Τάλως
In the ancient Cretan dialect, Talos means 'sun' and was the name given to a creation presented by Hephaestus to King Minos of Crete.
Given that Hephaestus rarely made gifts that weren't imbued with some magical or otherwise really cool power, this was no exception. Another myth calls Talos a gift from Zeus to Europa after having snatched her for you-know-what.
In a nutshell, Talos was a robot. He was one of several mechanical creatures of Greek mythology. Their creation is usually attributed to Hephaistus or to Daedalus and Talos is the most famous of those created by the god and found in Minoan legend. He was an important figure in Minoan tradition and coins depicting him have been found at Phaestus.
Talos was a bronze android of gigantic proportions and his mission was to protect the kingdom and enforce the law. Apart from having unusual
dimensions, he was also capable of circling Crete thrice daily, which, if we apply simple arithmetic, means that he averaged a speed of approximately
250 km/h (150 mph). Other sources give a more leisurely three times a year.
He defended the island from enemy navies by throwing huge boulders and searing them with hot breath. He was also pretty hot himself and anything that he embraced became toast very quickly. He was unarmed, not that he needed any more lethal capabilities, and all he carried with him was the set of copper tablets on which the laws were written.
In line with his divine origin, Talos' demise was a pretty big deal too and the human superheroes of the time were responsible for it. There are
several versions. In the first the sorceress Medea helped the Argonauts, who were returning from their quest in Colchis, to destroy Talos by
blinding him with a mist (ECM?), OR she immobilised him, OR she removed a vital pin, screw or nail from his foot (pick
one, any one).
Whether it was Medea pulling the plug or Poias' arrow striking the creature's ankle after Medea made sure that they could get Talos before Talos
got them, someone got the stopper that kept the giant's single reservoir of life-substance inside him. In one version, his blood flowed out like molten metal; in an other he bled ichor, the blood of the gods. In yet another version, Poias' arrow caused Talos to fall off the cliff he was defending.
While it's prima facie a myth in character with Minoan sun worship--the 5th century CE Alexandrian scholar Hesychius convincingly describes him as a fallen sun god--I'd say that the myth of Talos, like many Minoan-era tales, has a strong apocryphal element to it, and should probably be considered related to the circle of Atlantean legends based on Egyptian tradition. Perhaps a better scholar than I am has more to say on this subject.
The name Talos, from this mythical giant, was given to the American RIM-8 nuclear-capable SAM that was a key weapon of the United States Navy
from 1959 to 1979 and was used in the Vietnam war against aerial and onshore targets.
Robocop, anyone?