r/ShadowoftheColossus • u/Halberick • 5h ago
Fan Art Demise of the Ritual - Art by me!
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r/ShadowoftheColossus • u/Docjackal • Feb 26 '18
Secret Hunting Megathread: Theories, Evidence, What We Know So Far [Spoilers Discussed Inside] Spoiler
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So I looked at the topic about secret hunting just a bit ago, and since I've been back in the swing of it after my insomnia induced exploration in the topic of the fellow that posted in hexadecimal code, I figured I'd give it my best go of compiling information, theories, and topics of interest. I can't say how comprehensive this initial version will be, so if anyone would like me to add anything, feel free to post below.
Note: I don't know if any of this holds weight, if it'll lead to any juicy new secrets or anything like that. I've always been more "The chase is better than the catch" with stuff like this going back to the PS2 days when people were poking at every glitched texture.
I don't think that there'll be some seventeenth colossus added to the game or anything, but hey! Who knows? That's the fun of theorizing.
Anyhow, I figure I should start with the one everyone knows about by now.
The Sword of Dormin:
This is the reward for collecting all 79 Coins/Enlightenments
It is hidden in a room you can only get into from outside the temple, on what appears to be a black throne or spire directly beneath the temple's fountain/pool area--the area where you pick up Time Attack items and are pulled into at the end of the game.
As you enter the room, you can hear Dormin speak, then laugh as you pick it up, though it's impossible to know what they're saying.
It's one of the strongest weapons in the game.
It shines Black light instead of white.
It appears to be broken, held together by the shadows that coil around it.
The noise that it makes when you stab/kill Colossi with it is different than the regular sword.
It doesn't give you any new endings if you go through the game with it--the sword that is thrown in the pool at the end of the game is always the forbidden sword Wander brought to the Forbidden Lands with him.
It appears to have the eye of a colossus in the hilt, that changes color depending on a Colossus' aggression level.
The hilt also seems to have a pattern similar to some of the pedestals you can find in the game, namely the one in Barbas/6's temple.
Now, all of this is pretty interesting. People are currently wondering if the sword has any other purpose besides a tribute to NomadColossus/the exploration aspect of the game, and are currently experimenting with it in various areas to see if it does anything. As of typing this, there's nothing apparent, but if there is, I'll be sure and update this topic.
Now, while the existence of the new room in the temple is a bit of a stunner in and of itself to people who played the original game, there is something else in the room besides the Sword that was overlooked upon its initial discovery. However, despite being small, the implication of this secret is certainly weighty:
The Severed Horn'
This is located on a small pillar to the right of the throne. It's very easy to look past as a piece of debris at first, but it's unmistakably a horn when you get close to it.
It has the same shape and coloration of one of the Horned Children from Ico's horns.
Its placement is very deliberate. There are so far no other known horns in the game, so for it to be in this location only--so far as we're aware--is very suspicious.
There's no known way to interact with it. People have tried picking it up, shining light on it, shooting it, to no avail. If it's interactive, we don't know how to interact with it yet.
This could correlate to a video NomadColossus posted of an unreleased version of the game where Lord Emon severs a horn and throws it into the pool at the end, as it seems that the room is beneath the pool.As Nomad himself said in this topic, this is only a happy coincidence and the dev team had no idea about the early build of the game.However, that begs the question of "Why throw in an easter egg to something that happened in a build of the game that so few people have seen"? People are theorizing that it holds some stronger significance, such as being able to pick it up if some sequence of events is followed, or that it's teasing Bluepoint remaking Ico next.
The only real thing that we know about it, though, is that it's definitely related to the Horned Children and Ico. It's purpose, and if it's interactive, is yet unknown.
That one is one of the bigger ones to come up recently, but not the only one to come up involving horned creatures. I'd be remiss if I made a topic discussing the interesting new secrets in the game and didn't mention this next one:
The Goat Paintings
Discovered by /u/thierybr in this topic and later corraborated by /u/Solaire-Lives
Since then, a second was found, followed by a third and fourth. Since there are several different accounts to this, here are some links.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ShadowoftheColossus/comments/7wg7x9/i_found_another_goat_painting_on_rocks/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uE-nSlVsJXs&feature=youtu.be&t=1h58m55s (the only thing I could find relating to the third one, sorry.)
As to their purpose, it's unknown right now. The existence of one could merely be thrown off as an easter egg or something, but the existence of four (so far) seems to hint at something bigger. What it is, who knows?
Some users speculate that they line up to form some sort of pattern:
Someone has gone to the point where the four we know of intersect and found nothing.
They appear to be drawn in the same crude way that early civilization would draw something.
I'm honestly not sure what else to add about them. People are scuttling up cliffs looking for any more, though. There doesn't seem to be any definite number--four is all we've found so far.
Again, what they do and their function, if anything, is a mystery as of right now. I'll update this if anything new happens.
Finally, to cap off here, I thought I'd throw in a couple of topics of interest. The first two are from strange accounts that appeared and never posted after this. The legitimacy of these puzzles is definitely to be questioned, but it's provided more incentive to hunt in the game, if nothing else.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ShadowoftheColossus/comments/7wpd39/o_o_i_e_h_s/
https://www.reddit.com/r/ShadowoftheColossus/comments/7zk3be/4974206973206e6f7420646f6e65/
This one is theorizing about the goat murals.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ShadowoftheColossus/comments/8021j0/goat_mural_theoriesconnectionsideas/
And here's a post of someone who found a hidden room in Celosia/11's temple.
Additions
This is stuff that's come up since the initial post that I kinda wanted to highlight.
People seem to have found numbers etched onto rocks. If someone could help provide me with links to topics on the matter, preferably ones with screenshots and locations, I'd appreciate it. I'm not sure if they'll hold any significance but I'll put them in this topic regardless.
NomadColossus is still searching for secrets and tricks, as evidenced by some of his recent youtube videos. There are also things he wasn't made aware of--He had no idea about the Goat paintings, and even before then didn't know about the enlightenments until he visited Blupoint, or their reward until it was revealed on PS4trophies' livestream. So he absolutely wasn't privy to all of the big secrets, despite the enlightements and "Boon of the Nomad" trophy being in tribute to him.
New topic from the mysterious hex account.. This one translates to "Us You Abandoned" (Or "You Abandoned Us") and shows a darkened image of Wander raising Dormin's sword outside a door in the 8th colossus' arena.
* 3/8/18 Yet another new topic from the Hex Account/Awake, now showing the seal at Phalanx's arena with the code translating to "We are still here".
If there are any other topics involving speculation or theories as to anything I mentioned, or anything you feel I left out, do let me know and I'll update as necessary. Thank you for reading this far, I know it's a whale of a post but I wanted to be as descriptive as possible with the three topics here.
As for what any of this accomplishes? I'll leave that up to you guys. There may be a new area, there may be a seventeenth colossus, there may be any number of things to come out of all this. I don't know. That's why we theorize and experiment with this stuff. If I want to debunk something, I go about it the hard way. Maybe it seems stupid, but hell, it wouldn't be the first time a game dev's hidden stuff right under our noses. Rocksteady kept a hidden room in Batman: Arkham Asylum secret up until just months before Arkham City released. There are secrets in games that have gone undiscovered for years. While that may not be the case here, there's precedent for looking, at least.
After all, that's how we found out the mystery of the Enlightenments.
Anyway, I hope I compiled all of this well enough. I'll be making any big edits below, or adding to the respective topics when I need to. I hope this is a good enough Megathread to start off with, at least.
Thank you. Feel free to discuss anything about this stuff in the comments below.
r/ShadowoftheColossus • u/ResiogMarek • Jun 05 '26
Project Robot Finally has a name: gen ATLAS
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r/ShadowoftheColossus • u/gameovernate • 15h ago
How long would you survive in Shadow of the Colossus?
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r/ShadowoftheColossus • u/Aggravating_Loan_233 • 11h ago
Discussion Dirge hater anyone?
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Anyone else on here hate Dirge, and why, if you gotta reason, me personally on my first playthrough I couldn't ride backwards and shoot it in the eye, made me so made it quit the game for two whole years
r/ShadowoftheColossus • u/An_awkward_dude- • 1d ago
Screenshot “𝘛𝘩𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥... 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘺...” captured on ps5.
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r/ShadowoftheColossus • u/NoEmploy • 1d ago
Fan Art Finally finished! my 3d printed colossus
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r/ShadowoftheColossus • u/Arondeus • 1d ago
The meaning of all the fan names and developer nicknames
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I have a confession to make: I don't think the fan names sound very cool. Part of this is that a lot of them are gobbledygook. They're also hard to remember.
If you don't know, there was a hoax shortly after the game's original release where a person claimed to have gotten an email detailing the "official names" of the colossi, which have then stuck around in part because some people still believe it and in part because some people just like the names. If you're in the second group, no hate, we just have different taste.
The colossi do not have official names, though developers have since shared actual internal nicknames for them.
Anyway, I thought it might be fun to dive into all of the nicknames of the colossi and their meaning. I apologize if I get a bit snarky, but that's part of the fun for me.
Colossus 1:
Dev nickname: Minotaur A. All three minotaurs are hoofed, hump-backed, broad-shouldered humanoids and probably inspired by the Greek mythological creature of the same name, slain by Athenian founder-hero Theseus and interpreted by some scholars as (in its death) symbolically representing Athens breaking free from vassalage under Crete at some unrecorded point in prehistory. Curiously, all three minotaurs have single-toed hooves, like horses, and not cloven hooves like bulls do.
Fan nickname: The Minotaur "Valus". Valus sounds like Latin, but it is not a word in the language. It might be influenced by the word "valor," or, though this is a reach, vallus ("wall" in latin). It might be intended to rhyme with Malus.
Colossus 2:
Dev nickname: Mammoth. It looks more like cattle to my eyes, but it's certainly very large.
Fan nickname: Taurus Major "Quadratus". The first part is the first of many names that resemble a Latin binomial, the common way of naming a species in science. It literally means "large bull", though notably the original post incorrectly capitalizes it (binomials are only supposed to capitalize the genus, e.g. the binomial for humans being Homo sapiens). Taurus is not a real genus. Quadratus is a Latin adjective that means "squared" or more colloqually "square." It may have been chosen in the belief that it means "quadrupedal."
Colossus 3:
Dev nickname: Knight. I feel like I'm overdoing it if I explain what a knight is, but in case you came to Earth yesterday, they were low-ranking nobility and warrior-aristocrats in medieval Europe.
Fan nickname: Earth Knight "Gaius". Gaius was a Roman praenomen (kind of like a first name, but it's complicated). Literally hundreds of historical figures have borne it, but the most famous among them, and the most likely inspiration, might be Roman general and dictator Gaius Julius Caesar.
Colossus 4:
Dev nickname: Kirin. The kirin or qi lin is an East Asian mythical creature that originally resembled the Chinese dragon, but because it was one-horned, it has been conflated with and cross-pollinated with European myths about unicorns. Maybe the loose translation of its name should be "unicorn."
Fan nickname: Equus Prime "Phaedra". Another binomial. Equus is the real genus that includes horses, donkeys and zebras. Prime is an English word meaning "first in importance", but if this is supposed to be Latin then it is an incorrect inflection of primus, meaning "first". Phaedra is the really confusing part of the name. In Greek mythology, she was the wife of Theseus and committed suicide after failing an attempt at an incestuous seduction. Huh?
Colossus 5:
Dev nickname: Bird. 'S a bird, innit?
Fan nickname: Delta Phoenix "Avion". Delta is the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet, sometimes added to things to sound cool. The phoenix was a mythical bird that could be reborn in fire. Avion is not a word in Latin or Greek. It is probably inspired by the adjective "avian", meaning "of or pertaining to birds." It also means "airplane" in French.
Colossus 6:
Dev nickname: Minotaur B.
Fan nickname: The Goliath "Barba". Barba means "beard" in Latin. Not "bearded," not "the bearded one," just "beard."
Colossus 7:
Dev nickname: Eel. An eel is a sort of long fish, innit.
Fan nickname: Sea Dragon "Hydrus". Hydrus means water snake in Latin. It is unclear if the author of the hoax knew this or if it is loosely derived from words like "hydrate".
Colossus 8:
Dev nickname: Yamori B. A yamori is a species of Japanese gecko. What Yamori A might have looked like, I have no idea.
Fan nickame: Wall Shadow "Kuromori". This one has me at a loss. I have no idea what it means. "Kuroi mori" means "black forest" in Japanese. That's probably not the idea, but I have nothing else to offer. Any input on this one is especially welcomed.
Colossus 9:
Dev nickname: Kame. It's a Japanese word that means both turtle and tortoise. From context clues, I figure it should be tortoise.
Fan nickname: Storm Echo "Basaran". Another real head scratcher for me. Basaran means "they would base [it on...]" in Spanish. Can't find anything else. Any guesses are welcome.
Colossus 10:
Dev nickname: Naga. A naga is an Asian mythical snake creature, sometimes part human, sometimes fully snake (or a very large snake). The latter are often translated as dragons to westerners, so I figure "sand dragon" would be an all right localisation.
Fan nickname: Sand Tiger "Dirge". A dirge is a mournful poem, especially one performed in remembrance, like at a funeral.
Colossus 11:
Dev nickname: Leo/Lion. The design, while in some aspects resembling a lion, also has huge tusks, which doesn't seem very lion-like. It is also the size of an African elephant, and not the size of a lion. Hmph.
Fan nickname: Flame Guardian "Celosia". Celosia is a genus of plant, whose name comes from Greek keleos, "to burn." That's in my opinion the first fan nickname I don't really have any notes on. It actually makes sense.
Colossus 12:
Dev nickname: Poseidon. Poseidon was the Greek god of the sea, as well as of horses and earthquakes.
Fan nickname: Great Basilisk "Pelagia". Basilisks are a family of mythical European creatures. The oldest stories tell of a "king of serpents" that could kill you if you just glanced at it. Number Twelve does, in my opinion, not resemble a snake, nor is it dangerous to look at (other than the risk of getting zapped). Pelagia is a woman's name, borne by several Christian saints. It derives from the Greek word for "sea".
Colossus 13:
Dev nickname: Snake. Kind of a flying snake, dontcha think?
Fan nickname: Trail Drifter "Phalanx". The phalanx was an Ancient Greek military unit and battle formation. It is also used metaphorically for any tightly bound group. In medicine it is one of the bones in the hand.
Colossus 14:
Dev nickname: Cerberus. Cerberus was the mythical Greek guard dog of the underworld. It was usually depicted with three heads. I also can't help notice that Number Fourteen has something resembling a lion's mane. Can he sort that out with Number Eleven, please?
Fan nickname: Destruction Luster "Cenobia". First of all, I want to note that I think the noun phrase "destruction luster" is hilarious. Cenobia is a plural Greek word; it means "monasteries". Maybe the author of the hoax thought this particular arena looked like a monastery?
Colossus 15:
Dev nickname: Minotaur C.
Fan nickname: The Sentinel "Argus". Argus is a Greek name. Bearers include Argus the legendary ship-builder; Argus, Odysseus' dog; and Argus Panoptes, a giant with a hundred eyes. The latter is at least big, but Number Fifteen doesn't have a lot of eyes as far as I can tell.
Colossus 16:
Dev nickname: Elvis/Buddha. Elvis (evisu in Japanese) is a pun, because Number Sixteen is "the King of the Rock". Buddha is not very obvious in the final design, but concept art shows variants of the colossus with big ears and large, stretched earlobes that evoke a Buddha statue.
Fan nickname: Grand Gigas "Malus". This is my personal favorite fan nickname. Grand means large in a bunch of languages, but in Latin it should be grandis. Gigas is a Latin noun and means "giant". Malus is an adjective and means "bad." His name is an attempt to say, "big giant bad."
r/ShadowoftheColossus • u/Express_Class_8585 • 1d ago
Was I the only one who thought the 15th Collosus was a gorilla?
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r/ShadowoftheColossus • u/Big-Operation-2558 • 2d ago
Fan Art Fanart shadow of the colossus.
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(If you take, give the credits)
Hey! Im New in this comunitty, but I love this game.
I made a fannart, I hope if you enjoy it :)
r/ShadowoftheColossus • u/mohsenkhajavinik • 2d ago
Screenshot An Unexpected Desert Encounter 🐍🪰
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It reminds my of certain someone.
r/ShadowoftheColossus • u/Pizolaman • 3d ago
Fan Art Cookin'
Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification
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Practicing what do you think?
r/ShadowoftheColossus • u/Halberick • 4d ago
The Opened Way 🗡️ - Art by me!
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As a kid, Shadow of the Colossus was the game that first showed me what art could be.
I felt it was finally time to pay tribute to what I still consider the very definition of a masterpiece.
Hope you enjoy! :)
r/ShadowoftheColossus • u/Historical-Yam-340 • 3d ago
Shitpost 1st Dirge death and I shall explain what happened because I feel like it
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I'm sorry if this doesn't count as a shit post
So I was playing the game and kinda keeping track of my deaths I probably forgot a few deaths to Hydrus and I got Dirge and I was kinda doing well I think and well then I got a phone call it was important I forgot to pause and then I was met with well Dirge's game over screen and whilst looking at the scariest game over screen in gaming I had an idea for something and I don't fully like it
Ideas aside Dirge and Malus have the most beautiful eyes out of the colossus that's my opinion at least and that's the end of this post I guess
r/ShadowoftheColossus • u/LeadingLengthiness30 • 3d ago
Was anyone else really bummed out when they saw this happen on their 1st playthrough?
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Shadow of Colossus was a beautiful game.
Didnt really explain much before you got going. Just explore, figure things out and have fun. As an aging gamer, i miss that (when done right)
Way ahead of its time. Some of the earliest climbing/stamina mechanics on the PS2 that paved the way for many others that came after.
Yet another classic im glad got refreshed w new graphics on more modern consoles in our lifetime.
r/ShadowoftheColossus • u/Efficient_Mark_8781 • 4d ago
WRF I CANNOT SEE ANYTHING,
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this is most of the game after like defeating ig the 5th colossi, how to fix this
r/ShadowoftheColossus • u/Traditional-Mess7073 • 4d ago
Shitpost A basserant Spoiler
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Note: if you actually like basseran i do not want to discriminate against you. FUCK YOU BASSERAN YOU SUCK YOU ARE STUPID I HATE YOU THERES A REASON THEY CALL YOU B[ASS]ERAN! YOUR AREA IS SO UNUSED YOUR KIND PROBABLY MERKED THEMSELVES AT THE SIGHT OF YOU also reddit this is targeted at a video game boss not a real person
r/ShadowoftheColossus • u/Bibgoss • 3d ago
Discussion How do I get all items?
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I'm playing the game on Normal and I'm almost done with Time Attack mode on this difficulty so how do I start TA on hard mode? Should I go to NG+? Or do I need to start a new game?!
r/ShadowoftheColossus • u/TerrenceMoore777 • 5d ago
Discussion The Forbidden Lands
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I went on a trip to Scotland a few weeks ago. Really felt like a Colossus was sleeping around every corner. Hauntingly beautiful.
r/ShadowoftheColossus • u/Bibgoss • 4d ago
Discussion Should I bother with Fruits and Lizards?!
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I'm trying to max out my health and stamina and I heard that you can just kill colossus to get max stats so is that really all I need or do I still need to collect some lizards and fruits?!
r/ShadowoftheColossus • u/Rare-Engineering4651 • 5d ago
Shadow of the Colossus - Widescreen UI fix v.0.1 - PAL (SCES-53326_0F0C4A9C)
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This is an experimental PCSX2 fix for the stretched UI in Shadow of the Colossus.
Right now it only effects the character UI, the map and the tutorial text boxes (what i deemed the lowest hanging fruits).
The patch requires only the ingame widescreen setting to be turned on.
There may be weird glitches in later stages, I haven't completed a whole playthrough.
Feel free to improve it, I'm not sure I'll want to touch it again.
Here's the link to the patch: https://gbatemp.net/threads/shadow-of-the-colossus-widescreen-ui-fix-v-0-1-pal-sces-53326_0f0c4a9c.683163/
r/ShadowoftheColossus • u/MorningOne • 7d ago
New Game Plus + Question
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So I finished my first playthrough and was hungry for more. Booted up New Game Plus and realized my stamina and health bars are back to zero, all progress lost. Is this normal? I'm angling towards the platinum, and maxing out those stats goes towards one of the trophies. If I finish Time Attack say Normal and then boot up on another difficulty, will my progress be lost again? What about the items I earn?