Colossus X

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Colossus X
Thy next foe is...An isolated sand dune...Its tracks are well hidden...Shaking the earth, its gaze is upon thee...
Profile
Developer Nickname	Narga (ナーガ)
Length	94 m / 308 ft (Real World) 68 m / 223 ft (In-game)
Location	Gravewind (B4)
Designer	Shunpei Suzuki (sz)
Gameplay
Time Attack goals (Normal/ Hard)	6:00/5:00 (Original, PS3) 5:30/4:30 (PS4)
Agro	Yes
Sigils	Normal: 2 major Hard: 2 major

The 10th Colossus, resembling a serpent, is one of sixteen bosses fought in Shadow of the Colossus. This colossus moves through the loose sand in a gigantic cave in quadrant B4 of the Ancient Lands.

Path to the colossus

See also: Map for this path

Shadow of the Colossus - 10th Colossus

Video - The 10th Colossus (path to and battle with)

The 10th colossus is directly west of the Shrine of Worship. Travel across the west land bridge in quadrant F4 and across the Western Plain, staying near the cliffs. Use the sword when the terrain gets rougher; the player should end up on the north end of the 10th colossus' cave. There is a place to save here if needed (for newcomers, it is advised, as this fight can prove challenging). Proceed into the cave, following the tunnels west. There is a large sand-filled room, and upon approaching the light in the middle of the room, the colossus' cutscene will play.

Walkthrough

Agro is with Wander again, and she's even more crucial to this battle than the last. The 10th colossus moves very quickly through the sand and can deliver a massive attack with its mouth if it catches up to Wander. If he is ever knocked off Agro, get back on as quickly as possible.

The method of defeating this colossus is tricky to execute. It will chase Wander when he's riding around the arena on Agro; when it gets close enough, it will raise its gigantic eyes out of the sands right before it delivers the attack mentioned previously (if it does, quickly swerve to the left or right). The player must shoot one of its eyes before it has a chance to do so. Should one fail and be hit with the colossus' jump attack, they will take an extreme amount of damage, coming close to death. In this case, go to one of the big pillars, stand off of the sand, and recuperate health by crouching.

Keep Agro running at top speed while keeping the camera on the colossus (hold down ). While these buttons are both held down, the player should be able to shoot one of the colossus' eyes with a little practice. Let Agro do the steering, and focus on aiming at one of the eyes. A direct hit will send the colossus into the nearest wall or pillar, exposing a climbable section of its back containing its two weakpoints. The player should be able to take one out completely before the colossus is able to dislodge itself. Repeat the process once more for the second weak spot.

Time Attack times in Original and PS3 versions (Normal, Hard): 6:00, 5:00

Time Attack times in PS4 Remake (Normal, Hard): 5:30, 4:30

Weakspots

Location	Percentage of health
	Normal	Hard
On its back, near its head	50%	50%
On its back, near its tail	50%	50%
Eyes (2)	Used to disorientate

Attacks

Attack	Damage (Normal)	Damage (Hard)	Description	Demonstration
Devour	80	110	After a certain amount of time, or when near a wall, the colossus will jump out of the sand and try to devour the player. If shooting one of its eyes was unsuccessful, take a sharp turn with Agro when the colossus submerges.
Trample	80 (Light hit) 110 (Hard hit)	110 (Light hit) 130 (Hard hit)	If on foot, or if Agro isn't running fast enough, the colossus will trample the player.

Music

Phase	Plays in	Music
Phase 1	Plays while the colossus tunnels around in the sand.	A Messenger From Behind
Phase 2	Plays once the colossus crashes into a wall and is stunned.	Counterattack

Development History

This colossus was created near the start of the game's development in 2003, but was also one of the last ones to be added, as it used to be tested in Stage 22 out of 26. Its nickname during development was 'Narga'.

Quetzalcoatl

Main article: Quetzalcoatl

Concept art of Quetzalcoatl.

Before Narga was created, there existed an archetypical boss in the early days named 'Quetzalcoatl'. This boss was originally created using the archetype of 'Snake' (the 13th colossus), being referred to as 'Snake II' on one of its concept arts, as well as in the PS3 Data Sheets. For some unknown reason, this colossus was rejected.

Narga

Concept art of Stage 22.

Later in 2003, Narga was created and placed on Stage 22 - Gravewind, an area that used to be very similar to the 13th colossus' desert. Quetzalcoatl's design was one of the elements that were used to make Narga.

Sketch of Narga from the Shadow of the Colossus Official Strategy Guide by Bradygames.

Narga was ten times longer than Quetzalcoatl. Its design was that of a very slim and long snake, with small eyes and various spikes on its body. The boss was blind, and only reacted to sound. At some point in early 2004, Gravewind was placed in quadrant B4, where it stayed for the rest of development.

The early version of Gravewind.

Its early strategy involved luring it to one of the many rock pillars throughout the arena, making it crash onto them and get stunned in a manner similar to the release version. The boss_zou entry in the BossStatus data sheet from the E3 Demo suggests that Narga used to be the 9th colossus at some point in development around the 2004 era.

Sketch of Narga's redesign.

At some unknown point in time, it was decided to add a cave to the arena, and the boss was redesigned to have large eyes that acted as arrow weakpoints.

E3 Demo

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

Narga chasing Wander and Agro.

In the version of the game from May 11th 2005 (known as the E3 Demo), Narga, now the 12th colossus, had some differences from its final incarnation.

Narga with no mandibles.

This earlier iteration was more mobile and aggressive, being able to circle around the player, and its movement was more reminiscent of that of a snake. It also had no mandibles or mouth, meaning it wasn't capable of leaping to try and eat Wander.

The boss' hints in this version were as follows: "With the help of your friend, run!" and "The enemy can't even see the big rocks.". The second hint reflects the earlier strategy when the boss was blind.

Gravewind in the E3 Demo.

The general look of the area was also quite different. There were more rock pillars of different sizes inside the cave, the giant tree outside of the arena was alive, and there were huge towers in the path to the south. The Lair on the Mesa save shrine did not exist, and the area where it was located was more spacious, as well as having different textures and geometry.

Ending model of Gravewind with the broken rock pillars.

The ending model of the arena has a strange difference. The various rock pillars aren't present, with only the base of the pillars appearing. The pillars having a base at all may indicate that they were planned to be destructible. However, no evidence of this exists.

Gravewind also had a placeholder introduction cutscene with only one frame, which was triggered when entering the arena from the northern entrance. The song which played for it was Sign of the Colossus.

PSU Preview

A wide shot of the two colossal trees. The north tree is visible in the foreground in high resolution, while the south tree is visible in its slow resolution in the background.

In the version of the game from July 8th 2005 (known as the PSU Preview version), each entrance to the 10th colossus' cave featured a giant tree. The one closer to the Lair to the West on the northern entrance was the dead version seen in the final game (although in the opposite entrance), and the one in the Lair on the Mesa on the southern entrance was only alive at a distance, with the leaves disappearing when getting too close.

Preview

Main article: Shadow of the Colossus (Preview)#X

In the version of the game from August 10th 2005 (known as the Preview version), Narga now was the 10th colossus, and 'A Despair-filled Farewell' played once it crashed into a wall. The giant tree at the Lair to the West entrance that was added to it the PSU Preview version was also removed, and the other three was changed to be dead.

Trivia

• This is the second of three limbless, serpentine colossi the player faces over the course of the game, the other two being the 7th and 13th colossi. It is also the third longest of these three and in fact all 16 colossi.
• This is the first colossus the player encounters that is seen jumping.
• This is the second of only three colossi that are fought underground, the others being the 6th and 8th colossi. The 10th colossus is one of only two truly subterranean colossi, however; both it and the 13th colossus are able to burrow underground.
• This is the most westerly of all the colossi. On the map, its lair is in line with the 5th colossus (The 10th is in B4 while the 5th is in H4; there are no other colossi in-between them), although the two are at completely opposite sides of the map. Putting the 5th and 10th colossi in such positions may have been intentional, as the two are quite different from each other in a number of ways. The 5th colossus flies, lives above a lake close to the Shrine of Worship and is relatively peaceful until it is provoked. The 10th colossus on the other hand lives underground in a cave within the sand far away from the Shrine of Worship and is probably one of the most aggressive colossi in the game.
• This is one of the fastest of all the colossi; it is able to keep up with Agro at full gallop without much effort.
• The 10th colossus seems to be the only one that genuinely hunts Wander. All other colossi simply try to batter and smash Wander, but the 10th colossus pursues, leaps, and attempts to consume Wander. Outside of Hard Mode, the 10th colossus also does the most damage in a single attack than any other colossus, almost enough to kill Wander.
• This is one of the furthest colossi from the central Shrine of Worship as the kite flies.
• This is one of three colossi that require the use of Agro to defeat it.
• This is the first of three colossi that have their own exclusive track heard whilst fighting them; the song "A Messenger From Behind" is unique to this battle.
• This is one of only two colossi who has a mobile mouth; the 5th colossus is the other.
• The 10th colossus doesn't make a lot of vocal sounds; the most distinct noise it makes is when Wander stabs its weak point sigil, at which point it will let out a high-pitched, yelping whine, sounding a bit like a screeching tire. It also roars when it jumps.
• The 10th colossus' eyes are generally orange throughout the entire time in which they are visible. This is because, like all other colossi, the eyes are coded to change from blue to orange when the colossus is either attacked or is attacking, and since the 10th colossus is constantly chasing Wander in an attempt to kill him, it is considered by its in-game script to be attacking. However, on an extremely rare occasion, its eyes may turn blue for a brief moment. This will only happen when the colossus is brought to a wall or obstacle without jumping, in which case it will turn and burrow instead. If Wander happens to be in the direction it is turning, the player may see the colossus' eyes turn blue, which in itself might not even happen. This means that the colossus' eyes are just like every other boss' eyes; it's just that by the time the player sees them, they're orange.
• From the location in which it is fought, the 10th colossus is one of three colossi whose pillar of light when defeated cannot be seen in the game, with the other two being the 6th and 8th colossi.
• The 10th colossus' Dormin entry differs between the Japanese and American versions of the game. In the original Japanese release, Dormin's last line when speaking of the 10th colossus was "Shake the earth with your friend...", which was changed to "Shaking the earth, its gaze is upon thee..." in the western release. The reason for this change is likely because it was very confusing for players.
  • In the Preview version of the game, Dormin's original japanese introduction line was included, being mistranslated to read as "Along with its friend, it shakes the earth...", which spawned numerous false rumors about the 10th colossus being originally meant to be fought alongside another colossus, whom was often said to be either Saru or Worm. As a matter of fact, the correct translation of the line was intended to be a hint that the player would need the help of Agro, their friend, to win this battle.
• There is a strange glitch with the 10th colossus. When it slams into a wall, if the player jumps onto it within a few seconds afterwards, Wander will take damage as if the colossus hit him. There is a way to avoid it, however, as the colossus' model shakes slightly after hitting a wall, but the shaking will eventually stop, which seems to be the indication that the glitch is "off".
• The 10th colossus' eyes on the map screen appear to be the brightest of all the colossi. This may be done on purpose, as its eyes are important in the battle.
• Judging by its size versus Wander's, the 10th colossus' eyes are the largest out of all of the others, even larger than the 16th colossus'.
• It is possible to glitch the 10th colossus into flying up in the air for a few seconds. The player must use both the Cloak of Deception and the Whistling Arrows, stand just outside the colossus' arena (just outside of the battle area), and shoot Whistling Arrows at a wall in the cave, constantly. If the player keeps striking the same spot, it will follow the arrows. When the colossus goes back into the ground, the player must follow it as it is burrowing and then it may (or may not) suddenly fly up into the air and might sometimes go up through the "roof" of the arena. Regardless of what the colossus does after flying, it will always come back into the ground after a moment.
• It can be found odd that the 10th colossus doesn't open its eyes until after it is already chasing Wander. When Wander loses it around a corner, it only takes a few seconds for it to find and chase him again, and it does this with its eyes closed. If the colossus is able to find Wander so easily with its eyes closed, it raises the question as to why it opens its eyes at all.
• The hitboxes for shooting the 10th colossus' eyes with arrows are actually always active regardless if the eyes themselves are visually open. This is used in speedruns to save time by shooting the eyes before they open.
• The 10th colossus is the only boss to have its AI changed in hard mode. In hard mode it will perform its jump attack much faster after surfacing, giving the player less time to shoot its eyes.

Gallery

• Original
• Remake
• Earlier versions

Original

Image of the 10th colossus taken from the official artbook.

The 10th colossus in pursuit of Wander.

The 10th colossus' glowing mouth.

The 10th colossus stunned after hitting a wall.

The 10th colossus jumping.

The 10th colossus' corpse.

Idol statue of the 10th colossus.

Game over screen of the 10th colossus.

Size chart of the 10th colossus (Credits: Nomad Colossus).

Remake

Full model of the 10th colossus in the remake.

The 10th colossus chasing Wander and Agro in the remake.

The 10th colossus stunned after hitting a wall in the remake.

Earlier versions

The 10th colossus in the E3 Demo. Note that it didn't have mandibles and its body came out more often from the sand.

The 10th colossus in the E3 Demo chasing Wander and Agro.

Shadow model of the 10th colossus in the Preview and earlier versions. It shows the early version of the 10th colossus seen in sketches.

Comparison of the early model of the 10th colossus with the final model.

Early sketches of "Snake II", which were used for the 10th colossus.

Sketch of an earlier design of the 10th colossus from the Shadow of the Colossus Official Strategy Guide by Bradygames.

Sketch of the head from the same earlier design of the 10th colossus.

Sketch of the 10th colossus close to its finalized design.

Sketch of the eyes from a design of the 10th colossus.

Sketch drawn by Fumito Ueda of Wander aiming backwards in order shoot the 10th colossus' eyes.