Phaedra

"Thy next foe is... In the land of the vast green fields...Rows of guiding graves...It is giant indeed but fearful, it is not."

- Dormin

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

Past
Phaedra, 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.

Phaedra is the fourth colossus he encounters, sitting a secluded, hilly area in the cliffs to the east. When it sees Wander, it will rise and begin to chase after him. Wander must escape within the stone tombs buried within the hills, where Phaedra will begin searching. If provoked, Phaedra will lean down to peer inside of the tombs. This gives Wander the opportunity to either run around behind it and climb its back, or jump onto the dangling columns on either side of its face and climb up. If on its back, Wander will stab a small weak point on its neck to get it to lower its head, where Wander can reach its sigil. Once Wander gets to Phaedra's weak point on its head (two more on the sides of its neck if in hard mode), he must stab them until the giant dies, 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.

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

Trivia

 * Phaedra is often considered one of the most docile of the colossi, as it will seemingly loose interest in attacking Wander if Wander is hidden too well and fails to provoke it.