History WMG / ShadowOfTheColossus

* The land is forbidden because eating the meat and fruit makes you into something less than human, which is why it makes your stats increase. The reason the secret garden's fruit reduces it back down isn't because it's poisonous... but because it's holy, and restoring your lost humanity.

When the Castle in the Mist falls and the kids wash up the beach in Dormin's land, Wander takes them in and raises them.

How else to explain NotTheFallThatKillsYou, MadeOfIron and SoftWater? In-universe, I mean. Out of universe explanations can range from HandWave, YouFailPhysicsForever to ArtMajorPhysics, AWizardDidIt, and WorldBuilding.

Dormin is a Hollow that was split into sixteen smaller Hollows. A powerful Hollow can be composed of thousands of souls, and when Dormin was split, the souls he was composed of were split into sixteen soul-blobs, which later became the colossi when they merged with nature. The more souls a blob was composed of, the more power it had, and the higher its "rank" was (#16 was the strongest, followed by #15, #14 etc.). The reason Dormin is the only Hollow in Hueco Mundo is because SoTC takes place AfterTheEnd. The temple is all that is left of Las Noches. The group of people that the Wanderer, Mono, and Emon belong to are the descendants of [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome every Shinigami in Soul Society, who after defeating Aizen in a great war]] [[PyrrhicVictory were stranded in Hueco Mundo and started a new society]]. After a couple of generations, something caused Shinigami to lose their powers, and by SoTC, only one Zanpakuto remained: the Wanderer's sword. As for the existence of Agro, we know that there exist Hollow versions of small animals like lizards in Hueco Mundo (sound familiar?). Without Hollows to prey on them, it is not too farfetched to expect some of them to evolve to larger animals, like [[YouFailBiologyForever horses, eagles (eagles can sometimes be seen in The Forbidden Land) and the deer]] we see in the ending (in the Garden). Agro is a Hollow who was tamed and may or may not be an Arrancar (to explain his lack of a bone mask).

Dormin is a Hollow that was split into sixteen smaller Hollows. A powerful Hollow can be composed of thousands of souls, and when Dormin was split, the souls he was composed of were split into sixteen soul-blobs, which later became the colossi when they merged with nature. The more souls a blob was composed of, the more power it had, and the higher its "rank" was (#16 was the strongest, followed by #15, #14 etc.). The reason Dormin is the only Hollow in Hueco Mundo is because SoTC takes place AfterTheEnd. The temple is all that is left of Las Noches. The group of people that the Wanderer, Mono, and Emon belong to are the descendants of [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome every Shinigami in Soul Society, who after defeating Aizen in a great war]] [[PyrrhicVictory were stranded in Hueco Mundo and started a new society]]. After a couple of generations, something caused Shinigami to lose their powers, and by SoTC, only one Zanpakuto remained: the Wanderer's sword. As for the existence of Agro, we know that there exist Hollow versions of small animals like lizards in Hueco Mundo (sound familiar?). Without Hollows to prey on them, it is not too farfetched to expect some of them to evolve to larger animals, like [[YouFailBiologyForever horses, eagles (eagles can sometimes be seen in The Forbidden Land) and the deer]] we see in the ending (in the Garden). Agro is a Hollow who was tamed and may or may not be an Arrancar (to explain his lack of a bone mask).

<<|WildMassGuessing|>>

The land is actually ancient Uganda, and Mono, when resurrected, becomes She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed, [[Literature/She Ayesha]]. And Wander was in fact her loved one, and she remembers him as she becomes immortal and rules her kingdom for many an era.

No rule saying they both can't be at immortal or at least immortal-on-stealing bodies...

If They had Their way, They'd tell Wander ''exactly'' where the Colossi are and how to expose their vitals. However, the seal They're under prevents Them from speaking so directly about how to undo it, so They have to circumlocute around Their bindings. This might also be part of why They're so cagey about the 'price' Wander has to pay.

** Also ties in with the idea that they're Soul Jars for Dormin. A god of life ''and'' death probably has an unusual perspective on what those things ''are''. For instance, death takes on a different meaning if resurrection is an option. The Colossi who do little to resist death may be the ones who don't see death as an actual "ending".

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* They don't age. They don't have any natural predators. They aren't the product of previous generations who have since passed away. They have no experience of death, and thus, only some of them have managed to figure out that they're mortal. The ones who make the least effort to resist Wander are the ones who honestly aren't aware that death is an option.

* Long ago, the world was ruled by Colossi. Then some New Gods rose up and nearly wiped them out. The 16 Colossi are the last of their race, and they're much less powerful than they used to be. Emon worships the pantheon of the New Gods. Dormin was part of the pantheon but got kicked out for some reason. They sealed his soul inside Colossi because their nature as deities made them useful as Soul Jars. (You can store a god's soul inside a mortal, but it doesn't last very long before the mortal dies.) When Wander slays the last Colossi, he completes the transition from the Old Gods to the New Gods.

In Maurice Sendak's story, a rule-breaking youth traveling to a faraway land populated by huge, hairy giants and swiftly conquering them... sounds familiar? If you're not convinced, look at [[http://www.hdgamenews.com/uploaded_images/PS2-shadow-of-the-colossus_box-726131.jpg the covers]] and tell me those [[http://zaksiddons.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/wild.jpg monsters]] aren't related.

How else to explain NotTheFallThatKillsYou, MadeOfIron and SoftWater? In-universe, I mean. Out of universe explanations can range from HandWave, TheyJustDidntCare and YouFailPhysicsForever to ArtMajorPhysics, AWizardDidIt, and WorldBuilding.

* It probably will be (that, or a prequel), much like ''ShadowOfTheColossus'' was to ''Ico''. The creature from ''The Last Guardian'' doesn't look like one of the colossi to me, though, since it actually looks like a living creature rather than a moving statue.

[[WMG: Shadow of the Colossus takes place in TheLegendOfZelda universe.]]

The Forbidden Land could even be Hyrule set way, way in the future in TheLegendOfZelda:OcarinaOfTime. Maybe one too many trips through the Temple of Time caused some catastrophic effects of the future? After all, the more you mess with time, the more time messes with you.

Every time a new Legend of Zelda game begins, Link has to spend a whole bunch of time figuring out who he is, where he came from, and generally just being everyone's tool for pretty much the whole game. His origin is a mystery even to him, he doesn't have much of a character, and he doesn't talk. He's an empty vessel, a wanderer. You've got magic swords, an awesome horse, cursed lands, weird temples, and some kind of strange time-slip element. Even Wander's tabbord looks a little like the pattern on the tabbord Sheik wears. I don't think it would be a terrible stretch to see how someone could manipulate Link in the same way; Wander doesn't know what he's doing is necessarily bad, and Link seems pretty indifferent to his quests and challenges as well. Just because Link generally lands on the side of "good", doesn't mean he planned it that way.

[[WMG: Shadow of the Colossus takes place in [[Game/{{TheLegend of Zelda}}]]Legend of Zelda universe.]]
Every time a new Zelda game begins, Link has to spend a whole bunch of time figuring out who he is, where he came from, and generally just being everyone's tool for pretty much the whole game. His origin is a mystery even to him, he doesn't have much of a character, and he doesn't really talk. He's an empty vessel, if you will, and a wanderer. It's not a stretch to see the similarities between Wander and Link. Magic swords, awesome horse, weird temples, cursed lands, and a weird Even Wander's tabbord looks a little like the pattern on the tabbord Sheik wears. I don't think it would be a terrible stretch to see how someone could manipulate Link in the same way; Wander doesn't know what he's doing is necessarily bad, and Link usually seems pretty indifferent to his quests and challenges as well.

Mono is, of course, Princess Zelda, since the relationship between Mono and Wander doesn't necessarily seem to be romantic--as it never really is between Link and Zelda either. Dormin could be Ganondorf--maybe after a long, long period of time being trapped--or not. Doesn't matter. There are plenty of other antagonists to choose from in Hyrule than him.

The Forbidden Land could even be Hyrule set way, way in the future in TheLegendOfZelda:OcarinaOfTime. Maybe one too many trips through the Temple of Time caused some catastrophic effects of the future?

[[WMG: Shadow of the Colossus is a reincarnation of the [[Game/{{TheLegend of Zelda}} Legend of Zelda universe.]]
Every time a new Zelda game begins, Link has to spend a whole bunch of time figuring out who he is, where he came from, and generally just being everyone's tool for pretty much the whole game. His origin is a mystery even to him, he doesn't have much of a character, and he doesn't really talk. He's an empty vessel, if you will, and a wanderer. It's not a stretch to see the similarities between Wander and Link. Even Wander's tabbord looks a little like the pattern on the tabbord Sheik wears. Also: magic swords, awesome horse, cursed land, magic temples, and a weird time slip happening. I don't think it would be a terrible stretch to see how someone could manipulate Link into doing essentially what Wander does.

He actually does die when those first tendrils enter his body from the first Colossus, and the between-boss light we see is the tunnel of light before death. Dormin's power is keeping his soul tied to his body, but it's not perfect with the god still sealed. This is why he seems to survive more and more ridiculous abuse as the game goes on - he's already dead, though he can be knocked out by things that should be fatal.

If Emon hadn't interfered, Dormin still would have possessed him, but then released him once they got the rest of their body out of him. The end sequence was the god-bits getting forcibly removed and dragging Wander with them - a bit like the difference between getting stabbed near the heart and open-heart surgery.

The Smokemen who haunt the castle in ''ICO'' are actual spirits of dead people. The similar things in Shadow are pieces of Dormin. Smokemen have horns and 'eyes' - Dormin's bits have neither. It's okay, even Emon confuses the two.

When a colossus is slain, not only is there a shadow-man over Wander, but there is a dove by Mono's body. Dormin never planned to revive her. Instead, they planned to put the female 'voice' (which is gone by the time he is released) into Mono and the male one into Wander. Dormin was meant to exist in two forms from the start, which is why they still refers to themself as 'we', even when they drop the female-half of their voice in the larger, shadow body. Combining their light and dark aspects effectively handcuffed them and confused their power.

[[WMG: [[spoiler: Agro's Survival]] is proof of Dormin's goodness]]
They prevented [[spoiler: Agro's fall]] from being fatal because They were, at best, TrueNeutral if not actually Good, and this was part of the repayment for Wander's releasing Them.

[[WMG: Dormin was not divided into 16 parts.]]]

More of a meta guess than a story related one, but this theory has been stuck in my head since I first heard Dionin was going to be the only (known, at this point) SequentialBoss in the game. While it could be said Dionin was retooled into Dirge, it could also be said that they were both intended to be in at one point. Think about it. Dionin moved through the sand just like Dirge, was fought in a giant sand arena like Dirge, and has a body structure similar to Dirge. How could it be a SequentialBoss to any other Colossi ''besides'' Dirge?

My thought process is that originally Dirge was going to be fought in the wide open arena that Dionin was in instead of the cave it's found in-game, and instead of making it crash into the cave walls to get to its weak point, you had to make it crash into ''Dionin's dead body'' to get to its weak point. Considering each time you kill a Colossus the game tries to make you think '[[WhatHaveIDone what have you done?]]', using the dead body of a Colossus that was so similar to the one your currently fighting would really hammer home the YouBastard vibe the game gives off for killing the Colossi.

At the end, however, all sixteen, because of this bit-by-bit accumulation, are currently trapped in Wander's body. This is at least an improvement on each one being trapped in a nigh-invulnerable Colossus, but Wander is now the one guardian of the one soul of Dormin. If Wander dies, then the entire soul is free to exit. Enter Lord Emon, whose men kill Wander, unaware of what will happen when he dies. Though they saw the demolished idols, they never saw a Colossus die and so don't recognise the signs of 'de-souling'.

Emon's spell at the end is him using it as a last resort. Originally, he'd hoped to merely contain Dormin's soul with a moderate bit of magic, creating the Colossi and all that. But having seen it fail, this time he's taking no chances and has the sword, the pool, Dormin and Wander annihilated in one last destructive spell. It also means that any magic used by the sword will fail, hence why the bridge collapses.

I mean, his name literally means evil in Latin. But if that isn't enough for you (and why would it be? Pretty much the point of this game was to make you question such [[DesignatedVillain labeling)]] then consider this: all of the colossi were apparently trapped inside the Forbidden Lands. Malus was locked behind a door that could only be opened after all the other colossi were dead. What's the point in making such a thing when the whole place was pretty much a seal? Malus was unquestionably the most powerful of the colossi. My guess is that he became so arrogant that he came to believe [[AGodAmI he was Dormin]] or something, and began wreaking havoc rather then just attacking in self-defense or living in peace. Since he was so powerful, Lord Emon and his followers, or perhaps the Colossi themselves, sealed him away behind the door.
* What if it's not so much that he was evil but that he represented the most of "Dormin" that still remained in the land? Maybe this forbidden area is where the entity itself actually laired. When the Colossi were born their spiritual energy was likely torn from Dormin and cast loose, entering natural materials like rock and dirt (this entrance point is likely where the runes are on their body) and the beasts were born. But the final Colossus is the remnant of Dormin as he was in his final moments, an angry deity. This beast could represent the main body of his masculine, aggressive embodiment while most of the other Colossi are more representative of the feminine, passive embodiment.
* I always imagined that each Colossus represented some part of Dormin; that perhaps they were leeching his power away slowly, becoming bigger the more he expressed what they represented - with Dormin's ultimate fate to be split into sixteen mindless, wandering statues. The smaller Colossi, perhaps, would represent passions, something a creature of logic had little use for; the vast Phalanx accepting the inevitability of defeat some form of wisdom, and so on. If so, that final, impossible figure that towers over a forgotten battlefield, bound and literally smoldering, is Dormin's hatred of those who did this to him.

** Dormin, the 16 Colossi and that tower of worship, it is thought, are all references to [[spoiler: Nimrod. Indeed, 'Dormin' is 'Nimrod' backwards.]]

Since killing the Colossi [[spoiler: freed Dormin]], who's to say [[spoiler: Their death]] didn't have the reverse effect? In the credits, we see what became of the Colossi, but the process could merely take some time, or maybe the credits didn't take place in the present.

The land is actually ancient Uganda, and Mono, when resurrected, becomes She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed, [[LiteratureShe Ayesha]]. And Wander was in fact her loved one, and she remembers him as she becomes immortal and rules her kingdom for many an era.

[[WMG: There were once many more colossi, these are only the last sixteen]]
Wander may not be the first person to try and invoke Dormin to ressurect a loved one, he may have had a number of predecessors, depending on how long you believe Dormin was sealed away. Others could have attempted his stunt, but been killed in the process. Wander just happened to show up when only sixteen remained.

[[WMG: All the black spirits are people who have died fighting the Colossus.]]