Dormin

Evil-doer
Full Name	Dormin
Alias	None
Origin	Shadow of the Colossus
Occupation	Ruler of the Forbidden Lands (formerly)
Powers / Skills	Manipulation Possession Immortality Possible invincibility Enormous strength Pyrokinesis Soul manipulation
Goals	Trick Wander into killing the sixteen colossi to reunite their being (succeeded). Get revenge on Lord Emon for imprisoning them (failed).
Crimes	Attempted mass murder Usage of Dark Magic Possession Destruction
Type of Villain	Manipulative Demon

“	We, Dormin, have arisen anew...	„
	~ Dormin

Dormin is the deuteragonist of the 2005 action-adventure game Shadow of the Colossus and its 2018 remake of the same name.

They are the spirit that once ruled the Forbidden Lands but were imprisoned for being seen as malevolent. They appear throughout most of the game as a disembodied voice, whoever, once all sixteen colossi are defeated, Dormin appears once again to confront Lord Emon, the man who imprisoned them.

They were voiced by Kazuhiro Nakata and Kyōko Hikami.

Biography

A long time ago, Dormin ruled the Forbidden Lands, it was said they had the power to manipulate souls and even bring back the dead, however, a new religion took shape in the lands. The religion was biased against horns, dark spirits, and resurrection. A shaman named Lord Emon decided to seal Dormin for they were now considered evil and left the Forbidden Lands via the gigantic bridge after Dormin's imprisonment. Dormin's essence was sealed in every one of the sixteen Colossi, which were colossal beasts who roamed freely throughout the Forbidden Lands. Years later, a young man named Wander, who wielded a powerful sword capable of killing the Colossi, traveled to the Forbidden Lands on his horse Argo to find Dormin in hopes of enlisting their aid in resurrecting his deceased lover, a girl named Mono, who was sacrificed for having a supposedly cursed destiny.

When Wander arrived at the Shrine of Worship in the heart of the Forbidden Lands, the imprisoned Dormin reached out to him and revealed their astonishment with Wander's possession of the sword and Wander asked them to help resurrect Mono. Dormin agreed to do so, but due to their imprisonment, they told Wander to use his sword to kill the sixteen colossi, but warned Wander that he would pay a big cost if he was successful and sent him out on his mission.

However, unknown to Wander, Dormin was also using him to slay the Colossi in order to free them from imprisonment, as each Colossus contained a piece of Dormin's essence. As Wander killed each Colossus, Dormin's essence began to settle within Wander's body, which altered his appearance. After Wander killed the final Colossus, he returned to Dormin's shrine with a demonic appearance. Upon arrival, he was attacked by Lord Emon and his men, who had followed Wander to the Forbidden Lands to prevent him from unintentionally releasing Dormin. Wander tried to reach Mono, but was killed by Emon's men.

However, Wander's death also triggered Dormin's release. Dormin took their long-awaited revenge on Emon and attacked him and his men, forcing them to retreat. Dormin then attempted to flee the shrine, but Emon used Wander's sword to create a whirlpool in a pool in the shrine which pulled Dormin inside. Dormin then revived Wander but still possessed his body in an attempt to escape the whirlpool's pull, but failed and was sucked into the pool and seemingly ripped apart and destroyed, but not before using their last powers to resurrect Mono, thus, keeping true to their word. When Mono woke up, she finds Wander as a baby.

Origin

Dormin holds the knowledge of a great power, and for this reason, was sealed away as a menacing being in the ancient past. It is for this reason that the ancient land is a forbidden place, and the reason for making it so was seen as necessary for the people. Dropping the entirety of the bridge to seal off the land — as is done late in the game — wasn't performed, though, as it's the very thing used to walk out. It could be said that the black bands that pierce Wander's body when each colossus falls are a symbol of Dormin's power entering his body. The silhouettes that surround Wander in the temple are each one portion of Dormin.

After his body becomes Dormin, it's still half-Wander and his consciousness remains able to function.

Playable

When the player is Dormin, the player has to fight Emon and his group of soldiers, which is quite difficult because the player is fairly slow compared to them due to Wander's injured left leg. The player can either attack by hitting them with your hand, or shoot blue fire.

However, it's impossible to actually kill Lord Emon and his men or escape the vortex.

Trivia

• Despite being a morally ambiguous entity with an unknown past, Dormin never acts truly antagonistic toward Wander:
  • They warn him from the very start that there may be a huge price to pay, something that Wander doesn't mind.
  • They give hints and help him through his journey.
  • They describe their possession of Wander as "Borrowing" which means that the possession was only temporary and they intended to let him go.
  • Although they were imprisoned once again by Lord Emon, they still honored their part of the deal and revived Mono.
• Dormin's name may be a misconjugation of "dormit" (it sleeps) or play on the Latin word "dormiō" (sleep).
• Dormin is "Nimrod" backwards. This may be a reference to Nimrod, a king from the Bible who built the Tower of Babel to lead people to the territory of God. When the king died, his body was split into multiple pieces, similar to how the fragments of Dormin were split to form the colossi.
• Although Lord Emon refers to Dormin as a "he", Dormin refers to themselves as the plural "we".