Hidden Symbolism in Shadow of the Colossus 

Nomad: *Scans the data and keeps on finding stuff* Emon: STOP. Dormin: DON'T STOP.

Just when you think there's nothing else to know about Shadow of the Colossus...

It's amazing Shadow of the Colossus has these wide-open landscapes that you can transverse and explore. And there's no random encounters no busy grind quests...and IT WORKS. It completely immerses you in this mysterious land and you're just in this state of wonder.

Horns are symbols of both wisdom and strength in various cultures around the world. They have also been linked to virility and masculine reproductive power thanks to males of various species having larger horns than females, like the bull, wich was worshipped by all indo-european peoples due to beign an essential part of their diet, it's strength wich allowed it to pull plows through the fields and it's reproductive potency.

you are the best incarnation of game theory we ever could have dreamed of

This is why i love SOTC, its a game that leaves so much to interpretation. When i made my video on this i read a metaphorical reading about technology and human kind grappling with balance. While i never saw your videos when i made it, i think it shows how strong the themes of this game are(even if the specific story told to us is quite simple) that you can inevitably see similar ideas even if the specific interpretations are very different.

Nimrod is also connected to human sacrifices in the occult and just like the story of jesus and nimrod it seems like dormin required sacrifice of the flesh to bring about the rebirth of a God or Demon depending on which theology we look at great work love these break downs

I am a Tibetan Lama monk, and I grew up sorrounded by mandalas, there is a tradition regarding them as ephemeral in which we (Lama monks) draw mandalas with dyed sands of different colors, we take hours, even days drawing them, so they look percfectly balanced, and after we finished drawing them we just clean all the sands and begin again, this tradition shows how ephemeral is everything in life, even cycles, the point of putting all our effort from hours and loosing it in minutes is to be concious of the way life works, and how nothing is eternal, even the things which took more effort to build eventually decay over time, is a lesson, to live with no fear of losing everything, since nothing belongs to anyone, and a proof that time can erase everthing, just to be deattached from matterial stuff and even from life, not in a apathetic way, but in a way in which we live, and love and do our best everyday in our lives, being mindful that they could end anyday I drew mandalas since a kid with my father, he makes Yantras, which are simbols engraved on leather representing wiches and fears, it's believed that we have better control over things when we give them a body, since we sometimes are more conected to our bodies than to our souls, Yantras are also a representation of how a though, something ethereal, fits a body and gives meaning to that body, just a piece of paper is what it is, paper, but every book composed of the same paper is unique, because of it's content, that's how we are, all living beings have bodies, but the content is what matters the most, and by giving the soul a material container, you can give it the will to act,musicians for example use their will on their bodies to make music, music has no body, any casette or cd or bit means nothing, but what matters is the content it has, but that content can't exit in a material plane without a body. in conclusion, what this means is that we need either body and soul to exist and to understand ourselves better we need to pay attention to both and nurture them, I'm curently studying medicine and a common thought in my workplace is that, souls are not real, well there are many arguments related to this topic, I disagree with science denying souls and also I am not a religious person at all, but maybe if humanity stopped being separated either by science or religion, humanity will become more balanced, them who deny they have a soul are as wrong as them who deny molecules make their bodies, as I said before we are both material and ethereal, we are all dyed sand mandalas being slowly removed by time and wind.

Video begins: My brain: You're finally awake

Hey look at this circle SotC theorizers: *M A N D A L A*

To add to Wanders sacrifice. He didn't even do it in the intentions of becoming divine or pure he just did it because he wanted to bring his girl back to life. Even as Dormin warned him he could have unforeseen consequences, he didn't care. He did it for completely selfless and pure intentions which could potentially be why he succeeded in becoming reborn or divine. (I'd imagine if someone slayed all the colossi seeking immortality or divinity for pure selfish reasons would probably be turned into a shadow demon instead of being reborn into a pure innocent horned baby.) Maybe that's why Emon followed him to the forbidden lands and stayed at the end "if your alive your cursed". He thought wander wouldn't succeed in becoming divine or if it was even possible to become divine. He thought Wander was a shadow demon and that Mono was dead.

"Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts, absolutely," for some reason that last line gave me chills god damn I'm too pea brained for this

I'm glad that people are still making Shadow videos. Continue to make great content man! One question: Do you think that Dormin (or the collosus) are perfect beings in that universe? What about baby Wander?

That really brings me back to the old times where SotC and religion theories were Always a thing, Me personally never really saw it that way. But when it comes to elements such as balance, light and dark always seemed to me to be the main theme of Shadow of the colossus, Or even the whole Fumito Ueda universe really. I always wanted those mandalas to be analysed so much. So I really appreciate thIs vídeo and it's amazing work. It all began with Dormin sword having half the mandala design of #6 and 13# on the dormin sword hilt. Also the mandala at #13 arena was a new addition to the remake version of the game, it wasn't really there in the OG, Unless it was fully covered in sand. I haven't really met your channel before and i'll definitely check it out your other SotC Related vídeos!

"power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely" i like this, i like this very much

Those illustrations look closer to the illustrations you would find in books, regarding alchemy and mysticism

Absoloutley fantastic. Loved every moment and you better keep making these high quality videos

These concepts sound a lot like Kingdom Hearts. Hermeticism may very well sit comfortably with Namuras love of Numerology and Daoist symbolism. The realms of Light & Darkness, the Sleeping realm, data worlds, the enevor of Xehanort to study the balance between these forces, remaking a great war for his cause. This video feels perfectly suited to this topic as well.

This was extremely interesting. This was a childhood game of mine... It meant so much to me back then.... Thank you for posting this.

This is brilliant. My love of Shadow Of The Colossus meeting my love of the occult. I always felt the game had some deeper esoteric element to it and this illustrates it well. Nice work!

Awesome insights man, I love your content, your Asperger’s syndrome gives you such detail and you dive deeper than most. It’s a gift and a curse so it seems.

What’s interesting is that the sword wayfinding mimics the mandala visual of the “let there be light” illustration. The light even unifies into a singular beam when pointed towards a single being, but points everywhere else when not focused on anything.

Okay, so I am new to this community and HO LY COW these are impeccable!!! I wonder if that light harnessed, presumably, from people is also what is found in the blue tailed lizard and the blue butterfly, as well as the fire Dormir breathes! I was planning on playing Ico this week but I keep discovering that I've SO MUCH MORE to discover in the world of the Colossi! Thank you SO much for these heaftfelt videos, I can't wait to play Ico so that I may watch the rest of your content!!!

This is why I fell in love with this game, not only is it amazing gameplay and an absolutely beautiful world and story but just there was a certain mystery to it, and it’s just amazing when people like you and nomad spend so much time deciphering it, truly amazing work you guys have done🙏

Wherever there is a shadow of the colossus video, there is always a special thanks to Nomad. Absolute legend.

Some of the death screens are legit scary

Very interesting vidéo. Really love Fumito Ueda and Silent hill. Thanks.

What a great video, it's not easy to articulate these ideas, specially for the non iniciated, but you did a perfect job. It's absoluteley wonderful that this engraves are occult inside the game's code, and it says a lot about the author's esoteric influences and the spirit of the game at large.

This is an excellent analysis! thank you!

Brilliant work! Great eye opening vid

This is one of the best videos on this game there is. I’ve watched it many times, just felt like letting you know.

Certain things things about this game upon initial playing felt like this game owed us more

So glad I picked this up around launch day (ps2). Best gift ever

Following that idea of ascension, is it possible Dormin is a king or lord of the forbidden land who used that power to ascend but became too powerful.

Fantastic video. 🙌🏼 love this game

There is a Mandala on the floor where colossus 6 comes out from but getting to it is not easy. You basically have to get on the arm of the colossus & let go just as he try's to throw you off & with a little luck you'll be tossed up onto the platform. There is also a Mandala high up in a dark area on a wall just before the cut scene starts for colossus 8. There is also a Mandala on top of each castle tower near colossus 15. You need to use photo mode to see them.

i thought he's called Dormin because he lays DORMANt in there for years

12:18 this reminds me of when I walked across the giant bridge just to get an achievement and another coin, I regret it.

Saw the title and subbed. I love you

This is an amazing video essay. Thank you

Amazing video!

Nice video friend 🔥

11:22 "Have ya heard of JESUS?!!" -Jontron

I just want to add some reference: The phrase "power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely" is usually attributed to Lord Acton (See Hist. Essays, page 504)

Great video, I like the depth of the game

I have and have read the exact copy of the ACU book you are using ... good stuff ... I am a fan of Jung!!!

That hermetic philosophy on becoming one with the universe is a pretty interesting way of putting integrity or Te. I'll have to remember that.

Great video!

The Fiat Lux brings forth (at least in my mind) the idea of Illuvatar and the genesis of Tolkien's legendarium. SOTC is also fantasy and a really deep one at that. It definitely borrows from the genre, from Tolkien to Neverending Story. Great video.

You and Nomad and of course everyone else made me enjoy this game as if its a new game lol. Replaying this since its free on ps plus and seeing all these mantras in the world is like wow

I miss watching this game's LPs.. It's a masterpiece.

Amazing insights right here :) If we look at this from the narrative perspective, taking out all the fantasy stuff, the moment wanderer "turns" into Dormin might very well mean that moment in a narrative were the main character exhibits the worst part of himself as a person, and when he enters into the pool of light, he is cleansed from, you could call "Pride" and "Wrath" (In the sense that Dormin can be seen and I think if I remember well he considers himself a God) and what is left is a pure being, a baby, with the horns as a reminder of the "Sins" of Pride and Wrath that he committed before, in the same fashion a scar would be left after having been dealt a serious huge injury. Still, without the fantasy elements taking into account, you can say that this is a story of a man that deals with Pride and Wrath (mostly) and by the end he becomes a new person, maybe not willingly, but a new person in the end once he enters the light... which you could see as the inherent truth of life that not even he could escape, the truth of moving on, of acceptance and peace with himself, and no matter how much he fights back, he ends up entering the pool of light, letting go of his pain, and the reason of his Pride and Wrath. He may have scars, but he is once again a pure person. You could even say that Mono coddling baby Wanderer is, taking out the fantasy aspect of the story, Wanderer being able to, as a person, feel love again, letting himself be loved and love again. Now I can see why this game has touched so many people over the years :) Once again, thank you for your insights.

Wow, wow wow... just WOW! I've always loved the game since day one, because of the sense of vastness of the Forbidden Land, the atmosphere of sheer mystery and the feeling of loneliness. And clearly having all these theories attached to the mythos of the game gives it an even greater sense of grandeur - if that's even possible. Thanks for sharing your studies. I can NEVER get enough of SOTC.

amazing video. thank you.

There is always new symbols being discovered in Shadow or the Colossus. Such a legendary game.

You might want to research/read Jung’s Alchemy and Psychology. It explains all this stuff in greater detail. Alchemy is an allegory for the transmutation of the human soul through experiences. Such as transforming lead into gold through perfect mathematical magic. The photos of the layers of elements within the rings are references to leviathan, the earth and labyrinths. The squaring of the circle, and the serpent that eats itself. Silent hill 2 uses all of these concepts as well.

Just one observation on 6:39 why a circle besides the perfection if you think about it there is the number Pi, an infinite number that contains everything, all the information of this world is contained at some point in Pi, so it makes sense that the circle represents our reality. There are additional observations about what's next maybe you can find it in books like "the flower of life"

Excellent video

I hope someone brings this up to Fumita Ueda in an interview. There's so much he could tell us about what Nomad and the secret searcher community has found.

Fun fact: Nimrod built the Babel Tower trying to reach God.

THAT IS BRILLIANT

🤯 good shit man.

One thing Ueda does extremely well (and is a sort of staple of his aesthetic style) is generating an aura of significance. You're placed in some majorly empty, ancient world that seems to harbor the meanings of a long-lost form of life. E.g., symbols in stone, mysterious markings, shrines, etc. I doubt Ueda or anyone "assigned" these symbols discrete meanings; all that matters is that they are suggestive of meaning (suggestiveness, rather than full-blown illumination is one of the essentials of Japanese aesthetics). It generates that "mythic" character. Like the "tomb" where you get the shield in The Last Guardian: I sort of don't want to know anything about whose grave it is! Just knowing it's obviously a grave (and all the associations that entails) is enough to generate an atmosphere of significance or depth that's way more interesting than if I had all the "facts" about the matter. It leaves speculations way open, but open enough to where I don't find it too exciting to imagine we're ever going to piece together a "right" interpretation or theory. I sorta want to bask in the indeterminacy of it all. also, I used to be way into Jung but I found his ideas tend to occlude genuine social/historical/cultural differences. If we think each and every circle denotes a "mandala" as Jung conceives them, we're going to be ignoring genuine differences in how those symbols are conceived by different traditions (and this is a fictional tradition so it doesn't really apply). But depth psychological interpretation can still yield some interesting views! Maybe Wander's journey is really all about seeking a return to the oceanic oneness of the primordial womb or whatnot. That's not my gig anymore.

I do like how that there's more to this game. I really do love it and its predecessors.

this video explained everything perfectly

Here's symbolism no one I've seen has talked about I realized when the sprits of the Colossi attack Wander, he dies. He is then reborn again by going through the white light ( Search Soul Trap Theory)

"A perfect circle" *Giggles in Maynard James Keenan*

So can we imagine for a minute about gathering all the best game theorists on the internet and making a game company with them. I mean honestly imagine how fun it would be always finding secrets and having games that somehow always have something sweeter hidden inside the more we play and look into. Just imagine

Dear max, youre my favorite youtuber Have a nice day

Yeah, horns were divine in some cultures that were at odds with early Hebrew/Christianity (perfect example is the old biblical story of fights with the priests of Baal Haddad) Back in Sumeria & Egypt, they viewed cattle as fertility so their gods would have horns. One of these biggest ones was essentially Baal Haddad, who superceded his father El as chief diety. Baal Haddad was a rainy storm god that would give rain to the desert regions, but would also fight evil serpents. How mighty was Baal Haddad? Zeus uses lightning and fought snake-like Typhon Perun uses lightning and fought snake-like Veles Indra uses lightning and fought the snake-like Vritra Thor uses lightning and fought the snake-like Jormungandr ...I think they were all chief deities of their pantheons (Thor was originally chief deity before Snorri Sturluson rewrote Odin as chief deity). They were all based on Baal Haddad (btw, the word "baal" just means "lord", but he was so famous people just called him baal; at some points even Yahweh was referred to as Baal Yahweh). The ancient Hebrews had falling out with the mighty Baal Haddad priests, villified them and said they won against them in some religious battle, cast them out and essentially made their own religion where Baal Haddad was a bad guy, but some combination of Yahweh/El was the good guy. Hence why "Thou shalt not have any other gods" is the first Commandment of the Ten Commandments. The ancient Hebrews were originally polytheistic, but were trying to become monotheistic. You can see fingerprints of Baal Haddad, Asherah (consort to Yahweh), and El in the old Hebrew texts, they were originally very polytheistic. Heck just check out the name, it's IsraEL not IsraYAHWEH. Hence, in western cultures that are based on Christianity/Hebrew, they paint demons with animal horns. But one of the most interesting things was this comment from RU-vid user "tppuao Weldezion" from 3 years ago. Nimrod was a character known for wearing bulls horns on his crown. Building a great tower in a forbidden land abhorred for polytheism (Nimrod did claim his ziggurats could reach the heavens) Most importantly, he was split into several pieces when he died! After he died, his wife allegedly had a virgin birth and claimed the child was Nimrod reborn. An obvious parallel to SotC having a baby born at the end with Dormin's appearance without any apparent mother.

I have a quote from Frank Herbert's Dune which deals with power and corruption: “All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it is magnetic to the corruptible.” A different PoV which easily can be true as well.. SotC is not about government, but the body that wields the power is obvious..

idk if someone has already pointed this out, but Fludd could also be using alchemy symbolism for some of these mandalas. Back when alchemy was in its heyday, it was outlawed by the Church. Therefore, those who practiced it had to use a sort of visual code to hide their recipes, ideas, and the spiritual aspect of the alchemical process itself (the "Inner Work", which used ideas from Hermeticism). With Fludd's interest in early chemistry, it could be that he was also using alchemical symbolism. In the context of Shadow of the Colossus, it's easy to see the principles of medieval/renaissance alchemy at work. The main character is going through a spiritual alchemical process in order to become...something else. It's worth looking more into the alchemy angle.

There is likely double symbolism to the horns. On one hand, they are associated with grace and divinity, and likened to crowns (to the point some statues include horns instead of crowns). On the other hand, they also represent a return to animalistic behavior and darkness. This is likely the cause Ico was ostracized. Also, there's definitely some sort of connection between the Forbidden Lands and Babylon. The idea with Babylon is that they tried to build a tower to avoid the next flood, but God didn't like that and prompty put a stop to it, leading to fragmentation. Given the fact all the Colossi have idols in the shrine of worship, it's possible that they were the figurative towers. The pyramid design of the Tower of Babylon is quite bluntly reflected in the design of Malus, who seems to be a hybrid of the Tower and Buddha. Such an origin even goes back to the theological ideas of giants: They are improper unions of heaven and earth, are commonly hybrids, and guard places (particularly the margins of the world.) Lastly, there is a connection with the south, symbolizing death. You approach the lands from the north and must cross south, and Malus is located at the southern most point of the Forbidden Lands.

Just to let you know Max, you are the best!!!

Thank you so much.

Nomad is a absolute legend

Who knew I would gain the power to reset the universe from watching a video game analysis.

Fans of SotC have such talent in overthinking small stuff, and I love it.

Are the colossi eyes mandalas?

amazing!

First off, great video, not just this one, but also the Silent Hill ones are great. For Nimrod, you don't need to just cast it aside as 'christian myth' because firstly it is Jewish, and secondly there are two good papers on him (at least) Yigal Levin's "Nimrod the might, King of Kish, King of Sumer and Akkad" where it is argued that he represents the Sargonic dynasty of Akkad, and then Douglar Petrovich's article "Identifying Nimrod of Genesis 10 with Sargon of Akkad by exegetical and archaeological means," which as its title states is arguing for Nimrod being Sargon of Akkad.

I feel like all three game are a large story played in reverse.

After you beat the the 8th colossus and before you spawn into the temple you hear a whisper in the transition. Does anyone know what it’s saying? The lines get longer the more times you resurrect

Excellent thought provoking stuff as always Max. Thank you for being an awesome guy who makes such enthralling content.

They gave the fans a new sword behind that door in the remake, once those 79 gold sparkles are collected, with 79 steps in the tunnel leading to the sword, IIRC. There really isn't anything else to find.

Nomad is a hero

ICO and this game are definitely conjoined. The same sword dropped in a pool of water is the same sword ICO gets after falling. Also in the beginning of ICO the chamber were they placed him must of been a sacrafical chamber and there were many more around.

very interesting

Soooo are they making a part 2??

my favorite game........more than a game actually....

The weak spots on Collosi also look like Mandalas to me.

This game prophesied the chosen before we even knew he was a thing.

You've got this

I can't find Nomads video with the mandalas....sad. I buy that book then.

3:21 weird. On 3/27 I drew a bunch of circles. Not a mandala, but close.

It's poetic that Wander achieved harmony whereas the civilization didn't. He didn't even seek that.

Its too bad the Game Theorists can't make such a good theory, but a smaller channel can connect a graduate thesis to the Shadow of the Colossus. Thanks for such a good theory and hope more channels like you become the face of the theorist community.

Brilliant

I came for lore, but stayed for the mandalas and Fludd.

The original version of SotC had A LOT more symbolism than the PS4 Remake sadly... I like the PS3 Remastered version a bit more :P the sound effects, symbolism, Dormin's voice, etc etc