Colossus IX

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Colossus IX
Thy next foe is... The land where trees nary grow...It sleeps in a dry lake bed...A rude awakening.
Profile
Developer Nickname	Kame / Tortoise (カメ)
Height	25 m / 82 ft (Real World) 18 m / 59 ft (In-game)
Length	58 m / 190 ft (Real World) 42 m / 137 ft (In-game)
Location	Geyser (D3)
Designer	Shunpei Suzuki (sz)
Gameplay
Time Attack goals (Normal/ Hard)	7:30/5:30 (Original, PS3) 5:30/5:45 (PS4)
Agro	Yes
Sigils	Normal: 1 major Hard: 1 major

The 9th Colossus, resembling a tortoise, is one of sixteen bosses fought in Shadow of the Colossus. This colossus can be found in quadrant D3 in a great cave next to a field of geysers.

Path to the colossus

See also: Map for this path

Shadow of the Colossus - 9th Colossus 1 2

Video - Path to the 9th Colossus

Head north from the Shrine of Worship and take the west land bridge - the Ancient Sword will direct the player from there. There should soon be a giant gray cloud in the distance, and that's where to head. A small but deep canyon separates the player and the geyser field, so look for a land bridge to get across. The air in the geyser field is too smoggy and dark for the sword to work, so one will have to find the colossus themselves. Note the locations of the geysers, as they are vital for the battle. Once ready, head over to the cave, which can be found at the east end of the field.

Walkthrough

Shadow of the Colossus - 9th Colossus 2 2

Video - Battle with the 9th Colossus

After a four-battle absence, Agro finally gets to help, and this time Wander is going to need it. The colossus will frequently lift up its head and shoot five extremely fast electrical missiles at him; Agro can just barely dodge these at top speed, while Wander cannot make enough ground to evade them. The colossus is fully armored on its tarantula-like legs. The geysers dotting the field are the key to getting on its back, so the goal is to get the colossus right above one of the geysers when they erupt. Use the button (by default) to keep the camera on the colossus while luring it towards one.

Once the colossus is in position, keep it over the geyser by circling around it. Don't go too far away, however; the colossus will still not be vulnerable once the geyser goes off. The force of the water will propel part of the colossus upwards, but two of its legs will still be anchored to the ground. Wander must shoot out the glowing areas on the bottom of each leg. If the player can't get to them before the geyser dies down again, try to keep the colossus over the geyser until it erupts again. The above walkthrough video provides a good example of this.

Once successful, the colossus will finally roll over to a point where Wander can climb it. It has fur on its ventral (belly) side, so scale it and get to its shell. Once there, the colossus will get back on its feet. Don't get tossed off in the process; there's not too many places on its rock shell to hang onto besides the rim. The safest method is the cling to the edge of the shell until the colossus rights itself, then pull up and walk down the middle of its back. Carefully walk towards the head, and be prepared for the colossus to attempt to shake Wander off at every chance. The rim around its head seems like a tempting spot to recover, but it's not recommended (see below tips and tricks).

Time Attack times in Original and PS3 versions (Normal, Hard): 7:30, 5:30

Time Attack times in PS4 Remake (Normal, Hard): 5:30, 5:45

Weakspots

Location	Percentage of health
	Normal	Hard
On its head	100%	100%
On each ankle (4)	Used in climbing

Tips and tricks

• While it's still in the cave, it's possible to launch off of Agro straight onto its bent lower leg and jump onto its shell.
• If the colossus rears its head up while Wander is on the lower "rim" of its head, Wander may get thrown extremely high into the air.
• After grabbing the colossus' attention and going to the other side of a geyser while being relatively far from the colossus, the player can hide beside Agro by holding , (on the PS4 version, the defaults are and ) and pressing either left or right on the analog stick. If successful, it won't be able to detect the player, and will walk on top of the geyser without attacking.

Attacks

Attack	Damage (Normal)	Damage (Hard)	Description	Demonstration
Pulse Beams	30	50	The colossus will launch four pulse beams from its chin whenever Wander is distant from it. Be ready to run away with Agro at all times.
Stomp	30 (Shockwave) 60 (Direct hit)	80 (Shockwave) Instakill (Direct hit)	If Wander stands in front or under it for too long, the colossus will rear up and stomp the ground. In case you're near a geyser, go further back as soon as it starts rearing up and try to move towards the position you want it to finish the attack, as it will track your movements.
Tail Swipe	40	120	Rarely, if Wander stands near its tail, it will perform a swipe attack, throwing Wander away. While it is hard to be affected by it, be mindful of its tail.

Music

Phase	Plays in	Music
Phase 1	Plays as the colossus rises up from its cavern.	A Violent Encounter
Phase 2	Plays once the colossus flips over.	Revived Power

Development History

This colossus was created at the start of the game's development in May 2003, and it used to be tested in Stage 3 before being placed on the world map. Its nickname during development was 'Kame' (turtle).

Kame

Footage of the early version of Kame found in the Nico bonus DVD.

The first iteration of Kame existed during the first development period of the game, when the player character had horns and a helmet. This version had a different head that was roughly the same shape as Poseidon's (the 12th colossus), spiral-shaped horns, and a mossy back and tail. It likely had a very basic strategy due to it being such an early boss.

Footage of a more advanced early version of Kame with different horns, launching a pulse beam attack.

The boss likely received a proper strategy sometime later in 2003. Its spiral horns were replaced with separate models of bright horns that were turned upwards, set that way because the player was supposed to hit them with their sword in order to control the boss, and have it get on top of a geyser, causing it to tumble sideways. The colossus also gained the ability to launch a pulse beam attack from its mouth.

As seen in a glimpse from early footage and as listed in the PS3 Data Sheets, Kame 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.

Idol statue of Kame.

Sometime after the start of 2004, the boss would be placed on the proper seamless world map, with its Geyser arena being placed on quadrant I3. It is unknown for certain when Kame's design changed, but as seen in its idol statue, which often represented earlier iterations of colossi due to being created sometime in mid-2004, it had a head similar to the final one during this period.

The data sheets suggest that Kame had separate objects for eyes and eyelids, a feature that Cerberus (the 14th colossus) also had, and is still half-implemented in the E3 Demo. Kame had something unique related to those eyes however, as it had controls and animations for damaging the eyes. The collision materials on each of the eyes in later versions is also set to the same ones as Poseidon's left and right set of teeth (and the left and right horns in the model of its earlier head found in Athretic Test Stage).

The boss_zou entry in the BossStatus data sheet from the E3 Demo suggests that Kame used to be the 5th colossus at some point in development around the 2004 era.

After the world map was reduced at the end of 2004, the boss was moved from I3 to quadrant D3, and its arena was merged with the early arena of Spider, the Hillock. After some unknown amount of time, the boss' eyes were no longer able to be damaged, and it was no longer possible to climb to the boss' back from its tail.

E3 Demo

Main article: Shadow of the Colossus (E3 Demo)#IV

Kame in E3.

In the version of the game from May 11th 2005 (known as the E3 Demo), Kame, now the 4th colossus, had some differences.

Kame' head in the E3 Demo. Its lower section was covered in moss.

After firing its pulse attacks, an electricity effect appeared for a few seconds on its chin. The ankle weakpoints were also not covered by armor, and the top part of its mouth area was covered by moss. The music that played in the battle was 'Grotesque Figures', likely as a placeholder.

Kame sleeping with its cave filled with water.

The cave where the colossus slept in was covered in water in this version, which reflected in Dormin's intro dialogue: "It sleeps at the bottom of the lake". This would be kept in the Preview version, only being removed on release.

Geyser also had a placeholder introduction cutscene with only one frame, which played when arriving at the arena. The song which played for this cutscene was Sign of the Colossus.

Upon release, all of the above were removed, and the boss became the 9th colossus.

Trivia

• This is one of four colossi that use ranged attacks.
• This is the first of three colossi that requires Agro to defeat. The 9th colossus isn't the first colossus capable of injuring Agro, but she is at greater risk than in the two fights she participated in previously; the 2nd and 4th colossi can both hurt her, although typically Agro is fast enough to escape their attacks. It is much more likely that the 9th colossus will hit Agro and therefore injure her than in the previous two fights she was involved in. However, any injury Agro does receive is only temporary and has no long-lasting effects.
• This is the fourth-longest of all 16 colossi and by far the longest of all the quadrupedal bosses.
• The 9th colossus shares some similarities with the one that it immediately follows: the 8th colossus. Both, while being two of the seven quadrupedal colossi, are the only two whose legs extend out to the side of their bodies rather than directly downwards, as is the case with all the other quadrupeds. This gives them both a distinctly lizard-like like gait and makes them appear more reptilian. Both have to be attacked around the feet in order to tip them over to gain access to their weakpoint sigils, both use long-range projectile attacks, and each are viewed as being very aggressive. Finally, both have some difficulty getting back on their feet after being flipped over, due to their heavily-armored and ridged backs.
• The 9th colossus also shares something in common with the 2nd: they both have weakpoints located on their feet, which must be exploited in order to gain access to their major sigils. They also share a similar attack: rearing up on their hind legs and slamming down to cause damage. Lastly, during both the fights, the same two tracks play, namely "A Violent Encounter" and "Revived Power".
• The 9th colossus roars extremely violently for the entirety of the time it fights; the noise is reminiscent to the sounds of the 15th colossus.
• If any of the colossus' feet are shot by the player, they will never have to be shot again. For example: if the colossus is being pushed up by a geyser, both its left feet are uncovered, and the player shoots them, it will tip over and fall like normal. Once the colossus gets back up - if the player falls off - Wander can lead the colossus to another geyser, and if it begins leaning on its left feet again, it will simply tip over, without any attacking from the player. This is very useful if the player is having a hard time remaining on the boss. In fact, it will still tip over, even on its other side on its own, regardless of which two feet are shot first.
• This is one among two colossi who had their Dormin introductions changed from the Preview version: the other being the 10th. Particularly, "It sleeps in a dry lake bed..." was changed from "It sleeps at the bottom of the lake". It should also be noted that its cave did in fact held water in the Preview and earlier versions.

Gallery

• Original
• Remake
• Earlier versions

Original

Image of the 9th colossus taken from the official artbook.

Wander facing off against the 9th colossus.

Wander and the 9th colossus.

The 9th colossus about to shoot Wander.

The major sigil on top of the 9th colossus' head.

Side view of the 9th colossus.

Wander hiding from the colossus using Agro.

The 9th colossus being held aloft by an active geyser.

The 9th colossus after rolling over.

The 9th colossus sleeping in its cave.

The 9th colossus' corpse.

Idol statue of the 9th colossus.

Game over screen of the 9th colossus.

Size chart of the 9th colossus (Credits: Nomad Colossus).

Remake

Full model of the 9th colossus in the remake.

The 9th colossus firing at Wander and Agro from afar in the remake.

Wander, Agro and the colossus.

Being lift up by a geyser.

The remake version of the 9th colossus, toppled.

Ready to stab the 9th colossus' head in the remake.

Earlier versions

Footage of the early version of the 9th colossus found in the Nico bonus DVD.

Footage of a more advanced early version of the 9th colossus with different horns, launching a pulse beam attack.

Footage of Wander on top of an early 9th colossus.

The 9th colossus' legs in the E3 Demo version. They lack the armor from the final release.

E3 Demo version of the 9th colossus after firing its pulse attack. Note the overloaded-like effect on its chin.

The 9th colossus' head in the E3 Demo. Its lower section was covered in moss.

The 9th colossus sleeping in the Preview version, with its cave filled with water.

References