Giant

A relief depicting a snake-legged giant on the ground

The giants are a race of supernatural beings, resembling humans, who can be found in numerous mythologies.

History

Mesopotamia

In Mesopotamian mythology, the legendary hero Gilgamesh was said to have slain the giant Humbaba and then used one of the giant's teeth to make the sword known as Humbaba's Fang.

Greece

In the Greek mythology, the giants were born from Gaia as the blood of Uranus rained down on her after Kronos castrated Uranus. At some point, the description of the giants in Greek mythology came to include them having serpents for legs. Best known for their battle against the Olympians, the giants sought to avenge the Titans the new gods had overthrown in the Titanomachy, but failed.

According to the story as relayed by Barnabas to the Spartan misthios Kassandra during the Peloponnesian War, the Greek island of Mykonos was built on or out of the corpses of the giants slain by the legendary hero Herakles.

Norway

In Norse mythology, the jötnar who primarily lived in the icey realm of Jötunheimr were often colloquially called "frost giants" and were lead by their king, Suttungr. The Muspels, a jötnar splinter group commonly termed "fire giants", lived in the fiery area of Múspellsheimr, ruled by Surtr. Both factions had regular conflicts with the Isu Odin and the other members of the Æsir in Asgard.

Ireland

In Irish mythology, the ancient Formorian called Balor was interpreted as a giant. Odin once fought it, but was either unable or unwilling to kill the old deity. Various tales also said the folkloric hero Finn McCool was the giant responsible for building the Giant's Causeway in northern Ulster.

Legacy

Due to giants' mythical significance, people of unusually large stature were often described as or given the epithet of "the giant", as was the case with the French guard Antoine Moreau during the Hundred Years' War.

Known giants

Mesopotamian mythology

• 
  Humbaba

Greek mythology

• 
  Ephialtes
• 
  Orion
• 
  Otos
• 
  Polybotes
• 
  Porphyrion
• 
  Tityos

Norse mythology

• 
  Ægir
• 
  Angrboða
• 
  Gunnlöð
• 
  Hyrrokin
• 
  Jörð
• 
  Surtr
• 
  Suttungr

Irish mythology

• 
  Balor
• 
  Finn McCool

Behind the scenes

The temples in Assassin's Creed: Odyssey have fictional bronze pedimental sculptures or murals depicting the Gigantomachy, the battle between the Giants and the Greek gods in Greek mythology. Furthermore, pedimental sculptures were made of marble and not bronze.

Gallery

• 
  A relief featuring snake-legged giants standing
• 
  Mural of snake-legged giants battling

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Origins (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: Odyssey (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: Valhalla (as jötnar)
  • Wrath of the Druids
  • Dawn of Ragnarök
  • The Forgotten Saga (mentioned only)
• Discovery Tour: Viking Age (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Forgotten Myths
• Echoes of History (mentioned only)