Who is the Villain of Shadow of the Colossus?

Shadow of the Colossus is often regarded as a masterpiece in story, music, and gameplay. A perfect combination that delivers a truly breathtaking experience that many games have attempted to replicate to some degree. The story itself continues to spur debates online about various topics, one of the most profound being: Who is the villain of the story? 

The summary of Shadow of the Colossus is rather simple. Wander, a young warrior, and his companion, Agro the horse, travel to the forbidden land after stealing an ancient and powerful sword. Learning that this land contains a God capable of reviving the dead, Wander seeks to revive his love, Mono.

The God Dormin at first attacks Wander, but after seeing that he has the sword, agrees to a contract. In exchange for defeating 16 Colossi, the God will revive Mono, but makes clear that a terrible price will have to be paid. Wander doesn’t care about the price and doesn’t let Dormin finish, likely aware that he’s being pursued, and agrees, killing all 16 Colossi.

We learn through cutscenes that the Lord of Wander’s village has been tracking him since stealing the Sword and finds that Wander succeeded.

Wander, now possessed by Dormin after absorbing the powers of all the Colossi, attempts to take revenge for his imprisonment. Unfortunately, Dormin isn’t successful, and the Lord Emon uses the same blade to defeat Dormin and destroy the only entrance to the Forbidden Land. The result is Wander being reborn as a baby, but with Dormin’s essence.

However, the God fulfilled its contract with Wander, reviving Mono with the 3 of them heading to the temple’s secret Garden to live out their lives in the Forbidden Lands. The story sounds like a traditional journey: a guy tries to save the girl and makes a Faustian pact with the devil. But Shadow of the Colossus goes beyond that. Wander isn’t a monster; he simply wants to save Mono, and Dormin does fulfill its bargain even though it had no reason to do so.

Even the Lord, who seals the land, isn’t the villain; they’re acting based on what they think is right. Granted, we have no idea who most of these characters are. Shadow of the Colossus does an exceptional job of conveying very limited information. Wander, for example, we know through his actions that he’s a skilled climber, archer, horse rider, tactician, loves Agro, and is extremely determined.

However, he’s not a great swordsman and refuses to stop by any means. Through the game, we get hints of Mono speaking to Wander, almost like Dormin is slowly returning her soul to her body as his powers grow with each Colossus killed. The interpretation is still up in the air, but for many, it comes across as telling Wander to stop. 

Another can argue that this world operates like the world of God of War, where fate always comes true.

We have little information about Mono other than that she died to prevent some curse, and judging from her body, she didn’t resist. Shadow of the Colossus does an exceptional job of showing Wander’s transformation as he slowly starts to look less human as the game progresses, so this was likely done on purpose. So all of this could be argued to be predetermined by fate.

But what about Dormin? Wander is setting a dangerous God free. Well, how do we know that Dormin is dangerous? Traveling through the forbidden lands, we see that this area is full of life. Granted, it's clear this land has been untouched for decades, but whoever lived here had settlements, reservoirs, and homes.

Most importantly, they have shrines dedicated to Dormin that heal Wander. Why create these if Dormin wasn’t loved? You can say they were made out of fear, which is also valid, but there are so many of them that it's almost like they were made just for the sake of it. You can say it was for gameplay purposes, but some of them are within eyesight of one another. 

Understandably, Dormin’s name is a great indication of who this thing was. Based on the Biblical King Nimrod, he was the original falsely worshipped God and is associated with the Tower of Babel, which lured mortals to forbidden territory. When he died, his body was cut into multiple pieces. Sounds just like Dormin.

I mean, Dormin is literally depicted as a shadowy creature with giant horns, both of which are indicators of evil. But then why fulfill the agreement? Based on the evidence of the Forbidden Lands, Dormin actually did help its worshippers, but always at a cost that was more beneficial to it. After all, a God without worshippers is not a God at all.

Another theory is that Dormin had to fulfill the agreement since the pact was made, which is also possible.

Regardless of whether you see Dormin as the villain, it is just as flawed. We know little about how or why Dormin was imprisoned, and there could be many reasons. It could be that Dormin was a tyrant, or it could have easily been that a new faith rose up and simply overtook the current worshippers of Dormin. It’s not uncommon for the new, more dominant faith to destroy the previous one after all.

Again, these are just guesses based on the information provided by the environment. But labeling Dormin as just a trickster God is doing a disservice. Dormin is entirely honest with Wander, helps him on his journey, and even tries to warn him of the implications of reviving Mono. You could make the argument that Dormin possessing Wander wasn’t part of the deal, but Wander is the one who didn’t care about the consequences. And it could’ve been what Dormin was going to warn him about.

What about the Colossus? They are, after all, the primary foes in the entire game. All we know is that they are Dormin, chopped up and scattered across the land. Each arena serves as an individual prison, and they cannot leave, which can make them victims as well. Most are docile and won’t attack unless you invade their territory or attack them.

The thirteenth Colossus doesn’t even fight back; it just flies around waiting for Wander to kill it. After killing them, we learn that their own bodies are prisons meant to contain Dormin’s energy. We don’t know how they were created, but there’s a popular theory that those who sealed Dormin’s powers used humans and animals, since the Colossi are not entirely artificial and have flesh and feel pain, as evidenced by their screams of suffering.

If my religion theory is true, they could’ve been previous worshippers of Dormin who were forced into these vessels and punishment, but we don’t know. What we do know is that they’re creatures acting out on instinct; it's no different from the native creatures we see throughout the Forbidden Land. 

Despite all these stories eventually colliding, stating that one or the other is the villain is a hard argument.

Wander for setting Dormin free to save someone he loved, regardless of the cost. Dormin is honest about the cost of reviving the dead and the rules of mortal life, but seeks revenge against those who imprisoned it.

Taking the word Lord Emon isn’t enough to determine who Dormin is. He definitely has knowledge and understanding, as shown by his ability to immediately understand the situation after seeing the final statue collapse and Mono’s body on the altar. But before leaving, Lord Emon, understanding Wander's motivations, condemns his actions and hopes that Wander will atone one day. 

And for the Colossi, they were creatures living in confinement and, as far as we can tell, lived in harmony with the ecosystem. Except Lord Emon, I would argue that none of them saw themselves as heroes or villains. Just acting in their own interests, and it's up to the player to determine who is right and wrong. But who is the flat-out villain? That’s something Shadow of the Colossus just doesn’t have. And because of that, the story becomes incredibly human, allowing for constant theories and interpretations to this day.