Griffon Minos

Celestial Noble Star, Griffon Minos (天貴星グリフォンのミーノス, Tenkisei Gurifon no Mīnosu) is aprominent character in the Hades arc of the manga and its anime adaptation, sharing a similar role with fellow Specters Wyvern Rhadamanthys and Garuda Aiacos. Together, the trio is collectively known as the 3 Judges of Hell. Minos' power lies in the Celestial Noble Star (天貴星).

His name means King, referring to his status as the most powerful Specter.

Judge, Jury, Executioner
Minos was introduced by Kurumada in vol.24 of his manga.

Easily one of the most powerful warriors in all of the Underworld, Griffon Minos is a high ranking official of Hades' army. Minos is one of the infamous 3 Judges of Hell, and has a fair amount of command over the soldiers that pledge their loyalty to the Greek God Hades.

Amongst all of the Specters in the Hades arc, Minos was shown to be one of the most competent and powerful. He was able to torture Gold Saint Gemini Kanon, and survived an Eighth Sense powered "Aurora Execution" attack from Bronze Saint Cygnus Hyoga.

Griffon Minos' one and only known attack is his "Cosmic Marionettion" technique. As the name suggests, the move allows Minos to wrap his opponent with strings of Cosmo energy, entrapping and turning them into living, human marionnettes. In the anime adaptation, the Cosmic Marionettion was also able to control an enemy's technique, as shown when Minos manipulated the technique's Cosmo energy to reverse Pegasus Seiya's "Pegasus Ryu Sei Ken", deflect Andromeda Shun's "Nebular Chains", and counter both Cygnus Hyoga's "Diamond Dust" and Dragon Shiryu's "Rozan Ryu Hi Sho".

Curtains Up
Minos first appeared fully at the recital held by Silver Saint Lyra Orphee for Hades, with fellow Specters Wyvern Rhadamanthys and Garuda Aiacos.

Along with Garuda Aiacos, Griffon Minos made another appearance later when investigating a confrontation between fellow Judge Wyvern Rhadamanthys and Gold Saint Gemini Kanon. Minos was amused that Rhadamanthys was having trouble defeating the Saint, and, to the Wyvern's dismay, took matters upon himself to finish the fight. Minos instantly trapped Kanon with his Cosmic Marionettion technique, and the Gold Saint became helpless as Minos controlled every joint in his body. To show off the might of his technique, the Judge broke one of Kanon's fingers by forcefully snapping it backwards. Kanon screamed in pain as Minos then twisted and turned Kanon's joints in every angle.

Before Minos could inflict additional punishment, Bronze Saint Phoenix Ikki made his presence known and detached the strings from Kanon's body.

Curtains Down
Minos, in a panel of the manga, volume 24. Drawing by the author Masami Kurumada.Being one of the 3 Judges of Hell, Griffon Minos immediately left to investigate after he sensed 2 powerful Cosmo present in Hades' throne room. As he arrived, he was confronted by Bronze Saints Pegasus Seiya and Andromeda Shun on the courtyard—and they stood no match for him. The Griffon then approached the room, but was caught with a large blast of solar energy—the 12 Gold Saints had completed their task of piercing the Wailing Wall with sunlight. In the anime adaptation, he took on Seiya, Shun, Hyoga, Shiryu and showed dominance over them; the Bronze Saints were only saved by the destructive shock wave of the Wailing Wall.

Although damaged, the Judge was not killed by the energy and quickly chased down the Saints. As all of the other Saints invading Hell (the 13 Gold Saints) had sacrificed themselves in the war, only Bronze Saints Pegasus Seiya, Andromeda Shun, Dragon Shiryu, and Cygnus Hyoga were left to represent Athena's army. By this point, Seiya and Shun had already jumped into the cosmic river behind the Wailing Wall, and Shiryu was caught up with three other Specters. Hyoga decided to stay behind to deal with the Griffon.

The Cygnus attempted the block off the path by utilizing a technique similar to his master's infamous "Freezing Coffin" -- a seal made of thick ice that not even the combined efforts of several Gold Saints could destroy. However, Minos proved his worth by shattering it and sending the Bronze Saint flying. Hyoga retaliated with his "Diamond Dust" attack, but it was easily reversed. With the Cygnus lying on the ground, Minos picked him up using the Cosmic Marionettion. All appeared well for the Specter, until Minos noticed that his cosmic strings had been frozen. Taking advantage of Minos' surprise, Hyoga snapped off the strings and blasted the Judge with the "Aurora Execution".

Even the absolute zero technique proved to be ineffective at defeating the Gryphon. As Hyoga jumped into the cosmic river, he discovered that Minos was still very much alive and waiting—a string from the "Cosmic Marionation" had attached the Specter onto the Saint, and the Judge prepared for a second round within the currents. To both men's shock, however, Minos' Griffon Surplice and body began to dissipate as the flow of the cosmic river crushed him. As Minos was obliterated into atoms, Hyoga realized that he was unharmed because the Cygnus Cloth had been blessed with a deity's blood—Athena's.

Surplice
Minos' surplice represents a Gryphon, the mythical creature often recognized as the King of Beasts in ancient folklore from several Western civilizations.

Previous Incarnations
As revealed by Masami Kurumada in his current work Saint Seiya Next Dimension, Minos' incarnation in the 18th century was known as Griffon Vermeer. Vermeer is identical to Minos in appearance and personality, sharing the same Griffhon surplice and title as one of the Judges of Hell.In Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas,also authored by Masami Kurumada,the specter of Griffon is the same Minos of the original Saint Seiya manga.He battled the previous incarnation of Pisces Aphrodite.