Celosia (Shadow of the Colossus)

"Thy next foe is...An alter overlooks the lake...A guardian set loose...It keeps the flames alive."

- Dormin

The Eleventh Colossus, nicknamed Celosia, is a major antagonist from the video game Shadow of the Colossus. It is the eleventh boss encountered in the game and a vessel for the essence of Dormin.

Past
Celosia, along with the other sixteen Colossi, were 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.

Shadow of the Colossus
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 kill all sixteen colossi (tricking Wander into releasing his essence so he may be reborn). Wander agrees, and sets off.

Celosia is the eleventh colossus he encounters, dwelling in a small temple at the bottom of a canyon to the north. Upon entering, Celosia will leap out from its hiding place and immediately attack Wander by charging and clawing at him. Wander must escape behind one of the many braziers dotted across the hall and climp up onto it. Once there, he must provoke Celosia into charging, which will knock loose a burning stick from the fire. Wander must then carefully run and retrieve the stick, but it extinguishes upon being picked up. Wander must then escape back to a brazier and relight the stick so that a small fire burns at the end of it. wander can then approach Celosia, who fears the flames and will slowly back away from them. Wander must force Celosia back to a cliff before the torch burns out. Once at the cliff, Celosia will back up off of it, falling down and breaking its armor and revealing its exposed sigil. Wander must then quickly abandon the torch and make his way down the cliffside and onto Celosia's back, waking the colossus up. It will buck and thrash around attempting to shake Wander off, but Wander must keep his grip and stab the sigil. Once its vital has been stabbed, Celosia will die, collapsing to the ground, and releasing the fragmented essence of Dormin contained within its body.

This fragmental part of Dormin will bring Wander back to the Shrine of Worship, where he will be prepared to face his next foe. It will later combine with the other fifteen parts to form Dormin, who will posses Wander and later be banished by Lord Emon.

Celosia's corpse can be seen as the credits roll.

Trivia

 * Celosia is the only colossus which the player has to fight with a weapon other than the sword and the bow: the burning torch.
 * Even if Wander has already shattered Celosia's armor, players can repeat the process of dislodging a torch and luring it off the edge. The same cutscene will play, though the music track will not silence nor will Celosia receive any additional damage.