Phoenix

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Phoenix

Phoenix (or Adar Flam, the name given to it by fans) is one of several unused colossi that did not make it into the final version of Shadow of the Colossus.

Strategy

The guidebook gives information on how Phoenix had to be defeated: "Its body was wreathed in flame. You defeated it by plunging it into a lake". This indicates that Wander was not able to climb its body straight away. In all released screenshots of Phoenix, Wander is seen riding Agro, so it can be assumed she was vital to this battle.

New information from an anonymous developer reveals that Phoenix was able to use its wings to spread fire at the player's feet and its eyes "lit like fire when he attacked". The developer also stated Phoenix crashed into his lake when the player shot its flaming eye, at which point the player could presumably climb upon Phoenix to defeat it.

Location

Phoenix was to be battled in an earlier version of the quadrant I4, named Crater. It was thought to be originally at D3 due to trees in the screenshots matching the trees seen at Basaran's arena, but it was disproven when the trees at Basaran's arena and previously Phoenix's arena were labelled in the code as I4 trees in the Preview Version.

The cliff and floor textures seen in Phoenix's screenshots and the sheet data of the Crater matches with the ones in the J4 beta mountains. Crater is most likely Phoenix's arena since the branches seen in the screenshots are labelled as "Crater branches" in the Preview version, this was confirmed by a Team Ico developer. A tree texture listed in Crater's sheets matches perfectly with a tree seen in a Phoenix screenshot. The sheets also list a water texture called "ud_wave" which suggests that I4 had water. The presence of water can be linked to Phoenix's lake, as it needed to be plunged into it in its battle.

The I4 section in the OPM Demo map can be seen. it is either an earlier version of the arena before the crater idea, or a later version from after Phoenix's removal. An early screenshot of Avion shows the formation of spiral clouds and a beam of light around I4, cementing that there was a colossus there at one point.

A Team Ico developer confirmed the location to be at I4, beside the current arena of Avion.

Trivia

• Ueda stated that he discarded Phoenix's concept because Wander would lose way too much health everytime he fell from the colossus.
• Ueda stated that "The player had to avoid bursts of wind produced by the giant wings of this flying colossus". The bursts of wind can be seen being used by Avion when Wander is on top of the many ruins in its arena, it also suggests that Phoenix was once able to fly.
• Ueda stated they needed to create a "really large environment" for Phoenix.
• Phoenix was roughly the same height as Gaius.
• There exists two designs of Phoenix from different stages of development; an earlier design from the time Wander wore a blue vest and a more recent one from the time Wander had red hair. The earlier design had a longer neck and a lot of fur, whereas the recent design's neck is shorter and has less fur.
• A Team Ico developer stated that Phoenix and Devil were cut simultaneously, partly due to time constraints.

Gallery

A screenshot of Phoenix.

Another screenshot of Phoenix.

An earlier image of Wander and Agro near Phoenix. Note its longer, ostrich-like neck.

Another image of Phoenix in which it appears to be glowing.

Chronic'art French interview with Fumito Ueda (translated). Source of prior image.

Screenshot (4043).png

Screenshot of Basaran's arena from the PSU Pv version, showing the i4 and crater trees.