Wander

From WikiUeda

A boy - a mere stripling in possession of an ancient weapon harnessing a great power that is only matched by the strength of his spirit. His true name? It matters not. His efforts were not for the cause of creating a legend for himself.

Why did he do this? Why would any mortal attempt the impossible?

Wander is the protagonist of Shadow of the Colossus. He travels to the Forbidden Lands in the hopes of resurrecting Mono. To that end, he will follow the orders of Dormin and slay the sixteen colossi that inhabit the world. He travels with his faithful horse, Agro. After his quest, he is killed by Lord Emon.

Our hero appears to be an expert horseman and is quite skilled with a bow, despite his teenage gawkiness and ungainly run while unmounted. He seems unaccustomed to using the sword, possibly for reasons that become evident by the end of the game - the holy sword is, of course, not his, and it is more than possible this is the first time he has ever used such a weapon. His completion of Dormin's task is all the more impressive in light of this fact.

Wander's body degenerates slowly but visibly over the course of the game, his frail mortal shell seemingly unable to take the combined stresses of being battered by sixteen giant beasts and containing a supernatural entity of unfathomable power. By the time Lord Emon and his entourage arrive the boy is covered in cuts and scrapes, his hair is dyed black with colossi blood, and twin stubs of horn are beginning to protrude from the sides of his head - an outward symbol of his internal infection which will be passed on and cause much grief to his descendants in the far distant future.

There has been some dispute over the protagonist's name. In Japan, the game is known as "Wanda to Kyozo" (roughly translated as Wanda and the Colossus). In the credits, the protagonist's name was also "Wanda". This is because in Japanese, the '-er' ending is pronounced as 'a'. In the NTSC version of the game, he is called Wander in both the game manual and the end-of-game credits. The protagonist's accepted names are "Wander" or "the Wanderer".

Wander is voiced by Kenji Nojima.

<< 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