Typhon

Typhon was the last son of Gaia, conceived with Tartarus as a final challenge to the Olympian order. He was described as impossibly vast — his head brushed the stars, his arms could span east to west, and instead of legs, he had coils of vipers. He had a hundred dragon heads, each breathing fire, and his voice contained the sounds of every animal.

When Typhon attacked Olympus, the gods fled in terror to Egypt, disguising themselves as animals. Only Zeus stood to fight. Their battle shook the cosmos — Zeus hurled thunderbolts while Typhon ripped up mountains and threw them. At one point, Typhon seized Zeus, cut out his sinews with an adamantine sickle, and imprisoned him in a cave. Hermes and Pan recovered the sinews, and Zeus resumed the fight.

Finally, Zeus trapped Typhon beneath Mount Etna in Sicily. The mountain's volcanic eruptions were explained as Typhon struggling beneath the weight, still breathing fire in his eternal prison. From Typhon and his mate Echidna came many of mythology's worst monsters: the Hydra, Chimera, Cerberus, and the Sphinx.