The Let's Play Archive

Shadow of the Colossus

by Geop

Part 14: Celosia, the Eleventh Colossus

And we're back!



There is a bonus clip after the colossus battle!
Blip - With commentary (Polsy) | No commentary (Polsy)
Youtube - With commentary Part 1, Part 2

Celosia's location on the map: F-1 ((Had to snag the icon screenshot from an actual recording, hence the blurriness. My usual source picture has the icon obscured))

Artwork/Pictures -
Celosia Centerfold, left page (Artbook)
Celosia Centerfold, right page (Artbook)
Celosia (Artbook)
Celosia (Artbook)
Celosia (Concept art #1)
Celosia (Concept art #2)
Celosia (Concept art #3)

Dormin's Hints -
 "It fears the flames..." 
 "Perhaps thou can use the flame pedestal..." 

Notes -
- Celosia is a  lion! You can see that the armoring around his neck looks similar to a mane, in addition to his cat-like paws/claws. Anyhow! He is 12 feet (3.6m) tall and 18 feet (5.4m) long from head to tail. Kuromori was already small, but this fella is even tinier in comparison. Even though he's the smallest colossus, this guy is still about the size of a fully-grown male African elephant  

- Celosia's name has two potential meanings to it, both of which fit nicely.  First, there is "celox", which means "swift" in Latin. He is one of the few colossi that can run and jump, so this definitely applies. Secondly is "kelos", which is Greek for "burning". This second one is keyed on because there is a plant which shares Celosia's name. The root behind its name was kelos, since it appears burnt. This title fits both the fact that he is a flame guardian, but also the fact that fire spooks him. 

-  Cultures throughout the world (past and present) typically identify lions in association with guardians and bravery. The latter of those two kind of falls flat on its face when fire comes around, it seems  

-  The reasoning behind his weakness sounds rather strange. Dormin describes him as a guardian of the flame, but he is in fact scared of it. Always thought this was a tad bit odd. 

-  If you fall off this guy when he's still outside the temple, this jerk won't give you breathing room. He will ram you and be ready for another strike before you're back up on your feet. He circles back around to inside the shrine where the battle first started in the end, but if you fall off prior to that? You're in trouble. Some folks like this dude, but others not so much. He shows fear to fire (which is an emotion most colossi seem to be lacking), and he's pretty quick to take out once you know his trick. Most colossi have an ensuing struggle once you get on them, but you can down this fella rather fast. What I went with in the recording was a bit more interesting, I thought, than the recording that followed. I normally kill this guy pretty darn fast, but drawing it out a bit was kinda nice, I thought! 

-  You don't necessarily need to jump on to him to get the fella moving. You can shoot a few arrows at him from the high ground to get him riled, and he'll circle back around in to the shrine. Also, about the jump-stab: it's pretty finicky on smaller guys like this. I pulled it off when jumping off the lower ledge, but it nailed his armor. If I jumped from the highest point on the cliff, the ability to jump-stab seems to be disabled by the time you're above him. When you fall, Wander eventually goes in to an OH SHIT I'M GONNA DIE-esque arm-flailing animation, which seems to stop you from jump-stabbing. Pulling off a jump stab from the cliff-top is definitely possible, but the window for error is pretty tiny. I tried for a while, but couldn't quite get it  

-  The stick you use in this is probably a nod toward Ico, wherein the protagonist uses a stick as a mock-sword for a fair stretch of the game  

- Another Godzilla reference? First Gamera, now this. Good god, Japan <>