Agro
From WikiUeda
Agro. He is the wanderer's trusty mount - a truly magnificent steed, and his only companion on this most lonely and tretcherous of journies.
Agro is Wander's horse, and primary means of transportation. Sporting a gigantic frame, Agro carries Wander around the Forbidden Lands with ease. Of the sixteen colossus battles, Agro participates in only five, as climbable obstacles (or bodies of water) block his way to the others. However, his great speed proves to be very helpful in defeating the colossi he can reach. One interesting note is that the player never controls Agro directly but controls Wander who controls the reins on Agro. Thusly control over the steed is never perfect but more realistic. As Fumito Ueda once stated in an interview, a horse is not an automobile, and should not control as such.
Before the final battle, Agro cannot make it across a collapsing bridge in time. He tosses Wander to safety before he falls into a canyon river far below, which miraculously only breaks his leg. He limps back to the Shrine of Worship during the battle, and the events of the epilogue.
Agro is a truly remarkable creature; not before or since has there been such a lifelike animal companion in a video game. If left to his own devices the stallion will trot about by himself, graze, drink from pools and streams if one is located nearby, and come when whistled for - the latter if he feels like it, of course, much like a real horse. In size and colour he resembles a Friesian, although his slimmer legs and slightly lighter body type would imply some other breed in the mix as well, such as a thoroughbred. His massive size becomes apparent when measured against his master; Agro appears to be well over 16 hands high!
Wander, ever the consummate horseman, seems to remove his mount's reins when he naps - while Agro's bridle is still on and visible during the teaser sequence that plays at the opening screen, the length of rein usually used to control the horse is gone. Is this a case of the item in question simply not being added in, or, in fact, yet another example of Team Ico's meticulous attention to detail?
[edit] Agro Variations
Though initially black, Agro's color can be changed after conquering the Time Attack challenges on either difficulty. The symbol on his forehead can be changed from a leaf-like shape to the "I" symbol seen in Ico's logo by initially saving your game on a memory card with Ico data saved on it. Finish one Time Attack to enable the use of Brown Agro, and both time attacks to unlock White Agro. The change is purely cosmetic, there is no difference in speed or handling. Also, the "I" symbol will not appear while using these variations.
| << Ico |  Main Article • Nico • Official Artbook • SCE | [Untitled Third Project] >> |
| Characters: | Wander (Kenji Nojima) • Agro • Mono (Hitomi Nabatame) • Dormin (Kazuhiro Nakata, Kyoko Hikami) • Lord Emon (Naoki Bando) • Shadow creatures | |
|---|---|---|
| Colossi: | Valus • Quadratus • Gaius • Phaedra • Avion • Barba • Hydrus • Kuromori • Basaran • Dirge • Celosia • Pelagia • Phalanx • Cenobia • Argus • Malus | |
| The Forbidden Lands: | Shrine of Worship (Secret Garden) • Save shrines • Fruit trees • White-tailed lizards (and other animals) • Time Attack • Hard Mode | |
| Production Staff: | Fumito Ueda • Kenji Kaido • Kow Otani (Roar of the Earth) • [Full Credits...] | |
| Viral marketing: | Giantology • Iran Skeleton • Tsunami Giant • Underwater Statue • Siberian Ice Giant • Peru Statue | |
