The 2nd Colossus, resembling a bull and mammoth, is the one of sixteen bosses fought in Shadow of the Colossus. Its lair is just north of the Shrine of Worship, underneath the great bridge at the bottom of a giant canyon.
Path to the colossus[]
- See also: Map for this path
In terms of simple distance, the 2nd colossus' lair is the closest to the Shrine of Worship; however, getting to its lair is not as simple. Upon exiting the Shrine, holding up the Ancient Sword will reveal that the colossus is located to the north. Go around the Shrine's west side until facing a clear path north. There will be a gigantic land bridge ahead of the player that will eventually fork in two directions. Hold up the sword again for the answer: take the right fork. Once done so, a cutscene will play, indicating that Wander is close. Follow the path down to the bottom of the canyon and head northwest until facing a suspicious area of the cliffs.
Walkthrough[]
Agro is with Wander this time, but her speed is not needed here. Approach the colossus on foot; once Wander is close enough, the beast will rear up on its hind legs in an attempt to crush him. This reveals the bottom of its hooves look vulnerable. Shoot any of these spots (even its back two hooves have these) to make the colossus fall down to a spot where Wander can climb up onto it.
The player's stamina has increased since the first colossus, but only marginally; don't let it run out. There are small platforms jutting out of its legs, but it's very easy to fall off of them. Head along the side of the colossus to its back, where the first major weakpoint awaits. Run up close to the center of its back if Wander is low on stamina.
The last weakpoint is on its head. It's difficult to take it out with one stamina meter; as before, retreat to its more stable back to recover if Wander's stamina becomes too low.
- Time Attack times in Original and PS3 versions (Normal, Hard): 4:00, 4:30
- Time Attack times in PS4 Remake (Normal, Hard): 3:30, 4:30
Weakspots[]
| Location | Percentage of health | |
|---|---|---|
| Normal | Hard | |
| On top of its head | 50% | 33.3% |
| At the end of its back | 50% | 33.3% |
| On its left side | N/A | 33.3% |
| Under each hoof | Used in climbing | |
Tips and tricks[]
- Hard Mode players will want to attack the colossus' left hooves, so as to get to the difficulty-exclusive weakpoint on its left side.
- The player doesn't have to wait for the colossus to rear up to attack its hooves. With precise timing, the right angle, and practice, one can hit the bottom of its hooves while the colossus is walking normally.
- The player can jump off of Agro to reach higher or farther distances. Use this battle to experiment with the technique, because it will be necessary to do it later.
Attacks[]
| Attack | Damage (Normal) | Damage (Hard) | Description | Demonstration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stomp | 25 (Shockwave) 50 (Direct hit) |
50 (Shockwave) Instakill (Direct hit) |
After standing in front of the colossus for a few moments, it will roar and proceed to reer up in order to stomp the player. It can either stomp with its right or left leg depending on Wander's position. Make sure to stand back in order to shoot the bottom of its hoof without getting hit. | 
|
Music[]
| Phase | Plays in | Music |
|---|---|---|
| Intro | Plays as Wander approaches the 2nd colossus' lair. | Sign of the Colossus |
| Phase 1 | Plays once the 2nd colossus emerges. | A Violent Encounter |
| Phase 2 | Plays when Wander starts scaling the 2nd colossus. | Revived Power |
Development History[]
Monster 01[]
First sketch of the boss design for a mammoth colossus by Kazuhiro Numata, before the look of the colossi become more developed.
This colossus was created based on the Mammoth boss used on the multiplayer concept video from Mid-may 2002,[1] before development on the actual game started. This previous version was designed by artist Kazuhiro Numata, with its first draft being of an actual mammoth animal.
Monster 01 as seen in the pilot movie.
The model itself was given more of a personality, with it being a skeletal creature. It had glowing eyes similar to the shadows of ICO. A sketch by Numata resembles it.
Numata made use of the "fur strip" technique when modelling the fur for the boss. This involved using multiple layers of fur texture with alpha around a base texture and then using tuft textures to improve the look from the side. This technique would be refined by later developers into the more advanced "fur shell" technique used in the final game. Due to not having to worry about running out of texture memory, the boss in the Pilot Movie features uncharacteristically detailed and large textures.
Textures related to this iteration can be found mentioned in the PS3 Data Sheets, all labeled with the prefix 'mons01'. This is because during development of the concept video, the boss was simply referred to as "Monster".[2]
Diagram posted by Kazuhiro Numata on Bluesky showing the fur strip technique. The original NICO mammoth fur textures can be seen.
Boss A / Mammoth[]
At the start of the game's proper development in May 2003, the first boss was created (simply named Boss A). It used to be tested in Stage 1 before being placed on the world map. Its nickname during development was 'Mammoth'.[3]
Boss A, as seen in the Nico DVD.
The first iteration of Mammoth was made by the proper character designer Hitoshi Niwa, as suggested by the "h_fur" textures in its legs found in the Athretic Test Stage. It was very simplistic, with only a small amount of textures on its body, and unique-looking eyes which were reminiscent of the ones from the final release of the game.[4] It had no complex strategy at this point, with the player being able to simply jump from their horse to the fur on its legs.[3]
As listed in the PS3 Data Sheets, Mammoth had a unique HUD icon, which is an icon in the shape of the colossus that used to show the weakpoint locations in early builds.
Early design of Mammoth.
At some unknown point in development, its design changed completely. Now it had greenish fur, stone eyes, a broken horn, and more density to its body. It also didn't have the bone ridges on its back from the final design, and its hooves were less natural-looking. The strategy changed so the player had to shoot the bottom of its hooves in order for it to drop them, allowing Wander to climb it. This strategy remained the same for the entirety of development.[5]
Sometime after the start of 2004, the boss would be placed on the proper seamless world map, with its Proto arena being placed on quadrant F3, where it stayed for the rest of development.
The boss_zou entry in the BossStatus data sheet from the E3 Demo suggests that Mammoth used to be the 2nd colossus at some point in development around the 2004 era. It is almost certain that this was always the case.
At some unknown point of time in 2005, after the world map was reduced, its design was changed once again to the one seen in the retail version of the game, albeit with minor differences.
E3 Demo[]
The 2nd colossus in the E3 Demo version. Notice its greener fur.
In the E3 Demo, the 2nd colossus' fur was still green, and it lacked the protrusions on its shoulders. The music that played in the battle was 'Grotesque Figures', likely as a placeholder.
PSU Preview[]
The 2nd colossus close to its final iteration. Notice the lack of the shoulder protrusion.
In the PSU Preview version of the game, the the 2nd colossus's fur changed color, and its battle theme now was 'Creeping Shadow', while 'A Violent Encounter' played only when climbing it. Strangely, A Violent Encounter's intro still played at the start of the battle, after it breaks its door down. It is then soon replaced by Creeping Shadow.
Preview[]
The songs were changed once again to being A Violent Encounter and Revived Power. After this version, the protrusions on the colossus' shoulders were added.
Trivia[]
- As well as being the first quadrupedal colossus, this is the first colossus that can be fought with Agro.
- This is the only colossus to break out from behind a wall upon Wander's arrival. The 6th colossus is behind a wall initially, but rather than breaking it down like the 2nd, the wall slides open for it.
- This is the third-tallest of all the colossi (roughly the same as the 3rd colossus), standing approximately 108ft/33m tall.
- This is the second-longest quadruped after the 9th colossus.
- This colossus shares something in common with the 9th: they both have weakpoints located on their feet which must be exploited in order to gain access to their weakpoint sigils.
- The 2nd colossus makes a lot of elephant-like roars and bellows.
- Along with the 3rd colossus and Wander, the 2nd colossus made a cameo appearance outside of Shadow of the Colossus in the 2008 PS3 game LittleBigPlanet, where it can be downloaded as a costume.
- When Wander is on the land bridge going from the Shrine of Worship to the 2nd colossus' area, the water will appear blue. However, when Wander approaches the other side of the bridge, it will turn a greenish shade.
- If Wander jumps off here and lands in water that is deep enough for him to survive the fall, Agro will have to run on her own down to the beach. Strangely, when Agro gets to a certain part coming down to the beach, she will fall off the ledge but will be unharmed, despite the near 100 foot fall.
- On the back of the USA Shadow of the Colossus PS2 case (black label only) where it shows screenshots of the game, the 2nd colossus' early design can be seen in one of the screenshots. This screenshot was removed from the Greatest Hits version's back cover, so its inclusion was likely a mistake by the American localization team. It can also be seen on the front of the PS2 manual on both the black label and Greatest Hits versions.
- The 2nd colossus is one of the main icons for the game, as it appears in most of the promo pictures and advertisements.
- This was the first colossus to be created for the game. Its former developer name being "Boss A".
Gallery[]
Original[]
Remake[]
Earlier versions[]
Other media[]
References[]
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8oPPQhP_B8 | Pilot Movie of "NICO".
- ↑ https://bsky.app/profile/zackmannx.bsky.social/post/3lsfj4xmu7s2n
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 https://teamico.fandom.com/wiki/File:FamitsuNicknameInterview.png | December 2nd, 2005 Famitsu - The Colossi Nicknames (1st to 10th Colossus)
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsQ50jIvEg4 | Production Reel.
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9J55-oHfTU | Mammoth promo video.
| The game | ICO ( Demo • Revisions from U.S. version • Ico HD ) | |
| Characters | Ico • Yorda • The Queen • Shadows • Shinkan | |
| The Castle | Altar • Warehouse • Spiral Stairs • Old Bridge • Stairs • Trolley 1 • Trolley 2 • Crane • Chandelier • Drawbridge • Main Gate • Graveyard • Dark Room • Windmill • Sunbeams • Stone Pillar • East Crag • East Arena • East Idol Stairs • East Reflector • Waterfall • Sluice • Cogwheel • Gondola • Water Tower • West Crag • West Arena • West Idol Stairs • West Reflector • Cage • Pipe • Elevator • Wharf • Queen's Room • Sandy Beach | |
| Items | Stick • Sword • Queen's Sword • Mace • Light Saber | |
| Miscellaneous | Idol Gates • Runic language • Sofas • ICO Stages | |
| Unused Content | Castle Soldiers • Unused Locations (Dynamite Room) • Unused Objects | |
| Other Media | Credits • Ico ~Melody in the Mist~ • Official Game Guide • Ico: Castle in the Mist • Development Timeline of ICO • Interview Archive | |
 Walkthrough | |
|---|---|
| Characters | Wander · Mono · Agro · Dormin · Lord Emon · Guards · Shadows |
| Colossi | I · II · III · IV · V · VI · VII · VIII · IX · X · XI · XII · XIII · XIV · XV · XVI |
| Locations | The Ancient Lands · Shrine of Worship · Colossus Arenas |
| Main Items | Power-ups (Lizards · Fruit) · Weapons (Ancient Sword · Sword of the Sun · Queen’s Sword · Sword of Dormin · Bow & Arrow · Ancient Bow · Harpoon of Thunder · Life Sword) · Collectibles (Relics) |
| Gameplay | Hard Mode · Save shrines · Time Attack · Reminiscence Mode · Watermelon · Barrel |
| Media | Roar of the Earth (OST) · Official Art and Guide Book · Nico Bonus DVD · Film · Interview Archive |
| Releases | OPM Demo · PS2 original · PS3 remaster · PS4 remake · Credits |
| Early Builds | Preview version · PSU Preview version · E3 Demo |
| Unused Content | Unused Colossi · Colossus Test Stages · Unused Locations · Beta Mountains · Development Timeline of Shadow of the Colossus |