The Ico/Colossus Connection

[Pendragon]

The following contains ‘massive’ spoilers for both Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, as well as speculation concerning the connection between these two games. The official word given by the development team of these two games is that Shadow is merely a spiritual successor to Ico, so please take that into account as you read the following.



[spoiler]First some background info for both games so we can identify the parallels:

Ico begins with a group of robed men on horseback carrying a horned boy prisoner through a dense forest then across a lake to a secluded castle. Once they disembark with their prisoner one of the robed men grab a magical rune sword that works as a key with the specific locks for this castle. The men take the boy to a camber filled with sarcophagi presumably filled with other horned children who were locked up. The men put the boy into the last remaining sarcophagus and leave the castle putting the sword back in it place. Soon afterwards an earthquake shakes the boy’s tomb enough for it to fall over and open allowing the boy to escape.

Soon afterwards the boy finds a girl imprisoned in a cage hanging from the ceiling. After releasing her from her cage the two work together to find a way out of castle using the girl as a key similar to the rune sword to open the path. Eventually the two run into the girl’s mother who is also queen of the castle. She impedes their progress, but despite the setback they eventually manage to open a gate to a stone bridge to get out. However the gate saps a lot of energy from the girl and as they traverse the stone bridge it begins to separate with the boy and girl on either side, and the boy decides to jump back to the girl whom just barely manages to grab a hold of the boy until her mother comes with a shadow that overtakes her and she drops the boy into an abyss.

Eventually the boy regains consciousness and makes his way back into the castle finding the rune sword along the way. Upon returning the sarcophagi room the boy finds the girl incased in stone and the shadow people emerge from their tombs and attack the boy. After besting them all with the sword he moves onward to face the mother who tells him that she plans on using her daughter as a vessel to continue on living. In the process of fighting the queen the boy’s horns break, and upon her defeat with the rune sword the castle begins to crumble. The girl emerging as a shadow from her stone prison finds the unconscious boy and takes him to a boat and pushes him to safety from the crumbling castle unable to go herself.

When the boy regains consciousness he finds himself aboard the boat that had landed on a beach. After exiting the boat and exploring the beach he find the girl as he had first seen her as neither stone nor shadow, but nevertheless unconscious …


Shadow opens with a wanderer on horseback carrying the lifeless body of a girl to a cursed land at the edge of the world, which foretells of a way to bring back lost souls. In his possession is an sword he’d stolen. When he arrives he immediately proceeds to a temple at the center of this cursed land and places the girls body on an alter.

Suddenly shadows begin to emerge from the stone floor of the temple behind the boy. Seeing them raise the boy draws the sword, which emits a light, and the shadows dissolve into smoke. Suddenly a voice that seems to be coming from the light pouring through a giant hole in the ceiling proclaims to the wanderer that the sword he possesses is “the ancient sword”. The wanderer asks the voice if he is Dormin, who controls wandering souls. To which the voice replies, “We are the one known as Dormin”.

The wanderer asks the voice to return the lost soul of this girl who was sacrificed because she had a cursed fate. The voice tells him that it’s not the way it works for a mortal, but with his sword it may not be impossible if he’s willing to undergo a task. Dormin tells the wander that he needs to destroy the 16 idols in the temple by killing their incarnations that wander the cursed land with the power of his sword, but that their may be a heavy price to pay. The wander says that it doesn’t matter and sets off on his way with his loyal horse Agro, the ancient sword and his bow.

One by one the wander takes down each colossi, each time the spirit of the colossi enters his body and he gets transported back to the temple. Also with each colossi he takes down a new shadow appears at the temple with him. Still he presses on, each kill seemingly taking a heavy toll on his body. Heavy scars begin to show, his breathing becomes labored and eventually his hair turns black.

On their way to the last colossus the wander and Agro find themselves a top a collapsing bridge, when it becomes clear that they’re not going to make it Agro bucks the wander off him for the last few feet needed to make it to the other side. The wanderer quickly gets up but can do nothing as he watches Agro fall to the bottom with the bridge. Remembering for whom he was doing all this he pushes ahead to the final battle. Suddenly a group of masked men on horseback accompanying a riding shaman called Lord Emon arrive at the entrance to the cursed land.

They enter the temple just in time to see the last idol shatter before them. As they approach the alter with the girl on it the wander unconscious from having received the spirit of the last colossus appears behind them with the sword. The wander begins to stir as the shadows of the 16 colossi emerge from the floor around him. The wanderer completely ragged by this point slowly raises to his feet, his eyes glowing green, his skin completely pale and horns having sprouted from his head.

Emon pauses to chastising the wanderer for having stolen the sword, explaining that he doesn’t have any idea what he’s done. Then he commands his men to kill the wanderer, one of them shoots a crossbow into his leg and the wanderer stumbles to the ground. Another man with a sword approached him and stabs him in the chest, suddenly releasing the spirits of the colossi that had gathered in his body. As the spirit forms a shadow around the wanderer and threatens to overtake him completely he raises again and tries to approach the alter but falls back to the ground. After a slight pause the shadow surrounding the wander expands and grows rapidly, the shadows of the 16 colossi merge with this new shadow to create a new colossus.

The new colossus quickly reveals itself to be Dormin remerged after having his body separated into 16 pieces. Emon’s men begin attacking the rampaging Dormin with crossbows as on of them grabs the ancient sword and they rush to the exit at the back of the temple. Emon commands his men to prepare his horse as he tries to seal in Dormin. He places a spell upon the ancient sword then tosses it into a shallow pool with turns into a void and sucks in Dormin’s spirit and eventually the shadowed covered body of the wanderer as well.

As Emon and the masked men rush to escape the cursed land the girl on the alter begins to stir and awake to find herself alone in the temple. After a few moments to gather her wits about her, a sound rings out and she turns to see a severely injured Agro limping towards her. After a brief pause Agro slowly leads the girl to the back of the temple were inside the remains of the shallow poor rests a cooing horned baby. As the girl moves to retrieve the child Agro begins to make his way up a spiral path in the temple. The girl continues to follow the limping Agro to garden on an upper level of the temple where sparse amount of wildlife seem to be dwelling.



Now for the connections that I’m currently aware of:

The boy as related to a prequel seems unlikely however there is a possibility that the baby will grow up to be the boy from Ico.

The boy as related to a sequel is a bit of a stretch however he does lose his horns at the end of Ico, and emerge hornless at the beginning of Shadow and eventually re-grow them before he’s transformed.

The girl as related to a prequel is very unlikely the girl from Ico (Yorda), but could possibly be the Queen.

The girl as related to a sequel is the easiest conclusion to draw, Yorda is found laying unconscious on the beach after trying to be sacrificed by her mother the queen. Thus losing her soul which needs to be reclaimed.

The magic swords as related to both games play a relatively big part, in both case as weapons and as keys, whether is be unblocking paths or finding colossi.

Shadows as related to both games represent the wandering souls of the fallen, whether it be horned children or colossi.



Personal theories for both possible prequel & sequel:

For Shadow being a prequel to Ico a nameless wanderer takes ill fated girl to cursed land to be resurrected. Things obviously turn out bad and the masked villagers witness these events unfold originating from a criminal that sprouts horns as a symbol of his curse for his crimes. Returning to their village the story spreads about the curse of a horned wanderer who many or may not have escaped his prison. Not willing to take any chances they sacrifice all horned people they come across or who are born into the village. The girl left in the garden in the cursed land may or may not be the queen or ancestor or the queen who somehow gained ability to control shadows. The baby may or may not be boy who would bring down the reign of an evil queen.

For Shadow being a sequel to Ico a horned boy escapes his fate of dying in a tomb and being revived as a shadow when sarcophagus tumbles over during an earthquake. While trying to escape the castle he finds a girl he immediately falls in love with. Through great ordeals they both manage to escape but the events that led to their freedom deprive him of his horns and eventually takes its toll on the girl and she loses her soul. So he begins wandering looking for a way to revive his fallen love until he finds a village with a legend about a land that’s home to a being who can recover a lost souls. He steals the sword from the village and makes his way to the place where he unknowingly releases an evil being while trying to revive the girl. His horns grow back just before becoming a shadow then dies and is reborn a baby where the recently revived girl takes care of him.


That’s about everything I believe to connect these two games together despite the official word from the development team. Feel free to post any different or opposing theories, or even any questions/comments.[/spoiler]

[edeo]

I don't believe there are any direct connections.

The closest I can come to connecting the two games is that SotC is a prequel. The ending starts a chain of events where he is reborn every so often. Either that or he starts a curse where random children are born that eventually grow horns.

The ending makes me think of Adam and Eve. Original sin and the downfall of man and all that.

[Calbrena]

hmmm I think you should edit the title of your thread and/or use spoiler tags Haven't read your post except for the first few lines though

[Pendragon]

You mean this isn't enough?

The following contains ‘massive’ spoilers for both Ico and Shadow of the Colossus

If not I'll go back and change it.

[Damien]

That's a hell of a lot of words

[Sephira]

I basically stand at Shadow being a prequel.

Someone on Gamefaqs also brought up a good theory, though I can't find it again. But, I remember most of it.

[spoiler]As a sequel, provided we accept that Wander = beginning of horned boys, and Mono = Queen, it's somewhat of a reunion between the two lovers (provided they even WERE lovers. Who knows. Fairly safe to assume, though, I'd say.).

Wander = the first of the lineage, therefore, Ico himself is "Wander"

Mono = Queen, and Yorda is the Queen's descendent, and is therefore a bit of Mono.

And this might possibly explain how readily Ico falls in love with Yorda and feels the need to protect her. [/spoiler]

[WaWard]

Just finished the game. So basically, what Sephira said.

[spoiler= ]
It makes more sense that way. The seal was broken. The mantra about boys with horns being evil could've started this way, associating them with the released demon whose name I forgot.

I think that's all there is to it though.
[/spoiler]

[Pendragon]

It definitely makes more since as a prequel, however I still like the idea of a continuing tale for Ico and Yorda. That's just my preference though.

[Asaroth Larot]

I just finished this game
Finally could check out this thread without being spoiled

Until I see some definite proof. I'm not going to jump any mindset of sequel/prequel

So far it just seems to be a seperate story in the ICO universe, but even that's not confirmable for sure

Though having shadow beings and huge freaking ruins around seem to be a strong indication of same world