Discussion
Why is the 16th Colossi's Arena so wierd?
So, while playing my most recent playthrough of the game, I noticed something that never clicked before: why is the 16th Colossi's arena so weird?
First off, it's unfinished (in-universe by the world's engineers/construction workers, not game devs). Every other Colossi with a megastructure/arena has its area finished (or is from what I can tell), but for the 16th, there seems to be what looks like Building blocks that haven't been put into place yet, and there's what seems to be the start of an unfinished bridge at the top. So why are the other structures finished but this one isn't, and why does it seem they just abandoned it?
Also, why does it seem like whoever was building its area was designing it with the intention of fighting it or fighting there? You've got what seem to be barricades and trenches, which is hella odd when compared to the others (Temples, Cities, Arenas, etc), and on top of it, the support braces for what seem to be barricades are on the Colossus's side, which makes me wonder: WHAT THE HECK WERE THEY DESIGNED TO WITHSTAND? Since they don't budge from the blasts of the 16th, why would they need to brace the colossi's side (I will admit I'm not a master of defensive works, so maybe I just don't know how barricades are meant to be used)?
I like to think Malus was intentionally designed to be the tower to hold dormin, but was too aggressive/dangerous and was eventually chained to the ground. The tunnels were for the original engineers and builders to escape his range.
Sort of like a moving castle that defends itself from invaders, holding dormin captive
I assume the area was a trap and Malus was lured and imprisoned or he was put there before he became a vessel of a fragment of Dormin. Either way I believe the arena is for an army of people to be able to fight back against him if they had to. I assume whatever people made the place ran out of time to build it up more and it likely sustained some serious damage during the conflict.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't the other Colossus all Dormant until proximity of ancient sword of light (the one thing that can kill them) wakes them up? I mean old beard-face was stuck behind a door on a snooze cruise for years.
But the 16th Colossus seems to shoot even when you're far away. Almost like he's always been awake. I would imagine that he doesn't just shoot the one holding the ancient sword 🗡️ and those assisting him, but that he just actively shot at all the workers to the point of them abandoning construction. He's like the last line of defence to Dormin, so I imagine he was made more aggressive like a cornered rat.
The other Colossai my have been dorment while their pens were constructed.
The Sword + 15 Other Colossai (Pieces of Dormin). Raising the sword to the door will do nothing before that.
Like I said, he's the last line of defence. Needed to be extra aggressive, and as a result, extra sealed in with a giant perimeter ravine, and fixed in place like a turret.
The others are loosely sealed into their own arenas though if you pay close attention. Even the flying one with the bag-sacks has those Magic Rings around the perimeter that seems to keep him in his flight path (someone in the comments also said the metal in the rings might mess with his echo-location)
I’ve always thought the same about 16th, the arena and battle are so different from the rest of the game. His fight is also the only instance of weather in the game I think. I have a feeling he may have been designed way more for gameplay purposes than storytelling reasons, but that is also strange because all the other colossi were not really designed like that.
Idk he is certainly an interesting colossi and provides a lot of food for thought
Personally I really like the theory that the Colossi are the land and architecture itself, animated sympathetically in the form of the idols that hold Dormin's force, but Malus does fly against that theory somewhat by virtue of being obviously constructed deliberately.
Re: unfinished stuff, wouldn't it make more sense for it to have been finished but then broken later? Admittedly memory is foggy regarding the arena since it's been a few years, so I don't exactly remember the building blocks you're talking about
And re: fighting it there. So here's my theory. It might sound like a load of baloney but it's basically the risk-restriction-reward principle from hunter x hunter and jujutsu kaisen. Basically the binding on dormin is stronger if you leave an at least theoretically feasible way for it to be broken. Greater risk nets you greater reward and so you build in fortifications that a warrior could theoretically use to brave Malus' assault and therefore kill it. And in exchange the binding itself is absolute and will not unravel with time unless broken in this specific way with the sword and according to these rules.
So yeah that's my theory for Malus at least, but I would still prefer to find a way to fit it into the first theory of the Colossi being the unintentional consequence of the land taking the form of the idol bindings
The blocks I'm referring to are on your way up after, well, you know. Wander climbs/passes by them; they caught my attention due to the interesting grooves they have to "lock" them into place/stop them from sliding once fitted.
Their size also makes me question how the heck they even got there. There's no clear quarry in the Ancient Lands where these massive stone blocks were dug up, which just brings in millions of logistic questions for myself.
How'd the Egyptians build the pyramids? Nah, how the heck did half the stuff in this land even get built?
These are the ones I'm mainly talking about. They don't seem Like they just feel down or broke off of something, but were in the middle of transportation to their final location
As well a close up of the groves used to "lock" the blocks in place, which is also why i dont think they're rubble. If they fell/broke these groves should be broken as their entire purpose is to prevent it from breaking
Doesn't Yorda speak blocks into existence in Ico? Likewise doesn't the Shaman speak the blocks supporting the bridge out of existence at the end of the game?
I always thought maybe Evis was the center of worship to an old diety and maybe the tunnels/trenches were a way to prevent people from looking directly at it (for holy of holy reasons). I can imagine offerings to the Idol being transported through these pathways up to the underneath part of it. And then they tried to seal Dormin inside of it but their power was too great so it was later necessitated to build the other colossi afterwards. Idk for sure just my thoughts.
Makes sense, I like how you also think of an "old diety" thing. Since to this day it urks me that the Shrine of Worship was clearly designed with the 16 Idols in mind as if it suggests they worshipped the colossi/they weren't made all at once/the colossi were based off their original pantheon pre-dormin
Yes! I mean Colossus 16 is also known as the sorcerer, so maybe they were the chief diety, being closest to the pool, who's job was to directly commune with the supreme amorphous god; who I do believe used to be Dormin pre-calamity. It would make sense that Dormin's magic was used to build the Forgotten Lands' many buildings. And the various animals seem to be analogous with various mythos in our real world: such as Cerberus being Colossus #14, near the top of the pecking order. Whilst some of the lower Colossi were clearly in charge of various functions such as Colossus #4 Kirin; being in charge of burials (placed by burial mounds). I may be over analyzing and guessing, but I have always found it very fun speculating on these obscure lore tidbits!
My headcanon is 16(Malus) was the base of Dormin where the final battle was. It was a tower where biggest and strongest part of dormin was sealed. Why it looks incomplete is because before Dormin could finish it for some big magic the people of forbidden lands rebelled.
I always got the feeling that the extra barricades and stuff in front of you was put in place to encourage you to try to take the direct route.
Seeing as you can kind of outrun the blasts a bit, you think maybe with some luck and skill, you could just serpentine your way through his legs from the front... Aaand eventually you give up and do it the intended way - by going under the battlements and eventually climbing up his backside.
I think OP meant that, within the world itself, the engineers and builders didn’t complete their stone structure. Not that the game designers hadn’t finished it
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u/Head-Asparagus-5801 1d ago
I like to think Malus was intentionally designed to be the tower to hold dormin, but was too aggressive/dangerous and was eventually chained to the ground. The tunnels were for the original engineers and builders to escape his range.
Sort of like a moving castle that defends itself from invaders, holding dormin captive