The Fascinating Lore Of Shadow Of The Colossus
'Shadow Of The Colossus' Starts With The Main Character Committing A Sacrilegeous Act By Trespassing On Forbidden Lands
Wander rides across a long bridge on his horse, Agro, entering the forbidden lands. That's where the story begins. Wander carries an ancient sword he's stolen, the only weapon capable of destroying the colossi of these foreboding territories. He also carries the lifeless body of his love, Mono, hoping to find a way to resurrect her in the place he must not go. As Wander enters the land, he's pursued by wraiths, which he cuts down with the sword. In doing so, a great power stirs, and god addresses him.
The Abandoned God Dormin Appears To Wander
Wander's wielding of the ancient sword is what captures Dormin's attention, and the god speaks to him from above. Dormin answers Wander's pleas to bring Mono back to life by informing the man of the idols surrounding the Shrine of Worship in this forbidden land, how these idols represent 16 colossi roaming this forgotten place. If Wander slays all 16, the idols will be destroyed, and a power capable of reviving Mono will be unleashed. But in the process, Dormin warns him, Wander could suffer grave consequences.
With Each Colossus Killed, Mono Regains More Life While Wander Becomes Weaker
Wander will let nothing stand in his path to returning his love to life, so you set out on your quest to begin killing colossi, one by one. With each giant beast slain, an idol is destroyed, and the pale form of Mono regains some of her color. However, with each life taken, so too does Wander lose color, becoming paler, and even streaked more and more with great black veins crisscrossing his skin.
The Colossi Come In All Shapes, Roaming Their Own Territories In Solitude
The colossi are quite varied. Some fly, some swim, some navigate the earth with two, four, or no legs. They are all, obviously, gigantic, though they vary a lot in size, too. Some are humanoid, bipedal creatures, a blend of both man and beast, while others are purely bestial, and still others perhaps neither. What they do share in common is that they are comprised of both biotic and inanimate pieces. They have organic elements like fur or eyes, but they also have inorganic elements, like rock, and even great chunks of architecture.
The known Colossi are called Valus, Quadratus, Gaius, Phaedra, Avion, Barba, Hydrus, Kuromori, Basaran, Dirge, Celosia, Pelagia, Phalanx, Cenobia, Argus, and Malus. As each one is slain, its body is left as a great mound upon the earth, and from each of those remains, a column of light stretches to the heavens.
Eight Colossi Already Passed From The World And Their Remains Litter The Grounds
While Wander is set on finding and destroy 16 colossi, throughout the world of the game, you can discover evidence that more of the beasts once existed. Hacker Michael Lambert dove into this game deeper than perhaps anyone before, dedicating six years to exploring every single inch of the world. What he discovered, among many other things, is that there are eight "discarded colossi" sprinkled throughout the world, the remains of eight more of the hulking beasts that presumably lived at some point.
Many Of The Colossi Do Not Want To Fight You; By Killing Them, You Are Causing The Extinction Of A Species
While some of the colossi are aggressive, others do not engage Wander until he attacks. The plight of these colossi are especially heartwrenching; their loneliness is evident in the bleak, emptiness of the world around them. Add to these majestic creature's grief and suffering by antagonizing and ultimately killing them makes the protagonist less sympathetic, and the player almost woeful for completing the only tasks set forth in the game. What's more, there are only 16 colossi remaining in this world, and the imminent sense of their extinction is a palpable cloud over the experience.
A Shaman Pursues Wander, Driven To Stop The Man From Completing His Quest
After Wander kills the 12th colossus, the player becomes aware of Emon's pursuit. Emon is a shaman with a mysteriously deep knowledge of the forbidden lands and the secrets contained within. He leads a group of warriors to hunt down Wander and stop him from completing "the forbidden spell," a powerful magic unleashed with the destruction of the Colossi. Lord Emon knows all this because he is the one responsible for creating these monsters by splitting Dormin's essence.
Dormin Was Once The One True God Of The Land
Long before the events of the game, the people of the world within worshipped Dormin as their God. But as is the way of humanity, this God fell out of favor. He was not simply forgotten, but the humans came to view him as an evil being, the horns on his head evidence of his malevolence. It fell to the great shaman Lord Emon to deal with this great and terrible entity, so he used his prodigious magical abilities to split the entity known as Dormin into pieces, and from those pieces, forging the Colossi.
The Forbidden Spell Marked By The Destruction Of The Colossi Would Return Dormin To The World
What Wander does not realize is that each colossus contains a portion of Dormin's being. With each one slain, that piece of Dormin's entity becomes part of Wander, explaining why he grows paler and more ravaged with black streaks as his quest progresses. Emon knows all of this, and it's Dormin's return to this world which he seeks to prevent. Unfortunately, he and his warriors do not catch up with Wander until he's defeated the final colossus.
Dormin Returns And Consumes Wander In The Shrine Of Worship
At the game's conclusion, Emon arrives at the Shrine of Worship as the 16th and final idol crumbles, marking Wander's ultimate success in destroying all the colossi. Wander arrives shortly thereafter but without his horse, who has since collapsed on a bridge after throwing Wander to safety. Wander's lack of humanity now fully apparent through his milky white eyes, clammy skin, and horns.
Emon's men then emerge from the village and slay Wander, but as he falls he becomes fully possessed by Dormin, who then transforms into a great, shadowy giant, looming over the shaman and his knights. Emon tosses the ancient sword into a small pool in the shrine from which a great beacon of light subsequently erupts, consuming Dormin and trapping him in the temple. Lord Emon destroys the bridge to the forbidden lands as he and his men escape.
Mono Awakens To Discover An Infant Boy With Horns
Wander ultimately succeeds in bringing Mono back to life after their journey through forbidden lands. After his demise at the hands of the group of angry people, She awakens and discovers the pool into which Emon tossed the sword, thereby creating the great light and consuming Wander and Dormin. However, what remains in place of the god and the man is a baby boy with horns on his head. Mono carries the horned boy to a secret garden in the upper levels of the shrine as the game ends.
The Events Of 'Shadow Of The Colossus' Set Up Those Of 'Ico,' The Story Of The Horned Boy
Shadow of the Colossus is both a spiritual successor and prequel to Ico. In Ico, the protagonist is a young boy with horns — possibly the same horned child who appears at the end of Shadow. In the world of Ico's story, children born with horns are exiled or sacrificed, but Ico manages to escape his would-be fate and defeat an evil queen wielding an magic sword with the power to slay shadowy demons.
Presumably, the way Wander inadequately completed his quest in Shadow resulted in the birth of the first horned baby, this curse was created and propelled into the world of Ico, cementing the ties between the games.
The Character's Names Are Only Revealed In The Credits
It's not until the game ends and the credits roll that the player learns the names of the characters. The lack of this knowledge throughout the game ads to the deep, rich mystery of the world, a world that is truly sublime, as you traverse the map without anything in sight for digital miles, journeying between colossi. Counterintuitively, it's this sparseness that makes the world so enveloping. As the player, you're experiencing a place manifested by dark secrets, secrets that are absolutely not handed to you throughout, but that you only uncover as the story unfolds.
