History Main / Medusa

* ''Film/ClashOfTheTitans1981'' included Medusa as an obstacle for Perseus to overcome -- cutting off her head so he can use it to petrify the sea monster who will eat Andromeda. Her backstory about being cursed is included, though by Aphrodite rather than Athena. She's made even more monstrous than usual -- with a rattlesnake tail that she uses to [[HellIsThatNoise scare people when she's off screen]]. She also becomes an AdaptationalBadass who is pretty nifty with a bow and arrow, hunting down Perseus's comrades one by one. As noted above, this portrayal [[ColbertBump brought Medusa into to pop culture]], in no small part thanks to the special effects creator Creator/RayHarryhausen used to bring her to life.

* ''VideoGame/KidIcarus'': Medusa is the Goddess of Darkness and in opposition to BigGood, [[GodOfGood Palutena]] the Goddess of Light. She serves as the BigBad in the first game and in ''VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising'' -- or at least [[spoiler:for the first part of]] the latter game.

* The episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' where Timmy, Cosmo, and Wanda visit ancient Greece and go to a party at Mt. Olympus features Medusa as a party-crasher.
* One of the students at ''WesternAnimation/GravedaleHigh'', called Dusa for short.
* In ''WesternAnimation/HerculesTheAnimatedSeries'', Medusa was TheWoobie, who makes a [[DealWithTheDevil deal with Hades]] to make herself look like a regular girl.

* Medusa appears in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited'' thanks to Franchise/WonderWoman connecting the Greek pantheon to this show. Characters/{{Batman|TheCharacter}} and Characters/{{Zatanna}} have to be blindfolded in order to meet her as she arrives from her cell in Tartarus. For her good information Lady Justice notes she has shaved off three hundred years from her sentence moving it up to now 4010. Medusa also sounds like she was raised in New York.
* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998''. The show had Sedusa; a character with tentacle-like hair (wasn't snakes but definitely had a life of its own) whose specialty was to, [[MeaningfulName yes]], [[InstantSeduction seduce men]].
* Medusa appears in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/RocketRobinHood'' (episode: "Young Mr. Ulysses").
* The Gorgon sisters in ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs1981'' episode "The Smurf Odyssey".

* ''WesternAnimation/CelebrityDeathmatch'' has Steve Irwin fighting against a Medusa. The fight ends with a ShoutOut to the ending of the original ''Film/{{Clash of the Titans|1981}}''.

* ''Film/ClashOfTheTitans1981'' included Medusa as an obstacle for Perseus to overcome -- cutting off her head so he can use it to petrify the sea monster who will eat Andromeda. She's made even more monstrous than usual -- with a rattlesnake tail that she uses to [[HellIsThatNoise scare people when she's off screen]]. She also becomes an AdaptationalBadass who is pretty nifty with a bow and arrow, hunting down Perseus's comrades one by one. As noted above, this portrayal [[ColbertBump brought Medusa into to pop culture]], in no small part thanks to the special effects creator Creator/RayHarryhausen used to bring her to life.
* ''Film/ClashOfTheTitans2010'' includes Medusa's backstory about being cursed. This time it was Aphrodite rather than Athena[[note]]A deleted subplot would have had Athena and Apollo conspiring to help Perseus behind the other gods' backs; presumably having Athena be the one who cursed her would have put her in DesignatedHero territory.[[/note]] -- and this version also follows the compromise of Medusa being beautiful and terrible. She's a GorgeousGorgon here, but has a GameFace whenever she petrifies people. She also becomes far more sadistic -- cackling cruelly whenever she petrifies someone.

Medusa's popularity is somewhat NewerThanTheyThink. She doesn't appear that often in media made before the 80s. ''Film/ClashOfTheTitans1981'' (mentioned below) featured her as one of the monsters -- and it has been said that modern generations owe their knowledge of Medusa to the film. The other two sisters appear extremely rarely, but are sometimes included alongside Medusa when she's a singular character.

The Gorgon sisters as a whole are the {{Trope Namer|s}} to GorgeousGorgon. Some of the Gorgons' depictions make them SnakePeople.

* And then, there's the 2021 Amazon Prime commercial in which Medusa buys sunglasses, and becomes the life of the party (but doesn't hesitate to petrify someone who is annoying her and her new friends).

* Tess in ''Webcomic/SevenDaysInSilverglen'' is a gorgon. Gorgons in this universe don't seem to be able to petrify people at all; their snakes are just scaly limbs that can feel and taste.

* The song [[https://youtube.com/watch?v=c4WCK8P-LHg "Medusa"]] by folk artist Music/HeatherDale (which provides the page quote) describes a Medusa who has chosen to own her identity as a monster in the face of other people's scorn.

* In Franchise/TheHauntedMansion, a CreepyChangingPainting features Medusa turning into a Gorgon with a flash of lightning.

* ''VisualNovel/AstoriaFatesKiss'' also features the actual Medusa. She is a Gorgon in the middle of a mob war with her sisters, and is a romance option. She has red hair and can turn people to stone with her red hair. However, she hates how people think of her in mythology.

* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' has been known to throw in Medusas in the background, so far without ever being part of the plot. There is one standing in line for the ladies' bathroom in the first dungeon the [=PCs=] explore. One of the bonus strips in the Dragon Magazine book depicts Durkon meeting a medusa who is being employed by a dwarf to create cheap building materials. Not that there are many job openings for medusas:
-->'''Melissa:''' I can't even practice my hobbies in peace! I spend two months carving a dog statue, and PETA is all over me.

* ''Webcomic/TheWotch'' has Scott, who perennially is petrified (and turned into the opposite sex). On one occasion, this happened when his girlfriend was temporarily changed into a Medusa and looked at him, after ''he'd'' been turned into a female elf. They both got better. Naturally, it happens ''just'' after he says, after getting turned into a female elf, [[TemptingFate that at least he can still move this time]].
* One of the ''Webcomic/{{Oglaf}}'' strips featured a man who survived a Medusa encounter by being distracted by her breasts. In the end it is implied that he got more than a RagingStiffie...
* Turns [[Webcomic/TheNonAdventuresOfWonderella Wonderella]] to stone in one strip -- but she's a CardCarryingVillain at worst, can be nullified by the simple expedient of wearing sunglasses, and quite apologetically explains that the power to turn people into stone isn't under her control.
%%* She is the main character of ''Webcomic/OlympusInstitute''.%%ZCE

* ''Webcomic/WapsiSquare'': While Medusa herself has not appeared, her sister Euryale has, and she gives an amusing re-interpretation of the legend. Medusa's form was always that way; it was not a curse or anything, and the petrification was under conscious control. The deal with Poseidon in Athena's temple was consensual, and Athena put a price on Medusa's head as a result. Then, Medusa fell in love with this Perseus guy, so they conspired to fake her death at his hands and lived the rest of their lives selling statues.
* ''Webcomic/TheStoryOfAnima'' has a little girl in a straight jacket with gigantic snakes for hair appropriately named Medusa, or "Medi", for short.

* ''Webcomic/SkinDeep'': Gorgons are a very rare species of AlwaysFemale, extremely long-lived magical creatures resembling human women with snakes for hair, scaly skin, brass claws and great feathered wings, as well as the famous petrifying gaze. The gorgon shopkeeper Madame U, the only gorgon character in the comic, is blind, and as a result does not have her deadly gaze any longer. The eyes and tongues of her snake hair still work fine, though, giving her a limited ability to see, feel and smell the world through them.
* ''Webcomic/LastRes0rt'': Kendril are an alien race who probably inspired myths of Gorgons, though unlike many examples their petrification attack isn’t projected from their eyes, but their [[http://www.lastres0rt.com/comic/hes-not-half-assed-just-four-sevenths/ split-mandibled mouth]], which is usually covered by a mask or veil in mixed company.

[[folder:Western Animation ]]
* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998''. The show had Sedusa; a character with tentacle-like hair (wasn't snakes but definitely had a life of its own) whose specialty was to, [[MeaningfulName yes]], [[InstantSeduction seduce men]].

* All three gorgons appear in ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDragonJakeLong''. Aside from their snake hair, they generally look human, and are both good-looking and vain. In addition to their petrifying gaze (which they must intentionally activate), they're also adept at mind control.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Hurricanes}}'': [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Stavros]] [[BigBad Garkos]] uses the name "Medusa" for some of his business ventures, named his [[OpposingSportsTeam soccer team]] "Garkos Gorgons" and his big sister once dressed herself as Medusa to trick people into thinking players from a rival team were turned into stone.

* One of the students at ''WesternAnimation/GravedaleHigh'', called Dusa for short.

* ''WesternAnimation/JonnyQuestTheRealAdventures'': In "Heroes", Jeremiah Surd makes his Quest World avatar turn into Medusa. In addition to the stone gaze, the snakes could detach and their venom could partially petrify. He manages to petrify Race and Jessie, and his snakes petrify Jonny's hand and foot. Jonny defeats him by making him see his own reflection, which turns him to stone and restores the others.
* Tasha plays this role in ''WesternAnimation/TheBackyardigans'' episode "Sinbad Sails Alone".

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* Medusa from ''Manga/SoulEater'' is a witch with a pronounced snake theme (including having magical snakes stored in her body and a snake-like "vector arrow" attack). Even though she still looks "human" she still [[AnimalMotifs strongly resembles a snake]] especially when she gets her GameFace on.
* ''Manga/RosarioPlusVampire'' has Hitomi Ishigami, a MadArtist who turns unsuspecting people to stone for her private collection. Her snake hair bites people and the venom slowly petrifies them.
* ''Manga/SaintSeiya'': The Silver Saints of Perseus, Algol, has a cloth which includes a shield featuring the head of Madusa (just like in mythology). It can turn people into stone when they look into its eyes. Shiryu tried to defeat Algol with the mirror trick it was believed to have been used against the original Medusa but the Silver Saint, [[ItOnlyWorksOnce already knowing how she was defeated]], didn't fall for it. Shiryu had to [[EyeScream pierce his own eyes]].
* A later book in the ''Literature/{{Bakemonogatari}}'' series is titled "Nadeko Medusa", which focuses on [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Nadeko imbibing the remnants of a snake oddity and transforming into a Snake Goddess]], complete with snakes for hair.

* The little known 1978 anime film Metamorphoses, which is based on ''Literature/TheMetamorphoses'' by Ovid, features Medusa as a blonde girl who can change her appearance into a hideous, fanged monster. It is her decapitated head that turns into Pegasus, not her blood as in the myth. Oddly, Pegasus is also depicted as a hybrid between a horse and snake.

* ''Manga/DropkickOnMyDevil'': One of the characters is a gorgon devil named Medusa, appropriate enough, though is oddly more decked out in Egyptian wear than Greek related and doesn't have the snake hair. However she can still (temporarily) turn humans to stone if she gazes at them. Why? ''Because she's too adorable!''
* ''Manga/AyakashiTriangle'': A medusa is one of the few non-Japanese [[OurSpiritsAreDifferent ayakashi]] we see, which snuck into a crate full of art shipped from abroad to Lu's house. It's a giant fanged head covered in snakes, mostly seeing through their eyes and only exposing the main eyes to use its petrifying vision. The medusa acts [[ItCanThink (mostly)]] feral and territorial, turning ever human around in stone to make a nest. Lu figures they could reflect its power back at it with a mirror, but it simply smashes it before they can try.

* ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'' cartoon captioned "Medusa Starts Her Day" featuring one of his dowdy, bespectacled women showering, wearing a shower-cap through which a snake has poked its head. Another cartoon has Medusa growing up (her snake hair becoming GirlishPigtails, braids, beehive...).

* In issue four of ''Comicbook/TheAvengers'' which featured the Silver Age return of [[Characters/MarvelComicsSteveRogers Captain America]], Cap encounters an alien who turned the other Avengers to stone with a special ray. The alien had been stranded on Earth for thousands of years living in a cave and Cap surmised that the alien's wild hair, made him look like a woman in the shadows and was the basis for the myth about Medusa. Cap got the alien to change the Avengers back and helped him leave Earth and return home. The alien would turn out to belong to the D'Bari, whose planet was later destroyed when the [[ComicBook/TheDarkPhoenixSaga Dark Phoenix]] caused their sun to go nova.
* The Man-Serpents from Marvel's ''ComicBook/ConanTheBarbarian'' comics are an unusual variant, having a medusa's head on the body of a giant snake. They can't petrify, but do have a paralytic gaze.
** An art piece from ''Conan Saga'' #56 features an usual interpretation of Medusa that plays with the trope's tendency to overlap with CuteMonsterGirl, ButterFace and SnakePeople. This medusa looks like a shapely humanoid woman with scaly skin (complete with diamond-patterned markings on her back) and prehensile snake tails for fingers and toes... then you get to her head, which is the head of a giant snake, but still sporting the iconic mane of small snakes. In this particular example, however, Conan has decapitated the creature and is holding its head aloft triumphantly as her body slumps at his feet.

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* Medusa is one of the exhibits in ''Film/SevenFacesOfDrLao'', played by Tony Randall. (The film is based on the novel ''Literature/TheCircusOfDoctorLao''.)

* In Creator/{{Dante|Alighieri}}'s ''[[Literature/TheDivineComedy Inferno]]'', Dante and his guide Virgil are initially barred from entering Lower Hell at the Gate of Dis in Circle Six. Those at the gate threaten to bring out Medusa to turn Dante to stone; Virgil, not trusting Dante to keep his own eyes closed, covers Dante's eyes with his own hands while they wait for divine aid to come to let them pass through.

* Creator/PiersAnthony's ''Literature/{{Xanth}}'' book ''The Source of Magic'' has a Gorgon with snakes for hair. Any man who looks at her face is turned to stone. She is treated sympathetically since she does not want to do this and is forced to live alone; later she marries the Good Magician Humphrey after he fixes her problem by turning her face invisible.
* Creator/ThomasLigotti has a short story called "The Medusa" about an AuthorAvatar who [[GodIsEvil worships the titular character.]] [[TemptingFate Guess what happens.]]

* Literature/OlogySeries: Gorgons, native to Europe, Africa and the Americas, resemble human women with huge, batlike wings and snakelike hair. Their gaze is hypnotic rather than petrifying, and they use it to keep prey still while they spray it with poison from their "hair".
* ''Literature/AHippieInTheHouseOfMouse'': Disney releases a film about Medusa in 1996 roughly taking the place of ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}'' and ''[[WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDameDisney The Hunchback of Notre Dame]]'' which diverges heavily from the original myth, starting with giving Medusa a heavy dose of AdaptationalHeroism and having a romance with Perseus instead of being slayed by him.

* ''Series/LegendsOfTheHiddenTemple'': One of the later rooms is Medusa's Lair, where contestants have to properly place snakes into Medusa's head.

* ''Series/{{Atlantis}}'': Medusa is initially a normal young woman with whom Hercules falls in love after the heroes rescue her from the cult of the Maenads.
* ''Series/BigWolfOnCampus'': Medusa is the MonsterOfTheWeek in an episode. She looks like a regular human, and can turn people or objects to stone by making eye contact. Merton falls victim to her.
* ''Series/OnceUponATime'': Medusa is present in the Enchanted Forest. It turns out that her head can't be cut off, but she also ''isn't'' immune to her own gaze. Petrifying herself also seems to restore her other victims back to life.
* ''Series/BloodTies2007'': In "[[Recap/BloodTiesS1E9StoneCold Stone Cold]]", Medusa is a club owner who turns men who fall for her beauty into stone. She is a love interest of Mike's, until Vicky saves the day.
* ''Series/Charmed2018'': The first season has an interesting approach to the myth, where Medusa actually turns those who won't look at her to stone. Macy "defeats" her by acknowledging her pain.
* And then, there's the 2021 Amazon Prime commercial in which Medusa buys sunglasses, and becomes the life of the party (but doesn't hesitate to petrify someone who is annoying her and her new friends).

* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' features the actual Medusa (or, more precisely, her Heroic Spirit, i.e. superpowered ghost) as the Servant Rider, under the backstory of having been born as an incomplete goddess that was mocked and cursed. While her eyes still turn people into stone, her "snake hair" is explained to be a negative exaggeration of her really long and luxurious hair... however, it turns out it would be more accurate to call this Medusa as the one ''before'' she became a monster. She also has the ability to summon her son Pegasus as a mount. One summonable version of her, an Avenger, in ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' (specifically summoning her as the Gorgon of legend) ''does'' have the snakes for hair (more accurately, "hair feelers" with snake head-shaped ends) and all versions of her can apparently shift to [[SuperPoweredEvilSide the monster she eventually became at the end of her life at the cost of her sanity]], which can only be described as a [[EldritchAbomination giant monster made of snakes that can shoot lasers from its single eye]]. A third summonable version, a Lancer, appears in the form of a child that represents her time as a goddess, wielding Harpe, the weapon that in myth was used by Perseus to decapitate her. A fourth version, a Saber, looks similar to the Rider but wields the golden sword of her son, Chrysaor.

* ''Fanfic/PowersOfInvisibility'' has Madusa, an akuma modeled on Medusa, who turns people to stone via EyeBeams.

* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' features the actual Medusa (or, more precisely, her Heroic Spirit, i.e. superpowered ghost) as the Servant [[spoiler:Rider]], under the backstory of having been born as an incomplete goddess that was mocked and cursed. While her eyes still turn people into stone, her "snake hair" is explained to be a negative exaggeration of her really long and luxurious hair... however, it turns out it would be more accurate to call this Medusa as the one ''before'' she became a monster. She also has the ability to summon her son Pegasus as a mount. One summonable version of her in ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' (specifically summoning her as the Gorgon of legend) ''does'' have the snakes for hair (more accurately, "hair feelers" with snake head-shaped ends) and all versions of her can apparently shift to [[SuperPoweredEvilSide the monster she eventually became at the end of her life at the cost of her sanity]], which can only be described as a [[EldritchAbomination giant monster made of snakes that can shoot lasers from its single eye]]. A third summonable version appears in the form of a child that represents her time as a goddess, wielding the weapon that in myth was used by Perseus to decapitate her.

Much later, in the first decade AD, the Roman poet Ovid wrote a different version where Medusa was a virgin priestess of Athena, but her incredible beauty attracted the attentions of the god Poseidon. Depending on the version of the story, she either reciprocated, and (with a little help from her sisters) let Poseidon into Athena's temple and slept with him on the altar, or [[DoubleStandardRapeDivineOnMortal was simply raped by the god]]. In both versions, Athena, pissed that her priestess not only broke her vows but did the nasty in her temple, punished her by turning her into her new hideous form and banished her to a desolate island until Perseus slew her.

* The Franchise/MarvelUniverse used to feature a supervillain/superhero named ComicBook/{{Medusa|MarvelComics}}. Her superpower was [[PrehensileHair long hair that could be used as tentacles to grab people]]. She was in the Comicbook/FantasticFour for a while. She was eventually PutOnABus to go and live in space with her fellow [[ComicBook/TheInhumans Inhumans]], and mostly appears in Marvel Cosmic books these days.

** During the (first) Creator/GregRucka run, Franchise/WonderWoman fought "Medousa", who has the backstory and sisters from myth as well as the requisite stone-gaze, ''plus'' the claws and wings, ''[[ComboPlatterPowers plus]]'' a CompellingVoice to force people to look at her. [[spoiler:Diana protected herself by [[EyeScream using a piece of the snake-mane to squirt acidic venom into her own eyes]], and then decapitated Medousa.]]

* In issue four of ''Comicbook/TheAvengers'' which featured the Silver Age return of ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, Cap encounters an alien who turned the other Avengers to stone with a special ray. The alien had been stranded on Earth for thousands of years living in a cave and Cap surmised that the alien's wild hair, made him look like a woman in the shadows and was the basis for the myth about Medusa. Cap got the alien to change the Avengers back and helped him leave Earth and return home. The alien would turn out to belong to the D'Bari, whose planet was later destroyed when the [[ComicBook/TheDarkPhoenixSaga Dark Phoenix]] caused their sun to go nova.

* ''TabletopGame/InNomine'': Gorgons are children of humans and ethereal spirits -- which can include anything from animate dreams to efreet and valkyries to the surviving pagan gods -- who changed to be born as warped, terrifying monsters. In essence, they're the ethereal equivalent of the celestial-born [[OurNephilimAreDifferent Nephallim]]. Like the Nephallim, most live in isolation, hunted by angels, demons, and humans, but they're not more inherently evil than any other mortal.

* ''VideoGame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic III'' and ''IV'' had Medusas as minions of the Dungeon faction. ''II'' had them as neutral (recruitable) creatures. Several of the VideoGame/MightAndMagic games also had medusas. ''VII'' even used the same ''sprite'' as Heroes III.
* ''VideoGame/KingsQuestIIIToHeirIsHuman'' features a Medusa antagonist in the desert. The hero needs a mirror to defeat her. He also needs to face away from her, or else he's petrified instantly. If he has the mirror and the player types "use mirror" fast enough, the Medusa will see herself and be turned to stone. If he doesn't have it, or doesn't use it quickly enough, she will catch up and force him to look at her. The AGD FanRemake adds a new wrinkle. She is in a cave instead of the open desert, and there is more than one way to solve the puzzle -- the traditional mirror, or a test of character.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleOfSeasons'': The dungeon boss Medusa Head, fighting Link with petrification powers and damaging EyeBeams.
* ''VideoGame/{{Majesty}}'': Medusae are a type of enemy, who not only have snakes for hair, but are also serpent from the waist down. ''The Northern Expansion'' introduces the stronger Greater Gorgons.

* In ''VideoGame/CastleCrashers'', Medusa appears as a level boss. Snakes jump from her hair and attack the player, and she has an attack that can turn players to stone. [[spoiler: When she's defeated, Medusa herself is turned to stone.]]
* ''VideoGame/RingsOfMedusa'' does not feature any character with any traits of the mythological Medusa. While "Medusa" is the main villain, she never comes into play herself, and she doesn't have any traits beyond being evil, in a strictly ProtagonistCenteredMorality sense of the word.
* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' games with medusas as monsters include ''Curse of the Azure Bonds'', ''Gateway to the Savage Frontier'', ''Pool of Radiance'', ''Pools of Darkness'', ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights'', and ''Secret of the Silver Blades''
** In ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights'' expansion pack ''NeverwinterNights/ShadowsOfUndrentide'', the Interlude introduces a medusa who inflicts an inescapable case of petrification on the heroes. [[spoiler:The BigBad of the campaign is the medusa Heurodis, who served as an apprentice to one of the few mages to survive the fall of the ancient empire of Netheril, the {{lich}} Belpheron. With Belpheron destroyed by [[AncientOrderOfProtectors the Harpers]], Heurodis now intends to reclaim the empire's power for herself so that she can TakeOverTheWorld.]]
* The ''VideoGame/AdventuresOfLolo'' games have a bust of Medusa as an enemy. It paralyzes and kills Lolo if he steps into its line of sight. The only way to get past the busts is to block their line of sight with an egg or Emerald Framer.
* ''VideoGame/NetHack'': Medusa is a boss.

* ''VideoGame/DayDreaminDavey'': Medusa is one of the Gorgon Sisters that Davey must defeat in one Ancient Greece stage.
* ''VideoGame/DesktopDungeons'': Medusa is the boss form of the Gorgon enemy.
* ''VideoGame/DarkWizard'' has the Medusa Head as an item that can be used to petrify enemies. There's also Gorgon's Tails, which are the antidote to petrification.

* ''VideoGame/Dota2'' features Medusa as a hero that can be picked. She is notoriously one of the [[MagikarpPower hardest carries]] in the game, capable of 1v5ing entire enemy teams if sufficiently decked out with items. Her ultimate ability, appropriately named ''Stone Gaze'', petrifies anyone who looks at her when activated. Her lore, however, is a variation of her myth: Medusa has an unnamed mother and her snake form wasn't because the curse from Athena or Poseidon flirting with her (in fact, the two didn't exist in the Dota-verse despite Zeus existing) but some raiding humans attacked her home island and captured her sisters because they're immortal, and yet she's left behind due to her mortality and she asked her unnamed mother for power to rescue and avenge her sisters, leading to her snake-woman form.
* ''VideoGame/DragonUnit'' has Medusa as a boss in the third stage, where she resembles a giant snake-woman with green skin.
* ''VideoGame/AgeOfMythology'':
** Choosing to worship Hera when you advance to the Mythic Age lets you train Medusae at your temple. Yes, Medusae, [[AKindOfOne plural]]. As expected, their special ability lets them turn one enemy unit into stone (except Siege Weapons and Heroes). Their scientific name is ''Gorgon chrysaorus'' (while the genus is obvious, the species derivates from Chrysaor, her son with Poseidon).
** Hades players can get Perseus as a hero in the Mythic age. He carries a Medusa head that he similarly uses to petrify enemy units.
* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones'' depicts Gorgons as SnakePeople with snaky hair. They hatch from eggs and use petrification attacks.

* ''VideoGame/{{Smite}}'': Medusa is playable and, for once, able to go toe to toe against the ones who caused her misery: Poseidon and ''especially'' Athena (ironically, she's also an excellent partner to play with Medusa). She's not a Goddess, but gets the pass for being one of the more famous monsters in mythology (when they have already included monsters like Scylla or Demigods like Hercules). Medusa is portrayed here with a porcelain emotionless mask over her face that hides a more snake-like face underneath it. Like in ''Film/ClashOfTheTitans1981'', she makes use of a bow (but can also [[AbnormalAmmo loose vipers with it]]). Her snake heads can also spit out acid, and her ultimate is removing her mask to cause her signature effect to enemies, which damages and temporarily stuns all enemies facing her as she does it (doing less damage and slowing enemies facing away). Being killed by her ultimate leaves a statue of the dead god behind -- these statues can be broken, interacts with her acid spitting by helping spread it over a larger area when it hits them, and even potentially (though it's very difficult and not very likely) break the line of sight for Medusa's ultimate for players to avoid it in a future situation.
* ''VideoGame/{{Scribblenauts}}'': Medusas are among the creatures you can summon . True to the myth, they can turn other characters to stone. You can also summon only a Medusa's head, which Maxwell himself can use to petrify others.
* ''VideoGame/DragonsCrown'' has Medusa as the boss for Route B of the Ancient Temple Ruins. Here, she has the lower body of a snake, scaly green skin, and monstrous clawed hands in addition to the traditional snakes for hair. In addition to her petrifying gaze, she could also summon snakes and shoot EyeBeams. Completing the Request to defeat her solo reveals her history. [[spoiler:Combining both of the classical Medusa origin stories, this Medusa is the youngest of the three Gorgon sisters who desecrated the resident Athena {{Expy}}'s temple by meeting with men there, whereupon [[DisproportionateRetribution she was turned into a monster as punishment]]. She then hid herself away with her sisters, who stayed with her out of pity, until she started showing up again at the temple.]]

* In ''VideoGame/{{Hades}}'', the heads of dead gorgons persist in the Underworld, haunting the Fields of Asphodel where Zagreus may occasionally encounter them as an enemy. They hover over the river Phlegethon, and launch projectiles that petrify Zagreus on hit. Nyx also employs a much friendlier gorgon head, called Dusa, as a maid[[note]]in other words, ''[[PunnyName maid-dusa]]''[[/note]] in the House of Hades, who can be interacted with between runs. It's strongly implied that Dusa is really the severed head of Medusa herself, but [[MysteriousPast her past is unknown]] and Dusa will only make vague comments about how she's a very different person than she used to be.
* ''VideoGame/HolyUmbrella'' has a villainess named Donderadusa, who, aside from magically [[TakenForGranite turning people into stone]], looks and acts much more like a stereotypical CatGirl than a classical Gorgon.

* The ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' fangame ''VideoGame/TheGeniusOfSappheiros'' has them appear [[spoiler:as the youngest of the Gorgon sisters responsible for the main game's incident, Litos Medousa Gorgon, complete with the ability to petrify with a gaze (and in fact, of all means of inflicting petrification in the game, she has the most powerful infliction effect through one of her Last Spells). Once the Gorgon sisters are defeated by Reimu's party, she and her sisters take on the role of guardian goddesses in Gensokyo. In the ''Lingering Summer Heat'' expansion, she is a member of the starting party, working to resolve the incident to avenge her sister, who was one of the victims.]]

* ''VideoGame/PlantsVsZombies2ItsAboutTime'' has the Zombie Medusa from the AncientGrome set of enemies. She comes in pushing a tough petrified zombie, and is capable of turning any zombies or zomboids facing her into durable stone obstacles, making her an ObviousRulePatch against the otherwise-overpowered Caulipower (which hypnotizes zombies to fight the horde) and Zoybean Pod (which spawns zomboids). Fortunately, she cannot petrify plants, and in a case of DevelopersForesight, if the Snap Pea eats her and spits out her head, it'll turn any zombies near the impact into stone obstacles.

* One of the current plot arcs in ''Webcomic/IrregularWebcomic'' concerns Medusa.

* Medusa appears in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited'' thanks to Franchise/WonderWoman connecting the Greek pantheon to this show. Franchise/{{Batman}} and ComicBook/{{Zatanna}} have to be blindfolded in order to meet her as she arrives from her cell in Tartarus. For her good information Lady Justice notes she has shaved off three hundred years from her sentence moving it up to now 4010. Medusa also sounds like she was raised in New York.

* The Gorgon sisters in ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs'' episode "The Smurf Odyssey".

* ''Fanfic/HereBeMonsters'': This is what [[WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles Violet Parr]] is [[ForcedTransformation transfigured]] into -- although referred to as a gorgon, WordOfGod name-drops Medusa and her origin myth when giving the reasons for this choice of monster form. Violet's gorgon form is based on ''Film/ClashOfTheTitans2010''' take on Medusa, being a GorgeousGorgon with her [[AloofDarkHairedGirl long, dark hair]] replaced by live snakes and a rattlesnake-like tail instead of legs.

* ''Fanfic/HereThereBeMonsters'': This is what [[WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles Violet Parr]] is [[ForcedTransformation transfigured]] into -- although referred to as a gorgon, WordOfGod name-drops Medusa and her origin myth when giving the reasons for this choice of monster form. Violet's gorgon form is based on ''Film/ClashOfTheTitans2010''' take on Medusa, being a GorgeousGorgon with her [[AloofDarkHairedGirl long, dark hair]] replaced by live snakes and a rattlesnake-like tail instead of legs.

* ''Fanfic/HereBeMonsters'': This is what [[WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles Violet Parr]] is [[ForcedTransformation transfigured]] into -- although referred to as a gorgon, WordOfGod name-drops Medusa and her origin myth when giving the reasons for this choice of monster form. Violet's gorgon form is based on ''Film/ClashOfTheTitans2010''' take on Medusa, being a GorgeousGorgon with her [[AloofDarkHairedGirl long, dark hair]] replaced by live snakes and a rattlesnake-like tail instead of legs.

* ''LightNovel/KagerouDaze'': Azami, an immortal being as old as the planet whose long black hair grows as snakes. She can petrify people with eye-contact, but she controls when/if that happens. [[spoiler:She also happens to be the source of the cast's eye powers and creator of the Kagerou Daze world.]] She and her descendants (daughter Shion and granddaughter Mary) are called 'medusae' as a species, and regarded as monsters. Shion and Marry also inherited her abilities, but they get weaker as the medusa-blood is diluted (Shion is a HalfHumanHybrid, hence her daughter is only 1/4 medusa) -- by Marry's generation, the most she can do is freeze people in place for a few minutes at a time and make her hair wiggle like snakes when highly emotional.