- For an overview of minotaur pages, see Minotaur.
The Minotaur is one of the beastmen races in Ashan that were created by the Wizards of the Seven Cities to serve as replacements for the rebellious orcs and goblins. They were large, strong creatures that were half-man and half-bull. Wielding giant axes, minotaurs were created to serve as shock infantry, entering combat along with the centaur cavalry.
The minotaurs eventually ended up in Ygg-Chall with the dark elves, but there is some confusion as to how exactly that happened.
According to their in-game description in Heroes of Might and Magic V, the minotaurs fled from the Silver Cities hid underground to escape the wizards. They ended up in Ygg-Chall, where the dark elves enslaved them and used them for the most degrading and tedious tasks. The minotaurs hoped to earn their freedom through hard work and loyalty, while the dark elves feared that they would one day seize it instead.
According to the Ubisoft website and the Ashan Compendium, the minotaurs were a gift from the Crimson Wizards of Karthal, a diplomatic gesture that angered their neighbors in the Silver Cities, the Holy Falcon Empire, and Irollan. When the dark elves received a thousand minotaurs, they appreciated their strength and loyalty, and decided to grant them freedom instead of using them as slaves.
While most dark elves appreciate the minotaurs’ strength and reliability and consider them valuable allies, a few clans, notably the Soulscars, tend to see them as little more than slaves. Minotaurs often fight battles in gladiatorial arenas to prove their strength and impress future employers, mostly becoming bodyguards and protectors, which dark elves consider it wise to hire minotaur bodyguards.
The way minotaurs are treated by dark elves, depends on the individual dark elf. It is usually determined by who the current Lord of the Clans is, the clan they serve, and the individual dark elf. They were treated best during the rule of Raelag and Menan.