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| − | [[Yorda]] is a mysterious and ethereal girl found in the [[castle]] in ''[[Ico]]''. She is initially trapped in a metal cage at the top of a large tower. When [[Ico (character)|Ico]] recognizes this place in a vision he had while in his coffin, he investigates and rescues Yorda, and learns to fend off the [[shadow creatures]] that quickly take notice of the escape. |
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| + | |image = [[File:Ico_gs25.jpg|290px]] |
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| + | |Gender = Female |
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| + | |Appears = [[Ico]] <br/> |
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| + | [[The Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Collection]] |
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| + | |Voiced = Reiko Takahashi}} |
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| + | {{Template:Quote|''My body has become too old and won't last much longer. But Yorda is going to grant me the power to be resurrected. To be my spiritual vessel is the fulfillment of her destiny!''|Queen about Yorda|before her final battle with Ico}} |
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| + | '''Yorda''' (ヨルダ ''Yoruda'') is a mysterious and ethereal girl found in [[The Castle|the castle]] in ''[[Ico]]''. She is one of the two protagonists, the other being [[Ico (character)|Ico]], and is also the daughter of the castle's [[The Queen|Queen]]. |
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| + | ==Gameplay== |
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| + | The combat in ''Ico'' is focused on protecting Yorda from the shadow creatures which pursue her. Yorda lacks the physical strength or stamina to fend for herself, but Ico nonetheless needs her help as she has the ability to activate many of the magical devices in the castle, including the [[Idol Gates]] which block their path. |
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| − | Yorda has the ability to open [[idol doors]], simply by standing close to them. Many of the puzzles in ''Ico'' involve finding a way for Yorda to reach these doors to proceed. |
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| − | [[File:Screen12.jpg|frame|Yorda]] |
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| + | If Yorda is captured and subsequently pulled into one of the portals from which the shadows emerge, it is game over. The puzzles generally involve finding or creating a route that allows her to traverse an area, so that she can open the gates at the exit, allowing both to proceed forwards. |
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| ⚫ | |||
| + | ==Story== |
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| − | ====Introduction==== |
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| + | [[File:Yorda.jpg|thumb|right|192px|A close-up of Yorda.]] |
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| + | Ico first sees Yorda in a dream has when he is knocked unconscious in the process of escaping his casket. In the dream, Ico is shown discovering a shadowy figure imprisoned in a cage. Shortly thereafter, Ico finds exactly what he had seen in his dream, with the exception the girl in the cage is the antithesis of a shadowy creature. Ico manages to free Yorda, but quickly finds that there are [[Shadow creatures|other creatures]] in the castle waiting to return her to captivity. Ico resolves to help her, and the pair work together to escape. |
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| − | + | Later in the game, it is revealed that Yorda is imprisoned in the cage by her mother, the Queen, who intends to use her as a spiritual vessel. The Queen's own body is dying, so she will continue to live by taking Yorda's. After Ico succeeds in freeing Yorda from the cage and leading her to the main gates of the castle, the Queen appears before them. She tells Ico that Yorda is her daughter, and reminds Yorda that she cannot survive in the outside world. At this point the Queen withdraws, and the pair continue trying to escape. |
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| − | More doubtful is what exactly she meant by this. The Queen is not the same kind of being as Yorda, and if she ever was it was likely a long time ago. Furthermore the plan that Yorda is to be a part of was set in motion hundreds of years ago, yet Yorda has the appearance of a child. This raises questions about Yorda's exact origins.<br> |
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| − | How Yorda came into existence, what precisely she is, and how long she actually been alive are all unknown variables due to her vague background. I cover some aspects of this when analysing the magic in the story. For the purpose of analysin her character however, we can take these things at face value and focus exclusively on her behaviour and actions.<br> |
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| + | When they are finally on the verge of freedom, the Queen appears once again, this time petrifying Yorda. Ico returns to the tower where he was to be sacrificed and faces the Queen. She states that Yorda cannot leave no matter what, and tells him to leave. Instead, Ico fights the Queen, and manages to kill her. Yorda is brought back to life, still herself in mind, but in body she has become the shadowy form seen in Ico's dream. In this form, she seems more assertive and is significantly physically stronger. She quickly figures out what has happened, and as the castle crumbles around them, she carries the unconscious Ico down to the dock and releases him to the waters beyond. However, Yorda herself stays behind in the collapsing castle. |
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| − | The main difficulty in analysing Yorda's behaviour is that her reactions to and interaction with the world around her are very subdued, and the reason for this is never made explicitly clear. Her reactions vary too much from what we would expect of a person in her position to be explained away by personality alone. In order to understand what her behavior and actions tell us about what sort of person she is and how she thinks, we must understand how and to what degree they are influenced by other elements, such as her history and environment. |
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| − | It appears that she has been imprisoned in the cage for a long time, possibly a significant portion of her life. It is obvious that she has had no contact with anyone else during that time, when someone does finally turn up her behaviour suggests she is amazed anyone else is in this place, she almost seems to want to confirm that he is real.<br> |
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| − | The initial contact shows what is going to become a recurring theme in this analysis, the passivity of her reactions. While it appears she can scarcely believe that someone has finally interrupted her solitude, she merely asks, quite calmly, who he is and how he got there, as she slowly approaches him. Finally free, she does little more than actually step out of the cage.<br> |
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| + | After the credits are finished there is a scene in which Ico, under the player's control, finds Yorda washed up on the beach; she has returned to her white, human form, but now with color blooming on her once-pale cheeks. |
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| − | ====Environment==== |
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| + | ==Yorda's fate== |
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| − | There are environmental factors which contribute to Yorda's passive behaviour. Due to her physical weakness she is quite dependant on Ico. Ico has to help her to move around the Fortress, make simpler paths through areas for her, and keep her safe from the Spirits. Having been imprisoned for a significant amont of time she also lacks experience of the outside world, which is also responsible for this high reliance on Ico. This requirement to rely on someone else for so many aspects of their journey doesn't leave much room for independant action.<br> |
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| + | During the playable epilogue, it shows Ico finding Yorda washed up on the shore. She has returned to her human form, but it doesn't completely elaborate on what exactly happened to her. |
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| + | What many players believe is that the scene is actually real and that Yorda survived in the outside world. It is possible that the Queen lied to both Ico and Yorda, stating that she could not survive in the outside world. What the scene showed is where Yorda actually ended up on, and it could be possibly real. |
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| + | ===Dream=== |
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| + | Another possibility is that the Queen is actually telling the truth to both Ico and Yorda, she could not survive in the outside world. When she saves Ico from the castle, she chose to stay in the castle because she realized that she really couldn't leave. No miracle occured, her life wasn't spared. The epilogue is simply Ico's dream and it's not real, what the scene showed is just the player and Ico's illusion. |
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| + | This also seems to be Fumito Ueda's (the director of Ico) point of view on the ending, though he clearly states that this is just one possible interpretation [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LPLF0sMRjg&t=11m11s]. |
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| − | An important aspect of her passivity is her apparent apathy towards escaping. While she is happy enough to go along with Ico, and ocassionly excited by things relevant to their escape, most of the time she does not appear as motivated as Ico to work towards freedom. |
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| − | A significant contributor to this may be that the Queen has told her that she cannot survive in the outside world. She says this to Yorda the first time they encounter her on the bridge, and says it in a manner which suggests both that she has said it in the past and that it is for Yorda's own good that she is saying it. Of course, whether it is for her own good is very questionable given the Queen's intentions, but we have to consider the effect on Yorda. Yorda has such a passive nature that she is willing to follow a complete stranger who has a habit of leading her into dangerous areas of the Fortress, all because he seems to have her best interests at heart. When her own mother tells her that she cannot survive in the outside world, and makes it sound like a concerned warning rather than an attempt to stop her from running away, it is likely this would dampen Yorda's enthusiam for escaping.<br> |
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| + | ==Gallery== |
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| − | An aspect which must be considered is Ico and Yorda's differing perspectives on the Fortress. When Ico arrives he escapes quite quickly and immediately sets off, ignorant of the trials he will face before escaping, unaware that the Queen even exists.<br> |
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| + | <gallery orientation="landscape" widths="220"> |
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| − | Yorda has been imprisoned with no hope for escape for quite some time. While Ico seems to present the opportunity to escape, having never even been outside the Fortress would have made this concept significantly less 'real' to Yorda. Furthermore she shows some knowledge of the Fortress during their journey, and so is probably aware from the outset of what a monumental task escaping it will be, unlike Ico.<br> Finally, she is well aware of the Queen's presence and powers, and knows that even out of the cage, she is not really free of her mother as long as she is in the Fortress' walls.<br> |
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| + | YordaCage.jpg|Yorda in her cage, as she is found in the beginning of the game. |
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| − | While she seems content to follow Ico in his attempt to leave, it is possible that she doesn't believe that it is possible escape, and given her long imprisonment up until the point where she meets Ico she may simply not have the same will to escape that he does.<br> |
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| + | YordaShadow.jpg|Yorda in her shadowy form. |
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| + | </gallery> |
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| + | {{Franchise}} |
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| − | ====Personality==== |
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| + | [[Category:Ico Characters]] |
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| + | [[Category:Characters]] |
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| − | Taking these factors into account Yorda's behaviour when she first encounters Ico is more understandable. Even if she is able to grasp the idea that she is finally free after all this time, she is likely aware that she is not really free, not yet anyway. That she has to be led to escape by Ico, rather than trying herself, is not all there is to her character of course. This element of her character stands out however, and affects her behaviour to a degree that her character cannot be analysed without explaining this element. Having examined the circumstances and environment she is and found that there is a fixed explanation for this behaviour, it can be 'filtered out' so that we can examine her character independent of these circumstances.<br> |
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| + | [[Category:Ico]] |
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| − | While there are many times when one would expect Yorda to act with a desire to escape, times at which the behaviour discussed above affects her actions, there are also times when escape isn't the first thing on her mind, such as when they are trying to figure out what to do next or avoid the Spirits. Even during these times the same passivity remains however.<br> |
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| − | There are some circumstances in which she will act independently, the most pronounced of these being when the Spirits are chasing her, but for the most part she simply does nothing, whether that means simply being led around by Ico or staying somewhere he has left her. She is being given the first opportunity in a long time, possibly ever, to do what she wants and the the most she does with it is chase the odd bird. This muted reaction to almost everything going on around her could be attributed to her life thus far, but none of the circumstances which seem to contribute to her behaviour are relevant to these smaller moments. The point being that not only are there significant environmental factors contributing to her passive behaviour, but even behind this she has a very passive personality.<br> |
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| − | One alternative explanation for her passive behaviour is that she is actually disinterested in freedom and escape for some reason, and it has little to do with her personality. her actions tell us otherwise, which is part of what I will address in the next section.<br> |
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| − | ====Thoughts on Escape==== |
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| − | Yorda's behaviour raises the question of how she feels about following Ico and the prospect of escape. She is quite willing to follow Ico when he rescues her from the tower, but this does not necessarily mean anything in itself. I have established that she is naturally passive, and the one thing she does react to strongly is the Spirits. So when the first thing Ico does is to save her from a Spirit, it makes sense that she would follow willingly when he leads her out of the tower, regardless of how she may feel about Ico or escaping the Fortress.<br> |
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| − | One thing that is certain is that whether or not she believe's the Queen's story that it is for her own good, she does not wish to remain captive. In her own subtle way she moves towards freedom, in actions as simple as running away from the Spirits but choosing to follow and rely on Ico, or running ahead of Ico when they arrive in an area particularly important to their escape. |
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| − | The Queen tells her to 'come back' but while the way she says to herself 'I have angered her' shows that she is afraid of the Queen, she chooses to take Ico's hand and carry on nonetheless. She may or may not believe that it is possible but she chooses to try either way.<br> |
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| − | Given that a significant amount of her life has been spent in the cage, she undoubted appreciates being out of it at all. Even if she does not believe they can escape the Fortress, just having been freed from the cage and protected from the Spirits for a time is a gift and a further reason for her to choose to follow Ico. When she and Ico are finally stopped on the bridge her last words to Ico are 'Thank you'. That her last thought is thanks to Ico for what he has done, despite the fact that they did not escape, shows that she appreciated what freedom she did have and would have been happy to stay with Ico even if she thought true escape was impossible.<br> |
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| − | From these actions of hers we see that she did want to be free, and did choose to continue regardless of whether she believed escape was possible or not. This means that her passivity is not because she does not want to escape, but is simply the way she is.<br> |
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| − | |||
| − | ====Transformation==== |
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| − | At the end of the story Yorda is brought back to life as a Spirit by the Casket Chamber. She looks at herself, and her quick acceptance suggests that she realises what has happened to her. After a moment she goes up to the throne room and finds Ico unconcious. She is much stronger in this form and so is well able to carry Ico down to the dock and send him off in a boat. |
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| − | Aside from simply being stronger her behaviour is more confident, she seems more sure of herself now, even as the Fortress is collapsing around her, than she did when she was with Ico. This suggests that in part at least her previous behaviour really was due to her inability to fend for herself. Given this stronger body she is able to switch roles with Ico.<br> |
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| − | Yorda's last action is to save Ico from the collapsing Fortress. However she does not go with him, even though there doesn't seem to be anything physically stopping her from doing so. Why exactly this is remains a mystery. A likely explanation is that she chose to stay behind because there is no place for her or because she has, in a manner of speaking, already died. However the Queen did say that she could not survive in the outside world. Since Yorda is somewhat magical in nature there may have been some truth in this, it is after all true that when Yorda does 'leave' the Fortress she once again changes form. There may have been a real reason why she couldn't have left, or at least believed she couldn't.<br> |
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| − | <br> |
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| − | <br> |
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| − | {{Ico}} |
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Revision as of 22:02, 28 June 2019
| “ | My body has become too old and won't last much longer. But Yorda is going to grant me the power to be resurrected. To be my spiritual vessel is the fulfillment of her destiny! | ” |
–Queen about Yorda, before her final battle with Ico | ||
Yorda (ヨルダ Yoruda) is a mysterious and ethereal girl found in the castle in Ico. She is one of the two protagonists, the other being Ico, and is also the daughter of the castle's Queen.
Gameplay
The combat in Ico is focused on protecting Yorda from the shadow creatures which pursue her. Yorda lacks the physical strength or stamina to fend for herself, but Ico nonetheless needs her help as she has the ability to activate many of the magical devices in the castle, including the Idol Gates which block their path.
If Yorda is captured and subsequently pulled into one of the portals from which the shadows emerge, it is game over. The puzzles generally involve finding or creating a route that allows her to traverse an area, so that she can open the gates at the exit, allowing both to proceed forwards.
Story
A close-up of Yorda.
Ico first sees Yorda in a dream has when he is knocked unconscious in the process of escaping his casket. In the dream, Ico is shown discovering a shadowy figure imprisoned in a cage. Shortly thereafter, Ico finds exactly what he had seen in his dream, with the exception the girl in the cage is the antithesis of a shadowy creature. Ico manages to free Yorda, but quickly finds that there are other creatures in the castle waiting to return her to captivity. Ico resolves to help her, and the pair work together to escape.
Later in the game, it is revealed that Yorda is imprisoned in the cage by her mother, the Queen, who intends to use her as a spiritual vessel. The Queen's own body is dying, so she will continue to live by taking Yorda's. After Ico succeeds in freeing Yorda from the cage and leading her to the main gates of the castle, the Queen appears before them. She tells Ico that Yorda is her daughter, and reminds Yorda that she cannot survive in the outside world. At this point the Queen withdraws, and the pair continue trying to escape.
When they are finally on the verge of freedom, the Queen appears once again, this time petrifying Yorda. Ico returns to the tower where he was to be sacrificed and faces the Queen. She states that Yorda cannot leave no matter what, and tells him to leave. Instead, Ico fights the Queen, and manages to kill her. Yorda is brought back to life, still herself in mind, but in body she has become the shadowy form seen in Ico's dream. In this form, she seems more assertive and is significantly physically stronger. She quickly figures out what has happened, and as the castle crumbles around them, she carries the unconscious Ico down to the dock and releases him to the waters beyond. However, Yorda herself stays behind in the collapsing castle.
After the credits are finished there is a scene in which Ico, under the player's control, finds Yorda washed up on the beach; she has returned to her white, human form, but now with color blooming on her once-pale cheeks.
Yorda's fate
During the playable epilogue, it shows Ico finding Yorda washed up on the shore. She has returned to her human form, but it doesn't completely elaborate on what exactly happened to her.
Reality
What many players believe is that the scene is actually real and that Yorda survived in the outside world. It is possible that the Queen lied to both Ico and Yorda, stating that she could not survive in the outside world. What the scene showed is where Yorda actually ended up on, and it could be possibly real.
Dream
Another possibility is that the Queen is actually telling the truth to both Ico and Yorda, she could not survive in the outside world. When she saves Ico from the castle, she chose to stay in the castle because she realized that she really couldn't leave. No miracle occured, her life wasn't spared. The epilogue is simply Ico's dream and it's not real, what the scene showed is just the player and Ico's illusion.
This also seems to be Fumito Ueda's (the director of Ico) point of view on the ending, though he clearly states that this is just one possible interpretation [1].
Gallery
| 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 | |
