Team Ico Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Team Ico Wiki
Evis
Buddha


Talk Page


Buddha (仏像 Butsuzō) is the early version of the Colossus that would eventually evolve into the final boss of the game, being renamed into Evis, which was the name of the previous final boss before it was cut.


The description from a sketch of Buddha taken from the ICO & Shadow of the Colossus PS3 limited edition booklet reads as: "I drew this after thinking about how I could make a giant statue of Buddha. At the time, we called it 'Buddha Boss,' but it eventually became the last boss. It is an image of a statue standing alone in a place where a city once stood."

Appearance[]

While the overall design of Buddha is similar to that of its final incarnation, there were several major differences, namely its different head, different chest armor and lack of magma spots throughout the body. Its design seemed to lean more into a "sorcerer" look, instead of the warrior-like design of the final version (except for the skirt which remained mostly the same).

Buddha's first design shown in its various concept arts was half the height the current final colossus. Besides the evidence found in the sheets indicating that its size is increased by double in-game, Buddha's concept art, after calculations, show the same result of 24 meters.

The size in the in-game screenshots of it is more debatable however, as its skirt parts are very similar to the ones present in the version from the final game, which are made to work with the size of 48 meters and not 24 meters. Decreasing the size of the final colossus in the sheets to match the size from its concept art will make apparent how Wander doesn't meld well with the smaller skirt. The earliest incarnation of Buddha's skirt was simpler in design, making it possible for Wander to climb it as the boss was smaller, but the skirt in the artbook screenshots is very detailed, causing glitches and non-effective platforming if the boss was still its smaller size. It's very possible that Buddha was already 48 meters by the time of the artbook screenshots.

Strategy[]

Buddha's concept arts describe its former fight in detail. It was placed in the middle of the arena, contrary to Evis which is placed on the back. To progress, Wander needed to navigate around a maze of tunnels, going inside one and out the other in a similar way to its final version; avoiding its beam attacks until finally reaching its back and feet. It is likely that the colossus turned around in order to shoot Wander, as there are tunnels even behind it.

After reaching its feet, Wander would need to climb onto its body and attack the sigil located on its chest in order to complete the battle.

Location[]

Buddha was fought in an arena completely different than Sanctuary, known as Labyrinth, at quadrant "I7". The textures of the arena, besides suggesting that it was located somewhere along the southern half of the Forbidden Lands, also match with the textures from the leftover models of J7 and I8. Both of these quadrants appear to have been connected in the past, with "I7" being in the center of them. Buddha appears to have lived in I7 when the southeastern area of the map was larger.

The early F8 was just a world wall and not a colossus arena according to the PS3 data sheets. Additionally, an early version of the quadrant's chip data (which details the layout of the quadrant's seamless model) and textures exist, corroborating the 'world wall' idea.

Trivia[]

  • Buddha and Evis are a unique case, because they are listed separately in the Colossus Test Stages list despite being the same colossi. Buddha has Stage 20 and Evis has Stage 26. The likely reason is that another colossus named 'Evis' existed at one point.
  • The sheets reveal that a texture segment for an unused model named 'Evis_A' existed at one point in development. The final version of the last boss uses the 'Buddha_A' texture segment instead, making it possible that this unused 'Evis' was planned to be a completely different Colossus not related in any way to Buddha, before the idea was scrapped and Buddha was repurposed into it.
    • This unused 'Evis' also had a path data (programmed path that the colossus walks on), while 'Buddha' didn't. This may suggest that Evis was able to walk.
  • A text from the concept art of Buddha reveals that it was not always the final boss. It was likely only made the final boss near the end of development, since Sanctuary was the final arena created for the game. In the OPM Demo, PSU Preview and E3 Demo versions of the game, the final 16th idol statue was still a copy of the 1st Colossus.
  • Buddha's battle would not feature the storm of its final version and the music was likely not going to be Demise of the Ritual either, as that is a song that would only fit the tragic final battle that it became after Agro sacrificed herself to save Wander.
  • According to the data sheets, Buddha 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. Buddha most likely used another colossus' icon.

Gallery[]

SotCFullTemplate
The Game Shadow of the Colossus ( Demo  · Pal Release  · Shadow of the Colossus HD  · PS4)
Characters Wander  · Agro  · Mono  · Dormin  · Lord Emon  · Guards  · Shadows
The Colossi I  · II  · III  · IV  · V · VI  · VII  · VIII  · IX  · X  · XI  · XII  · XIII  · XIV  · XV  · XVI
Unused Colossi ( Devil  · Evis  · Griffin  · Phoenix  · Roc  · Saru  · Sirius  · Spider  · Worm  · Yamori A  · Buffalo  · Quetzalcoatl)
Magic Sigil  · Hard Mode
Colossus Arenas Temple  · Proto  · Arena  · Kirin's Hill  · Canyon · Canossa  · Lakeside  · Underground  · Geyser  · Gravewind  · Leo's Cave  · Poseidon's Lake  · Desert  · Ruins  · Parthenon  · Sanctuary
Unused Arenas ( Badlands  · Cave  · Crater  · Devil's Plain  · Dune  · Hillock  · I1  · Labyrinth  · Sluice  · Stonehenge  · Valley )
The Forbidden Lands Shadow creaturesSave shrinesFruit treesWhite-tailed lizards

The Shrine of Worship
Umbral GladeStone Arch GorgeDried MarshNorthern SpanDesert FortressMisty FallsRavine EntranceHalf-moon CanyonWestern PlainRound Stone HillLair to the WestStone Bridge CliffCliff PathLair on the MesaWestern CapeArch Bridge PlainBlasted LandsAutumn ForestEastern BluffValley PlainSouthwestern CapeSouthern PlainGreen CapeThe Broken Seal

Soundtrack Roar of the Earth
Walkthrough Time AttackGolden Coins
Other media Nico  · Official artbook/guidebook  · Collectible figurines  · Film adaptation
Giantology campaign
Hoaxes Jebal-Barez skeletonTamil Nadu tsunami giantSulu Sea eel statuePolarneft conspiracySayre family vacation
Characters Eric BelsonCasper ShillingEd GuylerArkady SimkinBoris AtlasovAndrew and Ellie Sayre
Media Giantology podcasts (FirstInterview with Arkady SimkinThirdFourth) • IPICP memo
SotC Template CoverLogov2 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 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
Advertisement