Shadow of the Colossus/Characters: Difference between revisions

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** [[Deconstructed]]: {{spoiler|The girl is saved, but he died, and also possibly committed genocide}}.

* [[And Then John Was a Zombie]]: One interpretation of the ending is that Wander becomes the seventeenth Colossus after Dormin possesses him.

* [[Anti Hero]]: [[Sliding Scale of Anti Heroes|Type III or IV]]. He'd probably be a lot less morally ambiguous if he didn't live in such a [[Crapsack World]].

* [[Anti-Hero]]: [[Sliding Scale of Anti-Heroes|Type III or IV]]. He'd probably be a lot less morally ambiguous if he didn't live in such a [[Crapsack World]].

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

** [[Horse Archer]]

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* {{spoiler|[[Disney Death]]:}} In a sense.

* [[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...

** [[Eerie Pale Skinned Brunette]]: How he appears as the game goes on.

** [[Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette]]: How he appears as the game goes on.

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

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

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* [[Made of Iron]]: He's got this going for him, at least. He can walk off electrocution, poison, explosions, shrapnel, and 3-4 story falls. Somewhat less evident in Hard Mode.

* [[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.

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

* [[Necromantic]]

* [[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!

* {{spoiler|[[One Winged Angel]]: A rare ''protagonist'' version. Wander, when possessed by Dormin, transforms into Dormin's physical form itself.}}

* {{spoiler|[[One-Winged Angel]]: A rare ''protagonist'' version. Wander, when possessed by Dormin, transforms into Dormin's physical form itself.}}

* [[Pint Sized Powerhouse]]: Relative to the Colossi. His strength/stamina meter grows with each defeated Colossus and this growth carries over to following play-throughs. By the sixteenth play-through, the strength meter grows to cover the screen.

* [[Pint-Sized Powerhouse]]: Relative to the Colossi. His strength/stamina meter grows with each defeated Colossus and this growth carries over to following play-throughs. By the sixteenth play-through, the strength meter grows to cover the screen.

** Not even just compared to the Colossi. Wander isnt even shoulder high to his own horse, and at the end he is small even compared to the other humans. Wander is either in his young teens, or a ''very'' small 20ish.

* [[Possession Implies Mastery]]: Averted! Wander is quite possibly the only sword-wielding video game character in existence who ''isn't very good with a sword''. He swings randomly, and is thrown off balance by the simplest attempts at offence. Most of the actual damage he does with it is inflicted with deliberate, clumsy stabs. Meanwhile, he's almost supernaturally steady with the bow, showing he has had a lot of practice with it.

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* {{spoiler|1=[[Raise Him Right This Time]]/[[And Your Reward Is Infancy]]: He gets turned into a baby at the end, but whether or not it's to redeem him is left up to interpretation.}}

* [[Screw Destiny]]: Whether Mono's fate was [[Curse|cursed]] or not, Wander is going to do whatever he can to reverse her death.

* [[Spell My Name With a The]]: Because of ambiguous characters in it, his name is variously translated as "The Wanderer", "Wander", and in what is almost certainly a mistranslation, [[Gender Blender Name|Wanda]]<ref>"Wander" and the transliteration of "Wanda" have the same characters in Japanese</ref>.

* [[Spell My Name With a "The"]]: Because of ambiguous characters in it, his name is variously translated as "The Wanderer", "Wander", and in what is almost certainly a mistranslation, [[Gender Blender Name|Wanda]]<ref>"Wander" and the transliteration of "Wanda" have the same characters in Japanese</ref>.

** The official Sony Entertainment Japan page of the [[PS 3]]-based re-release spells his name "Wander" in Romanji.

* [[Tragic Monster]]: When he's possessed, at least from Lord Emon's point of view.

* [[Unwitting Pawn]]: Lord Emon tells him that he's been used {{spoiler|just before having him shot and stabbed.}}

* [[Well Intentioned Extremist]]: From Dormin's (and maybe even his own) point of view.

* [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]]: From Dormin's (and maybe even his own) point of view.

* [[What the Hell Hero]]: Lord Emon's reaction when he finds that all sixteen idols have been destroyed. Emon also implies that Wander ''stole'' that sword, which explains why he's so clumsy with it.

* [[What the Hell, Hero?]]: Lord Emon's reaction when he finds that all sixteen idols have been destroyed. Emon also implies that Wander ''stole'' that sword, which explains why he's so clumsy with it.

* [[Villain Protagonist]]: Again, from Emon's point of view.

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* [[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]].}}

* [[~~Videogame~~ Caring Potential]]: Press the O button while standing next to Agro and Wander will pat his steed affectionately. It doesn't even have a significant gameplay purpose<ref>it does refill Wander's grip gauge more quickly</ref>, it's mostly just there to feel nice.

* [[Video Game Caring Potential]]: Press the O button while standing next to Agro and Wander will pat his steed affectionately. It doesn't even have a significant gameplay purpose<ref>it does refill Wander's grip gauge more quickly</ref>, it's mostly just there to feel nice.

=== Mono ===

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Appears to be some kind of holy man and/or knight. His mask shows up in Wander's memories to describe the Forbidden Lands where Dormin dwells. {{spoiler|Turns out he's tailing Wander. He shows up at the end of the game with a retinue of armoured warriors who at least attempt to kill Wander, and Emon himself casts a magic spell to open a vortex to either re-seal or destroy Dormin.}}

* [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu]]: {{spoiler|If They survived, Dormin's definitely going to be feeling ''that'' in the morning.}}

* [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?]]: {{spoiler|If They survived, Dormin's definitely going to be feeling ''that'' in the morning.}}

* [[Hero Antagonist]]: From his own perspective, Lord Emon is the [[Big Good]] coming in to clean up the [[Villain Protagonist]]'s mess.

* {{spoiler|[[Hopeless Boss Fight]]: Emon is the final boss, and the player cannot defeat him or his men.}}

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* [[Contractual Boss Immunity]]: Wander gets {{spoiler|exploding arrows and the spear of thunder}} in the [[New Game Plus]] and they still can't be used to actually kill the Colossi. See also [[Annoying Arrows]] in general. [[Justified Trope]], since the sword, the only weapon capable of killing the brutes, holds some mystical power, heavily associated with the Colossi. Dormin admits that the sword is the only thing Wander has that can make the Colossus quest possible.

* [[Damage Sponge Boss]]: Once you're actually up on them, most bosses become this.

* [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu]]: Especially against the bigger, fiercer ones, like Barba, Basaran, and Malus.

* [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?]]: Especially against the bigger, fiercer ones, like Barba, Basaran, and Malus.

* [[Eyes Are Unbreakable]]: This is why [[Go for The Eye|Go For The Eyes]] is a useless strategy in all but one special case.

* [[Eye Lights Out]]

* [[For Massive Damage]]: Sometimes it's alarming how much damage a single stab can do to a Colossus' weak point. As you'd imagine, the later bosses usually require more stabs to bring them down. In Hard Mode again, the Colossi show more resistance {{spoiler|and sometimes have more weak points to attack}}.

* [[He Was Right There All Along]]: Nearly all the Colossi follow this trope in some form. For instance, Phaedra looks like a heaped ruin, but as you appoach, it wakes up and stands up to face you. Other Colossi burst out from hiding places to meet you, or simply enter the scene completely oblivious to your presence and only attacking once you get their attention. See also [[That's No Moon]].

* [[High Pressure Blood|High Pressure]] [[Black Blood]]: Gushes all over the place when Wander hits a Colossus' weak spot. May be justified by the fact that [[Otherness Tropes|their biology is totally unlike that of true living creatures]]. The black smoke that leaks out of the same wounds is also a bit of a clue.

* [[High-Pressure Blood|High Pressure]] [[Black Blood]]: Gushes all over the place when Wander hits a Colossus' weak spot. May be justified by the fact that [[Otherness Tropes|their biology is totally unlike that of true living creatures]]. The black smoke that leaks out of the same wounds is also a bit of a clue.

* [[Implacable Man]]: Excepting Avion, Hydrus, Phalanx and Malus, every Colossus will do its best to keep up with you once you're spotted. If you run to the other end of the arena, it will slowly and laboriously turn around and amble towards you with only one aim in mind. Even if you run somewhere out of reach, it will rarely venture far away and may even make obvious frustrated gestures (Phaedra, for example, rears up and stamps heavily if it cannot reach you).

* [[Marathon Boss]]: On your first playthrough, at least, though even after you've figured out the strategy for beating each one, ''executing'' that strategy is not a quick affair. On a second playthrough, some of them still do take quite a while.

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* [[Single Specimen Species]]: Each of the Colossi is completely different from the others.

* [[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.

* [[Square Cube Law]]: Sadly, for all that they are slow-moving and conservative in their movements, it's unlikely that creatures the size and shape of the Colossi could exist, never mind actually walk. Probably explained by [[A Wizard Did It]] reasons, since their world has obvious supernatural elements incorporated into it.

* [[Square-Cube Law]]: Sadly, for all that they are slow-moving and conservative in their movements, it's unlikely that creatures the size and shape of the Colossi could exist, never mind actually walk. Probably explained by [[A Wizard Did It]] reasons, since their world has obvious supernatural elements incorporated into it.

** The upright, sometimes thin and pointed, limbs of some, for instance, would be dangerously inefficient at balancing their immense weight. This is particularly severe in Phaedra's case, where nearly all its multi-tonne weight is focused on four ridiculously thin points at the ends of its legs. A creature that size shouldn't be able to get up on such spindly feet, and using them as a stamping weapon would probably risk throwing it off balance.

* [[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.

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* [[Uniqueness Value]]: What makes killing them such a [[Player Punch]], since once they're down, no one else will get to see them in their glory again.

* [[Wake Up Call Boss]]: Depending on a given player's specialties, any of Colossi Two through Five will likely end up being one.

* [[What Measure Is a Non Human]]: If you subscribe to the idea that the Colossi are not living things, or else don't technically die {{spoiler|since they seem to be fragments of Dormin's soul, each fragment of which is released when all the weak points of any one Colossus are neutralised}}. In any case, this seems to be Wander's attitude towards them.

* [[What Measure Is a Non-Human?]]: If you subscribe to the idea that the Colossi are not living things, or else don't technically die {{spoiler|since they seem to be fragments of Dormin's soul, each fragment of which is released when all the weak points of any one Colossus are neutralised}}. In any case, this seems to be Wander's attitude towards them.

* [[What Measure Is a Non Unique]]: Every Colossus is different. Some fierce (Cenobia, Celosia, Dirge), some majestic and powerful (Phaedra, Gaius), some terrifying (Pelagia, Quadratus). And you have to kill them all.

* [[You Get Knocked Down You Get Back Up Again]]: If Wander gets injured and knocked down, the offending Colossus will make no further offensive effort unless either Wander finally gets back up or the player leaves him lying down for too long. [[Combat Pragmatist|Except in Hard Mode.]] As detailed in their sections, Cenobia and Celosia end up being nasty subversions.

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Colossus number two. Resembles a gigantic bull.

* [[~~Everythings~~ Better With Cows]]: Definitely not if the cow in question is [[Attack of the Fifty Foot Whatever|fifty feet tall]], made of stone and weighs as much as a cathedral.

* [[Everything's Better With Cows]]: Definitely not if the cow in question is [[Attack of the Fifty Foot Whatever|fifty feet tall]], made of stone and weighs as much as a cathedral.

* [[Mighty Glacier]]: Even for a Colossus, Quadratus is ''slow''. Once it does catch up to you, it takes a ridiculously long time to initiate its attack, and its aim is abominable. You can just stroll away from it if you get bored.

* [[Nightmare Face]]: The mask.

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** [[Hellish Horse]]: Slow-moving, skeletal-looking and alien even by Colossus standards, Phaedra is perhaps the eeriest boss you'll encounter in this game.

** [[Mix and Match Critters]]: A giant horse with crab-legs.

* [[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]]''.

* [[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.

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* {{spoiler|[[Annoying Arrows]]: Annoying enough to force it to attack you.}}

* [[Big Badass Bird of Prey]]: ''Very'' big. Its tail alone is about fifty feet long.

* [[Feathered Fiend]]: A [[Double Subverted]] Type C example: Despite its menacing appearance, Avion is one of the least aggressive of the Colossi ... ''until you make it angry''. It's [[Took a Level In Badass|even worse]] in Hard Mode, where, if it misses Wander, it will turn around and divebomb him again, ''and'' it's a [[One Hit Kill]] if it hits you.

* [[Feathered Fiend]]: A [[Double Subverted]] Type C example: Despite its menacing appearance, Avion is one of the least aggressive of the Colossi ... ''until you make it angry''. It's [[Took a Level In Badass|even worse]] in Hard Mode, where, if it misses Wander, it will turn around and divebomb him again, ''and'' it's a [[One-Hit Kill]] if it hits you.

* [[Giant Flyer]]: It enters the arena by soaring in and perching on a tower in the middle of the lake.

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

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* [[Lightning Bruiser]]: Celosia will come as a shock to anyone who has gotten used to fighting the [[Mighty Glacier]] Colossi so far.

* [[Panthera Awesome]]: Though many fans also likens him to a [[A Load of Bull|bull]].

* [[Pint Sized Powerhouse]]: Relative to the other Colossi, that is - it's still pretty big next to Wander, and very aggressive.

* [[Pint-Sized Powerhouse]]: Relative to the other Colossi, that is - it's still pretty big next to Wander, and very aggressive.

* {{spoiler|[[Ring Out Boss]]: At the beginning of the battle, Celosia is invincible. In order to defeat it, you have to trick it into falling off the cliff. The impact smashes its armour, exposing the weak point on its back.}}

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

* [[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.

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** [[Full Boar Action]]: For someone else, YMMV.

* [[Palette Swap]]: He has different armor and fur than Celosia, but not much other distinction.

* [[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.

* [[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.

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* [[Sad Battle Music]]: Unlike the others that preceded it, Malus has a single, sad musical score that does not change while the battle progresses. It's oddly fitting, considering that {{spoiler|you lost your horse just before getting there}}, and there's nowhere else to go but to defeat the boss and finish the game.

* [[Sealed Evil in A Can]]: Maybe, considering you can only reach it by opening a sealed door after killing all the others.

* [[Self Imposed Challenge]]: [[Nintendo Hard|Reaching his feet without using the cover provided.]] For the record, ''it's been done,'' and is in fact a favored tactic of [[Speed Run|speedrunners]]. It first involves running in ''[[Violation of Common Sense|a straight line towards him]]'' by following an ''extremely specific'' course and accompanying set of instructions. Practically ''every single move'' you make has to be pixel-perfect or else you'll get blown away by Malus' deadly-accurate bolts.

* [[Self-Imposed Challenge]]: [[Nintendo Hard|Reaching his feet without using the cover provided.]] For the record, ''it's been done,'' and is in fact a favored tactic of [[Speed Run|speedrunners]]. It first involves running in ''[[Violation of Common Sense|a straight line towards him]]'' by following an ''extremely specific'' course and accompanying set of instructions. Practically ''every single move'' you make has to be pixel-perfect or else you'll get blown away by Malus' deadly-accurate bolts.

* [[Shock and Awe]]/[[Balls of Fire]]: Malus' one attack is a blast of what are either lightning bolts ore fireballs from its left hand. Unlike the lightning bolts of Pelagia or Basaran, Wander has no hope of withstanding the attack out in the open and must stay behind cover whenever it is fired.

* [[Stationary Boss]]: Malus never moves from its position at the other end of the arena; a look at its feet shows they are bolted to the platform. This doesn't make it any less dangerous, but it does contrast strongly with the other Colossi.