shield if it is a narrow cave) and for a general propose chainmale with padded armor under and some plate in vital places, for helmet I would recommend padded and mail coif if you feel like it get an helmet , I would recommend an roman helmet bc of the vision and hearing abilities than will help in a dark cave. (Yeah ik one year later but I only found this today)
I don't think that the udders of female minotaurs could be weaponized but let's look into it just for the fun of it! Science! Fiction that is. Anyway, in order to consider whether the udders of a female minotaur could be weaponized we must understand the science of it, the anatomy. So what is the anatomy of a female minotuar? Is it like that of a cow? If so then I think we have found our answer. The anatomy of an udder (specifically that of the average cow) is quite impressive with the suspensory system being able to easily hold about 50kg (100lbs). And not just that, the udders are largely a system of muscles and tendons and other various systems but that's besides the point. The point is that the udder is surprisingly durable for the task it has. First their is the skin surrounding the outside, not too tough but underneath there is mostly muscle. How can this be? Well the muscle is there so that the udder doesn't (excuse me for being so brash) 'burst' or tear open. You see cows can actually get a lot of milk in the udder and the muscles essentially hold everything together but because of this we can assume that a female minotaurs udders won't be that big of a weakness. However not as strong as the rest of her muscles. At the very least you can expect that a punch or kick to the udder won't do much more than to the stomach. As far as weaponizing I haven't found anything much. I have however found one thing in my studies. The cows udder is actually pretty amazing in a hilarious way. There are lots of muscle cells in the udder and there are even muscles in the teats of the udder that control milk flow. If a female minotaur wanted to she could spray a shorter opponent in the face with milk temporarily blinding them or even a opponent of similar size if the aim is correct and then get in an extra attack. Now I know it's farfetched but come on, we are talking about a mythological creature so let's give it the benefit of the doubt and assume that a female minotaur can do this. The first question that comes to my mind would be armor. What would we do, should a minotaur wear armor? The second would be what kind of impact would this advantage have on the kinds of weapons that a female minotaur can use? I feel that Shad should have the benefit of looking into this and find as much amusement (childish as it may be) as I did. So Shad, I implore you, do some research and use your witty imagination to answer any questions that might come up with this peculiar subject. I challenge you to adress this captivating yet enigmatic question; can female minotaurs effectively use their udders in battle, or will they merely get in the way?
but male minotaurs have nipples where male humans have nipples....
not on their stomachs like cows do.
so....wouldnt that mean female minotaurs would have breasts like a human?
if yes, the real question becomes....
two or six?
I think part of the reason the Minotaur is so heavily associated with the axe is because of the prominence of the labrys, a ceremonial twin-bladed axe, in the Minotaur's homeland of Crete. I love your videos ^_^
A friend, a retired Seal, and I were sparring shield and ax against shield and mace, keeping our weapons high as we each tried to overpower the other. He blocked my mace with his ax, which had a greater flair that the ones you show. He locked my shaft between his blade and shaft and swung in a long downward arc coming away with both weapons. Moral: don't fight a Seal.
I'd like to see Minotaurs use a Morning Star or something similar, which can use the high strength and just crush or at least heavily damage plate armor. Also you could have included the high efficiency of their kicks, that could be a decent fighting tool for them as well. A last idea i have is the double shield style: With brute force, you don't need an edgy weapon as much, so i think that could make sense.
In the end, when you talked about a question that was left, i was expecting "what about dragons?" maybe even with an idea on what Minotaurs would use against dragons...
Love your videos (both for the sincerity and the casual-ness)!
I get so excited every time one of these comes out. Well done, Shad.
That ending was *Utterly fantastic*!
"Mommy, a human broke into the cave!"
"get behind me, children." Utter milk projectiles!
Hey, Shad! I really enjoy watching your videos, and I like the fantasy creatures series in particular.
Have you considered starting a subreddit for video discussions? Your videos, as you have stated previously, are meant to start discussions, and -- let's face it -- the TH-cam comments aren't a great system for that. Reddit's comment trees and upvote-based system would far better facilitate the kind of conversations that your videos spawn. /r/Shadiversity isn't taken, so you should try it out! Each post could be a link to TH-cam, so no view losses, and I'm sure there's plenty of dedicated fans willing to help out and moderate so you can focus on making new videos.
I'm looking forward to tomorrow's video!
I would love a game or a book or something where all of these creatures have the weapons that Shad suggests. That would be so freaking awesome! Shad when your fantasy novel comes out I'm gonna be one of the first to pre order and read the heck out of that sucker!
Shad, Since you have covered a pretty impressive list of staple fantasy races, you could probably make videos talking about what would happen when these races fight each other. You could cover a duel situation and a battlefield situation. We know how they would fight humans, but how well what they fight each other?
A Minotaur with a Sword/Axe and Shield would be an absolute monster. With their strength and size, a shield made to fit their arm would practically be a weapon all on its own, and if you're somehow not dead from being bashed in, then they come at you with a one-handed chop or thrust. Or Halberds... yeah, you mentioned how you can dodge the initial swing of a polearm, but at the same time, due to their large size, the weapon reach they would have with polearms would be terrifying.
Today I learned that Warhammer's Bloodletters wield Bearing Swords. Those hellblades are a good bit taller than they are.