Centaur
ケンタウロス
Half-horse/half-woman archers that can be encountered in RED Company/Riverhill Software/Vic Tokai's Princess Minerva (プリンセス・ ミネルバ) NEC PC-9801 (1992), NEC PC Engine CD (1994), and Nintendo Super Famicom (1995) role-playing video games, which are based on the manga of the same name by Maisaka Kou. I should note that, while I translated her name as Centaur, as that's what most of my English-reading audience are probably familiar with, the Japanese use the original Greek Kentauros (Κένταυρος); however, given that she's female, it should really be the feminine form Kentaurides (Κένταυρίδες). In the Super Famicom version, the monsters Centaur and Silenus both share the same game sprite, although they differ in color and combat capability. In Greek mythology, Silenus (Σειληνός) was the old drunken satyr companion/tutor of the god of wine and ecstasy, Dionysus, not a centaur, and male, not female, so he probably wouldn't be too enthused about the sex change and extra legs (but, then again, Dionysus and his followers were wild and adventurous, so maybe Silenus wouldn't mind exploring his feminine side after all). Sileni were often depicted with the attributes of a horse (although, even then, they're still shown to be bipeds, not quadrupeds), instead of a goat, as is usually the case with satyrs, so, from that perspective, one can readily understand the association that the game's developers made with centaurs when it came time to recycle sprites in order to pad out the bestiary while conserving memory.
Materials:
Newsprint, white paper, white glue, acrylic paint, sewing thread, marker, and ink.
Dimensions:
5.2 cm (2.1") x 5.3 cm (2.1") [widest point x highest point]
Time:
Two days: October 30 and 31, 2013.
Silenus digital palette swap mockup.
Minerva (ミネルバ), top-right, Bluemoris (ブルーモリス), center-right, and Tyrolia (チロリア), bottom-right, face off against what I'm guessing (the monsters' names aren't displayed in the screenshot) are a Golden Slime, top-left, a Centaur, center-left, and a Holstein or Big Jersey, bottom-left, in the original Japanese 1992 NEC PC-9801 version of Princess Minerva.
Centaur battle sprite attack animations (front and back views), from the 1994 PC Engine CD port of Princess Minerva, that I animated using the GIMP software. Note that the rear-view sprite is supposed to be slightly larger than the front-view one--enemies on the bottom of the screen, which face away from you, the player, are a bit taller/bigger, to give the illusion of depth (see screenshots below).
Lacroia (ラクロア), center-left, Minerva (ミネルバ), center, and Elan (エラン), center-right, are surrounded by two Centaurs (ケンタウロス), top-left and bottom-right, a Sabre Tiger (サーベルタイガー) top right, and a Shaman(ess) (シャーマン), bottom-left, in the Japanese 1995 Nintendo Super Famicom port of Princess Minerva.
Tyrolia (チロリア), center-left, Olin (オーリン), center, and Elan (エラン), center-right, wage battle against a Cherry Slime (チェリースライム), top-left, a Silenus (シノレス) top right, and a Dryad (ドリュアド), bottom-right, in the Japanese 1995 Nintendo Super Famicom port of Princess Minerva.
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Any and all copyrighted imagery, terminology, etc., depicted on this page belongs to its respective holders/owners, namely RED Company/Riverhill Software/Vic Tokai.
The repeating background pattern is Princess Minerva's coat of arms from the Super Famicom video game.
The midi music playing is the introduction theme from the Princess Minerva Super Famicom video game.