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 Forbidden Lands.
Path to the colossus[]
- See also: Map for this path
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[]
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 |
Trivia[]
General[]
- 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.
- 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.
Earlier versions[]
- A Famitsu interview details the 10th colossus' development: "It's the colossus we referred to as 'Naga'. Initially, it didn't even have eyes. It was designed to react solely to sound. The strategy we had in mind was to lure it with footsteps and make it crash into pillars. Agro had a better evasive capability, but when we actually tried it, it was surprisingly difficult... We really wanted to incorporate more combat involving the horse. That's precisely why this colossus was indispensable."[1][2]
- The 10th colossus' body used to be much skinnier than what it ended up becoming in the final version. This can be observed in some of its sketches and in the shadow model found in the Preview and earlier versions.
- In an old screenshot seen in the gallery below, one may notice that the 10th colossus' arena didn't always have a cave. Its arena was fully open, with the same rocks as in the final game.
- According to the same famitsu interview from above, the 10th colossus was blind and reacted to sound. It had to be drawn into hitting one of the rock pillars seen in its arena.
- This is further proved by the 10th colossus' hints found in the E3 Demo version of the game. They are: "With the help of your friend, run!" and "The enemy can't even see the big rocks."
- This was the 12th colossus in the E3 Demo version. It 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 in this version, meaning it wasn't capable of leaping to try and eat Wander.
- In the PSU Preview version of the game, each entrance to the 10th colossus' cave featured a giant tree. The one closer to the Lair to the West was the dead version seen in the final game (although in the opposite entrance), and the one in the Lair on the Mesa was alive, with leaves in its branches, but they soon disappear after getting too close.
- The tree is fully alive in the E3 Demo. However curiously enough, the extra big tree near Lair to the West is missing, even though the E3 Demo is an earlier version.
- 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.
- In the Preview version of the game, the theme "A Despair-filled Farewell" plays once the 10th colossus crashes into the wall.
- According to the data sheets, the 10th colossus did not have a unique HUD icon, which is an icon in the shape of the colossus that used to show the weakpoint locations in early builds. It most likely used another colossus' icon, possibly being the one from the 13th colossus.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ https://teamico.fandom.com/wiki/File:FamitsuNicknameInterview.png | December 2nd, 2005 Famitsu - The Colossi Nicknames (1st to 10th Colossus)
- ↑ https://teamico.fandom.com/wiki/File:FamitsuNicknameInterviewTranslation.png | December 2nd, 2005 Famitsu - The Colossi Nicknames, translated by Kepekley23.
The game | ICO ( Demo · Revisions from U.S. version · Ico HD ) | |
Characters | Ico · Yorda · The Queen · Shadows · Shinkan | |
The Castle | Idol Gates · Yorda's language · Saving Benches Altar • Warehouse • Spiral Stairs • Old Bridge • Stairs • Trolley 1 • Trolley 2 • Crane • Chandelier • Drawbridge • Main Gate • Graveyard • Dark Room • 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 | |
Other Media | Ico ~Melody in the Mist~ · Official Game Guide · Ico: Castle in the Mist |
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 Forbidden 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 · Watermellon · 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 |