The Cyclops.
My introduction to this one-eyed giant was in Homer’s Odyssey. The cyclops in the story is outsmarted by Odysseus and ends up with a stake plunged into his eye.
The cyclops in the excellent movie The 7th Voyage of Sinbad do not fare much better. An evil wizard attempts to steal a lamp from the cyclops, only to watch it slip through his hands during a hasty escape. The wizard returns, to steal the lamp again from the cyclops, but Sinbad grabs it instead due to his mistrust of the wizard. A cyclops captures Sinbad’s right hand man, and roasts him on a spit over a fire. So, Sinbad blinds the cyclops and lures him to the edge of a tall cliff, pushing him off.
When you only have one eye, it seems to be the perfect target for your enemies to take out and blind you. They should really protect that better.
Anyway, the Sinbad movie ends with a fight between a dragon and a cyclops. Guess who wins. Right, the dragon. The cyclops does put up a good fight. The cyclops is given such robust life by Ray Harryhausen, that you can’t help for root for him to win, making the outcome a bit sad.
The 1983 cult movie Krull, contains a cyclops, who heroically sacrifices himself for the greater good.
One of my favorite songs by They Might Be Giants is Cyclops Rock.
Scott Summers is an X-Man, from Marvel comics, named Cyclops that can shoot a laser blast from his eyes. He wears a visor with a single slot for vision, hence the moniker.
I tell you how to cyclops rock,
But then you go and turn around and break my heart,
You waste my cyclops time,
And mess up my cyclops mind.
Brandon Jimison 