Celosia
Real Name	Flame Guardian
Latin Name	Ignis Excubitor
Form	Tiger
Temperament	Aggressive, Afraid of fire
Attacks	Charge, claw slash

Celosia, also known as Flame Guardian, is the eleventh of sixteen Colossi which the protagonist, Wander, must slay in Shadow of the Colossus.

LocationEdit

To find Celosia, you should head north of the Shrine of Worship. You will cross the bridge which you've gone over quite a few times to reach Colossi in the past. Eventually, you will find a massive cliff. Make your way down—whether it be by jumping, which is much more reckless, or simply by going down the path. Go past the pond and up the ramps, into a cave. Make your way into the temple, and jump across the small chasm. The fight will begin.

BattleEdit

Ironically, Celosia is deathly afraid of the very fire it guards. Walk down the small crack in the wall beside one of the pillars to keep it from reaching you. Climb the pillar until you are on the top. Eventually, Celosia will strike it, tossing a flaming stick out of the brazier. Jump down and grab the stick. Then you must climb back onto the pillar and swing the stick into the fire to light it. Jump off the pillar and Celosia will be afraid of your fire. Use the stick to position Celosia between yourself and the ledge leading down into the canyon. Walk forward and Celosia will retreat. Walk slowly, but not too slow, as the torch will go out after 40 seconds or so. It helps a little to swing the torch at him lie a sword with the Square button, which makes it retreat a little faster. Eventually, its back legs will slip off and it will tumble off the cliff. Striking the small ledge on the way down, the armor on Celosia's back will break. You now have two choices. You can jump down and hope you land directly on the colossus and start stabbing, or you can run to this side opening down the path to your right. If you choose the path to the right, wait for Celosia to wake up and run to where you are. It will come to where you are and wait for you to come down from the ledge. Jump off the ledge onto the colossus and ride the colossus. If you get into the right position, it should be easy, but normally it is very difficult to get in a good stab with the small chances you get. If you do have trouble positioning yourself properly, you could try jump stabbing it from above, by pressing R1 and Square in mid air. Practice a bit before attempting, as it's trickier than it sounds. After your first landing, you can try making a break for that ledge that Celosia cannot reach. Repeat as necessary.

A third strategy for after Celosia has fallen from the temple is to remain inside the temple. Equip the bow and walk to the left of the ledge from which the colossus fell. Look carefully over the edge, and you should be able to see part of the unconscious colossus on the ground below the path under the temple. Fire an arrow or two at him, and he will wake up and begin his return to the temple. Wander will have plenty of time to climb one of the brazier pedestals, equip the sword, and hold on. When Celosia returns to the temple, he will ram the pedestal Wander is on, causing the colossus to become briefly stunned. Jump from the pedestal onto the colossus and stab. Soon, the colossus will recover from being stunned, and begin to run and shake in an effort to dislodge Wander (this happens very quickly in Hard Mode). If it becomes too difficult for the player to brace for a stab, jump off the colossus when he is near another pedestal, climb it, and allow him to stun himself again. Repeat as necessary.

There is no difference between Normal and Hard mode, other than it takes more stabs to kill.

The second smallest Colossi, that resembles a Tiger. It is completely covered in armor, leaving no weak spots until its armor is broken. Until this time, it will chase you regardless of where you go and try to run you down. If Wander tries to climb one of the pillars, Celosia will ram into it.

NOTE: The torch in Celosia's temple can be accessed before the battle by shooting the torch with a Flash Arrow. When you are holding the torch, Celosia somehow looks scared of the flame.

Meaning of NameEdit

Celosia is the name of a genus of flower. It is similar to the Latin word celox, which means "swift."

Ignis Excubitor means "Fire Sentinel."

Ignis is the Latin word for "fire." It forms the roots of fire-related words such as "ignition" and "ignite."

Excubitor is a Latin term for a sentinel, watchman, or guard. The same word is found in Greek. The Excubitors were the imperial guard of early Byzantine emperors.