Real Name: Miklos Vryolak
Identity/Class: Human mutate
Occupation: Thief, plunderer, and bodyguard of his father
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Agent of his father;
possibly
Bova, Man-Bull, Matador, and Toro Rojo
Enemies: Iron Man (Tony Stark), Madame Masque (Whitney Frost/Guilietta Nefaria), Jasper Sitwell
Known Relatives: Dr. Vryolak (father)
Aliases: "Miklos the Minotaur" (as called by himself)
Base of Operations: A grotto on an unidentified island in the Aegean Sea
First Appearance: Iron Man I#24 (April, 1970)
Powers/Abilities: After his mutation into the Minotaur, Miklos Vryolak had superhuman strength (Class 10-25) and durability (he could resist a point blank shotgun blast). His transformation also endowed him with the head of a bull, dense horns, and hooves on his feet; apparently having no skills in unarmed combat, he relied on brute strength, as well as charging and head-butting, when battling an opponent.
Although he retained his intelligence and could still speak, the Minotaur was prone to fits of rage against other people due to his freakish transformation.
Height: (Miklos) 5'8"; (Minotaur) 7' (by
approximations)
Weight: Unrevealed
Eye: (Miklos) Unrevealed; (Minotaur) black pupils with green irides and sclera
Hair: Brown
History:
(Iron Man#24 (fb)) - Miklos suffered from an unspecified
disease, which proved beyond modern medicine to cure, so the desperate
Dr. Vryolak used a chemical formula he had discovered in the ruins of a
maze in the Aegean Sea (see comments) to treat his son. Miklos
made an almost immediate recovery, and his strength and vitality were
beyond normal for boys years older than he; but then he began to mutate
into a partial bovine form, taking on the appearance of the legendary
Minotaur.
Dr. Vryolak sent Miklos to nearby villages on numerous raiding missions, to steal money and other valuable objects, all to finance and supply his father with a means to purchase chemicals to produce an antidote for Miklos' mutated condition; but rather than a cure, Dr. Vryolak secretly sought to use the chemicals to build an army of such powerful warriors.
(Iron Man I#24) - Madame Masque washed up on the grotto of the Vryolaks' island after a battle with Mordecai Midas. Dr. Vryolak sold her golden mask to help fund his experiments, and then sent Miklos into another village to gather more valuables for him. Dr. Vryolak promised to turn Madame Masque into another minotaur, as a mate for Miklos; but word of her mask made it to S.H.I.E.L.D., which sent both Jasper Sitwell and Iron Man to apprehend her.
During his search, Iron Man encountered Miklos while he was rampaging in an isolated fishing village, and he nearly exhausted his power fighting the Minotaur. Iron Man was thrown into some flaming wreckage created by their struggle, and Miklos swam back home; but Iron Man used his armor's thermocouple unit to recharge while in the fire.
Iron Man then traced Miklos back to the grotto, where Sitwell also went to try to free Madame Masque. Miklos subdued Sitwell, but saw that, despite her disfigurement, Masque had the love of a normal man (Sitwell). When Iron Man arrived, Miklos fought him again, and their battle shattered a critical support column in the cavern. As the cavern began to collapse, Miklos realized his father's plans at last, and saw that it was wrong to try to make any more like him. Miklos held up the ceiling of the cavern long enough for Iron Man, Sitwell, and Masque to escape, and then allowed it to collapse, crushing both himself and his father.
(Marvel Year-in-Review 1992) - A Minotaur attended the Springdale branch of the Bar with no Name, enjoying the company of Bova, Man-Bull, Matador, and Toro Rojo.
Comments: Created by Archie Goodwin and Johnny Craig.
According to this story, the Labyrinth and the original Minotaur existed in the far Aegean, rather than Crete. What, if any, connection exists between the original Minotaur of legend, or any such being, and the means by which Miklos was mutated is uncertain.
The Minotaur's appearance in the story was slightly different from how he was depicted on the issue's cover (drawn by Marie Severin, see main image).
And maybe that hieroglyphic formula that Dr. Vryolak found in the maze was a leftover experiment from Maelstrom.--Ron Fredricks
IMHO the Minotaur in Marvel Year-in-Review 1992 was most likely Miklos Vryolak, who was small enough to fit into the bar and did fit the lame villain theme more than the actual Minotaur or the monster from Avengers I#17. I know Miklos was supposed to be dead, but so was Asterion.
New and additional images by Ron Fredricks.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Minotaur (Miklos Vryolak) should be distinguished from:
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"Long years ago," Dr. Vryolak (first name unrevealed) was on an island in the Aegean Sea, where he discovered what he believed to be the legendary Labyrinth from mythology (see comments). On a wall at the center of the maze, he found hieroglyphs for a formula to create a super-race, combining the power of beasts with the minds of men. When his son Miklos took deathly ill, Vryolak used the formula to save the boy, but it mutated Miklos into a Minotaur-like creature in the process. Dr. Vryolak pretended to try to find a cure for Miklos' mutation, but actually sought to create an army of such powerful warriors. After Madame Masque washed up in the grotto, Vryolak sold her golden mask to finance his experiments and lied to her, telling her he had a "revolutionary method" to repair her disfigured face -- Vryolak was planning to use the same formula that had mutated Miklos on her, so that his tormented son would have a companion, and he would thus be easier to control. But when Dr. Vryolak was attempting to inject Madame Masque with the formula, Iron Man and Jasper Sitwell prevented him from doing so. When Miklos learned the true nature of his father's plans, he allowed both himself and his father to perish as Dr. Vryolak's cavern laboratory collapsed. --Iron Man I#24 (24(fb), 24 |
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images: (without ads)
Iron Man I#24, cover (main image - Minotaur)
Iron Man I#24, p8, pan5 (headshot - Miklos Vryolak)
Iron Man I#24, p7, pan8 (headshot - Minotaur)
Iron Man I#24, p10, pan6 (Minotaur attacks village)
Iron Man I#24, p8, pan4 (in flashback, Dr. Vryolak mixes formula; hieroglyphs [background])
Iron Man I#24, p8, pan6 (in flashback, Dr. Vryolak works on antidote, as Miklos [background] mutates into Minotaur)
Appearances:
Iron Man I#24 (April, 1970) - Archie Goodwin (writer), Johnny Craig (pencils), George Tuska (inks), Jean Izzo (letters), Stan Lee (editor)
Marvel Year in Review '92 (1992) - Peter Sanderson (editor)
First posted: 03/30/2003
Last updated: 12/22/2023
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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