Shadow of the Colossus Hidden Underlying Meaning
A guy at work sent me this about a month back. I don't know where he got it, so I can't give a link. In any case it's quite a lot of speculation, but very interseting.
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Someone stated recently on these boards that Dormin spelled backward is
Nimrod. He was really on his way to understanding the deeper meaning of
'Shadow of the Colossus', but then he mentioned that Nimrod was in the
bible and another user quickly tried to say that it was turning into a
"religious debate". That's really pitiful.
Anyway, Ueda certainly used more than Nimrod's name...
Spoilers ahead...
The giants in the bible are called Nephilim (aka Titans or Colossi). It
means 'the fallen ones' because the giants were the offspring of fallen
angels and human women.
Did you know the Nimrod is one of the most famous people in the world?
Nearly every culture has an account of those who fell from the heavens
and begat children with human females... and the most famous in the
geneology of giants? Nimrod! Though he has many different names in many
different cultures (Odin, Osiris, etc.) he was the object of worship for
many ancient pagan cultures.
I will try to keep this as short as possible so I'll just list a few
facts that SOTC fans will find more than interesting...
-Nimrod had the blood of giants in his family.
-He was the first king and he built the first city (Babylon) and in it
he built a tower (Babel) for the purpose of worshipping multiple gods.
Remind you of a certain place with walls of idols?
-Many stories of Nimrod exploit his fierce strength. The most famous
account involves killing a bull with his bare hands and wearing it's
horns on his head to strike fear into those who would oppose him. (many
believe this to be the origin of the royal crown) Does 'horned giant
ring a bell?
-When Nimrod died, his body was cut into pieces and and sent to the
cities of his kingdom. (much like the way Dormin's demise involved being
split and divided in his kingdom)
-After his death, his wife named Semiramis supposedly became impregnated
by Nimrod's spirit and she had a son named Tammuz (also mentioned in the
Bible) who was thought to be Nimrod reincarnated. (Could this be the
child in the pool? Did he take over his father's kingdom like Tammuz
did? Could he be the one depicted in the horned statue in Ico?)
-The end of the Nimrod story is similar as well. His wife was worshipped
more than he or Tammuz because of her "immaculate conception". She was
the first to be worshipped as a fertility goddess. After Tammuz's death
(he was killed by a boar's tusk in the heel and would later be written
into greek mythology as Achilles, famous for his heel) she remained the
queen of Nimrod's kingdom, much like the queen in Ico.
Is the damsel in SOTC a Semiramis character? If so, she is the Queen
who's death spells redemption for little Ico.
Tell me what you think! There is a lot more to the story, but I don't
want to bother if no one is interested. I've studied ancient Babylon for
a few years now and I've got to say... This game is deep!
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If you want to know more about ICO there was a great novelasation published last year here in Japan. I'm pretty sure it is being translated into English, etc. The author Miayabe Miyuki is quite talented, so it's more than your run of the mill game turned into book/movie garbage.
