Shadow of the Colossus/Characters: Difference between revisions

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== Main characters ==

 

== 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) ===

* [[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) ===

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

* [["Wake-Up Call" Boss]]: The first of several Colossi to be fought in a water arena. It also requires some very quick maneuvering to get between its weak points, if you can get onto it in the first place.

 

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

** [[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) ===

* [[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) ===

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