Mono

Talk Page

Mono
Information
Gender	Female
Height	160 cm / 5'3 (Real World) 118 cm / 3'10 (In-game)
Appears in	Shadow of the Colossus The Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Collection
Voice actor(s)	Hitomi Nabatame

“	She was sacrificed for she had a cursed fate. Please... I need you to bring back her soul...	”
–Wander talking about Mono

Mono (モノ Mono) is the deceased young woman whom Wander brings to the altar in the Shrine of Worship at the beginning of Shadow of the Colossus.

Appearance

Mono's concept art.

Mono is a beautiful woman with long, dark hair. She wears a long-sleeved, lilac dress, and no footwear. Both Wander and Mono were designed with long hair from the start of the design process. Her long, dark-brown hair worked as a contrast to Ico's Yorda, who has short, light-brown hair. At the very beginning of the game, she donned a light-brown cloak that covered her entire body.

Mono initially appeared pale, but with each colossus defeated, her body grows brighter, hinting at her resurrection progress.

Story

After Wander arrives at the Shrine of Worship, he tells Dormin that she was sacrificed for she had a "cursed fate", and that he wishes for her to be revived. It agrees on the condition that he destroys the idols in the Shrine of Worship, by using the Ancient Sword to defeat defeat their sixteen colossi incarnations that inhabit the Forbidden Lands.

With each colossus slain, Mono's voice becomes more audible and clear in the visions that Wander experiences before his return to the Shrine of Worship. At one point, she is seen getting up in a dream after Wander kills the eighth colossus.

After Dormin is vanquished and the bridge collapses, Mono finally awakens. Agro, though suffering greatly from an injured leg, leads her to the baby in the now-empty pool at the back of the shrine. Appearing dazed, albeit strangely unfazed to find herself resurrected from the dead; seemingly unshakable, she picks up the strange baby without so much as a look of surprise. They then head up to the secret garden atop the massive structure.

There, Mono and Agro are greeted by a green scenery, with water and trees providing fruits, granting a chance at life. At the end they are greeted by several animals, and the kite flies off towards the sky.

Trivia

• Some scrapped storyboards posted by Fumito Ueda, as well as a clip by Kazuhiro Numata on their twitter accounts, reveal that originally, Mono was going to be carried throughout the bridge by a cow.
• Mono makes a cameo appearance in Astro Bot.

Gallery

• Final PS2 version
• Remake version
• Earlier versions
• Other media

Mono's character profile page in the official artbook.

Mono in her slumber.

Mono waiting to be resurrected.

Mono and Lord Emon

Mono opening her eyes.

Holding the infant Wander.

Mono's appearance changing with every colossus that is defeated.

Mono in the garden (Credits: Nomad Colossus).

Mono and infant Wander in the garden (Credits: Nomad Colossus).

Mono's face in the PS4 remake.

Mono as seen in the game's 2018 remake.

Mono's awakening.

Mono walking with Agro down the main hall of the Shrine of Worship.

Screenshot of the cow created by Kazuhiro Numata that was going to be used to carry Mono through the bridge.

NICO Cow by Kazuhiro Numata

Video of the cow.

A scrapped storyboard depicting the heroine being carried by a cow.

An image from the storyboard.

The limited edition secret figurine of Mono made by Kotobukiya, part of the One Coin Grande collection.

Mono cameo in Astro Bot.