| “ | Its body was wreathed in flame. You defeated it by plunging it into a lake. | „ |
| ~ Excerpt from the Shadow of the Colossus Artbook and Guidebook about the Phoenix. |
| “ | The player was supposed to avoid bursts of wind produced by the wings of this giant Colossus. For this one we had to create a really large environment. Problem was, we were losing way too much health every time we fell from the Colossus, so we discarded the concept. | „ |
| ~ Fumito Ueda in an interview about the cut content from the game. |
The Phoenix, nicknamed Adar Flam by fans, was a boss intended to appear in the 2005 video game Shadow of the Colossus.
Biography[]
Like the other colossi in the game, the Phoenix would have been created by Lord Emon to contain the fragmented essence of the defeated evil Dormin. He set them all to wander the Forbidden Lands, destroying anyone that comes their way, so that Dormin could never be resurrected. When a young man named Wander trespasses in the Forbidden Lands and asks the disembodied spirit of Dormin to resurrect his deceased lover Mono, Dormin agrees under the condition that Wander kills all of the colossi (tricking Wander into releasing his essence so he may be reborn). Wander agrees, and sets off. The Phoenix would have been found in an early version of Quadrant I4, which was originally a large volcanic crater next to a lake.
The Phoenix would have been a large, avian Colossus. According to the Shadow of the Colossus Artbook and Guidebook, its whole body would have been engulfed in fire, making it impossible to scale. The player would have had to ride the horse Agro, luring it to the water and dousing the flames. Once the fire was extinguished, Wander could climb the Colossus and stab its sigils.
Once the Phoenix was dead, the fragmental part of Dormin will bring Wander back to the Shrine of Worship, where he will be prepared to face his next foe.
According to developer Fumito Ueda, the Phoenix required a massive arena to fight in, which took up a lot of the game's space. Additionally, the Colossus was ruled to be too difficult, as too much health was lost every time Wander was thrown or fell off. These reasons led to the Phoenix being cut. Despite this, the Phoenix was still described in the Shadow of the Colossus Artbook and Guidebook and talked about in interviews, and is among the most popular of the removed Colossi from the game.
Gallery[]
