History Trivia / ShadowOfTheColossus

*** Some of the characters' acting is subtly different. [[spoiler: The man who shoots Wander hesitates for longer, even looking back to Lord Emon; Emon's "hurry up and do it!" makes a bit more sense in this version than in the final. Emon never takes his mask off. Wander never glares up at the man about to stab him, and his eyes roll back visibly as he's dying.]]

*** "Kubunaga/Kubinaga": Another one of the few purely original Colossi to be scrapped. Kubunaga’ translates to something like ‘stronghold dragon’, while ‘Kubinaga’ translates to ‘long neck’. As such, all that can really be gathered is that there was intended to be a dragon Colossus at one point.

*** Some of the characters' acting is subtly different. [[spoiler: The man who shoots Wander hesitates for longer, even looking back to Lord Emon; Emon's "hurry up and do it!" makes a bit more sense in this version than in the final. Emon never takes his mask off. Wander never glares up at the man about to stab him, and his eyes roll back visibly as he's dying.]]
** A translated interview [[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PRpW20NTe7vM_2wvYKAkRqL8-HEpDDI7/edit from one of the original devs]] reveals a few things about the beta Colossi. Most notably, Phalanx was originally going to be a ''hostile'' Colossi that would rain down explosives on the player. It was also originally ''bigger'', and had to be made smaller because of the restraints of the PS2.
*** A Buffalo Colossus was planned, with the strategy being that the player would have to [[GetBackHereBoss chase it down on Agro]] in order to get on it. It was ultimately rejected by Ueda.
*** Plans for overworld enemies besides the Colossi were suggested by the dev team, but were ultimately rejected by Ueda, as most of the development time was spent on just getting the Colossi to function in the first place, and Ueda wanting to keep the lonely atmosphere of the Forbidden Lands.
*** Back when it was planned to be an online game, the interviewer stats that Ueda vaguely mentioning that he wanted to create '''108''' Colossi, though does mention he was more than likely joking about that.
*** A build with the Phoenix does exist according to the interview, as it had been developed to a point where it was possible to play, to a certain extent, but was complicated because it was very difficult to understand how to beat it. According to the dev, it's cut was extremely controversial, as it was mostly complete in the basic design flow of the battle. Ultimately it was cut because of three factors; [[CameraScrew the camera refused to play nice during the battle]], it was just ''boring'' to fight as the way to get it into the lake was to stab it when it flew over it, which it's giant body made too hard to accurately gauge, and it's arena also wasn't very entertaining to look at, as the memory limitations largely made it just a giant crater with a lake in the center.
*** A planned battle in the early stages would have pitted Wander against ''[[DualBoss two]]'' Colossi at the same time, but the Memory Limitations of the [=PS2=] made such a thing impossible due to how complex the Colossus AI could be. For a similar reason, this is why Wander never encounters any of the Colossi while in a forest.
*** The Griffon was planned to be a Colossi [[GetBackHereBoss you'd have to chase down with Agro and leap onto]], but it was cut due to actually leaping off of Agro onto it being far too finnicky for it to be a viable strategy, and if Wander fell off, the devs couldn't think of a reason why [[ViolationOfCommonSense the Griffon would wait for Wander to get back on Agro before resuming the chase]], which is another factor in why it was cut. An idea was proposed that Wander would instead set fires to cut off the Colossus' path to make it easier to corner, but was ultimately scrapped due to it becoming a completely different Colossus at that point.
*** The Moneky Colossus was ultimately cut due to the arena needed for it to function being way too big, and it's movement system of using stalactites and hurling them at Wander proved way too difficult to get working properly.
*** The worm Colossus would have be located in the desert between the 11th and 15th colossus, in the center of a sand pit that would constantly be dragging the player to its center. The plan for beating it involved getting it to overextend it's body so it fell out of the sand, where the player would be able to attack the base of its body. (The 'flower bulb' frequently mention in regards to the Colossus.) It was ultimately cut because the strategy needed to beat it made it [[ImpossiblyGracefulGiant feel too weightless]] compared to the other Colossi, and for it being too stressful of a battle due to leaving very little to no room for error.
*** Yamori A didn't even get a proper battle planned before being cut. The only real thing decided upon is that unlike it's 'brother', it's weak point was on its back instead of its stomach.
*** The Devil Colossus was cut due to the dev team feeling it was ''too small'' to be a Colossus, standing only at three times the height of Wander himself. He would have fought by flying and trying to ram into Wander and, if Wander got too close, would [[FastBallSpecial pick him up and chuck him away.]]
*** The dev confirms that the Roc, Worm, and Phoenix were among the last to be axed from the game, making it fairly late into development, but it is unclear who was the last one to get cut.
*** The Shrine of Worship was fully scalable as many believe, and was mainly cut because the devs couldn't figure out a good enough reward for making it all the way to the top and them not having time to fix holes in the landscape when viewed from above in time for the games release.

*** Plans over overworld enemies besides the Colossi were suggested by the dev team, but were ultimately rejected by Ueda, as most of the development time was spent on just getting the Colossi to function in the first place, and Ueda wanting to keep the lonely atmosphere of the Forbidden Lands.

*** A build with the Phoenix does exist according to the interview, as it had been developed to a point where it was possible to play, to a certain extent, but production was complicated because it was very difficult to understand how to play it. According to the dev, it's cut was extremely controversial, as it was mostly complete in the basic design flow of the Colossus battle. Ultimately it was cut because of three factors; [[CameraScrew the camera for it in the arena refused to play nice]], it was just ''boring'' to fight as the way to get it into the lake was to stab it when it flew over the lake, which it's giant body made too hard to accurately gauge, and it's arena also wasn't very entertaining to look at, as the memory limitations largely made it just a giant crater with a lake in the center.

*** The Griffon was planned to be a Colossi [[GetBackHereBoss you'd have to chase down with Agro and leap onto]], but it was cut due to actually leaping off of Agro onto it being far too finnicky for it to be a viable strategy, and if Wander fell off, the devs couldn't think of a reason why [[ViolationOfCommonSense the Griffon would wait for Wander to get back on Agro before resuming the chase]], which is another major factor in why it was cut. An idea was proposed that Wander would instead set fires to cut off the Colossus' path to make it easier to corner, but was ultimately scrapped due to it becoming a completely different Colossus at that point.
*** The Moneky Colossus was ultimately cut due to the arena being way too big for the battle, and it's movement system of using stalactites and hurling them at Wander proved way too difficult to get working properly.
*** The worm Colossus would have be located in the desert between the 11th and 15th colossus, in the center of a sand pit that would constantly be dragging the player to its center. The plan for beating it involved getting it to overextend it's body so it fell out of the sand, where the player would be able to attack the base of its body. (The 'flower bulb' frequently mention in prior knowledge of the Colossus.) It was ultimately cut because the strategy needed to beat it made it [[ImpossiblyGracefulGiant feel too weightless]] compared to the other Colossi, and the strategy for beating it being too stressful due to leaving very little to no room for error.
*** Yamori A didn't even get a proper battle planned before being cut. The only real thing know is that unlike it's 'brother', it's weakpoint was on its back instead of its stomach.
*** The Devil Colossus was cut due to the dev team feeling his was ''too small'' to be a Colossus, standing only at three times the height of Wander himself. He would have fought by flying and trying to ram Wander and, if Wander got too close, would [[FastBallSpecial pick him up and chuck him away.]]
*** The dev confirms that the Roc, Worm and Phoenix were among the last to be axed from the game, making it fairly late into development, but it is unclear who was the last one to get cut.
*** The Shrine of Worship was fully scalable as many believe, and was mainly cut because the devs couldn't figure out a good enough award for making it all the way to the top and them not having time to fix holes in the landscape when viewed from above in time for the games release.

*** The dev confirms that the Roc, Worm and Phoenix were among the last to be axed from the game, making it fairly late into development, but it is unclear who was the last one to get cut.

*** The Devil Colossus was cut due to the dev team feeling his was ''too small'' to be a Colossus, standing only at three times the height of Wander himself. He would have fought by flying and trying to ram Wander and, if Wander got too close, would [[FastBallSpecial pick him up and chuck him away.]]

*** The worm Colossus would have be located in the desert between the 11th and 15th colossus, in the center of a sand pit that would constantly be dragging the player to its center. The plan for beating it involved getting it to overextend it's body so it fell out of the sand, where the player would be able to attack the base of its body. (The 'flower bulb' frequently mention in prior knowledge of the Colossus.)

*** The Moneky Colossus was ultimately cut due to the arena being way too big for the battle, and it's movement system of using stalactites and hurling them at Wander proved way too difficult to get working properly

*** The Griffon was planned to be a Colossi [[GetBackHereBoss you'd have to chase down with Agro and leap onto]], but it was cut due to actually leaping off of Agro onto it being far too finnicky for it to be a viable strategy, and if Wander fell off, the devs couldn't think of a reason why [[ViolationOfCommonSense the Griffon would wait for Wander to get back on Agro before resuming the chase]], which is another major factor in why it was cut. An idea was proposed that Wander would instead set fires to cut off the Colossus' path to make it easier to corner, but was ultimately scrapped due to it becoming a completely different Colossus at that point.

*** The Griffon was planned to be a Colossi [[GetBackHereBoss you'd have to chase down with Agro and leap onto]], but it was cut due to actually leaping off of Agro onto it being far too finnicky for it to be a viable strategy, and if Wander fell off, the devs couldn't think of a reason why [[ViolationOfCommonSense the Griffon would wait for Wander to get back on Agro before resuming the chase]], which is another major factor in why it was cut.

*** A planned battle in the early stages would have pitted Wander against ''[[DualBoss two]]'' Colossi at the same time, but the Memory Limitations of the [=PS2=] made such a thing impossible due to how complex the Colossus AI could be. For a similar reason, this is why Wander never encounters any of the Colossi while in a forest.

*** A build with the Phoenix does exist according to the interview, as it had been developed to a point where it was possible to play, to a certain extent, but production was complicated because it was very difficult to understand how to play it.

*** A build with the Phoenix does exist according to the interview, as it had been developed to a point where it was possible to play, to a certain extent, but production was complicated because it was very difficult to understand how to play it.

*** Back when it was planned to be an online game, the interviewer stats that Ueda vaguely mentioning that he wanted to create '''108''' Colossi, though does mention he was more than likely joking about that.

*** Plans over overworld enemies besides the Colossi were suggested by the dev team, but were ultimately rejected by Ueda, as most of the development time was spent on just getting the Colossi to function in the first place, and Ueda wanting to keep the lonely atmosphere of the Forbidden Lands.

*** Plans over overworld enemies besides the Colossi were suggested by the dev team, but were ultimately rejected by Ueda, as most of the development time was spent on just getting the Colossi to function in the first place.

*** Plans over overworld enemies besides the Colossi were suggested by the dev team, but were ultimately rejected by Ueda.

** A translated interview [[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PRpW20NTe7vM_2wvYKAkRqL8-HEpDDI7/edit from the original devs]] reveals a few things about the beta Colossi. Most notably, Phalanx was originally going to be a ''hostile'' Colossi that would rain down explosives on the player.

*** Some of the characters' acting is subtly different. [[spoiler: The man who shoots Wander hesitates for longer, even looking back to Lord Emon; Emon's "hurry up and do it!" makes a bit more sense in this version than in the final. Emon never takes his mask off. Wander never glares up at the man about to stab him, and his eyes roll back visibly as he's dying.]]

* Based on [[spoiler:the 2005 beta-ending had the Roc's tail as part of Dormin's design]] and the fact that it is currently the only beta-Colossus to have actual gameplay footage, there's heavy evidence that the Roc's removal was a ''very'' late decision; likely the last of the beta-Colossi to be removed from the game.

** As to just ''what'' the 17th Colossi is, there are a few interpretations. One says it's a boar like creature[[note]]possibly based on the beta-boar Colossus that got removed[[/note]] that was encounter in the secret garden after completing a certain event. Exactly what the event is varies, but supposedly, the way to beat it was to trick it into the hole that Dormin communicates to Wander through.
** Another interpretation of a 17th Colossi was a giant sea serpent. It was supposedly encountered by swimming far off into the ocean around the Forbidden Lands in any direction. How it was beaten is unclear, but supposedly, either it would act as BorderPatrol and [[OneHitKill auto-kill]] Wander or it was a legitimate battle, and/or it was supposedly larger than any of the other Colossi in the game.
** Yet another popular interpretation is that the 17th Colossi is supposedly a [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragon]]. Like a good portion of the 17th Colossi that couldn't possibly fit into the secret garden, it was supposedly above Pelagia's lair, across the bridge that extends high above it.[[note]]Said bridge is actually impossible to reach without hacking[[/note]] Notably, this interpretation became far more popular after [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_RqGrSQSvw a really well put together fan animation tribute]] was posted to Website/YouTube.

* ImageSource:
** ColossusClimb
** GiantFlyer
** RuinsForRuinsSake

*** Spider, a colossus resembling a daddy long legs. It was supposed to be brought down by having Wander slash at its legs with the sword while riding Agro. It was cut due to the devs finding it rather tacky for Wander to have a specific attack animation which would only be used for one specific battle. It was set to be fought near a body of water from which it would emerge, and its weak point was located in its mouth.
*** Phoenix, a colossus whose body was wreathed in flames and which had a long, ostrich-like neck. There are two reasons for it being cut: dodging its attacks required an enormous arena which was far bigger than what the dev team wanted, and Wander would lose a significant amount of health every time players fell off. It was supposed to be plunged into a body of water which would thereby extinguish the flames on its body, although how exactly one went about this process is unknown. Agro was to be used in this fight so as to avoid gusts of wind which the colossus would create with its wings in order to deflect Wander. According to leaked code, it may have been fought near a volcanic crater and was also able to fly.

*** Worm, a serpentine colossus with a flower-like head. For years, it was rumored to have been a SequentialBoss to another unmentioned colossus that was fought in the same arena--likely Dirge, as [[https://youtu.be/5Do_0aWpYeo?t=667 a leaked preview version]] of the game has Dormin mention Dirge (another {{Sandworm}} like boss) "has a friend," although it was later discovered that this was a mistranslation of the phrase from the original Japanese text: "shaking the earth with your friend", which was a hint that players needed Agro in order to defeat Dirge. Leaked meta data from the [=PS3=] data-mine revealed that Worm had no movement data, likely pointing towards it being a StationaryBoss. This is further backed by Ueda stating that: "the flower bulb-like section [[note]]the bulb is the section of a plant located just under the soil, from which its roots emerge[[/note]] was it's weak point," as well as the fact that the only other stationary colossus--Malus, is also the only one in the final game to be devoid of movement data.
*** Griffin, a colossus with withdrawn joints and decorative wings. It was weak to fire like Celosia, and was meant to have been fought while riding Agro like Dirge, since it was very fast-moving. It's said to have been cut due to the significantly lengthy amount of time it took to reach the weak point on its back, from which it was too easy for Wander to fall off.

*** Devil, a colossus resembling a winged gargoyle. It was incredibly small when compared to other colossi and the fight was considered to be fierce. Needed to have been baited with arrows and then jumped from behind while hiding in tall grass. The reason it was cut is unknown.

*** Phoenix, a colossus whose body was wreathed in flames and which had a long, ostrich-like neck. There are two (presumably interconnected) reasons for it being cut: dodging its attacks required an enormous arena which was far bigger than what the dev team wanted, and Wander would lose a significant amount of health every time players fell off. It was supposed to be plunged into a body of water which would thereby extinguish the flames on its body, although how exactly one went about this process is unknown. Agro was to be used in this fight so as to avoid gusts of wind which the colossus would create with its wings in order to deflect Wander. According to leaked code, it may have been fought near a volcanic crater and was also able to fly.

*** Spider, a colossus resembling a daddy long legs. Was supposed to be brought down by having Wander slash at the minor sigils on its legs with the sword while riding Agro. This colossus was cut as the dev team found it rather tacky for Wander to have a specific attack animation which would only be used for one particular battle. It was set to be fought near a body of water from which it would emerge, and its weak point was located in its head.
*** Phoenix, a colossus whose body was wreathed in flames and which had an ostrich-like neck. There are two (possibly interconnected) reasons for it being cut: dodging its attacks required an enormous arena which was far bigger than what the dev team wanted, and Wander would lose a significant amount of health when falling off. It was supposed to be knocked into a body of water to extinguish the flames enveloping its body, although how exactly one went about this process is unknown. Agro was to be used in this fight so as to avoid gusts of wind which the colossus would create with its wings in order to deflect Wander. According to leaked code, it was also able to fly.
*** Roc[[note]]a bird of prey from Arabic/Persian mythology[[/note]], a colossus rumored to have been cut due to the fight being too similar to the fight with Phalanx and the dev team having trouble programming the collisions. Modeled with a longer neck than Avion, a head resembling that of a frilled lizard, and bat-like wings. It was to have been fought in a desert area. Notably, this is the only Beta-Colossus to have [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDUPUhSCl3o actual in-game video (albeit brief) of it in action]].
*** Worm, a serpentine colossus with a flower-like head. For a long time, it was rumored to have been a SequentialBoss to another unmentioned colossus that was fought in the same arena, likely Dirge, as [[https://youtu.be/5Do_0aWpYeo?t=667 a leaked preview version]] of the game has Dormin mention Dirge (another {{Sandworm}} like boss) "has a friend", although it was later discovered that this was a mistranslation of the phrase from the Japanese version of the game, "shaking the earth with your friend", which is a hint that you need Agro, your friend, to defeat Dirge. Leaked meta data from the [=PS3=] data-mine revealed it had no movement data, likely pointing towards it being a StationaryBoss. This is further backed by Ueda stating that: "the flower bulb-like section [[note]]the bulb is the section of a plant located just under the soil, from which its roots emerge[[/note]] was it's weak point."
*** Griffin, a colossus with withdrawn joints and decorative wings. Meant to have been fought while riding Agro like Dirge, as it was fast moving, and was weak to fire like Celosia. Said to have been cut due to the significantly lengthy climb to reach its back and the fact that it was easy to fall off of it.
*** Monkey, a colossus that hung from the ceiling by stalicates. It was supposed to be fought in a cave-like area and possibly needed to be shot down with the bow to expose its weak point. The reason it was cut is unknown.
*** Devil, a colossus resembling a winged gargoyle. Extremely small when compared to other colossi and the fight was considered to be fierce. Needed to have been baited with arrows and then jumped from behind while hiding in tall grass. The reason it was cut is unknown.

*** Spider, a colossus resembling a daddy long legs. Cut for being difficult to program its legs, in addition to the dev team finding it rather tacky for Wander to have an attack animation that would only be used for one fight. It was set to be fought near a body of water, supposedly near the entrance to the Forbidden Lands, and its weak point was located in its head.
*** Phoenix, a colossus whose body was wreathed in flames and which had an ostrich-like neck. There are two (possibly interconnected) reasons for it being cut: dodging its attacks required an enormous arena which was far bigger than what the dev team wanted, and Wander would lose a significant amount of health when falling off. It was supposed to be knocked into a body of water to extinguish the flames enveloping its body, although how exactly one went about this process is unknown.

*** Worm, a serpentine colossus with a flower-like head. For a long time, it was rumored to have been a SequentialBoss to another unmentioned colossus that was fought in the same arena, likely Dirge, as [[https://youtu.be/5Do_0aWpYeo?t=667 a leaked preview version]] of the game has Dormin mention Dirge (another {{Sandworm}} like boss) "has a friend", although it was later discovered that this was a mistranslation of the phrase from the Japanese version of the game, "shaking the earth with your friend", which is a hint that you need Agro, your friend, to defeat Dirge. Leaked meta data from the [=PS3=] data-mine revealed it had no movement data, likely pointing towards it being a StationaryBoss. This is further backed by Ueda stating that: "the flower bulb-like section [[note: the bulb is the section of a plant located just under the soil, from which its roots emerge]] was it's weak point."

*** Worm, a serpentine colossus with a flower-like head. For a long time, it was rumored to have been a SequentialBoss to another unmentioned colossus that was fought in the same arena, likely Dirge, as [[https://youtu.be/5Do_0aWpYeo?t=667 a leaked preview version]] of the game has Dormin mention Dirge (another {{Sandworm}} like boss) "has a friend", although it was later discovered that this was a mistranslation of the phrase from the Japanese version of the game, "shaking the earth with your friend", which is a hint that you need Agro, your friend, to defeat Dirge. Leaked meta data from the [=PS3=] data-mine revealed it had no movement data, likely pointing towards it being a StationaryBoss. This is further backed by Ueda stating that: "the flower bulb-like section [[note:the bulb is the section of a plant located just under the soil, from which its roots emerge]] was it's weak point."

*** Phoenix, a colossus with an ostrich-like neck. There are two unconfirmed reasons for it being cut: the battlefield was too big than what the dev team wanted for the fight and it was too powerful to balance the fight. It was supposed somehow be knocked into a body of water to extinguish the flames enveloping its body so that it could be climbed.

*** Worm, a colossus with a flower bulb-like head. Rumored to have been cut due to being too powerful and it required a huge arena in order to dodge its attacks. It was rumored to have been a SequentialBoss to another unmentioned colossus that was fought in the same arena, likely Dirge, as [[https://youtu.be/5Do_0aWpYeo?t=667 a leaked preview version]] of the game has Dormin mention Dirge (another {{Sandworm}} like boss) "has a friend", although it was later discovered that this was a mistranslation of the phrase from the Japanese version of the game, "shaking the earth with your friend", which is a hint that you need Agro, your friend, to defeat Dirge. Leaked meta data from the [=PS3=] data-mine revealed it had no movement data, likely pointing towards it being a StationaryBoss.

*** Monkey, a colossus that hung from the ceiling. It was supposed to be fought in a cave-like area and possibly needed to be shot down with the bow to expose its weak point. The reason it was cut is unknown.

*** Sirius, a Boar colossus similar in size to both Celosia and Cenobia, who are roughly the same size as an adult African elephant. It was set to be fought in an earlier version of quadrant G7, the Green Cape, but was cut due to the means of defeating it not working out. Sirius was unarmored, and ergo very fast, and the only obstacle was getting on its back. A Stonehenge-like monument found at the Green Cape was to have been used for defeating Sirius, and it's speculated that Sirius was to be baited to run between the monument and subsequently get stuck, allowing its Sigil to be attacked.