Colossus III

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Colossus III
Thy next foe is... A giant canopy soars to the heavens... The anger of the sleeping giant shatters the earth...
Profile
Height	97 Feet (29.6 Meters)
Gameplay
Time Attack goals (Normal/ Hard)	6:00 / 5:00
Agro	No
Sigils	Normal: 2 Major Hard: 3 Major

Gaius is the third colossus, resembling a knight. Its lair is a tilted arena in the middle of a giant lake in quadrant E2.

Path to the Colossus

See also: Map for this path

Video - Path to Gaius

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Initially, the path to Gaius is the same as the path you took before - go around the Shrine of Worship to the right until you have a way north, then make your way across the land bridge. This time, however, you will want to go left when the path forks; this will take you to the northern plains. Your sword will direct you to the northwest now. It will point roughly to a canyon entrance; this is where you want to go. The canyon path will eventually take you to the shores of a lake, and a cutscene will start, emphasizing the giant island in the middle of the lake, and a path you can take to go up.You must leave Agro behind here. Jump into the lake and swim to the path on the west side of the arena. This pathway will eventually end, however, and you must jump to a ledge on an adjacent pillar. Grab on and make your way to the right. Here, you must leap off this ledge to reach the arena, just like you did to reach the first colossus. Though the lake is a very long way down, you won't die if you perform the maneuver incorrectly, but it does takes a while to swim back. Once you've jumped successfully, climb up to the top of the arena to begin.

Walkthrough

Video - Battle with Gaius

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Gaius will often attack you with its "sword" - a massive pillar of rock in place of a right hand - by swinging it and bringing it down to the earth with a massive crash. The obvious thing to do here is to run up the sword to start your ascent towards its major sigils, but there is a complication: after running all the way up the sword, the way up is blocked by a great band of stone around Gaius' right wrist. To proceed, you must find a way to shatter that barrier.

In the center of the arena, there is a peculiar shimmering plate. Gaius has an interesting reaction to you if you stand on it; this will prompt it to perform the sword attack mentioned earlier. It'll even back up to do so (unless it is very close to the plate). Once it brings its sword down on the solid plate, the force of the impact will shatter the barrier around its wrist. After this happens, Gaius will almost always perform the sword attack again; make sure you're not on the plate this time, as the sword will simply crash off of it. Run up the sword and start climbing. You may wish to get the weakpoint on its midsection before the one on the head, though it can be a trickier jump than it looks.

Time Attack times (Normal, Hard): 6:00, 5:00

Weakspots

Location	Percentage of health
	Normal	Hard
On its midsection	50%	33%
On top of its head	50%	33%
On the back of its left arm	N/A	33%

Explanation of the Riddle

Dormin's Riddle: "Thy next foe is... within the mist... A giant canopy soars to the heavens... The anger of the sleeping giant shatters the earth."

The first lines of the riddle describe the location in which Gaius resides. The final sentence describes Gaius' primary method of attack and also a vague hint of how to defeat it.

Tips and tricks

• When Gaius pulls its sword out of the ground, skilled or lucky players can launch high into the air, if they crouch down near the end of the sword at the right time. By doing this, Wander can land on Gaius' upper body and reach the major sigils without having to shatter its armor. This is a great time saver and very useful for those who have trouble with time attack.
• After taking out the weakpoint on Gaius' abdomen, it is possible to jump directly from its waist to its right arm, as there is an extra major sigil there on Hard Mode. It is fairly simple to get just right, and it is a real time saver. Also, if one manages to quickly take out the sigil on its arm, Wander can quickly leap up to its shoulder and regain stamina before taking out the sigil on its head. This is also a time saver.

Origin of given and Latin name

Note that both the given names and the Latin names of the colossi are fictional. They are only used by fans due to the popularity of these names and are not official.

Gaius

• Gaius is a male given name from Roman times, notable for being Caesar's given name (Gaius Julius Caesar). It is also the masculine form of the Greek Gaia, meaning "earth" or "the world".

Terrestris Veritas

• Terrestris means "earth" or "of the earth" in Latin.
• Veritas means "truth" in Latin.
• Therefore, Terrestris Veritas means "earthly truth"

Music

• When Wander arrives at the lakeshore, the short track Lakeside plays.
• Once Gaius stands and begins pursuing Wander, In Awe of the Power plays.
• After Gaius' armor shatters, The Opened Way plays for the remainder of the battle.

Trivia

• Gaius is one of only three colossi that wield a weapon, the other two being Valus and Argus. Gaius is also the only one of these three that will never drop its weapon; Valus drops its weapon during its death sequence, and Argus is disarmed by Wander during their battle. This is likely due to the fact that Gaius' weapon is either physically a part of its body or grafted onto its right hand; either way it appears to be permanently attached to Gaius.
• Gaius has the farthest reach of any colossi (excluding the 4 that use projectile attacks) due to both its height and the length of its sword.
• Unlike the majority of colossi, Gaius' appearance isn't animalistic; it somewhat resembles a human in proportion and stature.
• Gaius stands at roughly 97ft/29.6 meters tall, making it the third tallest colossi after Malus and Quadratus.
• Gaius is one of the more popular colossi amongst fans due in part to its great height and the fact that the fight is essentially a deathmatch between two swordsmen held within the confines of the lofty arena wherein Gaius resides. Gaius' popularity may also be due to the fact that many players view the fight against Gaius as the first 'proper' fight in the game; Valus and Quadratus are seen somewhat as training colossi in that they are more designed to allow the player to become accustomed to the controls as well as the games mechanics and physics. Gaius, by comparison, is a tougher opponent, especially given that the puzzle of breaking its armour is trickier to discover than either Valus or Quadratus' weaknesses.
• Gaius makes a lot of different noises; as with most colossi it bellows and roars a lot. Some of the noises it makes are similar to those made by roaring bears.
• Gaius is potentially the 'furriest' of all 16 colossi; most of its body that isn't covered by armour has fur on it, and even when the armour on its arm is broken, it can be seen that beneath that armour is more fur. Going by this, it is possible that most of Gaius' body is covered in fur, rather than in specific places like the other colossi. There is, however, a bald patch of tough skin on the inside of its right arm.
• Gaius is the only bipedal colossi that doesn't have hands. Its right hand is connected directly to its sword and its left is like a stump with some stone armour protruding from it, which appear vaguely resemblant of very crude fingers.
• Gaius and Valus are the only two colossi with major sigils on their arms, but those are exclusive to Hard Mode. Argus and Malus come close, but they have minor sigils on their arms, not major.
• Along with Quadratus and Wander, Gaius made a cameo appearance outside of Shadow of the Colossus in the 2008 PS3 game LittleBigPlanet, where Gaius can be downloaded as a costume.

Gallery

Gaius 1.jpg

Image of Gaius taken from the official artbook.

Wander facing off against Gaius.

Gaius attacking Wander, kicking up a huge cloud of earth.

Wander hanging from Gaius' sword.

Wander on top of Gaius' head.

Wander approaching Gaius' arena.

Development sketch of Gaius taken from the official artbook.

Concept sketch of Gaius' arena from a distance.

Size chart for Gaius.

Gaius downloadable costume in LittleBigPlanet.

Confronting Gaius