Nemean Lion
Generation VII · Invulnerable lion of Nemea
The lion of Nemea wore a golden hide no mortal weapon could pierce, and its claws cut sharper than swords as it terrorized the Argolid. Heracles, finding arrows useless, cornered the beast in its cave and strangled it with his bare arms for the first of his twelve labours — ever after wearing its impenetrable pelt as his famous armor. Hesiod's 'she' is famously ambiguous here: the mother by Orthrus may be Chimera or Echidna, depending on the reading.