Shadow of the Colossus/Characters: Difference between revisions

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== Main characters ==

* [[The Archer]]: Wander is a hell of a shot with a bow {{spoiler|and in the [[New Game+]], a spear}}, but can't use a sword to save his life. See also [[Possession Implies Mastery]] below.

** [[Horse Archer]]

* [[Badass Normal]]: Wander stumbles often, has poor balance, is untrained with his newly-acquired magic sword, and can only hold onto ledges for no more than a few minutes, yet still manages to murder his way through a veritable menagerie of mythic monsters. On the other hand, he can shoot arrows accurately while riding at full gallop, which takes ''years'' of training in real life. He's also able to take a multi-story fall and essentially ''walk it off''.

** [[Badass Abnormal]]: Wander actually gets stronger with each Colossus he kills, plus heals automatically from his wound. This strength is due to the fact that after every kill, {{spoiler|he gets possessed by more of Dormin's essence}}.

* [[Cursed with Awesome]]: {{spoiler|At the end of the game, Dormin possesses Wander's body completely and turns him into what is presumably Dormin's true form, which the player has full control over. The only problem is he's so big compared to the hall he's in that he can't stand up to his full height and has to crawl (slowly) and can't turn around properly}}.

* [[Determinator]]: Is he ever; since he's not the best fighter, this is his biggest strength in fighting the Colossi.

* [[Evil Makeover]]: If you pay careful attention, you can actually see Wander start changing from a clean, flushed appearance to a dark, dirty, and pale one as early as Gaius. It only becomes apparent near the end that something is really wrong...

* [[Girly Run]]: Though in his defense, he is holding stuff.

* [[Holler Button]]: There's a button used to make him call Agro's name. The voice clip varies depending on how far Agro is - up to a whistle instead if Agro's far enough - and he sounds kind of panicked during battle. The whistle has a second function, if Agro's not around for a fight: it can enrage the Colossi into making an attack, the sonic equivalent of pointlessly bouncing arrows off of them.

* {{spoiler|[[Horned Humanoid]]: Starts growing a stubby pair at the end, and in baby form has some fairly long ones}}.

* [[Marked Change]]: The more Colossi he kills, the more dark marks start appearing on his body. Not good for the health.

* [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero]]: If you ask Emon.

* [[No Stat Atrophy]]: The upper limit of Wander's increasing health meter and strength meter will never decrease.

** Actually subverted: eating the poisonous fruits in the Secret Garden does decrease his health and strength meter!

* [[Automaton Horse]]: Agro's a slightly less extreme example of this. While she can run pretty much as long as you want her to, she does spook, limp (for a short while) if she takes damage, and if left alone will go off to find grass to eat or water to drink. All in all though, Agro plays the trope straight.

* [[Badass Normal]]: Talk about an [[Made of Iron|iron]] [[Just for Pun|horse]]...

* [[Determinator]]: Gets blown up, knocked over by creatures the size of buildings, and {{spoiler|''falls down a massive ravine.'' This gives her a ''limp''}}.

* [[Friendly Fireproof]]: Played straight with the sword, but averted with the arrows. Get the sword out and no matter how many times you strike Agro it doesn't hurt the horse. But get out your bow and arrows and aim them at Agro, and Agro will whinny and gallop away.

* [[Gameplay Ally Immortality]]: The worst that your faithful steed ever suffers is a temporary limp that she instantly recovers from [[That Came Out Wrong|the moment you mount her]].

* [[Made of Iron]]

* [[Nonhumans Lack Attributes]]: Especially if you think Agro's either a stallion or mare.

* [[Old Save Bonus]]: If you have save data for ''[[Ico]]'' on your memory card, Agro will have a white patch of fur resembling ''Ico'''s "I" on her forehead instead of the normal blaze.

* {{spoiler|[[Unexplained Recovery]]: At the end. Possibly a [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming]]}}.

 

=== Mono ===

* [[Disturbed Doves]]: One new dove appears at Mono's shrine after each Colossus you defeat.

* [[Empty Shell]]: She's dead the entire game, and we don't know anything about her. Wander's drive to save her and someone's - possibly Emon's - use of her as a [[Human Sacrifice]] are the only hints we have as to why she may or may not have been important to these characters.

* [[Human Sacrifice]]: In the backstory. At least, according to Wander, who may or may not be a reliable source; we never find out the details.

* [[The Lost Lenore]]: Wander thinks of her almost all the time and sets off the events of the game out of love for her. Also she's young, beautiful, tragic, etc.

* {{spoiler|[[Unexplained Recovery]]}}: Courtesy of Dormin.

 

=== Dormin ===

* [[Hint System]]: Dormin appears before each Colossus fight to give hints about 'thy next foe'. Dawdle for too long during a Colossus battle, and Dormin's voice will give you cryptic hints telling you how to defeat it.

* [[Horned Humanoid]]

* [[Our Demons Are Different]]: Either a very powerful, ancient demon, able to manipulate and possess people and raise the dead, or a [[Physical God]].

* [[Physical God]]: Has enough sheer power for one, in any case, and when using personal pronouns referring to the entity, They're capitalized. May instead be a Physical Demon.

 

== The Colossi ==

Sixteen stone giants that must be slain to break the seal on Dormin.

 

 

* '''Colossus One''': Valus

* [[Puzzle Boss]]: Pretty much every Colossus is this trope in some form or another, requiring a bit of deduction and observation before you can even get on them, but a few stand out: see below.

* [[Red Eyes, Take Warning]]: This is how you know you've got a Colossus' attention. Which tends to follow shortly by you being under their foot.

* [[Skippable Boss]]: Averted. Each time you start a game, if you want to see any Colossus after the first one, you'll have to kill them in order. Even if you only want to unlock the Time Attack mode, which lets you face any Colossus in any order and gives you the option of quitting rather than seeing the battle through to the end, sooner or later, you'll have the complete a game first, and that involves killing them.

* [[Soul Jar]]: The Colossus idols, and by extension the Colossi themselves, contain the sixteen pieces of Dormin's soul. As each Colossus is destroyed, a piece of Dormin transfers from the Colossus to Wander. When all the Colossi are destroyed, the sixteen fragments are reunited and Dormin inhabits Wander's body. When Wander is killed by Emon's men, Dormin then borrows his body and appears in a large Colossus-like form.

* [[Horned Humanoid]]: Has two stone horns on the top of its head, though they seem to have broken off at some point in the past (or else they always look like that). Fortunately, it never uses them in battle.

* [[A Load of Bull]]: Valus' design takes after the minotaur.

 

=== Quadratus - Taurus Major (The Great Bull) ===

* [[Tactical Suicide Boss]]: {{spoiler|When you stand in front of him, he raises his paws to crush you, leaving his weak points vulnerable}}.

* [["Wake-Up Call" Boss]]: Very easy in subsequent playthroughs, but on the first, it is the one that will probably teach you the power of grip strength.

 

=== Gaius - Terrestris Veritas (The Earthen Truth) ===

* {{spoiler|[[Didn't Need Those Anyway]]: The first thing the player needs to do is trick Gaius into breaking its own armour, leaving a gap for Wander to climb up later}}.

* [["Wake-Up Call" Boss]]: What with its dangerously accurate and immense club.

 

=== Phaedra - Equus Prime (The Great Warhorse) ===

Colossus number four. Resembles a horse... complete with dangling "reins". Albeit with crablike legs.

* [[Collapsing Ceiling Boss]]: A (thankfully minor) variation. When it stomps on your shelter, the ceiling releases huge amounts of dirt and dust which fall on Wander's head. It's a wonder the place doesn't collapse, since Phaedra's main line of defense is surprisingly vicious for such a slow, ponderous creature.

* [[My God, What Have I Done?]]: Up to this point, the other Colossi simply grunt or roar when you stab their vitals. Phaedra ''[[Hell Is That Noise|screams]]''.

* [["Wake-Up Call" Boss]]: Quite fiddly for newcomers, and also introduces the first puzzle that doesn't involve bouncing arrows off a Colossus.

 

=== Avion - Avis Praeda (The Delta Phoenix) ===

* [[High Altitude Battle]]: One of the highlights of the game.

* {{spoiler|[[I Shall Taunt You]]: Just being there isn't enough to get it in reach}}.

 

=== Barba - Belua Maximus (The Goliath) ===

 

Colossus number six. Resembles a ''bearded'' minotaur, or a behooved man-giant if you want to quibble over [[Insistent Terminology|terminology]].

* [[Boss Corridor]]: This is the first time one is used in the game, unless you count the walkway leading up to Avion's arena. Quite effective, too: the location is [[Nothing Is Scarier|dark and silent]].

* [[A Load of Bull]]: Like Valus, Barba has horns and hooves and looks strongly like a minotaur. Thankfully, unlike Valus, it has no club with which to smash you. Nope. It has its fist.

** [[Fauns and Satyrs]]: The alternative.

* [[Recycled in Space]]: As far as appearance goes, it's Valus {{smallcaps|with a beard!}}, but lacking the club. Not that it needs one.

 

=== Hydrus - Draco Marinus (The Leviathan) ===

 

Colossus number seven. Calls to mind a catfish crossed with an electric eel.

* [[Jaws First Person Perspective]]: As part of its [[He Was Right There All Along]], Hydrus emerges from the bottom of the lake when you enter the water. The camera looks up at Wander from below Hydrus' perspective, though not actually through its eyes.

* [[Psycho Electric Eel]]: More closely resembling an elongated catfish than an actual electric eel, Hydrus nonetheless has three glowing rods on its back that release a ring of electrical discharge around it whenever they penetrate the surface. {{spoiler|Stabbing it behind each rod not only disables the electric attack, but also deals damage to Hydrus}}.

* [[Shock and Awe]]: The first Colossus to use electric attacks, though definitely not the last.

* [[Stock Ness Monster]]

* [[Underwater Boss Battle]]: In part, though fortunately, Hydrus comes up to the surface once you grab it. [[Fridge Logic|Quite why it does so is another matter]].

 

=== Kuromuri - Perietinae Umbra (The Wall Shadow) ===

* [[Technicolor Toxin]]: Yellow poison gases.

* [[Wall Crawl]]: Despite its presumably immense weight, Kuromuri can effortlessly crawl up the sides of the arena in order to reach you, though it doesn't like doing so unless you are clearly out of reach, and it knows where you are. If it can see you from the ground, it'll shoot projectiles at you. If it can't, but it spotted you through one of the archery windows, it'll clamber up to poke its head through and fire off a series of shots. {{spoiler|When it does this, Wander can nip around to another vantage point and shoot arrows into its legs, or shoot its soft underbelly through the archery windows. Fire enough arrows in the right places, and Kuromuri will fall, leaving its underbelly exposed}}.

 

=== Basaran - Nimbus Recanto (The Storm Echo) ===

* [[Shock and Awe]]: Basaran is the second Colossus Wander confronts that is capable of launching projectiles at him. In this case, it's a quadruple whammy of lightning bolts that shake the screen when they hit the ground (or Wander). Bizarrely, they come from four spikes on Basaran's chin.

* [[Turtle Power]]: The shell on its back is segmented and has unusual projections and spikes on it, but otherwise, Basaran looks very much like a giant tortoise. {{spoiler|It also has few handholds, so staying on when Basaran rights itself is a tricky business unless you know where those handhelds are}}.

 

=== Dirge - Tigris Harenae (The Sand Tiger) ===

* [[Sand Is Water]]: It has to be magical, given its size: Dirge seems to treat sand as its natural home, and moves so quickly while swimming through it that Agro can barely keep ahead of it even while racing at full gallop. Dirge can't go through solid rock, though, which is the only place you can sit and think while still in the fight {{spoiler|... before the answer hits you}}.

* [[Worm Sign]]: One way to keep track of Dirge is to watch out for geysers of sand as Dirge moves beneath the surface. This is the usual way of tracking Dirge at a distance. When it gets close, the back fin pokes through the sand and once it gets closer still, its head comes above the surface.

 

=== Celosia - Ignis Excubitor (The Flame Guardian) ===

* [[Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?]]: Celosia is {{spoiler|terrified of fire}}.

* [[You Get Knocked Down, You Get Back Up Again]]: [[Subverted Trope|Subverted:]] it will reserve its attack until Wander is getting up, giving the player a ''[[The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard|very]]'' limited window of opportunity to dodge roll out of the way, even on Normal. Too soon, and it will turn towards you at the last moment; too late, and you'll just get hit.

 

=== Pelagia - Permagnus Pistrix (The Great Basilisk) ===

* [[Eyeless Face]]/[[The Faceless]]: This is the only Colossus that doesn't even bother with [[Red Eyes, Take Warning|eyes]]. Instead, you tell if it's aggressive if its ''horns'' turn from blue to red. See the Your Mileage May Vary page for more information.

* [[A Load of Bull]]: Pretty much a gigantic bull-turtle hybrid with glowing horns.

* [[Puzzle Boss]]: Especially noticable since the [[Colossus Climb]] turns out to be only part of the puzzle.

* [[Shock and Awe]]: It has "control over thunder", though that should be "lightning" as it generates lightning bolts from between its horns. The resulting blasts can knock Wander pretty far back, but Pelagia avoids [[That One Attack|having that one attack]] like Basaran has by being in an arena with plenty of cover. {{spoiler|The attacks can't shock you if you dive below the water}}.

* [[Turtle Island]]: Though not a turtle, Pelagia does have a shell on its back which resembles Basaran's. Unlike Basaran's shell, it has green grass/moss/hair growing on it and fewer spikes. Dormin's intro even says "paradise floats on its back."

 

=== Phalanx - Aeris Velivolus (The Tail Drifter) ===

* [[High Altitude Battle]]: Another of the highlights of the game, though be careful on this one as, unlike Avion, {{spoiler|Phalanx thinks [[Sand Is Water]] and will dive down if you pester it for too long}}.

* [[Sand Is Water]]: When it's done, it's as exaggerated as Dirge's ability. Phalanx dives through the desert floor as fluidly as it soars through the skies. {{spoiler|And manages to keep its air-sacs intact while regenerating them from arrow puncture}}.

 

=== Cenobia - Clades Candor (The Destruction Luster) ===

* [[Pint-Sized Powerhouse]]: {{spoiler|He can knock down some of the larger pillars, which are about as thick, large, and sturdy as Valus' leg}}. He's only the size of an SUV.

* [[You Get Knocked Down, You Get Back Up Again]]: Like Cenobia,[[Subverted Trope|subverted]]: it will reserve its attack until Wander is getting up, giving the player a ''[[The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard|very]]'' limited window of opportunity to dodge roll out of the way, even on Normal. Too soon, and it will turn towards you at the last moment; too late, and you'll just get hit.

 

=== Argus - Presidium Vigilio (The Sentinel) ===

* [[Recycled in Space]]: Watch Argus carefully, and you'll notice his A.I. is quite similar to that of another Colossus: {{spoiler|Valus}}.

* [[Turns Red]]: It has a certain body part wounded as part of the strategy, but to then exploit this opening, the player has to provoke it into using a powerful attack, which is difficult to dodge, while standing dangerously close.

 

=== Malus - Grandis Supernus (The Grand Celestial) ===

* [[Colossus Climb]]: Yes, we realize this is the point of the entire game. Malus still stands out as an example because he is fucking HUGE. ''Don't fall''.

* [[Death Course]]: You'll have to do a particularly sadistic one to even get to it. In itself, the route isn't perilous, since the walkways and ridges are clear, but Malus makes it a nightmare of a journey with its one particular attack.

* [[Leitmotif]]: Malus' theme is surprisingly subdued, with an emphasis on choir and church bells and a lot of low violin music.

* [[Malevolent Architecture]]: Malus is similar to a lighthouse. What with its seaside location, glowing bangles [[Dissimile|and probably being able to sink an entire fleet of ships]].

* [[The Very Definitely Final Dungeon]]: Both in the lead up and as part of the actual Colossus.