Colossi

The Colossi are 16 creatures, usually quite large, that inhabit the Forbidden Lands and who the player character Wander is tasked with killing in the video game Shadow of the Colossus. Each one houses a part of Dormin's essense, which is released into Wander when the Colossus is killed.
The individual Colossi don't have official names, though the developers had their own nicknames to refer to them by. Instead, each Colossus is either referred to as the 1st-16th Colossus, a Roman Numeral (I-XVI), or a fan name. The fan names are as follows: Valus, Quadratus, Gaius, Phaedra, Avion, Barba, Hydrus, Kuromori, Basaran, Dirge, Celosia, Pelagia, Phalanx, Cenobia, Argus, and finally Malus.
There are also 10 known unused Colossi, also known as the Beta Colossi. Projects attempting to recreate them in fangames, alongside other cut content, have arisen, most notably Beyond the Forbidden Lands and Tribute to Shadow of the Colossus.
Fans often have a favourite Colossus, influenced by, among other things, aesthetic preferences, temperament, and boss battle quality. Gaius in particular is popular in fanart. Some fans will also create their own original Colossi. 
==Canon==
Colossi are beings each housing a part of Dormin. Most are quite large, as the main objective in the game involves climbing them as main character Wander in order to kill them, though a few are much smaller.
===Unused Colossi===
Alongside the 16 Colossi in the game, there are 10 other known Colossi to have been scrapped relatively late in development: Devil, Evis, Griffin, Phoenix, Roc, Saru, Sirius, Spider, Worm, and Yamori A. Originally, 48 Colossi had been planned, before being cut down to 24, then 20, and then finally 16 in the final game. 
==Fandom==
Being one of the main draws of the game, the Colossi are a large focus of the fandom. They are frequently ranked by fans and media outlets, and many have favourite Colossi.
===Names===
The developer name, common fan name, and binomial fan name for each Colossus is as follows:
Number	Developer Name 	Common Fan Name	Binomial Fan Name
I 	Minotaur A 	Valus 	Minotaurus colossus
II 	Mammoth 	Quadratus 	Taurus magnus
III 	Knight 	Gaius 	Terrestris veritas
IV 	Kirin 	Phaedra 	Equus bellator apex
V 	Bird 	Avion 	Avis praeda
VI 	Minotaur B 	Barba 	Belua maximus
VII 	Eel 	Hydrus 	Draco marinus
VIII 	Yamori B/The Gecko	Kuromori 	Parietinae umbra
IX 	Kame/The Turtle 	Basaran 	Nimbus recanto
X 	Narga 	Dirge 	Harena tigris
XI 	Leo 	Celosia 	Ignis excubitor
XII 	Poseidon 	Pelagia 	Permagnus pistrix
XIII 	Snake 	Phalanx 	Aeris velivolus
XIV 	Cerberus 	Cenobia 	Clades candor
XV 	Minotaur C 	Argus 	Praesidium vigilo
XVI 	Evis 	Malus 	Grandis supernus
Their origin appears to have come from a forum post in 2005, claiming the poster had been sent the list of names by a friend in Japan who had read them in an issue of Dengeki PlayStation Magazine. This has long been debunked.
A reddit comment described the state of the SotC fandom at the time:
The common fan names are by far the most popular way for fans to refer to them as in fandom. The names are so frequently used in fact that even Sony themselves have used them in official material.
===Original Colossi===
Fans of the game have been known to create their own Colossi, usually based on animals. A similiar thing happens in the fandom for the Horizon video game series, with Machines.
===Common Tropes & Themes===
*Gen - Most fanworks in the SotC fandom are gen, and this extends towards the Colossi.
*Original Characters - OC Colossi are frequently created by fans.
*Restoring Cut Colossi
==Fanworks==
===Fanfiction===
*The Wanderer (Completed: 2010) by nightlight6
===Fanart===
====Links====
*Encounter with XIII - Shadow of the Colossus (Oct 2023) by Juunyar, featuring Phalanx (13th)
====Gallery====
File:2nd Colossus.png|Shadow of the Colossus (Jun 2010) by MySkittlesTasteEpic, featuring Quadratus, the 2nd Colossus.
File:Shadowelite951 avion.jpg|Avion (Jun 2009) by ShadowElite951, featuring Avion, the 5th Colossus, chasing Wander as he rides on Agro.
File:Kajag inktober-2019-ancient.jpg|Inktober 2019: Ancient (Oct 2019) by KajaG, featuring Dirge, the 10th Colossus, with Wander fighting them from the back of Argo.
File:Kajag phalanx.jpg|Phalanx (Nov 2021) by KajaG, featuring Phalanx, the 13th Colossus. Wander rides Agro in the foreground.
File:Colossus -16 - Malus (Grandis Supernus).png|Colossus #16 - Malus (Grandis Supernus) (Sep 2013) by DELIRIO88, featuring Malus, the 16th and final Colossus. His idol is on the left, and Lord Emon is on the right, for scale comparison.
==Resources & External Links==
*Colossi Ensemble (Shadow of the Colossus) - Ao3 tag
*The Colossi - Team ICO Wiki page
==References==
category:Shadow of the Colossus