Typhon

Typhon is a monstrous creature from Greek mythology.

Description
Typhon's torso was human-looking, albeit with wing. His main head was that of an ass, with razor-sharp teeth and venom that flowed from his eyes. Ninety-nine other, smaller heads of every beast imaginable, covered the Typhon's body and spewed molten lava and red-hot rocks from their mouths. Serpents grew from his fingers. Typhon's legs consisted of hundreds of serpents' tails wich coiled beneath him. In some versions, Typhon looks much more human. One constant, however, is that Typhon was so huge that his heads touched the stars.

History
Typhon and his mate, Echidna, were born from Gaea (Mother Earth) and Tartarus (the Pit) to combat the gods in revenge for locking the Titans into the depths of cosmic prison.

Typhon fathered such deadly offspring as the Cerberus, Hydra, Chimaera, Sphinx, Orthus, Ladon, and the Nemean Lion. Then Typhon, his wife, and their young fought the gods. At first the gods were so terrified by Typhon's sight that they ran, but Zeus turned and fought. The others were inspired and followed his example.

Typhon was so massive he threw whole mountains at the gods. After being nearly mortally wounded by Typhon, Zeus came into battle the next time determined. When Typhon threw Mt. Aetna at Zeus, Zeus hit the mountain with one hundred well-aimed thuderbolts and it fell back on Typhon, trapping him underneath. To this day, Mt. Aetna boils with the lava of Typhon's many mouths, and ash is stirred up during Typhon's outbursts of rage.

'Typhon' comes from the Ancient Greek 'typhein', meaning 'to smoke'.