The Shadow of the Colossus Iceberg Explained

[@NomadColossus]

Great video! I retweeted it on my feed & subbed. Some of the info is out of date (my bad - I haven't updated my blog post in a long time... but am working on it). Overall I really enjoyed it and loved the crude sketches you made to show a point ; )

[@dumpykong]

Thank you so much! I really appreciate all the work you've done, absolutely would not have been able to make this video without your information, so it means the world!!!

[@NomadColossus]

@@dumpykong I actually made a video that explained the 'mistake' I made about the OPM demo colossi icons... here:kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZoSZdJyKoLiXsLM

[@nattdal]

Haha, three weeks ago, you always are being as constant searching for any sotc videos as i am through the years, and haven't stopped, you're a legend for this game's story

[@giuseppecappelliPSRL]

Legend

[@darshio8307]

Omg, I did not expect this XD

[@danestambaugh255]

The "psychic malus" is probably referring to how malus seems to have some sort of connection with the other collosi, perched on the high ground, overlooking as wander fills the sky with beacons of the slain collosi. When you get to malus's hand, he doesn't attack, rather, looks upon in placid curiosity, he can feel the essence of all the other collosi within you, he thinks perhaps, for a moment, you're like he is. And that he only attacked you because he was acting upon his job to keep Dorman sealed

[@frostycane5134]

Also why is he sealed behind a gate that’s isolated from the whole land . His square on the map is f8 it “ fate “

[@MddHound]

However nice that sounds, I can't help to feel that he just wakes up when you enter. Entering his arena, he already looks at his hands/bracelets in somewhat surprise. Just as all others, he just wakes up ( it seems), and all colossi are very bad at getting you of them. They are slow and "dumb" that way, like "golems" made of clay who don't really understand the new world they have awoken in.

[@airman5999]

I always thought he was mad at you for killing the other colossi

[@cayden2744]

@@airman5999 It could be tho, in the seal symbol on his head, there's 15 dots.

[@pushplay6211]

I always felt the final colossus was poetically Wander. The colossi store parts of Dormin. When all colossi are destroyed, Dormin are rejoined inside of Wander. Wander’s eyes are blue like the colossi at the end. I think one interpretation (not every way of seeing it) is that Wander is the shadow of the colossi.

[@Ranstone]

In an alternate ending, (Not used int he final game) Wander became instead of baby Ico, a hulking beast about 12 feet high, half Dormin, half colossus. This in many ways supports the possibility of your theory.

[@TheAlison1456]

Wow... That's so good. I never realized how he's a literal shadow of all of them at the end.

[@CHADCONTEXT]

The final colossus (Malus) can be interpreted as the final shard of Wander's human soul. Malus is the most humanoid colossus in terms of appearance. Ironically, Wander killing Malus cam be interpreted as fully killing his human self to become a colossus.

[@lucidlullaby894]

The interpretation of the title going from “stand in the *Shadow of the Colossus* “ to “you are now the *Shadow of the Colossus* “ is nuts

[@shanedawndusk3290]

@@lucidlullaby894 It’s mind blowing.

[@wesleyfilms]

I watched someone play The Last Guardian, and honestly, I think the thing living in the tower is an honest 'alien'. Came from the sky, has robot servants, is worshipped by primitive humans, and his home looks like the inside of an alien craft. Some of these seem more like half-baked fan theories tbh. There's much better stuff that could be added.

[@kikrim1]

For me the thing that give orders to creatures is a automated system which pure purpose is keep power over the area even former kings are long dead. And kings did build this system fully concious that it will still work long after their death.

[@solarprogeny6736]

I think the "Malus Psychic Connection" has to do with the fact that Malus knows where you are standing at all times even if you are hiding behind walls or in tunnels etc.

[@tonycruise]

malus is the whole island including the bunkers... that is like his legs so he konws where you are because you are inside him

[@KnightedSilverWolf]

thats just random bs ai

[@josephstalin2606]

@@KnightedSilverWolfStill tho u can hide from other Colossi and they’ll actually lose sight of you but the last one always knows where you are no matter what. It’s def intentional

[@Daiquirito]

@@tonycruiseBut he literally has feet, that are above ground.

[@okiedokie.sophie]

Wow I absolutely hated that picture of Dirge in the water thank you

[@dumpykong]

I MADE it and it gives me nightmares 😭

[@CHADCONTEXT]

@@dumpykong vibe check!

[@nicolassanchez1217]

@@dumpykong I was avoiding to see those ocean videos and I pooped myself with a Sotc video. I'm crying 😭

[@Acefdiamonds]

Witch one is dirge

[@revalution1965]

@@Acefdiamonds the sand worm w the huge evil eyes thats in the cave

[@LittleBigBwner]

Under water in this game is just so anonymous, dark and scary. Even just taking a dip under makes me clench my cheeks

[@bluemonday2921]

The hole game was so scary to me that i couldnt keep playing

[@mr_breadloaf3012]

Do you mean ominous

[@citizenvulpes4562]

@@mr_breadloaf3012 I think he does.

[@brancolt_]

yeah I still can't figure out what the water in this game is called

[@LittleBigBwner]

@@mr_breadloaf3012 probably

[@liliththesolarexalted2206]

Honestly I really wish more had been done with Giantology. That entire marketing campaign could have been a game in and of itself, or a very fascinating spinoff.

[@Acefdiamonds]

Imagine if one of them had the sword in it

[@Elmithian]

Where is the "Dormin is not an evil god, but a neutral entity/being/god whose powers were feared and thus he was painted as evil by those that sealed him (as in they believed no one and nothing should have power over life and death like that)" in the iceberg?

[@solarprogeny6736]

It's no theory that evil/good are relative concepts, not absolutes. I don't see why it should be included in the iceberg since it doesn't really add much at all and isn't a secret in any way.

[@leon9021]

@@solarprogeny6736 Really, Dormin not evil doesnt fit but Ueda is Nomad does?

[@CHADCONTEXT]

@@leon9021 Ueda is Nomad is just an inside joke known for years.

[@leon9021]

@@CHADCONTEXT exactly

[@Eli-so8rk]

the king nimrod thing actually has a ton of references throughout the games. nimrod was responsible for building the tower of babel, which inadvertently split humanity apart through the creation of languages. in hungarian mythology he’s called “Nimrod the Giant” and in other stories he is killed by being “split into pieces.”we see a lot of these themes echoed not only in the shrine of worship and the colossi, but also in ico, where the language barrier prevents ico and yorda from understanding each other

[@kacperwoch4368]

Wasn't there also something about Nimrod being killed and his body quatered into 7 parts and scattered across the land?

[@FranK-tg7ou]

You can’t see avion early but before you jump into the waters you can shoot him with arrows and he’ll fly over to that area and flap his wings and push You away with wind

[@deranged_miyeon_stan]

Do you have a video for this?

[@FranK-tg7ou]

@@deranged_miyeon_stan unfortunatly not i cant record my ps3 but you can try for yourself or anyone can if they want if im wrong then mandella effect it real

[@timmadone8930]

@@deranged_miyeon_stan I can confirm that this is true at least on the PS4 remake as I've done it myself & might make a video at some point, although there are already videos on here showing this. Avion is my 1st favorite colossus & I've spent a lot of time trying different things to see what will happen while in his arena. It still feels a little intimidating when Avion first swoops down towards you as you're about to grab onto him.

[@Nobody2989]

No mention of goats in the iceberg?! That was such a fun search when the PS4 remaster came out. Also in the PS4 version, there is a small door next to Celosia's temple with crumbled debris blocking the way inside. If you glitch through the floor near Celosia's arena, you can clearly see the black outline of a room behind there: is it just an artifact of how the debris is rendered in the game, some kind of cut secret, or is there some way to get inside now? Idk

[@timmadone8930]

That black void is near Celosia is of interest. If you glitch through the map near the main temple & look up where the Sword Of Dormin is located, you will also see a black void. However, there is nothing there until you collect all 79 gold coins. If you try to jump into that area before collecting all the coins, you will just fall through the black void until you die. Perhaps there is something you need to do in order to make the black void near Celosia become a physical place.

[@thepsyshyster]

@@timmadone8930 Considering that the original theory of SotC's "last secret" was that the door in Celosia's arena could be opened, I wouldn't be surprised if they planned for the Sword of Dormin to be located there before moving it to the Shrine of Worship. Or maybe there's still a secret left to be found? I doubt it...

[@timmadone8930]

@@thepsyshyster In January of this year I found the number 24 etched into on a rock near colossus 14 ( I uploaded a video showing it ) and despite many times exploring that area, it still took 4 years of playing the PS4 remake to notice it. So yes, there is still things to discover in the Forbidden Lands for the most dedicated of Secret Seekers.

[@timmadone8930]

@@thepsyshyster As for the door in Celosia's arena, we know it's empty in the PS2/PS3 version. However, that might not be the case with the PS4 remake. If you fall through the map at the main temple & look up before collecting all 79 gold coins, the stairs leading to the alter & the alter itself are not present. That entire newly created area doesn't manifest until you collect all 79 coins. Makes you wonder if anything else in the game won't appear until you do a certain something.

[@innisjohnston]

There's actually been a ninth unused colossus discovered named Yamori A. It's insane how we're still finding out more about the game to this day.

[@Ranstone]

This is a myth. Yamori is the actual name of the 8th colossus. This myth came from the fact that the texture "hn_yamori_B_hone03.nto" in the NICO file from the demo CD looks so drastically different than the one used in the final game, however, all the other textures, iconicaly "hn_yamori_B_usiroasi_migi.nto" and it's three clones match the 8th colossus' legs perfectly. (Why they had 4 identical textures is beyond me.)

[@berserkerciaran]

@@Ranstone But Kuromori is called Yamori B, which could imply either an older version, or even a scrapped colossous based on the same concept (Just like Valus is Minotaur A, Barba Minotaur B and Argus Minotaur C)

[@dragstra8448]

Yamori A is separate from Yamori B. It has its own idol statue listed in the PS3 data sheets (right next to Yamori B) and Ueda himself mentioned there being 2 gecko colossi before Yamori A was cut.

[@TheAlison1456]

@Dragstra Can you provide a source for your claim that Ueda said so? In interactions with JoJo fans, a lot of them make claims about Araki like that which are false.

[@palmeida1520]

@@TheAlison1456 if i am not mistaken, there is an entry explaining everything about yamori A in the team ico wiki.

[@irreverentizzy5426]

I think I can actually clarify the "everything is scaled down" bit. I remember that there's a Nomad Colossus(?) video where they go over the sizes of objects in the game and compare them to real life things to see how tall Wander is. Wander himself is like 4 feet tall, so based on that the colossi aren't actually as massive as they appear. Of course they're still completely huge, but if Wander was the average height of a male now they probably wouldn't be quite as intimidating.

[@WookieWarriorz]

Increasing his height by like 15 inches really isn typing to make anything much smaller ?

[@DanSutherland]

This was because Nomad assumed the "in-game scale" to be = to "real-life or intended scale". According to the dev statements on Phalanx's length approx. 200 meters Nomad's measurements come up short though. But when Nomad's 140-ish meter Phalanax gets scaled up to 200m, Wander ends up being a pretty normal height. I think the ratio was like 7:10 or so. The in game scale is based on the unit of measurement of the engine. Often game engines, especially older ones, don't use something like meters as their standard measurement though. There's just something they make that is = 1 unit of measurement and then things are scaled appropriately around them. Scale also can get distorted when importing 3D models made with different software into a new dev environment.

[@theslimiestfiberlog647]

I bought this game 3 times, ps2, ps3 and ps4. I remember playing this when I was like 7 years old, not knowing what tf to do just riding my horse around but being absolutely taken away by the graphics, the setting and the beauty of the landscape. Shadows of the Colossus is by far my favorite game, they couldn’t have done better.

[@TheLyingFigure]

Same, I got it for 5 dollars in a blank case from GameStop and without internet I spent hours riding around until I happened upon the first collosus and my mind was blown

[@nobodyspecial115]

Same, I had gotten the demo disk from Playstation Magazine and instantly knew I wanted this game an got it for Christmas in '05. Since then I've gotten it on PS3 an the remake on PS4. I've spent an unhealthy amount of time in the Forbidden Lands

[@benayers8622]

yeah my original game was kept safe and separate from all my other games lol i think i may hav sadly lost the included artwork postcards when i moved house tho :( what a game!

[@makoto5851]

Sotc is truly something else. Every time i play it i just sit and watch the environments and take pictures of everything. The forbidden lands feel like a home

[@TONEDEAFSOUND]

it really does

[@mrroblinx]

Good video! Just wanted to clarify something, hopefully I don't come off as annoying... the "orange bricks" seen in the devil screenshots are not the same as the ones in I2, they look nothing alike and the connection was superficial at best. At the time that was all we had that could relate to Devil, but recently a lot of stuff was found that revealed its original location :)

[@dumpykong]

Very helpful, thank you!

[@kevinhixson1586]

Did you make a custom iceberg style for the background.

[@dumpykong]

Yup I made all of the backgrounds!

[@y1000ablet]

@@dumpykong it looks VERY good

[@maskingtables]

Every iceberg background is personalized

[@jbark678]

@@dumpykong You did a very good job

[@obliv3on]

what a great game and memories I had playing this. Life was so different. Thoroughly enjoyed this man. I hope you make more of these on other games, or just any content of you're own, I will gladly watch. subbed!:)

[@tylerhawksmoor9601]

Maybe the reason for the "argus jumps off the cliff line'" is because before fighting it Dormin says "a giant has fallen into the valley"? still doesn't explain much lol

[@infamousgamer767]

Everything scaled down likely relates to how small wander (and the other humans) seem to be. There are a few sources on this but I believe nomad Colossus has the most exact description of wander's height in relation to the world.

[@CodeeXD]

He's 4 feet tall apparently. Also makes sense why Argo was so big in comparison

[@carpet163]

That KNACK picture was funny. I'm sure Dunkey would make something about it.

[@alibektas8934]

Really really well made my friend. You deserve many more viewers. Shadow of Colossus captured me more then any game before or after it. It truly is lightning in a bottle.

[@revalution1965]

Idk about using the lightning in a bottle analogy w this game maybe the studio or creator himself though since they/him also made ico and last guardian which are both amazing in their own right imo

[@StrawberryRinae]

Dude, no lie, I was half way through working on making a SOTC iceberg video. I guess I should have worked faster because now I gotta scrap it, lol. This is a great video tho. I know first hand that finding some of the things in this were hard af, either that or I’m just bad at research. Good work. Will subscribe👌

[@drkickit2029]

Keep up the video m8, would love to see it and compare with this iceberg

[@arthurdossantos6826]

A lot of people have found some real life mythology in the files, lots about alchemy and stuff. It's pretty cool to look it up

[@Sephiroth10261]

all these dirge pictures made me cry myself to sleep

[@Saeloft]

I've yet to understand how to beat him after all these years

[@nonnone7060]

@@Saeloft with agro

[@Cyberium]

At least you get to sleep after seeing Dirge. :3

[@Saeloft]

@@nonnone7060 that was obvious but never knew what to do just got chased lol

[@jakeycarpet]

i think the new lore that was found in recent leaks is interesting re: 3:39: there *were* natural colossi in the world, and a group of warriors named the dormin blamed the colossi for natural disasters. so they exterminated all the colossi until they lost their humanity and became one giant single entity; that's why dormin refers to themselves with we/us pronouns, and why wander has shadow people surround him every time he kills a colossus. so the 16 colossi in game were created to house fragments of dormin, but there were natural colossi before in the world- and absolutely none of the game tells you this!

[@theonlybilge]

Deities/gods are often symbolically described as being/compared to royalty, and monarchs have used the "royal we".

[@santiagodiaz3358]

​@@theonlybilge what leaks are you referring to?

[@theonlybilge]

@@santiagodiaz3358 Wrong person. There were Sony leaks.

[@santiagodiaz3358]

@@theonlybilge yeah I accidentally replied to your comment, didn't realise until now lol. Thanks, I'll look into that

[@UltravioletNomad]

"Mono is Emon's daughter" I am now imagining a FNF mod where Wanderer has a rap battle with Emon with Mono's corpse in the background.

[@CHADCONTEXT]

Swag Jam Saturday mod

[@SirMonty_]

Please delete this comment

[@UltravioletNomad]

@@SirMonty_ Bee Boo bop beep

[@annamartin7805]

@@SirMonty_ beep

[@TheAlison1456]

00:35 I was deeply fearful of the Colossi as a kid. Every time I got near and on top of one I'd get so scared.

[@realkingofantarctica]

Shadow of the Colossus has achieved something that possibly no other piece of media has or even could achieve. Absolutely incredible. Edit: Also, Pelagia Poggers.

[@santiagoporroprofe2745]

Im kinda sad you didn't mention this but the names of the colossus (barba, kuromori) are not actually "real". They are not in the game or any official guide, the community made them up. The actual names are the ones from the preview version (minotaur, elvis) that the developers used. And Ueda's intention was that they remain unnamed during your playthrough.

[@TheAlison1456]

Did you deduce the intent, or did Ueda make it explicit? I agree it was a missed opportunity.

[@santiagoporroprofe2745]

@@TheAlison1456 I mean if they're not in the game is because Ueda could have included their names but chose not to. In any case, the fan names are still not real

[@AquaFan1998]

@@santiagoporroprofe2745 tbh i like the names, it gives them actual indeifiers instead of blandly calling them by number or description. Sptc is made to be interpretational so the names can be as valid as the person wants them to be. So the names are no more or less real as anyother interpretation

[@santiagoporroprofe2745]

@@AquaFan1998 the names are not in the game, or in any guide. I don't mind using them (I like them), I just thought it was weird that you didn't mention that they were made up by the fans.

[@AquaFan1998]

@@santiagoporroprofe2745 yes i know that or id be call valus minotour A. In your message that i replied to it felt as if you were very against those names tbh

[@mubarakzahruddin]

This game plot is hauntingly sad. And the silent environment helps the storytelling a lot. The 'you're the actual villain' twist actually very impactful in this game. . 1st colossus i faced, i felt terrified. One by one, my confidence grew. But the twist made me feel bad 😂. Everytime I replayed, knowing the real story and seeing the colossi empty emotionless eyes rly gets to me.

[@olookslike0]

The fact that people have scowered this game so hard is a testament to just how mysterious and ethereal it is. SotC really is unlike any other game, and I think it leaves most players with this sensation that what they played was much deeper than what they thought was the whole story. Though it's sad to remember that in the end, it's a finite game with finite development, so there's only so much to uncover. Even still, dwelling on what could have been or the unsolved questions about the development definitely keep it feeling like this deep dark cavern of chilling wonder.

[@BraveShowBoys]

I just realized i have the opm demo. My cousin gave it to me long ago cause i actually enjoyed playing it. I went back through my games and found it along with the magazine

[@theowl2044]

This is why SOTC is the greatest game ever made. Nearly two decades after its release, people are still trying to figure out its lore and secrets. Incredible.

[@federicoricca2512]

20:26 theres actually a cave down the place where Argus is at, so he could have been there before you fight him

[@balder.1454]

Holy fuck i never though that somebody would do a sotc iceberg, really nice video!! im happy that the community of this game still alive 15 years later

[@lukurd5923]

That's how you know the game's good

[@AgentB-0711]

Awesome video, and I liked how you ended it talking about symbolism. What the story is actually about can be debated, but it's all about what you take from it. For me, it's a story about love, sacrifice, and rebirth, but I understand that other people may get something different from it and that's okay, that's what makes this game so great.

[@romantisanon4647]

This is a good video and educational! I also love your Personal touch you added. Thank you for your work. But a word of advice: when discussing topics, even if they are blatantly incorrect, it is often more entertaining and insightful to spend more time actually discussing and weighing the entry. For example, instead of just dismissing an entry with a “no this is wrong” try to elaborate on how it *could* be right or how it *could* exist. This keeps the magic and mystery of the entry alive without spreading misinformation.

[@Sh1rogane]

Nimrod and Dormin in fact have a lot of things in common, but anyway very good video (and Wander is definitly not an angel hahaha)

[@CHADCONTEXT]

its been a long time I played the game, is Wander the *true* antagonist of the game?

[@macafromthewired]

@@CHADCONTEXT not really, he kills the colossi for selfish reasons, but there's honestly reason to believe he's a very young man (like 15-16 or something) who was devastated by the sacrifice of mono and wished to undo it by any means necessary. it makes him do some really questionable things and make very bad decisions, but no, i don't think he's honestly the antagonist. there really isn't one, except for dormin, but even they aren't completely antagonistic. wander was used as a vessel to ressurect a god under the false pretenses that he wasn't being tricked. he was just a naive grief-stricken kid used for dormin's benefit.

[@demonchild4488]

@@macafromthewired Do you have a source on wander being a child? I always thought he was in his mid 20's and theres no interview or in game text saying hes a teenager or smth

[@timmadone8930]

At 17:46 it's quite possible the colossi were scaled down in size from what was originally intended. Since the game was originally going to be multi-player on line where up to 4 players could climb around on a colossus to take it down, the size of the colossi would have most likely been bigger than what we ended up with. The smaller colossi that made it into the final version of the game were probably thought up after it was decided the game was no longer going to be multi-player.

[@optiplanetomatosoup]

it's referring to the fact that there's an "in game" size and a "real life" size. for example, wander is 4'1 or so in game whereas, in real life, he's 5'7 ish. likely due to scaling issues and constraints of the PS2. I think nomad said that they colossi are around 38% smaller than their real life sizes

[@H-Himbo]

My theory on the ICO rings is either some sort of hint given to the player of the colossi’s flight patterns, a rough outline of the colossi’s flight pattern and AI pathfinding of where to go that was left there cause it fit with the area artistically, or both. No definitive answer, but I’m leaning more to both being a possibility

[@MalditoNoisi]

Lovecraft had already shown me that I had a phobia of deep dark water and huge creatures, this game just confirmed it.

[@ciromarin5716]

I think "everything is scaled down" is refering to things like phalanx having 148 meters in game but 200 meters "IRL"

[@raeraeraeraeraerae]

Expected you to have 100k+ subscribers. 600 with this quality content? Expressive! I hope you blow up!

[@dumpykong]

Thank you!

[@timmadone8930]

At 8:18 you went with the correct choice. Mono is pronounced mow ( like mow the lawn ) & no. Wander actually says her name one time & one time only during the game. This occurs during the cut scene in which Wander is dreaming that Mono has awakened. When the camera zooms away from Mono & we get a close up of Wander lying on the stone floor, he makes a slight grunt sound & right after that he says "Mono".

[@mattatheus]

I've been waiting for someone to make this since iceberg videos became a thing

[@Infernal_Resonance]

Being that Shadow of the Colossus is among my top 5 favorite games, I think this video was as perfect as it could be

[@jasewilliams2055]

I glad that I ran across this video because now you have a new subscriber. I was literally just watching speedruns, but Shadow of the Colossus caught my eyes immediately. Lol keep up the good work

[@obi-wankenobi5730]

Fun fact: Fumito Ueda is aware of the possible references to Nimrod. When asked if the whole thing was based on the similarities, he said the similarities are "purely coincidental"

[@PurplexxInuxBokuSS]

I personally vibe with the Mono as Emon's daughter theory. It really strengthens his more antagonistic role in the game and why it drove Wander to do what he did. Emon seems like the type of leader to be callous for the good of their clan and outright ignored her existence so there wouldn't be an obvious link of her to him. Then again, the minimalist context and clues in this game is the beauty of it and the players are invited to make of it as they will.

[@aspabr]

Maybe the symbolism is something like how mankind is willing to kill others for their own selfish reasons, even if it ends with bad things happening to their own kind. Idk though, I’m just a guy that likes this game that is three years older than me.

[@wearedeadstars]

I wish I was able to find more with all of the Agro hops I tried back in the day. I will say it was a blast being on the forums and making Agro hop videos. I made some pretty impressive jumps. Great video.

[@jktwice8235]

I feel like a few of these are inside jokes within the community.

[@Future_Doggo]

Shadow of the colossus is basically a playable movie. One of my favorite games of all time.

[@WookieWarriorz]

Except it has player autonomy, gameplay mechanics, failure and victory states, different outcomes and approaches etc. It's more like a really video game.

[@carpet163]

@@WookieWarriorz It is a very cinematic game however.

[@TheAlison1456]

@Jacob The dude @future dog I see what you mean, but within gaming, "cinematic" is attached to a lot of bad practices; it has a negative connotation. That's why people are quickly repelled by the thought.

[@thevenomspino]

11:07 This could refer to how the order in which you fought the colossi was changed, as some colossi were changed during development based on when they were fought(this can be shown in the E3 2005 demo that was found). Example being Barba, who was one of the last colossi you would fight, and they were not only more aggressive but they had a blade that they would use to attack you with.

[@ErectedGasCan]

The phoenix pic made my day.

[@F-aber]

I’m surprised the iceberg didn’t include SotC being conceived as a multiplayer game

[@jman997700]

I like your style! Video popped up randomly but i really liked your comedic edits! You have good timing and spacing. I never expect the joke to happen which makes it funnier. Good stuff, keep it up!

[@Raybro16]

"iT mAkEs LeSs SeNsE tHaN tHe TrEe!!" I died laughing at that XD

[@Evan-mt7bc]

I think the 2 Colossus refers to an old cut blurb about Dirge "Along with its friend, it shakes the earth..." which is in the final version of the game "Shaking the earth, its gaze is upon thee..." I've heard 2 theories to this blurb, either Dirge was originally supposed to be fought alongside another colossus, most common theories seem to revolve around the cut Worm, Monkey or Spider colossus or potentially with Phalanx which would have been an interesting fight trying to pop Phalanx out of the sky while Dirge is trying to monch you and holy hell what a fight that would be Or that it's a botched mistranslation that was supposed to encourage the player to use Agro in the fight since Dirge is the first fight where the fight is pretty much impossible without Agro.

[@lucidlullaby894]

11:36 That is a horrifying cap to use for that section, dear god colossus eyes are creepy

[@AluminumFusion22]

Yeah, it feels like he intentionally uses Dirge screenshots constantly throughout the video. Good content, but Jesus Christ this made me freeze up.

[@MarillSweatshirt]

I'd give anything to get a "Snyder cut" of this game especially on next gen..... There's a timelime we did.🥺

[@alka6432]

I used to be terrified of this game as a kid something about the isolation of the world got to me

[@rektyrektingson4668]

Agreed

[@kd9-3.77]

I think the point of Iceberg videos is to summarize the theories for the viewers who dont want to spend weeks looking through them, instead of debunking or just saying "no. next" when you get to one you dont like. Like, as a viewer, I'm here for the iceberg, not your personal thoughts of the content in it.

[@MobiusChickenStrip]

Wait wait wait, that Nimrod thing has me thinking. Somebody stop me if this has been posted before... So. Dormin backwards is Nimrod, a mythological biblical figure who most notably built the Tower of Babel. Okay so look at the depiction of the Tower of Babel on Wikipedia (the painting). Now look at the shrine of worship in SOTC, at the top of which is a heavenlike oasis. They look very similar. Now, bear with me, Nimrod was building the Tower of Babel to reach heaven. In doing so, man was punished and their language was split into many parts Dormin had a shrine of worship being built (or built it himself), and he himself was punished and split into many parts. Coincidence???

[@fannynearfyi789]

18:18 Actually this could make sense. I want to explain how. (This is going to be a long overthought ride so be prepared) After killing Kuromori (8th colossus) there's a cutscene that show us Wander "dreaming", BUT after being in love/obsesed for 14 year with SotC and having played it more than enough times, I can tell you with confidence that this "dream" it's exactly the same scene that happens in the ending, the only difference is that one has a sepia filter (At least in the ps2 version). So this is more a premonition than a dream, which means: 1. After absorbing Dormin's essence from 8 colossus, Wander's abilities unconsciously show him the future. (This is based on a believable theory about Wander being the next in line to be the tribe's Shaman, and hence, has a bit of the knowledge and skills from one.) Or... 2. Dormin is the one who shows him that specific part of the future that Wander wants and needs to see. Whatever is it, it's probably that Dormin is the one that has always had this ability, the same way as Lord Emon. So in some point of the past Lord Emon's ancestors built the colossus and sealed Dormin, unaware that their idea in fact was born from Dormin himself. But why would he has to go through all this? Because Dormin saw his death (An actual end to his life, not just being imprisioned) and decided to come up with a plan to avoid it. Then he indirectly planted the idea in his "enemies' heads" that the only way he could be "defeated" was by just sealing his body in a strong enough container (The colossus) in order to escape that fate. With this new path, he knew that in some point someone was going to set him free (Wander and Mono) and then he could return to the world by TWO physical bodies and once more influence the human realm. Let's remember that in ICO, the castle has a lot of horned statues and even the soldiers wears a helmet with horns, meaning that this new Wander/MaleDormin and Mono/FemaleDormin versions really had a significant impact on society and culture. And you could say "But the Queen in ICO isn't dying? Doesn't that mean his plan failed at the end?" Well is just ONE part of him that is dying, probably because the creation of this being wasn't as "organic" as the one with Wander, afterall Mono's body was already dead since the beggining. But Wander's body was alive and strong enough to endure Dormin conversion and then they whole unification at the end of the game, giving him a new body and chance to start again. So in ICO, we can assume that at least the Wander/Dormin being is still alive and thriving. So to sum up, Dormin could influence the creation of the colossus to avoid one bad future. And indirectly he created the colossus to seal himself.

[@DarkArms17]

I think the everything is scaled down entry is how wander is smaller than the average height of a man. Wander being 1.25m but being average compared to the other human characters in game. This entry assumes that everything in the game must be bigger than it should be because wander's height not making sense in the real world. This entry also assumes that everything in the game world are scaled based on wander's height. Agro is one of things that correctly been scaled to match up the real life counterpart. The source for wander's and agro's height is nomad colossus.

[@LitchiBorrower]

Nomad actually made a blog post about the 'real' heights of the colossi. In an old interview, Phalanx was described as being 200m long, but it's only 146 [in-game units of distance] long. These units of distance are presumed to be meters because the map squares have been officially described as 600x600m and are 600x600 units big. If we multiply these values by 1.38, we end up with Phalanx being 200m and wander being 1.7m, which is much more reasonable, but also map squares that are 828x828m, which is much bigger than advertised.

[@Chuuruth]

I'm not suprised of all in this video at beginning until "Nomad Colossus is Fumito Ueda"

[@lilstrats944]

I played it for my first time this year! I was heading to the second colossus, after I entered the descending sand path.. the screen shook and rumbled. That told me I was in the right place. After that.. I couldn’t stop playing. Gaius will always be my favorite.

[@jacksykes4429]

Very well made video! (Wish there was a section on Dirge’s original creepy game over screen.)

[@beaubrashier7284]

My ps2 is old and crappy. I’m guessing the story I’m about to tell was because of lag but it’s still confusing. I was revisiting the game and had left off on Phalinx. I was fighting it normally until the thing just flew over the high mountain “borders” of his arena towards the big tower( I’m not a expert on the vocab of this game ). It was eerie. He just flew straight in that direction until he couldn’t render. I reset the game and fought it normally. Glitch? Lag? can’t be internet connection for obvious reasons. If anyone else has experienced this tell me.

[@dumpykong]

I can guarantee you that I would shit myself if I saw that. That is absolutely cursed

[@frostycane5134]

Malus psychic link It is rumored that malus is connect to the other colossus. When you climb on his head you can see all the lights from the corpses of the colossus

[@TheAlison1456]

To be fair you can see them from any point in the world.

[@infamousgamer767]

@@TheAlison1456 yes, but Malus has a view of every single other Colossus from his arena. He even points directly toward all of the other beacons because of his place on the map. Not to mention the fact he seems to be one of the more intelligent colossi and likely understood that it was only a matter of time before wander reached him

[@tylerhawksmoor9601]

Maybe also because he can track your exact location when you're out of eyesight and under the earth? idk

[@frostycane5134]

@@infamousgamer767 I also want to say that malus fight is titled “ demise of the ritual “. It’s unique in that it only plays for him Unlike other tracks like the “ opened way” or “ revived power” A ritual is something done habitual usually in association with anxiety Or An act done to appease some deity. This is the last time wander will perform the habit of killing colossus And This will be the last time he attempts to appease a deity

[@smithwesson373]

04:00: Entities, Entitiiiees!! Woahaha, you crack me up. : )

[@denovanzuniga6142]

Thanks for making this video man! Liked!

[@Scrubermensch]

This iceberg does not make justice to the mysteries of the game, try this one imgur.com/a/cyQ5FrP Also Griffin: Kyos Monkey: Saru Worm: Dionin Spider: Aberth Phoenix: Adar Flam

[@SanelyInsane13]

Has there been an explaination of this one yet?

[@Scrubermensch]

@@SanelyInsane13 nothing on youtube about it, I found this one on reddit some months ago when the iceberg stuff became popular

[@revalution1965]

@@Scrubermensch damn wish someone would do this one there’s some interesting shit on there

[@donald984]

if nomad was actually fumito ueda, that would be the biggest flip in gaming history. Im actually somewhat hoping its true

[@dreigon7550]

19:37 after defeating a Basaran you climb Malus which on his Tower restraint has a Kuromori and after climbing up you fight Avion on top of Malus. That is 4, if you want 2 then I'd go with Malus and Kuromori.

[@AirdnaPlays]

Brilliant video! I love the community around SotC, and that so many discoveries are still being made so many years later. It's like some kind of organically grown ARG :D

[@LyseanEmpire]

l don't think that the "time was frozen" quote is to be taken literally, because some of the colossi look like they've been stationary for years, having moss grow on them and things of that nature. Maybe Ueda meant that nothing changed since the forbidden lands were barren? l mean, we see birds, and we see lizards, so there should be an ecosystem in place.

[@nevy4256]

Pelagia Poggers! An absolutely excellent video. Good shit, man

[@remipennel121]

Awesome video dude! u deserve more subscribers.

[@cleo2010able]

You are funny as hell, why am I finding your videos just now?

[@renookami4651]

"Everything is scaled down" would make sense from a techncical perspective. A real problem when making big maps is floating point precision and the overworld being planned to hold so many more collosi means it would have been WAY bigger regardless of how many chunks can be hidden using loading areas (like the entrance to most arenas and those narrow paths at the bottom of cliffs, they're here to limit your vision so you don't see the next area loading). It just makes sense to reduce the overall scale (while tweaking gameplay for it to not be noticiable) to avoid hitting the hard limits of the engine. The final map is smaller, but this part of planning being kept to not reinvent the wheel would be a good move so dev time can be allocated to more important tasks. Just think of an half scale, and a limit of 100 kilometers. Everything is smaller, making you able to fit 200km worth of content in that same space the game engine's coordinates would count as "100" thus not hitting the limit. Does that have anything to do with lore? Or the real size of anything? No. But it's a nice trick if that was the reason why models are smaller than the lore entries.

[@skweedskweedson8432]

technically, everything IS scaled down dormins in game height is 36 ft, but his canon, real world height is 42 ft likewise, all colossi are much smaller than their real world heights, valus is 52 ft in game and his real world height is 72 ft dirge is much much MUCH bigger irl hes over 300 ft long in real world size, but only 220 in game that means he should be over 50% longer than he is in game

[@kingiver8]

One thing i think could be changed is the dormin sealed himself theory. You didnt say much on this one. Im pretty sure that dormin is two entitys as why he refers to himself as "we".I think that him talking about how he was sealed away could possibly be him talking to his other half and he was finally freed. Mabye his other half isnt an evil version and help in the sealing of dormins power

[@isabelleould9090]

There is currently a project called Beyond the forbidden lands that is re-creating all the lost colossi and the beta dam, so we will be able to fight them in the future. They can be found on discord.

[@wiplein982]

Microsoft Paint should be an obligatory addition to any sort of iceberg video xD Great work though, many things I completely missed or would never have manager to piece together this nicely

[@franzwolf8082]

17:47 "Everything is actually scaled down" probably refers to the fact that the colossi have an in-game size and what would be an "irl" size, meaning that the colossi are a bit smaller in-game than their actual size

[@TofuSG98]

17:42 I think you might've gotten it right, maybe the bird is a tracking one used by Emon.

[@getshwifty3101]

I played this game for months, if not years. This and MM, both, I had an almost autistic obsession with. Where I lived in my head, and came up with my own stories, friends, and goals. Going back to it when it came out on PS4, I couldn't believe how small the world felt. I remember it being so much bigger. And it really hit me how much life changes your perspective.

[@tiagoferreira2431]

"double colossi fight" its probably the theory where we would have to battle dirge and worm at the same time, because in a old version of the game, dormin would descrive dirge saying that he is with a "friend", and they say its worm because he was going to be placed in that location before dirge

[@Mote.]

11:34 jump scared me. He is the scariest colossus. Even tho I have a fear of water creatures and swimming in oceans, the sand colossus is the most terrifying. His eyes staring at you, always orange, never blue. He's actually one of the challenging ones

[@TheMsmanny]

What a great video all the way around. Loved it till the end.

[@dumpykong]

Thank you!!

[@gilvider9393]

I think that in "everything is scaled down" they talk about how Wander is 4'1, Mono is 3'10 and lord Emon is 4 ft and also how Argo is too big for Wander

[@TheSlyFreak]

I remember I had the demo disc. I stole it from the magazine when I went to the grocery store with my parents. I usually did that anytime I went to the store, same with Shonen Jump and yugioh cards. But I remember booting up the disc and looking through the demos and playing the shadow of the colossus demo and being absolutely wonderstruck by the world. If I remember correctly, you could explore the entire map with basically nothing out of reach. I spent so many hours exploring that map because for whatever reason, I never asked my parents to buy me the actual game and I was also too scared to actually fight the colossi lol genuinely some of my favorite childhood memories.

[@FemboyDuck]

I knew so much about this game before i ever played it and i hate that i may never have the experience of truly playing it for the first time

[@stormreach1234]

To be fair that bird theory is interesting considering there are several points throughout the map where that same type of bird from the intro will swoop down into camera view and follow you a little ways. And nowhere else, as far as I remember, do we see that type of bird appear.

[@stephaniemaack6838]

I love this omg

[@Ceol-Cluaise]

23:21 Nimrod was a king, but he was cut up into many pieces and the body parts spread to different parts of the land. This parallels how dormin was split and put into the colossi isolated in different parts of the map.